« I am lame | Main | The Best Dog in the World! »
Vancouver Photo Walk!
By Chris | July 20, 2009
First of all, I would like to apologize to my eight readers for my absence. A lot has been going on in recent months. I am here now though!
On Saturday July 18th, I participated in Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk. The Vancouver walk was led by David DuChemin and Dave Delnea. It was a super experience as it was more of a photo walk SLASH Lighting Workshop! They boys had brought out a bunch of pocket wizards, monolight, speedlights, reflectors, ect ect. All the fun stuff to make a photo really pop.
It was a fun time and three hours went by in what seemed three minutes. I did learn a lot about my bad shooting habits though. This walk was also a huge education on lighting. Here is what I learned on the walk:
- Speedlights don’t work against the sun. I tried to light up the shadows with my SB-800 against the high sun. It didn’t work. I still got shadows. If I had moved closer to the subject, perhaps, it would of worked. However, when I shot with the pocket wizard firing the big ass mono light… it was magic! I could put the model back to the sun and use the strobe light to light her face. Wonderful lighting as it was firing through a big soft box! It’s just too bad I had some really bad compositions.
- Composition. I could have been better. When shooting the models, I tended to cut then off at the legs. I had few full body shots and few close up portrait shots.
- Shoot for cropping. I tend to frame the subject as I see it in the final print. I should of raked in the lens a bit to allow for cropping. Many of my original captures did not allow for decent cropping.
- Dress for the event. I accidently booked a social engagement on the same evening as the shoot. I had also rode my motorbike to the walk. Therefore, I wasn’t sure of the best way to dress for all three things. Also, I did not expect the models to be in the water. If I had worn my quick dry clothing as David DuChemin had, I could of got closer to the model and more interesting angles as David did. I had jeans and running shoes.
The walk was great learning experience and inspiration. David and Dave were absolutely delightful to shoot with and learn from. They really made it fun. I can’t wait for next year. Oh and before I go. Check out the great video from the day. See if you can find me.
Topics: What's New | 2 Comments »
January 28th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Hi Chris, I was just reading the comments on the ipad on Scott’s blog. I saw you were from Canada and thought I would check where. Ended up here. I live in Vancouver. Love your video. I wanted to go in that walk but did not know where to look at the time. I am just a amateur hobbiest but am learning. I belong to NAPP. I got David’s book Within the Frame for Christmas. Your photography looks great. Just thought I would say hi.
Shari
January 29th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Thanks for dropping by, Shari. I am an amateur as well. Yes, there is tons to learn. I have David’s WTF and Visionmongers. They are great books for the “why”. I will join Napp this year to learn more of the “how”. FYI, the video of the photowalk was not mine, David shot it. Don’t worry, I am sure there will be another walk next year. Besides, there are lots of people, when you find them, like to do photowalks. They are really fun, creative, social event. It’s just hard sometimes to fit a walk into our busy lives. Some of us DuChemin readers did get together for a walk last year. It was fun. I hope to initiate another walk probably in July.