What do old people do when they wake up at 3am and can't go back to sleep? Take foolish photographs of themselves. Then they get dressed and make a grocery run to Walmart.The boxes that I need to find a new home for are still stacked against the wall. The flag is still leaning in the corner and they didn't pick up the recycleables last Monday so the Styrofoam is still behind me. The pajamas were purchased for a bad time in 2002 and I only wear them when I go out of town or when I am having a rough spell. The sweat jacket is Janet's. You can tell because she always cut the arms off to make it easier for her to get if on and off. The shoes just came out of the washer. I hope they look better after being worn a day or so.
I was only able to do this because I finally got the bed put back together and the new mattress and box springs out of the living room. And I only did that because I wanted to set up the lights. I need a photographic reason for doing everything anymore. It's been a rough month but I have got a lot accomplished--not everything that needs to be done but more than I usually do. Right now Help Portrait is taking a lot of my thinking time which is the reason I have the lights set up in the living room. I really like the light from the 86" parabolic umbrella with the diffuser material. It looks a little strange since it is taller than I am but it gives a very soft light even without the fill light. However, I am using the 36" Wescott Halo for a fill light. I am trying to figure out how to use the Sekonic L358 meter to correctly balance the lights. Having a little trouble getting it to trip the camera and then the strobes. Works fine if I simply connect the Pocket Wizard to the strobe but that is not what I want to do. I want the Sekonic to trip the camera then the SU800 to trip the SB800 in the Halo for fill and then the optical sensor on the White Lighting to trip the main light. For some reason that is just not working the way I think that it should--well it ain't working which is what I think it should do. I was too tired last night so I gave us and I probably won't spend much time on it today since I have a photoshoot this afternoon. But hopefully I will figure it out before December 4th.
Gary, sorry but I really got a chuckle out of your self portrait. Nice...
ReplyDeleteOne reason I am laughing is because a few weeks ago I actually had the thought of asking you to come out and shoot a family portrait when our kids were here for Thanksgiving. Even though we have only 2 kids, getting them in the same place at the same time has become increasingly difficult. So as soon as I found out that we were going to have everyone here for the holiday, well, visions of a family portrait started dancing in my head. I tried to imagine what kind of portrait that might be. I know my kids and I could immediately rule out the idea of coordinating clothing, not even white and denim. Formal sittings? Out of the question. In the living room? In front of the fireplace? Some other location? What would an environmental portrait of my family look like? An authentic version of my family spending a holiday together? Ok, let's get real. Pajama bottoms, sweat tops and socks and each with his/her own laptop sitting around the kitchen table. I thought what the heck, that's us and that should be the "portrait". But before I could get a chance to ask you, I found out that we would be joined by yet another family which would force us out of our pajamas and into at least a pair of jeans. A different dynamic altogether. So much for the family portrait idea....