Lately, I've found myself pushing my photographic envelope. Looking for a way out of the proverbial creative rut that so many of us find ourselves mired in from time to time.
To fix that, I started diving into two areas that for whatever reason, I had not paid much attention to. Posing and lighting.
I have always considered myself more of documentary/journalistic photographer. It fit my introverted personality. It fit the way I worked. The ever present wallflower. I sought out the moments between the moments. I wanted the people that I worked with to forget that I was there. It worked for many years but I felt I needed to learn a bit more.
Light has always interested me. Natural light or made light. It didn't matter. It was all fascinating. I never made time to get really into it. I used to work fast and light. I didn't want to get bogged down by gear.
In the last month or so, I've put myself neck deep in both aspects. Totally new. Totally fun. Added a few new modifiers from Paul Buff and I have been pretty stoked on the results.
Tons more to learn but I am getting a process and getting faster at the setups. Still trying to travel light with gear. That will never change.
Above is my middle daughter. What photography means to me, ballet means to her. She's crazy talented and she will make something of herself with ballet. There is no question on that.
She also loves to have her picture taken which works well for me.
We shot this last night on the street in front of the house. The sun was just setting and made a perfect hair light. Facing down, from above her, is an Alien Bees AB800 with a 64" Paul Buff PLM umbrella. I absolutely love the light that comes from the PLMs.
I was experimenting. Playing. Tweaking. Remembering. There's a few other places in town where I want to try this setup.
For now, I'm kinda sorta coming loose from the mire. We'll see what happens.