I always love attending the Miramar Air Show in San Diego, CA.  First and foremost, I'm a geeky guy who loves anything that explodes or breaks the sound barrier.  But also, because I'm a camera geek who LOVES photographic challenges that can be overcome by sheer technical know-how, combined with intuitive anticipation and good timing...

 

(The above photos were taken on all sorts of different cameras, mostly a D70 and a D200, with all sorts of different lenses.  I love any excuse to rent a big 300mm 2.8 lens, or an 80-400 VR!)

Anyways, I realized it would be a GREAT opportunity to help other photographers tackle those intimidating yet critical aspects of camera operation that can be so annoying:  Autofocus, and exposure / metering!

I know it sounds crazy to try and teach a workshop on such a "minor" subject as autofocus.  I honestly have never even HEARD of a workshop about autofocus.  So I know I'm going out on a limb here.

But at the same time, "blurry pictures" seems to be a number one issue that people have, online on forums where people ask questions and post images.  There are just SOOO many different autofocus options on cameras these days, and it just gets more and more complicated...  Cross-type AF points?  Single focus, continuous focus, AI servo? AF-ON? ...and on, and on, and on!  My D300 has three buttons and three or four switches for to the various AF settings, and TEN customization options...  Good grief!  It's gotten to the point that you almost can't expect to just "grow into" that high-end camera you bought.  If you don't understand the focusing and exposure / metering settings, you could be completely unable to shoot even a half-decent photo in certain conditions.

Well, luckily I obsess over that stuff.  I eat that stuff for breakfast.  (When I run out of Frosted Mini Wheats, of course.)  Whenever I buy a new camera, I spend hours on end just toying around with the different modes, setting up the camera the way I like it, and experimenting around to see what the best setup is for different types of light or action.  ...And, I really love helping other people master this technical kinda stuff!

So, if you want to work towards mastering autofocus, metering and exposure, you should make the commitment and come!   And if you like things that explode and/or go VERY fast, you REALLY should come!  Here's the breakdown:

1.)  Learn all about autofocus, and which techniques you can use for different situations.  Moving subjects, still subjects, low light, ...and what the heck is "focus, recompose" and all that stuff?

2.)  If you have a current generation camera, I can put it on my tripod and calibrate your autofocus for you.  Have you ever looked at your images and the camera is focusing on the background, or maybe the foreground?  ALLLLL the time?  Not good.  Sometimes it could be that you're not focusing properly, but it could also be that your camera is simply not working acurately.  And there is NOTHING more annoying than doing everything right yet still getting bad results...

3.)  Learn about when to use which metering mode, or exposure mode, and how to consistently get the right exposure even when light is changing from one moment to another.

4.)  Spend a LOT of one-on-one time with me to either master autofocus, exposure, or if you want to talk about other more complicated things, I'm game!  It's going to be a long day, so depending on how many people wanna go, we might spend an entire hour chatting one-on-one!

Here's some other general info:

*  Did I mention it's going to be a LONG day?  The airshow opens at 8 AM, and it's really a good idea to get there as early as possible, to avoid traffic.  And the show goes until 9:30 PM.  I TOLD you it would be a long day!

*  Admission to the airshow is free.  Even if you don't want some camera schoolin', if you like jets and things you really should come!  Grandstand admission is $18 if you buy one on-the-spot, or $14.25 if you buy it in advance online, HERE.  *MY* humble asking price is $45.  You can pay that HERE, and while you're at it you can read the "what to bring" stuff, and whatnot...

Alright, now I'm all excited!  I can't wait for October!  I didn't make it to the Airshow last year, so I'm definitely looking forward to this year!

Take care,
=Matt=

Tuesday afternoon was beautiful and breezy at Craig Park in Fullerton, CA.  I joined up with just a couple of other photographers from the Facebook group "SoCal Photog Shootout" and a couple of their friends.  Michelle and her fiance Victor were kind enough to model for us, even though they've already had plenty of engagement photos taken I think.  (Michelle is a bridal model, you may remember her from a shoot I did at the Muzeo venue; AND she is a wedding planner!)

Many thanks to Larry Reeves for starting this impromptu GTG, it was awesome!  I'm really enjoying all the friends and good company I get to hang out with, ever since I started using online social sites to connect with others...  I really can't imagine not being a member of a group like SoCal Photog Shootout on Facebook, or in whatever other online communities are becoming popular these days.  Do you enjoy shooting pictures?  (especially portraits?)  Do you like friends?  It's really that simple.  JOIN A COMMUNITY!

Anywho.  Same camera info as always.  At this time of day I shoot mostly in Kelvin WB, around 5000-5500 Kelvin, and of course RAW because we were dealing with some CRAZY contrast and I knew that with shots like this first one, I might want to do some heavy, artistic processing...

BTW, any couples who need engagement photos, NOW is the time to get them!  The afternoons are wonderful, and even if you don't get off work until 5 PM we can still get some beautiful light going on.  If you're engaged and in the OC area, I'm offering a few FREE engagement sessions to any couples who are willing to model in front of 5-10 photographers!  HERE is my contact page...

Alright, imma shutup and get to the photos!  Only got a couple, since it's 3 AM and I got other work to do....tomorrow!

=Matt=

JPG image, shot in B&W using my "Fuji Acros" in-camera settings and Bridge CS3 preset of the same name...  (One click!)

So, we had a bit of a "staycation" this year, and visited the Long Beach Aquarium last weekend.  I really enjoy aquariums, just because I love animals and the outdoors, but getting new and unique images each time you go is becoming quite a task...  So I tried a few new things.  I tried using a polarizer, in low light, to reduce glass / water reflections.  Then I tried using slower shutter speeds in artistic ways.  And I also practiced anticpating, chasing, and capturing moments of "serendipity..."

=Matt=

(PS-  If anyone has any questions about an image, just ask!  The basics: Nikon D300 & 17-55, JPG capture with Kelvin WB, and pretty much "SOOC" images...)

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One thing that the Facebook group "Photog Shootout" is really trying to promote is the impromptu, casual get-together.  Have a random afternoon / evening free, and so do a couple other photographer pals?  Maybe have a friend who is always up for modeling?

I had zero access to these kinds of friends just a few years ago.  The internet has been an amazing thing for me, connecting me with so many like-minded photographers, and people willing to get in front of the camera, it's just awesome!

I firmly believe that 99% of getting good at photography is, thanks to the digital revolution, just a matter of dedicated practice.  Getting out there regularly, shooting, critiquing your own work, and demanding better from yourself next time.  You just can't become great soley by attending one $1000 workshop each year.  It's all about practice, practice, practice!

So while our big, exciting shoot-togethers have been, well, exciting, I'm even more excited (possibly) about the smaller connections and friendships that should spawn from these bigger events.  Two or three or four people connect, click, and then maybe a few weeks later they decide they wanna go out and shoot again, and they can't wait until the next official GTG so they plan their own little event!  That's awesome! 

Sunday afternoon my friend Hanssie and I got together at The Lab in Costa Mesa for just this kind of photo shoot.  Sometimes I like open-ended photo shoots that anyone is welcome to drop in on, and sometimes I like private / one-on-one sessions.  This time, I really needed an opportunity to play around with light, try some things I had never done before, and relax too.

Well I dunno if we managed to relax; tackling weird light is not condusive to relaxation as it turns out.  But at least we tackled some weird light!

Take care,
=Matt=

(Bouncing normal flash off a very red wall.  White balance was set to about 4000 Kelvin, which is almost indoor WB...)

(I wanted to get this shot with David leaning against the doors, looking in.  But my flash was just spilling all over the place.  Yuck.)

(...So, I made a "snoot" out of a random newspaper insert and the rubber band from a Lightsphere.  VERY directional light!)

(Hmm.  Better, but still a reflection on the wood.  Good experiment though!)

(More experimenting.  White balance set to something like 3500 Kelvin, which is about right for the ambient light.
I left my color gel at home, however, so my flash turned out super blue.  Love it?  Hate it?  It's just an experiment!)

(100% ambient light, just experimenting with moving around to influence brightness.  WB set to 2750 Kelvin and +18 on the Tint)

One of THE BIGGEST keys to reducing the number of hours you spend in front of the camera is to simply get it right the first time.

When I first started out, I used to think to myself "yeah, getting a good exposure is fine and dandy, but who has the time to try and make sure EVERY single one of their images has good white balance, contrast, saturation, etc. etc.???"  For the longest time, I shot RAW and NEVER touched my white balance until after the fact.  And I spent WEEKS editing just a few hundred photos...  I tried shooting JPG, but since I wasn't getting any better at the in-camera stuff, that didn't solve the problem.

Long story short, I've spent years shooting *both* RAW and JPG alike, and I've decided that it really doesn't matter THAT much if you shoot RAW or JPG, as long as you figure out what the heck you're doing!

It would be crazy to think that some day we could reach a point when EVERY image we took was perfect right out of the camera, but I just wanted to share a few random, recent images...

First up we have Karin, a model I've had the pleasure of photographing a few times now at some of the "Photog Shootout" GTG's in the past few months.  If we're NICE, she'll be at the workflowshop for us to practice on.

=Matt=

(The RAW file, with all adjustments at zero)

(My RAW defaults, with zero editing.  Possibly a bit over the top, but I have a secondary preset with slightly lesser settings too...)

(Another RAW file with my preset, automatic defaults...)

(A JPG image with zero editing.  In-camera settings )

(JPG image with zero editing)

(JPG image with zero editing)

I just wanted to post a couple photos really quick from the last-minute photo shoot this evening with a couple friends here in Irvine.  The sunset was perfect, and a couple shots turned out amazingly...  Enjoy!

Camera Info:
All shots taken with a D300 and either a Nikon 17-55 w/ polarizer, or a Sigma 50-150.

Strobist Info:
My SB800 is on the fritz, so I can't really use it above 1/16 or 1/32 power.  So lately I've been putting it in SU-4 mode, (optical slave, no IR and no radio)  ...and just working with it manually at one of those power settings.  These shots were un-diffused, with the pop-up flash fired in manual mode at a low power so as not to influence the photo.  In retrospect though, for the third shot I could have used some fill on the right side of her face.  Coulda used the pop-up for that, but I'd rather use the excuse to buy more SB800's, asap.

Thanks to Kevin and Mark and Chelsea for coming out!  I had a blast shooting with you today...

=Matt= 

(Chelsea moved out of the photo after I popped the flash.  This was a ten second exposure and I just popped the
  flash manually, and guessed at the power.  I used the guide number / distance readout on the SB800 to cheat.
If you input your aperture and ISO on your flash, it will automatically tell you the distance for a good exposure.)

(For this shot I turned the pop-up flash up a coupe EV, and then used my hand as a barn door / snoot
to sorta place emphasis on her face.  I REALLY shoulda snoot'ed the backlight flash, too, but oh well!)

This wedding at Rancho Capistrano was awesome.  I'm so glad the bride and groom insisted on having me as their photographer!

I'm not very good with words, so I won't even try to write about how wonderful, how tear-jerking this couple's "love story" was.  There,  just put "love story in quotes, and I don't even know why.  I'll stop talking / typing now, and present the images. 

=Matt=

(Spot Metering, Aperture Priority, Auto WB, RAW)

(Spot Metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Kelvin WB, RAW)

(Spot Metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Kelvin WB, RAW)

(Center-Weighted metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Auto WB, RAW)

(Center-Weighted Metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Kelvin WB, RAW)

(Spot Metering, Manual Exposure, Auto WB, RAW, on-camera SB800 bounced on left-hand wall + ceiling)

(Spot Metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Kelvin WB, JPG)

(Center-Weighted Metering, Aperture Priority Exposure, Kelvin WB, JPG)

(Center-Weighted Metering, Manual Exposure, Kelvin WB, RAW, Tripod)
(f/8, 30 sec, ISO 100)

(I've decided to list just the IMPORTANT image data.  The camera and lenses don't matter that much!)