Day Sixty Four - Bright Side

Looking on the bright side. Something I rarely seem to be able to do. I'm one of those people that always imagines the worst possible scenario of a threatening situation and convince myself it's going to happen. I really need to talk myself out of that mindset. It's definitely easier said than done. But I've had enough of it. Time to kick my brain into gear and start thinking more positively and optimistically. I hate my head sometimes.

Nikon D200
35mm f2
Vivitar 285hv at 1/2 into Westcott 43" reflective umbrella, semi collapsed.

Day Sixty Three - Meet Chris

Oh man.

I've wanted to photograph the bag lady for so long. I was sitting on the couch this morning with Max and she walked by. We called out to her and offered her a cigarette. She gladly accepted and told us many tales of creamed rice and even some about her brother, who was a painter. As a painter he was never allowed to have ash trays, so he'd ash his cigarette in his cupped hand and put the ash in his pocket. So this is what she did.

Nikon D200
35mm f2 at f2.8

Day Sixty Two - Lazy Acres and Yoki

Okay i'm getting really Lazy with my titles. (Pardon the pun)

The wind almost knocked my light stand over which meant I could only get off a few shots. That and Yoki doesn't really like being photographed. So this one's somewhat candid.

Nikon D200
35mm f2 at f2.8
Vivitar 285hv at 1/16th to camera right with 43" Westcott umbrella.

Katie's home in two sleeps from now. I'm pretty excited! =)

Day Sixty One - Rainbows and Cigarettes

This is a day late.
I got my two lumopro light stands and westcott 43" umbrellas in the mail today. I owe another photo for today too so no doubt i'll make use of them later on tonight for today's photo.

I wish i had a polarizer so the rainbow had come out more in this one. Apologies to Max for giving him one or two extra wrinkles. In other news, my cat's no longer trying to escape my room to take a pounding, which is good. What's not good is the steaming turd I found in the corner of my room covered up by my clothes. At least she attempts to clean up after herself!

Nikon D200
35mm f2 at f2.
Vivitar 285hv at 1/16th to camera right above Max through 43" Westcott umbrella.

Day Sixty - Meow

A cat on heat is one of the most annoying experiences i've had to endure. I was on the balcony enjoying a coffee and a cigarette and the cat wouldn't stop pawing her way out the door as she's just discovered how to get down from the balcony. Oh shit.

Beau Vine's Bovines

I edited together some footage I captured a month or so ago. This was filmed in Margate among our new friends, the cows. It was only Max and I meaning I had noone to hold the boom so I had to improvise. I laid the Mic on the ground to Max's right, pointing up around 2 metres from him to keep it out of the frame. Surprisingly it came out pretty crisp and there wasn't much background ambience at all! I'll be using this as part of my grad show at the end of the year, however it won't be in it's entirety. I'll be splicing bits and pieces in certain sections between other skits to keep the pace going and avoid boring the viewer. This is a little long when viewed by itself like this.

Hope you enjoy.

Day Fifty Nine - Pennell

"I'm looking for my sleeping bag, and i'm pretty sure you're fucking IN the cunt!"
Travis Pennell


I love this guy.

I also love the bokeh and the blue tones in this one that match his eyes. Yeah. I'm an art fag.

Day Fifty Eight - Keys

My title's aren't very imaginative. My cat's on heat. It's pissing me off.
A day late posting this one. I've been playing piano a lot more lately. It's nice.

Strobist
Vivitar 285hv at 1/4 bare above the keys
Vivitar 285hv at 16th with blue gell firing into two glasses at the far end of the piano.

Here's another photo from yesterday. Well, the day before yesterday. It's fitting because it involves Kitten who's been annoying me to no end the last couple of days being on heat and meowing constantly. You can also see the piano in the reflection of my glasses. I totally planned that.

Day Fifty Seven - We Mean Business

Kitten disappeared for half the day today. The longest she's ever run away for. I found her later on, cowering under the BBQ out back with a tomcat hassling her. Poor little girl. She's still a little bit quiet and funny but i'm sure she'll be fine after some more cuddles!

I bought a tripod today. A Velbon. It's sturdy as fuck and has hardly any plastic which is a good thing. Reduced to $200. Bargain!

Strobist
Vivitar 285hv at 1/16 to right of kitten
Vivitar 285 hv at 1/4 pointing up behind me

Day Fifty Six - Patrick Dempsey

I won Patrick Dempsey in a game of Drag Bingo at a pub in Melbourne on Monday night. You have no idea how happy this made me. Oh Patrick.

The setup for this shot was actually kinda complicated for my tired self. Patrick was sitting on my tv contemplating his new role in the enchanted when i approached him and asked if he wouldn't mind a photoshoot. Of course he had no hesitation and smiled at me with a nod. My tummy fluttered. I placed about 4 empty glasses and a cologne bottle on a chair behind dempsey and aimed a Vivitar 285 HV at 1/16th power with a blue gel to the left, also using a makeshift snoot to control the light spread. This created the blue bokeh from the out of focus hotspots from the flash on the glasses.

Patrick was lit from the right with a Vivitar 285hv at 1/16th and fired through about 4 sheets of paper to diffuse and lessen the light. (Vivitar 285hvs don't power down below 1/16th.) I put through an order with midwest photo exchange today for 2 westcott 43" umbrellas, 2 lumipro 8' light stands and umbrella clamps. $270 later, but definitely a worthwhile investment. I'm looking forward to shooting decent strobist portraiture.