Midweek update: Lighting 102 & Arizona

A quick Midweek update . . .

I recently got back from visiting my aunt in Arizona, fun-stuff. I'm all for dry heat over humid heat, but there's a point where hot is hot and it doesn't much matter. I got some fun middle-of-nowhere shots. No exaggeration in that statement either, merely for documentary purposes I was taking landscapes to show-how-nowhere 'nowhere' can be. I saw a horny toad also, and we tried to hunt a cow, but it eluded us. I think it was a ninja cow. My proof of this? It was black, there you go.

I didn't use any Ikea-found modifiers though, so enough of that.


If you. too. have been in the middle of nowhere for some time, then you may not realize that David Hobby, Strobist, has kicked off Lighting 102. This is his follow up to last year's Lighting 101 series on his Blog, which is a small strobe bootcamp of sorts. He will be basically teaching a class for free on lighting, complete with themed instruction, related assignments, and . . . some REALLY stiff competition as far as being noticed. Honestly, I'm convinced that many of the best Photogs in the biz read his Blog, and participate

You should participate too! I am. Its great practice, especially as we all love our personal work, sometimes working within constraints and rules helps us grow as much as fully exploring our own vision freely.

Here is a fun site, the Camera Shutter Life Expectancy Database. I just found this and while it may not be too scientific, it gives you a good feel of what to expect. Don't know how to check your shutter actuations? Try Opanda's IExif. After installing just load a jpg and scroll to the bottom.

I feel like I'm forgetting something . . . Oh RIGHT! Don't forget to RSS Ikeaphile for easy checking of updates.

Oh, that's right, a great photographer and good person all around gave me a great compliment recently, so go check out her Blog. Its added to the bottom of the 'Other Useful Blogs' section to the right, A Day in the Life.