Underworld

Underworld, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

#ds155 The Daily Shoot assignment for 2010/04/19: It's metal Monday! Find a metallic subject today and make an interesting photo.

Setup:
- AF540FGZ Pentax flash with Honl 1/8" Speed Grid, handheld below typewriter
- Honl 8" Speed Snoot unrolled flat, cantilevered over keys, on top of typewriter, and weighted down with a 2nd (powered-off) 540FGZ flash :-)
- flash triggered optically from K20D body's popup.

I'm in a book ...

So besides being in a gallery (well, starting May 7; see previous posting) I'm in a book too! Twice! :-)
Info ...

The best photography from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List, with all net profits donated to CureSearch, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Edited by Mark Roberts with Associate Editors Scott Loveless and Bill Robb. With a foreword by Doug Brewer.

ISBN 978-1-4507-0950-7

PDML Photo Annual 2010 by Mark Roberts (editor) | BOOK INFO

One of my shots is featured in the previous blog entry. The other is this one ...

I'm in a gallery ...

One of my shots will shortly be hanging in a Chicago gallery thanks to members of the Pentax-Discuss Mail List (PDML), the DANKHaus German American Cultural Center, a City Arts Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and money from Illinois Arts Council.

If you're in the area I'd urge you to drop by. The PDML photogs are a talented bunch and the images you'll see are top-notch.

Here's the shot that the gallery's curator accepted. You've seen this here before ...

Crocus

Crocus, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Well spring arrived ... and was instantly replaced by summer. It's 24 degrees C here right now (75F), and with humidity it's like 28C (82F). I'd normally be taking these shots wearing a coat and gloves instead of jeans and a t-shirt.

I figured that these delicate little guys would be blown out soon, so this was likely my last opportunity to get 'em. Enjoy!

K20D, smc P-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM, f/2.0, 1/1000, ISO 100

En passant

En passant, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

With this shot, I just realized that I've created A Project, which I can call The Fleetwood Series. I have been roaming around my local park, Fleetwood Park, for over three years now, shooting stuff that grabbed my fancy. I think that counts as some sort of mini-documentary thing. :-)

Needles

Needles, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

More urban foliage. Of course I've passed these pine trees a gazillion times before during daily doggy outings. Only today I was thinking about re-framing the world at 55mm. :-)

Boundaries

Boundaries, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

From my early morning walk in Mississauga.

Chocolate Cranberry Cake

Chocolate Cranberry Cake, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Proving that you can take your cake and eat it too ...

Maple Almond Cake - crockpot dessert

Maple Almond Cake - crockpot dessert, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Cake fresh from the crock-pot!

Louise is giving a crockpot-cooking course and I'm getting shots for her web site.

Strobist: lit with an 18" Westcott Apollo softbox and Pentax AF-540FGZ hotshoe flash triggered optically.

Pixar Short: George and AJ

... now you know the rest of the story.

CSI Mississauga

CSI Mississauga, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

A shot from my very first modeling photoshoot! Great fun for me, though hard work. Hotshoe flashes are versatile little buggers, and I was using two of them remotely. But the lack of a modelling light in the setup so one can get accurate focus is a serious impediment. I had to keep turning a small gooseneck halogen lamp on and off, and that really slowed me down.

All shots were lit by one or two Pentax AF-540FGZ flashes. In this one, the main strobe is behind a Westcott 45" shoot-through umbrella, camera-right, 1/4 power. 2nd strobe is camera-left high, snooted (rolled-up black construction paper), focused to a tight beam (58mm), 1/2 power, about 10 feet back and shooting through a screen to get that interesting background.

My model is Tina Hung, an aspiring actor/singer/dancer. Tina is practicing her "serious look" here. :-)

Model: Tina Hung
Makeup & styling: Tina and Louise Peacock

Dusk

Dusk, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

1937 Dodge humpback panel truck. Taken at the final evening of a 2009 Classic Car Cruise held in the parking lot of a Harvey's (decent hamburger chain) in Oakville Ontario. Tinted duotone.

This shot almost didn't happen at all. The evening was windy and cool, variable overcast, the sun had almost set and hardly any cars had shown up by the time we arrived and had our dinner. I wandered around the lot with my kit in my bag on my back and looked rather dejectedly at the classic vehicles parked there.

I was about to suggest to my wife that we just head on home when I recalled that I told her I'd like to try silhouette shots this evening. So I sighed, hauled out my K20D and looked around for a candidate. Wait! This odd looking truck was parked 90 degrees to the lines and parallel to the horizon where the sun had now disappeared -- casting fiery orange onto the strips of clouds! Oh my!

I took 46 frames, some with fill flash, but this one was the clear standout.

Cosmos

Cosmos, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

The biggest Cosmos I've ever seen! Seen in Mississauga's Riverwood during a Flickr walk on Sunday.

Flight

Flight, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is Finn. Blink and you'll miss him!

Royal

Royal, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Ahhh, classic cars ...

Emergent

Emergent, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Becoming acquainted with less than 2 week old enablement: DA* 55mm F1.4

Exp 1/100, f/1.4, ISO 200, 540FGZ flash inside Westcott 18" softbox; PP in CS4.

Too close for comfort

Too close for comfort, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is how I spent much of my Monday night. We were woken up at 11:45 PM by loud beeping that turned out to be the UPSes going off. I got up to investigate how extensive the power failure was. When I stepped out the front door, I discovered the entire north-west sky lit up by a huge orange fireball. There's a new "luxury executive" townhouse complex being built over in that direction, and sure enough it turned out that the entire complex was up in flames. This is the second time in five months that the same complex has been torched, the first took out 8 units. This one destroyed over 75% of the site, about 57 units by one count.

The image directly above is the view from the bottom of my driveway, looking north-west. A light breeze was carrying the smoke and burning embers north-east over a church and a big park.

Anemone pulsatilla

Anemone pulsatilla, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

You can see incredible detail if you view this large on Flickr.

Specialty Alium 2

Specialty Alium 2, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

I like the calm, cool simplicity of this.

Redbeard

Redbeard, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

I've been shooting flowers again. First of a couple.