Michael Forsyth's News

I figured I might as well put out one last blog post before the new year, just for good measure. I have been reading VisionMongers over the break, It’s a great book for inspiration for just about any field were the emphasis is on creativity. Yes, it is based on photography, but I could see almost anyone finding relevance in this book. I have also been reading a few of David’s e-books, which are also a good read. It has given me a lot of ideas for my work for the upcoming new year. I know probably everyone has said something to that effect every year, so I give it about the same chance as a wounded fish around a bunch of sharks. Only time will tell.

I figured that since this is my photography blog and all, it would be pretty useless without any pictures, so here are a few that I have been working on as of recently. I have mostly been shooting a few things around home, playing in Lightroom a little, and trying to relax before school starts up again in January. The one thing I am looking forward to is shooting for the paper again, I really enjoy the challenge of deadlines and assignments.

The photo above is the result of some change in perspective stuff I have been playing around with. The bottom of the camera and lens were actually in the water on this one, shooting through a lexan window on a waterproof housing big ziploc bag. I liked the way it turned out, let me know what you think.

I have a little side project I thought of today that I think I’m going to work on before the end of the break, stay posted for more on that as I work on it a little bit.  I suppose I should back everything up now, you know, just in case… yeah, right!+

I have been enjoying this Christmas break so far, I haven’t got much done at all but I have taken a few pictures while I have been around town. I figured I should update the site at some regular interval before everyone stops reading it.

I snapped this first one of our Christmas tree, I just defocused my lens as far as I could and shot it at 1.8, it kind of looks interesting in a wierd way.  I really like how even the disks of light are.

Christmas lights out of focus at f/1.8.

Other than sitting around, I went to Atlanta a few times. I always find it interesting how fast people drive on the interstates around here. So I basically learned that its better to drive yourself to the hospital if at all possible, as cars were flying past the ambulance on the interstate while it was en route to somewhere presumably important.

Ambulance

Horses. And hay.

This last photo I put in honestly because I found it hilarious to look down the road and see two horses in front of me. The pickup truck also had a large roll of hay on the back, presumably as a snack for the horses. Its not every day you see this on the interstate… or maybe it is, depending on were you live.

I have had a lot of recent success using a couple of battery flashes to light my school’s basketball court. I have been placing the flashes at the corners of the court by the bleachers. This works best with two lights, but one works fine if you keep it to your back. The important thing is getting some light coming in from the sides instead of straight down.

Flashes at the corners of the court. They are both set at 1/4 power.

Unlike the court strobes in the ceiling of the court, these small things can’t replace the arena lighting. They do provide much more reliable and quality light, converting the nasty whatever color light to daylight. They also provide plenty of fill on the players and work great to stop the motion. the second light gives a great highlight to the ball and the edge of the players as they come in closer to the end line as well.

The flash puts some nice light on the players close in. This was with the 35 1.8. You can see what the light would look like without flash in the shadows.