Last weekend, I went to Deep Creek Lake with several amazing people to film our next season of TheMooMoe. Check it out because it's ridiculous.
Because it's April now and the trees are blooming, it snowed the whole weekend. And I was finally able to to what I had been unable to do most of the winter - practice taking fun portraits of people in the snow.
Off-camera flash is an art of which I have wanted to develop greater mastery for some time now. Natural light portraiture is an adventure because one is constantly looking to find a great scene, a great story written in sunbeams and shadows. With off-camera flash, one can create whatever scene they dream up.
The past month has offered several chances to jump in and experiment. I'm quite happy with the results of the weekend, using the sun as one light source and my flash as another.
I finally have learned how to use my wireless radio triggers. It's been a lot of troubleshooting over the years because I'm one of those people who usually doesn't read the manual. Actually, I think I tried the manual, but the English translation of the original language made approximately zero sense. I digress. Lessons Learned:
- Shutter speed: less than 1/250 of a second.
- Batteries: charged and ready in the flash, the receiver, and the transmitter units (Finally got all three this weekend. Sheesh).
- Light Stand: ballasted with a sandbag because the wind is going to knock the umbrella over. Even if there is no wind.
Get outside and practice your craft. Make mistakes. Learn from them. Repeat. Enjoy. Celebrate the successes. Eat a really large pizza at 4 AM. Sleep. Get up. Keep winning.
