So my friend Jeff Lynch over at Serious Amateur Photography has been taking some really amazing shots of wildflowers as of late, and that got me inspired to photograph some of my own. Unfortunately for me there have been winds, thunderstorms, and rain all day today making photographing out in the open a bit difficult when trying to get a small wildflower tack sharp in 20+ MPH wind.

So I did the next best thing that I could think of and went to the flower shop. Right now with Easter this weekend there are a lot of varieties of flowers to choose from. So I snagged an Orchid, Cala Lily, and a Rose from the shop and headed to the house. I lucked out and had to display boards ( the type kids use at science fairs ) and left one in its wrapping because it made a great reflective surface, and the other I unwrapped and used as a backdrop. I decided to use and old trick that Moose and Joe taught me. Which was to put the camera in Manual mode set it to 1/250th of a second and then adjust the f/stop to what I wanted. If you do this right and take a pic, you will see a black screen on your camera display because setting the camera up like this creates an almost pitch black effect.

I got the camera dialed in then broke out the flash units to give me the light I wanted. I set both my 430ex and 580ex to slave mode and put them in group C, which basically gives you a great looking fill light. From there I started clicking away and had a good couple of hours of shooting. Here is what I caught.

This Cala Lily was lit from the top left with the 580ex and I used the 430ex to bounce of the whiteboard to give some depth. I finished this in Silver Efex Pro in Lightroom 2.0. Quick and easy..

Snapped this Orchid in almost the same manor except I turn the 430ex flash and pointed it directly at the back of the Orchid to back light it.

This Rose was shot in the same manor as the Cala Lily except I threw a diffuser in front of the 580 ex flash from the top left to soften it a bit more.

All in all I had a great time shooting for a few hours, and it only cost me $10 in flowers.

UPDATE:

Here is a rough sketch of the setup for photographing the Orchid, it’s painfully obvious why I take photographs and not sketch.

What a day!!!  The NAPP Photo Safari was a great one as always, and it was a blast.  Moose and Joe worked their magic with a pair of models.   Plus the surrounding landscape lent itself to some amazing photos.  Here are a few from the day.

Hey everyone,

Well here it is. In case you haven’t seen it, this is the cover to the upcoming book. Right now I have found out that it is on Pre-order already over at Amazon.com . I think everyone is going to be very pleased with the book (I know I am). While I did talk about a lot of things in the book including what I am about to write I just wanted to take a second and thank a lot of people who made this all possible.

First up my amazing wife and daughter who stood by me on many a late night while I was typing madly. Without them pushing me forward everyday I know that this would never have gotten it done.

Next my mentor and great friend Moose Peterson . Moose believed in me and believed I could be the one to get this book out there to share with the world. He has pushed me every step of the way since the first day I met him coming up on 2 years ago in August. He has shown me what the true joy of photography is and the only way I know how to repay him is to keep pushing the boundaries of photography and take the lessons he has taught me and pass them on to the next person who is eager to learn. A lot of what you see in this book was inspired by him and the lessons he taught me.

To my good friend Joe McNally who’s mastery of light inspired me to see if I could create light were there was none and tell a story. He has been a guide through many a time and his words of wisdom to me (including the quotes from Monty Python) have helped inspire me.

To Joe Sliger "The Adobe Master" you have sparked a lot of creativity both behind the camera and at the computer. I say without hesitation, some of the effects in the book are inspired by you and your amazing eye for detail. Thank you for being a great friend.

To my friends over at Nik Software , without those guys I would have no software to write about. Especially Sean and Josh who took the time to sit down and go through every aspect of every program with me (I owe you guys).

The list goes on and on: My great friends Brad , Laurie , Kevin D. , Kevin M. , Jeff, and Misty …

However, I would especially would like to extend a personal thanks to the amazing folks who I have got to meet at DLWS and Basecamp events. This book is for you and to help spark your imagination I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 Ok, so don’t stop them literally, but I have always wanted to say that.  Anyhow; If you want to see the world thorugh the eye’s of an amazing photographer have I got a book for you.  I would like to annouce that Joe McNally’s book “The Moment It Clicks” is available at Amazon.com.  My copy arrived last night and I didn’t put the book down until 3am this morning.  It is an amazing journey into the world of photography through Joe’s eyes and every minute of it was great.  I very honored to call Joe my friend and wish him all the best on the book’s release. 

Cover image from Peachpit Press

 Update:  Ok, so if it wasn’t great enough that the book is available for your reading enjoyment there is now even more tantalizing tidbits for you to enjoy.  Just now Joe launched his blog!!!  That’s right now you can get daily doses of Joe from his blog.  So head over there and give it a look, RIGHT NOW!

Update of the Update:  So with all the excitment I forgot to mention something, I’m in Joe’s book! That’s right, I have a couples images in the opening of the book and then the Chapter 2 opener page, the image of Joe flying with the Lastolite panels is also one of the many moments I have caught Joe in a compromising postition.   Hope you enjoy the images and the book.