Weekends ...

It started out well ... a little extra sleep, followed by a trip to the Farmers Market at KCC (Kapiolani Community  College) and then off to pick up some dry cleaning and back to the house. 

It was a super nice day here in Honolulu and there was a little surf on the North Shore at Rocky Point so I hung out there after enjoying a veggie wrap and some fresh oranges.  So what's this got to do with photo you ask?  

Have you been up to Rocky Point in the afternoon?  The sun rises behind you when you're looking at the waves, so anytime up to about 1.00pm and you're gonna score  - all you need are the surfers.  After 1.00pm the sun is around in front of you, beginning to drop its rays right toward you ... so you get nicely silhouetted surfers against correctly exposed waves or you get correctly exposed surfers and blown 

out waves!

Now, you could fix this in post. You could use your Photoshop skills or maybe even your Lightroom skills, but 

what about fixing it on scene? Problem is, most surfers are out at least 100yds, so what d'ya do?

The answer is another piece of gear. You've probably got a flash already, but it ain't gonna send light 

100yds out! But with the handy-dandy Better Beamer from Aurthur Morris at Birds at Art you CAN send 

a little fill flash out toward the surfer and get a little better result. The only problem is lining that puppy up, 

so I'll keep you posted on how well I'm doing.

I tried it on Saturday with a Canon EX580 hooked to a Dynalight JackRabbit powerpack linked to my camera using the

new Pocket Wizard TT1 and Flex TT5. Why that combo? I had a 600mm f4 lens that was giving me about

1/1250 @f5.6/ ISO 200. And any other setup would have capped my shutter @1/300th. But the Pocket 

Wizard gurus have found a way to give you synch up to 1/8000th ... and guess what - it works like a charm!

So in the next little while I'll be working to perfect this combo - so keep you eyes peeled, Until then feast

them on the shot at the top of the post and imagine getting that kind of shot, perfectly exposed and balanced 

with the sun, in the frame .... you might just be able to do it with the Better Beamer a la Strobist-style

Until the next time ...

Aloha

A long time away ...

I've been away for a while.  Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so good.  But listen, here's few thoughts, not always on topic, but hey! I own the site so it's my choice here ...

Sometimes we forget what it's like to be in need.  We are so blessed by what we have, materially, spiritually, emotionally, that we leave the notion of want, out in the distant sands of time.  We somehow get the sense that we - are enough for ourselves. Self reliant, self confident and self content we rarely miss a heartbeat when we look at one in need.  

But then there are those moments.  Y'know, the ones that sneak out from behind the garage door when no-one's looking.  They tap you on the shoulder in the middle of a cool conversation when you really don't want to be bothered, or they slide into your thinking when you're standing in the bank line, check in hand, savings deposit at the ready.  They represent an annoying sparkle of intense light amidst the the daily ordinary brightness.  They come because there remains inside of each of us an innate understanding that even if we have everything that man can buy, gather or inherit, there are still some needy people around us that can use a helping hand.

I, am a capitalist.  I enjoy the freedoms I have in this country.  I believe in the system of a republic upon which this nation was founded.  I believe in the system of working hard to receive a fair wage. I struggle with the system of welfare that will pay someone to sit on their butt and collect an income, when they could be delivering Pizza for the local Pizza joint and thus contributing their personal well being, rather than having me foot the bill for part of their unemployment check.

But today, I'm bringing a need to you along with the surf shots from a coupe of weeks ago.

Listen and watch the linked video and if you're here on O'ahu or somewhere out in the blogosphere and can help to meet this need - then thank God and join the crew.  A brother needs a little help!

Then, go here and enjoy the surf shots.  If you're anywhere in these shots.  Send me $10 for an 8 x 10, (I'll need the file number) I'll mail it back to you and the entire amount will go into the help fund for Marcio!  Deal? Awesome!  PTL!

Check out the Rocky Point Surf from March 27, 2009