The winter blues

Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take

Inspiration comes from many sources. 

Currently "The greatest Showman" is uplifting my spirits.  
Not just as a visual medium, but also the theory.  Theory is important to me. 

There is a fire in my belly.  To show you what I can already see.

The skill set is not yet completed, I have set my bar sky high. 

I have the vision, I have the inspiration, I have the theory.

I need the repetition, the practical, to push buttons and dance with light. 

A million dreams is all it's gonna take

I am slowly warming to the idea of family photo's.

I have always thought of family photo's as large groups.  

Large groups are exponentially harder to control.  Both in terms of light and pose.

When I first started out, it always led to compromising some of my values and it had to be 'what it is'. 

Now I am a little more experienced, the light does what it is told on a more regular basis, and embracing the character of subjects can be a delightful experience in itself.  

I still have that picture in my head, but the compromise from that goal is something I inevitably accept.

And that is OK. 

Different does not mean it is wrong.  Different, is well, just different. 

(Damn Asperger trait again)

I am seeing a flow through of my experimental stuff in commercially viable material now. 

The inverse law, 'gel'ing' the lights, rim lighting, key and fill.  

The financial outlay in equipment is paying dividends.  

The light is more reliable, more powerful, and portable.

One less excuse for compromise.

I still cant quite predict the outcome before I hit that shutter button.  But that time will come. 

The light trials at home continue.  

It was a big shot in the dark with Mikayla.   Uncontrolled light.

Recently my son was given laser party lights for his birthday. 

A happy coincidence engineered that it may have photographic applications.

I knew it would be a technical nightmare.  

Suck in the ambient light, ensure there were no 'hot spots', and then balance the exposure with flash. 

With no standard to set colour balance (black isnt black, and neither was white), it was a shot in the dark (and it is damned hard focusing at f/1.4 in the dark)

I have to say I am pleased with the results.   

Already I see how I can make them 'better'.  To appease the 5% who are photographers.

The next incarnation will bring in more lights.  

Lights to balance the frame, rim lights to isolate the subject, lights to gel the black.

This is not about photoshop. Applying filters or colour grading.

It is about the photography. To push limits 'in camera', problem solve and improve the skill set.

Photoshop is to polish an image, not to create it. 

I am a photographer, not a digital graphic artist. 

What you see is real.  The skills that are honed are transferable and repeatable.

From my lounge floor, to the wedding dance floor.  

Its always about the journey, the destination is undetermined. 

And of course there are always improvement to pose and engagement with the viewer.

That is part of the journey, refining, improving. 

Good is good.  Great is better.

The fortnightly trip to the local greyhound track continues.

It still alternates between the sublime and the 'dum dog' moments. 

I am being drawn into the culture.  Old 'Wheel chair Norm' is sitting on 96 wins.

I so want to be there when that grey bearded veteran hits 100.

The 'buzz' of a good shot stills resides, but as they become more frequent, the endorphin rush is not as great. 

Like a junkie I want to push it further.

It will be a fine line between producing commercial safe shots and attempting that 'perfect' shot. 

I know I need to compress that depth of field with the zoom (I already shoot at f/2.8), perhaps get closer without annoying the TAB.

Timing is almost impossible, they are too damn quick.

But the theory is sound.  Just like rodeo.  Jump click kick. (Well opposite lol)

Not easy with 1/2 a second to play with. 

Small steps, I am paid to do a job. 

I am eternally grateful to Dave Robbie for the opportunity.

It is paying for my 5dmk4.

But more than that, greyhounds gives me time to think away from the interweb.

To ponder and plan.  Fight the frustration of not doing more stuff. 

It gives me some Timmy time.  Something I have never quite mastered. 

They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
They can say, they can say I've lost my mind
I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy

We can live in a world that we design