the other day, while i was working late, my bettter half was fiddling with the two cameras i use. he said that one of them has more than double the rated shutter actuations and the other was maybe twenty thousand over. ya, i've got two photographic volvos. not sure what i'll do when they give up from overuse. he says not to worry, it's what they're for.
he was trying to program in some settings thinking it would make it easier for me to shoot with them. he's a tech geek that way, gets all excited about electronics and camera gear and computers, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
all i want, is to do what i do, with my basic understanding of how the camera works, and it doesn't bother me to turn the dials or widgets or whatever it is to make it work. when he tries to explain something new he's discovered or read about, i can only take so much before i have a mini implosion. i'm sorry, but i have to be open to learning that stuff, and i can only take so much.
he knows that at some future point, i'll come back and ask again for him to explain how the flashes/off camera lights work again, but it will have to be when i'm ready and i ask.
anyway, my kid wanted me to shoot some pictures of himself with his girlfriend and his new puppy. depending on the time of day, i might need to fiddle with an off camera lighting setup of some sort. my better half said early morning or late evening is best for portraits, and started explaining using a one light setup, then if i needed another light...and i finally broke, and went aaaaaaahhhhhhhhrrrrrrr!!!! just wanted to keep it simple. dealing with a puppy, i was going to have to go with the flow, and his attention span and nap times. and i can never get the lights to work right half the time.
i ended up out there late in the afternoon. harsher shadows. i tried using one light, but didn't get it in close enough. they wanted the background. he was happy with the pictures. next time, i'll have to move in closer. then maybe the flash will be more useful.
here's one of the pictures from that day. i don't do portraits. i do cars. i don't have to pose them, or get them to smile or hold still. they make me happy.
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here's another car from the uptown show. was it random or purposely planned to park in front of a restaurant painted the same color? at least the blue truck breaks up the monotone of it all.
turns out it was the second show, that jae bueno, of low rider magazine fame, has been at while i was also in attendance. he's been a flickr contact for a while now. i still haven't knowingly run into him; more likely i was probably doing my tuned out, looking at the cars only thing. apparently my better half had spoken to him at a show a year or two ago. here's jae's version of the car, so i know he was there.