mila | scott robert N me . flash

back in may i took a workshop with scott robert and i tried to practice what i learned as much as possible.  it's always easy to fall back into habits.  it's a comfort zone thing and as roberto valenzuela once said, your comfort zone is about a minute long.  but i press on.  the easiest way for me to do this is to practice on my own.  using my clients as guinea pigs for my latest experiment isn't always the best idea so kaya and curtis get the brunt of the shutter exposure.  (mm hmm.. you know it, no pun intended).


first he said "look for the light".  


and that's what i've been doing.  it's helped.  a LOT!  not that i didn't know where to look or what to look for in the past, but i ran on instinct rather than science.  it's the science that makes the doing repeatable.  and in this industry, consistency pays off.  


then he said "bring your own".  


flash can be my friend!  i'm telling you, this man can teach!  the concept of flash for some reason in the most complicated and intimidating lesson amongst my peers (unless you're matt).  after the lesson, i think i got it down!  well ... i thought i did anyway.  i figured out (at a wedding) that i needed to really practice the crap out of this and have it become second nature.  i second shot with joe photo and becker recently.  those guys were sooooo generous to let me tag along at this amazing wedding in malibu.  good thing i was only the 3rd string tag along, they showed me what i forgot to do.  i forgot the first lesson.  look for the light.  just coz i brought light didn't mean that i should "hide" the existing light.  i need to make it all work harmoniously.  practicing, trial and error and perseverance will get me there.  and so i keep on.

here's the experiment shots at the scott robert workshop.  btw... i found it easier for me to learn the lessons on my own with a group of friends rather than work under a time pressure with the models.  this was one of those lessons i really had to think about.  so ... you'll notice that i only have 1 model photo.  not because there weren't any models there.  i just opted out of using them.