Weekend of Shooting, Driving and Redbulls

I did 2 photo shoots last weekend. 2 entirely different shoots. First one with Strobist Ann Arbor group on Saturday. This was set in Detroit in a decayed mansion (I think it was a mansion!). No power outlets, no restrooms, no air conditioner and sometimes no floor ..no kidding :). It was a blast though! Along with cameras, lights and models photographer also had to be aware of situation of the location itself. Mark and I setup our White Lightning on Vegabond batteries and started shooting. BTW I'm seriously impressed by performance of Vegabond II. Anyone looking forward to buy that, "Do it now!" It's totally worth what it costs. We also did some outdoor photos and the wind wasn't helping to say the least.

Some photos from this shoot:








The second shoot was in Lexington, Mich. Originally planned as Olympus shoot, just resulted in Cindy and I shooting, because of Father's day. This was one of those times, where nature is too kind towards you and throws in all sorts of drama! First it was sunny but dull. Then out of nowhere a stream of misty fog covered the Marina creating entirely different look. As the mist slowly cleared out the sunshine was back again, sun took his time going down the horizon. Again a magical look. It was ecstatic. I had a chance to field test my Pana-Leica PL25 lens. I had heard all sorts of complaints, it missing the target in AF mode and that it didn't have any magical quality etc.. To me at least all that proved to be a myth. I found the magical quality I was looking for and the AF was spot on. The flower and fishing portrait were taken in AF mode (also first portrait during Saturday's shoot), wide open at f/1.4. To my eyes they are magical. I pixel-peeped to my heart's content and totally satisfied with this lens.














I drove around 600 miles driving that's not much if just numbers were to be considered, but when combined with 20 hours of shooting and carrying gear.. makes it considerable for me. On my way back from Lexington, I had 2 Redbulls, instead of one, So couldn't sleep all night Sunday so fought hard to stay awake on Monday at work :D. I feel at the end of it all, the photos turned out nice and the temporary discomfort doesn't come into picture at all. Oh yes, this week is dedicated for a step which is totally out of my comfort zone... I call it Painful Processing, widely known as Post-Processing. I can rush most Landscape shots through Lightroom Presets.. for portraits I will have to go to CS4. Hope to get through this fast :D.