Homecoming - The Dance....

jeffreaux2 · October 24, 2009

My youngest haaates being in front of a camera!!! Today she threw me a few curveballs that got me out of sorts with my gear and shooting, but.....I think....that after all these years.....I was able to "hit the curveball". Lord knows shes given me enough practice at this!

In any event, this is our last homecoming dance. The caboose will graduate high school in May. Just another of a string of bittersweetness we will be experiencing with her this school year.

So.....I thought Id share a few snapshots from todays goings ons....

All shot with 50D and either the 50mm F1.4 or 17-55F2.8 lens. Some natural light. Some shoe mounted flash. Some with a 45 inch umbrella and flash. Gels....no gels....you name it!

1- Jodie has created some seriously great looking hair-do's for Breanna over the years. I decided to get in on things early and drop by the salon while they were working on things.....

2-

3-

4- ...and now...I guess we are getting presentable at the opposite end...:wink

5- Watching the clock....

6-With her date at his parent's home.

7-...then on to meet up with others at a friends home...

8-

9-

10-

11-

12-

divamum · October 25, 2009

Is it my imagination, or has your young lady been with the same beau for a couple of years now? Your daughters always look so beautiful for the formals - y'all sure know how to go to a dance down there! 10 is fun (nice to see the "wedding shot" used in a different context), but I find I'm noticing the clipped fingers on the right....

Lovely set, as always

Elaine · October 25, 2009

Just as your older daughter, she is stunning. And I recognize the young man as well!
I'm loving 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12. The light, colors and textures in 9 are so appealing.
Gorgeous set!

ivar · October 25, 2009

divamum wrote:

Is it my imagination, or has your young lady been with the same beau for a couple of years now?

Either that, or everyone looks very familiar there? I thought I recognized him from something....

Love the set, Jeff

Ed911 · October 25, 2009

Really nice set Jeff...one thing for sure...very few of her peers will have their lives documented with such wonderful photography. Your post processing is spot on. It's just right. Your daughter is lovely.

Congratulations on your daughter's graduation. Been there done that, now trying to get the last one out of college.

...Thanks for sharing.

ian408 · October 25, 2009

Very nice set. I bet your daughter likes them too

jeffreaux2 · October 25, 2009

divamum wrote:

Is it my imagination, or has your young lady been with the same beau for a couple of years now? Your daughters always look so beautiful for the formals - y'all sure know how to go to a dance down there! 10 is fun (nice to see the "wedding shot" used in a different context), but I find I'm noticing the clipped fingers on the right....

Lovely set, as always <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Good catch!!!

You remember him from a few other dances like.....

Last years homecoming...

...and Proms...

They met on a mission trip summer before last that I had shared on Dgrin before.....

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adbsgicom · October 25, 2009

Wow. 3/7/10 for me but across the board, wow.

divamum · October 25, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Good catch!!!

You remember him from a few other dances like.....

Last year's homecoming...

Yup - this is the shot I remember!

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

Elaine wrote:

Just as your older daughter, she is stunning. And I recognize the young man as well!
I'm loving 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12. The light, colors and textures in 9 are so appealing.
Gorgeous set!

Thanks Elaine for your kind comments.

Of these, 7 and 8 used a shoot through umbrella via the STE2. 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12 used shoe mounted flash. The remainder were existing light. I used a CTO gel on #6. CTB on 7 and 8. On the other outdoor flashed shots I used a darker CTB gel than I normally use since the one I prefer was on the flash mounted to the light stand. With this darker one I chose to only cover about 2/3 of the flash lens.

Just thought you might be curious....:D

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

Ed911 wrote:

Really nice set Jeff...one thing for sure...very few of her peers will have their lives documented with such wonderful photography. Your post processing is spot on. It's just right. Your daughter is lovely.

Congratulations on your daughter's graduation. Been there done that, now trying to get the last one out of college. ...Thanks for sharing.

I appreciate the comments Ed. One thing is for sure .....THIS.... is exactly the type of event that initiated me to delve deep into digital photography. I do shoot for other folks....but capturing my kids on days like this is where my roots are!

Thanks again.

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

adbsgicom wrote:

Wow. 3/7/10 for me but across the board, wow.

Thanks Andrew!!!

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

divamum wrote:

Yup - this is the shot I remember!

Ahhhh.....and that is one of a very few shots that I have done with more than a single flash.

adbsgicom · October 26, 2009

Jeff, thanks for the gelling info. It really helps see how it gets used and the net result one should expect if you do it right.

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

adbsgicom wrote:

Jeff, thanks for the gelling info. It really helps see how it gets used and the net result one should expect if you do it right.

No problem....

BTW....it isn't exactly rocket science. In fact In the indoor shot whereI used a cto, I could have just as easily went with a bare flash and simply under exposed some to cancel out any contribution of the incandescents in the house. Thats ALL daylight behind them....so it would have looked completely different.....Warm throughout the frame rather than warm with something a bit cooler behind them.

Partially covering the flash lens with a darker CTB gel than I am used to using in the outdoor shots was purely an educated guess.

.....but it worked a charm!:D

adbsgicom · October 26, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

No problem....

BTW....it isn't exactly rocket science. In fact In the indoor shot whereI used a cto, I could have just as easily went with a bare flash and simply under exposed some to cancel out any contribution of the incandescents in the house. Thats ALL daylight behind them....so it would have looked completely different.....Warm throughout the frame rather than warm with something a bit cooler behind them.

Partially covering the flash lens with a darker CTB gel than I am used to using in the outdoor shots was purely an educated guess. .....but it worked a charm!:D

Most photogs I know around here don't seem to use gels. Local camera store only sells some blue. When I asked about CTO they said photographers don't use CTO (this didn't mean they carried CTS either) and suggested I look at a video production store in South Austin. So, needless to say, the gel thing is very new to me, but I had (what I thought) was some good success in my last post with using 1/2 CTB on some back-lit sun shots done mid-day. I just need to get that (and a 1000 other things) into my automatic work flow.

divamum · October 26, 2009

adbsgicom wrote:

Most photogs I know around here don't seem to use gels. Local camera store only sells some blue. When I asked about CTO they said photographers don't use CTO (this didn't mean they carried CTS either) and suggested I look at a video production store in South Austin. So, needless to say, the gel thing is very new to me, but I had (what I thought) was some good success in my last post with using 1/2 CTB on some back-lit sun shots done mid-day. I just need to get that (and a 1000 other things) into my automatic work flow.

Andrew: find your local theatrical lighting store/rental company (look in the yellow pages - there will likely be several). Call them and ask them if they have any rosco gel swatchbooks - they almost certainly will. These are FREE swatches of gels, and they're almost exactly the right size to cover a flash head

Yes, the stickies and the ones with a filter holder are probably nicer, but for free (and readily available) the swatchbooks make a great solution

I actually laminated mine because I had time on my hands when I did them - they've held up just fine!

See post #16 in this thread

adbsgicom · October 26, 2009

divamum wrote:

Andrew: find your local theatrical lighting store/rental company (look in the yellow pages - there will likely be several). Call them and ask them if they have any rosco gel swatchbooks - they almost certainly will. These are FREE swatches of gels, and they're almost exactly the right size to cover a flash head Yes, the stickies and the ones with a filter holder are probably nicer, but for free (and readily available) the swatchbooks make a great solution

I actually laminated mine because I had time on my hands when I did them - they've held up just fine!

See post #16 in this thread

Thanks for the tip. I padded my last B&H order with some CTS and got the blue at the camera store and sliced them up manually (wife's scrapbooking slicer works well). Laminating... what a great idea....

jeffreaux2 · October 26, 2009

adbsgicom wrote:

Most photogs I know around here don't seem to use gels. Local camera store only sells some blue. When I asked about CTO they said photographers don't use CTO (this didn't mean they carried CTS either) and suggested I look at a video production store in South Austin. So, needless to say, the gel thing is very new to me, but I had (what I thought) was some good success in my last post with using 1/2 CTB on some back-lit sun shots done mid-day. I just need to get that (and a 1000 other things) into my automatic work flow.

Ive used the Phoxle Flashmatch gels for quite awhile now. They are self adhesive (think- stickynotes) and reusable. Ive been on my original set for nearly two years, and the lightest of the blues and darkest of the oranges have both seen a lot OF USE. Maybe 3000 to 4000 shots on the blue one. I will be reordering soon, but taking into account that I routinely remove the gel from the flash and stick it ....anywhere...like on the stand or back of the flash when I dont need it....thats a pretty good life. The gels are precut to fit popular flash units. The set has a holder on a lanyard and includes a couple different CTB, and 3 (I think?) CTO filters. Its been a solid product for me. Chris....the owner of Phoxle....is also a dgrin memeber and is a stand up...and knowledgeable guy.

I tried cutting and trimming gels.....storing them.....etc. Having it all in a kit is easy peasy!

.....oh.....I am able to use these with my GF lightsphere by attatching the gel after putting the sphere on the flash but before snapping on the lid. I cannot use it with a stofen diffuser. The gels have a non adhesive flap to assist in removing from the flash that makes use with the stofen cumbersome.

This sells....I think for about $40 a set. Ill be ordering two sets soon.:D

jeffreaux2 · October 28, 2009

ivar wrote:

Either that, or everyone looks very familiar there? I thought I recognized him from something....

Love the set, Jeff

Thanks....

On the recognition I think it is because his looks are pretty distinctive.....and he has been in "people" before.

jeffreaux2 · October 28, 2009

ian408 wrote:

Very nice set. I bet your daughter likes them too

Hey Ian. I dig the new avatar!!!

She was at least pleased enough to add a handfull to her facebook. Thats gotta count for something....huh?

jeffreaux2 · October 28, 2009

ian408 · October 28, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Hey Ian. I dig the new avatar!!!

She was at least pleased enough to add a handfull to her facebook. Thats gotta count for something....huh?

Why thanks!

FB counts for a lot these days.

Mitchell · October 28, 2009

Fantastic all around.

Thanks for sharing these family moments, Jeff.

jeffreaux2 · October 29, 2009

Mitchell wrote:

Fantastic all around.

Thanks for sharing these family moments, Jeff.

Hey Mitchell.....thanks!

Shima · November 6, 2009

Nice to see you putting my old 50 to good use! (though I guess we should call it Andy's old 50, I did mention that Andy owned it before me, right? hehe)

Crazy how fast they grow up. I don't have any children yet, but we got another kitten a few weeks ago and they grow insanely fast (as did all my other pets when they were youngin's) Hopefully another couple years and I'll have little kids to start photographing too

(but not yet)

jeffreaux2 · November 6, 2009

Shima wrote:

Nice to see you putting my old 50 to good use! (though I guess we should call it Andy's old 50, I did mention that Andy owned it before me, right? hehe)

Crazy how fast they grow up. I don't have any children yet, but we got another kitten a few weeks ago and they grow insanely fast (as did all my other pets when they were youngin's) Hopefully another couple years and I'll have little kids to start photographing too (but not yet)

Yeah yeah....I know this lens has a storied past, but it is still enjoyable to use. It is my slowest focuser....and I find myself waiting....and waiting...at times, but the results are usually superb.

They do grow up too fast. Huge life changes will take place soon in my household. Never woulda thought Id be an empty nester at 42.

Her lack of love of being photographed is overshadowed by the fact that even though she is our youngest, she is our most responsible....of the three. Yesterday, she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed". We are very proud of her.

Homecoming - The Dance....

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