Scott O. Smith Photoblog

I had a great time on a mini-photowalk with Ann Torrence this week. We shot inside a Catholic church that I will be blogging about next week. I met Ann at our first PhotowalkingUtah event almost 18 months ago. Since then we have been on many outings together. I really enjoy her work and consider her a great photographer and friend. You can check out her work on her blog at www.anntorrence.com.

The pictures below were taken through a wooden lattice on a platform inside the church.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 2.5 seconds * f/7.1

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1.6 seconds * f/7.1

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/125 second * f/9.0

What do you get when you setup your studio in the game room? Crazy guitar hero kids.  I’m not quite sure where they get all their energy from this time of night but we all had a blast.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/125 second * f/9.0

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/125 second * f/9.0

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/125 second * f/9.0

Saturday was our annual Studio Lighting event held in Draper Utah.  I missed last years event so I was pretty excited to attend this one, and I have to say I had an absolute blast.  I’m always amazed at other photogs and their willingness to share and instruct.  I spent a good portion of my time talking face to face with people I associate with on Twitter and Facebook and checking in on my daughter and her friend who were models.  The models below are my daughter (green sweater) and her friend Mady, they had a blast and are excited to help out next time

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 200 * 1/80 second * f/4.0

I heard many photogs say this event was just what they needed to give their photography a boost.  The volunteers provided all the eqiupment plus they manned their booths assisting and answering questions.  The models worked extra hard as well with little or no breaks.  I applaud Rich Legg and many many others for giving up so much of their time to help others improve their photography.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 200 * 1/80 second * f/4.0

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 200 * 1/80 second * f/4.0

Be sure to check out all the photos here.

Canon 40D * EF-70-200mm f/4L * ISO 100 * 1/1000 second * f/4.0

As I parked my car at work today I heard the sound of this Mourning Dove perched on a power pole above my car. I was immediately taken back to my youth growing up on our farm.  Just about daily as I would be out at the crack of dawn or late in the evening changing water I could always count on hearing one.  I was thankful this morning for the brief distraction that allowed me to reflect on a few good memories and to capture this image.

Do you have sounds or smells that trigger memories from the past?

Mourning Dove Soundbite

Today’s photos are just a few of my favorites from my latest photoshoot of Jaidyn.  Jaidyn was probably the best model I’ve shot so far, other than her bathroom accident on a blanket she was a trooper to work with.

I was excited to try out my new Canon 580EX II speedlight.  For my setup I used a Canon 430EX speedlight with a shoot through umbrella set to slave and a 580EX II on camera set to master with a ratio of 1:4.  I wanted to utilize E-TTL so I could focus on the baby and and not worry about the lighting, in this type of environment it worked flawlessly.  I used a mix of bounced light and the shoot through umbrella for this session.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 400 * 1/60 second * f/4.0

Just one of the many images I took from a recent newborn photo shoot of seven day old Jaidyn.  Of the 400+ photos taken there were just three where she had her eyes open.  Check back soon for my favorites.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/200 second * f/9.0

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/200 second * f/9.0

About a week ago my sister-in-law came over for a maternity shoot.  She didn’t want the normal shots of a belly that you always see so we came up with the idea above.  We used one of my daughters dress ups to create the lace silhouette.  K is holding it from the top and bottom.  We ended up picking this photo because K and I liked how her stomach is barely visible near the bottom of the photo.  Looking back I would have tried to keep the material off the skin more to avoid the dark shadows but all-in-all we were both pleased.  I’m planning removing the dark shadow at the top of the photo.  I will be posting more of my favorites this week as I get time to process them.

K delivered her baby six days later, a healthy six pound girl.  I’m excited to shoot her this weekend, I have a few creative lighting ideas I want to try.

Canon 40D * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/200 second * f/9.0