Dr. Girlfriend's Hair
Just to prove that I am, in fact, taking photos and not just talking about it, here is an image I shot tonight in my apartment while playing around with my Alien Bee B800 which I just purchased. So far the my Bee is everything that the forums say it should be – cheap, reliable, and a great bargain. Another great thing about the Alien Bees is their radio trigger system – the low end comes in at about $80 for one transmitter and one receiver – which is a hell of a lot cheaper than the Pocket Wizards, which will set you back about $188 each for a transceiver (which acts as both a transmitter and receiver) I’m still learning, and since I have four lights to work with in the studio in the office, it is a challenge to utilize only one here at home. I took about 100 shots, and this one is the only one that really stands out.
The thing that I have to keep reminding myself is that even though I’m getting paid to do this at work, I’m still a beginner, and I’m going to be working hard for a long time to get where I want to be. I’m trying not to get bogged down with either the technical aspects, or by trying to force a creative voice. Rather, I’m trying to find a good balance between the two as I figure out how this works. The only thing that I’ve tried to do is to make sure I’m not falling into the traps that college students fall into (myself included, back in the day) – which is to shoot brooding and overly dramatic cheese-ball crap, as opposed to dramatic images that are compositionally and emotionally strong. It’s a slim line, I know, but considering some of the stuff I shot in college…yeesh.
135mm, f2.0 – click to enlarge
4 Responses to “Dr. Girlfriend's Hair”
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The important question is did you get the Alien Bee in Martian Pink or Mello Yellow?
I’ve always liked your photography (especially the urban decay stuff). And though I’m not an art critic (although I play one on TV), but I really like this picture of Xina. Nice job.
I toyed with getting the green Alien Bee, but then decided that the black was ultimately more professional. Don’t be fooled by the colors, these are good lights. And Tim, the urban decay stuff that I’ve posted in the past is the work of other photographers, not me. But thanks!
I thought you had a few of your own around the apartment. There was that one with the big iron ball, I think. Maybe I’ve just been hanging out with the wrong artist.