'Who's the Better Bolwer?'

Jack and Joyce Holland have shared a love of bowling and for each other for decades. They were gracious enough to share some of their story with me and my fellow photojournalism students -- Caitlyn Emmett, Tim Rice and Naomi Stevens.

Multiple Flash

Attempt No. 1

Attempt No. 2
Nicolette Boese, 20, a senior majoring in dance at Stevens College, poses in one of the school's dance studios in Columbia, Mo., Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. Boese says she prefers modern dance because it allows her to express her emotions. She wants to find work as a choreographer after graduation.



The key light (dynolight with umbrella) was placed ¾ front right of the subject with a rim light (dynolight with umbrella) ¾ back right and a fill light (dynolight with umbrella) ¾ front left. The rim and fill lights created the cross light we talked about in class. These two lights used half the power of the key light. At first the fill light was too bright, so we moved it further from the subject and then bounced it off a reflector.


I made a few face shots, and I like this one. There’s energy in her eyes, an element missing from the full-body shot. However, I’m not sure the fill light was firing. The rim light was working, but I don’t see it hitting her hair. So, this may be a one-strobe shot and, thus, does not fulfill the requirement of using multiple flashes for this assignment.

This was my first time using the dynolights on location, and I found it be much like working in the studio. I liked the assignment and was really starting to “feel it” at the end. Yet, I stopped too short. I could have ridden that creative wave a bit longer.

Fill-Balance

Auto technician Wayne Rotterman looks under a 2004 Chevy Cavalier at All-Star Automotive in Columbia, Mo., Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. There's a hole in the oil pan and Rotterman says the engine will have to be replaced.

I spent time at the shop while the oil was being changed in my Jeep Wrangler. It seemed like the perfect place to experiment with balancing indoor/outdoor light. I chose the above photo because, while the tire on the left is hot, we see quite a bit outside the garage door and I like Rotterman's expression.


Here's a closer look at Rotterman's face. I like this image because I tried to make the flash mimic the light hanging from the bottom of the vehicle. However, we don't see enough of the outdoors to fill the requirements of this assignment for class.


In the efforts of full disclosure, here's my Jeep, Daisy, as auto technician Charlie Leon changes her oil. I exposed for the outdoors and bounced a flash off the ceiling.

Color Correction

Laurie Andrews, 25, (left) helps Terri Britt, 5, and Makya Britt, 7, while an unidentified child laughs during craft time at the Blind Boone Community Activity Center in Columbia on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Andrews is part of a group from Karis Community Church that volunteers at the center once a month.

I chose to visit the Blind Boone center twice for this assignment. The first time, I made green photos because I misjudged the lighting as being fluorescent, so I set my camera to fluorescent white balance and used a green gel on the flash. I also did not find many moments.

Upon my second visit, I tried a combination of green and orange gels, but I found that setting my camera to tungsten white balance and using an orange gel worked best. The above photo is straight from the camera. No crop. No adjustment in Photoshop.

The below photo is a nice moment, but the flash (connected to the camera body with a cord) did not fire! Ah, the joys of learning to use light.


Ryan Wagner of Karis Community Church (right) colors alongside Chaquan McClain, 6, at the Blind Boone Community Activity Center in Columbia, Mo., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.

Painting with Light

A ghost appears to be driving a tractor in a haunted field of hay 10 miles east of Columbia, Mo., in October 2009.

Out ghost is played by Erin Hendry, who released her inner horror actress during our shoot. We lit the tractor with several repeated gelled strobes and strobed Erin in white, as you can see. We chose an ISO of 200 and an aperture of f/8.0 on the bulb setting. While my team (Erin Hendry, Christina Manolis and Preston Guerra) and I turned in the above for our assignment in Advanced Photojournalism Techniques, we also made the following photos. Kudoes to my teammates. As you can see, we had a blast!

The Lone Flash

Ruth Brumitt, 88, and her husband, 82, consider themselves "newlyweds." The octogenarians married four years ago and live on Ruth's farm 10 miles east of Columbia, Mo. Both Christians, they attend separate church services on Sunday mornings. However, on Sunday nights, they go to Ruth's Rising Sun Baptist Church for Bible study.

I bounced the flash off the low ceiling of the fellowship hall, which had fluorescent lights. Exposure: ISO 200, f2.8, 1/125, daylight white balance.

This is not a great moment. I confess I was so worried about the technical aspects of using a strobe that I did not pay attention to the "real photography" of it all. I plan to spend more time with Ruth and Raymond. Hopefully I will have my eyes open for better photos.


Jim Thaxter waltzes with Marcie McGuire during a bi-monthly meeting of the Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers. The group hosted a contra dance - where participants form two long lines and face each other - at the First Christian Church in Columbia on Friday, Oct. 16, 2009.

This was my first attempt at using a flash for this assignment. I did not realize the camera, a borrowed Nikon D3, was set for -2.5 exposure. I realized this AFTER my shoot.

The participants danced in an open gym area -- high ceiling with fluorescent lights. I wore a white shirt and made several attempts to bounce the light off my shirt, since there was no immediate wall or ceiling upon which to bounce the light. This shot was made with direct flash: ISO 200, f2.8, 1/250, daylight white balance.

Terribly underexposed, I learned quite a bit about flash and cameras during this assignment. Hope to learn how to blend light and only use flash to supplement, not fully supply, light in a given situation.

Metal and Glass

This assignment could be called "metal and pumpkins." (My classmate and lab partner, Alex Browning, took the glass half of this assignment. Check out her new fish: Bob, Marley and Ziggy.)

What I learned: Pumpkins reflect light.

My first try, was with three knives. I determined the placement for a different light source for each knife, and used a green light from the back of the pumpkin to light the stem. However, the resulting photos were flat. There was no definition of the edge of each knife. (Alex was a fabulous help with this effort. She moved equipment and connected, disconnected strobes as needed.)

Looking at my take, I wanted to go back into the studio. This time around, I tried to bring attention to the sharp edge of the knife by 1) determining the family of angles with a flashlight, 2) placing a long, thin light box accordingly and 3) blocking everything but the edge of the knife's light source with a large piece of cardboard. There are two other light sources in my final photo: a soft box at half the power of the knife light to the left of the camera, and a green gelled strobe at half the power of the knife light facing the back of the pumpkin. The resulting photo is a bit under exposed. I would troubleshoot this next time.