Coyotes from Row A

I turned 60 on December 15^th.  And I’m feeling pretty good and happy.  I’m a hockey fan and always wanted to sit on the glass, Row “A” as they call it at the Jobing.com arena in Glendale, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. 

So on December 14, I sat in the front row with Marni and Faron along with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 24-105mm lens. 

I set my camera to TV mode, or shutter priority.  I set my shutter at 1/500^th of a second.  I also set ISO to auto.  Unless you want blur on purpose, a fast shutter speed is necessary.  I could have set my white balance in camera, but I reset in Lightroom to fluorescent since I was shooting in RAW format.  It takes maybe a second to highlight all the photos and sync the white balance for everything, so I don’t worry about that much. 

You never know what celebrity might be in the audience.  Sitting several rows behind me in section 110 was the coach of the Paradise Valley Community College Puma’s baseball team, Victor Solis.  Dropping the ceremonial puck today was Arizona Diamondbacks slugging first basemen Paul Goldschmidt. 

One little lesson I learned.  As I was moving around in row A, I set my beer on the ledge in front of me, got ready to shoot, and yes some players banged into the glass in front of me.  I thought something felt cold on my feet.  Yup, one beer on the floor in front of me.  Hey, I’m the birthday boy and I’m sittin’ in ROW A baby, so who cares!

In addition to Marni and Faron, a special thanks to Haus Murphy’s of Glendale.  The owner came out and bought me a beer and gave me a free cherry strudel before the game.  And a nice bartender at Westgate’s Saddle Ranch bought me a shot of rum before the game started.  No wonder I was relaxed at the game! 

By the way, the Coyotes lost 3 to 1 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Keep Shooting,

Jim Patterson

…and all of my photos from Row A at the Coyotes are below.

Model Photography in Phoenix with Canon

 

Tough Girl Shonda!

I had the fun privilege of taking a Canon Speedlite flash photography class Sunday 8 December 2013 in Phoenix. 

Glamour Kimberly

I’m totally a Canon guy.  Because I am not a fulltime photographer and because I am a college professor and teach Photoshop, I like to take any opportunity I can to learn from other people.  Jeff Greene was the instructor and gave the small class a bit of lecture and a whole lot of time to work with local models Kimberly, Tarah, and Shonda.  That’s the way I like it.  The only way you really learn this stuff is by doing. 

Tarah

I already own the Canon 600ex-rt Speedlite, the top of the line flash for Canon.  I just needed more practice.  I used one light, one light bounce, two, and even three Speedlites using radio transmission and optical wireless to fire the flash units. 

Shonda

Toward the end of the workshop, everybody got silly and the girls decided to pose with cameras.  CAREFUL!

Shonda and Kimberly Goofing Around

I post edited the work using Lightroom 5 and on a few of the shots, I also used Perfect Portrait 8 to enhance the eyes and mouth and smooth the skin.

Thanks again to Canon, Jeff Greene, and the three gracious models Kimberly, Tarah, and Shonda!

Happy Shooting,

Jim Patterson

Here are all the photos I shot of the wonderful models…

Hoop Dancers Visit PVCC

Paradise Valley Community College played host to six time hoop dance champion Derrick Suwaima Davis and company on Thursday 7 November 2013.  

Suwaima, who represents the Hopi and Choctaw Nations, started and directs his inter-tribal dance group, The Living Traditions Dance Troupe.  

He also serves as artistic director and choreographer for Native Trails presented by Fort McDowell Yavapi Nation and produced by the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.  

I photographed their visit with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 600EX-RT (hand held) for fill flash. I edited photos using Lightroom 5.

Jim Patterson

Here are all of my photos from the hoop dancers!

Phoenix Halloween Lighting by Manfrotto

The little ones showed up in force at our north Phoenix home on 31 October 2013.  

I decided to photograph them with my Canon 5D Mark III and for the first time, use the Manfrotto ML360 LED light.  It is pretty light weight with 36 little LED's.  It takes four AAA batteries.  You can also adjust the amount of light with a dial.  And, you can attach it to your camera's hot shoe lengthwise or widthwise.  

I just checked with B&H and they list it at $119.  I'd say an inexpensive way to experiment with LED continuos lights.  

For this, I held the light in my left hand and ran my camera with my right hand.    

It's a pretty bright light I found out and some of the youngsters didn't like having that in their eyes.  I don't think a bounce card would have done much good, but I supposed I could have put an orange jell over the face of it.  

I'd say this light is perfect for video and for doing some of the things you see here.  It would also work nicely for macro photography.  

Also make sure to visit Manfrotto Imagine More for tips and tutorials.

Jim Patterson

Here are more of my photos from Halloween!