Flash, Friends & Food!

this is quite the smorgasbord of blog posts…i just love that word smorgasbord =)  there are certain words where i very clearly remember when and where i learned them.  and that’s one of them.  it’s the word my mom would always use when we would combine various leftovers from throughout the week for our dinner on a particular night.  casserole…good.  mac & cheese…good.  corn…good.  rice…good.  cold pizza…GOOD.  for those of you that watched “Friends”, you’ll get that.  for those of you that didn’t, shame on you!  anyway, as a kid, these were the best dinners ever!  the ironic part about that is that i can’t stand leftovers now.  i pretty much hate them.  except for the cold pizza…that’s still good!

i totally lost track of where i was going with that.  back to my point!  this has been another crazy week.  Christmas shopping.  editing.  working on websites.  planning for next year.  but in the midst of the craziness, one of my highlights of the week has been time with friends…some new and some old.

Stephen & i had a fabulous lunch with Christina and her awesome family in Temecula on Sunday.  Christina is an amazing photographer out of San Diego & you can check her out here: Christina Lee Photography. we met at the Me Ra Koh workshop back in April, and she has been such a huge blessing and part of my support system!

then, i went to breakfast with my friend Cari on Monday morning.  i’ve known her for…i actually lost track of how many years!  haha!  anyway, we’ve been meeting every Monday morning for the last month or so, and it’s been such a great start to the week.  exploring restaurants and coffee shops in downtown Redlands.  one of our new favorite places is Kerry’s Coffee House on State St.  she cracks me up because she always has to get a cappuccino AND a chai latte.  love her!

yesterday, i had a wonderful lunch with a new friend, Lorelei.  i met her through Stephen (they used to work together) and you have all met her on the blog.  she is just such a beautiful person, inside and out.  she makes me laugh so hard.  and i just so enjoyed spending some time with her yesterday & getting to know her better.

after my lunch yesterday, i came home to a wonderful treat on the doorstep…my new Canon 580EX II flash!  i will share this with you now, so that you all can hold me accountable…my photography resolution for 2011 is to really learn everything i can about lighting.  i have learned very quickly that lighting will make or break a photo, regardless of how beautiful the subject or location is.  this might sound like an obvious statement, but it couldn’t be more true!  i want to become great at finding the best natural lighting wherever i’m shooting, and i also want to master flash because i just love some the awesome effects that can be created with both on-camera and off-camera flash.  Zack Arias & Jeremy Cowart have been such an inspiration is this area.

so, i decided to start reading a little about flash today and was brave enough to put it on the camera and try a few test shots.  thank god for my trusty model!  he will do just about anything for a treat =)

i started in the house, with very low lighting, and bounced the flash off of the ceiling…

i love how he is actually like lined up with the shoes…made me laugh.

my favorite shots were actually from the backyard.  please try not to look at the mess of weeds in the background!  haha!  i bounced the flash off of the wall behind me and love the look it created.  it was still light enough outside that i could have shot this without flash, but that was precisely why i wanted to try it with flash!

i just LOVE that face!

well, i think i’ve rambled enough for one night =)  if you guys are still with me, i hope you have a wonderful evening and happy almost Friday!

xoxo

jess