Posts Tagged My girlfriend
30
I admit it’s been a while since I wrote here. Sorry about that. I’ll try to make up for it now.
Yesterday I was 30.
It felt pretty similar to 29 and 363 days. Except that instead of working my girlfriend got me a wireless remote for my Lucinda and rented a studio for a self portraiting session. Now I don’t think I told you about Lucinda just yet. She’s the new Canon 50D I got with a Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 lens. Now I still love Lucille (Canon 350D if you recall, on sale now!) but this camera is in a different league. Okay, I got carried away. Back to the studio:
Let me describe the setup we had at the studio (since I didn’t think of photographing it with my cell phone or something): the camera was connected to the external studio flashes (an umbrella, a spots, beauty dish and a softbox, each time we used something different). The camera was also connected to the wireless remote and my laptop. So every photo we took showed up on it and we could enjoy it immediately. Here’s a sample where I didn’t quite manage to hide the remote in my hand, so you might be able to spot it in the photo:
And then I started playing some more with the lights:
Settings? The photo above and the one below were shot with a softbox firing behind me, in addition to the umbrella flash in front.
This has been a great deal of fun. Sorry. More than that: this has been the most original birthday gift ever, and I enjoyed it so much. After three tiring hours in the studio we were famished, and had to go for a big birthday lunch. Unfortunately, it was not before Efrat managed to go all Mike Tyson on me. I barely got away…
Fashion Summit 2009
Three bloggers have decided to help out the Designers Bazaar of Tel Aviv’s Sexual Assault Center. Dar Mashiah from Fashion Pea, Shelly Peleg from Private Collection and Ofer Yeger from Cupcakes (who pushed me into creating this blog). This fund raiser for the Center is based on previous collections donated by many designers and many volunteers making it happen (even I’m in). It’s happening on the 25th and 26th this month in Tel Aviv’s Fair Center (a Hebrew invitation to the event is here). Since the goal is noble, we even had video coverage during our photo session by a reporter and camera man from Ynet’s La’isha.
We met at Shelly’s graphics studio. Our initial goal was to take the photos on the roof of the building. The very harsh sunlight was a minor set back compared to the strong wind. I’ll spare you the photos from up there. For my sake, as well as for the girls’. So we went back into the studio, a great open space with so much artistic stuff around every computer, wall or table. With great natural light, we started taking some photos:
Bloggers For Bazaar
Bloggers For Bazaar
Bloggers For Bazaar
This session was a great. Sure, trying to sync three models together isn’t an easy task. Apparently they don’t blink their eyes simultaneously. If they do, one would look the other way. If she doesn’t, someone laughs. But all these little “screw-ups”, when happening with the right people, are a great deal of fun. This has also been my first contact with the media, which was kinda exciting.
Bloggers For Bazaar - Behind the scenes
I really enjoyed this photography session. Increasing the awareness to the fundraising Designers Bazaar is an amazing added bonus. And here is the great team that made this happen: Dar, Shelly, Ofer and Efrat.
Bloggers For Bazaar
Acoustic Heroes
Everything starts somewhere.
Usually it starts small. An idea. A conversation. A meeting. A gathering of several people with all the Guitar Hero equipment (except for a PS3, TV, amplifiers or anything which produces sounds other than their vocal chords) performing in the middle of the street.
It sounded like it could be a really cool thing to see, or daft as hell. So last Friday we went down to Rothschild avenue to see to the first Acoustic Heroes show, so we can judge for ourselves.
Acoustic Heroes Concert
It seemed like a nice chance to let my camera out for some fresh air (as well as also holding a Nikon in my hand for the first time in my life). But as it turned out, we (that means Efrat and Danna) did a little more than just judge. Having to make up for no sound guitars and hardly heard drums, the singers had to work harder. And with no playlist, there were several “so what shall we sing now?” pauses (with occasional suggestions from the viewers).
Acoustic Heroes - Making money
As you can see, entertaining the public can help you raise money. I think enough was made to cover the parking costs.
For more info on this experience (plus a video!), visit Ironia and Ehudk.com.
Acoustic Heroine
All in all, I had fun. And I can’t wait for the next show.
What a week…
Okay. So I picked up Lucille last Friday. How can I sum up the past 8 days?
 Efrat |
 Ayala |
Well, except for working, sleeping, eating and doing things I usually do, I took a pile of photos. A BIG pile of photos. Some were discarded on first sight. Most of them now gave me a hard time in selecting the elite, the chosen few, which will appear in this post. But basically I’m trying to figure out why the hell didn’t I buy a DSLR sooner?
 Efrat and Ayala |
 Hoopoe |
The camera is fast. Time from switching from “Off” to “On” until taking the first picture is instantaneous. I can take many consecutive photos in a quick burst – allowing me to “capture the moment” rather than waiting for the precise second, and potentially missing it by a milli-second. I know, it’s lazy of my behalf in some way, but if it helps achieve the desired result – I can’t really complain. In addition, image quality is amazing. Camera handles high ISOs very well and allows me to take photos at lighting conditions which proved to be impossible without a flash until now. Besides, I look very professional when I’m swapping the lens…
 White heron on deck |
 Dog on deck |
I took Lucille with me everywhere I went. The photos here are my favourites (out of 654 photos of the last 8 days). Picking them was not an easy task, to say the least. But these photos are the ones I like best for their technical parameters: image quality, exposure, DOF, successful use of white balance (most of the time). Even more than that, I like many of these photos for their sentimental values. Looking at them makes me happy. Because in the end, it’s nice to have fame and glory for outstanding photographs, but it’s nicer to re-live all the fine moments in your life. This is something I’m pleased to have remembered this past week.
 Playback show |
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 Yarkon bridge |
So I’ll stop before this will get unbearable for whoever reads this. Don’t worry, I’m still looking for my perfect photo. But I am thankful for my new camera in helping me get a step closer in the right direction.