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Off camera flash, a la Strobist give the ability to turn a good photo into a great photo. Well, at least that’s my opinion of my shots from the Flash Dance Competition at Seton Hall on Saturday. JR Pena asked me to help cover this event along side him, and of course I was more than willing to help out. Being able to work with him and “Tigertron” Mark was a lot of fun and if you’re ever shooting a large event, I highly recommend working with additional photographers to capture different angles.

But back to the lighting. Working with one strobe setup produced dramatic shadows in a lot of the shots while keeping many of the shots tack sharp at ISO 400. In the future I want to work with multiple strobes, but that will have to wait for now. In the meantime, here’s some of the shots out of the event:

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March 18, 2009 by Luke

Timelapse Experiment

On a little expedition to Philadelphia, I decided to do a little experimentation with timelapse. Granted it’s not perfect, but then again, that’s what experimentation is for. Enjoy.

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March 15, 2009 by Luke

Shooting from the hip

I got to shoot a little bit on Saturday with a couple of friends. Not too many shots, but still just as interesting shooting around the East Side. I was able to take some shots from a different perspective.

Sometimes you can’t get the shot from an eye-level perspective. In situations like that, you just have to experiment. Quite literally, you have to shoot from the hip. Or at least that’s what I did with this shot:

Another interesting angle to consider is working with reflections. Typically we try to capture what is in front of us, but how often does one consider what is beyond our direct line of sight? Whether it be puddles, windows, or even anything reflective, it makes for a different image. It’s particularly useful in getting a candid of a subject for a more natural looking photo.

As for this last shot, I found it interesting shooting from a low angle, though not a macro shot, I was able to capture a lot of detail using the 50mm lens.

Suggestions? Ideas for blog topics you’re interested in? Leave a comment. =)

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March 13, 2009 by Luke

Breakin

Yesterday I went down to McMahon 205/206 to watch the Tae Kwon Do Exhibition. It was actually an interesting event to shoot since the subjects were constantly moving, but not necessarily in the same sense of say a dance competition. In this case it was interesting freezing all the motion to come out with what I think were interesting shots. A lot of the vertical shots brought about a different motion than I was used to capturing.

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March 13, 2009 by Luke

Meatpacking

Photography, the best way to improve is to just get out and shoot. So along with Yelena, I headed off to the Meatpacking District. Though i didn’t get many cobblestone shots, it was still an interesting area to work with, especially with all the creative doors on all the restaurants/lounges.

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March 6, 2009 by Luke

U2? Me too!

Given the mixture of insomnia and just hanging out with friends in the dorm, we decided to drag ourselves up to Fordham‘s Rose Hill campus in the Boogie Down Bronx to see U2 perform on Good Morning America. Given the crowd conditions, I didn’t expect to be so close to the stage, let alone be able to capture the shots i captured. That wasn’t easy given the fact I was crushed liked a sardine along with my great friends Nikolai & Yelena. So for all intents and purposes, I was shooting partially blind. However, what seemed like utter chaos became something much more beautiful. If anything it was all so surreal.

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March 5, 2009 by Luke

Blake

In an effort to help my friend Blake out with her photo project, we trekked a couple block or two to Columbus Circle, first spotting a couple of musicians by the subway entrance. After a couple minutes of trying to capture the motion of the musician’s fingerpicking, we headed off to Central Park and landed in the playground. Experimenting with exposures and using a DSLR alongside Blake’s film SLR made the experience quite fun. Though, I was dizzy as hell after getting off the swing.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

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March 1, 2009 by Luke

Welcome to the Main Event.

Mr. JR Pena himself asked me, Bryan Angeles, Lizette Gesuden, Carl Francis Sison, and Jonathan Alegre to help cover the Main Event Dance Competition at the BergenPAC this past Saturday, February the 28th. Hands down one of the more difficult events to cover, but nowhere near as hard as it was to cover FIND Dialogue at Rutgers this past fall. Working with changing stage lights, logistics, speakers on the verge of falling, etc. made it an interesting challenge to tackle, but nonetheless satisfying. Capturing action shots and gaining additional experience working alongside all of these great photographers was worth it all. To all the performers, you guys did a heck of a job. I mean that to all of you.

more here: www.flickr.com/lukeydukey

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February 21, 2009 by Luke

We stay fly. No lie. Winter… BALLIN.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, Terrace in The Sky

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, Terrace in The Sky

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, Terrace in The Sky

Not much to say here but the night was awesome, the dancing was great and I’m sore beyond all disbelief. To all the people that made Winter Ball 2009 a night to remember, I salute you. From the constant barrages of flashes, to the questions of why there’s no zoom, it was an awesome event to photograph and partake in. To the people who took my camera from me to make sure I was a part of the beautiful night, I love you dearly.

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February 15, 2009 by Luke

Jollibee or not to be.

While everybody was out celebrating their Valentines, mine took an unexpected turn in the direction of the nearest Jollibee. Now for you east coast people, you may be thinking to yourself, what is he talking about? I don’t know of any here. Well I’m here to say there is one now. After waiting 5 hours in the cold, I finally got to dig my teeth into that Chickenjoy w/ gravy. Very tasty, but I might add that waiting out in the cold was not necessarily the best idea. Luckily I was accompanied by a few people I’ve worked with in the past: JR Pena, Angelica Bonus, Marc Mance, and their friends Albert Lam & John ::insert last name here:: (my bad).

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, 57th Street Station

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, 63rd & Roosevelt

Waiting in the cold for 5 hours was actually quite an experience. What would have otherwise been a bunch of fat messes waiting for some food, turned into a exploration of light through photos. From fisheyes, to 50mm’s we all experimented with our individual cameras, while also playing with flashes and different angles.
As the designated fat mess it was a great experience.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, 63rd & Roosevelt