356/365 - Jim - New Studio

( f/5 18mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I was kind of lazy today and just watched football all day. This is the only photo I took, so it will have to do. At least there is a story behind it. This is going to be my new studio. The far wall is where I will have backdrops. I'm thinking the right wall is where I will put a few large cabinets to store all my photography gear. Directly to the right where you can's see is where I will put my office space. Since I work from home a few days a week, it will be nice to have an actual office again. When we had kids, I got booted to the downstairs living room where we have a fireplace. It's not horrible, but I'm anxious to have my new office!

337/365 - Jim - GrayRox Studios

( f/18 105mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

Recently I have been asked about doing senior portraits by a couple different people. That got me thinking about putting a name to my "business". I quote it because it is just a dream now and I haven't had any paid sessions yet. The name GrayRox is something I came up with a long time ago and have kept it in my head just in case I ever wanted to have an actual business. So I have a name. Next I would like to build a quick website with prices and some examples of my photographs. Then in about a month I will have a dedicated office/studio to do some work. I'll just start small and see how it goes. At this point it is much more of a hobby than a business, and if it stays that way I'll be fine with that. Who knows though, maybe I'll recoup some of the money I spent on my toys which would make my wife happy :)

095/365 - Jim - Studio Flashes

( f/5 22mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

Theme is photography equipment. When I refer to my studio flashes, these are what I'm talking about. They are Alienbee strobes and I have all three that they offer. The B400, B800, and the B1600 are named for their effective watts. I have used one or more of these flashes for most of the photos on this blog, so they have been well worth the money. I also have several light modifiers. In the background, even though it's hard to see properly, is a large softbox (32" x 40") and I have two of these. They are extremely useful for producing the soft shadows. On the bottom left is a honeycomb grid spot. This allows me to produce spots of light behind the subject or can be used as a hair light for portraits. On the right side is a snoot which limits the output light to a small circle. I have used it for background spots and vignetting. The little unit in the center is a remote. All the flashes have a phone cord connection which goes into this LG4X remote unit. Then I can set the power of each flash from a central place. Hopefully one day I will be able to get something wireless. I see that RadioPopper is working on something that can control the Alienbee flashes without wires. That would be nice.