His Strength is Perfect | He's Enough and Able

2 Corinthians 12:9 (New International Version)

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Reflection:

You may be going through a tough time right now. Or you maybe going through a very hectic schedule and deadlines are almost piling up. Or you maybe cramming to meet all your priorities and all your responsibilities the soonest.

I too am currently going through what you're going through right now. A lot of pressures and stresses are coming from all over the place. Work problems and changes, for some it maybe family expectations, others would be peer pressure and for some even in the Ministry. Yes, even in the ministry we sometimes feel pressure and stress to the point of giving up. To be honest, there were a lot times that I wanted to just give up and let go of my responsibilities. To just stop and live a "normal" life. Maybe you too. Maybe there was a point when everything is just tumbling down and messed up and you just want to break down. The reason for this is most of the time, we focus on our own ability and capability.

Let me share with you what God had reminded me through his Word in 2 Cor. 12:9: "My Grace is sufficient for You, for My power is made perfect in weaknesses".

What is God telling us?

1. He is ENOUGH
- You don't need anything else to conquer your situation, to solve your problem, and to meet all those needs! You don't need you own strength. You don't need your own ideas and wisdom. God's grace is sufficient and ENOUGH for you. He is all that you need.

2. He is Able
- He's the Lord of all lords and the God of all mankind, there is nothing that would be hard for him. All we need to do is trust in him. He's able to help you go through whatever you're going through right now.

Here's one song from Stephen Curtis Chapman entitled: His Strength is Perfect. As you listen, worship the Lord and lay down all your problems and worries to him, lay down all of YOU to him and allow him to work in your life.

Recommended Readings:

Be Still and Know that He is God

Trust The Lord with all your Heart

Believe in God's Promises

tune in and tune out

Grab a cup of coffee and tune in, while tuning out the grind of the day. Listen while Joni, Linda and I solve the problems of the design blogging world while examining our navels, with two new shows airing this week on 'the skirted round table'. This week's topics:

what inspires you to blog

and

{this one will surely ignite a few listener opinions}

trends what's in what's out. like and no-like

big bear essential

One of the great things about living in So. Cal. is the fact that we can be at the beach one moment and 2 hours later the mountains, gearing up for a day of snow boarding or just chilling by the fire playing a mean game of dominos.

Los Angeles designer, Suzan Fellman recently sent out an email to friends to say that after 5 years, she's selling the Big Bear, 1922 970 square foot, miner's cabin that she's lovingly, restored from a hovel to an adorable, cozy retreat from the grid locked traffic, go-go-go energy that is, so L.A.

Suzan was smart and worked with a low maintenance, James Hardie fiber cement panel and shingle siding and then added that perfect light fixture from Westside Wholesale. {it reminds me of something you'd see on an old free standing garage from the 40s}

The living room is diminutive and before, you'd walk in the door and *boom* you'd run into a bed. Suzan reconfigured, raised the hearth for extra seating and sewed together old adirondak blankets to recover the existing furniture.

Details such as the mantel, made from half a pine log {which used to be a part of the fascia on the roof} complete with bark still attached, and the vintage bear game board image, are some of the great attention to detail that make this such a treasure.

and did I mention, she's selling the house, as is. WITH furnishings and board games {a very important part of detachment from the real world} At her shop, in L.A. she sells these incredible Swarovski encrusted antler chandeliers. Not the best place to showcase those beauties, she placed this vintage, ode to the antler, on a Victorian sewing table which serves as a console.

Imagine waking up in this cozy bedroom to the smell of smoky bacon sizzling away while the coffee is percolating. I'm in love with this idea of the old coolers stacked as a night stand.

gratuitous dog shot.

I couldn't resist this picture of her dog. And it gives you a good look at the pine floors she had painted white.

alright. this one killed me. Vintage, wool jackets at each chair, for chilly mornings.

"The light is one of a set of factory overheads I found at an antiques fair in Nashville. It's lined with mercury glass to make it more reflective. The mug tree is made from an old iron bottle drying rack. The kitchen is very small, so one space-saving solution was to get rid of cabinet doors and cover the shelves under the counters with linens hanging on cafe rods with curtain clips."

love the 'deer motif' she has rolling throughout.

I keep looking at this photo thinking, is this one of her perfectly, curated vignettes or does she use these things. Because I'm all over filling that plaid thermos with hot toddies.

apparently she has an enormous collection of paint by numbers {200+} she chose a few to adorn the walls.

while I would never see 'purpose' in those '70s velvet wall hangings, Suzan applied her sewing skills and re purposed one into the perfect pillow.

amazingly the claw foot bathtub was in great condition, so with a few changes {new floor tile, adding a piece of tin ceiling as a back splash} the bathroom was fresh and ready for a new start. That ball under the sink is braided wool leftovers from a rug maker.


I've always loved Suzan's creative design sensibility. Her ability to see an item, re purposed in an absolutely, whimsical and elegant way seems to be one of her best suits {check out her vintage silk scarf and lucite furniture creations} This diminutive cabin is such a little mountainy jewel box, styled the Suzan way, with great foresight and an infusion of creative beauty.

{all photos Stephen Page}

Strobies XS: Beautiful; Math Challenged?

Interfit has released some pretty cool-looking speedlight accessories and bracket system under a line called "Strobies."

Name similarities aside, there is absolutely no connection of any kind between this site and the Strobies XS stuff. And from a quality of light standpoint I really dig where they're going. My concern is how well the math holds up.

More wishy-washy waffling and indecisiveness inside...
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Remember when we talked about the difference between a speedlight and a mono with respect to the architecture of the tube and reflector?

This new mounting frame, left, brings the two different types of flashes together in terms of quality of light. At first glance it looks like any one of several DIY speedlight-into-softbox mounts, but they take it a step further and include a system-oriented mounting flange at the business end.

Now, the flash head (mounted into a beauty dish / soft box / reflector / etc.) has its light positioned in the focal point of the light modifier. The diffuser dome sends the light out in all directions, completing the deal.

This architecture (or, rather, the lack of it) is what is wrong with just about every DIY speedlight beauty dish. David Tejada's version comes close, but still does not duplicate the bare-tube-and-beauty-dish combo.


So, What's Not to Like?

Think about what has to happen for that speedlight to get to the quality of a decent-sized bare tube mono. The tiny little flash tube emits light, it is reflected (with some loss) by the built-in reflector and thrown forward. Then it is collected and diffused by the plastic dome.

This diffuser dome step eats up a lot of light, and it happens before the light ever gets to the first light-sucking bounce or diffusion surface of any of the Strobies mods. Thus, high 9's on quality of light, and (an estimated) low 6's for efficiency -- I would not expect a lot of output along with that beautiful light quality.


Maybe a Mono?

In essence, you are spending both dollars and lumens to get your speedlights to create the same quality of light as monoblocs.

They look very well made, and I would be curious to see a price list. Because for the cost of outfitting one of these strobe-to-quasi-mono setups, you may well be able to pick up an actual, small monobloc. I am thinking AB400 or Elinchrom D-Lite, maybe. And you would still need a speedlight to stick inside the "Strobie" if you went that route.

If you already have the speedlight of your dreams, and are working indoors for close-in portraiture, the "Strobies" might be just the ticket. This is especially true if you are looking for beautiful, beauty dish light and TTL workflow. That's a plus the monos don't offer. But if you need high quality and high quantity light, be sure to take a look at all of the factors before you make the jump.

These are new, and I haven't seen any prices yet. So a lot will depend on that. Please update us in the comments if you see any hard numbers floating around.
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More info: Interfit Strobies XS

New Online Source for SB-24 Manual

Thanks to a a tip from Bob in the comments of an archive post, there is now a new source for the much-loved c. 1988 Nikon SB-24 speedlight. This is especially important if you come across a cheaper used one that has long since lost the painted-on labels on the control buttons.

(More info on the flash itself here.)

-30-

Forsaking all for Christ

Luke 14:33 (New King James Version)
"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."

Reflection:

To Follow Jesus is not a minor or a light decision that a person can do. It’s forsaking your ALL and making HIM your ALL. It is carrying your cross. It is dying to yourself and living through the life he had given. Let’s read the preceding verses:

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

God is a jealous God [Exodus 20:5] and He deserves to be the #1 in your life!

There was a young rich ruler who went up to Jesus and asked what it takes to inherit eternal life. He asked what more he can do when he faithfully obeys all the commandments. To this Jesus looked at him and loved him, said “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” [Mark 10:21]And the young ruler went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.

A lot of us are like this Young Man. We can easily confess and announce that we follow Jesus but we turn back and went away when things start to be demanding, when it starts to change our lifestyle, when it starts to prevent us from doing what we love to do and when it tries to invade our lives. Remember, when Jesus is not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all.

Christian life is not a happy-go-lucky life! It takes one to sacrifice. It takes one to change. It takes one to forsake his ALL! Let go and yes LET GOD!


I would like to also recommend for you to read Sacrificing for your Enemies by Provocative Christian Living.

God bless you as you continue to follow him!

Recommended Readings:

Be Still and Know He is God

Remember not to Forget | Make Him your First

Answered Prayers | Shout ALL the more!

Mark 10:47-48 (New International Version)
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Reflection:

Bartimaeus was a blind man who desperately needed miracle! So when Jesus was passing by the road where he was sitting, he grabbed this chance to call on him. A crowd was following Jesus and a simple or soft call surely won't be heard. A loud CRY must be done! When he cried loud enough, the people rebuked him and told him to be quiet. This didn't discouraged him, instead he cried out all the more!

Have you been praying for something and it seems that God's not listening? Have you been praying for a long time now and are now starting to get discouraged? I experienced that as well. Surely, there will be a time that it would seem God is so far away and all our prayers just bounce back. There will be times that everything and everyone just disagree and contradict to what you desire in your heart. And there will be times when it seems God is sleeping and deaf to our prayers.

What is God telling us?

We can learn from the life of Bartimaeus. He was born blind and was really in desperate need for a miracle to restore his sight. When the chance came, the people rebuked him and stopped him. He could have just given up and shut up. But he didn't! He SHOUTED ALL THE MORE! He didn't get discouraged! The persecution and the situation fueled his faith instead.

When you pray and no one seems to listen, PRAY Harder! Sometimes God would ask you to pray harder to bring you closer to him and for you to go deeper in your relationship with him. Trees dig down deeper to get water but at the same time this makes its foundation stronger. In the same way, God wants you to dig deeper to be stronger in him. Be assured, God is listening! Don't give up! Pray harder!

Recommended Readings:

Prayers are Answered God gives you Joy

Prayers Answered by God through faith

Prayer of Jabez

when lambs aren't eating ivy

A great element in a modern or a traditionally vibed space.

178 garfield -levenson mcdavid architects

Ikea makes a great one, for around $19.00 {if you can ever find it in stock} and I'm sure someone out there will be quick to send me a link to something a little more animal friendly.

my apologies for not giving full credit for some of the images. If you know the source or the photographer of images, feel free to email me and I'll add them.

boxing on bunny lane

could you live here?

re-purposed shipping containers, don't think I could live here {how hot would it get in there with the sides all closed up?} but I love the idea.

It's like some crazy stage set design.

'Bunny Lane' by architect Adam Kalkin.

for more on the concept of Architecture as a constantly changing dynamic, this book {by The Whole Earth Catalog creator Stewart Brand} looks fantastic:

Shades of Light winner!

winner winner chicken dinner

and the results are in! the winner of the Shades of Light give away is reader, Tricia!!!
I can't believe what a great response this give away brought. Holy smokes, so many deserving entries { and of course your gracious compliments were printed out and nailed to the wall next to my desk}

because there is no way I could have chosen unbiasedly, I left the choosing to random.org. I must say, the system could not have chosen a better winner. Tricia, is not only the blogger of brightoncottage, but is also a teacher and mother of 4.

With two grade school aged children of my own, I can't express my gratitude toward the educators of this world enough. It gives me such great pleasure to be able to pass along this awesome light fixture to a hero among us.

congratulations Tricia, and thank you ALL of participating.

Prayers Answered By GOD through Faith

For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

Mark 5:28 [NKJV]

This woman was healed immediately after she touched the clothes of Jesus Christ. A lot may have touched Jesus because a mob is following him but this woman did something different. She Believed! She had faith that her Prayers will be answered by God. She had been bleeding for 12 years and when she heard Jesus was passing by, she said to herself; "If Only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Jesus felt this and confirmed, "Woman, your faith has healed you!" [Mark 5:34].

What does it take for your Prayer to be Answered?

Have Faith! Believe that your needs will be met. Believe that your dreams will come true. Believe that you'll be promoted and be succesful in what you do. Believe that YOU Shall be Made Well. And yes, your faith shall heal you!

Recommended Readings:

Prayers Are Answered God gives you JOY

Prayer of Jabez

2 Daughters in 1 of Ptr. Guy from Heresy Today

A Quick Technique for Edgier Group Shots

When I shot for newspapers, one of the most common visually subpar assignments was the two- or three-person group shot. Nothing against group shots per se, but the small group was usually indicative of a reporter who just couldn't say "no."

The story might really be about Person "A," but the reporter gets strong-armed into this really being a "group effort," (translation: I don't want to be the only one in the photo, blah, blah, blah...)

So the 2-3 person group shot gets a bad rap from the get-go. Which is a shame, really, because most group shots are a good opportunity to play.

Why? Because you typically have nothing to lose since the normal group shot in the paper is a huge yawner to begin with. Hit the jump for a quick tip for carving out quick group light.
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Experimenting on Captive Subjects

Let me begin by saying that I especially love one thing about lighting classes: They are attended by a roomful of people who think it is perfectly normal to play around with light for no good reason whatsoever. So naturally, I use them as guinea pigs for lighting ideas that I have in the back of my head.

Lord knows, they are much more cooperative than my kids. Heck, the cat won't even stay in the same room with me at home any more.

I have a project coming up this summer that will call for shooting some edgy looking small group shots, so I want to work a look that has a little more cowbell than the typical big-soft-light group. Nothing wrong with that light -- just a little too been-there-done-that for me at this point.


For the group above (R to L, Damian, Romain and Christian) at the CERN workshop, I started with my fill to place my baseline exposure before even considering the key lighting. The fill is an umbrella right behind the camera -- sort of a poor man's ring flash. A little better than ring, actually, as it is softer and does not leave that "ring signature" on the background wall.

I saw one immediate problem. The fill was not pushing to the back of the scene very well. This was because of the difference in distance between the fill as it hit the subject on the right (a coupla feet away from the camera) to the distance to the back wall (10-15 feet away). Of course the wall is gonna be dark, right?


Solution: Back that flash up. This is where the on-axis umbrella kicks the ring's butt. With a ring flash, your light location relative to the camera is locked down. With the on-axis flash, not so much.

So, by backing up the light we get better penetration of the fill into the back of the scene. Not perfect, but way better than before.

Now, it is just a matter of dialing in the baseline exposure before we accent the faces. This is a piece of cake, and easy to do by eye without a meter. Just light the scene with the umbrella fill, adjust the power until the scene looks good, and then alter either the flash power or the aperture until you see that the shadows -- areas will not be lit by your key(s) -- are where you want them to be. Check your histograms to make sure you are not falling off of the table on your darkest tones. Unless you really want to, of course.


You can set the base fill by dropping your power on the umbrella. But you'd probably want to just close down your aperture in a case like this, to buy yourself some depth of field. I am not gonna carry Romain in the back as tack sharp, but I may as well get him recognizable.

Which brings up an important point. Just for the heck of it, we shot them exactly where they sat in class. Sort of an exercise in lighting angles. If I was shooting them critically, I would want to compress the distance to hold focus on all three.


Now it is just a matter of adding the key lights. Remember, we are in total control of both the quality and the intensity of the fill, as we nailed that stuff down first. What that gives you is both the ability (and the excuse) to get a little atypical with your key lighting. We can go hard, grids, edgy angles -- whatever. Their faces will hold it because we have pre-determined the look and depth of the shadows.

For the key(s) we went with two hard speedlights, one of which sported a grid spot.

As the lead dog, Christian, right, got his own key light. It was gridded to control the beam spread. But I was able to light both Damian and Romain with the same speedlight, which was also bare.

You can more easily get away with hard lighting when you have pre-set your fill. Because while the transition from highlight to shadow will be quick and hard, you have decided exactly how far the drop-off will be. You can play it safe or be increasingly risky, by altering the intensity of your fill light.

You can see a setup shot here, courtesy Mark Howells-Mead of the Swiss Strobists Group. (Check out their meetup schedule if you are local, too.)


Here it is again. I took some liberties with the seams on the back wall (which turned it into a pretty cool backdrop) and removed a sticker.

But what the hell, I am not bound to the newspaper's rules anymore. It's not a completely finished look. But this quick experiment give me enough to go on to where I feel comfy trying it for my project later this summer. I tried a second variation (still honing it) on a single portrait early this month. And I really like the way it is evolving. I will hit that one on a later post.


Test, Test, Test.

It sounds weenie, but it will give you the courage to try new stuff when you really need a different look. And when you get dealt your fourth three-person group shot in a week, a new look is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Christ Lives in You | I DON'T WANNA GO by Avalon

Galatians 2:20 (New International Version)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Reflection:

When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted his Lordship in our lives, we no longer live. This is radical I know but that's the truth. The Life we should live now is the life that is given by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Life that follows his will and a life that is being transformed into his likeness day after day and being changed from glory to glory.

Let's listen to a song from Avalon entitled "I don't Want to Go". The lyrics that says "the me without you is a LIE" especially touched me. Indeed it is true! I can never continue without him anymore. I cannot decide and make choices without consulting Him first. I cannot just pursue my own plans without his approval. He is now my partner and I don't wanna go somewhere if I know that He's not there.

Listen to the song and acknowledge his Lordship in your life once again.

I Don't Wanna Go | Avalon

I Don't Wanna Go by Avalon

You changed my world
When You came to me
You drove a passion
In my soul down deep
Lord, to follow You in everything

I don't want to go somewhere
If I know that You're not there
'Cause I know that me without You is a lie
And I don't want to walk that road
Be a million miles from home
'Cause my heart needs to be where You are
So I don't want to go

So come whatever
I'll stick with You
I'll walk, You'll lead me
Call me crazy or a fool
For forever I promise you that...

repeat chorus

Without Your touch
Without Your love
Filling me like an ocean
For Your grace is enough
Enough for me
To never want to go somewhere
If I know that You're not there

Recommended Readings:

Father Hillsong-United

Father's Love Letter

Be Still and Know that He is God

Mark 4:39 [King James Version]
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm

Reflection:

Sometimes when we're faced with a tremendous problem, we panic and we rattle. When we are overwhelmed with the situation, we lose control. When we're pressed with deadlines and severe needs, we rush and fear. The disciples also felt the same way when they faced Storms and Great Winds. They thought they're all going to die [Mark 4:38]. But Jesus was just asleep the whole time until the disciples woke him up. Jesus then stood and "rebuked the wind saying; PEACE, BE STILL!".

Jesus asked the disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" [Mark 4:40]. Now, he's asking you why do you panic and rattle when you're faced with great problems? Why do we forget God at times like these? I believe God was not just directing "Peace, Be still" to the storms but to the disciples as well. God said:

"Be Still and Know that I AM GOD."
Psalm 46:10

Know that HE IS GOD! God who has control of everything! God who is the "Lord, the God of all mankind" and there's nothing too hard for him [Jer. 32:27]. God who can make all your problems, bad situations, difficult circumstances cease.

Next time you encounter a problem or if you have problems presently, BE STILL! Yes, don't move! Trust HIM and believe. God can solve them!

Recommended Readings:

You can do All things through HIM

Believe in God's Promises

Trust In Jesus Completely

Prayers are Answered | God gives you Joy

John 16:24 (BasicEnglishBible)

"Up to now you have made no request in my name: do so, and it will be answered, so that your hearts may be full of joy"

Reflection:

When I was still a new Christian, this is one of the first verses I have memorized (Yes, John3:16 was my very first). This is one verse that surely had encouraged me to continue and persevere in the faith. This is one verse that had fueled my faith in Him.

All of us have needs. Some have more wants which they sometimes consider needs. From food, shelter, clothing to gadgets, branded bags, vacation and many more, as human as we are we long for these things. Now, here's what God wants us to see. Our God is not just a God when you're praying, or when you go to church and when you read the Bible. He's a God of everything and anything in your life including these needs and yes the wants as well. God said in His Word:

"But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need."

John 10:10 [GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)]

He's a GOD who gives you life that makes you happy. He's a God that makes your heart be filled with joy! He's a God who wants you to have everything you need.

Read John 16:24, you'll see God waiting and anticipating for you to ask. He says, "UP UNTIL NOW, you still haven't asked anything". It's as if He's saying, "What are ya waiting for? Ask now!"

With your asking, he's promising an answer that will give your hearts Joy.

Such an amazing God indeed! Would you agree?

Now, what are you waiting for? Pray and Ask God right now!

Recommended Readings:

Prayer of Jabez

Stop Worrying God Knows Your Needs

God has a PLAN

Picture courtesy of ExtremeSelf

peace out

Be Humble | Let others Praise You

Proverbs 27:2 (New International Version)

² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
someone else, and not your own lips.

Reflection:

How many times did we try to praise ourselves before men? How many times did we struggle just to be noticed and appreciated or recognized? And most of the time it ends up the opposite.

We need recognition, rewards, praises and appreciation at times but it should never become our main reason and motivation for doing something. God blesses us when we obey His will but our motivation should never be the blessing but the desire to obey Him. Not after the Hand but after the Heart of God as others would usually say. Let's be excellent with what we're doing not because we have been recognized and appreciated but because we're working for the Lord and not for men [Eph. 6:7].

God wants to remind us through his Word,

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. [Phil. 2:3]

Today, I'd take the opportunity of thanking my friends for Blog Awards they've given me. Let God be glorified with these awards. More of him and less of me.

by Kay of Christian Blog and Koko of Kokijar

Frienship Awardees:

Cindy of God Nuggets Blog

Valerie of Simply4God

Rey of Bloggista's Attic

Brad of -sound of softbreath-

Xprosaic's World

Tyrone of Provident 360

by Goody of A Friend Named Goody

The instructions say I would need to award these awards to other bloggers. For now let me hold off and choose the right ones to be recognized. I'll just be updating this post once I've already chosen. Again Thanks Kay, Koko and Goody! God Bless you more!

Recommended Readings:

The Power to be Wealthy and Rich

Remember not to Forget

God works for the Good

Genesis 50:20 (New International Version)
”You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Reflection:

Joseph experienced being rejected by his own brothers by selling him to Egyptian traders. He became a slave to a foreign land. He was wrongly accused of rape when he refused to go to bed with Potiphar’s wife and was imprisoned because of that. Even with all of these, he still managed to say “God intended all of it for good”.

How many times did we ask God “Why?” when we were going through some difficult times? How many times did we get disappointed with God when our prayers weren’t answered right away or when God didn’t seem to answer at all? I too am guilty of this sometimes especially when things seem to be unbearable and uncontrollable and problems seem so big and unsolvable.

What is God telling us?

Things may come to discourage us. People may discriminate us at times or even inflict harm on us. Situations may seem so dark and hopeless. The devil may lead us to situations to harm and destroy us [John 10:10]. But Praise the Lord because of his Sovereignty! Even how things look right now, God is able to shift it for our good. Other people even those who are close to us may harm, put us down or destroy us but God can still tweak it for our good.

Paul wrote to the Romans saying:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

Don’t lose hope! Don’t be discouraged!

If you’re still not winning against your problems, be assured God is not done with it yet!

this is not a post about grey gardens

because I'm pretty sure we've covered that one.

But check out that necklace on Jessica. Amazing. I call "alligators are the new owl" {you may need to click on it to get the full detail} and for the record I give the whole thing a C+ with an A+ for set and costume design.

Which, really in the end, is all that matters for me.

thank you for sending me this shot, 'sparky' one of my long time readers who always knows what I like and points me in the right direction.

if children ruled the roost

via ohdeedoh

blanket forts in every room, chicken fingers in every pot and a slippery slide on every stair case.

oh wait, and this just found:

via ouno design

a trapeze in every living room {this would have driven my parents crazy during cocktail parties}

Working Around the House

[UPDATE: Results from the shoot-your-own-sales-brochure experiment -- the house received multiple offers over the asking price and sold quickly. Twice, actually, as the first buyers had some trouble putting the financing together at the last moment.

Advice: If you are a decent photographer and are selling your house, most definitely help it to stand out from the competition by spending a day shooting photos of it for your real estate ad. And consider creating a website of your own to really show it off.]
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I have been playing architectural photographer this week for a new blog I am working on.

This blog will have one post, and is designed to do one thing -- help us sell our house in a down market.

I have a separate post about the mechanics putting together a blog/brochure. It is mostly designed for general consumption, as I think the idea has worked out really well and might get a little play as a house-selling strategy.

But this lighting post details the problem solving on some of the photos I shot, because any readers heading to the other post for the general real estate / recession stuff probably would not understand our interest in the lighting end of it.

(Heathens...)

Architectural Digest on the cheap, after the jump.
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Some General Stuff

Some of the techniques were the same throughout the shoot, which happened over Monday and Tuesday of this week. I had shot some available light stuff earlier, when the daffodils were more in bloom. But most of the lighting pix were done over a couple of days, along with the gazillion other things you have to do to sell your house.

No umbrellas of softboxes were used. Not that I was trying to avoid them. But a Flickr commenter pointed it out after the fact, and I found it interesting. That was mostly a function of lack of space. I was hiding flashes everywhere, and bare lights are smaller. Ceilings (and sometimes walls and doors) were my bounce cards.

No tripods were involved either, which is a little unusual for architectural stuff.

Why? Because Chuck Norris don't need no stinkin' tripod... No, actually, I was working off of an ambient base for most of the shots, and I needed an appropriate exposure to let daylight work as a contributory light source. Mostly pretty comfy handheld range.

Everything was done with two-to-six SB-800's, a D3 and a Nikon small-chip 12-24. That's not a typo, either -- that 12-24 is my FX format wide zoom. It covers full FX frame down to 19mm. I would get an FX-format 14-24, but I simply cannot be trusted with a lens that wide.

Strobe triggering was done optically. That is to say that each shot started with some kind of on-camera flash for fill, which triggered all off-camera SB-800's in SU-4 mode.
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Let's start in the living room, shall we?

This picture (final seen up top) is built on the ambient coming through the doors at back right, and the lamps in the room. The ambient exposure is a compromise to pull all three of those continuous light sources in as best as possible. This is a late shot with no flash, and I think I may have opened the ambient up half a stop or so from this level. But you can get the idea.

There are four flashes -- two fill and two accent. I lit the room up to about one stop down with two flashes aimed at the ceiling -- one on camera and one out of frame at camera right.

One accent flash (also camera right) brought the couch and painting up to full exposure from a hard angle. It was a snooted, bare flash. The other accent is hiding behind the tree on the ground playing a little subtle pattern on the ceilings.

Why? No logical reason. Just to do it for a little interest. Kinda like no-underwear Wednesdays.

Exposures? Flash power? Aperture? Couldn't tell you.

I built the ambient highlights exposure as stated, and filled with the bounce flashes for a good baseline exposure. Then I accent-lit to taste. (If that's a little bit Greek to you, you can read more here.)
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Almost forgot about the powder room, as I shot it last month. This is lit, but with on-camera flash. This room is only 3x6 feet, so bounce off of the ceiling is a default choice. The trick is going into vampire mode for the mirror.

The solution is to shoot with a very wide lens, vertical, from a very low position. Keep the camera vertical to keep the lines straight. Use the top part of the frame and you just got yourself a poor-man's shift camera -- no reflection.

The other reflection to watch out for is that of your back wall being nuked by the flash. So I angled the flash a little forward to paint a more pleasing reflection of the back wall in the mirror. (Even still, I smoothed it with a little Gaussian blur.)

Exposure is straightforward, but delicate. Exposure at a reasonable aperture with manual (bounce) flash, then dial in the shutter speed until you get exactly the amount of glow you want from the continuous lights. The walls and floor of such a small room act as fill cards, so the shadows magically fill themselves. You actually have very little choice in the matter.

I left the towel a little rumpled just to not be too anal.
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The kitchen had me scratching my head for a few days as I wondered how to light it. I wanted to show the whole room, which had no windows -- and lots of very warm CFLs as light sources.

At first, I did not know where I could hide a flash. And in the end, I wound up hiding five speedlights in the frame -- plus one on-camera aimed at the right wall, to trigger the others and fill the front. The room is entirely lit by hidden speedlights, with the only ambient coming through the back door in the living room at rear.


How do I light thee? Let me count the ways.

1. Main fill / trigger light on camera, as mentioned above.

2. Main light in the room: An SB-800 hidden in the overhead fixture. Nifty, huh?

3. Not so nifty: The flash was wedged in off-center with a diffuser dome, so it threw a cockeyed light pattern onto the ceiling. I disguised this somewhat with another SB low and behind the counter. It was snooted and aimed up at the fixture to splash a more even circle of light around it.

4. My over-sink fluorescent lamp was swapped out for an SB which was duct taped to the near cabinet wall. (We had already packed the gaffer's tape.) A sheet of white paper on the underside of the bottom of the cabinet gave a soft bounce surface. This also lit the fruit bowl nicely.

5. Same thing, over the stove, but no paper needed -- the range hood interior was already white.

6. Last but not least, a flash was stuck in the living room and aimed at the ceiling to bring the whole room up. Sliding door daylight was the basis for the ambient exposure.
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Here is where I shot the kitchen from. I made this photo later in the evening (we needed the full dark) with two SB-800s and some road flares that we painted white.

Kidding. The fireplace was lit with a few small candles. We shot in the dark with long exposures and the candles really glowed the place up when we opened up that shutter -- even lit the kindling box nicely.

But now the room has to be lit believably. Again, one SB in the overhead fixture (I later cropped that out, but still a perfectly natural spot for a key light. Problem now is contrast. So I fixed that with a fill strobe bouncing into the kitchen at camera left, which smoothed it all out.

Fill was set a coupla stops down. You can see the ratio on the floor at bottom left. Highlights are key-lit, shadows are fill lit. This is the area that shows you how much fill to dial in. Make it look like your eye sees the room normally. No ratios -- salt to taste.

The room was left just a little dark overall, to let the fireplace sing a little bit. We pretty much bought the house the moment we rounded the corner and saw that kitchen fireplace 17 years ago.
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As it starts to get dark on (a rainy) Monday night, Susan asks if I remembered to shoot her garden in the back. Of course I did not remember to shoot it, because I am a total moron during allergy season. So I stepped out onto the deck and saw this mix of tungsten light and deep, foggy twilight.

Okay, technically I only saw the foggy evening and imagined the tungsten light, but I knew I could make it if I worked fast in the last few minutes of light. Before I even go back to get a strobe, I metered an ambient shot and dropped the exposure about two stops down. The color was real -- no tungsten white balance needed.

Working very quickly, I grabbed an SB on a stand with a dome diffuser and stuck a 1/2 CTO on it. (I wanted tungsten the way my eye sees tungsten.) Where to put the light? Heck, I am batting pretty good aping our normal fixtures, so I went to the well again. I put it on a stand right next to our deck light, which is on the house edge of the deck, in the middle.

I powered my warmed-up flash to balance the ambient with a couple of test shots and it looked great -- except the shadows were too contrasty. That's easy enough to fix, quick and dirty, with a two-stop-down on-camera flash. It looks great when you are using it to erase contrast with off-axis light. (More on that here.)

If you look at the deck shot bigger, it looks very crisp and 3-D, but legible everywhere. I was rushing fast (gotta get the garden with the last bit of light) but with a little time I would have prolly dropped the fill ratio a bit. Just a matter of taste, tho.
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The waning foggy light made the garden look lush, if a little flat. And the garden was way darker then the grass in back. So with the last bit of twilight I grabbed an ambient (somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 second range) and exposed for the grass.

A little on-camera fill with the flash zoomed way tighter than the lens gave me a nice center-vignette, and I underexposed that a stop or so. Then I grabbed my stand flash and pulled the dome and gel off for some off-axis light. It came from the far corner of the deck at camera left and was aimed just past the center to feather the key a little.

The ratios are very tight, but even so the two lights bring the garden up to the level of the grass in a very sharp, 3-D way. Bare light sources do that very well, but you do have to keep your fill levels in mind. (Here for bigger.)
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Among the fifteen shots I did for the house brochure, this detail of the library master bath shower area went very quickly. It is white-on-white, so again the exposure is delicate. But that is not to say it is difficult.

Bathrooms are just big softboxes -- and you work inside the box. The key light is an SB on a stand in the shower behind the curtain. Aim it at the back right wall and you have a nice, soft source. But even in an all-white room, the fact that the key is behind the curtain means the shadows will be too deep.

An Orbis made quick work of that. Just dial up the fill light in manual mode to taste -- chimp and go. That way, you can keep the whites white, and have just as much contrast range as you want. The ring light fill adds no directional light signature, either.
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The last one I am going to mention was a little bit of a challenge to work through. Ben's room is only about 10' x 11', and the loft bed soaks up a lot of that.

Note the two-toned rails on the right side. We had to augment this design after he fell out of bed during the middle of the night. (That'll wake everyone in the house up quickly...) We still have not stained and poly'd the extra rails yet, but he is pretty much in jail up there.

Problem is, there is just no place to hide a flash in here, and my goal is a lit/natural balance. So this one was a little bit of a head-scratcher, too.

The exposure was based on the light streaming in through the window, or more accurately, what that light was doing in the back of the room. No leaves on the tree yet, so the view is not worth saving. Thus, I could let the window blow out a little and also grab some under-bed ambient from the desk lamp.

Now, to build the rest of the frame with flash, but only up to a ratio that looks like normal room light the way your eye sees it. Fill on the far left was from a stand-mounted flash, up high tucked into the corner of the small room. The wall was blue, so we had to correct the bounce color by taping up a shoot of newspaper to get it neutral.

If you ever need to fix the color of the splash your flash makes on the wall, newspapers are a pretty easy fix. For a few more years, anyway.

The other side fill was easier, once I realized that the open closet door out of frame at camera right made a great big reflective light panel when you shot a flash into it. The trick was not overdoing either of the fill lights.

This picture is an rarity in the Hobby household, as we have not actually seen Ben's carpet in several years. It is usually covered in about two feet of Legos, most recently Technics and Mindstorms. He builds these weird robots and vehicles and is teaching himself the programming.

He is even trying to blog a little bit (all by himself, as you can see) but I think we need to work on the "actually developing content" part. To be fair, I must say that his site is better than my blog was at 8-yrs-old.

I digress.

That's it for the lighting stuff. I am working on a more general-audience post on the "buy my house" pseudo-blog idea, which will go up shortly. One more thing, which I will not be mentioning in that post:

If anyone within the sound of this post actually ends up buying the joint, you'd better believe there will be a full Starving Student light kit (with an SB-26) a boxed set of Lighting DVDs and a case of cold, delicious Diet Mountain Dew left behind when we move out.

Just reveal your secret decoder ring flash status after we agree on a price.