Working On My New eBook

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Lately, I've been putting in lots of hours on my new eBook hoping to have it complete for a sometime-in-November release. It's titled, "Location Flash: How to Shoot Awesome Portraits Combining Natural and Artificial Light."

While the book is something of a follow-up to my last eBook, Flash-Free Portrait Photography, I'm working hard at making it a stand-alone. As always, when I'm in the midst of authoring a new eBook (this will be my 5th) it's a great learning experience for me. The writing process forces me to carefully examine all the techniques I regularly employ, as well as research information I'm less familiar with. After each book I've authored, I think I've come out a winner in terms of heightening my awareness and increasing my knowledge of photography. Gotta love that! Then, when the books are complete, I get to share them with others. Gotta love that too!  Better yet, I even make a few bucks off my endeavors. Icing on the cake!

I spend a fair amount of time on a number of interactive photography forums-- Facebook photography groups, those sorts of places, and I often read comments by other photographers who struggle with or hope to improve many aspects of their portrait-shooting skills, whether it's glamour or some other genre. What I glean from the words of others so often helps direct me in terms of what I should be covering in my eBooks. That's one of the reasons I spend so much time reading what others have to say. Plus, I love talking about photography. Many of you probably also love doing the same.

Anyway, just wanted to post something on the blog so it doesn't look like I've gone AWOL. Need to get back to work on the book. Later today, I'm going out to shoot more photos specifically for the new book. I'll be shooting two kids and two teens utilizing a number of different techniques and a variety of gear. Hopefully, I'll remember to snap some behind-the-scenes stuff as those pics often do a great job of illustrating how the results (the finished photos) are captured. Should be fun! Shooting is always fun whether it's a glamour shoot or photographing just about anyone. What a less interesting and enjoyable world it would be without photography!

The pretty girl at the top is Dahlia snapped out in the desert combining natural and artificial light. Very little processing on the image. It's probably 98% straight out of the camera. Used three light sources counting the sun. The artificial light sources were a Paul Buff "Zeus" head modified with a medium rectangular soft box and Buff's "Ringmaster" ring flash. Both were plugged into the "Zeus" power pack which was powered by an Innovatronix Explorer XT portable power unit.