Announcing: BC3:2L

It's been a while since our last lighting Boot Camp, so what the hell. Let's dust off the speedlights and give them a little workout.

As with previous bootcamps, there will be assignments, reviews, people complaining that they can't figure out how to post photos to Flickr -- and, of course, prizes. And given the experience range of readership on the site, we're gonna do something just a little different this time, too. Each assignment will be limited to using a maximum of two speedlights, so a certain someone won't have an undue advantage.

Thus, Boot Camp III: Two Lights, or, BC3:2L.

Speaking of Flickr, if you want to publicly post to the BC3:2L results page, you will need to join Flickr. It is free. Go head and do it now, to give your account long enough to get past any waiting period so you can post to groups, etc.

If your country blocks Flickr, either use Firefox and find an appropriate "unblocker" plug-in, or grab some pine. (That's baseball speak for "sit this one out.")

The first BC3:2L assignment drops later next month.

-30-

BC3 Assignment #4: 36 Hours

Welcome to the final -- and most difficult -- assignment for Boot Camp 3.

This one will be more involved than the other three, but the prizes have been amped up to reflect that. And I can honestly say that I do not know a single editorial photographer who would not be happy to receive this exact assignment. Read more »

BC3 Assignment #1: Profile

Welcome to the first assignment of Boot Camp 3. While this is of course a lighting boot camp, the light itself will be secondary to the photos. And the photos will be secondary to the purpose.

The purpose for BC3 will be to force you out into you community in search of well-crafted photos that actually have something to say about your community.Read more »

BC3 Assignment #3: Think Big

The subject for assignment #2 was nice and small in size; very manageable. This will not be the case for assignment #3.

In fact, the subject for this assignment will almost certainly be too big to light completely with your small flashes. Read more »

BC3 Assignment #2: It's a Local Thing

Keeping with our local theme, Assignment #2 will again focus on your community.

But this time the introverts will be happy, as you will not have to actually talk to any, you know … people. Read more »

On Assignment: Tweaking Dusk

All throughout the '1990s if it was the second week in August I knew exactly where I would be -- at the Howard County Fair.

I was a staffer at Patuxent Publishing, a (then) photo-conscious chain of weekly papers. Issues were commonly over 200 pages. And since they ran the results of every 4H judging in the fair, I knew I would have 28(!) pages of listings to fill with photography.

They gave me most of the week to shoot, print and caption, and ran the photos huge in B&W. I was happy as a pig in mud.

So when choosing photos for the culture section of my Howard County Guide project, I knew I wanted to go back and include something from the fair. Read more »

Boot Camp III Assignment #1: Results

Results from Assignment #1, in which you were asked to choose someone interesting in your community as a subject and to produce a (reasonably) tight portrait.

The plan was to get you away from the computer and out into the community -- and over 300 of you took up the challenge. The finals from this assignment included portraits from many different walks of life -- an air guitar visionary, and entrepreneur, an organic farmer, a die-hard BBQ'er, a metalworker, a firefighter and a cancer survivor… Read more »

BC3: Introduction

Welcome to Boot Camp III. It has been two years since the last boot camp, so I thought a little background and intro was in order before the first assignment drops next week.

If you are thinking of participating (and I encourage you to do so) keep reading for info on how to participate, rules, prizes, etc.Read more »

Boot Camp III Assignment #3: Results

Results from Assignment #3, in which you were asked to choose a relatively large object or scene to photograph, and enhance the ambient with one or two small flashes.

Inside, four finals -- two from the U.S., one from Scotland and another from Malaysia. Read more »

BC3 #2 Shot: Middle Archaic Spear Point

The local focus of Boot Camp III did not happen by chance. As many of you know, I have been working on a local blog, HoCo360, for about a year now. Over the last couple of months, an idea hit me that I think will both make the site better and increase its value to the local community.

The blog itself continues to ramble along seeming randomly. But it will soon contain a module of posts which will comprise a complete, structured guide to Howard County. Leading off in that module is s section on local history, which is what led me to photograph the ~4,000 year old spear point seen above. Read more »

Boot Camp III Assignment #2: Results

Results from Assignment #2, in which you were asked to choose a local object, significant to your community to photograph.

In addition to a plethora of beer photos (quelle surprise!) some pretty cool stuff came back upstream from all over the world. I'm also guessing some of you have newfound respect for the NatGeo photographers who often have to tell the story of a place with photos of things… Read more »