Joe McNally came and visited Penn State last Friday.  Gave a great light workshop.  He recognized my face from when I saw him in Vegas a few months ago at Photoshop World and asked me to help grip for him during the workshop.  Got to hold some diffusers and a softbox for him, which was pretty fun.  He lit a really great shot of a Penn State student modelling for him in the theater in about 15 minutes.  He's so enthusiastic and he gets so into it.  His mind never stops coming up with ideas.  Really motivating and inspiring. 


(Photo by Andy Colwell/Penn State Public Information)

Saw him again on the sidelines of the football game the next day with his wife.  Great guy. 

(Photo by John Beale)

Update: Joe's blog about his visit here.  You can see some of the shots he took during the session.  He seemed to really enjoy Penn State. 

Today's game against Indiana was pretty wet.  It rained most of the game and was pretty miserable.  Made for some neat photos.  Also, overcast skies = giant softbox = beautiful light. 

More images post jump. 


(Canon 1D Mark II, 300mm, 1/1024, f/4, ISO 640)

This probably woulda been the best shot of the game but apparently, I don't know how to aim a camera.

(Canon 1D Mark II, 300mm, 1/512, f/4, ISO 500)

So last night for Halloween, Ed decided to dress up as the cookie monster and hand out free cookies all night.  Instead of getting a costume, we got body paint and feathers from Michael's and we built him a custom cookie monster outfit. 

Shot with a 40D, a 580exII shot through an umbrella, and a naked 430ex for detail. 

More pictures after the jump. 


(Canon EOS 40D, 50mm, 1/128, f/8, ISO 200)


(Canon EOS 40D, 50mm, 1/128, f/7.1, ISO 200)

Today I shot swimming for the first time. I was expecting a really dark, terrible shooting situation but it turned out to be pretty good. It was plenty bright and the backgrounds were really clean since you usually shoot down into the water. Got some pretty cool shots, pretty satisfied with them...except that it makes me want some new lenses.

I spent more than half of the time trying to get a panning shot with my 135mm f/2 lens which doesn't have IS. The 70-200 2.8 IS would be great for this application and I'm so disappointed that I went cheap and bought my 70-200 without IS. Also, definitely want the 200 f/2.0. It's a beast and over $5,000 but that extra stop over the 70-200 and the extra length over the 135 would make such a difference for indoor shooting situations. 


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/800, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/1000, f/2, ISO 1600)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/10, f/13, ISO 320)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/10, f/10, ISO 320)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/10, f/10, ISO 320)


(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm, 1/30, f/5.6, ISO 320)

Dan and I got to the stadium a few hours early yesterday to set up some wireless remote cameras to shoot during the game.  We set them up with some pocketwizards and various Bogen mounting equipment. 

I used an old Digital Rebel XT with a 17-40mm f/4 at 17mm to get a tighter shot of the stadium while Dan threw a fisheye on his D2Hs.  We set both our cameras on aperture priority, center weighted average, because the game started at 4:30 and would transition from a day game to a night game so we couldn't lock down our exposures.  Throughout the game, we switched off who had the transceiver to fire the cameras.  I ended up putting it in my hot shoe and turning it on/off when I wanted to fire a picture; that way I could also take pictures on the field and with the wireless cameras at the same time, or I could fire it separate from my main camera. 

Dan's is so much wider and makes me wish I had a full frame camera.


Our cameras:
          

We set up under the scoreboard, where the two teams film their tapes.  Circled in red are our cameras. 




Click here for Dan's shot