Dunking The Donut

"We get around together, rhyme forever and we won't be mad when worn in bad weather" - My Adidas : Run DMC

A big donut and an even bigger mug to dunk it in. Mmmm donut....

Major props to Run DMC and the late JMJ for getting 205th St & Hollis named after them.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II 1/64 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 430EX 1/64 power shoot through umbrella camera right
1 550EX 1/4 power pointed at background

Camera settings:

1/300 f/8 ISO800

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Oatmeal, Brown Sugar & Raisins

"I drink a boost for breakfast, and ensure for dizzert. Somebody ordered pancakes I just sip the sizzurp. - Through The Wire : Kanye West

I'm not much into those hearty breakfast of meat, eggs some toast and a whole bunch of other things. I tend to side towards fruit, granola, cereal or oatmeal. So being that it's Sunday morning and the girls were up at their usual early time I decided to make some oatmeal.

This idea came from a friend that works at a local bakery here in Vegas. You start off with lightly browning the oats in a pan then simmering it in apple juice for about 30 minutes. After you are free to add some creme, brown sugar and raisins to taste.

You are first greeted by a mellow apple compote taste, followed by the nuttiness of the toasted oats. The creme helps to break the flavors down a bit while the brown sugar and raisins just give it that extra kick at the end.

It's actually a very subtle take to the standard way of cooking oatmeal in the morning.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella lower camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/16 power shoot through umbrella upper camera right
1 430 EX (Group B) Slave 1/4 power in background used for ambient

Camera settings:

1/300 f/2.5 ISO 100

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Popsicles

"January, February, March, April, May, I see you cryin, but girl, I cant stay" - Gone Til November : Wyclef Jean

I looked in the freezer and saw these had been sitting there for some time (hence the freezer burn) and decided to stick them in a cup and shoot them as hot as I could before really blowing out the cup.

If you're looking for a reason why? We'll just say because it's Friday.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/4 power upper camera right
1 550EX II (Group C) Slave 1/2 power lower camera right

Camera settings:

1/300 f/4 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Cookie Stack

"They don't...paint pictures They just trace me" - What More Can I Say : Jay-Z

Had a craving for some cookies today. So before I ate them, I took a quick picture of them.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/64 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/16 power shoot through umbrella camera right
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/2 power aimed at background

Camera settings:

1/300 f/8 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Sleep

"Can I just feel your heart beating beside me every night" - Spend My Life With You : Eric Benet feat. Tamia

It's only Tuesday and I'm beat.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/16 power camera right
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/32 power camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/64 power behind couch

Camera settings:

1/15 f/5 ISO800

Lens used:

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM

Music track for above photo click here

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Bad News

"Didn't you know i was waiting on you. Waiting on a dream that'll never come true." - Bad News : Kanye West

As in any love affair, hearts will be broken and that's what I wanted to symbolize in today's photo. The heart shaped waffle pierced by the fork and the strawberry jam slowly pours out in pain. The pieces of strawberries are placed in a way to look like little hearts coming out further empathizing the pain of 808s & Heartbreak.

I'll revert to what I've always said in the past... I never claimed to be sane.

Please view photo with selected music in background for full experience.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master disabled on camera
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/8 power lower right ceiling bounce
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/16 power upper left ceiling bounce

Camera settings:

1/300 f/2.8 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Strawberries

"Cause I'll pull down a cloud for you. I'll circle the stars and bring you one back" - Walking On The Moon : The-Dream feat. Kanye West

Had some granola, yogurt and strawberries and thought that I would shoot the rest of the strawberries before I ate them. Of course I totally faked the bowl full of strawberries. There is actually a smaller inverted bowl that the strawberries are resting on to give the illusion of a full bowl.

Yes I eat a lot of granola... I'm that guy.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II(Group A) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella camera right
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/8 power pointed at back wall

Camera settings:

1/300 f/4 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Sprinkles

"If I had the whole world I would give it away" - Kingston Town: UB40

It's been a mellow week for me. Just trying to avoid all the stress around and just chill. So far it's been working and I believe it's been showing in my photos as well. Nothing overly produced, just simple ideas that I try to execute.

Today's photo was inspired by an email conversation I had last night regarding bokeh. I took some candy covered chocolate sprinkles in a cup and just tipped it over and let them fall freely on the table.

Main lighting was provided by a shoot through umbrella however I noticed the light fall off was a bit much towards the back so I help bring up the sprinkles in the back with a snoot/grid speedlight.

Have a great Friday everyone. One love.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) 1/128 power shoot through umbrella camera right
1 430EX (Group B) 1/64 power snoot/grid camera left
1 550EX (Group C) 1/32 power facing back wall

Camera settings:

1/300 f/1.2 ISO100

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Maraschino Cherry

Cause she hold me down every time I hit her up. When I get right I promise that we gon live it up. - Best I Ever Had: Drake

Nothing elaborate for today's photo. Just a simple Maraschino Cherry just waiting to join the gang on a banana split.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/16 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/4 power pointed at wall for background

Camera settings:

1/300 f/6.3 ISO800

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Waiting in Vain

"From the very first time I blessed my eyes on you girl. My heart says follow through." - Waiting In Vain: Bob Marley

While driving this morning I had Bob Marley playing and when Waiting in Vain came on I became inspired by it and wanted to capture it in food. I started to shape the picture in my mind through out the day along with the flash and camera settings.

That is how I came up with the heart shaped Jello with the petals all around. So what you see here is what I had exactly in my head all day.

Please enjoy.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/64 power shoot through umbrella camera left

Camera settings:

1/300 f/1.2 ISO100

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Orange Blossom

Those that know me, know that I don't do flowers. I have nothing against flowers, other than the fact that they make my eyes watery, my nose itchy and give me a terrible headache.

That doesn't prevent me though from faking a flower. In this photo I sliced an orange to simulate petals and an cherry in the middle for the stigma. Ok yes I have no knife skills, never claimed I was a chef. And yes it takes some imagination and some squinting to claim it looks like a flower.

Never claimed I was sane.

Strobist info:

Keep in mind I shot this in landscape with the intention of rotating it so the shadows will not relate to the position of the lights in what you see, tilt your head.

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/8 power ceiling bounced upper camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/8 power ceiling bounced lower camera right

Camera settings:

1/300 f/6.3 ISO800

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

The Traveling Breakfast

Take 3 Japanese biscuits, a shot of Straus' Organic milk and some morning light and eat!

Happy travels to all!

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Let's Race!

This weekend I attended the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races. While not an all out aggressive race it was a fun race to watch along with hanging out in the pits talking with the various teams.

Days were spent shooting through the fence with various superteles and working the AI Tracking of the Canon EOS 1D Mark III. I've learned that the Mark III focusing is fast and tracking is pretty stellar.

Another thing I learned is that I need to hire an assistant to carry my gear for me because my back started to ache half way through and found myself in dream land a few times with all my gear just out in the open.

About the photo:

You know I just couldn't leave without taking one photo with some off camera light goodness. The cool guys at Porsche had this car setup in the pits and I explained what I wanted to do and they said go for it.

Since I was hiking most of the day with some back breaking glass I didn't bother caring any light stands or modifiers. I simply placed a 540EZ on the floor near the front wheel and another 540EX towards the back and had a go.

No setup shot as venue was packed this weekend and I was just happy they let me strap on the Pocket Wizards.

Strobist info:

1 540EZ 1/8 power on floor camera right
1 540EZ 1/16 power on floor off camera right pointed behind rear left wheel.

Camera settings:

1/60 f/5.6 ISO100

Lens used:

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

The midnight run

What happens when you get a bunch of photographers together in a room with nothing to do?

Well you get an impromptu photoshoot with anything you can find at 1 o'clock in the morning.

About the photo:

Here we have a strobist shot getting put together for the interior of the vehicle, 3 Canon 540EZ, 2 bare and 1 with a silver umbrella. This shot gave me an excuse to use the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM. While I had to back away pretty far unlike using a UWA lens to take this, I have to say that this lens is scary sharp wide open unlike the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM.

Scary sharp.

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Scream Sorbet

Short blog post for today as it's gonna be a tight schedule the rest of the week.

Had some of the greatest sorbet today while walking around the local market today from Scream Sorbet based out of Emeryville, Ca.

Smooth, creamy, full of flavor all out of a sorbet. I was totally blown away and would recommend them without hesitation.

Really good and honest sorbet from really good and honest people.

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Katanaya Restaurant

I've had the pleasure of shooting with the original Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 today. The Mark I version features a distance scale and a metal mount unlike the Mark II version currently being sold today.

Most find the 5 blade aperture distracting as it is not very pleasing. I like it because of that look. Not to mention the lens is lighter than anything and makes that neat zip zip sound when it tries to find focus.

About the photo:

Today I had a bowl of spicy ramen at Katanaya. At first I was worried I ordered the wrong thing because I'm not a fan of chili oil as I had a bad experience with the stuff years ago.

Today I was taken back because the broth tasted nothing like what I expected it. A very savory, full bodied broth that went well with the ramen. I wanted to take the soup back with me to mop it up with a good baguette.

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

PhotoFunia

Look my work is now at a gallery! I kid, I kid. Actually @PhotoFunia has this great site that let's you upload your photos giving them a different look all at a click of a mouse.

Me being the vain person I am selected the art gallery exhibit. Pretty ace if I do say so myself. So go on and upload your photos to Photofunia

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Bloomed

Living in Vegas, if you're not careful your chocolate will bloom the moment you turn your back, as in the case with these chips. Now technically they are still fine to eat but they just look horrible with the cocoa butter dotting the surface.

For today's photo I just wanted to capture an honest look to the chocolates that had bloomed. For this I decided to light the chips with a very directional light off camera left just enough to catch the butter on the surface and having enough light creep over to the other side.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master disabled on camera
1 580EX II (Group A ) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella camera left

Camera settings:

1/300 f/5.0 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Stiff White Peaks

"So what we gonna have, dessert or disaster?" - Knock You Down: Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West

I was watching Top Chef Masters the other day and one of the challenges was to whip the egg whites so that they would hold upside down for 5 seconds. So I thought why not try to use that for my inspiration for today's photo.

All I would need was a mixing bowl, a whisk and an egg. It's more conceptual than anything. You have the egg suspended in air by the whisk and it's suppose to be so stiff that it can cling to the whisk and not fall into the bowl.

It's ok, I've been called crazy before.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/8 power pointed at wall for background

Camera settings:

1/300 f/4 ISO800

Lens used:

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Saffron Short Grain Rice

"What's for dinner" has never struck a nerve with me until becoming a father. Now having kids depending on you to feed them, you really need to sort this out. Good thing @monatheism is quick on her feet with putting something together.

Combining rice, saffron, sausage, squid, shrimp, egg, bacon and sweet peas together dinner is served.

This also proved a great time for me to take a photo of it for my daily. I quickly threw a bed sheet over our coffee table, setup to umbrellas lower camera left and upper camera right and figured out the lighting ration (again going for a bit more light in the back). Once dinner was ready, I took my plate and set it down for it's photo.

Time to eat.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/8 power shoot through umbrella lower camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/4 power shoot through umbrella upper camera right

Camera settings:

1/300 f/4 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Canon Wireless E-TTL II

Received a few emails recently regarding my latest set of photos using Canon's wireless E-TLL II rather than my standard Gadget Infinity V2s. Some of them asked if I was leaving the poverty wizards behind or did I favor full automatic flash control.

Truth be told I still shoot my flashes in manual even when using the Canon system. Using Canon's system allows me to adjust the power via on camera controls. Which I think is pretty ace in itself.

I still use the eBay triggers but since my latest set has me indoors I just find easier to just mount one flash on the hot shoe and the rest on the stand and just control them on the camera itself.

About the photo:

A 580EX II which is usually set to Group A slave lit by a 430EX off camera right. Background light is provided by a 550EX off camera left.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/16 power snoot/grid camera right
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/4 power CTB snoot pointed at background camera left

Camera settings:

1/300 f/5 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey

Apple Turnovers

In my recent product shoot for the bakery team I did the entire set really high keyed with the lights leaning towards the overexposed look and I liked it. So for today's photo I decided to run the back lights hotter than the key lights and so far so good.

It gave it a more inviting, please eat me look to the photo. I then took it one step further and added a background light to act as ambient.

Overall, very please with the look and quality of light and will incorporate this lighting style in future sessions.

It's all about experimentation.

Strobist info:

1 580EX II (Group A) Master on camera disabled
1 580EX II (Group A) Slave 1/32 power shoot through umbrella camera left
1 550EX (Group C) Slave 1/8 power shoot through umbrella off camera upper right
1 430EX (Group B) Slave 1/4 power ceiling bounced used to provided ambient in background

Camera settings:

1/300 f/2.8 ISO400

Lens used:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Setup shot can be found here

Follow me on Twitter: @joeyjoeyjoey