Just wanted to share some of my *other* job results from last week. ; I was lucky enough to be hired to do a shoot for a golf tournament, which fell on a Thursday where I'd normally be hard at work at the office. ; But being a charitable cause, and golf which is close to my boss' heart, I was able to take off work to shoot the tournament. ; Since I've always let my photography hobby try to pay for itself (or as much as itself as possible), it was very well timed to get a little photo job right as I was thinking of buying a new camera body. ; Now I've got some funds to buy it without touching my main income. It was certainly a nice way to spend a day - to get paid to ride around in a golf cart on a sunny warm Florida day, on a beautiful golf course, and photograph golfers for gift portraits and some random other shots around the course and event for the day. ; Drinks, food, great catered dinner, auction, swag bag, and a check at the end of the day too! Here's a bit of the course: Here are some of the caddies for the golfers (yes...I said these are the caddies!): A few golf course portraits for the foursomes...the light was gorgeous but I had to shoot through the whole afternoon - the sun was OK early, then harsh in the mid-afternoon, and then got warmer and richer in tone as the afternoon closed. ; DRO helped with the deep shadows on the faces for the mid-afternoon shots, and a little work to keep the sun at my back: A colorful and fun foursome: Dinner was served at dusk: The chefs had a heck of a seafood/pasta/chicken spread: Inside the ballroom, for the auction, awards, and dinner. ; Here's the stage ready for the awards, and the banner for the tournament: A random candid in the crowd, chatting after the tourney. ; A late rainshower came after the tournament was over and everyone was indoors, but a few cigar smokers got caught outside when it hit, as evidenced by the one wet gentleman on the right: Another foursome at the dinner, with their caddie: Outdoor shots were with my old faithful...the 18-250mm F3.5-6.3. ; All around range, great color, good sharpness. ; Indoor shots were with the Sigma 30mm F1.4...good detail and color, fast, small and inconspicuous, and pairs very well with my HVL-F42AM flash. ; I had NO previous flash experience, so it was a learning process - first few were direct and a bit too harsh, though the flash meters very nicely with the camera. ; I started bouncing the flash for later shots - I thought the high and odd-shaped ceiling wouldn't work, but the flash is surprisingly capable, and with my camera at ISO400, I was able to get plenty of light and no noise. ; Working with an external flash is SO much nicer than those little onboards - brighter, better metered, faster, more controllable, long lasting on separate batteries, cycle better, can bounce or rotate...I might pick up a cheapo softbox or diffuser if I get another indoor shoot. Any comments or critique completely welcome - as a non-pro pro, I learn as I go. ; Feedback is always useful, good or bad!
Thanks guys. ; It was a lovely day, and since I'm salary & bonus at my main job, I still got paid to be at work...wish I could figure out a way to do that all the time!
