David Hobby’s resulting work from the Gulf Photo Pro Shootout. Read all about it.

It’s been no updates for a while. So what  have I been doing with myself?

I got married to Kate. There’s photos up on her blog.

Playing with radio flash triggers and going through the entirety of Strobist starting at Lesson One.

Photographing friends, this is important.

Returning a few favors from our wedding, there’s still plenty to go!

Listening to friends bands: Karaoke Taxi and Sugarface Baritone.

I had to leave early from final Richter City Roller Derby clash between Smash Malice and Brutal Pagent. It’s a shame, because I heard it was uber climactic. But I did manage to nab a few photos from the stands before I left.

There was a lapse in transmission. Best I explain myself with links. The reasons I’ve been too busy to update are that I’ve been:

Shooting event photography for the ASPA Awards.

Watching films, most of them good. I think the winner of recent times is An Education.

Designing a header for Sounds Like Cinema.

Occasionally helping Kate with projects.

Really enjoying Roller Derby.

Here’s a few items I’ve recently found on the net (and in print) that are both interesting and enlightening. You can generally link these to film making one way or another without resorting to trivialities. Presented in no particular order, I hope they entertain and inspire.

1. Ira Glass on story telling

I don’t listen to Ira Glass often enough, but I’m so glad Lifehacker put me onto a short series he did on storytelling. It seems the real gem of the series is #3, but they’ve all been great.

2. A Typographic Primer

If you’re unqualified and even considering doing your own design, whether it be for a party invite or your cousin’s cafe, make sure you read this Salient feature by Rory Harnden first. If not, I’ll consider it a personal attack on anyone with eyes.

3. Digital Content Producer: Old-Fashioned Filmmaking

Michael Goldman looks at the use of traditional techniques in Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliant There Will Be Blood. This article speaks both to my heart and my mind – a combination not usually straddled in the discussion of digital/traditional movie making.

4. Alternative Movie Posters

by Spacesick.

I’ve seen a number of these re-imagined book covers and movie posters before, but this post puts together a great selection of them with links back to each artist for your own exploration.

A friend from work kindly let me his lensbaby to use with my Canon 400D. Though there hasn’t been any time for serious shooting, I did manage an small test this morning. I’ve been wanting to try one of these bellowed tilt lenses for a while, the most obvious way was buying directly from lensbaby.com. I’m glad to have a little time to play with one first. The usage is a little tricker than I expected, but part of this has been getting used to making the adjustments through a small viewfinder. There’s a lot to admire about the locking and adjusting design of the lens. Given a little more practice, a tripod and some time I’m pretty sure I can get what I want out of it. Time will tell.