Had a great learning experience

[Ultra Magnus]

My company had a product release press day last week. Needless to day, lots of photographers and journalists attended, most of which weren't anything special, canon 20d's with the kit lenses and such, but two well know professionals showed up, Frank Hoppen and Joe Bonello. I got to spend a few minutes here and there with them, but mostly just watched them work. I was impressed with how cool they were and willing they were to answer questions, both were very nice. At the end of the day, Joe Bonello handed me his camera to look through the viewfinder to see what he was seeing. I felt weird holding his mega $$ camera setup. I took these shots with my Sony P200. I left the 828 at home. I was there to work, not just take pictures, so the little camera made more sense. I could just pull it out of my pocket whenever I wanted to take a shot, and put it back in and continue working.

These first three images are of Frank Hoppen. He had this cool ATV/mobile photo studio setup that looked like a swee setup. The big reflector on the back had a mirror on one side and a silver coating on the other.

[Ultra Magnus]

The next two are of Joe Bonello taking some shots. He was using this remote trigger strobe setup for many of his shots, until it took a crap at the end of the day.

The last two are the same photo that I took with my P200, the first is out of the camera, and the 2nd is after post processing. Joe was telling us (me and my co-workers, one of which is the subject) that dust can be a cool thing when the lighting is just right. Joe was setting up the shot and making Gerald (the rider) go around the turn over and over again until he (Gerald) did it right, so I took advantage and took the shot too. I'm looking forward to seeing how much better his version turned out. He was trying to get the remote strobe to work on this shot but it wouldn't fire consitently so he gave up on it and took it w/o a flash.

BM

[Old Timer]

Very interesting experience. Thanks for sharing it with us. Your shot turned out pretty well. Nice to have a pro at your elbow isn't it.

[Ultra Magnus]

Very interesting experience. Thanks for sharing it with us. Your shot turned out pretty well. Nice to have a pro at your elbow isn't it.

Yeah, that watching the pro's work was the highlight of my day, anyway. It sure made me want a dslr though.... I'm moonlighting right now and that money is going for a 20d!

BM

[Speed]

It's always great to learn from a Pro. Never pass up an opportunity like that. Glad you had such a great experience.

[another view]

That's cool - you can always learn something from seeing how they work. I went to a workshop a few years ago, and the pro was shooting on this trip. Also, one of the "students" was a pro - and I learned at least as much from watching them work as what was being taught. I've also assisted a few times and learned a ton by doing it.

The thought process was really interesting - watching different photographers look at something, walk around and look some more, then seeing how they photograph it. And there are really no "right" answers too...