The Challenge of Self Portraits

Ever try taking a picture of yourself? Once in a while, it's a fun thing to do. The image below was taken today in the Jemez Mountains looking toward the Sandias (see that peak on the horizon, Albuquerque sits along its far side).

This first image was a rough shoot. I had a Canon 580EXII strobe and a Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 mounted in a silver Photoflex umbrella on a Bogen stand at camera left. It was calm when I started setting up and I did not brace the stand; up came a sudden gust of wind and BANG! It toppled hard to the volcanic rock. Fortunately, the flash and radio slave were fine -- just a few unpleasant but superficial marks. The umbrella/flash mount broke, but remains usable, and the umbrella was badly bent.




It was very bright and hazy, so trying to get enough light out of the flashes to overcome the daylight was hard. There were two flashes, the one in the umbrella at camera left, and another at camera right, both triggered by Pocket Wizards. The image was captured on my Canon EOS-5D Mark II with a 70-200mm USM f/2.8L.

This photo was in the woods -- less wind potential!  Simple shot, although I'm almost lying down on the rock, not kneeling behind it as it would appear. Just one flash here, at camera left and high, bounced into a silver umbrella.

This one make me look fat!  I know that since breaking my ankle just over a year ago, I have not been in the best of shape, but... I hate the way the shirt drapes. 

This was an experiment with my flashes -- and a real workout as I had to run quite a ways between camera and the rock!  It seams that when I combine my 580EXII on ETTL with my much older 300TLs on manual, I have some challenges to overcome and have to remember some basics.  No matter, it CAN work -- I just can't use the high speed sync capabilities of the 580EXII.  I can hardly wait until I get my second 580! 

Two flashes here -- at camera right, the 580EXII bounced from a silver umbrella and at camera left, a bare 300TL on manual low.