While in Brisbane, QLD AU for work & vacation I purchased a new intervalometer to use for time-lapse photography. This little video was my first attempt at using my new toy along with my Canon 5D MkII w/ 24-70mm L f/2.8.  I setup the camera, Giottos travel tripod, and intervalometer in a chair on our 15th floor deck overlooking the Botanical Gardens, river, and downtown area. The 16 second movie is a combination of 399 images taken at 7 second intervals.

Multiple imperfections aside, I really enjoy this little clip. It’s kinda fun to watch the residential building as people return home, open & close blinds, walk on balconies, etc…

Liana and I are officially on vacation now, so we should be seeing lots of cool and interesting things to take pictures and movies of, so stayed tuned here and over on Liana’s site!

Brisbane, AU :: Canon 5D MkII Time-lapse from Mike Hall on Vimeo.

Liana and I spent a week in Canberra, AU while Liana taught yet another of her Photo Business Boot Camps. The very talented, hilarious, and spider bite prone Christine Pobke along with her husband Clinton graciously hosted us for our entire stay. We ate great food (thanks for the largest steak I’ve ever eaten Clinton), had great conversation, and watched hilarious episodes of ‘Extras’, at the end of which the Pobkes demonstrated their karaoke bar worthy singing skills.

A PBBC survivor from last year, Renee Bell, along with her lovely little daughter Liana, came to Canberra for a photo shoot with Liana. I went along and tried to snap a few pictures over Liana and Christine’s shoulders while they posed Renee and little Liana. Here are a few of my captures from atop Mt. Stromlo:

Liana at work…

Christine doing her thing…

A few more shots from atop Mt. Stromlo…

Christine ferried Liana and I around Canberra to catch the local sights:

I kinda regret not bringing my MacBook Pro along to Australia so that I would have had access to Photoshop and a larger screen for editing & processing these pics. I’ll have to write-up a full review our new Dell MINI running Mac OS X 10.5 sometime soon.

Now I’m off to find some photo opportunities while in Point Cook, just outside of Melbourne, where we’re being hosted by Jessi and Ryan. I believe we’re in for a treat this evening, as Ryan grills some Kangaroo… more to come on that afterwards!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the ‘Mark Wallace Photo Meetup Tour’ at Ambient Plus Studio here in Atlanta. Let me start by saying the Mark Wallace seems to be a really great guy. He was very friendly, knowledgeable, and straightforward; all traits I really appreciate in an individual. Secondly, I have to thank Pocket Wizard (PW) for putting together the tour, bringing in great talent, and footing the bill for the entire thing. The workshop, though I have little to compare it to, was easily worth at least $150 to $200, yet it was totally free. While part of the workshop was a pretty standard introduction to lighting, Mark did cover a few topics I wasn’t familiar with and did so in a very easy to understand manner (not that I need things to be easy ).

There were five stations setup in the studio, each with their own lighting configurations, models, and pre-configured Pocket Wizard Mini TT1s & Flex TT5s. Liana and I have several traditional PW transceivers and two of the new TT1s, which are used to trigger the transceivers. The form factor of the TT1s is the main reason we purchased the units. The older model PWs are a bit unwieldy when trying to mount them to the hot-shoe or via a tripod mount screw. The TT1s are very low profile when in the hot-show and since they have their own hot-shoe built into the top of the unit, you can place a 580 EX II on top of the unit for on camera bounce flash. The TT1s have had their issues, but I think PW has worked out a lot of the flaws in their latest firmware update. I’m hoping that Liana and I will be able to justify picking up a couple of the TT5 units in the near future so that we can take advantage of  ControlTL, which is only available when using the TT1s in conjunction with the TT5s. At the moment, we don’t really need the features of ControlTL, as we shoot our off camera flashes in full manual mode.

While I’ve been shooting weddings with Liana for nearly three years, I haven’t advantage of many opportunities to work with models or even our clients in a portrait setting. I don’t possess Liana’s skill in posing people for the most flattering angles and lighting. That is a skill that I am working develop, but being a fairly shy guy, I’ve found it challenging thus far. Thankfully, the models at the event were no strangers at striking poses that enabled those of us who provided little direction with some fun shots.

Below are a few of my favorite shots:

I spend a lot of time on the web, some (<– meaning my wife) think too much time, researching all things pertaining to photography and, more recently, video production. I do this because I have a real interest in these creative outlets. As a part-time wedding photographer and full-time technology & gadget geek, I find keeping up with the latest gear and techniques to be very interesting. I’m an avid learner and researcher, but unfortunately that does not translate into being an avid doer and practicer. I spend too much time thinking and dreaming about the activities I am interested in, rather than going out and participating in them. As it relates to photography, this means that I have an excellent collection of great equipment, but little work to show for it.

There seem to be a great deal of people who have been striving to combat and squash the very condition I’m living with. Seth Godin writes often and brilliantly about the need to identify, develop, and whole-heartedly pursue one’s passions. In his post entitled ‘Seven years gone’, Seth asks the question ‘Seven years from now, what will you have to show for what you’re doing right now?‘ If I continue to do what I’m doing right now, in seven years I may well be a marginally better photographer and have a lot of useless knowledge about gear that will undoubtedly be of zero consequence. If the status quo remains, I’ll also be working in a field which does not fulfill one iota of my creative desires. So, what am I going to do to change that? That is the question I am currently tackling head-on.

Chase Jarvis, the phenomenal photographer, entrepreneur, and motivator, has been a great source of inspiration recently. Chase’s ‘Create.Share.Sustain’ post provided another kick in the pants to get out there, shoot, share, and keep creating. Chase states that ‘…making stuff over and over is the key creativity. And especially the key to creativity to the next era of media. And especially for creatives.’ If this is true, and I believe that it is, how can I expect to stoke my creativity and pursue my dreams if I am unwilling to create, create, and create some more?

It is everywhere, the encouragement to pursue your passions, the words to inspire your drive to create, and the individuals willing to help you along the way. I’ve found myself surrounded, both virtually and physically, with people willing to invest in others in order to help them explore their God given gifts and talents. I’m so very thankful to have married a young woman that believes in me and does all that she can to help me access the tools and talent to pursue my passion to create. I just hope that I can free myself enough from my own fetters to actually take advantage of all the opportunities before me.

To all you creatives out there, those of you who are pursuing your dreams daily, how did you overcome the self-imposed stagnation?

What resources have you found useful to spur creativity and provide motivation? Please feel free to share them in the comment section below!

Below is a brief list of resources that have encouraged and motivated me recently.

Resources:

A short video that reminds me to enjoy life, be myself, and unapologetically live the life I’m intended to live…

‘The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun’:

Chase Jarvis : Living the life and sharing the experience.

Seth Godin : Need I explain? Seth’s wisdom is far from being limited to marketing. My question is: How does he write so often and always manage to share new insight and vision?

Nick Onken : I find Nick’s photography, tips, practical advice, and willingness to give of his time and talent inspiring.

Scott Bourne’s PhotoFocus : How Important is it to Have a Photographic Goal

F-Stop Beyond : Ron Dawson’s interviews with well known individuals from around the globe offer tons of inspiration and insight into the world of creatives and their individual paths while pursuing passions. Ron and his wife Tasra are also inspirational themselves, as they’ve dedicated their lives to developing their own talents & gifts for the benefit of their clients, friends, and community.

There are so many photographers whose work inspires me, not only because they produce incredible imagery, but because they left the excuses behind and went out to shoot. I’m going to make a point of sharing some of these individuals with you going forward… watch for it!

A couple weeks ago Liana and I had the pleasure of documenting Buckhead Church’s ‘Night on the Town’ for its 2 to 1 Premarital mentors. The 2 to 1 Premarital mentoring program serves to place newly engaged couples with couples who have been married for many years. The concept is to allow the married couple to help the newly engaged couple prepare for their impending nuptials through biblical studies and real world experience. When Liana and I took part in the program prior to our wedding this past April, we were fortunate enough to be paired with a wonderful young couple who shared their wisdom and lives with us over a few months. We recommend the program, or one like it, to anyone who is recently engaged and looking to further their preparedness for marriage.

The ‘Night on the Town’ event was Buckhead’s way of saying thank you to all of the mentor couples who have invested in the lives and marriages to so many couples over the past year. Liana and I setup our photo booth outside the auditorium to capture the couples as they arrived. There were some hilarious pictures from the photo booth which I’ll try to share later. Once inside the auditorium, the couples were treated a a sit down dinner, complete with servers who took their orders, served them beverages, and made sure they had everything they needed for a great meal. The food was catered by FIGO Pasta and it was delicious! Most of those that worked as servers were couple who had been through the 2 to 1 Premarital program, so it was awesome to see them serving those who had so graciously served them.

During dinner the couples were treated to some wonderful live music from some of the artists who regularly play as part of Buckhead’s praise & worship band. The music continued through the night and eventually the dance floor was opened up to those daring enough to display their dance moves.

Liana and I were very happy to give back to Buckhead Church and the 2 to 1 Premarital mentor couples by using our skills to capture some special images from the night. Here are some of my images, I’m sure Liana will share some of hers over at her blog: Liana’s Bananas

Despite my being a fairly passionate Canon hardware user, I decided to check out Nikon’s ‘Learn & Explore’ iPhone app. What I’ve found was a very cool little app that provides a wealth of photographic knowledge regardless of your brand allegiance. I haven’t had an opportunity to use the app much at this point, but the articles I have read have been very informative and given me the itch to get out and shoot!

Within the app you will find articles, images, slideshows, and even videos from professional photographers sharing their expertise in a variety of shooting styles and locales.

Here are a couple screenshots of the nicely put together and simple interface:

Be sure to check it out!

Nikon’s ‘Learn & Explore’ site

Maggie and Chris are one of those couples who are so relaxed and light-hearted that it doesn’t seem like work at all to shoot. Their whole day was about family, friends, and simple pleasures, which included good food, college football, pool, and lots of dancing!

Liana and I traveled to Auburn for the second time this year to shoot in the same church as our last trip. It certainly makes it a lot more comfortable to shoot in a location you’re familiar with.

One of Maggie & Chris’ dogs…

Chris with his father, grandfather, and brother…

A few images from the ceremony at St. Michael’s Catholic Church…

After the ceremony I walked over to the Auburn University campus with the guys and Liana followed shortly thereafter with the bride…

The reception was held at the Auburn University Club…

Overall it was a great day and we thank Maggie & Chris for allowing us to capture the moments for them.

I’m really beginning to appreciate the quaint little town that is Auburn (despite the unbearable humidity in the summertime)!

This past Saturday Liana and I make the trek over to Athens, GA to photograph Lindsey & Jerrod’s wedding at The Taylor-Grady House. The bride, groom, their families, and their friends were all very welcoming and warm. Despite the bone-chilling temperatures and soggy grounds, the outdoor reception was quite the party.

As graduates of the University of Georgia in Athens, the bride and groom had to make the traditional pass through the landmark Arch on campus!

Here are several images I captured as we covered all the festivities:

Well, it took much longer than anticipated, but I’m happy to reveal the new (and much improved) Liana’s Bananas Blog!

Liana’s previous blog was a custom built within Blogger, but it just didn’t allow quite the flexibility we’ve found over on WordPress. So we moved!

The new blog uses a customized Thesis them from the folks over at DIYThemes.com.

Please visit Liana over at her new blog and enjoy her work!