Finding Color Workshop, San Diego

What a fun 3 days it's been in San Diego. I'm exhausted and waiting for my flight right now. Only 2 more hours... Our host Melissa of Just Hatched Photography and her husband Ed took great care of us and it would not have been possible without their help.

The students were awesome! Seriously a fun crowd and eager to learn and ALWAYS pushing me harder to stay ahead of them.

Also, big thanks to Kevin King of Radiopopper for taking time out of his busy schedule and driving out to San Diego to show us the new toy.


Kevin had asked me if I could do a product shoot for him while he was there. Of course I was more than happy to. But since this was the last day of the SD Workshop, I figured how cool would it be if I turned that honor over to the students.

The image below was shot by James Hays, utilizing e-TTL technology. Basically a 3 light setup. Daniel is holding one light with no diffuser aimed at Kevin. 2nd 580ex was zoomed to 105mm to spot the Radiopopper. 3rd light is the lunchtime sun giving us a backlight



Basically a 3 light setup. Kevin is holding one light with a stofen diffuser aimed at his feet. 2nd 580ex was zoomed to 105mm to spot the Radiopopper. 3rd light is the lunchtime sun giving us a backlight.


Here's a link to our Flickr Radiopopper subset.

Click here for full post.

Radio Popper and TriCoast - We Will Have One....

Come check us out speaking and teaching in the coming months at these locations and see the Radio Popper BEFORE THEY GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC

March 2nd - Rhode Island PPA - Main Speaker
March 8-12 - Northern Lights Convention at Sioux Falls and Rapid City South Dakota - Main Speaker
March 17th - Champange Shootout at WPPI - YEAH BABY!!!

April 9th at Northern IL PPA
April 14-16 - Finding Color Wireless Flash (Radio Popper) eTTL / iTTL Workshop - Denver CO
April 21-23 - Finding Color Wireless Flash (Radio Popper) eTTL / iTTL Workshop - Columbia, SC
April 29th - New Hampshire PPA - Main Speaker


Again Come out and see us speak or come to one of our workshops (a few spots still open) and see these new AMAZING tools in person and actually shoot them with YOUR camera gear!

More Information Check Out These Links:

Workshops - www.TriCoastWorkshops.com
Rhode Island PPA - http://www.ppari.com/convention.htm
Northern Lights Convention in South Dakota - http://www.sdppa.org/
New Hampshire PPA - http://www.nhppa.com/Conference2008/NHPPA_Conference_2008.pdf

Click here for full post.

RadioPoppers at TriCoast Workshop

Kevin King finally came out of the closet an unveiled the much anticipated Radio Poppers. These little devices are simply amazing and give us the freedom, range and flexibility that other wireless devices offer, and still able to transmit e-TTL or i-TTL signal from the master to the wireless flash.

Previously with the IR system that Canon and Nikon use has been severely limited by line of sight and operational distance. But the advantage is the ability to retain e-TTL or i-TTL functionality as well as High Speed Sync. Pocket Wizards and 3rd party radio transmitters will only trigger the flash. No TTL communication goes between the two. Without TTL, you're limited to the camera's sync speed which would be anywhere from 1/160th to 1/250th of a sec. In a harsh daylight, you will have to shoot anywhere from f8 all the way down to f22 to maintain the 1/250.

This is where radio poppers comes in. With TTL radio transmission, I can fire the flash from across the hall, around corners, harsh daylights, and 1/8000th aft high speed sync at f2.8. So, all the limitations that I've encountered in the past are gone.

The devices itself are smaller than the pocket wizard. The Radiopopper also has a very simple two button interface indicating power and link. The transmitter antenna is about an inch and half long. The receiver antenna is about the same but this one has a fiber optic caber which transmits the TTL directly into the flash.


Here's Kevin appearing out of the bathroom.


I think this would have been cooler if we had stuck the radiopopper in the toilet instead of the shower.


The radiopoppers are here!


THE MAN himself, Kevin King.




One of the first images using wireless e-TTL via Radio Popper.


Playing on the roof. Shooting into the sun using the radio popper technology.




Bagel, Starbucks, Canon ST-E2 and Radio Popper...


In the past I've had problems triggering the wireless flash via IR that's in the sun. So, pocket wizard or other non-ttl alternative would be used. The problem is that it's completely manual. With the RP, I set the the camera to manual, metered the sky and waited for the plane to fly by.




radiopopper.com
tricoastphoto.com
tricoastworkshops.com
Check out our blog for where TriCoast and Radio Poppers will be. TriCoast will have a pair while on our 12 state tour over the next few months. Come by and lets us show you these amazing new tools for outdoor portrait, wireless flash!!!

Click here for full post.

Met some new friends...

Mike met up with Joy and Garret Nudd of Garrett Nudd Photography while vacationing in Orlando at the ProPs convention. Joy and Garret were invited to Orlando to speak about wedding photography. Looks like the attendees also got to see how they work together as well in a live shoot :)

Here's a photo of Garret, Joy, Mike and Suzy.

Click here for full post.

Weddings in Houston

Mike Fulton recently appeared in an interview along with several other Houston area photographers within the latest edition of Weddings in Houston. Mike and others touched on the subject of client meetings, styels, and album selections.

Read more about it here.

TriCoast's Wedding in Houston page.


- Jordan

Click here for full post.

Thirst Relief - A GREAT CAUSE

TriCoast has been honored with being one of many amazing mentors benefiting Thirst Relief.

Our "Auction" end TONIGHT so make sure you check it out and bid on us or one of many other mentors to get 90 mins one-on-one time with your artist of choice.

Check out this link for more information on Thirst Relief: http://www.thirstrelief.org/

Or check out this link to BID on TRICOAST: http://www.fotoverite.org/auction2/auction_details.php?name=Tricoast-Photography&auction_id=218

Click here for full post.

Finding Colors Workshop in Dallas

TriCoast headed up to Dallas for a one day workshop involving, workflow, photoshop, bridge, lightroom, and pickled quail eggs. Our host, Scott Watters was also there to clean up and guard the pickled eggs.


Our day started out around 7:30am. We've just eaten our complimentary continental breatkast at the West End Hotel. Now, the best treat for a full stomach of a complimentary continental breakfast at the West End Hotel, is of course a nice mixture of bleach and hot water...complimentary of Scott Watters.


Our initial attempt at setting up the projector. Of course there were complaints about the display being backwards, but we gave the attendants 3-D glasses, so they were ok with it.


9am rolls around and the zombies rolled in. Cody offers coffee service. Multiple times, in case anyone misses it. And it was damm fine coffee at that. Scott however, sat in a corner and hung on to his de-caf, Macbook and Tiff files.



So, now everyone has had their coffee, with exellent service from Cody. Class begins. Of course, with a wi-fi equipped studio, there will be some slackers. Usually sitting at the back of the class. In the corners. Especially the right corner.


During the afternoon break, Cody gave away one of my favorite camera straps. Here is Cody demonstrating the use of the Black Rapid strap from concealment to taking the shot.


Here's a video shot by Larry McCormick, demonstrating how to shoot, release and relocate. For the faint of heart, please do not watch. Expensive camera equipment being tossed around like a football on Superbowl.

In case you were wondering, that is a Canon 5D with a Canon 70-200 IS L lens attached. And no this is not rehearsed. And hopefully the insurance folks aren't monitoring this...

So, a free strap giveaway. What's the catch? How do we determine who gets one of these Black Rapid straps? If you were paying attention earlier, you'll know what this is.


The strap, my personal Black Rapid strap, will go to the person that could eat the most eggs.


Our buddy Ramblin' Ray ate 5 of these suckers to win the strap. I think we should have raised the egg count...


Congrat's Ray! I'll autograph it for you the next time I see you.


And here's Mike making one more final offer to the class.


Well, thats pretty much it. Special thanks to Rene Kent for the tables and chairs. (FYI, Rene has the funky accent thingy over the last "e" but I haven't figured out how to do that on the keyboard yet) Also thanks to Scott Watters, Greg Daniels and Jeff Medlin for the studio space. Although not advertised, the studio is for rent so give them a call or send them an email if interested.

Click here for full post.