After watching a tutorial by PhotoExtremist  Evan Sharboneau, I decided to try High Speed Photography. I must admit, this type of photography requires careful planning. Not only do you have to make sure that your camera is properly setup, you have to spend a good amount of time setting up the shot. Now, I have done shoots that require some set up time. So, I was fine with the process. However, if you are the kind of person who prefers to do point and shoot photography, this may not be for you.

I used a similar setup to the one used by Evan Sharboneau in his youtube tutorial. I just used my kitchen instead of a garage and a bowl to get the water in a the fish tank instead of a hose. Overall, I am pleased with my first experience and will definitely work on refining my technique. A few of the shoots I took are listed in this post.  They were shot with a Canon T2i and a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens at f14. I used two AlienBees B800 flash units at 1/32 power. ISO at 100. 

If you want to see the  tutorial I followed, just go click the following link: High Speed Photography Tutorial

 Today I tried a few of new things.

1) I decided to let it fly. I usual need to compose every shot. Because of this, I often miss shots. This is something that is tolerable when I have time to compose a shot. For instance, when I'm shooting a model or I will be able to visit a location several times.I can redirect a model or visit the location until everything falls in place. However,it is not good to miss shots when its a once in a life time shot.  So, I am trying to become more instinctive. See the shot and take it, particularly when I'm taking doing street photography, shooting at a remote location or I have a paid shoot with strict time restrictions. 

2) I don't usually shoot random things. I look for art, not simple beauty. Yet when I get home and see these type of shoots, I am often drawn to them. I admire the photographers ability to find the beauty in what is often considered mundane. So I am coming down off my high horse and opening my eyes. My theory is that if I look at everything I will increase the chance of capturing those once in a lifetime gems. 

3) Becoming more open minded about the color, texture and style of my photographs. I tend to gravitate toward certain looks. This may seem fine. But by doing this I run the risk of making all my pictures look the same. So, I will try at least 8 new looks. Today I focused on a muted look. Although the images I took are not going to win me any awards, they are the forerunner to more expression and creativity. 

4) Last but not least. I will work on getting out of my own head. Our greatest detractor is our-self. So I will stop worrying about other peoples opinions of my work. I can and will accept constructive criticism, as I always have. But, I will not let it stop me from taking risks. There is no growth without risk. 

Anyway here are a few shots. Just the city in action. Shot in daylight with a Canon T2i and a Canon 24-105mm f4 L lens (around 200 to 400 ISO). Looks were applied on a iMac using aperture. No special plugins.