From today’s commercial shoot of furniture for a catalog. This frame is the splash page image for beds and bedding.

Had access to multiple lighting sources, multiple studio flash with all sorts of light modifiers, soft boxes, umbrellas, light panels, and scrims. But, being the simple Strobist fan, I decided to finish the day with two SB800s using Nikon CLS, with a couple of Strobist-style modifiers.

The light at right has an SB800 with a round globe modifier. This is similar to the Gary Fong modifier but much simpler. It’s a translucent globe that fits over the end of the SB800 like a paper lantern. Perfect for simulating the light from the lamp.

The light at left is an SB800 on a stick with a set of barn doors to narrow the light to simulate a reading light on the head of the bed.

Part of my Labor Day was walking through Barnes and Noble with family, watching the grandkid’s excitement at every book they found. It was a relaxing time as I enjoyed a 6-year-old’s feverish search for the best books he could find for his reading level and hi solder sister’s rediscovery of books she’d found at six.

I never go to the bookstore without investigating two aspects of the publishing industry.

How many catch lights in the eyes of the models on the magazines published for women and what is the source and who is the photographer for the most recently published books? I can’t even enjoy a simple day at the bookstore with my family without exploring good photography and advanced techniques.

Later, when I went out for the daily photo shoot, the covers of books was on my mind as I watched two fishermen “drowning worms” in a familiar inlet on Hoover Reservoir.

I’s purposely carried only my Canon G9 to simplify my photo search with the limitations of a point and shoot camera. The restriction can be liberating although it takes a radical mindset to think that less is more.

I’ve often seen the tips of inverted rods with plastic lines passing through the final eyelet. This particular arrangement of color and background with light focused through the open space above a thin inlet at sunset seemed perfect for a book cover photo.

G9, 7.4mm, f3.5, macro focus, ISO200, -4/3 exposure, RAW, ACR, blacks increased, slight vignette.