Elton Anderson » weddings. lifestyle. fashion.

Outside of my own failed experiments, I have learned nearly everything that I currently know about lighting, strobes and flash from The Strobist Blog. David Hobby’s blog is so simple, yet it provides a step by step guide for beginners like myself and even the far more experienced on everything there is to know about lighting. I have always been partial to natural light photography — for me, nothing is better then the sun’s ambient lighting — but I have to remember that every wedding has a reception and flash is a must! 

Since I spent the majority of this Thanksgiving holiday indoors, I decided to play around with flash and see what type of shots I could produce.

A pic of my brother-in-law gearing up for Wii Tennis. Since their was already lighting within the room (ceiling fan) I decided to bounce the flash off of the white wall to my right.

This is a pic of my cousin (the back of his head at least). For this shot I used the flash as a fill by bouncing it off the ceiling.

Here’s grandma and her great-grandkids. I pointed the flash almost directly at them but stepped back a few feet to lessen the shadows. This shot actually came out fairly bright.

Playing with my flash was fun but the food was definitely better! Happy Holidays…

I only get to see my niece a few times a year and I’m always amazed at how fast she’s growing. Thanksgiving was her 1st Birthday and the in-laws invited my side of the family to Carthage, MS [I'm sure you've never heard of it] to celebrate the holiday and stuff our faces. Here’s Deja…. she can’t quite walk but she’s a pro at standing up!

Living in Miami has its perks — I love the weather, the beaches and the diverse culture. In fact, I can see myself living here for the next couple of years but there are a few things that I miss from living in an environment with four seasons. Definitely NOT the snow, but everything else that comes along with the Autumn weather… especially the leaves. I’ve been doing some business in ATL for the last few days and grabbed a quick shot on the way to the car.

I’m not just a people photographer folks… apparently, I shoot cars too (well for today atleast). Today, a buddy of mine who happens to own a very successful after-market customization shop (he pimps rides) needed some pictures taken for one of his vendors. Mind you I have NO experience shooting cars, rims, spoilers, etc but as you can see I’m always up for a challenge. The hardest part was figuring out the best angles for the car (it turns out even Mustangs have their good sides). After a little trial and error, I think I finally got the hang of it. Big shout out to Alex and Dave for the referral!

Fashion photography intimidates me…. I’ll admit it. So when my friend Chavis asked for a quick photoshoot before his casting today I was a little reluctant. I was even MORE reluctant when I realized that I had to style the whole shoot as well. 

After I threw a few things together, we literally knocked this shoot out in 15 minutes right behind my apartment. Here’s a few black & whites until the next shoot.

Chavis is currently signed with 301 Models.

****Update**** 

Chavis’ agent actually liked the pics and wanted us do some more testing shots… check those out by clicking here.