This post was originaly posted on Kingsclere Photo Club website.
The days continue to slip by here in Tucepi. The weather has been a little variable with very hot days interspersed with a couple of days with torrential rain. This has been a welcome break from the sweltering hot temperatures the locals have had to cope with through the summer. The lack of rain has meant the danger of fire breaking out. The beaches are fringed with pine trees sculptured by the wind providing shade as the temperatures reach its daily peak. As the beach area is a relatively narrow strip it is proving a challenge to compose a shot of it.
Having worked my way through the two books on flash photography I had with me my grasp of understanding more fully how to use flash,particularly off camera. Trying to fire the flash off camera using the on camera pop up flash has proved a frustrating challenge,which to be honest I have given up on.
Pat offered to model for me as I experimented with the flash gun on camera. After three shots she was bored leaving me once more exasperated. However, an early morning wander with my camera resulted in a couple of successful shots incorporating my new broader understanding of the process. I am looking forward to putting my new found skill to good effect on returning home.
My appetite for using flash was initially whetted by Mark. Recently I have been making a concerted effort to improve and to this end have found two really useful photographers online to help educate me. First off it was Matt Granger http://thatnikonguy.com/ who has a great set of You Tube videos to use as tutorials. Then I discovered Frank Doorhof, who is a giant Dutchman but an outstanding talent. Yes primarily he is a fashion and glamour shooter but is much than that. Check out this link.
http://www.frankdoorhof.com/site/2012/09/get-your-kicks-on-route-66/
His website has some excellent tutorials,in particular one he did for BandH photography store entitled “Why Fake it when you can Create it”
The change of weather has meant moody skies. This is an image made a couple of days or so ago and processed through Nik Snapseed. There is colour and a black and white version. On getting home I will reprocess it via Nik Silver EfexPro 2.
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I guess it is time to wander with my camera again. I will write a round up blog just before we leave.
Have fun
Photograhic Journey 
