Wallbridge Photography

Last week's highlight photo of the week was the spectacular light show in the sky to end out the Canada Day celebrations at the Assiniboine Park, and now today I am going to take a highlight to the music at the event. Unfortunately the only band I got any decent number of shots of was Eagle & Hawk, a local band who are a mix of rock, country, and native music. The music was entertaining, the view worth the trip, and the band members were definitely a joy to watch. In this shot we have lead singer Jay Bodner conducting the crowd in their part of the lyrics of their closing song. For more shots from that day, check out the Canada Day 09 - Celebrating gallery. Please also check out the Facebook Fan Page and Group for Dwight Wallbridge Photography.


Raise the Roof!

A few weeks back was Canada Day here in my great nation, and to Celebrate I ventured out to what has been clearly the hot spot for our national birthday, Assiniboine Park, where a number of musical acts and thousands of Winnipeggers came out to celebrate the day of our countries birth. I got a few photos of the Manitoba band Eagle and Hawk, as well as lots of the fireworks that are a Canada Day tradition, one of which is the photo of the week. Celebrating the Red and White, True and Proud was one of the more spectacular parts of the fireworks show, and one that I was very happy to capture. For more shots from that day, check out the Canada Day 09 - Fireworks gallery. Please also check out the Facebook Fan Page and Group for Dwight Wallbridge Photography.


Celebrating the Red and White, True and Proud

A few weeks ago, on a lazy, but warm Sunday afternoon, I headed to the Forks, a national historic park in the middle of the city, which has a skate park that was called 'honestly one of the best' by Tony Hawk when he visited after the park opened in 2006. There were a number of people on bikes and skateboards around the park, and I took over 1,200 shots from the day of people enjoying their sport. The shot below is of one of the more accomplished bikers at the park named Adam. For more shots from that day, check out the Skate Park - June 14 gallery. Please also check out the Facebook Fan Page and Group for Dwight Wallbridge Photography.

While I was sorely tempted to go with one of the newer photos uploaded today to the Jaq Shoot 1 gallery, since I finally got the last few touched up, and uploaded, I decided to go with another of the shots from New Years. As I said then, I had a blast, though I must say climbing up a rickety ladder that I doubt is rated for my weight was no fun at all, I did get some really cool shots from the higher up perspective. This one was shot at the main area of the party, where someone had a lit up Hula Hoop, which they were using in some cool ways. Clearly she is having fun, and was the inspiration for a few cool shots like this.

Before I show you the highlight photo, I did want to let you all know I have hesitantly enabled rating and comments on the Gallery. Please be kind and don't insult me or my models. Also, please do not be a jerk about my photography. Constructive criticism is fine, but useless trashing will merely be deleted. Now, if you want more photos from Genesis, check out the Genesis gallery. Please also check out the Facebook Fan Page and Group for Dwight Wallbridge Photography.


Twirling

This week's Highlight Photo of the Week is one from a recent model shoot. Jaq contacted me on Facebook, where I had mentioned I was looking for models, and after some discussion we agreed to do a shoot on a day that held some promise. A few weeks later, with sunny days predicted, I got her a message, arranged a day and time when I would be off work, and we arranged to meet at The Forks, a local national park and marketplace in the city. While some delays happened, we still got in about an hour and a half of shooting, and ended up with about 700 photos across many different areas at the Forks.

Jaq brought a number of outfit combinations, and I am pretty sure we used every single one of them, some parts more than once in combination with other parts. I am not sure if this is a common practice in modeling, but it was definitely helpful in adding to the range of looks to the shoot. I recently posted about 30 of the estimated 50 shots that will be posted once I get them fully post processed. To decide this week's Highlight from the 30, I went to twitter, the Microblogging service, and asked those who follow me for their advice on which one I should pick.

I got over 20 replies, and ended up with three finalists, which were also put up for a vote. The photo below was the one chosen. The rest of the photos, as well as the last 20 I need to upload, are at the Jaq Shoot 1 gallery.


Seriously Seductive

Access to tall buildings in the city, in any city really, can be hard to find. Post 9.11, skyline shooting is a troublesome and expensive desire for most anyone. Thankfully I work in an 11 floor building in Downtown Winnipeg, and while the 11th has no sunset views, my work has the 8th floor as well, and that has an amazing view of the sunsets. After months of longing to have had my camera when I see an amazing view out that window, I began taking my camera to work often, on the hopes that the sunset would be worth it. May 20th it was. It was not the best I have seen, but the best I got in the days I had my camera with me. The differing shades and amazing colors begged my lens, and I was more than happy to click the shutter a few dozen times. More Skies and Landscape shots can be found in the Skies and Landscapes Gallery!


Fire in the Sky

My passion for photography is something I would be hard pressed to hide, and my family is well informed on this aspect of my life. I would like to think my family, or at least some of them, check this site for new updates. So it was with great pleasure that I found a gift waiting for me when I woke up today. I have been vocal about my desire that when I move, I will be wanting to section off a part of my next place for a photo area. I will set up a place for my light tent, but more importantly I want to set up a place to do actual, honest to goodness model shoots that don't require a sunny day, or lack of rain.

While my parents had been out checking out garage sales today, I am told, they came across two plastic cases, each about three or four feet long, a foot or two deep, and they both were had for $30. The first case I opened was actually the newer looking of the two, and it contained a couple of Ianebeam 650 'Redhead' continuous light heads. Part of this I read off the back, part I am guessing by what I have read online. I could tell right away these are powerful lights, and a quick plug in of each told me I was not wrong! Along with these the case had several front housings I guess in case one breaks. Oddly, the case also had a metal bar from a weight set and a music stand, for holding sheets of music.

My joy at the first case clear, I moved onto case number two, which had a couple Lowel Omni lights. This too had a some metal housings for the front, as well as several mesh covers and the power cables. As well, there was 3 light stands. Yes! Score! I plugged these two in, and while one didn't work, I was informed that they had been told one might have a burnt out light bulb. Some testing shows this is possibly not the problem, but I will call around to somewhere that would have a better idea on Monday.

The light stands, which I checked next, showed more work will be required, but time will tell on that regard. Adorama has light stands for $20, so if these ones end up looking too costly, I will just pay them for some brand new ones. Either way if it turns out that I got 3 working lights and a couple usable light stands, all for $30, I am well on my way with all of this. I am seeing the Omni's brand new are about $150, and the other ones are probably at least $50-$75 value, so I consider this a huge win and savings on buying new. Now what I need to do is check into fixing the second Omni, check into repairing the stands, and getting some umbrellas, and I will be ready to set up a studio, once I find space!

This week the highlight photo of the week will be of my nephew Cody, who I was able to convince to sit still for a few shots when I first got into DSLR level photography. I guess you could say he was my first ever model, in the summer of 2006. I wanted to thank him for being so... cooperative with my very new and raw skills with my Canon Rebel. More photo I have taken of people can be found in the People gallery, like some snowboarders, and my second model.


Cody

I mentioned previously on this site that I had donated a print to the Child's Play charity auction being put on by Brigwyn at the Hunter's Lodge blog. That auction is now over, and the winner has chosen their print. I thought it would be fitting to make this weeks highlight the one that the winner will be getting. The winner chose a photo I took about a year ago, and have called Lay of the Land.

I live close to this tall hill that overlooks the St. James and West End areas of the city, and thought it might be a good way to get some elevated vantage point photography done. Little did I knwo that this mountainous pile of garbage, a former landfill in Winnipeg's earlier days, was riddled with gopher holes. Having seen a few, but not able to get close enough by walking before the jittery creechers ran back down one hole or another, and being as stubborn as I am, I decided to sit down, and just wait. I found a good spot right between two active areas with gopher holes, and just waited, and boy did it pay off. This little guy was a bit further away, but was still visible to the camera when it looked like he started scouting another set of holes about 20 feet away. More sights from that trip can be found in the A Trip to Garbage Hill gallery, including a cute dog and many more gophers, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.


The Lay of the Land

Hey everyone, another Highlight Photo of the Week for you, but first I want to mention once again that the WoW community has banded together to hold a Child's Play charity auction in celebration of the in game holiday Children's Week. Dwight Wallbridge Photography has donated an 8x10 matte print of a photo in this collection of the winners choosing, dependent on model release if the winner chooses one of a person. Dwight Wallbridge Production's podcast All Things Azeroth has also donated a one episode sponsorship of the show. These have a combined value of about $95 USD, and both right now can be had for less than half that! Check out the auction, and help raise money to help kids.

Now, to the highlight. This week I am going back over a year ago. I was working at AAA Alarms, and our only windows faced the sunset, but most of the summer it was always too far one side or the other. When I finally got my replacement DSLR, the Rebel XT, I went photo happy. This is one I caught right near the end of the day in late January, and then the sky turned a beautiful orange as it was tinged by the suns glow. One of many I took out that window in that winter, but still a great time in my photography when I was once again looking through the lens and reimagining the world.

More can be seen in the Best of the Best gallery, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.


Sunset over Frozen Manitoba

We here at Dwight Wallbridge Productions are always happy to lend a hand to support good causes. Some of you may know I am a gamer as well as a photographer, and therefore a supported of the Child's Play charity, started by the guys over at the Penny Arcade web comic. It's a way for gamers to give back, to show the world there is more to us than a controller, avatar, character or title. Therefore when Brigwyn, over at The Hunter's Lodge, twittered about his planned Child's Play charity auction, an event to celebrate the World of Warcraft in game event Children's Week, I knew right away I had to give what I could. For the photography side, I offered up an 8x10 print, unframed, of one of my collection, of course dependent of model release where applicable. On the podcasting side of the company(Dwight Wallbridge Productions) I offered up a one episode sponsorship. If you want to support Child's Play, a great charity helping kids, and get a sponsorship of the show or a print of one of my photos, check out the eBay auctions. Also, be sure to check out all the other awesome stuff being donated!

Puppies in Puzzle is a photo taken in part of my makeshift studio here, and was one of my earlier product photography attempts. The puzzle is a creation of my father, who sells them on Etsy.com, who has over a dozen puzzles and other woodcrafts for sale. In order to even shoot these, I needed to create a multi level, back dropped staging area, and then provide enough light to avoid needing the new flash I bought for my camera. I am overall happy with how they turned out, and am sure that when people start to notice my father's woodwork on Etsy, that he will sell many more like this, and the others on display. More can be seen in the Puzzles by Harold gallery, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.



Puppies in Puzzle, woodcraft by Harold Wallbridge

In deciding this weeks Highlight photo, I went back to look at what I have covered. I have covered cars, skylines, and people, but overall what gets the most comment on the sites I see, is the animals. I first did a photo of an Amur Leopard from the Assiniboine Zoo, then I moved on to my sister's Cocker Spaniel named Misty. Both got me kind and generous comments. This time I decided to go back to the fall of 2006, when I took a trip to a place called Lester Beach, jsut outside of Winnipeg. The visit was to see some friends, but was worthwhile in so many other ways. I got some awesome nature shots, like this weeks highlight, and some great sunset over water photos.

This weeks shot is even more spectacular because it was hand held with no flash, only the sunlight shining in through the tree tops. The dragonfly was just sitting there, on this stalk of grass, and thankfully did not flee as I moved in close enough to get a shot of him with my 55-200 at full zoom. To this day, it's one of my early shots I am most proud of for the skill it took. More can be seen in the Best of the Best Gallery, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.



No, he's not pinned there, he's just being really cooperative with my needs as a photographer. If only all models had it's capacity for patience!

Sorry for a late posting this week, it's been a busy week. This week I am going back to the old school, and will be highlighting a photo I took a few days after the World of Wheels show of '06 that I broke into DSLR level shooting with my used Canon Digital Rebel. This is a school yard on Beliveau Road in Winnipeg, which had a very flooded field to the side. I was riding my bike by and saw the amazing reflection of water and sky, and knew I had to get the shot. The shot below is the result. The full gallery can be seen here, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.



Victor Mager School on Beliveau Road in Winnipeg.

Time for another Highlight Photo of the Week, and this time I am bringing it a bit closer to home. My sister went to Mexico for a week, leaving me to watch over her dogs. A few days in I got a new flash, and while the dogs had many downsides, their capacity to be photograph almost made up for it. The full gallery can be seen here, but below you will find one of the highlights of the group.



This here is Misty,

While experiencing an incredibly bored evening at work, I decided to use a bit of scrap paper and tape, as well as my research into diffuser models, to see if I couldn't make my own. While I admit that the first revision is pretty basic, and needs some work, it is a good start from the materials I used. First, there is the Paper version. This is, essentially, a two level box without a lid. The first level, with the 'bottom' of the lidless box, is what your flash would see. The second is what I imagined would be the sleeve or collar of the diffuser, sliding over the edge of the flash. If this was snug it would need no other mechanism to attach to the flash, but an elastic or tape would hold a loose one on mildly well.

The rev 1 I have made for actual use, or at least for trying to use, is not too bad either. The materials were very simple, a well rinsed 4 liter milk jug and some tape. I did my best to measure out the size of the flash head, and proceeded to shape the box to the size of the flash head. Sadly, I only had a single milk jug, so the collar type feature was not feasible on this revision. I still intend to use a non melting clear glue to hole the diffuser together instead of the tape you will see below, since that was always one of those 'in the meantime' solutions for keeping it together. It's also not very sticky tape, meant for baseboards while painting, so I am not sure how long it will keep holding. Now for the pictures.


1. Diffuser Type 1 Paper Mock Up 2. Diffuser Type 2 Paper Mock Up(1) 3. Diffuser Type 2 Paper Mock Up(2) 4. Diffuser Side 5. Diffuser Top 6. Diffuser Inside 7. Diffuser on Flash(1) 8. Diffuser on Flash(2) 9. Diffuser on Flash(3)


Future Plans: Like I said, I plan to use a clear glue to make the Type 1 Rev 1 stay together long term, without the tape it has now getting in the way of spreading the light. Once I can get a sheet of plastic that is more pliable and less restrictive than a milk jug, I will make a version that is all even and more measured than the one in this picture. It is uneven and very much thrown together, and I know there are ways I can improve on it.

Type 2 will be the second project, which I do not think has much hope to be a reality without a plastic sheet to start. I have tried to put a smaller mock up together, but it is poorly created, and I don't know if it will even be able to fit on my current flash. I would like to make a proper mock up that will have most, if not all but the collar as one single piece of plastic. I will be looking soon for a place to buy a sheet or two of plastic. Also, I will be working on this DIY lightbox, since I have at least 2 of the pieces already. I think that project will turn out much better with a guide to start, since I have found no guides to a decent looking DIY diffuser guide. Tune back in soon for more updates on my DIY on the cheap projects.

Welcome back to another Highlight Photo of the Week. This past weekend was the 2009 World of Wheels show at the Winnipeg Convention Center, and I while I didn't get the time to go this year, I wanted to highlight a shot I took from the 2006 show. To give you some background, the Saturday of that show was the day I got my first DSLR, a silver Canon Digital Rebel(300D) with a 18-55mm kit lens and used Sigma 55-200mm zoom. I was shooting with Tim Hellsten, a long time friend through the Winnipeg Photo Club, and I filled up my memory cards more times than I can count. Here is one of the cooler shots I got that weekend.



This is a Prowler, I think, though I sadly didn't get the details. One of my areas to work on. Come back next week for more highlights from my gallery.

One step closer to a Monday release, this weeks highlighted photo is one I took last summer, late summer or early fall, at the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg here. The beast is an Amur Leopard, which as you can see from my gallery I took a lot of pictures of. This massive cat was very active and photogenic in both of my visits to the zoo, unlike his Snow Leopard cousin who just paced in one of my visits, and the Siberian Tigers who were usually sleeping even in the cooler fall weather. I intend to go back this summer more, and get a wider variety of shots of this and many more animals, though I will miss the lovable Polar Bear Debbie, who passed this winter.



Come back next week for more highlights from my gallery.

Hi, you may remember me from such blog posts as... umm.. well, not many of late, really, and that is about to change. I am introducing a new segment here on Dwight Wallbridge Photography. I am going to be posting a highlighted photo once a week. These photos retain the usual copyrights, so don't be stealing. I am going to try to make each week's photo new and notable where I can. That may not always be possible, but I will try. Now, for the first Highlighted photo.



This is Cheyenne, a girl who was very eager to pose for a picture model style near the end of the party. I think she would make a great model, what do you think?

I took a bit of time since I got my Canon 350D and tried to learn the ins and outs of using a full feature DSLR. You see, my last DSLR, a Canon 300D, has been half a camera for over a year because of an unfortunate but educational meeting it had with some cement. It feels nice, but just as overwhelming as it was last time to have so much at my control. I am slowly acclimating to it, and figuring out where to go next with my photography. I have posted a few pics over on the Gallery, mostly in the Nature in Spring section.

I have also begun posting photos, in smaller numbers, over at Flickr, though only those I allow to be friends can see them. I was originally going to allow everyone to see them, but I didn't like the stories I read about local businesses taking photos from there and using them without the authority or compensation. If you want to take a look, feel free to add me, but understand that by doing so you are agreeing to my copyright terms.
 
Well, off to look through photos from the Ten Thousand Frames get together, trying to learn from my mistakes and salvage what I can from my misguided attempts.

I am not sure anyone even reads this anymore, but after well over a year since I took any notable photos, I have finally received some long awaited money, and purchased a brand new Canon 350D, aka Canon Rebel XT. While I was upset about a few changes from the Rebel to the XT, I am overall happy with my new camera, have rejoined the local photographic community, and look forward to a great many new photos to be taking! Happy Shooting!

I have just posted a few new entries over on the gallery, in the Best, Nature, and Places sections, of shots I took awhile back, and had posted to Deviant Art, but had simply forgotten to upload to the old gallery. Enjoy, comments and ratings appreciated.

Ok, I have been rather poor on updating you all on what is going on. Here goes it, then. A few weeks back, I was trying to take shots off the roof of my building. I had my camera on the tripod well away from the edge, and was pointing it upwards to try for some star shots. It's not easy trying to spot stars through the viewfinder in the middle of a bright city, even being 17 floors up. Well, I dropped something I was holding and stepped away to try to pick it up. In a perfect example of Murphy's Law, a strong gust of wind blew up when I was not a foot or three from the tripod.

Before I could turn around and grab the tripod, it had fallen over, my camera falling to the cement bricks that cover the patio on the buildings roof. I tried hard to figure out what was wrong, spent several days trying to see if I could diagnose the issues I was seeing, the messages given, and when I still could find no information I reached out for help from Tim Hellsten, a fellow local photographer and someone who has been dealing with Canon DSLRs a lot longer.

He confirmed the nature of the message I was getting, and advised I should take it to Precision Camera Repair in the city here, and see if they could at least find out what is wrong. Well, this past Thursday I heard back from them and they said the camera would need to go off to Canon, as the MDU, which is apparently a major circuit board inside the camera, is not working. I can still take pictures with the camera, or I could when I last had the camera in my possession, so my plan now, since $400 to repair is as much as a replacement body will cost, is just not worthwhile.

I have some pictures I have already taken which I am working to process and post to the gallery, and will continue to make the best of the camera I have and the pictures I can get out of it while I save up to replace the camera, maybe even getting a nice black body (the old one was a unsightly silver) and maybe a battery grip while I am at it. So, there i where I am at now, and you all know where I stand. If you have any interest in donating to help me get new camera, feel free to donate on geekblog.net.

Hey folks, I just finished uploading about 40 new images for you all to see. I also reorganized the folders, and added a few new folders to try to better organize the gallery. I have added a number of images to 'Places', and the 'Nature and Animals' galleries, and have brought my galleries up to the point I have backed up, meaning about the end of April. Yeah, I know, I am bad for not having more backed up. I am planning to do the rest in a few days. It doesn't help that my burns often come up with problem or unverifiable images, which makes me think twice about the disc I burned. Anyways, feel free to go in and comment and rate my images across all galleries.

I am apparently a bad photographer. I posted all these photos for you, with many more to come very soon, but I failed utterly to tell you how you could order prints of them. The answer, simply, is email me! I choose not to go with any services online, as I find I get better results and quicker more reliable service from one of the local places in the city here. The price for an 8x10 print is dependant on the image, but the shipping to the US is about $15-$35 Canadian dependant on the quantity, destination, and speed of service.

The prints are not mounted in any way, nor are they framed at all, though I can toss in a graphical frame if you want one. There are a number of images I have not yet in the gallery, so if you want something you do not see, let me know. When requesting a price on prints, please include all info available, including name of image, and so on. I look forward to doing business with you all!