Pup Pics and Equipment Rambles.

I call them Frog Umbrellas, these round-leaved plants that grow in San Francisco parks. Apparently, they are edible, and quite good in salads, but better when young and tender. Now they look large and tough, I shall have to wait until next early Spring. However, blackberry season is coming up in late summer, and I fully plan to be harvesting fruit while on dog walks.

Samantha quickly shed her puppy looks, and now, months after this photo shoot, looks like a gangly teenager. They grow up fast.

Today I received my new backdrop holder in the mail. It consists of 2 large tripod stands and a cross bar, and all of it folds up neatly into long cylindrical bag. No more having to worry about how to attach backdrops in people's homes.

I keep a lot of stuff in my car trunk: two umbrella light stands, one 4 bulb lamp with stand, tripod, white, black and gray back drops, clamps, extension cords, extra batteries... no room for a trip to Ikea.

Should studio sessions cost more? Most of that stuff is for studio. However, studio requires less editing, since I can control light conditions and they stay the same throughout the shoot. In outdoor shoots each photo usually requires a different set of edits. I think it balances out. Now on my equipment radar - external battery pack for my flash. I blaze through 24-packs of AA batteries. The sad thing is that I don't even use up all the juice in a battery; there's enough left to power a Wii remote for quite a while. At partial-juice, the AA batteries don't provide power fast enough to my Flash for a photo shoot, and I wind up missing key moments. Rechargeable AAs are as ineffective as partial-juice batteries. I feel very Un-Eco in this regard. External battery packs are rechargeable, last forever and have lots of umph. Photography shopping.... not just a matter of What Lens Shall I Get? anymore.