Any Place, Any Time

Back when I first fell in love with photography I was as guilty as most everyone else in thinking that the more "stuff" you buy would end up making you a better photographer. Fortunatly, like everyone else that has half a brain, I learned that skill in NO WAY equates to more lighting, backdrops or props. In fact, I can say with a certain, the shots I've taken that are near and dear end up lacking the use of all of the above.

Case in point is the shot taken here. I took this last week in the gym for David, a friend of mine who is a Personal Trainer. David is probably one of THE most popular PT's I know. His passion for helping other become fit is as strong as mine about photographing people I know and care about.

This shot was taken in the Group Fitness room under very difficult lighting. There was no backdrop, no flash used and certainly no props. To pull this off, I only used the black-mats in the room and covered the floor with them. The lighting "effect" was done with Nik Color Efex Pro 3, a wonderful Photoshop plug-in.

Even without the Photoshop, this shot was still pretty decent. So, lesson learned, don't worry about the next purchase and focus on practice.