Work with what you've got.

When life is taking you in the direction it chooses go with it and make the most of it. As my wife is now released from bed rest, we had a routine tests at the hospital just to see how things are coming along. Lucky for us this time, we had the testing done in a birthing/surgical room. Right away I noticed these cool lights hanging from the ceiling. They pivoted all around and you could focus the beam of light from wide to super tight spot light.

So I went about playing with the lights. Really I was getting some more maternity shots as we didn't get a chance to do that while Nina was on bed rest. With these lights I had fun adjusting the intensity and came up with a couple shots I kinda like.

This room had a great '70's vintage look with these light turquoise tiles and this wall clock. Again, all the lighting in these photos is from these surgical lamps and have not been photo shopped or re-edited at all.

I came away with a new respect for continuous lighting. However, I also came away understanding the limitations, such as heat they radiate and the squint factor (having a light shining in your eyes).

What could have been just another visit for tests provided some interesting shots that I would have missed completely if I had not packed my camera. You just never know what opportunities you may stumble upon. 

A couple evenings ago, while Nina was still on bed rest, Kole and I snuck into the back yard for a little fun. I just wanted to play around with some lighting using a speedlite and my softbox and get some silly shots of Kole and myself. I know the photo above is a touch out of focus and I'm over-exposed, but who cares. The photo is about me and my son having fun together.

This was Kole's turn to be a star.

And my turn for a great facebook profile shot...

So what if you are in a situation that you might not think is optimal for pumping out stellar photos. Work with the situation and you will come up with something. And chances are, the situation will be unique and you'll have more interesting photos as a result.

http://www.kurtknock.com/

Is there a doctor in the house!

Today started off with a bit of surprise. Snow was falling and it was coming down hard! Then as I was about to run my son off to daycare, I received a phone call from my doctor friend, Maggie. She was wondering where I was. I guess there was some miss-communication and she and 15 others, doctors, nurses, techs and a mom with two little ones were waiting for me at the hospital for a photo shoot. The docs needed some stock photos to put in the Medical Post, the National medical magazine. Cool.

I had it in the books to do this tomorrow morning but one has to be flexible! So I rushed to pack my gear and my son in the van and hit the snowy roads.

I quickly realized I was not going to make time driving fast on the fresh snow so I slowed down and kept my cool. That is until I got to the hospital parking lot and ran with my gear bags in up to the new maternity clinic.

Once I arrived I was happy to see some familiar faces and everyone was relaxed. The room on the other hands was tiny. Maybe eight feet wide at the most and I had to fit 15 people in the shot. Hmmm... How to do this. The shot above is an idea of the confusion while I was arranging the lighting. I ended up using a shoot-through umbrella with my speedlite on maximum power which was just enough. The top photo is the end result.

Once I was satisfied with the group shot, Maggie asked me if I could do head-shots of the staff. Why not. So I had her as my test subject while I set up the lighting again. She was getting fidgety about the time as it took me about 5 shots to get things set the way I wanted. Then I had it. And after that I had the rest of the staffs' shots done on the first try and in about 3 minutes. Woo-hoo.

After I had finished packing my gear, another doctor asked if I could do the maternity shot for the clinic. But of course. I can't wait! There are going to be some great shots of moms to be, and moms with babies on display there soon...

So even thought the photo-shoot happened a day early, I made the best of it, people liked what I did and I made connections, leading to more great photo work. And to top it all off, I got to spend the rest of the day with my lovely wife Nina and have a nice lunch date! :)