A Wonderful Weekend – 1 of 3: Toni Shaw – BLUR – The Photographer’s Workshop and Some AD300 Thoughts.

Had a busy weekend last weekend. A good busy. Doing things that I enjoy. Unlike my day to day things, these are things I love to do. Photography and singing. To be specific photography, singing, and then more photography.

This first post of three is about a wonderful photography workshop I attended led by Toni Shaw of the Shaw Photography Group.

I can not say enough good things about this workshop. Let me back up a bit.

I had always wanted to go to a photo workshop. But waited for the right one. One near me preferably. One hosted by a photographer I respect and trust. Saw a promotion for this workshop and all boxes were checked. A 30 minute drive. I have followed Toni Shaw’s work for years now. Not only is she a gifted photographer, but she shares her wisdom and expertise with others freely. So I signed up as soon as I saw it. It was four hours well spent. Let’s walk through it.

Wisdom and experience was shared during the sit down portion. Snacks and beverages were provided. We all submitted cards with questions and they were answered throughout the workshop.

Next up was a portrait lighting tutorial.

Now to the fun part. Models were hired… Cool. I had not realized this. Pretty much everyone there including Toni used Godox/Flashpoint lighting. We were asked to choose a channel other than 1 or 2 so we would not set off each other’s lights. Sony shooters were asked to team up with Sony shooters. I was teamed with another photographer, Ameriah,…

Trigger sidebar: Ameriah did not have a trigger, so I let her use one of mine after setting it to the new channel. I then looked for my other trigger, but at that moment, it was gone. No big deal. Use my Godox V1 as a trigger. Set it as a trigger… And that is when I realized I had no Earthly clue how to change the channel on a V1. Toni stopped through and gave it a go, but in the end Youtube saved the day. Main menu. We are good. Reminded me that practicing with these triggers now and then would be beneficial… And then of course I immediately found the trigger I could not find at the workshop as soon as I got home in the same pocket I had looked in earlier… Ah well. All is well that ends well. Felt like an eternity but only delayed me for a few minutes. Let’s go take some photos.

…and we were then teamed up with a model.

Reign is a great young lady and a pleasure to work with. When I asked Reign if she had any poses in mind this was her response.

A very talented young person and a great sense of humor as well. Toni stopped by to give us some starter tips and then we were sent out on our own around the facility. Toni would check on us but Ameriah and I were good. Here are some of my favorites followed by an ode to the Godox AD300.

Reign’s mother, Dr. Renita L. Webb, was a model at the workshop also. I asked them if they would like some photos together and they were game.

Well, that wraps up the photography portion of the day’s program.

Closing Thoughts

On to some closing thoughts about the AD300.

It is flipping awesome.

For me, it is the perfect light.

Prior to its release my favorite light was the AD200. Made my own bootleg AD400. But for me, the AD300 is better. Why? I am glad I imagined that you asked.

It provides enough light, even for this sunny midday photo session.
- This was confirmed the first time I used it outside when little ones in a family session did not give me time to set up my bootleg AD400. Used it with a 59″ Phottix Raja softbox.

It takes up no more space in my bag than a Godox V1.
It takes the same batteries as an AD200.
The snap on softbox is compact and does away with needing an s-bracket and a larger softbox.
Bare bulb is standard doing away with a need to attach a barebulb like I have to do with the AD200.
Even has a modeling light standard.
Like all other Godox lights it is brand agnostic, like me, so when a photographer using a Nikon trigger asked to join us briefly she had no issue using it also.

In short it is my favorite light.

Other gear? I will keep to the concept of a recent post. Yes. I like what I used. But any camera and lens would work for me. In fact, Ameriah had one of my favorite cameras and one of my favorite inexpensive lenses. A Sony kit lens…