11.25.2010 | Personal
I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are all enjoying a beautiful day with your family and friends and a lot of good food. I am especially thankful for the members of our armed services and their amazing sacrifices. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the 2 holidays I really try to take it easy.
Being that there are a lot of sales going on, I thought I would throw this out there:
Save $30 on Michael Andrew Paintballer Pro Presets or Michael Andrew Lollipops ®!
This coupon is good for 2 days only, from today through tomorrow evening!
This is the code: happythanksgiving10 Enjoy!
Should have all the results in from the Judges any day now. Once they are in we will start the final voting. I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are all enjoying a beautiful day with your family and friends and a lot of good food. I am especially thankful for the members of our armed services and their amazing sacrifices. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the 2 holidays I really try to take it easy.
Being that there are a lot of sales going on, I thought I would throw this out there:
Save $30 on Michael Andrew Paintballer Pro Presets or Michael Andrew Lollipops ®!
This coupon is good for 2 days only, from today through tomorrow evening!
This is the code: happythanksgiving10 Enjoy!
Should have all the results in from the Judges any day now. Once they are in we will start the final voting.
11.24.2010 | Website Reviews
First let me give a very big thank you to Brock Martin of Infinet Design who donated a lot of time and resources to making this new site for Mark. We expect there will be minor bugs and glitches and to slowly work them out. I imagine that over time, Mark’s brothers Thad, Joseph and David will take over more of the posts and control over the website. While we may not post something everyday, we hope to add more images, videos, features, articles, stories, not just about Mark, but about all Combat Controllers as well as other Armed Forces Service Men and Women.
We have also begun the process of organizing a non-profit Foundation in Mark’s name to raise money for scholarships and other worthy charitable causes.
Mark, We love you buddy! Your family, friends, fellow Americans are humbled and honored to give you this home on the Internet for as long as we can keep it up and running. We will never for get you or your sacrifice.
Mark Forester’s Memorial Website
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11.24.2010 | Photography
Canon 5Dii, 16-35 2.8 L Lens, f11, .5″, ISO 50 – Circular Polarizer, Cokin P filter Holder with ND Grad (Heavy) filter. 
Canon 5Dii, 16-35 2.8 L Lens, f8, ISO 100, .5″, ISO 50 – Circular Polarizer, Cokin P filter Holder with ND Grad (Heavy) filter.
When filming the last day for the Business Crash Course, the wind got the better part of my filter set which is now somewhere on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. When I ordered the replacements, I decided to try an ultra-dark grad filter along with a blue and red. It is amazing at all the different filter sets there are available.
A few things I am learning:
1. It seems that at least on Maui- Cloud formations are king. They will make or break your shot every time. I look at them during the day to try to predict if it will be worth shooting or not at sunset.
2. Know the exact time the sun is going down. Get to the beach about a half hour before then.
3. To be a really good landscape photographer, it pays to have a wide selection of filters available. The grad filter I had today was just too dark, namely because the sun is peeking between the clouds. If there were no clouds it would have been perfect. I see this type of sunset a lot, and am thinking about making my own filter to shoot for this type of scenario.
4. It helps to have something interesting to break it up. I really like the fisherman because he is different than what I am used to having in my sunset shots. Rocks are aways good.
5. Moving wave shots seem to be best between .5 seconds and 1.5 seconds. These 2 are at .5 seconds. The waves look better if you take the shot as they are coming in, vs when they are pulling back out.
Not happy with these, but I am determined to get better at landscape photography and feel like I am learning each time I shoot. ![]()
11.22.2010 | Movie Reviews
I love to get emails like this. Shooting with off camera flash is no simple thing and we have all struggled with it, which is why I made the Canon Speedlite Crash Course DVD. Here is the letter and attached image:
Hey Michael! After watching the Speedlite Crash Course DVD last night, I was able to function fairly well today with my shoot using my 580 EXII. Honestly MIchael, before watching your Speedlite DVD, I was completely lost with my flash unit. I’ve had the thing for 4 months now, without using it all….. Your tips and techniques took me right to heart of how to use it very fast. From ISO exposure adjusting, to the differences between ambient and reflected light, you explained everything very precisely. I really feel comfortable with my flash unit now, and I know after many more times of watching the DVD, I will have mastered it. Your the best! Here is one of the images from the shoot. I did everything you said and it worked great!–Shannon
This picture from his first shoot after watching the Speedlite DVD Crash Course. For those of you who have watched it, you probably know why this isnt a very easy shot, as well as what he did to get it right:I love to get emails like this. Shooting with off camera flash is no simple thing and we have all struggled with it, which is why I made the Canon Speedlite Crash Course DVD. Here is the letter and attached image:
Hey Michael! After watching the Speedlite Crash Course DVD last night, I was able to function fairly well today with my shoot using my 580 EXII. Honestly MIchael, before watching your Speedlite DVD, I was completely lost with my flash unit. I’ve had the thing for 4 months now, without using it all….. Your tips and techniques took me right to heart of how to use it very fast. From ISO exposure adjusting, to the differences between ambient and reflected light, you explained everything very precisely. I really feel comfortable with my flash unit now, and I know after many more times of watching the DVD, I will have mastered it. Your the best! Here is one of the images from the shoot. I did everything you said and it worked great!–Shannon
This picture from his first shoot after watching the Speedlite DVD Crash Course. For those of you who have watched it, you probably know why this isnt a very easy shot, as well as what he did to get it right:
Great work Shannon! It will get easier and easier now that you know the rules!
11.21.2010 | Movie Reviews
This was a weird movie…almost like 2 movies in one. The first half was pretty much slow and boring. I actually took out my iPhone and started playing games.
Second half was quite good, as in REALLY good. This is a definite rental, and would make a good date movie if you have nothing else to do. ![]()
