I Get Paid For Doing This

The other day a new student joined one of my group classes. Fortunately, for both of us, we were alone for this first encounter which gave us an opportunity to get to know each other. At one point in the conversation she said to me that I loved what I did. This reminded me once again that I was among the privileged few that get paid for doing what they enjoy. Had I not become a self-employed language teacher/consultant/coach five years ago I would most likely be facing forced retirement or unemployment with little or no way of earning an income. I consider myself very fortunate.

To Flash or not to Flash

As a general rule I make every effort to avoid using a flash as the main source of light in my pictures. If the light is low and my subject is not moving then all I have to do is secure the camera and, for more precision, use a shutter release cable or the internal timer. When there is movement and I don’t have enough light I use some remote flash units, positioned at different angles from the subject. In the house it’s sufficient to place a couple of these flash units around the room and point them at the ceiling. The effect is amazing. Before I discovered this simple trick, all my indoor Christmas pictures had too much contrast between the bright and dark areas.

In order to take a picture of this fast moving fish I had to use three flash units; one on the camera and two remote units. I positioned one above the tank and the other one to my left, being careful not to pick up any reflection off the glass. The most difficult part was determining the exact area inside the tank where I would take the picture, manually focus on that point and then shoot every time one of the fish passed by.

It turned out to be much more difficult than I had expected.

3D Printer

One of the companies that I work for, which sells, leases, installs and services office printing equipment, recently added a 3D printer to its portfolio. The machine is located in the same room where we have English class which gave me an opportunity to see it in operation. It wasn't long before I volunteered to take some pictures of the different models. The design and manufacturing applications of this device are limitless.