I was asked if I was able to take portrait pictures at The Diocese of West Missouri’s annual convention. No problem, though it meant we had to forego our annual camping trip to Truman Lake – which given the weather and fall color would have been fantastic this year. Instead, I left Springfield at 4:00am Friday morning, to be all set up ready to take pictures at the convention in Kansas City at 8:00am.

I set up two umbrella light stands in the hotel corridor, as per my earlier lighting test and there followed two days of alternate waiting and frantic activity.

I ended up taking over 750 pictures, mostly head-shots. Picking out favorites would be difficult, so I’ve gone with a sample of some of the people I know.

The Reverend David Kendrick and his wife Laura – I really liked this candid shot.

The Reverend Owen Henderson

Tom & Marsha Patterson

The Reverend Jonathan Frazier

The Reverend Ken Chumbley

The Reverend John Biggs

Finally, the two photographers at the convention.

After we’d finished at the convention it was off to take pictures at the Bishop’s Ball.

Photography notes: I opted for manual control on the flashes because I’ve found the Nikon has a tendency to under expose or vary the exposure of pictures taken with the through the lens metering. The frame left speedlite was set at 50% of the output of the right, and both flashes were mounted on stands with umbrella reflectors about 90° apart – just wide enough to avoid reflection problems with most (but not all) people’s glasses. I’d have liked to have used a top light too, but working in a corridor I didn’t have a backdrop or space to set one up.

I used wireless triggers which I highly recommend. They make things so much easier and use a lot less juice than the on-camera flash-driven Nikon command system. Though I must admit, with the Nikon system, it is nice to be able to control the individual flash outputs directly from the camera. One problem I hit, and I’ve always had this with this camera, regardless of the flash control mechanism I’m using. Invariably, the first frame taken after the camera is turned on isn’t properly synchronized with the flash, and I end up with anywhere from 1/8 to 1/2 of an exposed frame. Most annoying, and I’m left wondering how many good first shots I lose.