John Boal Photography

Some of you who read this blog (I'm not sure who that is beyond my immediate family) may have thought a new post today would reflect on the DNC and the astounding (and bizarre) news of McCain's Veep running mate.  But no!  I will show and talk about wrestling. A few weeks back I blabbed about the fair(s) and how interesting they are.  About 2 weeks back I had the rare priveleged opportunity to stand just feet from an american institution known as wrestling.  And to say it's the "fake" kind is sort of doing it a disservice.  While, yes, these "matches" were staged and pre-ordained, and no one was actually being choked to sleep, these performers were slamming into each other and off of 8 foot ladders and smashing through tables.  That was real, even if the refs were a bumbling, stumbling mess, who were as easily knocked out as anyone in the movies. So, in my continued effort to use the 4x5 through increasingly more inadequate means, I shot a bunch of pictu

I'm excited to be writing this after working in a studio I only learned about from a real estate agent I worked with in the DC area.   He offered me the opportunity to check it out, and pass the word on to others that might be in need of such studio space.   Imagehouse is the place.   So the other night, with the needed help of a complete ham, my friend Keith stood in front of the lights and camera.  Presto!  We made some images.  A few of which I'm happy with.  Maybe they aren't perfectly polished.  But I liked the thought process and being able to really see what I wanted to do and make it happen (mostly).  I need to get back in there to work on some stuff, re-shoot some ideas...generally get better at studio work.   But I would be remiss if I didn't thank my other friend named Keith.   Keith Barraclough .  He let me show up at his studio a few weeks back and showed me his basic setup for all those "Making It" pictures in the Wash Post Magazine.  He also sh

some more stuff from a local county fair in Manassas.  I tried out a remote strobe.  And luckily I tried it when I was (mostly) goofing around to shoot a rodeo.  I connected the transmitter and receiver to a strobe, and then when I tried attaching the second receiver, there was no charge.  Doh!  Good thing these things happen when it doesn't really count.  So I had some trouble balancing the light, knowing where to be for the best light, and I realized quickly I needed a second strobe to really get some decent light.  I got one ok pic from the rodeo, and it was on the last bull ride of the night.  Good thing, b/c I was shooting for The Potomac News, and it would have been tough to come back from the rodeo without any bullriding pics. I hope to see some wrestling tomorrow night, and hopefully I can get my remotes sorted out.  Also I couldn't shoot any 4x5 b/c it was too dark for the only film I have, ISO 100.  So maybe I'll by some Ilford 400 tomorrow.  This is all based on

Ahhh...what would summer be without corn dogs, funnel cakes and fairs?  I was never much of a fair goer as a kid.  I don't remember doing them very much.  I remember parades more vividly. My youngest years growing up were spent near or on Air Force bases in Ohio, Illinois and upstate New York.  That is Fair and Parade country.  If ever there was a place for fairs and parades it was the midwest and the upper northeast.   As soon as we moved to northern VA, those pretty much stopped.  The fairs were really fly-by night operations that holed up in some sad parking lot for 4 days, charged way too much for really bad stuff, and all you really saw were a bunch of teenagers trying to get away from their parents to make out behind the moonbounce.  I don't know if my brother and I expressed a disinterest in going back to these or my parents put a stop to it.  It wasn't long before the summer fair was replaced by one epic, marathon day-trip to  King's Dominion .  This was before

Just an update on my pics from the Hip-Hop Soulfest.  I'm still playing around with the crown graphic and coming up with enjoyable images.  Not sure so much about how good they are, but I still like the look and feel of them.  I also noticed when I go out looking for photos, I've started using a much wider perspective and actually "seeing" in a 4x5 sort of way.  Maybe I'm using it too much.  I don't know that anyone should be so wedded to a piece of equipment.  But I just like how it forces me to be more cerebral about my pictures.  I have to really visualize first, then shoot.  I think, in the end, it will make me a better photographer with my 35mm DSLR. It has become too "easy" to shoot with a digicam.  It's too easy to be lazy.  See nice light, shoot, peek, shoot again.  Someone moves, motordrive...  Instead, I've found myself watching a little more intently, and paying attention to exactly what I want out of a situation.  Then I begin sho