Website Launched

Finally I got around to getting my website up and running this summer. It still needs a few tweaks and a rewrite of the 'about' section, but hey it's getting there!


Portraiture - Images by Lesley Gracie

Lastolite EzyBox

My Lastolite Ezybox arrived in the mail today. It's basically a 60x60cm pop up softbox for your speedlight. As my student budget wont stretch as far as studio lights at the moment, I've been adding new light modifiers to my 'Strobist' kit, such as the Honl accessories, various gels, umbrellas etc.

I'll let you know how I get on with the EzyBox, first test shots look promising.


First test shot, thus the Sekonic meter in the shot!

Strobist Cards

Being an avid Strobist blog reader, I came across an ad on David Hobby's site for a "Strobist Card Set".

They are a deck of pocket sized cards with an image on one side and a lighting diagram / tech info on the reverse.

They look like a cool little resource for keeping in your pocket or camera bag.
I've ordered a set from 'Trade Secret Cards', go check them out.

I'll let you know what I think of them when they arrive.

*Arrived this morning 4th Aug 2009, look promising...

Model Mayhem

I've been meaning to set up my 'Model Mayhem' page properly for quite a while now, but as with everything else on planet Lesley, it's finding the time to do it.

It is still awaiting moderator approval, but feel free to drop in and have a look once it is up and running

*Update: Here's my link Mayhem Photographer #1109992

Nice...

I came across Clay Enos on David Hobby's 'Strobist' website.

It was quite refreshing to see a photographer advocate 'available light' shots as opposed to the huge volume of off camera lighting shots out there.

Importance of backing up your data...

I had a disaster a few weeks ago, I came home from work to a flooded house. The water damage aside, my mac desktop decided to start playing up. Whether the flood caused some kind of power surge, I'm not sure, but my mac decided it wasn't going to play ball and refused to boot up. Despite some frantic hours attempting everything the online Apple forum suggested, it appeared that my beloved mac had died. After a trip to the 'Genius Bar' (now there's a contradiction of terms) in Glasgow, a failed hard drive was diagnosed and my pocket was suddenly £190 lighter.

Thankfully I double back up.

I invested in a LaCie 320GB external hard drive some time back to use as a 'Time Machine' backup and a 1TB LaCie for my photographs. Yes it was a PITA getting all my data back onto the mac once it was repaired, but if I didn't have this double back up system I dread to think of what I would have lost.

I cant stress enough how important investing in an external hard drive is, at the end of the day, your business may depend upon it!

New Site

I spent most of today fixing a technical glitch on a clients website, dull day to say the least but hey it had to be done. It then dawned on me that I was past due getting my own site up and running, so here it is, shiny and new. I'll be aiming to add a secure client login page at a later date for image proofing, watch this space...