07.15.09 – SoCal Photog Shootout

So a few weeks ago I attended the SoCal Photog Shootout. The Photog Shootout group is spreading the nation and is now here in Southern California. They partnered with Hanssie and Matt (who hosted previous shootouts which I blogged) to have the next big shootout in San Juan Capistrano. I gotta tell ya, the announcements for signing up felt a little like waiting for tickets to be released for a U2 concert. Everyone wanted to go, but only 50 were coming. So yes, as soon as I got the FaceBook message I jumped on it. Funny thing is I was on vacation in Palm Desert with my family and all I had was my iPhone!

Shootouts, meetups, group shoots, etc. Whatever you want to call it, are essential for photographers. Not only for networking and meeting with other photographers, but also to get creative without the pressures of clients and making sure you got the shots you needed. It’s the best practice you can get! With this event, I got to meet people I’ve been friends with via Twitter and FaceBook that I haven’t met in person as well as friends from previous shootouts. I also challenged myself with this shoot. I had recently acquired a Canon 135mm f/2L lens and forced myself to use only that lens. Can I just say, I love this lens! It may be a little long for portrait use but the bokeh on this is super smooth! So the photos you see below are all from that lens.

The day of the event for me started off LATE. I won’t get into it but leaving Diamond Bar at 3:45 to get to San Juan Capistrano by 4:00 wasn’t going to happen so I arrived a little bit after the groups dispersed to go on their respective shoots. I missed Jasmine Star‘s opening talk. From what I heard she had a wealth of information. The event concluded with a delicious dinner at Sarducci’s sponsored by ShootDotEdit and another talk from Michael and Anna Costa. Right before their talk they held a raffle. I don’t expect much from raffles, especially when everyone hoards to throw their business card in. Anyways, they had a lot of cool prizes and then they announced the next prize, one year of ShowIt Sites. I think that was one of the biggest prizes there. Anna pulls a card and I think “Hey 18% grey card with rounded corners, kinda looks like mine. Huh..” Anna calls out my name, stumbling with my last name like everyone does. WTH?!?! Did she just call my name? Raise my hand and sure enough the prize is mine. OK, enough rubbing in to all my photographer friends. It was a great night. I got to hang out with all my photographer buddys and meet new ones! Can’t wait for the next one! Thanks to Rob and the Photog Shootout group for putting on such a great event. With that here’s a little slideshow of what I captured. As always, comments appreciated. Thanks and God bless!

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EDIT: Boo! Slideshow plugin broken!! All images are currently small. Sent an email off for support. Hopefully fixed soon! You can still view it fullscreen by clicking on the monitor icon on the bottom right of the slideshow. The photos end up showing a little soft though.