Skyler Call

East Bay Studios Meetup Group – November Event

skylercall — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:41:31 +0000

This month we met to take photos of models at Pete’s new studio. It gave me a real chance to try out my Westcott Umbrella and recently purchased Canon EOS 7D. Below are some of the photos I took during the event. To view the rest please visit the full set on Flickr.

Westcott 45″ Optical White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover

skylercall — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:01:29 +0000

In the past when I have used an umbrella it has been one I borrowed from my friend Clark Weakley. I recently had my first engagement shoot earlier this month and will hopefully be shooting the bridals, wedding, and reception as well. I decided I really needed to get my own umbrella. Last year when I attended a seminar by Ed Pierce (fantastic seminar by the way) all I heard when it came to lighting equipment was Westcott this and Westcott that. So, I decided to buy the Westcott 45″ Optical White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover.

With the black cover on you shoot into the umbrella and the light bounces back at our subject. Remove the cover and you have a semi-transparent shoot-through umbrella. I was worried about how hard it might be to remove and replace the cover but was quite pleased when I saw just how easy it was. The black cover has little metal end caps that slip over the end of each umbrella rod.

I am very impressed with the construction of this umbrella. Every part of it seems so durable including the solid shaft that runs through my flash bracket.

So far my only complaint about this umbrella is that is comes with the same cheap bag as all the other umbrellas I have seen before. My first time putting the umbrella back into the case I discovered that it already has a hole in it.

Christiansen Family

skylercall — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:57:52 +0000

Below are some of the photos I took of my wife’s parents and her siblings that still live at home. View the full gallery at http://www.callstudios.com

East Bay Studios Meetup Group – September Event

skylercall — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:40:25 +0000

This month we met outside an abandoned building near the Provo Airport to take photos of models and cars. Below are some of the photos I took during the event. To view the rest please visit the full set on Flickr.

Avoid Slow Traffic with Google Maps

skylercall — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:06:59 +0000

I am so excited about Google’s new crowdsourcing road congestion data project. If Verizon Wireless would stop blocking the GPS device in my BlackBerry 8830 I would gladly do my part and share my location data.

Feature Request: Google should now be ready to implement a new feature I have long been wishing for. When searching for directions in Google Maps you are given two check boxes allowing you to avoid highways and tolls. Where is the option for avoiding roads currently experiencing slow traffic?

Create a domain for yourself online

skylercall — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:22:12 +0000

Unemployed? Looking for new career opportunities? In my opinion, passing out printed resumes is an old idea. Seth Godin put it well in his March 17, 2008 blog post entitled Why bother having a resume?.

What will any HR department find when they research you online? Is there enough positive content about you to prove who you are and what you have to offer? Is there any embarrassing or degrading content about you, perhaps even written by you, that can be easily uncovered? Are you even heard of in the online world?

Create a domain for yourself online. I recently updated my website with this idea in mind. A quick visit to my home page and you will see that in a very simple manner I show you who I am and provide you easy access to the best online content about me. One improvement to my own page I hope to make soon is to replace my photo with a new vocation specific photo. I picture a photo of myself sitting in front of my clean desk and large monitors with some code I have written shown on them behind me.

Free tools at your disposal:
• WordPress – This website is built on WordPress. I use it everywhere and continue to praise that it is the best blogging tool out there.
• FriendFeed – Get online and communicate with others in your field. Share your knowledge and expertise. Participating in an online community will help you stay up to date with the latest and provide opportunities for you to learn from others. FriendFeed is the best but you can use any online community to accomplish this. Subscribe to my feed at FriendFeed.com/skylercall.
• LinkedIn – Get away from that static, boring resume and begin building a rich, dynamic resume with LinkedIn. I believe they are still too new to have a major impact today but I see great potential. Link your account to those you have worked with to begin building your pool of references. If I could make one suggestion here it would be that you not sit around waiting for volunteers to write a reference for you. Write one about them first. Hopefully they will see the effort you put into building up and improving their LinkedIn profile and will return the favor. View my LinkedIn profile at LinkedIn.com/in/skylercall.

Purchasing a domain name and web hosting
I recommend purchasing your domain name and web hosting from 1and1.com. I have used them for years and am very happy with the service they provide. Feel free to contact me if you need help setting up an account with them or installing WordPress on your newly created account.

Personal websites I have helped organize or design (updated 8/17/2009)
Feel free to use these as examples when creating your own website.
• Mark Christiansen – markwc.com

Custom RSS/Atom in FriendFeed

skylercall — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:56:14 +0000

FriendFeed currently supports 58 services to share. When I first saw the list I was amazed at the large quantity of options. After using FriendFeed for a few weeks I noticed that some were sharing their Amazon Wishlist. I don’t have an Amazon Wishlist myself but got the idea to share my ThinkGeek Wishlist. After a quick visit to FriendFeed’s Services page I discovered that ThinkGeek was not a supported service. Luckily ThinkGeek gives each wishlist an RSS feed. With that RSS feed from ThinkGeek I was able to use the Custom RSS/Atom service in FriendFeed to begin importing my ThinkGeek wishlist.

What other services do you use that aren’t officially supported by FriendFeed that you are able to import with the Custom RSS/Atom option?

Subscribe to my FriendFeed account at http://friendfeed.com/skylercall.

Provo Digital Photography Meetup Group – June Event

skylercall — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:12:31 +0000

This month we met at a Fire Station in Provo. Below are some of the photos I took.

HAFB Air Show

skylercall — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:45:35 +0000

Below are some images I took at the Hill Air Force Base air show on June 6, 2009. The planes in the air are the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

This image is looking out from inside a large cargo plane. Both the front and back ends of the plane have a large opening allowing vehicles to drive up in and be flown to another location.

I have no idea what this plane is called but thought the thrusters looked like something off a Star Wars movie.

Lone Peak High School Graduate

skylercall — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:41:43 +0000

My sister will be graduating from Lone Peak High School soon. I was asked to take photos to be used for her announcement. We had fun experimenting in a new location. See more pictures from this session at http://www.callstudios.com.