FINAL POST!!

It's been a good ride here on blogger, but we have to say farewell! Ross at Flosites has just finished designing our brand spanking new blog! Be sure to update your RSS feeds and bookmark the new page!

The domain name nicholaushaskins.com will stay the same but will take a few days to propagate to the new site.

CLICK HERE FOR NEW BLOG!

Site Outage

We are going through some big changes this weekend. All of our sites are getting moved to faster servers, and our new blog is finally going to be launched!

The new blogs domain name will stay the same (nicholaushaskins.com) but the RSS will change, so be sure to update your readers!

A final post will be made on this blog this weekend, with a link to the new blog.

As a result of the server switch, ALL of our emails will be down temporarily.

If you need to get a hold of me, please call me at 727.504.9372, or the emergency email nphaskins@gmail.com

South Carolina LUMU!

Well, enough of of you guys emailed us, so LUMU! is coming to Ridgeville, South Carolina on June 15th, 2008! Tentative location will be Givhans Ferry State Park.

More info as it develops.

(..and no this isn't the big secret!)

Sign up for the newsletter on the main website to stay in the know!

http://www.lightitupmeetup.com

I've got a BIG secret!

Ok here it goes....no wait.....not now......must.......wait.....can't.......hold it in any longer! What we're working on launching will benefit photographers BIG time. There are plenty of company's that offer what we are going to offer; but not by photographers, for photographers!

Stay tuned for more!

Go Vote!

....not for presidential stuff....go and vote for us to win the photo contest!

VOTE HERE!!

The Business Plan

I have so many great things planned for this year, and one of those was finally hammering out a business plan. It's essential for all business to have a business plan. It identifies your mission, your keys to success, the market your trying to attract, and gives a small breakdown on demographics.

I'm using this really cool software called Business Plan Pro, that pretty much walks you through every step. I don't know what a lot of accounting terms are, but this program makes it pretty damn easy!

It is VERY time consuming, and have only gotten through 8 steps in the last 2 days. 40 steps left! When it's complete it will be 35 pages long!


I have some other great news too! I am going down to meet with a very special new friend today. He is not involved with this industry, but pretty close to it. Let's just say that starting very soon this year, 2 new products are going to be added to the line up. One of those products nobody else in the WORLD makes, and will completely set us apart from the rest!

Stay tuned for more hints!

My Lost Hobby

You know it's funny, before I started this business, photography was a hobby. Since that hobby turned into a profession, I now have no hobbys...which is bad.

Before photography, I started to ride Trials.

Trials riding? Yes, and not TRAILS riding...trials riding. The sport, or rather "art" is heavily based out of Europe. In fact when I used to ride, there was only 1 other person in the State of Florida who rode. There are MAYBE 500 riders in the US. Another fact is that there is only one US store who sells these special bikes priced at around $2000, or get one imported from Europe. The bikes are special in that they have no seat....your not meant to sit down. Norco, and Echo are among the top manufacturers.

Observed Trials is very popular with motorcycles, but them someone decided to adapt it for use with mountain bikes. Basically, you navigate a short obstacle course without ever having to put your foot on the ground. It takes incredible balance, a heightened sense of what's around you, and the ability to pinpoint exactly how far apart certain things are.

My 2 favorite riders are US based rider Ryan Leech, and Phil Feeney out of Europe. Ryan's style is very clean, very fluid, and sticks every landing with uncanny precision. Phil on the other hand is very aggressive, more freestyle, and just damn right wicked!

My personal goal for this year is to start riding again as a hobby. The bike I used to have was a stipped down mountain bike, wasnt meant of doing what I was trying to do, so I broke it. If I had a bike now, I'd start riding again! To all my readers, if you happen to be a trials rider, please contact me!

Of course my wife cringes thinking about her husband jumping 10 ft off a roof on a bike...BUT...you only live once. Gotta make the best of it.

Here are a few of my favorite videos;

This is an short clip from Ryan's DVD, Manifesto.



Here's Ryan riding in Prague



Ok, so now we switch styles a bit to Phil. Here is Phil's newest video, Edit 7. Just click the vid and you should be able to find all the edits. We're only going to post this one, and one other.



This one is still my all time fav. The city was going to ban riding, saying it was "vandalism." What do you think? Watch and decide for yourself.

Tampa Meetup - Recap

This evening I got to hang out with some of the coolest photographers; Courtney, Shem, Will, Taka, Steven, Chris, Erin, and Travis...you guys rock! It's so important to network with local photographers, and some folks need to get it through their head that; we are not each other's competition. We are each others inspiration, and motivational factors. I must say, it was really nice to be around you guys. I have definitely found, "my other family," and am really looking forward to watching all of us grow together!

Of course, I will give the uber famous quote from Tim Sanders that I learned from David Jay; your network is your net worth.

I couldn't pick out just a few favs, so I figured I'd just post em all. I'll be emailing you guys your photos soon!

Few more on Courtneys blog!

The stunning Miss Courtney...



...and Courtney in action.









I love this one!



Uber cool Erin, Chris's wife.



THE one and only, Taka.





Here's Chris in action. Chris is Erin's husband.







Here we have Shem, another really awesome photographer



Chimper!



I had another one of my visions....two today to be exact; this was one of them.



There was just something about those red shoes...awesome!





Taka!







Ok, let me explain this shot. First off, this was the second vision I had when we were shooting in the alley. Courtney decided to add a funky twist to the shoot this evening, and offered a free canvas to whoever had the most creative shot. Well, I saw an empty bottle of Hennessy on the ground, and it was all over. Poor Shem. She really is a bright and happy girl, and hated to put her through this.

Hah....what am I talking about, this was frikking hilarious! In PS, desaturated, several layers of Lucis, and one freaky texture.



The uber talented Will. See you next month at LUMU! man!



and dude....you have some wicked cool eyes.



Ahhh, multi tasking!



Another really sweet shot of Courtney....



...and another. This one is my favorite of you Courtney!



One with the lensbaby...



...and a few portraits of the gang!

Shem



Erin



Chris



Steven



Travis



Will



Taken with my ultra ultra wide angle...pfff.....yea right. Eventually we'll have one!



See you guys next month!

Max TV

If you want to see Max full size, click the link below (will open in new window). Then click on "open in pop up window," then maximize the screen!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/max-tv

Chat with us!

What the hell is LUMU!?

Haskins Dish Thing - AKA DIY Beauty Dish - Update

Beauty dishes are certainly becoming quite the popular DIY project for photographers. This is traffic to the blog in the last 7 days....80% of those hits to that post are from google searches....amazing! It's crazy because our traffic keeps going up...almost 4000 hits a month now, and nearly 3000 unique visitors per month! Not much to some, but means A LOT to us!



The fact is, there are no manufacturers that make beauty dishes for small flashes. Mark my words though, you will see one in the next 6 months.

If we had a few thousand lying around to hire a patent lawyer and get our Haskins Dish Thing out on the market then we certainly would. Hell, I have 3 other ideas for small flashes that photographers would JUMP on, however I have no means of bringing it to life. Maybe if we had a sponsor? Maybe if we had an investor....now that would work!

Anyhew, reason for this post...have some new photos using the Haskins Dish Thing. In fact, this thing is rarely left at home anymore. We use it all the time! The good thing about this design is that with the optional cover, you have diffused light for folks with so-so complexions, and hard light for that beautiful skin.

We have built out and sold 3 of the Haskins Dish Things already, and you can have yours for the ultra low price of $75! But wait....order now.....just kidding.

Your $75 payment includes;

- Shipping to the contingent United States
- A 14" Haskins Dish Thing that will fit most small flashes
- Adapter already attached for easy placement on light stand, and can be be full adjusted
- Small bungee to secure flash

Contact nick@haskinsphotography.com with the subject line "Haskins Dish Thing" and provide your name, address, and make/model of your flash. I will send you an invoice through email that can be paid through paypal or with any major credit card. Price includes ground shipping to anywhere within the United States. Expedited shipping available for an additional fee of $15.

See the previous post here.

Just a photo to show the spread....nearly 180 degrees.



Hard feathered edge.



580EX into Haskins Dish Thing - 1/2 power



580EX into Haskins Dish Thing - 1/2 power



Installation of flash into back of Haskins Dish Thing.

LUMU! Registration Deadline!

The deadline for registration for the FL LUMU! is tonight at midnight! There are over 30 photographers attending! Claim your spot before it's too late!

Super fast sign up link below!

Sign up here!!!

I'm a PIF'er!

I'm so excited to announce that I am now a part of PIF!

What's PIF?

The pay it forward photography blog!

Check it out!

Tampa Togs - Shoot Me!

*Edit*
We've got 5! Thanks to all who replied!

Myself and my good photographer friend Courtney Fries are off to shoot each other on Sunday. She proposed a rather novel idear and summed it up pretty well on her blog, so I just copy and pasted!

Check it out!

"I am announcing a get-together this Sunday, February 3rd at Ybor City for a few Tampa-area photographers. Myself and my good buddy Nick Haskins are going to be shooting one another in an attempt to get some "high fashion" shots of ourselves for our blog and website/marketing tools. If you are a Tampa area photographer and are in need of shots (of yourself) for your own blog/website and would like to participate, please send me an email at...and title it "shoot me" and I will send you the details. We are going to limit it to 5 photographers, so that it doesn't take tons of time, but we can still all get together, network a bit, make friends, get some portfolio shots and also some personal shots at the same time. How can you lose? With Nick and myself, there are 3 slots still open...each "model" (haha-I know you all hate the thought of this as much as I do) will get 15 minutes in front of the lens. This is going to be a TON of fun...can't wait to see who we get :) I'm trying hard to loosen up the Tampa market...let's all help each other and make some great connections while doing so! I look forward to hearing from you guys :)"

Stuff

I know I know, I haven't posted in a coons age, but I have an excuse! Umm.....Max! Yeah that's it! Actually, we're a little over 2 weeks away from the FL LUMU!, so things have been crazy with that confirming models, packaging folders, talking with our sponsors. We're also days away from launching our uber sweet new blog featuring SUPER sized photos! There is one word that can describe the new blog...gawgeous! You guys will looooove it! Big thanks to Ross and the crew at flosites!

Sneaky peaky!

Also, if we've been in contact with any of you through email, please check your spam folder! For some reason our messages like to get marked as SPAM, and some folks think we never respond! If you do not hear from us within 48 hours, please send us another message!

HP's Photo of the Week

Gimme that camera...stop taking pictures of me!!

Tampa OSP Meetup

OSP is broken again. For those of you who were wanting to come out, were still meeting up at 7PM at Bennigans on Channelside.

Don't forget to bring 7 of your most favorite photos ever on a flash drive!

Mad Max Monday

Back for another round of Mad Max Monday. This kid is getting huge! It's like he grows by the minute! I'll be sitting there at my computer, then look back at him and it's like he's already grown an inch!

Now his feet hang over the edge of his seat.



The next 4 were lit with 2 speedlights. A 580EX through a DIY BD above camera, a 430EX with Gridspot above, and a reflector to the right for fill.







This is now my all time favorite, and sort of an accident. He's getting to the stage where he is using his hands now, and grabbing the black thing that's been in front of his face since he can remember.



Rule #1 - Work around the subject



Brandi brought home a wittle hat and some goggles. Apparently she though Max was hitting the slopes! Funny thing is...that hat....it's for a 3-4 yr old!



Chillin like Bob Dillian.





See what I mean by grabbing everything? He is so close to holding his bottle on his own! Well, he does hold it, but cant really get the thing in his mouth! It's so sad watching him try!



Decided to have a little fun lighting this one. Outside was very dark and gloomy, 10th sec type stuff. Exposed for outside, brought in a gelled 580EX (CTB) bounced it off the celing to fill the room with blue. Planted a gelled 430EX (CTO) with a gridspot to light only his face.



He was as amazed as I was!

Thanks for tuning in!

Max says peace out!