Jack Dickman uses an E-3 and a 12-60 but the light is the thing.

[GerrySiegel]

<p>I caught a photo Oly related piece on The Newshour on PBS last night, December 22. About professional photographers donating time, equipment and skill to do complimentary portraits of military active duty families. This gentleman pro, Jay Dickman (no spring chicken and a N.G. outdoor type of guy w/ son overseas) was out at dawn in the Garden of the Gods National Monument, photographing a superb backlit family portrait with landscape to die for. Now, 4/3 afficianados, who could <strong>not</strong> notice that he <strong>just happened to be using</strong> Olympus E-3 and the 12-60mm. Blue ring around the lens snout was a dead giveaway. Seems Jay uses the onboard flash to trigger a strobe in a medium size portable softbox held at the waist in strong weather by an assistant. Assistant. Hey,hey. The best kind of portable support system:-).</p>

<p>I can see why the softbox. How else light up a group with consistent, balanced light against a brightly lit background. It gave speed and a nice glow too... The golden time of day was cold as all- get- out. Subject families stripped outerwear for a minute- off with their down coats- and gave a nice smile for Jay who was kneeling with handheld camera. I believe this kind of portrait is my ideal of a family portrait. Environmental, but a studio quality to it. Great memory shot for the uniformed soldier soon on the way back to Afghanistan. A reminder to me. It is the lighting No. 1. No 2. The willingness to get uncomfortable and up and running at ungodly hours. And (3) the experience to relate to people . Like: " I know you are freezing your asses of, but let's just have one big smile. Thanks."<br /> Link to a summary of this volunteer "project" for social welfare of the best kind beyond cash and checks even. I hope you appreciate the story as much as I did.</p>

<p>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2009/12/tom-bearden-photographers-focus-on-family-portraits-for-troops.html</p>

<p>And thank you Jay if you or kin see this accolade from yours truly...I know it was posted elsewhere on PN already.. I tried to find the last night clip on line, guess not quite yet....it was educational and made me kind of proud to shoot people shots. (If I could only work a while with someone like Jay it would be great. Cold but great.)</p>

<p>Mele Kelikimaka to you all,<br>

gs</p>

[starvy]

<p>the softbox and assistant really makes the difference in this shoot!</p>

[akira]

<p>Aaaah, the 12-60 is the only zoom I as owner of m4/3 camera would envy! I'd like to have a dedicated zoom for m4/3 that starts from 12mm/f2.8 (if not, I can accept f3.5) and as fast as f4.0 at the longest end.</p>

[nbagno]

<p>Here is the one that ran earlier on NBC. Looks like the e-30 and 14-35, at least for this one, not sure about the camera he used on PBS.<br>

<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34435581" target="_blank">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34435581</a></p>