Scattershot

Several random encounters bracketed my day.
In the morning I swung by the On The Go to get a Rockstar. I still had a coffee from breakfast that was almost finished, so I brought it from the car to throw it out. There were two pillars bracketing the entrance, and I went around the far one looking for the trashcan. There it is and some dude is standing outside by it drinking his own cup in the morning sun. I throw mine out and the dude says "Black or brown, johnny dundayguys". He says it mean, very harsh so I pay attention but I have no idea what the heck he means.
Inside the store, I mull it over. I figure maybe 'dundayguys' is "don't date guys". But why is he telling me he doesn't date men of color? Ah, wait: 'black or brown' was 'back around'. He was threatening me away from his garbage can. Well, he's crazy. At least he gets to speak about himself in the third person.
At the end of the day I pull into a parking space out back of the hotel. The van lights illuminate the scene. Outside the hotel door is a patch of grass with a picnic table. On it a girl sits backwards with her back to me. She's leaning back and her elbows are resting on the tabletop. Behind her on the table is a tall glass of a very red drink with ice cubes. I step out of the van. I'm still 15 yards away and the smell of booze hits me square in the face. That is one strong Sea Breeze.
As I get closer she tells me to come on over. Excuse me? I must not have heard right. She says it again: come over, why don't I come on over? This seems odd as she hasn't turned around but there is no one else alone and her hands are where I can see them so she must be talking to-- ah you tricksie Bluetooth headsets! That must be it, her long hair hid the earpiece and she's talking to some boyfriend.
I gather my things and go around her to head inside. Working my security card at the hotel door, I sneak a peek back at the girl. She's staring into the distance, her chin on her chest, still talking, inviting people over. There's no headset. No earpiece. Just a drunk girl talking to herself. Maybe she should invite Johnny over; I hear he doesn't date guys.
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On the photo front, some setbacks. Turns out you can't just throw light around and hope it all works out because your fancy camera thinks it can balance the amount of light. Angles and shadows were a huge challenge recently in two sets of snaps. That plus the muddy reality of people moving around and their limited patience. People expect photos to be right, quick and automatic. When you bring big gear to the party, they expect it to be great and automatic. That's not what Im trying to do and it I've taken some really bad shots lately. Light bouncing harshly all around small, cramped rooms has made for some ghastly, shadowy shots.
Since I haven't had light softeners or spreaders, like an umbrella I've been trying to bounce light off ceilings to get broad, even spread. The problem has been distances, intermediate objects and the inability to figure things out quickly as the scene changes. I'm thinking in must-have shots, it might be better if i cant get it right to forgo flash: kick up my iso and drop my dof. I really hate grain, though. Gah. Thats lame. I just need to work harder.

Edit: I posted an example of what I'm talking about. Click on it to see the whole photo. Uneven lighting and bad shadows. :\

- Posted from my iPhone