Photo-a-Day, Part 1
"The Kiss"
Based on the prophotolife.com blog entry I mentioned earlier, I managed a full week of “a photo a day”. Here’s the story, and some results.
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Street Photography (or “I’m a Coward”)
Ironically, one of the things that originally made me look to photography as a hobby, and then as a career, is the genre called “street photography”. Street Photography is, as the name says, photography on the street. But it’s not about streets or buildings or sidewalks or cities—it’s about people. People going about their daily lives, interacting, strange coincidences caught on film, fleeting moments or expressions. It differs from ‘Street Portraiture’ because it’s not about going up to someone and saying “can I take your picture?” It’s about seeing a magic moment unfold, and capturing it before it’s gone.
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Second Place Winner—Ventura City Photo Contest
Soccer Moment
A few weeks ago it was announced that I had won second place for my photo Soccer Moment in the Take A Shot! City of Ventura Photo Contest. Actually I won twice: my photo won second place in both the ‘people’s choice’ voting, and the official judging.
The awards ceremony was this evening, but unfortunately I was unable to make it. I was stuck in LA, and couldn’t get back in time.
You can view all the winners here.
That’s my eldest son in the middle of the photo, with his mouth wide open.
Inspiration vs Perspiration
As a creative type (dare I say, “artist”?), I’m well aware of the bumpy ride that is creativity. When it comes to productivity and ‘output’, it’s feast or famine. Some days (weeks, years) you think of eight amazing ideas before breakfast, execute six of them before lunch, and have them finished and displayed before dinner. Other days…well, those days turn into weeks, months, years, with nothing to show except a lot of frustration.
I truly believe that without that ebb and flow (which sounds much nicer than “feast or famine”, doesn’t it?), you can’t be creative. It’s part of the process. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try and kickstart the process when in one of those lulls.
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DIY Light Panel Diffuser
Nerd warning: technical photographic stuff.
I like to build my own photographic devices, whether it’s homemade lenses or lighting equipment. I recently built a large light diffuser panel based on the old ‘Tinker Tubes’ plans. It’s made out of PVC pipe, and cloth I bought from the fabric store. My first test shows that it works nicely! The diffuser drops the light about 2 stops from ‘hard light’, which is pretty good. My umbrellas have about the same performance. I don’t anticipate taking this to the beach, but it’ll be useful for studio or in-home work.
Oh and it cost me about $40 (as opposed to $300) and about three hours of work.
First the results. My youngest son, who is always up for a quick portrait shoot.
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Oops!
Well that was embarrassing.
I was in the middle of revising my website yesterday, and I went to check the latest revision I’d made. Suddenly, was seeing a generic “this domain registration has expired” page. What?? How could my domain name registration have expired?
Apparently both my safeguards had failed. I put the renewal dates of my domain registrations in my calendar. But I switched calendar software a few months ago, and had to enter everything manually. Apparently I’d missed one! Fortunately, the registrar always sends me tons of emails to remind me. And then send them to a special email address I’ve set up for that purpose. But wait…the forwarding system on my domain had gotten reconfigured a few months ago, and this special email was now being dumped into oblivion. Without my knowledge. So much for those warning emails!
I’ve owned domain names for probably eight years, and have had at least 15 of them over that time. I’ve never had this happen. And so of course it happens on the most important domain name of all, my business one.
Duh.
So if you experienced some email or website issues, that’s why. 50% bad luck, 50% idiocy. But it’s back!
Yousuf Karsh
Yes that’s right. When I’m not taking pictures, or thinking about pictures, I’m reading about pictures. Obsessive? No. I’m also a cyclist. Which means I’m well-rounded, right? (But not too well-rounded, which is why I cycle…)
So I’m reading Karsh: A Fifty Year Retrospective, which I got from the library. Most books are judged ‘good’ when you can’t put them down. But remember, a picture is worth a thousand or so words and all that. So with books on photographers, I’m sometimes overwhelmed with the images. I have to put the book down, so I can fully absorb what I’ve seen, before proceeding to the next set of images. Such is the case with this book.
Mind you, there are images where I’m yelling a loud mental WTF??! Like for example his portrait of Margaret Thatcher. He has her very small, at the bottom of the photo, with a large window dominating most of the shot. It’s almost insulting, to have the leader of the free world looking so forlorn and small in a portrait. [What's that? The United Kingdom isn't the leader of the free world? When did that change??]
And he has (had) and annoying tendency to place his subject smack dab (a photographic technical term) in the middle of the frame. Bull’s Eye! cry the photographers. Not all the time, mind you, but distressingly often for a ‘best of’ book.
But then you see a picture of Ernest Hemingway. Never mind the pictures of Winston Churchill that made him famous. There are the images of Nikita Khrushchev, Jacqueline and John F Kennedy, Fidel Castro and lesser luminaries. But it’s not just a matter of celebrity. He really does capture an essence of a person. While I’m sure I’m seeing only the 1% that mattered, it’s a heck of a 1%!
Everyone has something that will stop them in their tracks. For me, this is one of those somethings. How many books have you read that make you want to reinvent yourself?
Cloud Collecting
This morning I looked out the window and thought, wow, pretty sky! Someone is missing out on beautiful portraits!
Yes, I really do think like that. I say the same thing when I see a beautiful sunset too, if I don’t happen to be shooting that evening. My wife thinks I’m a twit, but that’s how I think. Wow, nice sunset, now put some people in front of it!
So I ran outside with my camera, as I sometimes do, and ‘collect clouds’.
Why? Because sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate on a client’s portrait shoot. So it’s always nice to have some pretty skies on file, that can be blended in if necessary. I put them in what I like to call my ‘cloud bank’. It’s a subtle art, and it’s easy to overdo it and make it look fake. The key is to have lots of types of sky available, at different times of day, different angles to the sun, and different weather conditions. That way it’s easier to find something that resembles what you’re replacing. Just…well, nicer. Basically I blend in the new sky with the existing one, to give it more texture. Without just slapping on a new one, which usually looks fake and awful.
If you look through my portraits on my website, most of the skies are real. But there are a couple that have had help. And it isn’t the ones you think!
My two year old came out this morning to help, in his pajamas. Since the sun had just risen, and the light was nice, I snapped this picture. Just a snapshot, but it’s cute. And he’s bringing in the newspaper for mommy.
Multi-Panel Prints
I’m in the process of adding ‘Multi-Panel’ or ‘Storyboard’ prints to my product line. I’ll be offering 10×20″ and 15×30″ sizes, with up to four images and custom text per print. This allows me to combine my love of design with my love of photography. Woo hoo! And you get something cool and unique. Here are a couple of examples:
Quick Links: Other Photographers
A short list of other photographers you should check out.
Apertura: These two guys really know how to nail a wedding. I’ve never met them, but they’re in the LA area, and their images just rock. If I were getting married all over again, I’d hire them in a flash. (Har har, photo pun there.)
I’m a member and on the board of directors of the Channel Islands Professional Photographers Association (CIPPA). We have some really great members. If you’re looking for a great studio portrait, check out Tony Maddox (Simi Valley). And two wonderful wedding shooters: CIPPA president Leanne Reis, and CIPPA director Linda Jordan.
Also, soon-to-be CIPPA member Jennifer Wilson is an excellent ‘lifestyle’ children’s photographer. She just gave a seminar at the last CIPPA meeting, and she had some really great ideas. Very different style and product line-up from what I offer (otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned her!). Beautiful images, and she’s goofy. Just like me.
(I mean that in a good way, Jen.)
