Cinco!

Has it really been 5 months since I've touched my camera? Lo siento. Lo siento............

Time for some action!

I was wandering around with just my 50mm prime and saw this excellent skim boarder and asked if I could take some shots of her. Now I wasn't really set up this type of shooting but I got a few I hope worked out. It is always a challenge to shoot a subject you're not prepared for. I have a lot of respect for people who can get good candid photos, as I normally work in a very staged or controlled environment.

Fire in the Sky

San Diego Fires. May 14, 2014.

Three weeks

I haven't touched my camera in three weeks. Unfortunately for this blog, its followers and my creativity. A different hobby has really been taking up all my spare energy. My apology and I hope to bring you interesting and beautiful pictures again in the month of May.

It may be silly....

But I'm actually getting requests now to do funny photoshops of people's pets. Maybe there is a niche here I just didn't know about. This takes about 20 minutes or so but it seems to be worth it to the cat's owners.

I should rename my blog....

I really should rename this blog to "Ready, Aim, Photoshop" as I'll I've been doing lately is just playing around with photos in CS6. I do have a couple composite projects in mind that will require original photos, but we'll see how quickly they happen. 1.I want to do a 360 panorama photo series. Like the roof of my house, the beach and so on. 2.One of my long time model collaborators asked if I could do a mermaid shoot/photoshop of her and a friend as mermaids. So whenever our schedules all mesh I'll do that. The photos will be easy, the photoshop part will be tricky. Until then, I just keep doing quick, dirty, fun stuff like this one from this morning. I like to call it "Really Off-Roading". Besides getting the tonal quality of the two photos to be fairly close the very best thing to make them look nice is to make sure the perspective matches between the two source photos. Without that, eh, just won't look good.

Anchorman 2

The Preeminent Cat Photographer, that should be my new title sometimes. Really the only thing I've taken pictures of in the past month is my cat and the Photoshopping the results.

Models!

So I put a casting call out on a modeling website for a photo shoot idea that I have. The idea must resonate as I had about 16 replies to it over the course of two weeks. And not a single one of those contacts turned into an actual meeting, let alone cool photos. Models, you have a look that I'm after and usually the ability to pose. I have thousands of dollars in equipment, the technical skill to use it properly and the vision for us to make art together. We both have something to offer each other in the process, so please stop sabotaging the process. What you can expect from me: -a clear goal for the shoot -respect in speech and action -being on time -prompt reply to email or text -direction in what I want you to do if you're unsure -all the raw data, some photos finessed in Photoshop, some watermarked and all on a dvd What I expect from you: -being on time -a willingness to listen -collaborating in the process -attributing me when using the photo in any way, like Facebook, your portfolio ect Notice how most of this deals with communication. There are lots of girls with a "look", but evidently not many with responsibility on top of it.................

Proposed Business Card

Here is a quick mock up of my proposed business card, what do you think? The front side: And the back side:

Are you a professional?

A city in Kansas, Overland Park, is now charging people $50 for a permit to take pictures within the city's parks. But only if you're taking pictures of a "subject", ie anything that you brought to the park like a baby, dog, kid, couple, flowerpot. And only if you're a professional. Hmm, how do they spot a professional photographer? Well here is how their city council decided to define it: The city council members debated Monday about the difference between an amateur and professional photographer. They determined a professional photographer is anyone who intends to sell their photos, set up, carry or use equipment such as a tripod, long lenses, light meter, strobes, interchangeable lenses, reflectors or other equipment not normally carried by casual park visitors, or someone who uses models, sets or changes of clothes in their photography. Of course this makes me a professional photographer. But what about you? Would you be a pro in the parks department's eyes? I feel sorry for any serious amateur or photography student there.

Night Bears

Some of my first shots with my new speedlight. I like to call this set "Night Bears". Model: Elena T.

Note to Self

Create a 2014 watermark!!

Candids

I find I get the best pictures when people aren't posing. Well let me explain that, regular people often come across in pictures best when you just capture them in the moment. Non-regular people, aka models seem to be the exact opposite. They look best when doing what they're good at. It's why they're models! Here are some candids I've taken this week that I really like how they turned out, just spontaneously. Not long set ups, no multiple exposure settings. Just point and a quick click! I know I've said portraiture isn't really my photo thing but I'm beginning to see why people like it.

Faces

People vs Things

I've found that I'm naturally better at taking pictures of "things" rather than people. On Saturday I was asked to take pictures of kids with Santa for a church near where I live. I don't think I picked the best setup and the lighting was difficult, but oh well. Gotta roll with the challenges you're given. Here are some of my favorites, good and bad. Raw, unedited, red eye, as they were in camera.

Back it up!

I have a digital arts class that I'm currently enrolled in with my final picture due tomorrow, Thursday the 5th. I spent two hours in Photoshop working on it. I saved it to my flash drive and deleted the raw data. Aaaaaand then proceeded to wash and dry my flash drive in the laundry. Destroying my final project, a 64gb flash drive and everything else I had saved on there.............. The Cloud, an external hard drive, a back up flash drive, anything but just back your stuff up if it really matters to you. Learn from my mistake! All I have left are the jpegs you see below and they aren't high res enough to be used for my final. So guess who is scrambling today? And I call myself a photographer....................

Fish-like, Filters and Fun

One 11mgp GoPro, a swimming pool and a willing model gets you some interesting, ethereal photos. But I'm kinda in a going crazy mode with the filters in Photoshop, so this is what you get. Ready. Aim.

Technical Difficulties

I took on a free assignment for a charter school a few days ago. Night time, children, flame, movement and all candids. Well it turned out horribly on my end. I was over my head completely and actually had to leave the "job" early as it just wasn't working. Good thing it was for free and they were good natured about it all. So the event taught me I have soooo much to work on in my photography. Admittedly the set up was very hard, but it was still disheartening. Historically all my focus and talent development has been with just natural light. Whatever the sun and clouds gave me. But there is a whole other world out there of flash photography that I really need to devote some time to learning. Even if just to the point of using a speed light. I don't think my personality will ever take me to lighting set up off the camera or slaved to my shutter, but I can see I do need to do more with flash than I have previously. Maybe I'll get a speed light for xmas then? And to prove a point here is a picture taken with outside lighting. Check out this blog to see similar things and be amazed at what's possible. *I'm happy with my landscapes, fine art, motorsports and posed modeling pictures. But night time, candids, street scenes and such really need some work on my part.