Learning from Chase.

Back in 2007, Chase Jarvis gave a keynote address for the Photoshelter Town Hall describing some of the reasoning why he shoots what he does and some ideals that up and coming pros should strive for. I know the video is somewhat dated, Internet time-wise, but I still go back to this on occasion and review it.

Things I took away from this:

• I think one of the most interesting facts that I took away from this is that he often does entire shoots just for himself to keep building on his portfolio.
• Shoot things that you've never seen before. Chase watches the marketplace for the patterns being developed and then tries to step outside the pattern. Whether it's using props in ways you normally wouldn't see in marketing (like aiming a gun to someone's head) or finding a different angle to shoot from, it's something that differentiates you from everyone else.
• It takes lots of hard work to be successful at this. I couldn't shoot to the degree that Chase does (20 hour days), but I can certainly do more than what I'm doing now.
• You have to have passion for what you're shooting. If you don't, it's going to be difficult to be your best creatively. Make your own style. You need to carve out time to shoot those photos you have a passion for.
  
• One of the best and fastest ways to get a subject to do what you want is to show them exactly how it's done by doing it yourself. You can see Chase doing this in the Ninja clip.
• Smoke machines add a weird, almost mystical, dimension to photos, especially when they're used in conjunction with a strong back light. I need to get a smoke machine and play with that idea some.
• You need to be a part of the community. Networking. Collaborating. Photos don't get made by one person.
• Nothing can replace the power of word-of-mouth when trying to get business.

It's an interesting video no matter what. I encourage you to check it out, if only to watch the video clips within it. Or, just check out his youtube channel. I believe he has the individual ones posted there.

Links for 2008-09-17

Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet

Digital Photography Workflow: Fashion Photography - photo.net Workflow is one of those difficult things to pin down if you don't have some idea of how to put it together. Patrick Lavoie shows us the workflow he uses for his fashion photography. Some good ideas in here that I'll have to study closer to see if I can fit them into what (minimal) workflow I do. (tags: workflow tutorials photoshop photography)

Digital ProTalk: Technique Tuesday: Little Angels - Creating Art In Photoshop Another photoshop tutorial, this one by David Ziser. (tags: tutorials photoshop art photography)

Photoshop Tutorials - Adding Sunlight Through The Trees Not strictly photography, but this technique has always mystified me. Until now. I have some photos in my archives that I'll probably go back and play with thanks to this tutorial. (tags: photography photoshop tutorials tutorial light)

6 Steps To Finding a Photography Mentor Finding a photographic mentor is one of my struggle points. The biggest part is finding people to network with and becoming part of the photography community in Austin. I'm doing that slowly. maybe these tips will also help you. (tags: tips photography photographers education)

Strobist: Betcha Can't Watch it Just Once Another great behind the scenes video from Chase Jarvis. This has some interesting ideas for photographing earth, wind, fire, and water. Watch it a few times to see different things pop out. I'm not sure which I liked more, the earth or the fire shots. (tags: strobist chase jarvis videos photography)

My first wedding

Wedding photography freaks me out. It absolutely scares me. Weddings are extremely important events in the lives of a man and woman. Weddings are affairs filled with loving memories, laughter, friends, a bit of stress, maybe some wine, and general goodness. These are things you don't generally want to screw up for a newly married couple. This is the type of event where you don't get a second chance to take those photos again because you messed up.

I've been reading blogs of various wedding photographers on the 'net over the last few months to understand the things they encounter when shooting these important days. I've picked up a ideas and tips along the way, but nothing that would really make me feel comfortable going out on my own and attempting to make a living at it.

A few months back, my coworker Greg announced that he and his girlfriend Tara were getting married. It was going to be a small wedding, mostly family and a few friends. A larger party would be held some time after the wedding for all of his friends to come and celebrate. A few weeks after announcing this, Greg asked me if I was interested in shooting the wedding. Talk about a deer-in-the-headlights moment. I needed a few days to think about it because of how important this was. That, and my fear about shooting this type of event kicked in almost immediately.

Now, Greg is pretty familiar with my photography and knows that I'm a complete amateur at it. We ended up coming to an equitable understanding: I'd shoot the wedding with the understanding that he gets exactly what he gets and in return he purchases a piece of equipment for me. Sounded fair. He understood that I'd do my best and I'd get a bit of experience out of it and a TTL cord (that's what I really needed at this point). The TTL cord actually helped out quite a bit during the pre-wedding scenes inside the house. The wedding would take place outside in his backyard which had recently undergone a serious landscaping makeover.

On the day of the wedding, I got all spiffed up and headed to his place with all the gear I would need. I spent the first two hours shooting people as they mingled in the house, enjoying the wine and cheese that was set out. Greg introduced me to his friends as they came in and I got to chat a bit with the soon-to-be joined family.

Around sunset, I started setting up the flashes in the backyard trying to come up with a good crosslighting setup. The ceremony would occur up on a small burm that was centered in the yard and everyone would be seated on one side to watch. The ceremony was originally scheduled to start at 6:30, but the decision was made to hold off until after the sun crept down behind some treetops because of how blinding it was where they would be standing. I was really glad about that because of how bad the hotspots would have been in the photos and I had no idea how to easily deal with them.

Once the procession started, I dropped back into full on picture-taking mode and began circling the entire scene, occasionally adjusting lighting positions, but mostly trying to give them a good set of photos to remember everything by. Everyone was seated, Greg and Tara were up on the burm and Jesse was officiating. The ceremony went on for half an hour I guess. I really didn't keep track of time because I was too busy enjoying the scene from behind the lens. At one point, Jesse asked for everyone to join hands in a circle around the burm as a way to commemorate the marriage. I joined in momentarily and then slipped off after a few minutes to take some photos of it. This was one of those things I just couldn't miss taking for them.

When the moment was finalized, everyone broke off for the reception and I did some more formal photos of Greg and Tara with various family and friends. These were the ones we agreed were "most important" to do. These were the ones I didn't want to screw up. We spent some time working on these and making sure we got all the ones they wanted. There was one photo that I wanted to retake of Greg and Tara, so I drug them off to a corner of the yard and had Greg dip and kiss here again. Got the photo, packed away most of my gear and retired to the reception.

Dinner was a lovely brisket barbecue dinner and Greg invited me to join in and eat. And then there was cake. Lots and LOTS of cake. Enough cake that I took home a nice slab of both the Italian Cream cake and the Strawberry layered cake (both delicious, by the way).

Overall, it was a lovely ceremony and made me realize one thing: yes, it's definitely an important day but I shouldn't be so afraid of it. I learned a few things to keep in mind for future weddings (better attention to detail in some cases), Greg and Tara got a record of the event (that I hope they like!), and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.

Links for 2008-09-08

Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet

Business portrait shoot | RobertBenson.com Robert shows off a technique I've not seen before: shooting into an umbrella then through a diffusion panel. Gorgeous light. Definitely worth trying some time. (tags: photography lighting techniques)

Tips for Finding a Film Developer Brian gives you some tips on what to ask your local film processing places. Thanks to his $50 camera project, I'm *so* lusting for a cheap medium format camera. And I've never really dealt with film. So, well timed information. (tags: photography film)

Vegas, Baby, Vegas Joe discusses a one-light method for killing the ambient and making the scene just pop. I can't wait to try this out! (tags: photography lighting flash mcnally)

Black Star Rising - Six Tips for Growing Your Photography Business Heather Hughes gives us some good tips for getting your photog business even healthier. (tags: photography business)

Chasing the Sunset

One of the things I've wanted to try over since becoming enamored with the Strobist style of light play is balancing my flash with twilight. I've attempted a few times over the last nine months but was never happy with the results. Instead, I've tended to focus more on getting the exposure correct for my subjects and not worry about the background.

Monday evening led me to try balancing the twilight again. This time, I nailed it. I was at the retirement party for a coworker (Beth). Quentin and I brought our lighting gear because we wanted to get a few good group shots for Beth of her family, coworkers, and friends. They came out pretty well. I did the lighting setup and Quentin did all the people wrangling; group photos are certainly harder than I expected. We ended up shooting out in front of the house we were at because there wasn't a great place to put 40+ people.

After we got the group photos nailed, we all went inside and a round of retirement gifts got opened. Many photographs ensued. I noticed the sunset was streaming in through the large pane-glass sliding doors and knew I needed to try hitting twilight again. As people left, the sun dipped down over the horizon painting the sky this pretty shade of pink. Out on the deck, I quickly poked around for a spot that was right, found it, and setup a single white shoot-through umbrella. I had to work quickly as the light was failing rapidly. I grabbed David, the first person I saw, stood him in front of the flash and popped off a few shots to dial in the power. Before I knew it, I had photos of most of my coworkers up against a brilliant cloud-peppered sky.

I was surprised how quickly and easily this came together. First, I exposed for the background. 1/250th looked about right for what I wanted after chimping a few shots of just the sky. Next, I moved David into place and popped a shot off with the flash. I still had it set at 1/2 power from the group shots which blew him way out on his right side. I cranked the power down to 1/16, feathered the umbrella back a bit on his right side, and popped another two or three shots to make sure it looked good and ... Voilà ... instant balance.

Here are other photos from this particular setup. In all, it was about 5 minutes of setup and 10 minutes of shooting. A good haul in my opinion.

Welcome Back Cotter .... err, Coyote

So, yeah, it's been a few months since I last posted anything. Life has been hectic with my daytime job, the family, projects for some of my social groups, and just various bumps in the road. It got to the point where I wasn't sure if I needed to go left or turn right, so something had to give. I shed a few responsibilities (sadly, but needed) and refocused on a few things that I had been neglecting. Photography was the main one. At one point, it had been about a month since I had actually pulled the camera out of the bag and shot something. Anything at all. It was then that I realized that I couldn't let this drop by the wayside or I'd never pick it back up again.

Anyway, I was reading A Photo Editor's post Here's what I think of your pictures today and it struck home a bit. Rob talks about a scene from Walk the Line where Johnny Cash is trying to make his first record and the record producer doesn't want anything to do with it.

Bring… bring it home? All right, let’s bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you were lying out in that gutter dying… and you had time to sing one song, huh, one song… people would remember before you’re dirt… one song that would let God know what you felt about your time here on earth… one song that would sum you up…

you telling me that’s the song you’d sing?

That same Jimmie Davis tune we hear on the radio all day? About your peace within and how it’s real and how you’re gonna shout it?

Or would you sing something different? Something real, something you felt?
Because I’m telling you right now… that’s the kind of song people want to hear.
That’s the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain’t got nothing to do with believing in God, Mr. Cash.

It has to do with believing in yourself.

That last line caught me. Sometimes I put the camera down for days, even weeks, because I'm not sure if what I'm doing is good. It's a struggle, a genuine struggle some days to find something that I think will pan out photographically. I shoot a lot of (what I think is) crap. It drives me nuts. I can see my progression over the last year and a half and can tell that I'm doing better in quite a few areas.

Last month, I went to the big Strobist meetup we had in Austin and came away with four photos that I absolutely loved. We shot at Siena, a restaurant here in Austin. I had no idea what I was going to do when I walked in and found my group. I just knew that I wasn't feeling particularly happy about shooting. Just not up to it or in the right head space for it. But I'm glad I did it because, by the end of the day, I was feeling confident about what I was doing. And it just comes down to being confident in what my abilities are. Eight months ago I didn't understand how to create photos like these. Hell, I hated taking photos of people. I just didn't get it.

What I'm getting at is that, like that moment in the movie, you've got to believe in what you can do in order to pull something out of your ass that works, works well, and works when you need it to.

On top is Mira and Kaitlin, followed by Valerie and Kimmie on the bottom.

Link love for June 16

Man, it's been a rough month! Too busy to even sit down and write something witty and thoughtful about photography. :-)

In the meantime, have a look at some of the things I've found interesting in the last week or so.

• Avoiding the "ballpark price" - over at prophotolife, Jim gives a few pointers on how not to get rushed into giving a price for the work that you do. Jim responds to one of the commenters with a good point: "To your point, Craig, as professional photographers we only get one chance to make a good (professional) first impression. They may not end up sending us all of their work…just the good, profitable stuff."


• New AlienBees Wireless Triggers - over at Strobist, David points out yet another pocket wizard competitor. Alienbees is redesigning their wireless remotes. Basic takeaway: 400 foot range, $59.95 for transmitters, $69.95 for receivers, runs on 2.4Ghz band. Sometimes I kick myself for not holding out a bit longer before purchasing my PWs. And then I remember how reliable they are and get over it.


• My Weakest Area of Photography - Brian is asked and answers the question "What is my weakest link and how do I expect to overcome it?" Some interesting comments there (and I even chimed in too).


• Thermaltake BlacX - not really a blog entry, but I picked up one of Thermaltake's new hard drive docking stations because I had a few 400GB hard drives laying around that needed some use. So far, I'm happy. Plugged a drive in, hooked up the USB to my mac, and 10 minutes later I had 400GB of more space for backups.


• Speaking of backups ... Backing up for a disaster - Have you backed up your data today? Go read Stanley Leary's advice after running through your backup routine.