Thank you Mr McNally

I've never met the guy but in some ways he's like my photographic Messiah... yeah a little sacreligious I guess.

Was having one of those "HOLY COW I CAN"T TAKE A PICTURE TO SAVE MY LIFE!" moments today and it was if Joe knew it.

Read through his blog post today and came across this gem (which for anyone who follows Joe's weird, wonderful and wild photographic ramblings knows...he's got a lot of em):

"There are times I am so completely bereft of inspiration and ideas I say to myself, “I wonder what a really good photographer would do right now?” I’m not kidding, or being self effacing. There are some jobs I just feel like I’m standing there, the last human in a horror movie, and the zombies are closing in.

So you have to be confident, to be sure. (Or project confidence even while inside your head the insecurity meter has gone to DefCon Five.) But a healthy dose of anxiety and self doubt (”I’m using a 200–maybe I should go wide?”) are also important tools in your bag. Causes you to double check yourself and remember how fragile photographic success is, and while your last frame was Fat City the next one might be a ticket to Pismo Beach. The fact that you rarely have THE answer is a good one to remember. No need to focus on it to the point of paralysis. Just remember it. You are only as good as your last job. The next one may just eat your lunch and your soul."

It helps to know that a successful photographer who's been shooting for 30+ years still gets the same feeling that I have today.

So.

Ready, Set, Confidence, Shoot!

More soon...

Finished the McNally

As predicted I plowed through McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries like a farm hand at dinner. All important bits highlighted, every ounce of knowledge absorbed. It was a great read, but like I said yesterday, I'm a bit disappointed that I had already read most of the chapters before the book was even printed! The vast majority of chapters were blog fodder over the last five months and not just "oh the pictures and anecdotes are the same," it was VERBATIM. I know I know...I shouldn't be that hung up on it, I just was looking forward to new material that I hadn't already read. This would be true for anyone who's not a regular reader of his blog, but I am, and therein lies the problem.

I still highly recommend it for anyone in love with photography and lighting and looking for tips, info and clues as to how to become a better photographer. Although it's not like McNally says "THIS WILL MAKE YOU A PHOTOGRAPHY GOD" anywhere in his book, it's more like: "here's some things I've learned in the school of hard knocks photography that I think will make your life easier."

It's about building a knowledge base. If you're just starting out, you don't have 30+ years of photography shoot knowledge database to pull from when you go up to a situation and the weather is crap and the light is awful and you only have three minutes to get a well lit shot. I'm a big fan of learning things from those older and wiser than you, cuz if you listen you don't have to repeat their mistakes; you already know that a+b+donkey dodo = awful photo and unhappy client.

Now thankfully I get to make use of some of this photographic knowledge/inspiration. I did notice in all of McNally's stories that he uses tungsten white balance (which turns the world blue) a lot, and I've never really found the need for this. However, on Saturday night I'm scheduled to a do a shoot that I'm entitling "Locked in the Comic Bookstore" and I think it will be the perfect place to try out some tungsten white balance and some theatrical gels ala Joe McNally.

I'm looking forward to it!

More soon...

And in the Land There Was Much Rejoicing

That's right! On a whim this rainy afternoon I drove over to Chapters to look for inspiration of any kind...photographic, design, good looking men...the usual stuff. Did my run through the magazine section and found about $50 worth of magazines to buy and consume. The stack wasn't that big, but it was heavy. Then browsed the photographic techniques and photography section of the store...there were some titles there that I owned already, others that I want to get but cost too darn much to justify right now and then others that will forever remain unpurchased by me: Dogs in tutus? Seriously folks! It obviously won the heart of some editorial, promo team somewhere, but ... seriously.

Then out of curiosity I wandered over to the fancy dancy mac enabled kiosks to see if a certain book by a certain National Geographic and Sports Illustrated photographer was in stock. Fully certain that it wouldn't be. I checked anyways, and to my surprise it said: 2 copies available at this location, 8 copies available nearby.

HOLY COW!!! HALLELUJAH!!! IT"S FINALLY HERE!

Panic then ensued. CRAP! I didn't see it in the photographic techniques section...AHHHH!!! There was another girl intently perusing that section...NOOooooooooooo She's probably got the only two copies! CRAP!!!

*walk fast walk fast walk fast*

*Search search search*

GAH!! It's not there!!! OMG! Someone has them and hasn't bought them yet!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!

*walk fast walk fast walk fast*

HOly crow where's a staffer when you need one!!!

"Uhm, excuse me, I'm looking for a book in the photographic technqiues section, your computer says there are two in stock and yet I can't seem to find them on the shelves in that section, can you help me?"

*walk fast walk fast walk fast*

*double search search search*

"AHHHH HA! Here they are tucked away in a hidden section of the photographic techniques shelves!"

Whew...

*Return piles of magazines to racks*

*walk fast walk fast walk fast*

"Oh man am I so glad that you guys had two copies of this book! I've been waiting a long time to get it!'

Girl looks at me like I've got horns, warts and am speaking Swahili. I am undaunted and continue my discourse on how photographers have been waiting with baited breath for "Hot Shoe Diaries" to arrive in Canada, and that it's made my day that I've been able to find not just one copy but two.

Yeahh.... sometimes I need to keep the geeky, awkward enthusiasm in check.

So I've read to page 120 already. Highlighting the important bits, but being careful not crack the spine nor bend the pages and corners. A bit of reverrance is needed for such a book, but only a smidge.

I'm surprised to see that I've already read several of the chapters, besides the one that I pointed you all to a few weeks ago online. It seems Mr McNally err Joe, has been testing his material out on us to test drive the response to said book. Not that I mind, I love his casual conversational writing style, one that I think more writers should adopt, but it's a bit like already knowing how the massive summer blockbuster will end because someone filled you in on the details ahead of time.

Ah well, I'm just glad that I now have a copy of my own and that I don't have to wait around anymore. The hard part will be not reading through the whole book at warp speed.

More soon...

Linking Around

Just a collection of variously interesting photography and non-photography related links for today. I should really do a proper update this week, but piles of things happening. Oh and it's almost Christmas...ACK! Still have so much shopping to do!

1.) Adorably cute cat loves him some boxes. Which must be followed up by this one.

2.) Joe McNally weighs in on the working for FREE conversation and writes the best thing I've read in a long time ...on photography. Makes you realize how passionate someone can be about taking photos.

3.) A good old What the Duck comic.

4.) An awesome commercial photo for Xbox's Fable II.


5.) The speed ring setup I'm seriously considering using thanks to David Tejada.

6.) And reading David Hobby's conversation with Rembrandt over beers makes me realize that I should be looking through all those art history books my mom has at her house. Perhaps my Christmas reading.

7.) MSNBC's Year in Pictures. It's always a well polished collection of amazing photojournalism.

8.) And my favourite photo couple (Matt Adcock and Sol Tamargo at del Sol Photography) reach their first anniversary!

Warm & Sunny

It's nice and sunny today and although still cold outdoors my office feels really warm which is nice when you're under the weather.

Found a few cool links for ya'll to check out:

1. A DIY Flash Gel Kit - So doing this at some point...although I do have coloured transparencies that I purchased from Michael's Crafts and having just bastardized my flash with velcro the other day I may just test those out first.
2. Brad Moore - ex-Joe McNally assistant and current Scott Kelby assistant shares his "I screwed up bad" story.
3. David Tejada's Basement Bounce...hmmm think I'm gonna keep this in mind for my basement studio.
4. The husband and wife team at Del Sol Photography and their blog at FlashFlavor.com are huge inspirations for me. I want a cave in Mexico where I can regularly stage cool shoots like these.
5. I want me one of these.
6. And most of this reading list.
7. Cool performance art?
8. And how can I use this mouse for photography evil?

There's always cool photography stuff on the net. Don't know if I'll do this update daily, or just collect the ones that I love and share it at some point. We'll see.

Photoshoot tonight...which I can't wait for!

More soon...

Lessons I've Learned

Okay, I thought I would continue the lessons learned part of my last post on another day, but I'm feeling like I need to wrap a few things up in the next few weeks before the next stage begins and so I'll post them now. (Yes, I'm being deliberately cryptic :D).

Further things that I learned in the last year:
-To stop saying "One day I will ______" and just start doing ______;
-That practice may make perfect but sometimes perfection is elusive;
-Digital allows you to make mistakes over and over and over again until you figure out the right way to do it;
-Film is so underrated;
-Patience may be a virtue but I love getting results now;
-When you love a hobby you don't care how much time you spend obsessing over it;
-That it helps to have charged batteries when taking pictures;
-That it also helps to have empty memory cards when trying to take pictures;
-Flickr can become a great way to get praise: "Love my photo! Please tell me it's as great as I think it is! Hello? Anyone?"
-You can have more photography related magazines than you have time to read and still keep getting more;
-Suddenly you critique every picture ever made right down to the ISO, how the model did or didn't flex her foot, or the post work on her left eyebrow;
-Although I've never met them, I have weekly meetings with Kelby, Hobby, McNally, Prihoda, Talkington, Jarvis, Laforet and Ziser;
-Being nervous as hell is okay, just remind yourself that you know what you're doing;
-Making mistakes is all part of learning. Keep screwing up, you'll keep growing;
-Lens envy is a very easy disease to catch;
-So is camera envy;

But most importantly I've learned to shoot what I love.

More soon...