2008's Coming To A Close

Looking over a few things today and realized that the hours are running out on this year!

I've been neglecting this blog in the last week or so, opting to spend my time reading books and magazines, watching movies, and spend time with family and friends. I've also been busy trying to wrap up the editing of my photos from December's photoshoot and starting to plan my January shoot.

In the next little bit I've got a busy photo schedule, but that's what makes it fun right!?

Part 2 of the boxing shoot happens this coming weekend. This will be a more traditional shoot to feature JS3's clothing line. Trying to come up with a lighting plan for this, and am thinking a two light setup will work nicely... although it would be super nice to have a ring flash for this.

I know the Orbis is new to the market, and by all accounts decent and affordable, but I won't get my order in time for this weekend if I go that route. Have briefly considered going with the Ray Flash Ring Flash but think I'll purchase this once the model for the SB-900 becomes available.

So my only other option for ring flashing bliss is the diy route. There are a lot of diy ring flash designs out there...some are a lot better than others. Found this design by Richard at Eye on Birmingham which looks the slickest, but I'm not loving the idea of having to cut PVC pipe with a jigsaw in order to get my sb-600 to shine into the middle of the contraption.

The only other diy ring light that I'll be able to make (and still looks half decent) is the two plastic bowl version mentioned on Strobist but originating from this Flickr page.

I'm thinking this one will actually save my fingers and time in the hospital, and will also end up costing me less than Richard's really slick looking ring flash.

Regardless, I need to have something operational by either Saturday night or Sunday.

Other than those plans, I have some reading to catch up on: Photoshop User, Digital PhotoPro, Lee Varis' "Skin," Jamieson and McCormick's "Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting", and the history book I got from my sister this Christmas "2oth Cenutry Photography." I highly recommend this last book for photography history knowledge. First, it's cheap ($14 at Costco I think she said?) and second, you get a good A-Z look at photographers of the 20th Century. Each entry shares examples of that photographer's work and also talks about their shooting style, influences, where they trained, who they worked for....really really awesome read.

Later today I'm going to do a quick run through my photos from '08 and share what I was up to the past 12 months.

More soon...

When Blogging Goes Bad

Like in all things, it's easy to stick your foot in the proverbial cow pie. Scott Kelby seems to have done this with a post mistake where he said he owned a Nikon 14-24VR lens...no such lens exists. Someone on his blog decided to be a bit ridiculous and ask if this was a lens that Nikon custom made for him.

Appears Scott decided to roll with it and go for the "yeah they did" response. Okay really, you can read about it all here.

I'm a little surprised at a few things:
1.) He'd even consider responding on a blog/forum platform in a sarcastic voice. People misinterpret words on this medium ALL the time. Seems a little irresponsible for someone this well connected to be doing.
2.) How much people really believe this guy. I mean come on people, if Scott Kelby said the sky was chartreuse, would you really believe him?
3.) That Scott Kelby hasn't turned the sky chartreuse in three easy photoshop steps and posted a tutorial about it...yet.
4.) How quickly misinformation spreads on the net: He wrote the fatal post last week on the 23rd and this Monday is telling us that Nikon has been fielding calls left and right and the blogosphere/forumverse has been going off the deep end. Seriously people, go shoot some pictures, read a book, write your own book.
5.) You mean no one else has noticed that Scott Kelby has turned the sky chartreuse!?
6.) That people are that hyped up about proving that Kelby is on Nikon's payroll and insisting he gets access to free stuff....although...I'd like to know how he got that tripod with his name engraved on it that there are only 200 made of that really only wealthy doctors can afford to own.
7.) Scott Kelby is god and the sky is chartreuse?

Really people, use your brains when reading this blog stuff...and cut the guy some slack!! He's either got a personal Starbucks barista that travels in his entourage or is mainlining crack. Between the 80 bajillion things that man has on the go he's gotta get tired and slip up on something at some point.

Kelby has his own Starbucks barista in his entourage!? Okay, now I've heard everything.

More soon...

Fine Dining Style Photography

Last week Thursday world renowned wedding photographer David Ziser wrote a post about how photographers, specifically wedding photographers of course, present their work to their clients.

His point was that too many photographers worry about quickly getting their just shot pictures up on their website so that the can quickly sell them to their clients. It's all about getting the quick turn around sale on a stack of prints and then moving on to the next event.

In the post Ziser is having a conversation with a friend about their work flow. The friend comments that: "It's not the time it takes to photograph the subject that takes up most of our time at my studio. Most of our time is spent editing the images and then creating our list suggestions for how the client might use and enjoy the photographs."

This got me thinking about customer service in general.

It's true, most bride's don't dream in wedding albums, they dream of the pictures that they see in bridal and fashion magazines. Crazy editorial setups that show them feeling and looking their best at a moment in time. So after you've determined which are the best 300 or so images to show the couple, then what.

Ziser's friend's suggestion of conducting a presentation session that shows off the couple and your work makes sense. Setup that presentation room. Set the mood, turn down the lights, offer a glass of champagne and a platter of tapas and show off their photos set to music. Then, sell them their options.

Maybe this means not showing them all 300 or so images. Maybe this means showing them the best 50 or 80 pictures of the batch in different frames at different sizes. Show them what a potential wedding album can look like in a leather bound and embossed book, or as an 8x10 framed in mahogany.

So why put in all this work in the first place?

Well, because you should, because it's what will differentiate yourself from every other photographer that's out there. Because wedding photographers are sometimes sleazier then a used car salesman, it's important to make the couple feel like they're the only client in the world that matters to you. It's very likely that they're not, but in that hour time slot they've bought into the idea of your photography and your artistic skills, so sell them on the best options you can give to enjoy what you've worked so hard on.


Caring about everything that happens after you've shot the photos is where you make your money and generate repeat patronage. Shooting and burning your images is the photographic equivalent of standing on the street corner hooking for your dollars. It takes some effort but being the high class full service photographer will bring more business and more money in the long run.

More soon...

Friday Linkings

I keep sending you off elsewhere to look at things...

1.) The worst photograph ever made was crowned today by The Online Photographer. I glanced at it quickly this morning, but it wasn't until I saw it pop up elsewhere in my readings that I realized what it was for (Lavazza Espresso) and who it was by (Annie Liebovitz). What is with this woman...she's popping up everywhere this week.

2.) The coolest photo project which took 32 years to make.

3.) The coolest photographer's website.

4.) The coolest retoucher's site.

5.) The most time spent with a wacom tablet.

6.) And just when I thought I couldn't find any more photography related links and blogs...Scott Kelby had to point me towards this site. Sigh...information freaks eat your heart out.

7.) And... Just to add to my Christmas reading list I uncovered Ronald R. Martinsen's Photography Blog and his list of books to read. Great.

I promise I'll do a proper musings type update in the next day or so. With work being nutso and Christmas arriving I'm trying to concentrate my writing efforts elsewhere right now.

More soon...

Nothing To Do With Photography

During my usual morning reads I came across an article on Champurrado, a kind of Mexican hot chocolate with cinnamon, brown sugar and cayenne... It sounds fantastic!

Although I live in a very asian part of Toronto I think I'm going to try and find the ingredients for this recipe:

***
Champurrado
Ingredients:
1 3.3 oz disc of Mexican hot chocolate
1/2 cup of masa harina
2 cups of water
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (to taste)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
A pinch of cayenne

Method:
1. In a pot, place the hot chocolate disc in 1 cup of water and 2 cups of milk. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar and cayenne. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted.
2. In a blender, mix the masa harina with 1 cup of water. Add the hot chocolate to the blender, and mix with the masa until smooth.
3. Return the chocolate and masa to the pan and heat on medium low, stirring occasionally until thickened. If too thick, slowly add a bit more water until it reaches your preferred consistency.

***

I have no idea what masa harina is nor where to get "Mexican" hot chocolate, which to me looks like a disk of cocoa, but I think on my few Christmas days off coming up I need to go on an expedition to find these items.

Anyone know of a Mexican grocery store?

More soon...

Wednesday Linkings

Wasn't really meaning to do a linking update until I saw these:

1.) Time Magazine has not surprisingly named Barack Obama as 2008's person of the year. What is surprising is how they've raided Flickr for pictures of the people's man from the people. Some really cool photos are in the Flickrverse of this man.

2.) Not only does this project have the best name ever, I think it's quite an original photo concept. Take a look at Finn O'Hara's work, but check out the site he made for this special project "I Love Your Fucking Name". To read the full story on this quickly read the Torontoist article on Finn before they disappear into net oblivion.

3.) Hmmm maybe photography isn't where I should be working on a second career...maybe, as evidenced by this, I should be a stylist for one of Annie Leibovitz' photoshoots... Except that I'd be short $778K if I did... On the other hand, I wonder how much Annie gets for these same shoots....

More soon...

Being Taken Seriously

Had a conversation today with my friend Isaac. He's just getting into this photo chimping thing and was showing me the newest camera that Pentax has released which, interestingly, is white. Yeah, you heard me...white...See? Have a look for yourself!

So our general consensus was that we're not liking the white so much, and more specifically the white with the little black accents...it's just...well...all wrong. Isaac wanted to know if other camera companies had gone white with their DSLRs ...I didn't think they had because - I reasoned - most of the other camera companies have people who want their cameras to look pro and unfortunately in this industry that means just black.

From there we got on to the conversation of looking professional and what that means ie: showing up looking like you can handle a photographic situation competently, being able to impress and please the client etc.

Now I'm just going on pure reasoning and logic here, but it seems like an industry full of creative types who have an insatiable desire to be remembered and differentiated from the others in the pack would want to have a camera that looked different from everyone else.

If Nikon offerred a bright red camera body tomorrow...I think I'd be out there trying to trade in my D80 body for the red one. Don't get me wrong, I love the blackness of my Nikon gear but it'd be fun to have something that made my camera and in turn myself stand out from the crowd.

Think of it this way. You meet a client you do a great shoot, you're personable, warm and friendly, you're efficient and they love the results you've churned out of your camera. In short, they're pleased with the entire photographic experience and by some miracle you've managed to turn it out without a hitch.

Yeah, totally unrealistic, but it's my scenario.

Lets say now that you did that entire shoot with a blood red camera. They could get their pictures done by some other photographer who has the same old boring black camera but what will they mention when they're trying to remember your name to ring you back?

"Hey Billy Bob, what was the name of that photographer with that crazy red camera?!" Yeah that's right, it's called differentiation and recall... just thought I'd toss in some marketing type buzzwords for y'all.

So seriously now, why does an industry of creative types insist on having boring black cameras? Nikon, if you're listening, it's my idea, you can have it, but the least you can do for me in payment is send me a blood red D3x, really...how hard is that.

More soon...