One Eye, One Shutter

BACKBLAZE, peoples!

2010-06-24T10:51:00.001-06:00

http://www.backblaze.com

$5 a month or $50 a year. We easily spend that on a dozen++ other things. It'll back up automatically, UNLIMITED storage. Plus, if you start before the end of this month, you can win an iPad. Which isn't the reason I'm posting, I just think it's awesome and off-site storage is SO important (fires, theft, etc).

Really? just do it.

:)

June 23, 2010 - Sunset

2010-06-23T21:27:00.003-06:00

Sometimes, all you have to do is look up....

Rewards in return

2010-05-29T13:03:00.005-06:00

Last week I took a pro bono assignment from an acquaintance from the local Utah photographers community. I figured the experience as well as the evening itself would be quite fun - and I was right! I grew up with my mother's artwork on the walls, so I didn't realize how much 'at home' I felt shooting an art gallery until I was there. A very delightful evening with both artists as well as several others (gallery owner, art students, etc) that I spent the evening chatting with between shots.

I still think this is my favorite of the evening:

Erin has been extremely happy with these photos -- she has had a lot of different showings, but when you are in the midst of the show, it's tricky to disengage and take photos of your own event. Her art is lovely and I can see why she's gotten such attention.

As for attention, some folks might hate the idea of 'free' photography. But it pays dividends. Check out the stats since she posted the link online:

Appreciation is a two-way street.

MS Walk 2010, Salt Lake City

2010-04-25T14:40:00.002-06:00

Gifted with an AMAZING day of weather on Saturday, the MS Society of Utah held their annual MS Walk, raising well over $200,000 towards research. In need of photographers, they'd reached out to the local Utah Photowalking group. Not sure if I was going to attend or not, the practice for my VERY long unused photojournalism skills won me over. And the awesome weather.

I'm glad 50x over that I did go, for while it was a long day, it was also a BLAST. Supporting and being a part of something like that is pretty damned amazing. The shots turned out pretty well and hey! I finally had a reason to put my first pano together:

Yes yes, I know. I've taken them before but never bothered to stitch them together. Too boring unless you've the HUGE screen needed to really appreciate them. A 17" MacBook hasn't counted. Hand held at that, I'm pretty impressed with how it turned out -- also gives you a feel of the size and scale of the MS Walk (4000+ people) and how many people came out in support. I'd love to do more non-profit work. It's less stressful and just feels ... right to me. YES this is a business, but these are also skills I can use in many other ways. We'll see what comes.

If memory serves ...

2010-03-23T13:38:00.004-06:00

So far, I think the best thing about socializing with other photographers is remembering all of the things you have forgotten.

No, really! We all get into our ruts and habits, which eventually lull us into complacency which then turn into bad habits. But even beyond that, I think even if you are active 24/7 with photography, there is SO MUCH out there you can do. The blogs, posts, tweets and everything else I've read since PhotoCamp Utah (last Saturday, 2010!) remind me of this fact.

Fortunately it's also reminding me why I love photography in the first place, even if I'm only as good as I'm ever going to get, there is tons more to explore and play with.

Still, dreaming about bad pixels the night after was just WEIRD. All my photos were in need of help. Quite the sad dream.

.... I'll do a proper PhotoCamp wrap up in a bit.

Define success?

2010-02-22T20:25:00.005-07:00

I've been working a lot through back logs of photos and suspect I could have been doing this for months. At least now it FEELS like a full time job -- irony, or motivation, is that I'm likely to be starting a full time job in just under two weeks.

I think I've about 3 months work to get the last 6+ years of photos in order. Oh my.

But I did take a lovely break to California, just enough to make me draw up a wish list of places to visit NEXT time I've got the time and funds for a road trip.

Suffice to say, swinging down south enough to hit up the Monterey Bay Aquarium is high on that list, if anything just for the sights and challenges....

Mean while I sort out how many sites one business can have and start eye the taxes paperwork piling up. Next year, an accountant I do think.

a new year and .... ?

2010-01-03T12:51:00.002-07:00

I did so much last year ... for the first half of the year.

I read, I educated, I travelled, I learned, I took classes, I found inspiration everywhere and then ... I burned out. Life had a lot to do with that, but even if I'd just put a camera in my hand, I'd have been better off. Instead, they collected dust.

Fortunately, mid-December this changed a bit for me (finally!) and I've slowly been on a photographic streak since then (no, iPhone photos don't count. Got plenty of those!).

Why do we burn out? Well, it was enough for my best friend to send me "The Artist's Way". However, a book can only do so much when what you need is either a reboot from within or someone wielding a whip and screaming at you like a drill sergeant.

In these months I actually found some interesting articles on inspiration, as well as adding my $0.02 into online discussions about finding that motivation and creativity again. Doesn't mean that it worked for me... yet. But it's something I'm willing to talk in more detail about for anyone who needs it.

As for me? Photo will be coming. I promise!

So what did you do this weekend?

2009-06-15T23:32:00.004-06:00

Well gee, funny you'd ask. One thing I did was learn. a LOT.

Okay so such photos are easier with someone else's studio and set up, but I LEARNED so much about umbrellas and soft boxes and lights and metering and low-key and high-key and lighting portrait styles .... and then tons about Photoshop and Bridge that I hadn't known previously. Just, wow.

WOW.

hey, eventually......

2009-06-11T23:24:00.003-06:00

I mastered Curves last night. As in, the tool in LR and CS4.

*lightbulb moment*

I get it I get it now. AT LAST.

2009-06-10T21:55:00.003-06:00

Thunderstorms of all sort this week, so Hoofprints was rained out. Ach well. Let's hope next week dries up a bit, else Golden Spike will be a bit tricky.

On the bright side, found a local good embroidery shop which should be able to do a work jacket (lightly lined fleece but waterproof - hard to find!!) as well as the back of my black sunshirt. yipee?

Picked up the grate/crate system that will make GREAT backdrops for hanging prints off of. Thank you Wal-Mart for $3 frames (thumbs up!). I'm still printing at home. I'll do this for GSHT and then start ordering prints so I can show off the quality that SmugMug can do -- which is such a heck better than my own printing.

Networking and finding local Utah groups -- once they have something that isn't on a weekend in which I'm booked (erm, which is just about every one), I'm very excited to join in and meet the local photog folks.

Lensbaby fun continues, but there's also more learning going on with Lightroom and much else. I won't discuss the dead harddrives and other things fried by the lightning storm.... *sob* but hopefully recovery will help with those. Please cross fingers on those.

So any how, that's the state of things right now. Leaving you with ferns over Bon Tempe lake:

Still learning, still practicing

2009-06-08T22:38:00.004-06:00

Playing with IR photos, with B+W conversion but I've a long ways to go with these. Fortunately there's good reading out there in the Infrared League - when I get time for it.

Showed in the Chicken Event last weekend, taking time to practice on cross country a bit in anticipation of the help I'll be giving Lucy in two weeks' time. Good times and I expect the group of us to have some kick-ass photos :)

Mostly, a bit of lensbaby work. Class is over but getting some awesome shots still and pleased with the skills acquired. Need to get back into 'book' learning and applying that, but composition is my weakness right now. there IS a class for that but it's longer and more expensive -- and I'm not sure if I need it if I get through the composition books I have or can get from the library. Decisions. Probably one of the last past of my photography education. Well, LARGE parts.

Let's not even get into lighting and studios and portraits and other such.

Hoofprints schooling show this Wednesday -- a better idea on backgrounds and moments to shoot, so I think I can do this without taxing myself so badly this time. Yay!

Things I learned this weekend

2009-06-02T00:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, watching 2 days worth of USDF tests I learned a LOT about riding and showing.

But I also learned a good deal about photography of these events, which I'm going to outline here for my own brain reference

* BACKGROUND : choose it and STICK with it. Even if they look 'pretty' in the other corner, those dumpsters and trailers REALLY show up in the background when you have the final photo (it's amazing what the eye can edit out that a photograph does not...). Fortunately with these tests, they are long enough to pick and choose the 'when' moments.

* KNOW THE TESTS and WHICH MOMENTS/MOVEMENTS to capture and which end of the arena you need to be at. Fortunately this was not a problem even if I have a hatred of 3rd level test 3 now after watching it a dozen+ times. Stupid turn on the haunches.

* DO WHAT YOU CAN TO MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD. Yes, this has to be done. Saddle too far forward? 3/4 shots do wonders for this. Sitting too far back? well, a bit trickier, but 3/4 and frontal shots help a bit, as does the art of timing. Fortunately only a few tests that involved posting, but any butt-out-of-saddle-time goes into the cull-bin immediately. It just never looks good to the rider.

I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now. Oh! and 70-200mm mated to the 1.4 TC II is great love!

first USDF show down, success!

2009-06-01T00:45:00.003-06:00

The weekend was a blast with a very well run show -- tiring to take photos but I know all those tests now, that's for certain! When to take photos, how to capture, dealing with light, etc etc.

There's a bit of culling to do but not too much post-processing if any, which is a huge relief. Then uploading! This time I remembered to shoot RAW+JPG basic so at least I can do easy uploads and replace any that are purchased later on. Just have to remember to do that ....

The judge had some good ideas, including submitting a mini article and a few photos to CoTH for publication, especially as it was Promontory's first show. Huh. Never thought of that, but good idea all around! I'll have to pick out a few favorites (if that's possible, there's a LOT of good ones in there, yay!) to do that first.

There's no Utah 'rags' like Riding back in California, just our newsletters. Adrianna will handle UDS, not sure about RMDS. I'll find some that will look good in B+W and do the conversions myself. No one else seems to have a blood clue it seems.

So a bit of work to do, but not too too much. No more photography for a week and a half, but the Equine Photography class with EPNet is starting up, so I'll see what I can get from that, if anything. I presume so but it's a 'basics' class .... if anything, it'll get me out shooting more.

Things are looking good !

the 'art' in an event

2009-05-30T22:02:00.000-06:00

Having spent the day shooting my first USDF rated show today (rinse, repeat for tomorrow) I realized that one thing I miss about the 'event photography' of horse shows is well, the photography.

There's really not that much art in it, is there? Well, yes I know the tests and plan the sections to photograph and which moments to capture and where the sun is at (or not at when it decided to rain...), eye on my ISO and aperture while dealing with bright sun to thunderstorms and moving myself around the outside of the arena to get the best shots.

But the ART of photography, the creativity ... it's just not there for me. I can do both at weddings, but somehow at a horse show it is ALL about 'the moment' and once captured I sit there hoisting my camera (heavy sucker, but I don't tripod/monpod for dressage) against my shoulder wondering what else I could be doing.

ok ok so I'm good at getting headshots while they go flying by and have gotten good orders from those alone, but there's something missing. Maybe if more of the prep and hanging out were done in view of where I stood I'd shoot that, but it's done in the barn and it's very much bam-bam-bam, test after test without much time to wander and just snap horses.

Pattern mad

2009-05-28T19:35:00.002-06:00

One of the benefits of 'vacation' is the time to sit out and read photography books - specifically ones on patterns and textures. Then picking up the camera and going out to have fun with it.

yes, California was good to me :)

onward! with success

2009-05-27T20:00:00.003-06:00

Photo orders are coming in from the dressage schooling show about two weeks ago. Alas, a migraine and a week of showing delayed the upload by a week *cringe*. I'd never plan on such a delay, but such it was.

First USDF rated show this weekend!! Quite excited and the photos from two weeks ago show I can get those 'moments' that pay off, literally. Both the D3 and D200 did admirably well, although I swapped lenses around as it got darker into the evening. Hopefully this show will run on time.

AND I will wear sunblock this time! heh.

Design wise, I've a simple but eye catching 1/2 page ad to put together for the program. I picked up the 3rd edition of the Non-Designer's Design Book to get some basic concept (back) into my head for this so it's at least semi respectable. 24 hours to do it, wish me luck.

And then two very long days -- but only one arena (thankfully!). I've some early morning shots I want to get in the soft light with requests to get more candids and such around the barn between rides. I enjoy those the most, as it keeps the creativity going between the tests.

Also confirmation of helping out with cross country photos at the local USEA event in mid/end June so that'll be a blast for me. Much fun in all forms, plus it's CROSS COUNTRY! So aside from when I'm tacking up/riding/cooling out, I'll be out there clicking away and getting to watch all the fun at least in my area of the course.

Reading continues with a very adventerous pattern study while back in California. Lots of photos to go through, but the orders and Ad are first, then my own stuff.

And Sirens? will be Awesome :D

Lensbaby class continued

2009-05-17T16:32:00.003-06:00

aaaaaand this is where one $150 lens does better than ones 10x the cost. Rock on littl' babe.

cheap? naw....

2009-05-17T15:49:00.001-06:00

"Wakeboard photoshoot on private lake in Delta Utah for Wakeology Wakeboards. Short notice, but if you are interested or live in the area please come shoot.

* Location: Delta Utah
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: Noon to 5pm $100 for time and a copy of all photos "

MUHAHAHAHAHhhahahaha ahhahahahahahahah coughcoughcough hahahahahahahahaha.

Let me tack on a $1000 insurance requirement for getting camera that close to water, $500 sunburn factor and $200 to deal with your cheapness.

now, THAT would be worth it.

learning, planning, reading, plotting

2009-05-11T05:12:00.004-06:00

Surprise! the Digital Photography Book (vol. 2) was more than the random collection of common sense tidbits I had expected. I folded down pages to come back and reference (and take notes on) for later much more often than I expected. Of course, it had a LOT to do with lighting and portraits -- hello, my two week areas. This is enough for me to be *eager* for volume 3 when it is released soon, rather than seeing it as a chore to review for the sake of reviewing and for dgrin's benefit.

I wonder if I could get a paid job reviewing these books for photography magazines?

On the business thread, I've two choices for wedding photography -- I either do the unthinkable and deeply undercut rates for the sake of a wedding or two to get my portfolio built up, THEN start booking like normal. J's wedding is in mid-October and I need to get that experience sooner than later.

Nik's Posing the Light workshop in June will do a LOT for me in this area, but unless I hand around bridal veils, not much for weddings. (Although that's an idea...)

If getting my foot in the door means kicking it in and taking whomever comes (fates with me, they will be good decent folks who just canot afford a $3k photographer) for the first few shoots that work with my schedule (yet another issue, helllllo weekday weddings).

D. said he passed my information on as a 2nd shooter to a very good wedding photographer in the SLC area, but my online portfolio? NOT what it should be and unless she spends time searching, she wouldn't find anything to recommend me. So the best I can hope for is to get my 'act' together and then ask him to mention me again with the updating wedding-specific portfolio. The fact I've done weddings in the past and do candids VERY well -- is all on film. Owned by other people, so impossible to scan for my portfolio. Such is that fate.

Real Estate photography also appeals a LOT to me -- flexible and I love making designs out of straight rooms and compassing what is there, making it look even better than what the eye can perceive in the largest of rooms. Fortunately in this I DO have a portfolio, I only need to launch the marketing. Also looking into tethering a laptop/netboo so that there's SOME bigger screen for the client (realtor) to see so that they are certain to get the shots they need for THEIR clients (homeowners/sellers). Research in progress.

OTHERWISE, lower key show this Wednesday, but yet another GREAT way to get my name and face out there. There was the possibility of another this Saturday, but looks like I'll be off showing myself instead. Maybe. I'll finalize this on Wednesday.

geek est moi

2009-05-09T08:03:00.002-06:00

The reading continues although I find myself losing some of my focus. I believe a good part of this has to do with the note taking, since I can only chronically take notes in one book at a time. Which means I should finish the Complete Digital Photography book asap.

However, current reads include:

and

(which is actually turning out to be more useful than originally expected....)

The Negotiating book is DONE and underlined and notated and everything else. That is definitely one to go through again many times in this career. It's an excellent book and only sad that it's not as popular or well known. Which only shows how badly so many photographers do business. alas!

First 'real' shoot of the season is next Wednesday after work - a schooling dressage show but a full day and MUCH excellent practice for me on all sides. I'll do a minimal set up but have plenty of cards, treats, etc. I also have e-mails so I can let folks know when all the photos are uploaded.

Next Saturday is a conflict -- I'm rather hoping the regular photographer WILL shoot their dressage show, as I've a show I want to head off to to get experience in for my student and greenie. It's definitely a tricky thing -- and a sacrifice -- to shoot the same events you want to participate in.

more baby work....

2009-05-05T17:23:00.003-06:00

Lensbaby work that is.....

Working on the even blur. Left side is my weakness:

Macros still fascinate me...

Alas, some inages just don't do well on other uncalibrated monitors. but i love this one:

And while uninspiring, at least this is technically correct for what we want this week (sweet spot in the middle):

My summer, 2009

2009-05-04T19:32:00.001-06:00

* = there may be an official show photographer, contact me and let me know what you want (portraits, action, etc) and we'll see if it's possible.

JANUARY
30-31st: ICP Workshop w/ Brian Sabo @ Promontory

FEBRUARY
28th: USDF Lunging clinic @ Promontory

MARCH

APRIL
4th: Zephyr Jumping Show (attending, photography on request)*
17th-19th: World Cup Vegas! see you there :)

MAY
2nd: Schooling Day @ Promontory
13th: Hoofprints Schooling Dressage Show
16th: Lynnleigh Dressage Show (photography on request)*
17th: Lynnleigh Jumper Show (attending, photography on request)*
30-31st: Dressage I @ Promontory USDF

JUNE
5th-6th: Chicken Event (attending, photography on request)*
10th: Hoofprints Schooling Dressasge Show
18th-20th: Golden Spike H.T. (attending, photography on request)*
27th-28th: Jimmy Wofford Clinic @ Promontory

JULY
3rd-4th: UHJA show (attending, photography on request)*
5th: Promontory Annual Show
11th: JBE 2-phase event (attending, photography on request)*
15th: Hoofprints Schooling Dressage Show
31st: Alta Hills H/J (attending, photography on request)*

AUGUST
1st: Schooling Day @ Promontory
8th: Rose Ranch Jumper Show (attending, photography on request)*
12th: Hoofprints Schooling Dressage Show
15th: JBE H.T. @ Zephyr (attending, photography on request)*
22nd: Colorado Horse Park Horse Trials (attending, photography on request)*
28-29th: Pumpkin Event (attending, photography on request)*

SEPTEMBER
5-6th: DRESSAGE II @ Promontory USDF
19th: Lynnleigh Jumper Show (attending, photography on request)*
26th: JBE 2-phase Show (attending, photography on request)*

OCTOBER
1-4th: Sirens Conference, Vail CO (see details below!)
10th: Wedding in California

Current reading status - aka my photography education continues

2009-05-04T05:20:00.005-06:00

The current reading list has rather expanded -- not because I've more books (I've those a plenty plus library holds), but because I seem to be rather A/D/D about what I read right now.

This book is one that I picked up AGES ago as a comprehensive 'teach me' book about digital photography. Ironically, many of the things I had to search around to get answers for ... I had answers for right in here. Lesson 432: use your resources!
However, as I have it, it makes for good review reading and I expect to learn a few more tidbits that I didn't know before. It'll also be a great review for DGrin once I figure out what target market this book is best suited for from my pov. It's not lightweight reading but not too heavyweight either. It's definitely easier since 90% of it is 'review' for me these days. It'd be daunting as a first time newbie read although HIGHLY educational.

I've come to REALLY like Petterson's writing style, so I was willing to give this one a go, although it doesn't talk about Composition as much as I might want it to. I've started it, but not enough in to figure out his definition of 'creative seeing'. But this starts to hit on my current weakness -- composition. I compose naturally, which works most of the time but NOT ALWAYS. I need to make this a more conscious step for a while until I get better at it. Then I can let composition fall into the 'natural' level and let it be what it is. I need those skills to pull out when I'm in a tight spot or just not feeling the photo doing the scene justice.

In that tune, this is the first of Michael Freeman's books. Visually stunning, he appears to be a visual teacher rather than a talker. Petterson is a combination of both -- others I've had are 99% talk (which I rather like). Freeman has a series of other books out there that I want to investigate further, IF I can get enough out of this book to justify the efforts. However, I believe this just might BE the composition book I really need. I'll have to dig in deeper (probably finishing up Petterson's book first) and see what I can uncover beyond the stunning photos.

And this is my current hardcore reading. Hard core enough that i'm underlining and will take notes later once I've processed everything. A HUGELY invaluable book, I only wish I'd come across it sooner. Fortunately I've a few projects on my plate, so I read with those projects in mind and how I can proceed with the necessary (legally required) negotiations.

Toss in the Lensbaby class (more photos later!) and there's plenty to learn this month!

day the first...a start

2009-05-01T19:11:00.002-06:00

Motivation can be a fickle friend but there's much to be done.

And much to ponder.

one very twisted eye

2009-04-30T19:12:00.005-06:00

Busy reading, busy living .... not busy shooting.

However, I have a Lensbaby class for the next 4 weeks, so I'm rather intrigued to see what this can get from me -- and what I can get from that pesky little thing. The two teachers (online class) are fairly impressive in their Lensbaby work, so I only hope their teaching lives up to what they can accomplish themselves.

Kathleen Clemons and Ron Goldman

Right now, the best I can offer is two from Catalina -- this is about as happy as I can get with the lens right now, so I'll see where I am after 4 weeks, shall I?

Biased

2009-04-15T11:29:00.000-06:00

I have a confession to make, although it's likely to be unsurprising. I'm a Nikon gal, through and through.

Now mind you, I've nothing against Canon. I've more Canon friends than Nikon (sadly). Friends who want to get into dslrs are told by me to handle each line of cameras and decide which ones they like best.

For point & shoot, I prefer Canon myself so I'm obviously open to what works best -- for me.

But I admit one huge and horrible bias. I can never ever recommend any of the 'other' alternative lines of dslr cameras. Olympus, Sony, Minolta, etc. WHY choose an inferior line? One without as much support, as many choices, without relibility that they'll be around in 20 years (Sony? please).

And I can only look down on people who recommend these lines. ANYone who recommends a specific line over another gets disgraced in my eyes. I know it's a horrible bias combined with a quirky streak of fairness, but there it is.

very very very small easter eggs

2009-04-15T07:05:00.002-06:00

Reading continues and so does shooting. I played with the macro set up the other day -- to dangerous results. I managed to cut, squish, and tear my left hand in the process. Ouch! However, the focusing rail is WONDERFUL and I cannot imagine quite how people do macro work without one, at least without compromising their set up. I need to practice more and more with still life inside so I can get faster with outdoor work. I am not *that* fond of insects to want to do them for macros, but if I get the right opportunity … I want to capture what I want to capture.

Otherwise, finished up this the other day which was really quick (since the forms themselves I scanned and mentally noted for future reference):

Interestingly, this now gives me 3-4 different types of model releases. I need to seek out those other legal books to see what they say, as the one 'legal' photography book I've read does NOT suggest nor require compensation. And Heller's books require it to make the contract valid. At least this one noted it only applies in certain states. Ugh! However, the more I read the more I realize I DON'T need model releases, at least not for the type of work I'm doing right now.

For now I'm slowing down on the reading although the above is my 'casual' reading. I don't even know if I'll take notes from this tome. It appears to be rather comprehensive, but most of it I'll know already, although some concepts might be the first time I read them in writing. I've some excellent wedding photography books, but I don't want to tackle those quite yet. As well, the Minimalist Lighting book should be (or so I hope) excellent reading and good knowledge to know. However, I'm wanting to get down into macro-land a bit more and see what sort of skills I can develop.

Not everything is worth it, but it's at least less than the cost of a class....

2009-04-12T14:28:00.003-06:00

This was the last book I finished, and it ended up better than expected but still a bit .... eh. I'm past the basics.

Now I'm onto something a lot more complex but nearly MORE disappointing:

I'm certain that this is an excellent book. In fact, I know it is. However, it also decides that drowning you in 99% useless information is a good technique, with the tendency to repeat some of the important parts in case it (as very likely did) get lost. The last legal book I read covered all of this very concisely within a chapter and very few new ideas are presented here.

However, should you desire some need to fully understand this area (especially since 90% of it only applies to stock photographers), this is your book. Just don't expect the obvious: no firm opinions, no sample model releases, no guidelines on when to use and not use one.

Rather, the book seeks to educate you so YOU can make those decisions. Wise perhaps, but in the end a rather fruitless pursuit since the reader very likely did NOT pick up the book expecting this sort of educational tactic.

######

okay, rant over.

Beyond this, I HAVE been looking into online courses for photography. More specific stuff (such as a lensbaby class) that I feel I CAN benefit from no matter what. These are surprisingly reasonably priced, although I could put the funds towards a second lensbaby (but why??) or a dozen new photography books (Oooo. but I think I've found all the 'good' ones so far).

So, things to think about. Classes don't 'start' until May 1st so I've some time. Spring time and a lensbaby could be a rather awesome experience :)

Someday there will be photos, promise!

2009-04-10T11:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I attended a good Strobe Lighting 101 type of class through Pictureline (must remember to check out their new store too). It was exactly what I needed, from talking about the different types of lights, the different systems (pocket wizards, etc), diffusers, etc.

There's a lot that can be learned out there -- and of course every photographer is going to have their own lighting set up that is that much different. Photography with lights is as much as stylistic statement as 'regular' photography itself.

In this case, Christopher (the instructor) uses two lights and no more. From what I gather, three is usually the standard, but I'm still ... gathering.

I really light the light from shooting through an umbrella and while soft boxes are nice, the light seems so .... fake. You just don't GET natural light that is like that. Not often at least (haze day, light through curtains, etc maybe....).

Mostly, I love that I can absorb this information, engage in excellent discussions and walk away that much wiser and with MUCH to think about.

Do I own any lights? no. I've been advised to figure out WHAT you want then get them all at once. Logical and sensible.

########

On the book front, I finished off the Best Business Practices book today -- finished the Close-Up photography book a few days ago. The Close-Up book has me artistically inspired again, which is just an awesome feeling. I also feel like I can pick it up and read a few pages to recapture that feeling whenever I need it. THAT has great value no matter the source. I try to not like the author because he's capitalized his books into online courses and other such, but the truth is that he is VERY damned good at what he does - which is teaching. I'm just more likely to pay for a professional redesign of my website before an online course when there's BOOKS on the same topic out there.

The Business book was excellent -- if I ever purge through books, that's one that I'll keep without a doubt. I'm staying on the business trend for now, as I don't want to fill my head with other photography inspiration quite yet. So it's the Guide to Building Your Photography Business. So far, looks like a quick read with huge margins and ugly photos. w.t.f. I'm sure I'll get something out of it, but it's cheaply printed and not a great first impression.

onward!

Learning, but not shooting.

2009-04-06T10:33:00.002-06:00

Life's been busy since I last sat down to write about photography. I have, however, used some of that time for reading. I finished up the nature book and while there was an emphasis on stock photography, it still applied to all situations. It does make me curious about stock photography, but working part-time that is something I can in no way pursue. Nor do I want to. There does seem to be a degree of artistic 'blankness' that is needed for stock photos. It almost makes me sad. How odd.

Next was Peterson's newest book about Close-Up photography. EXCELLENT book and great reading. He's quite inspirational in his images and conversational in his writing style. I found myself itching to go study the rug with the camera, just because I COULD and see how close I could get. He does lovely things like recommend a close up filter and diffusers and reversing rings and it is VERY hard to not want those things. I was unsurprised to see two of the items sold out on Adorama's website. Coincidence? He's one of the bigger names in photography books along with Scott Kirby, so I suspect it's not just random chance.

Now I'm on to Best Business Practices for Photographers which is excellent reading if a bit frightful. It's definitely geared towards someone ahead of me -- someone who's been working professionally/as a business for a number of years and needs to refocus and refine their business model. However, it also includes some excellent information that is good to know NOW rather than later. Even some things such as the idea of selling off equipment BEFORE it dies and reaches the end of its lifespan and then using those funds towards the purchase of new stuff (monitor = 18 month limit, 12 months if on all the time). Things you don't really think about logically until you sit down and calculate out the costs and time. Useful.

This will be one book better used as a reference book as time passes. Sections on non-paying clients can help me avoid situations, but are still best pulled out when needed at a later date. I still have one more business book to go through, which I believe is more about building a business. I think I'll read through both before retooling my business plan (which seems to be a monthly occurrence).

"Scouting"

2009-04-02T12:48:00.001-06:00

I've been diligent about making progress through my current nature photography reading, although I want to read the new macro book and post reviews on that asap. However, I'm about 1/2 way through the nature book and can probably finish it with a few more hours work. The biggest thing that slows me down is taking notes, but I've already found it is VERY useful to have those notes to refer back to as needed, even if I am filling up the entire journal with enough time here. Wow.

One of the main ideas that's coming into maturity is the idea of 'scouting' out locations. This isn't just work ahead of time or planning where to go. It's not just going to a place and deciding when to come back. It seems to be a combination of all of these, plus working on your visualization, knowledge of an area and a bunch of other things. It's often referred to - but rarely defined. Made for a good discussion topic in dgrin with some *excellent* suggestions.

For the less popular sites, try flickr searches. Where other photogs might not be willing to 'share' information, their photos will tell you much more. Dgrin appears to be rare in the willingness of folks to share details with each other and ideas on where to go shoot.

For the more popular areas -- google maps with photos on. They might not be the best photos in the world, but they WILL often show you places that the maps don't describe in full or the tour book skips over. They can also give you more visual references (for free!) for areas before you actually get there.

Otherwise, there are CDs out there for different areas -- the Photograph America series appears to be outdated but can still be useful. The NWP forums look like great resources for national park information though, as do some backpacking forums. There's a series just for California that I'm only wishing I could justify the purchase on. I'm better off directing my resources towards exploring Utah a bit more. Getting back to the Salt Flats should be first on my list, then exploring the marshes of Antelope Island. It'll be a while before the snow melts and I can get back up into the Alta Basin and hike a bit more in there. But even this includes mental ideas of what sort of photos I want to take, what areas I know exist and what times of day I want to get there to get the best photos. ALL of that is 'scouting', even if it doesn't feel like it.

So, the education continues.

Pausing to ... delete

2009-04-01T12:23:00.002-06:00

How's that camera doing?

It's um … yeah. I think we all have 'pause' points in our development. Of course, vast and major sleep deprivation combined with a busy schedule has not produced the sort of scene where I feel like picking up a camera and tackling head on the never-ending challenge of rendering what I see into a digital image.

My brain is busy just trying to figure out WHERE to put things and organize enough so that the first floor of the house can be cleared out for the installers to put in the boxes of wood that now lay everywhere there was open space. It is a game of musical chairs minus several chairs and music that stops Friday morning. Suddenly, the idea of bookshelves on the stairs seems like a good idea. (bad idea, bad!) However, as the stairs are to be re-carpeted the following Friday, I don't get to live like this for long.

Purging.

It's good in life and it's good photographically as well. However, one of the HARDEST things to do, I have found, is click 'delete' on that photo I took that didn't turn out very well. I'll save them - badly exposed, shifting focus, not quite right - especially those last ones. Perhaps someday I'll be talented enough to make that image into what I want, right?

Fortunately hard drives are cheap, even if I haven't a decent backup scheme in place. Yet.

Whatever is going on, I know I can always feel better if I just tackle a box, a folder, a collect of files. Virtual or not, you just feel BETTER for clicking delete -- or hitting the bookshelf and bouncing it into the trash can.

Now, if only taking out the real trash was as easy as a right click. Heh.

Admitting failures

2009-03-26T11:35:00.001-06:00

The Legal Handbook is DONE and danged did I learn some good stuff in there. I've got the Consent to Photograph and Publish all set up (aka. Model Release) but I want to get it done on some better paper and hopefully stored in a small folio (even just checkbook sized) for ease of travel, not getting crumpled, as well as professionalism.

I'm DYING to get to the farmer's market this Saturday morning and shoot a bit, but I'm not sure I'll do it on my own. I'll have to see how weekend plans work out. The D50 with the 50mm (not sure which one. 1.8 or 1.4?) is perfect for that, since it's small enough to not scream 'PROFESSIONAL' but still a step above the G10.

I've moved on to 'Mastering Nature Photography' which is really much more THE book I've been needing than I expected. It even talks about (when I get to those chapters), scouting out locations, dealing with the overwhelming choices available to you in nature, etc etc. Sporting events are cake next to this -- you focus on the athlete(s) and tune out the rest (except the background if you have any control over that). Nature photography? It's like dropping yourself into a psychedelic stew and trying to pick out the best ingredients to use. Let's not even get into composition or anything else.

Speaking of which . . . yes I admit it. COMPOSITION IS MY ISSUE. I've had enough of a 'natural' eye that I could compose a pretty decent photo. I rarely 'center' shot images and had some sense of aesthetics. However, I had a lot more to do and work on. The rule of thirds I understood for foreground/midground/background, but NOT as a grid for composition.

How did I miss learning that? *sigh* so be it. I'm aware of it, working on it, learning more, and yes . . . ordered a book about it. And another nature photography book.

Frighteningly enough, ALL my free time is spent reading these books. Tv shows? That's what dvrs are for (even when 88% full). Mail? Unopened on the sofa. Pets? Pet and snuggle them WHILE reading books. Breaks at work? Reading time. I think you get the idea of how self absorbed I've become in this. Many other things have been flung aside, unfortunately not all of them good.

Two nice days ahead, so I'll at least have a chance for some fun IR outside (strong light needed!) as well as perhaps some macro in my mini 'garden' out front before I mulch the heck out of it.

your first love

2009-03-25T13:43:00.005-06:00

I got my baby back!

D50 all nice and cleaned and inspected and such. Thank you Nikon!

General check and clean (hahaha, after all those horse shows AND Moab? they must have been cursing me...)
Replaced rubber grip (oh neat!)
Cleaned CCD (eh?)
Repaired SC 201117 (eh eh?)
Checked exposure, shutter release, TTL Flash and aperture lever.

And can I say it's SO SMALLLLL????!?!? danged. still, love this baby and no reason to ever give it up.

Books galore!

2009-03-25T10:24:00.000-06:00

Another book down, another one started. I might be devouring these, but also taking notes as needed and processing a LOT of this information for my own use.

This time, it's "Legal Handbook for Photographers" which had the benefit of being a thin book. But once I got into it, I'm finding it rather facinating. Then again, I did enjoy that Business Law class in school too and we had a full fledged Law Book for text in that class.

John Shaw's "Closeups In Nature" is done with and left me with an urge to crawl around on my hands and knees outside and see what I can photograph. It's an excellent book although he takes time to go over the basics, there's also a good reason for that. Regardless if you know the basics of photography, you need to understand how it changes when you get so close to your subject -- or start magnifying at 1.5x or more.

I did find a NEW book coming out from the 'Understanding Exposure' writer that's specifically about macro work. This will be fun/good since it'll be updated for the digital age and not go on and on about Kodachrome 65 vs. 25 usage (okok I admit that got a tad old). I'll have that at the end of this month and will review it asap to share on dgrin as well as update the book reviews there. Of course, that's only next week so it's not that far away.

Books and more books and geeks galore

2009-03-23T09:15:00.003-06:00

Various stats:

D50: with Nikon and basic level review/repair approved and in progress

Finished reading: "Profitable Photography in the Digital Age". GOOD book and all the business geekery I needed, as well as more information on some important topics (model releases, copyrighting, marketing, etc) that I really needed. Oh, I don't agree 100% with him and I can see how C. said the author is rather full of himself (erm, or implied as much). He definitely has strong opinions but he backs them up with solid facts. Mostly his entire chapter on web models doesn't take into account the existence of services like SmugMug. For shame!

Started reading and 1/2 way through Shaw's "Closeups in Nature". Good stuff if a tad outdated -- but aside from chapters about qualities of film, it's a solid primer. I also found "Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens" which releases at the end of this month. So something NEW but a part of the same 'Understanding' series as 'Understanding Exposure'. Ideally that means it should be a 'winner' but I'll get it and see.

I also totally geeked out and found "Mastering Nature Photography: Shooting and Selling in the Digital Age". One, it's a 'new' book again (digital age) and it written in EXACTLY the way I like. Short concise groupings of topics, much like a solid lecture on the topic. There's an accompanying CDROM of images which I rather prefer to the excessive images other books have. I flipped through some of the more 'popular' ones and it was a 1:9 ratio of text to images. I totally 'get' learning by example, but most of it was the same thing over and over again while just saying what settings were used. Um, educate a bit more? Pontificate a bit less?

So I'm reading too much these days and loving every moment of it. And yes, still taking notes on the things I want to remember again for later. I need to reactivate/use my Amazon affiliation account a bit and unlock the 'books' page of my website. Why not, right? The visitors to my site are as much other photographers as they are potential clients.

not bad for a G10 !

2009-03-20T21:44:00.000-06:00

the Art of the Market

2009-03-19T12:55:00.000-06:00

My education continues. Marketing was the theme of last night's reading with some good ideas percolating as I took notes and read on.

Pull and Push marketing tactics -- and I can definitely see ones that are of both types, such as a flyer or mailer sent out that includes a promotional offer -- entice them to come to you next.

Whatever plan for marketing I take, I'm definitely going to stick it out for the long run, so this takes thought and time. Getting future value out of this is more important than anything else. In some ways, I can see how this is already working within the horse show groups out here. People are seeing my name (my business name) and connecting it with the quality of photographs I do. There's finally the start of a connection there -- and at least this book says a minimum of 5 exposures is needed to implant your name into someone's mind.

So to break into architectural/real estate photography? Flyers alone won't do it. I'll need to find out what trade magazines/etc they have out here and advertise in there. GET MY NAME OUT THERE.

Also a GREAT justification for mass quantity purchases of postcards, etc. Use them. Twice. Three times. Don't assume they'll read them the first time and not loose them or toss them away.

Course, I find it hysterical that this book feels the need to emphasis the tailored marketing approach. Then again, that's so obvious to me -- yet I do NOT see other people doing it. More of a 'I do photos' approach to everything. If you had that person's flyer with someone else showing off real estate photography and you were a realtor…. which would you go to first? duh.

Remaining relevant in your marketing is obvious to me, again. However, a few other ideas hit me as well. Real estate photography is appealing because I can arrange it in the afternoons and on free days. Realtors work all day, so it's not like a person who doesn't have as much time, etc etc.

Course, using my own animals as 'models' (and hitting up the neighbors for theirs too!), I can very very easily put together a 'pet portrait' portfolio and advertise …. in veterinary offices. Duh. That's so obvious I'm ashamed. But do I want to pursue this and the world of crazy pet owners? Erk. I'm not sure. But if I charge enough per session (time limit) ….. hmm. It's worth considering. Pets look good regardless of the time of year. (unlike horse commissions when fuzzy winter fuzz looks like shit).

Also - Sirens. It's a limited *known ahead of time* crowd. Individual mailers ahead of time? Plus packets in the reg packet? And cards available? I can definitely do this 'wrong' and just get photos for Sirens itself, or I can do this RIGHT and get some income (perhaps enough to cover the cost of the trip) from sales of images (even giving 50% back to the non profit). Shall consider/discuss/ponder.

So I will e-mail Janice and find out about Utah Real Estate newsletters/associations that have advertising. Not everyone has to be using a 'professional' group, right? ? ?

*** I cannot do these all. I have to decide where my time + effort is going to go and where my ROI (return on investment) will yield the most LONG TERM results.

And do I 'invest' more into the horse show photography? My sheer presence, signs, t-shirts and the onsite set up should be enough. I think? This IS the core of my business right now, so I should ponder on this a bit longer.

Clean like a baby's bum... erm or not

2009-03-17T20:12:00.002-06:00

Tonight, I sat down to clean dust and such from the lenses and cameras.

A rocket blower? not enough.

Amazon.com later and on Friday I'll have the brushes I need. sigh! just when you think you have everything!

Something new, something creatively unleashed

2009-03-17T16:04:00.002-06:00

IR Photography!

learning and redirection

2009-03-17T13:08:00.002-06:00

1. Hmm. If YOU had a personalized photography instructor, what would you want to learn?????

2. new url to redirect to this blog! http://www.catspawphotoblog.com yehaw :)

Working on my weak areas.

2009-03-17T07:18:00.003-06:00

Eeeexcellent. EXACTLY what I need and I suspect many willing participants for me at the barn:

http://www.equinephotographers.org/courses/portrait.php
"The Art of the Equine/Human Portrait"

Things I have learned:

2009-03-16T13:50:00.001-06:00

IR Photography, or at least the basics. Expect a lot more of this from me soon!

The wide and wonderful world of masks in Photoshop. Including color masking, near/far, merging focuses and other cool techniques (some of which are CS4 only).

How to set up, take a deep breathe, and really try to STUDY the scene I have. *Then* decide which lens/camera to use to capture what it is that I see.

How to check the ISO. A lot. And then exposure compensation (which on the G10 just LOVES to get misdialed. Grr).

I've also gotten quite excellent playing with my f-stops. F-stop professional, thank you very much. I want something, I get it. I like this power, and it all comes from knowledge.

I'm still not shooting *great* shots, but they are there. They are coming. A few can be done simply from judicious cropping and playing with colors in LR or CS3/4. I'm rather curious to see what sort of shots I can pull out the more and more I work with Lightroom and Photoshop.

I've also learned about fill flashes, especially outdoors (who'd have thought?) in shadows, in close ups, as well as in macros.

March, the second half.

2009-03-16T13:01:00.001-06:00

It's the second half of March, officially, which means it's time for me to amend the business plan. Again.

I rather enjoy doing these, as they are half status updates, half statements of intentions and half a list of goals accomplished. Yes, I know those halves don't add up.

I think the biggest things are to define the degree of wedding experience I want to get as a second shooter -- or as a primary shooter who does NOT specialize in portraits. Realistically, I have no time for this until autumn/winter so it is likely to stay on the back burner. Exceptions to this would be if I scrapped all of my own plans to show this summer and only did photography. I'm also likely to burn out completely.

Important but also for the fall/winter is membership into ASPP (American Society of Photoshop Professionals) and the classes that they offer. I have a lot of basics to do along with my own work and assignments. I cannot utilize everything they have to offer until I do my 'homework' first, so this is a longer plan.

Immediate needs are selling off excess equipment and deciding on a tax accountant. Yes, doing that. I know of so many who screw things up, but I'm shaky enough on my depreciation calculations and how I should set things up the first year to know that I'm better off seeking a pro. Now, a good pro? That's a question to debate.

Plans and projects.

2009-03-16T06:28:00.002-06:00

Registered a second domain -- www.catspawphotos.com is my primary, but it's easy to think of catspawphotography.com, so both are now there with a redirect from the new to the old. Easy peasy. I love technology :)

There's a show coming up on the 4th -- I'd like to enter OR take photos but I'm not sure which is even possible right now. I'd contact them w/ the offer, but then if I get offered a ride to the show, I'll want to SHOW and then…. Yeah. Obligations are not fun.

Showing percentile is looooow. So I'll see if they need/have a photographer and go from there. Jumper show, so those are always a blast :) Unless it's raining :P April 4th could be ANY sort of weather.

To sell:
10-20mm Sigma DX lens
77 mm B+W cir. Polarizer.
Older Sigma zoom
Any other older Quantaray lenses
Older Nikkor zoom?
BOTH Nikkor DX lenses. One is 12-24, the other is 80-300.
80-400 Nikkor FX lens.
Lowe Pro sling bag? Haven't used yet to find much use.
Older Tamarack backpack .. um … where ever that is off at.
Green LowePro trekker backpack -- to be replaced by Crumpler backpack.
Older but still new Nikon remote (no need for 2).

~~~~~~~~

Otherwise last week was a crushing blow to my lack of creativity, which is a huge relief. I forgot to grab a camera yesterday as I ran errands, but I found myself eyeing walls and fences and debating composition. This? Is EXCELLENT and has been missing in my life/brain as of late.

I imagine the warmer weather has a LOT to do with this as well, since it's such a huge difference to shoot in the sun instead of the snow. I'd love to get back to Antelope Island again, as well as tromp around on some of the side trails (snow boots!) of the canyons.

Longer trips require more planning and thinking. Fortunately one I wanted to do : the San Rafael Swell & Capitol Reef , is one I'll be doing with my parents later this year. Perhaps not as much freedom to take off with the camera, but still a lot nice accommodations and eating.

Hmm. Where else can I venture too?

Learning to let go ...

2009-03-15T14:37:00.001-06:00

I've done a lot of photographic study in the last week, as well as evaluating aspects of my business model. Who knew Customer Service would be one point I skipped over? Alas, I'm starting implementation now, but will write out some SOPs later on as I get a better idea on the level of customer interactions I have.

I've also looked into professional design of my website. I adore SmugMug, however their defaults are quite cluttered and hacks and such aside (I've used many of them so far), have left me with a workable website, but nothing outstanding.

And you know? I'd LIKE to have outstanding. While also an investment into the company, any investment requires due process and serious thought. My current perspective is that I need to see an increase in sales before jumping through such a step -- except I DO know what events I have booked for the year and an improved website will only make sales that much easier and come in faster. Chicken. Egg.

The use of the camera in the last week has meant that some lenses have been thoroughly explored and every aspect utilized … while others have languished untouched. Those untouched ones (including my once beloved 10-20mm Sigma) are due next for a review. There is redundancy in the FX and DX lenses, but it will be very rare to have the same focal length on the same bodies at the same time. I'm more likely to have a telephoto on one and a fixed prime on another, or at least two different fixed primes (20mm & 85mm).

* The 80-400mm is a nice lens but the speed is a factor, although the slowness is focusing is the biggest problem. This is not a speed event (horse show) lens, nor is it a wildlife lens. In fact, I'm not sure what good it is for at all, but that one I will be selling no doubt. I got nearly nothing decent out of it this last week and I suspect that wasn't just my ineptitude. The 70-200mm with a 1.4 TC on a bright sunny day will give me *almost* 300mm (280mm) and I'm more than find enough cropping horse jumping photos for the shots that I need.

* The extra 77mm Circular Polarizer can go as well. I can hand off the extra step-up ring as well if I'm feeling nice.

* I need to play with the 10-20mm again. When I used this, I used it at either 10 or 20. Rarely in between. I've the 20mm fixed now, which is awesome. And the 8mm fisheye. A non-distorted 10-14mm range is needed for architectural photos, but I'm NOT currently into those. And the 10-20mm is DX, which is really the death bell on it. I dislike selling knowing I only have to turn around and place that $$ elsewhere, but I'll see how that goes. *checks* and nothing seems to actually exist that isn't DX. I think my 20mm is going to be strong enough, especially on a FX body.

* So having said that, I have the older Sigma macro telephoto that should go. I haven't touched it in over year.

* I can't see using more than 2 bodies at any event, so the need for the 18-200 DX Nikkor is rather useless even as useful as it was as a lens. Fine. GONE.

* then there's the two DX lenses I picked up in error. I'll review details on both and see if either serves a purpose that my current bunch does not.

**** I *would* love the 14-24mm FX Nikkor but I still think the 20mm takes the market on that one. I did well with that choice. I can *want* it, but I don't *need* it. With the 24-70mm, I don't need anything else in there.

Post-weekend and the steps ahead

2009-03-02T15:44:00.001-07:00

I'm still in process of uploading images from this last weekend as well as going along and creating a 'best of' album'. Apparently running 5 uploads from 3 different computers kills your net connection. Who knew? After last night, I know. I am starting with the horses and as time permits, I'll go through the last several years of photos and pick out the better stuff, post process as needed, and go from there.

Print wise, I decided on the ones to have for 'display' at events, so I just need to process those files and order them. Also decided on the two prints to get done *everywhere* to show quality issues between the printers SM offers and Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Albertsons, Inkleys and even Harmons. THAT's a project I'm rather curious to see how it turns out. I think I'll print 5x7 but crop big (not 100% but close to it) so the details really come through. These will also include my first metallic images from EZ Prints and Bay Photos, so I'm extra excited to see how THOSE turn out :) The 'display' ones at the show are going to just be lustre since I'm self-laminating them as the frames have no glass (lighter, less dangerous and on clearance at IKEA that way).

Page 1: EZ Lustre & Metallic - cat
Page 2: EZ Lustre & Metallic - flowers
Page 3: Bay Photos Lustre & Metallic - cat
Page 4: Bay Photos Lustre & Metallic - flowers
Page 5: self-print: cat & flowers
Page 6: Walgreens & Inkleys - cat
Page 7: Walgreens & Inkleys - flowers
Page 8: Walmert & Target - cat
Page 9: Walmert & Target - flowers
Page 10: Albertsons & Harmons - cat
Page 11: Albertsons & Harmons - flowers

I did finish the pricing plan yesterday, although the 'multiple gallery' implementation …. Yeah. Not so smoothly there. I'm not pleased at the idea of going gallery by gallery, but I think getting off the mini and onto a full screen will help, as I might have been mis-selecting some of the choices.

And I'm danged if I can find the Portfolio level pricing. THAT's hidden away somewhere good and secretive.

Otherwise the to do list continues to get chipped away and grow at the same time. Looking into Etsy, I don't believe printed canvases will pass the 'handmade' muster, which makes me wonder about collages …. Which I rather like the idea of. Ooo! So I'm going to get some canvas and materials and use some of my own prints (must get printing again) to see how creative I can be. This also has the potential to be much cheaper, so I'll see how it goes. There's also the possibility of painting the canvases first, but that's definitely later down the road. Etsy continues to be a work in progress.

Oh and the lensbaby? All it took was a call to the company -- who had the items in stock -- and mention that my local store had nothing and was reporting no delivery until June and BAM! Two days later, they had my order in and were fully stocked. It's nice to be an enabler. I should get a discount for helping them restock there! Ha.

Business Models and giving away for 'free'

2009-03-01T09:29:00.003-07:00

This was an USDF teaching clinic for lunging assessments as well as lunging riders (that part is today, which I have to miss). Intriguing to learn about although photos of horses going around and around and around and around and …. Lots of circles, ok? I tried to be as inventive as I possibly could, but it definitely took a toll on the mental boredom (and sleep deprivation) after awhile.

I'm still working on my pricing model and business model, but these clinics are difficult -- the demand for photos is low and I'm much more interested in getting traffic TO my website. I have photos that I'm not even sure some people are aware of. With such a small horse community, it's easy to eventually get photos of nearly everyone -- but you have to GET them to come visit.

There's a good hack to change the 'buy' button into a download button for the website. I'd love to have both though -- download abilities for smaller versions (with watermarks) and purchasing larger ones. Alas, the hack *changes* the button from one to the other, and I'd prefer to do both. So for now, downloads are limited to right-clicking on images and making sure that they are available (although limited in size).

These clinics also make me think of the Siren's conference. For whatever reason, my mind skipped over to the topics of website traffic flow, costs, etc. I think a very similar model to the clinics but with a provision that 50% of any 'profit' from photography sales goes back to the Siren's folk (since they ARE non profit and therefore this will help them put on next years conference). Which also makes me think that perhaps I should get some business cards together JUST for the conference. Especially if I can get a card or flyer (or postcard size) into the registration package for the attendees (limited to 600). Hmm. In this case I just want my efforts to be appreciated by all who attend. Sales are so very secondary.

Colors are not quite colors are colors are

2009-02-27T19:56:00.002-07:00

Calibrating a monitor is a good good good thing to do!

I'm a bit ashamed it took me this long to get around to it.

Done! and it shall be re-done monthly. Promise to all that's important to me. Upon the soul of my D3.

THE indoor test -- can the D3 cut it? answer.... YES!

2009-02-27T14:36:00.003-07:00

It took a bit of work, but the 50mm f/1.4G does LOVELY in the indoor arena. Ok ok so every other photo is green, but this is very easily fixed with some Lightroom wizardy. I'll get more posted up in Catspaw Photos later on, but for now here's their best attempt (photographed, rest were video) of a 3 foot oxer at the end of a grid. Yay Alison! Yay Denali!!

lights, action and business

2009-02-26T14:45:00.001-07:00

I love our local eventing association (Wasatch Evening Association") so was quite happy to donate photography services (portrait session or sales shots or action shots, however they want to use the hour with two prints included) for their silent auction. No idea how it sold but it just feels danged good to 'give back' to such. Course, I won a down jacket as Rookie rider of the year and fleece quarter sheet as BN horse of the year two years ago, so I definitely feel I'm due to give back :) I've I'd been in town I'd have taken some of the nicer but harder to sell on ebay items and donated them too, but alas i was in San Diego so missed this year's end of year banquet.

I'm also seeing if any horse rescues need some GOOD photos to help them adopt out horses, etc etc. Heck, I can even make mini web pages for them depending on what resources they do and do not have. I'm not sure who's in the area, but I know Nina knows a few and I can work from there. Giving back is good and this is something I CAN do and do fairly well.

This weekend is the USDF teachers lunging clinic at Promontory: still not certain if it's Fri-Sun or Sat-Sun but I'll figure it out soon enough. Sun is work, alas, but I'll take photos and perfect the exposure in the camera. Plus, hey! creative challenges abound. A horse that goes in a circle x 500 times.

I've started reading Strobist a lot recently and got into the LumniQuest line of items -- as well as their amazing secondary 50%+ discounted items on their website. GREAT customer service and I'll be getting a few there (fold flat, yay!). Gary Fong is the other 'big' name out there but they are hard plastic and a PITA to transport around. The ultra soft box should be WONDERFUL for horse portraits. Cannot wait to practice and play a bit with this.

Otherwise, the first few reviews have been upgraded into dgrin's book review section (yay! I feel important! :) ) and as I work on work those will be added as well. Nicely, they are amending them with other folks' reviews rather than replacing. This makes me much more comfortable, as we will obviously all have different words to say about the same books.

ALSO talked with Baldy (CEO of Smugmug) and his programmer who is working on the Packages product for release in the next few months. I'd reached out to them since I'd be in town in late May, but apparently that was just a tad too late. So an hour long conversation (which I believe went extremely well, given the 3-way nature of it), much was learned, must was shared, and I got to talk a bit about the business geek side of things, including ways that could be used to implement the interface to help those users who are less business inclined. Regardless, it was amazing to talk to two folks who have such a passion on par with my own and that alone made it quite worth it. I cannot wait to pick Andy's brain a bit more during Catalina.

the art of Learning

2009-02-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm officially turning into a geek, for not only am I reading, underlining and reviewing the books I read .... now I'm taking notes.

Yup, there's some good stuff in there and I sure as heck don't want to forget it! Into Dan Heller's "Profitable Photography in the Digital Age" which requires much thought but is also vastly stimulating.

It also calls me an insane photographer. Except that's a GOOD thing. Insanity = good, since you don't drop out or fade away or otherwise fail to put in the effort needed.

Although I cannot even recall the details of some of the business classes I took in college, this is still proving to be the perfect background for me. Without that? Who knows. I might pitter around like a regular photo hobbyist without ever getting anywhere. Instead I find myself creating *achievable* plans in my head and running through scenarios to get them to work.

###

On another note, Pictureline is running a strobe lighting class next week -- but I cannot attend. Woe! They are, however, opening a new store a stone's throw from where I live so I can only hope they start more classes there so I don't have to drive a half hour for them.

Educational opportunities abound, but I find they presume a full-time photographer who has free time say, noon to 1pm on a Monday afternoon. You know, when most normal folks are at work. PPA has a series of webinars (online seminars) for photography business but there isn't a single one that I want to attend that I can make, hour wise.

Yes, I feel thwarted. Me and the pile o' books will create our own little university for now.

Reading on - business books for photographers

2009-02-22T12:03:00.006-07:00

Next up, PROFITABLE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE DIGITAL AGE. I'm hoping this touches on some areas that PRICING PHOTOGRAPHY entirely skipped over (since that was printed in 2003). I'll see and update here with more thoughts once I'm done.

This book *is* by Dan Heller, who has some excellent FAQs and information on his website about business and photography. I haven't read all of it yet, but will do so eventually.

http://danheller.com/bizfaq.html for those not familiar with him.

Down Time is Reading Time

2009-02-21T10:49:00.003-07:00

I've been hanging out in San Diego this weekend for people - not for photography. However, the down time (airports, lazy mornings, etc) has been fabulous for getting into more reading.

I finished up 'Pricing Photography' on the airplane and while the entire stock photo portion doesn't apply to me (not yet at least), it was worth the money spent in what I'll make up in the confidence in my own pricing.

Photographers really DO undersell themselves, I see this quite often in posts in dgrin and EPNet, especially from us newbies. If we're willing to do it for free or cheap, why not price it that way.... right? Erg, wrong. It's a hard mindset to break out of (especially when there's such competition in the photography world) but it's one that needs to be bashed about repeatedly. How much do you value your own photography? What are you offering that's unique and different? I have confidence in that, if anything just that I WILL get there even if I'm not totally there right now.

"Understanding Exposure" was next on the list (of those I brought with me) and it is quite perfect for where my brain is at in my own education. I am not learning anything exactly 'new' to me, but it IS putting concrete words and terms and logic to things I half intuitively understood from my own long experience with cameras.

Pricing and the art of managing SmugMug

2009-02-19T08:27:00.002-07:00

Note to self:

Create empty albums for pricing per idea from the dgrin forums. This way I can inherit JUST these as needed. And yes, this means re-pricing everything I have, but provides me with more central 'control' over the entire process (adding in weddings later, etc etc).

1. Show Photos (higher cost, no upfront payment rec'd)
2. Clinic/Convention photos (cheaper, not in as high a demand)
3. Friends photos (friends and family rate)

then have the portfolio 'default' ones as well, which can use Bay Photos for better quality.

Draper Days Rodeo, 2008

2009-02-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

CRASH.

FAQ v. 1

2009-02-18T11:01:00.001-07:00

FAQ page:

when are photos posted online?
how do I order prints?
how do I order a package?
what equipment do you use?
what are the costs for prints (link to pricing page)
can I get a CD/DVD of images?
what are the return policies on the prints?
what are your hourly rates for portraits/special events/parties/weddings?
How long are photos online for?
How fast do I get my order?
I want to use my photos on my website, ad or other publication? What do I purchase?
Why do these photos cost more than one hour photo prints at Wal-Mart or Walgreens?
Do you have other print sizes?
I have another question that isn't answered here.

Cracked heads and flash brackets and networking

2009-02-18T10:49:00.002-07:00

I know that my enthusiasm for "all things business" related will rise and fall over time. However, right now I enjoy the wave that I am riding and seeing where it takes me.

I've been debating more and more packaging 'deals' for customers. If SmugMug doesn't implement packages themselves, I can do them manually (more difficult but could be worth it). I could see doing coupons myself as well, but that almost makes it more complex than it is worth.

What I DO need to do is update the main page with the *basic* pricing for events and add in a more detailed "Pricing" page for Catspaw Photos. Details about the labs SM uses as well as guarantees are definitely important. It'll be tricky to not clutter, since the more simple things are, the easier they are to grasp in a quick read.

Networking wise, the Picassa and Flickr sites haven't been indexed yet. But I created a Vox site and it showed up within a few hours. Go figure! However, the ability of all sites to import data and photos from other locations makes cross posting much easier. Once I get more photos uploaded worth of 'sharing', I'll get more and more cross links out there.

The search for a decent rotating flash bracket continues. RRS has one that could work, but at $335 + bracket, it's insane. The hunter hunts on.

Lastly, I cracked the wall of domain transfers. At last! So of the three domains I hold, two are now officially transferred, so if www.catspawphotos.com is down for a bit, fear not. That's just me either working/sleeping/traveling and unable to update the CNAME and other files needed.

As for the third domain .... Verio can rot for all I care. I'll have to give them another call at some point where I have a few hours to spend on hold. Award winners? I think not.

and the girl, she read on...

2009-02-17T18:58:00.002-07:00

At least now I can put even MORE of my 'homework' to good use -- writing up reviews for dgrin since I found their book section to be a bit lacking (NO business books, a CS2 book, etc).

And yes, I still consider this to be quite fun and quite the blast.

Go me!

Business Act(ions)

2009-02-17T12:00:00.012-07:00

Business tasks:

~~Update the business plan with more specifics on pricing, when to discount and when to not discount.~~

Update SM website for different printing options, solidifying prices for this year

Generate price sheets to have available at events.

~~Get into the dgrin coupon thread discussions, since I'm seeing more and more ways I could successfully use these within the business (pre-payments, raffle prizes, etc).~~ chimed in!

Complete banner exchange with Sirens - need to get a banner version for my website put together - http://www.catspawphotos.com/gallery/7343754_JcdMc already has their banner set up.

Insure equipment! Talk to Hartford as well as the PPA's agency. Include liability

Read through the PPA website in much more detail and find out what other benefits I now have.

Start collecting 'good' horse photos for the screensaver picture frame to use at shows. Includes post-processing.

~~Put together intro post for EPNet with some of the better horse photos. Create a presence.~~

Keep up Picassa and Flickr sites, using multiple link backs whenever possible.

Play through bracketting shots as well as multiple exposure shots

Mac mini: load CS4, load the HDR software, set up a GOOD backup program.

~~Decide what to do with the old mac mini?~~ to Erwin

Enter most recent data into Quickbooks

Go through the Nikon lighting dvds - one section a day, let it absorb.

File taxes, schedule C

Research real estate contacts to determine how many packets I should put together

~~Find the right flash bracket before Jill's October wedding~~

Write up book reviews for dgrin/Ivar

Sell off extra lenses (old Sigmas, etc) - check with Adorama first

~~Send in D50 for maintenance ASAP~~

~~Integrate this blog with http://www.catspawphotos.com blog page.~~

~~fix emails for two domains and get them transferred to godaddy.com~~

~~transfer http://www.catspawphotos.com to godaddy.com~~

~~set up personalized domin (aka more professional) email account, even if all it does is forward to my gmail account for Catspaw Photos~~

Set up Etsy shop with details, ideally focusing on foam boards and other 'posters' for barns and barn offices

Work with Sirens' folks about registration packet insert and donations

Homework

2009-02-16T19:33:00.003-07:00

It's been a long time since college and 'homework' still fills me with dread.

However? this is definitely a different sort of homework! These are things I love to read and ponder and figure out how to apply to my own business model and photography processes.

I've a number of business books waiting for me, but right now I'm focusing on the nitty gritty of photography itself. So, I present.... my homework pile:

http://www.catspawphotos.com in my daily portrait files

I love this stuff and look forward to getting off of work so I can go home and ... study. I really never thought I'd see this day!

Getting in with the pros...

2009-02-15T10:35:00.006-07:00

Through information from another photographer, I was tipped off to PPA.com (Professional Photographers of America).

As of today, I officially joined. I can do two years with an 'aspiring' membership, which I find a rather descriptive term. Primarily, I see this as a great source for contacts within the industry (equipment insurance, business geekery, etc).

Another step forward!

http://www.catspawphotos.com/gallery/7002345_pof9B/1/466018186_MKoas/Small

a solid start

2009-02-14T21:06:00.003-07:00

It's been almost a year since I first launched http://www.catspawphotos.com

While I've taken the business side of things seriously, I'm taking more and more of the photography and networking even more seriously. To say the least, this is not the way I ever expected to use my business degree, but it's one I rather like. I can be a business and photography geek all at once. Perfect!

Digital Grin (aka DGrin) is where I primarily hang out online, although I have also recently been directed to a network of equine photographers. Alas, they don't consider you a pro unless you've been in business for two years. Give me time then, I'll definitely be there.

Am I going anywhere? not any time soon! While this might have been a weekend hobby to start, it has grown into much much more. I am a horseback rider as well as photographer, so juggling both aspects of my equine life is always a challenge.

Depending on bookings and shows, every weekend in June, July, August and September is booked. That business is growing is an understatement! My next challenge will be tackling my own organization.... and doing taxes.

With the new D3 and the used D300 I picked up, plus getting into lighting (SB-900, monopod for light on a stick, etc), I find myself almost literally juggling lenses and accessories. Setting this up in a way that lets me grab the items I need for a shoot (and not forget anything behind) will definitely be the next priority.

Next week: San Diego with friends
Weekend after: USDF instructors lunging clinic at Promontory Equestrian Center, Park City UT