Before I started photographing 2010 Seniors, I figured I should finish up 2009. Here’s two more from May. I didn’t have time to watermark the one, so here’s the video:
And, the other chose to take advantage of the iStock discount. So here are some of the iStock files from that shoot:
It’s been a while since my last post. It’s not that I haven’t had work. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite, I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had the time to dedicate to this blog. Expect a few catch-up pics to follow.
Okay, so back to the actual reason for this post. Today I received an awesome 25th birthday present! I reached 250 downloads on istock.com – the stock photography site that I contribute to. This means that I can now go exclusive and reap all the extra benefits that go along with that. I’ve been looking forward to this milestone for a long time and happened to make it on my birthday!
I’m pretty much a self-taught photographer. My last formal class in photography was back in high school. That class handed me the basic tools to get to the point that I am today. And, up until recently, I was more or less satisfied with that point. But, the more I delve into the online photography world and the more research I do, the more I become unsatisfied. I’ve never really desired to take additional classes to learn more advanced techniques, because I never cared to shoot the typical yearbook photos. I was uninspired by them. I want to be expressive and not be nailed down by a set of rules like the “inverse square law”.
But recently, I’ve been discovering great photographers who are both technically and creatively brilliant. I’ve found my inspiration. I want to be able to shoot like this: (Click photo for Dustin Snipe’s blog)
Or this: (Click for Zach Arias’s Blog)
The thing that all these photos have in common is artificial lighting that draws you away from the natural lighting (sunlight) in the image. I feel I have a pretty good handle on natural lighting, and can make studio (artificial) lights look like natural lighting, but I’ve never tried to mix the two. So, I’ve enrolled myself in another self-taught course, so to speak, to learn more advanced lighting techniques.
Last night I was experimenting with light’s depth of field. These two images were both taken in a lit room, with the same light. The only difference in the lighting is the distance the light was from the volleyball when the images were shot.
Just by moving one light I got such different results. It really is a simple technique, but when combined with some creativity, I’ll be able to use it to produce results like the Zach Arias shot above, which by the way, also only used one light. I’m excited about the possibilities.
Besides photography, one of my other loves in life is volleyball. I started in high school, played briefly in college, and now occasionally play in local leagues. When I started submitting stock photography, I realized that there was a lack of good volleyball pictures. Most shots looked like they grabbed a $10 volleyball from Walmart and photographed it on white. Problem is, any serious volleyball player can tell right away that the volleyball was not intended for anything other than family reunions.
So, being that it’s volleyball season, one of the first shots I submitted was of a volleyball. It’s been fun watching the downloads increase over time.
The angle is a little awkward to use in advertisements, so I’ll probably be shooting an angle that is better suited for advertising.
In case any of you are wondering, I use iStock.com. My day job is in marketing and I frequently purchase images here to use in the company’s ads. Day downloader, night uploader.
I’ve been working on creating a photo studio piece by piece. Last year, I added a light kit to the collection. But due to space constraints I had to leave it in the box most of the time. This past week, thanks to a garage sale, I was able to free up some space to set up a lighting studio.
My younger sister is taking a photo class in high school and has to photograph a series of things based off a list given to her by her teacher. I helped her set up the shots and couldn’t refuse taking a few of my own.
On a side note… it wasn’t until today that I had photographed two types of glasses.
I think I’ll probably submit the top one for stock. I think the bottom photo has too shallow of a depth of field to be useful for stock.
I thought I would dedicate this first blog post to describing a little about me and what I am as a photographer and what I’m not.
Am I a professional photographer? We technically, by definition, yes. I have been getting paid to do outdoor portrait photography for some time now and have recently broke into the world of stock photography. Is it my full time job? No. I love photography. It’s my passion, but I also have another passion: marketing. What I’ve figured out is that after all the post processing time, photography is really a hobby that pays for itself while marketing actually pays the bills. Maybe some day it’ll be the other way around, but for now, that’s life.
Is not being a full time photographer a disadvantage? I don’t think so. Full-time photographers are, in essence, business owners. Sure they get paid to do what they love, but they always have to make sure that they maintain profitability. This means that they can’t let their passion take off and run with it. At the end of the day, they have to look at the numbers. By not relying on photography for an income, I’m allowed much more freedom and creativity. This does not mean I’m not professional, can’t handle deadlines, or don’t understand paperwork. Quite the contrary. My career and educational background has more than equipped me in those areas.
Do I know everything there is to know about photography? No. No one ever does. With me, photography is a continual learning experience, and that’s part of the reason I love it so much. The truth of the matter is that there is a huge gap in skill level, even among professional photographers. I am proud of my work and don’t mind letting people pay me to do it, but I will always be aiming higher.
What do I hope to acheive with this blog? I want this blog to be a photo journal, a way to share my talent and experiences with others.
What are my goals for photography? Right now I am focused on improving my skill on the technical side of photography: learning to perfect exposure, color balance, focus, and noise levels all in camera (no computer work). Eventually I would like to have a full understanding of every main form of photography: portrait, stock, corporate, fashion, editorial, music, and photo journalism.
How did you learn photography? I guess photography runs in my family. Ever since I was little, I’ve been around an SLR camera (more or less a professional camera.) When my dad was in high school he had his own dark room where he would develop his own film. It was then that he came accross some old family negatives with amazing composition, which he developed and now hang on his office wall. Needless to say, I was inspired. I “stole” his camera in high school and took a photography class. From that point on, let’s just say Dad didn’t see his camera much. I took it with me to college, and he only got it returned when he bought me a new one. That was when I started being requested to photograph people and submit photos for art shows. I’d laugh when I would be asked for a photo release at the photo lab, but then it occured to me… I could earn money for this! About that time I switched from film to digital, and with the comfort of “instant feedback” from the camera, I began charging for my services. I’ve been doing that for some time. Most recently I’ve added stock photography to the list. With stock photography, nothing less than absolute technical perfection is accepted. So I feel like I’ve enrolled myself back in photography class. But learning to go beyond “good” or “great” images and producing “perfect” images has been the best experience.
Do I ever want to go full-time? I flirt with the idea every now in then. I think if I ever were able to bring my talent to the point that I could charge top dollar for my services, I might. But in all honesty, for all the talent I have in photography, I have just as much, if not more in strategic marketing. Eventually I might split my time more evenly between the two and go from doing marketing 8 to 5 to doing part-time consulting work.
So, that’s me and photography in a nutshell. Comment if you have any more questions!
