Tag Archives: location

Assignment, Photography

Knowing your limitations is a good thing

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tamrac_bag

Know your gear–That usually means how to use not just the camera but the software whether it’s Lightroom, iPhoto, Photoshop or even just Picasa. Never wait till an important job to try something new.

I got a frantic email the other day from a former student, now a pretty good friend. He needed to hire me as his photo assistant.

He’s been doing a lot of work for the local university specifically their athletic department.

Retired and obviously not needing the money, he loves shooting and I think the university is getting a great deal.

They provide him with season tickets and he does whatever they want him to do whenever they need him. In return he gets to shoot a lot of sports.

I highly recommend doing that if you are really into sports.

But there comes a time when you have to pay heed to what Dirty Harry says “Man’s got to know his limitations.”

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Photography

Looking around, but not seeing


I have my days when I see “stuff” to photograph everywhere or all the time.

Of course that always happens when I don’t have a camera with me.

“Stuff” in this case, is my very loose term for subjects. Don’t make the assumption it’s art.

It’s only art till some art critic calls it that. 😉

Then wouldn’t you know it, I’ll carry my camera with me for days and never see anything worthwhile to photograph.

It’s all about looking but not seeing and sometimes not recognizing the possibilities.
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Photography, Tutorials

Playing in the basement

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lesly1

A pose with attitude–Lesly was lit by a softbox on the right and a reflector to fill on the left. The hair light directly behind her head had a 20° grid to narrow the beam of the light. The hardest part of was staying in Lesly’s shadow. Any extraneous light from the hair light hitting the lens completely obliterates the image. On her part, Lesly, a very good sport, was kneeling on a bench to help her maintain her balance since this pose was hard to hold.

lesly2I equate photography skills similar to those of a musician’s.

So let’s say I’m classically trained, but I’ve been booked to play Top 40 popular music or Jazz.

Don’t roll those eyes!

Musicians, like artists,  have bills too.

Most classically trained musicians should have no problems doing the gig especially if they have the sheet music.

But it’s the improvisational part that might take a bit of doing because they’re not used to being given such free rein.

Similarly, most newspaper photographers who shot transparency or slide film learned to be technically proficient.

White Background

–We draped a white sheet over the grey to give us a different more airy feel. We also tried the shot with Lesly and her hair down.

Fancy speak for lighting and exposing well because of the unforgiving latitude of slide film.

It’s the so-called edgy look and experimentation, if you will, that I have had very little chance to try.
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Assignment, Photography

Do you need to travel far for pictures?

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llama

Luck favors the prepared–While driving in Garner Valley, California, I came across this trio. If you drive a lot, it’s always a good idea to have your camera with you. Keep a notebook handy as you’re driving or walking around to make notes of promising situations. With digital cameras available on your cellphone, you don’t even need to write. A shot of the scene and the street signs should jog your memory when you need to recall where it was. You may not even have to shoot the street signs if you have those smartphones which are GPS enabled and can geo-tag.

Ever since I left the newspaper, I haven’t been driving very much except for picking up the kids, dropping them off and running the usual errands around the city.

I used to be a road warrior, meaning my car was my office. There were days I would drive 2 hours (one-way), hop out of the car to make a quick portrait, hop back in the car and then drive back to the newspaper.
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