by successfulbob | fine art photography, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, success education
From the Biography page of Jay Maisel… After studying painting and graphic design at Cooper Union and Yale, Jay Maisel began his career in photography in 1954. While his portfolio includes the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Miles Davis, he is perhaps best known for capturing the light, color, and gesture found in every day life.
I grabbed a quote from Jay today because many times I talk with photographers who are not making the images they would like. I feel part of the reason is they don’t have their camera in their hand making images. They are not studying light. They are not studying shadows. They are, however, afraid to make mistakes. And that is the biggest mistake. That is where learning comes from. Jay is a big proponent of having a camera in your hand and trying many different things. Oh! And getting off your butt and out shooting!
“If you are out there shooting things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.” Jay Maisel
Making excellent images is a skill. Skills take practice. If you keep looking, firing frames, studying, learning AND have your camera with you will recognize more often the gifts that are in front of us in the name of a beautiful photograph.
Since becoming a Lumix Luminary I’ve had a camera with me almost constantly (working on getting the almost adjective out of there) and I’m finding I see more opportunities for making interesting images because I’m training my brain to always look. It’s become easy to have a camera with me all the time because the micro 4/3rds mirrorless cameras are so lite but the files are so robust. I often left my DSLR camera and lenses behind because of the weight and PIA factor. Now my entire everyday kit has more range and weighs less than a DSLR body equipped with a single zoom lens.
I salute technology and the freedom it is giving me to become a better photographer.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Here a link to some more Jay Maisel quotes written by Derrick Story… You’ll see such things as “On preparing for a shoot… “Try to go out empty and let your images fill you up.” “When finding the right angle for a shot… “Move your ass.”” Check it out.
by successfulbob | fine art photography, graphic design, graphic design
When I was at the business, thinking and art campus of Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas I was interested in all the art dedicated to the campus mascot Don Quixote. Full size sculptures, small sculptures, paintings, drawings posters and more… Not even sure why I was doing it I found myself compelled to capture images of all the different Quixote renderings. When I returned to my studio I started messing about and created this piece.
Not even sure I know how many images are combined in this image titled ‘Don Q’.
It was a great exercise and practice in an art form I am constantly pushing to a new level. Just for fun I sent it to the Academy and they asked to print it as a large canvas and to make post cards for promoting education there.
The techniques I used on creating this image are the same that I teach in my ‘Photo-Synthesis’ seminar. (get a description here) Photoshop is the major software. Layers, masks, opacity, selections and Blend Modes play a big role in bringing it all together.
In a photography group? Want me to come speak? It’s possible Panasonic will cover most of my expenses as I am a Lumix Luminary. Call me to chat. Dates are filling up pretty quickly.
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography education, success education
Read a post on Bryan Caporicci’s ‘Sprouting Photographer’ web site that reminded me of something I should share with you.
There is a tendency to get so wrapped up in our photography business that we forget to take care of many things that are really important.
I found myself in the same trap Bryan talks of of thinking I was accomplishing more than I actually was… My wife was constantly saying, “He works 24-7.” and I did. But I thought I was getting somewhere when all I was doing was wasting a lot of the time you were talking about thinking I was kicking ass.
We went to a photography seminar and the last speaker was taking about her life in photography with her husband and how busy they were. I’ll take the long story and shorten it quite a bit as this woman was quite the fabulous storyteller. Near the end she said, “And there was a knock on the door! I went to answer it, threw open the door and the person knocking was there to tell me my husband was dead in an accident…” You could have heard a pin drop on carpet in this room of 1500 people. She finished by sharing how she changed her life, and suggested all photographers trade family photos ASAP as because they were both in the photo biz she had no photos of her with her husband.
I immediately turned to my wife and said, “Every Wednesday is now a ‘Holly Day’. You tell me what you would like to do and I’m yours. Schedule a two week vacation and some weekend side trips and we’ll start doing them.” I also gave myself a half-day off each week to just spend time doing stuff for me…
Result of taking time away from the business? I actually started accomplishing more in less time because I was refreshed, ready to go and HAD to get stuff done in a timely manner. My wife was a much happier camper and life improved many, many times.
Check out Bryan’s post HERE. I can attest for a fact that they everything he talks about is true and will make your work and personal life better if you follow through.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography education
When it’s time to show my out of town clients images for proofing I’ve found Zenfolio to be a very solid platform. (use this referral code to get a 10 % discount – 5F5-S3Q-SAS)
I photograph ‘Elopements’ for the Creekside Inn Bed and Breakfast here in Sedona. The clients are pre-paid for the capture and are given a print credit. Then they have options to upgrade or ,additionally, purchase printable files. They are visitors from out of town and there’s no way to have their images ready for viewing and ordering before they leave for home so an online viewing and ordering system is mandatory.
Zenfolio allows you to work your price lists in many different ways. You can have the image order fulfilled through various partner labs choosing which labs and products to make available and adding your markup. You can also build your own product and price list for self fufillment.
Initial proof page. Notice that it is branded with my look colors and logos.
Ordering page from Zenfolio.
There are lots of features including slideshows, sharing and more. The web sites you can build from the Zenfolio system are pretty nice too. You can Take a peek here to see the wedding proof live. The password is 091814. If you have questions give me a shout.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – I got permission from my bride and groom before giving you access to this wedding…
by successfulbob | photography, photography competition, photography education, video
Was taking a cruise through some of my competition images through the years and it was very interesting to find I had a style when I reviewed the images as a body of work verses seeing them individually. I’ve found that competing at the Professional Photographers of America level has done more to improve my photography than almost anything else. Now with a little review from you I’d like to learn more.
This question came up on a PPA forum, “What is your style?”
It was actually difficult to answer… So here’s a pile of pictures, so to speak, and I’m going to ask you to take a few minutes and share with me your ideas of what my style is… Thanks in advance for your feedback!
I put these images together in slideshow format with ProShow Web. I’ve only just started using it but I’m really liking the interface. Upload the images and it does most of the heavy lifting of building the slideshow by you picking a template that you want to use. You can upload your own music if you have permission too. Cool part is you can watch what it turns out and then go back in and edit it. Very cool! (there’s no video in here but it takes vid clips too!)
These images were gathered from approximately 2005 to present from my digital competition files from
Arizona PPA, Professional Photographers of America and others….Thanks again for your help.Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
