by successfulbob | fine art photography, graphic design, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke
A little slice of Sedona I Thought I’d share with you. A flower I enjoyed
while on a hike this AM. Hope you like it as much as I do…
Captured with the Lumix GX7 Lumix Vario 35-100mm f2.8 lens – Exposure f/10 1/80 sec ISO 200 at 100mm
After the capture of the flower it was extracted from the background and placed in another file with an organic background I made a couple days ago. The flower was enhanced and a drop shadow added. It was then duplicated and moved numerous times until I came up with what you see here.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
― Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Happy Earth Day to you… Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, marketing, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear
SUCK it UP!!
If you aren’t participating in image competition I feel you are missing a huge piece of the education puzzle in becoming a better more successful photographer. Almost every photographer I’ve seen who gets in the game, submits images, attends the judging and listens to the critiques has shown amazing progress in the depth of their work.
It also doesn’t hurt that you can win awards, work toward your PPA degrees and talk photography with a bunch of like minded people. If you wait until you think you are ready for imaging competition you are missing the boat because this is how you get better, not by waiting until you think you are ‘good enough’. If you need some help in getting started, get in touch and I’ll point you in the right direction.
And, as Paul Harvey used to say, “Here’s the ‘Rest of the Story”.
In addition to the education I received by being immersed in imaging competition last weekend I managed to score a few awards.
‘Street Portrait – ‘Doc” First Place Masters Portrait
Camera info – Lumix GX7 35-100 2.8 @47mm exp 1/160, f2.8, ISO 200 square in-camera crop
Captured on the 2nd day I had the Lumix GX7 in my hands in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I saw Doc and asked if he’d mind if I made his image after chatting with him for a bit. It was nice to be introduced to him by my friend & fellow photographer Dennis Chamberlain. He told me Doc was quite the character and he was right. I asked Doc to move to put him in some good light.
‘Art of the Saxophone’ earned First Place Masters Illustrative Image – AZPPA Loan Collection and the American Society of Photographers Award (ASP) captured with the Lumix GX7.
Photographing some live music in nearby Cottonwood, Arizona and I spied this Sax on stage. Photographed it with the thought of creating an art piece. Even though I floated the sax in the scene it was the other instruments that help tell the story and add depth to the piece. The look was accomplished using multiple texture images, blend modes, masks, layers and color enhancements. It’s one of the programs I give. See if one is happening near you here. If you have a photo group and would like me to speak get in touch. Depending on the size of your group Panasonic will pick up most or all of the tab.
‘Committed’ – Awarded 2nd Place Masters IllustrativeCamera and gear info – Lumix GX7 7-14 f4 @12mm exp 1/6 sec, f4, ISO 3200 Seven shot bracket.
camera mounted on Culmann Germany carbon fiber tri-pod Magnasit 532C
Check out the tattoo of the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi from Santa Fe, New Mexico on this young man’s back. I was photographing the Cathedral around 10 PM and he walked by working on setting up for the Indian Market the next day and he said, “I have a tattoo of that on my back.” I asked if he had a minute to spare and could I make his photograph. I bracketed the image with 7 stops automatically with the Lumix GX7. Got off only two bursts because I had him for about 30 seconds before he was called back to his duties.
Guardsman’s Pass, Utah scored an 80 for a merit
Camera – Lumix GX7 35-100 f2.8 @42mm exp 1/640 sec, f7.1, ISO 640 (set by camera panorama mode)
This rounded out my image case. This was the first use of the in-camera panorama from the Lumix GX7. I love this feature! That doesn’t mean I don’t also make my panos the old fashioned way with multiple exposures and stitching them together when I want a larger file to work with but this is a great feature.
Managed to make it into the AZPPA Top Ten for the 14th time in 15 years. This information is being compiled into a press release. Check here for more information on how get the most from your marketing.
Til next time. Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
Business & marketing are as important as the art we create as photographic entrepreneurs.
I want to tell you of a very creative mind you can tap into via the Monday Morning Memo. His name is Roy Williams and he often talks about “Our kind of People” in his missives. If that doesn’t ring a bell right away hang with Roy for a few weeks and you’ll get the idea pretty quick. I believe really successful photographers tend to fall into his definition and I invite you to subscribe to MMM to pick up some inspiration, marketing and copy-writing ideas. Roy doesn’t suffer fools lightly but he does fool around quite a bit in getting his messages across.
I’ve picked one of Roy’s quotes for the photo/art quote today.
“Every door of opportunity begins as a window in the mind.” Roy H. Williams
I’ll leave you to mull that over on your own… share your thoughts.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography education
The sun was in my eyes!
It was too windy…
The dog ate my posts! Yeah, that’s the one…
OK enough with the excuses. The reality was It was a busy, busy week. Started with the Arizona Professional Photographers Convention in Phoenix. I am always amazed how much I learn, even after all these years, of attending other photographer’s programs. I guess it’s because with the base knowledge that’s built over the years there are new levels of understanding.
Tim Meyer was an excellent speaker on lighting. He is on the faculty of Brooks Institute of Photography. I have heard him speak before but this time I was apparently more ready for the information he provided. His use of light modifiers in unexpected ways is amazing. He makes light dance! If you get the opportunity to see Tim or study with him… DO SO!. Look for his new book coming soon. His current book ‘The Portrait’ Understanding Portrait Photography is available now.
ON the marketing side I was impressed with Steve Kozak and his ‘touch the emotions’ type marketing. Sell by helping people get what they really want verses trying to sell things you want to sell. Check out Steve’s Guide book ‘The Road to Success Requires 4-Wheel Drive’ He had photographer’s crying during his coaching session and that will lead to getting the emotion into their marketing.
A real winning combination for learning is to enter images into competition and then attend the judging. AZPPA had four judges on hand to score the images and offer feedback during challenges. It’s part of my ongoing education and i highly recommend you get in the game if you haven’t already. Participate at your local, state, region and national levels and your photography will grow by leaps and bounds in short order. Who knows you may even win an award or two that will lead to some good press if you follow through in your marketing by sending out properly written press releases. You can learn more here. (I did OK but I’ll share that in another post.)
The rest of the week was running hard photographing, processing images, speaking, delivering Meals on Wheels and enjoying the company of my wife. Don’t let business take you totally away from your family. You didn’t loose out because I didn’t post for a week, but I would have if I didn’t spend quality time with my wife. I’ll fill you in on the other photography stuff over the next few days…
Your in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix Lounge, photography, photography - art quote, photography education
I love this quote!
“Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph: not searching for unusual
subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.” – Edward Weston
After learning that I live in Sedona, Arizona people often comment, “Oh! That’s such a pretty place to photograph!” Yes it is but it’s not the place that makes for great photographs it’s the mind and skills of the photographer. Believe me I’ve seen plenty of not so beautiful images made of the red rocks taken in less than stellar lighting conditions that impressed me not a bit. But have seen absolutely stunning photographs of the mundane such as Weston’s pepper image. Please don’t think you need to travel to exotic locations in order to create beautiful images. Start looking around closer to home to capture the unusual. Show ordinary subjects in extraordinary ways. It will push the creative envelope for you.
Edward Henry Weston a 20th-century photographer and has been called “one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…” and “one of the masters of 20th century photography.” Over his 40 year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscape, still life, nudes, portrait, genre scenes and even whimsical parodies. He truly worked by the thought shared in his quote. I’m finding the more I have my camera with me, made more convenient by using the smaller, lighter Micro 4/3rds format cameras from Lumix, the more I am finding interesting things in my world because I am able to capture an image immediately and explore it rather than think, “That might make an interesting photograph…” and never see the same lighting situation again.
What are you exploring in your world??
Yours in Photography, Bob
