I hear the word passion spoken by many photographers in reference to why they are in photography. “I have a passion for capturing images of your family!!” “I’m passionate about making beautiful images…” What many really mean is they enjoy making images and they really LIKE doing what they do. Nothing wrong with that for sure.
I would like to ask you to think long and hard about this quote from Roy Williams.
“Passion does not produce commitment. Commitment produces passion.”
Are you committed to making the absolute best images possible for your clients? By that i mean are you practicing your skills daily? Studying to find ways to add more depth, dimension and emotion in your photographs?? I don;t mean practicing when you are paid assignments. Tiger Woods doesn’t win golf tournaments because he goes out from Thursday through Sunday. It’s because of his commitment to practice, practice, practice and to hire coaches to help him understand what he needs to work on to get better and stay on top of his game. Do you know your gear inside and out? is the camera second nature in your hand? Or, are you fiddling and looking for settings when your mlnd should be on creativity not tech stuff?? Do you have all the tools you need? Do you know how to use them?
So, I ask one more time are you ‘passionate’? Or are you committed? There’s quite a big difference!
Had an awesome 2 days teaching a class called ‘Off to the Desert Photo Shoot’ on Friday and Saturday. Showing how to get some great light in harsh daylight conditions using many different tools. I’ll be in the Panasonic booth or the Lumix Lounge for the rest ofthe convention during trade show hours. I look forward to seeing you there and talking about the 3rd generation of cameras!!
I-Phone photo by George Hawkins of Bob Coates teaching photo lighting class at Imaging USA Desert photo shoot.
Using lots of tools… Scrims, reflectors, umbrellas, gobos studio mono lights. Thanks to FJ Wescott for the use of some off the modifiers and Paul C Buff for the loan of Vagabond Mini Inverters to make sure we had plenty of power for the lights on location.
Shadow edge transition. Origin and source of light. Specular highlights. Split light. Rembrandt light. Harsh light. Soft light. Nummy light (that’s one of my own!). Inverse Square Law. Fall off. Lighting ratios.
When I started to study auxilliary lighting for my photography I found that seeing the light and working with the light became easier when I learned the language of light. The brain seems to need more ways of expressing what you see in words in order to expand possibilities.
The reason this comes up is because I am reviewing information to share with a couple of Pre-Convention classes I am teaching at ImagingUSA in Phoenix. This led to looking for other people to study from and some book selections that would be a good addition to anyone’s library.
Names to watch for when looking for photography lighting – Dean Collins who is only available through videos captured while he was touring. Some are online available via searching or you can order his complete set of Finelight Videos from Software Cinema Joe McNally, John Hartman, Tony Corbell, Scott Kelby, Mike Fulton, Fuzzy Duenkel and more…
“This is scary!” Said my wife when she saw this photo.I understand. I call this the Dirty Dozen.
This is an illustration for a class about being able to change different areas of an image by locking the camera down on a tripod and making multiple exposures. This can be helpful with large groups of people to get good expressions and body positions. It can be useful when doing outdoor portraits and clouds are scudding across the sky leaving their shadow impressions on the landscape. A good background capture can be made and then concentrate on getting the people looking good without worrying about the rest of the photo. Sometimes you want to get the light source closer to the subject for a better lighting pattern yet it would then be in the frame. You can shoot with the light in the frame and then remove it in post. Very cool stuff indeed.
I captured the images with the Lumix GH3 mounted on a tripod and connected my phone with the on-board WIFI. Control of the camera is with an APP from Panasonic. In addition to tripping the shutter you can control almost all the functions on the camera including shooting modes and see the image on the phone or I-pad.
Courthouse Butte in Sedona, Arizona with twelve Bobs
Well not literally. But, I felt the need and desire to work with the images to see what I could come up with. One bird you’ll even recall from a previous post spread it’s wings to a mental request I sent it. (OK maybe it was just coincidence…) This led to a personal project to design colorful, dynamic t-shirts on speculation for the Sarasota Jungle Gardens in, you guessed it Sarasota, Florida.
I felt the back lit palm fronds made a gorgeous colorful background for the birds. I added some texture files to add some depth. While still in Florida I went there to share a couple ideas, received an excellent reception and a request to do a few others. We are in negotiations now to see if the spec work pays off in cash. It already has paid dividends in the learning cycle of improving my graphics work.
Blue Gold Macaw T-Shirt design for Sarasota Jungle Gardens – Sarasota, Florida
One of the stars of the show the Pink Flamingo
Macaw T-shirt design
You’ll recognize my cooperative macaw from a previous post…
Raw images for the designs were captured with the Lumix GX7 my current favorite camera for travel and all-around photography work. It is a solid workhorse camera and paired with the 35-100mm f2.8 lens worked great for this visit to the gardens.
Not ashamed to say tears welled up in my eyes. Looking through some old family photos brought back wonderful memories!
“A photograph is the pause button of life.” Anonymous
I really like this quote. Eight words that contain so much food for thought! It’s simplistic but profound. Having just been taken into the past with images really brings the point home. Photographs give us opportunity to revisit old friends, good times, study environments, study history, learn about motion and time. Think about the preservation of memories we as photographers are charged with in most of our businesses.
If sometimes you aren’t sure about how important your career choice is break out your own family albums and take a stroll down memory lane. I did the other day and was filled with lots of emotion. This wee what you can do push the ‘pause button of life’ for others. And don’t forget yourself and your own family!
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Best embroidery ever. Give Queensboro a try, get a $20 instant credit to get started by clicking on the logo! They specialize in great quality custom logo apparel and promotional products with the best customer service.
Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
