by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education, success education
A recurring thought and one I fight on a regular basis is fear.
Fear of failure.
Fear of not doing something right.
Fear of making a mistake.
And strangely enough fear of success can come into play.
I’m guessing that fear plays into a lot of artists’ lives as this theme keeps appearing in many quotes from writers, painters, sculptors, musicians and of course photographers.
“Do not fear mistakes – there are none.” Miles Davis
Mistakes are magnificent opportunities to learn new lessons. If you are not making mistakes you are not stretching and giving yourself the chance to become the best you can be.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education, success education
Play
PLAY…
PLAY
pLaY!
pLaY!!! With your pHotOgraPHy…
“The more evolved and animal is, the more time it spends playing.” P.J. O’Rourke
What do you think I mean here?
It’s the advice I give to photographers (and myself) when it’s time to learn something new.
Pick a lens you haven’t used in a long time and use it all day.
Change the shutter speed to a level that you are sure is too low and see what happens.
During the exposure shake the camera. Spin it. Zoom it. Add a rear curtain sync flash to a longer exposure.
Pick one color you want to capture for a day.
Grab a macro lens and add some extension tubes to it. Mix and match some or all of the above.
In Photoshop push some buttons and examine some filters just to see what they will do. Slide a slider as far as it will go to see what it does when pushed to it’s limit. Change the blend modes and opacity. Add textures. Shuffle the layers repeat. Repeat again.
Here’s an example of play with a Salute to Georgia O’Keeffe
Continually ask the question, ‘What happens if I…???’
Become an evolved animal! ROAR…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Let me know what you come up with…
by successfulbob | photography, photography education, photography marketing, success education
I often talk about getting your name out in your community by writing and distributing press releases. And photographers often come back with, “I tried that! It didn’t work!”
Sending out press releases, and getting them printed is an art as well as a science. And it takes ongoing effort. It is not a one shot deal. The editors need to get to know that the material you send on a regular basis is of good quality and will take little effort from them as far as editing goes. Any single press release may or may not get printed due to, space limitations, subject matter, style of writing, time constraints, etc…
I will tell you that if you write solid content that is not just ‘puff piece information’ about your business the more time you send in press releases the more times they will be printed. Here’s an example of an appearance in local newspaper in Sedona, Arizona the Red Rock News.
Red Rock News article from press release by me…
Press releases sent out to different media outlets can come out at different times depending on their needs. If you write a release that is less time sensitive you have more chance of getting the article in print as press releases tend to get used to fill out space that’s empty when the deadline is coming up fro the presses to roll. I they need to fill 7 column inches and your release is standing by ready to go. There you are… Having images in your submission adds more versatility for the editor. See this article in another paper for different layout possibilities from the same information.
Learn how to write good press releases. Find subjects that work for your target media. And send out those releases. For more ideas or help in giving good press releases get in touch with me.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | charity photography, event, Lumix GH4, people photography, photography marketing, success education
One of the ways to keep your name and face in front of your community is through volunteering your photography services to help in raising awareness for causes or raising money for charities.
Last Saturday night was a case of creating images from the Oktoberfest event put on by one of the local Rotary Clubs. Funds are raised and Oktoberfest will support many local causes – The Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks and their efforts within the community. Our club offers Red Rock High School Seniors $1000 scholarships, supports the West Sedona School Summer Reading program, Teacher of the Year program, dentistry for qualifying needy children and we were instrumental in raising the funds needed to open the Sedona Splash Park – open in July 2014.
Rotary International is the world’s largest charitable organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
Here’s a few images from the day…
Lots of people get into the spirit with the costuming. These are some of the volunteers and greeters.
The Red Rock Oktoberfest beer mugs that are part of the goodies people get with their donation.
People get into the spirit and come in costume to the event.
Things you should look for when volunteering…
Web site link recognition.
Recognition as a sponsor of the event.
Make sure images used for publicity for the event are credited on posters, advertising materials and news releases.
Make sure you send an invoice for your services so the organization knows the value of your donation.
Don’t do this just for the recognition. You should believe in and support the organization’s goals.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and support your favorite charity!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Images created with the Lumix GH4
by successfulbob | charity photography, photography, photography education, success education
Help spread the word.
October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. Now I Lay me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) is way for photographers to give back to there community with the gift of professional portraiture to families who suffer an early infant loss. This is a precious gift that has amazing healing power for the families. I encourage you to learn more and to get other to learn more by spreading the word everywhere.
Logo you can share in spreading the message…
I believe this is an amazing organization. I have been a member and affiliate photographer since 2006 photographing families in need of these services. Been a trainer and area coordinator. Work on the photographer approval team. Served on the National NILMDTS Board of Directors for two years. I share this information not to brag but to hopefully inspire you to join in too. If you are like me when I first heard of NILMDTS I said, “There’s no way I could ever do this type of photography.” I eventually was convinced to give it a try and after seeing the help it gives families I now say, “How can I not do it??”
Banner logo you can share in getting the word out about Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
Here are some more links….
Five reasons to become a NILMDTS photographer
Rhonda Gehman NILMDTS story
Vikki Zoller NILMDTS
Ashely Krapf NILMDTS
A call out story
I hope this inspires you to get on board. Is the work difficult? Yep. Is it rewarding? You bet! But you won’t know until you try… If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to get in touch. My contact info is at the top of the page or here.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art musician portrait, Lumix GH3, Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, photoshop tutorial, success education
Stalwart entertainers Tom and Shondra did a show at Sound Bites Grill here in Sedona, Arizona. These guys (I use that term loosely) do a highly energetic show that the audience really gets into. Steve asked me to photograph them for the ‘Wall of Fame’ and it was my pleasure to do so! Even though it is only two performers I thought their energy needed more than just one photo to help tell the story… This is what I put together.
Tom and Shondra on stage at the Sound Bites Grill Wall of Fame image.
The Lumix GH3 worked well for capturing Tom and Shondra’s performance. Because their expressions changed quite rapidly during the live performance I used the 5 frames per second bursts to have choices. I used the Lumix GH3 for this shoot because I sent the Lumix GH4 in for service… not that there was anything wrong but more of a precautionary measure.
I was photographing along Oak Creek and went to cross the creek and slipped on the rocks and the GH4 was submerged while I was trying to right myself which took long enough to put water into every available opening in the camera. I dried it off as much as possible at the scene and then headed for home. I dried it more. Got out the hair dryer and searched for moisture in every compartment. I kept rotating and finding more water but with the heat on medium and I made sure I got every drop I could. The camera turned back on and operated wonderfully. But I sent it in for a chek-up and all was well. The weather sealing on that camera is better than I thought. I still don’t recommend submerging your camera to test it like I did. But it showed me we should be pretty good in a moist environment…
Multiple images were put together using Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 using blend modes, textures and masks. I also added some smoke with brushes that I obtained from Woody Walters who is an amazing Photoshop artist and instructor. Go check out his stuff. (I don’t receive any commission from Woody but I can save you 15% if you decide to sign in for more than his free Photoshop tutorials use coates15) He has amazing info to share with you!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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