by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
Wanna be a better photographer?
Don’t show people your less than stellar images.
Here’s the quote from John Sexton that inspires today’s photo/art quote…
“A photographer needs to be a good editor of negatives and prints! In fact, most of the prints I make are for my eyes only, and they are no good. I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can – that’s where most of my prints end up.” John Sexton
I agree with this quote 100%! in places where you are trying to entice clients, or buyers of art to your work. The exception is in an instructional situation where you are looking for feedback. You can’t learn if you are not willing to make mistakes and learn from them. And many times there are mistakes to be made. Lord knows, I’ve made them and continue to do so. Where the problem is when you step out of the educational realm and share almost every thing you shoot with the world. For example, blog posts sharing a session with 20 images trying to show everything rather than 1-2 fabulous images from that shoot. Or web sites that have just too many examples of what you are trying to share with people. Volume does not necessarily equate with quality. As my friend Skip Cohen always coaches, “If an image is not an image that would get you a job all by itself it shouldn’t be on the web page.” OK that was loosely quoted but you get the idea! (check his web site for lots of marketing and photography ideas!)
Remember I said I still make mistakes??
Time for me to tear apart my commercial web site apart and start tossing older and not the best images I have to offer.
How about you?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – John Sexton is a wonderful Black & White image maker. If you’d like to see 17 more quotes by John Sexton curated by John Paul Caponigro look here
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography, photography education, photography gear
Here are the ‘Wall of fame’ images for Sound Bites Grill from last Saturday night.
Leroy Miller Blues rocker
Grant Ferguson Blues guitar.
All files were captured with approximately the same settings on two different cameras with the Lumix 35-100mm f2.8 lens. Even though I worked with the Lumix GH4 for most of the captures I had brought the new Lumix GX8 to test in these lighting conditions and both of these were captured with the GX8… HMMMM food for thought.
Camera settings. 1/80th to 1/100th sec. f2.8 ISO 3200 Aperture Priority – 2/3 stop Exposure Compensation. Files then opened in Adobe Camera RAW and shadows opened a bit and highlights pulled down just a bit. The art effect was created using multiple texture images, Blend Modes and Layer Masks in Photoshop a process I call Photo-Synthesis.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | imaging competition, photography, photography competition, photography creativity, photography education
Received a nice piece of mail the other day celebrating the images from my Artist case at Professional Photographers of America (PPA). It was the certificate indicating that I was named a Silver Medalist in the International Imaging Competition.
The Silver Medalist certificate from the Artist Competition
There’s a new triangle on my ribbons. Once you have earned a degree from PPA you are charged to wear the ribbons and degree designations to all PPA and PPA Affiliated events. As former President Ralph Romaguera once said. “When you see people wearing these ribbons and medals don’t be intimidated, they indicate permission to ask questions and talk about photography!”
Earning the Silver Medal also made me an Elite Photographer for the following year because I have earned and Imaging Degree along with a Photographic Craftsman Degree and earned the Certified Professional Photographer designation. The Elite Photographer Award is only given to a few photographers in any year. I find myself extremely fortunate and thankful…
Here are the images from the submission…
Sarasota Polo Magazine Designs
Keeping Watch
One Point One Five Seconds
Sandhill Cranes
by successfulbob | photographers health, photography education
I’ll remind you that I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. I am just sharing ideas that have worked for me over the years. Please consult a health professional before trying anything shown here…
Back pain can put a real hitch in your giddy-up! It can make work miserable if you can even do it depending on your injury.
In the first installment Photographers Health Back Part One we talked about learning, or at least reviewing, the proper way to pick up, carry or move heavy objects. We also discussed proper shooting form to prevent injury. Lastly we looked at an exercise program to strengthen your body to help prevent injury.
Photographers Health Back Part Two I introduced you to Pete Egoscue. He developed a series of exercises and stretches into a program to help you become, and stay, Pain Free. I highly recommend checking out his programs. If you have severe problems he has clinics available to test and give you very specific instructions on how to get back into shape. I have never used the centers but the books have been a real help to me.
The Miracle Ball Method kit.
Today I want to share one more alternative exercise idea. And maybe exercise is the wrong word to use for this. It’s called The Miracle Ball Method by Elaine Petrone. It uses squishy balls placed properly while your body sinks into them. Using your body weight and proper breathing are the keys to helping your body realign itself. The kit contains two Miracle Balls and an exercise guide that runs you through steps. Elaine was a dancer who suffered debilitating pain in her back and injured a leg. After trying all the traditional methods including chiropractic, accupuncture, doctors etc she was getting no relief. After research she came up with this program.
Here’s a description in better words than I have… “The work itself is simple. Take a sore back: By resting your aching back on the grapefruit-sized balls and letting your body sink into them, you’re unworking the muscles that hurt. Pain and tension drain out of the body. Petrone shows how proper breathing (which she demonstrates) works in conjunction with a range of unexercises that call for placing the balls under the back, head, knees, hip, elbow-wherever there’s pain-and then resting, rolling, or rotating on them. She points out that relief can come in surprising ways: Lower back pain may be helped by placing the ball under your neck, or a bad knee might be helped by hip work. It’s a revolutionary program of relief, from head to toe.”
Your in Creative, and Healthy, Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, commercial photography, Lumix GH4, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography, photography gear
Last Saturday night I was on hand to photograph not one but two wonderful artists at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona, Arizona.
Part of my job there is to capture the musicians live on stage and create artwork for the Sound Bites Grill ‘Wall of Fame’. The other part of my gig is to create ‘straight’ photography images to help in promotion and things like press releases for when the artist returns for a future performance.
Here’s a few from each of the performers…
First up was Grant Ferguson…
Here’s a description from his web site where you can check out his music. (I particularly like ‘Everlasting Desire’!) “Propulsive, melodic rock guitar in the hands of Grant Ferguson is a powerful reminder of the instrument’s glory days. Influenced by some of the great axe masters: Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, The Edge and others, Ferguson is pushing his all-instrumental sound toward a new rock vision.”
Grant Ferguson makin’ some beautiful sounds flow from his guitar. – Camera Lumix GX8
Live on stage at Sound Bites – Camera Lumix GH4
Grant captured with the new Lumix GX8. All images used the Lumix 35-100mm f2.8 lens
Following Grant’s set there was a break and we heard from Blues guitarist Leroy Miller.
A little about Leroy from his web site. Check his music (Try Over You from the self titled album) “Los Angeles blues sensation Leroy Miller has worked on countless recordings for music’s brightest stars like John Mayer, Macy Gray and Smash Mouth. Leroy has toured all over the world as a supporting act for bands such as Aerosmith and the Dave Mathews Band.”
Leroy Miller got the crowd up and dancing with his high energy rock guitar. Camera GX8
Leroy Miller – Camera Lumix GH4
Leroy Miller wailin’ it! Camera GH4
In putting the images together I make conversions to black and white for all of the press images. This guarantees the best look when printed on a press. If someone just converts a color image to grayscale the reproduction of the detail can get lost especially in newspaper reproduction. I often use Google’s NIK Silver FX Pro 2 for making the conversions. It gives me lots of options to make the Black & White have tones from light to dark without getting muddy or flat.
On this shoot I tried out the new Lumix GX8 for the first time under LED stage lights to see how it held up to the dark shadow areas and the lack of full spectrum in the stage lighting. I was impressed. While I would replace my GH4 camera with the GX8 I wouldn’t hesitate to use it as a back-up or grab it in a pinch. The quality of the images wouldn’t suffer one bit.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – I’ll show the Grant and Leroy’s ‘Wall of Fame’ images in a couple days.
