by successfulbob | landscape photography, photography, photography education
The Arizona Professional Photographers Association led by Bruce Roscoe had the weekend seeing and photographing parts of Monument Valley that many never get to experience. Here we were led into a box canyon to photograph horses running. It was a pretty cool experience…
This was the most active horse. Excited and bucking and running with mane flying in the wind created by the speed.
AZPPA photographers capturing photos of the running horses in the box canyon.
Horses taking a break to graze during the photo shoot in the canyon.
Linda went off in search of the best angle to photograph the Totem Poles and ended up being used as an element in my image.
All in all a wonderful trip! (did I tell you I enjoyed my time in Monument Valley?)
Trips like this are great to move you in a creative direction. There’s something about making images during travel to new locations to get your creative eye working and trying new ideas. When & where are you going next????
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH3, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education
Bruce Roscoe is a wonderful, gentle and caring human being. And it shows in his actions…
Here’s a link to a story about a portrait Bruce flew across the country to make to help a fellow veteran. This story helped raise money to build schools over in Vietnam and bring some healing to those who had served there. And that led to a project Bruce is starting to tell the stories of our veterans that often get lost. Many people know only of the stories they read in the newspapers and magazines but miss the personal stories and revelations of the people behind the stories.
Bruce is working to rectify that. He has begun a portrait project offering professional legacy images to veterans. The vets also share their story in video and will be featured in a new veterans portrait museum Roscoe is working to put together…
But wait! I was only telling you about Bruce’s kind heart to begin to explain a wonderful photographic weekend the Arizona Professional Photographers Association had in Monument Valley this past weekend. Through being the kind of person Bruce is he’s forged an extended family relationship with the Yazzie family in Monument Valley. In order to help the Yazzie’s raise money to help them through the winter months Bruce leads tours a few times a year for photographers to experience the Navajo Way. This is a peek into the culture of the Navajo and includes storytelling, weaving, horse run, sheep herding, traditional food and exploring the back country of Monument Valley’s private areas and more. Bruce leads these tours gratis.
I’ll be sharing some images and stories from the trip and a bit more in subsequent days. Here’s a couple for today.
From the parking lot overlook this white horse managed to find some scrap plants to snack on…
Past President of AZPPA Bob Zimmerlich. Is that a Lumix GH3 camera I see??
Effie Yazzie on horse at Monument Valley on dune in front of the Ear of the Wind.
All in all the weekend was a roaring success thanks to Bruce. In addition Bruce had suggested photographers bring dog food to help feed the animals through the winter and the AZPPA came out in force. Almost 1000 pounds of dog food made it’s way into storage for the winter. Way to go AZPPA photographers!
These images were captured with the Lumix GH4 and the 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens.
More images from MV soon.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear
“Turn your face toward me please.”
I was talking to my friend Silvio from the back seat of the car. I had just noticed the rim light that was skimming one side of his face. I was shooting into the shadow side of his face AKA ‘short light’ which will tend to have more drama and slim down a person’s features. Here is what I saw…
Portrait grab of Silvio in a car.
It’s a great exercise to constantly be looking for lighting patterns in everyday lighting situations. Once you learn to recognize them it becomes A – easier to put people in the proper place when lighting in the field and B – to replicate the light in the studio because you have become more familiar with it.
In this particular case the lens I was using also had the added benefit of very shallow depth of field. Which allowed the background to fall off quickly. This was the LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 on the Lumix GH4. 1/400 sec; f/1.4; ISO 800 Aperture Priority
A – Rim light that highlights the edge of the face
B – Shadow side of the face is the larger side meaning this is a short light portrait
C – Bit of a kicker light adds interest and more form
D – Focus fall off AKA Bokeh. Even though the ‘background’ is pretty close it goes quite soft
By the way Silvio is a portrait photographer based in Scottsdale, Arizona you can check out his work here at Silvio Portrait Design.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
Vince is a wonderful source of short quotes that pack a punch so that’s where I head today fro inspiration on the Sunday Photo/Art quote.
Sometimes we as photographers tend to get into a little insulated shell of comfort having left our creative childlike ‘What If’ questions behind. We always want to be successful in every image we make. If it isn’t wonderful we don’t want to share because the feedback we might receive might not be what we want to hear. If that’s something you are facing, “MAN-UP!” as my wife likes to say…
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Vincent Van Gogh
I challenge you this week to attempt something photographically that you know is not your forte and explore the unknown. Only by going into the places we have not been before creatively can we grow exponentially.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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
