Converging Angles

Phone update test

2011-02-09T23:15:00.001-08:00

Testing blog update from phone

New Things

2010-09-23T20:42:00.001-07:00

Lots of new things going on; a new job for one which has kept me very busy, a new sailing hobby and (don't laugh) a new phone...with some reasonable and fun photo editing apps.

Over the past few weeks I've been playing and learning the ins and outs of a few different photo editing apps on my new htc evo.

A few things:
This 'phone' has 8 megapixels! 8! My first SLR had that. To be honest I'm a little disappointed with the native photo editing options on the Andriod OS. For example, you have to select b/w, sepia, contrast, sharpness and brightness BEFORE you take the pic. Once you take the pic, thats that. I'd really like to be able to modify these settings AFTER (especially the b/w and sepia settings) the photo is taken.

I've installed and have been using Photoshop lite for Andrioid which is good fun if you want to take a baseline image with the regular camera and then pop open Photoshop and edit. Its got some basic functions that do the trick well enough. One complaint is that it doesn't automatically recognize images taken with other specialty photo apps, even though the images are all in the same 'my images' folder. Ideally, I'd like to take a shot with my retro cam app and then pop that image open in the photoshop app for a little additional tweaking before I share it. I've found a setting that allows me to accomplish this, but I shouldn't have to poke around to find this functionality in my opinion.

I've also been using an app called FxCamera - this one is responsible for the Polaroid type images. FxCamera has a number of vintage style camera styles however I prefer the Polaroid version. You can even adjust the different effects of the Polaroid; Vintage film, faded, aged, mono and no effect. I dig on this app but generally only use the Polaroid and ignore the other types of cameras it copies (toy camera, fisheye, symmetric and warhol style).

Perhaps my favorite camera app for my Andrioid is Retro Cam. The most recent update has increased the number of camera styles to 5. The app attempts to re-create the look and feel of famous old film cameras including Barbl, Orange Box, Polaroid (I prefer the option in FxCamera), Pinhole and the latest, FudgeCam. Most of these offer both color and black and white options.

I've really enjoyed using Retro Cam and FxCam to take the native pic and then pop open the photoshop app to add some additional tweaks to the shots.

So with that, here are a number of my favorite shots off my cellphone over the last few weeks. All these shots have been entirely edited on my phone and not been touched on a regular desktop or laptop. Amazing to think how far we've come with hand helds!

Rick

A day at the races

2010-07-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hey there followers -

I spent the day out at the race track last weekend and wanted to share what I saw... enjoy!

SnappAsh Weddin

2010-07-12T16:34:00.001-07:00

Hey y'all - here's a few snapps from the Snapp's wedding a few weeks back. Enjoy!

Christophersonsalon.com and Vanilla Bean Cafe

2010-04-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

As per normal, its been far too long since my last post (they all start out that way don't they?)

Earlier this year I came to know Kelley through a mutual friend and I learned he was starting his own salon here in Tacoma. His space is inside the Vanilla Bean Cafe on St. Helens and after getting to know each other, we quickly decided to get to work on a project together.

Kelly and his sister Tobe had purchased some advertising space and wanted a shot to use for the advertisement. We knew that we were going to be working with an open minded audience so we decided for an edgier look. We wanted to stand out and the goal was to leap off the page and look different than anything else in the magazine. We experimented with a few different things but in the end decided to go with the 'Cigarette Ad' as we came to call it.

Over the course of our shoot, we tried a number of different looks and towards the end of the night I spotted a pack of smokes on the counter and said, 'experiment with this'

Whats the lesson here? Even if you have a number of shots fully planed out in your mind and on paper, don't be afraid to deviate slightly and experiment. When you're in the middle of shooting and the creative mind is working at full speed, don't be afraid to try something different, it might just end up being your final image.

Before long the shot was in the bag and we were putting Tobe's Cafe back to the way we found it. Its true, 90% of photography really is moving furniture.

Here are a couple different shots from the night and what was eventually printed.

Big thanks to Kelley, Tobe and especially my girlfriend Liz for helping direct the shoot.

Our second favorite shot, ultimately unused

Mickaiayla - MM#463673

2010-03-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

Had an opportunity to work with Mickaiayla (model mayhem #463676) again last night and we had an awesome time together. Last summer we worked together on one of my first shoots and we had a great time straight away. It was more of the same this time around as I expected. Our time together went fast (as it always seems to), not helped by the good music we had filling the room.

I experimented with a couple different shooting modes and struck gold. My 'keeper' ratio increased significantly so that was a big win. I also stumbled onto a new trick in CS3 while editing tonight that really helped me to maintain consistency without saving an action.

All in all, a great shoot and I learned a ton that will serve me well in the future.

Enjoy!

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COLOR TO START

BLACK AND WHITE

Pt. Defiance Park - Tacoma

2010-03-07T22:49:00.001-08:00

Liz and I took full advantage of our awesome weather and headed down to Pt. Defiance Park here in Tacoma on Saturday. Here's a bit of what I saw.

Throughout our time at the park, I was teaching Liz to shoot in manual mode on my second camera body...she's going to be a fierce photog...more details on the shots below so have a scroll down and read!
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A young family were trying to take some pics together but the father was having a hard time with his camera so Liz, eager to try on some of her new camera skillz, offered to take a few shots of them. I handed the father my card (so we can email him our shots) and then took a few quick shots myself.

Taking pics of daffodils is so metal. Seriously. Ok not really. I hate taking pics of flowers but found myself doing it anyway...I dig sun flare too!

Liz disappeared for a bit and I found her under a tree on a path making friends.

Cliche' couples shot but whatevs - yes, her eyes are that blue. Srsly.

Weekend Shots

2010-02-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend in Seattle - Here's some of what I saw

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Seattle from Magnolia

Magnolia Sunset

Magnolia Sunset part deux

Why I was in Magnolia

Books I've not read

Project - F R I E N D S

2010-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

First - Background

Last summer, I was in San Francisco and was able to see the Richard Avedon exhibit at the SF-MOMA. If you haven't seen it, it'll stop you in your tracks and you should keep an eye out to see if its coming to a city near you. The exhibit is comprised of the most amazing black and white portraits of essentially everyone who's played a significant part in 20th century. Writers, composers, artists, models, actors/actresses, politicians, musicians, heads of state...average Americans in their own back yard. I HIGHLY encourage you to spend a few minutes reviewing Avedon's work HERE.

Seeing his work, full size - I'm talking, the size of your front window - was hugely inspiring to me and got me thinking about how I would like to complete a project inspired by Avedon's work.

I'm not proclaiming to be an original with my approach but I'm confident that I'll be able to accomplish, and create something special. The project is inspired by Avedon and it is not my intention to copy his work. This is about more than just taking pictures; its about getting to know you and capturing our conversation.

So what is this about? How are you involved and how does this work? Whats the end result?

This is about you and me and a couple hours together, a conversation that covers the good, the bad and everything in between...maybe a drink or two. I plan to record our conversation while we talk and I snap away. The goal here is to draw out emotion, capture it and learn a bit more about each other in the process.

All you need to do is sit on a stool, and have a good time.

Once I have all the content, it will be time to sort through the shots, edit them and select a choice line from our conversation to companion the selected photo. The goal here is to add a little more depth and meaning to the image.

How will this be presented?
My vision is to ultimately create a book once I have everyone's photos. Each page will have a photo on one side, and the selected text on the other. Clean and simple. As the work evolves, I may elect to present the work in progress on my blog just to keep interested parties up to speed on the progress of the effort.

I've done a proof of concept for the look and feel that I'm targeting. You can view that HERE

So who's interested?
Drop me a line, let me know you want to be a part of this project with me. I'll be reaching out to folks individually HOWEVER DON"T HESITATE TO RAISE YOUR HAND! This is about getting to know people better than I already do and creating something together. I'm happy to work with anybody - so don't sit and wait to hear from me if you're itching to be a part of this.

We'll be in touch!

rick.donohue@gmail.com

Re-thinking the old stuff

2010-02-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

I admit it - I've been a bit lazy and havn't been shooting nearly enough as of late but that hasn't stopped my desire to fiddle in photoshop. My good friend Carly posted an old shot of mine of she and her finance on her Facebook page. I'd forgotten all about the evening we took those photos so I went back through the set and found tons of great shots that I'd forgotten about.

Nick and Carly are a very dynamic couple, and its rare that there's a serious look on either of their faces at the same time and as you'd expect, I found many shots where Nick was being a goof ball and Carly was looking rather angelic.

I came across this image and liked Carly's expression very much, but Nick had his finger up his nose (ok, not really).

Time then, for some work in Photoshop.

Here's what I did -
I took the original, and cropped Nick out (sorry man).
I then copied it into a new document leaving me with a much smaller image than I wanted, more square than landscape. I widened the canvas and selected a strip of canvas with the marquee tool. I then used the free transform to stretch out the white wall on the left side of the image and finished with a little blending using a soft brush to deal with the artifacting that the Free transform left me with.

From there, I moved onto cleaning up the rest of the image and making it a bit more presentable. You can see my various layers and layer masks on the right that I've used to complete the final image.

Here's a shot of the work flow:

Generally, I was looking to add a little punch and sharpness to the image. It was taken on my old 30D, 28-135mm lens and my 580EX bounced off the ceiling. I needed to fiddle with the levels, and he hues a bit to offer a more accurate representation of Carly's skin. All in all, pretty basic on the editing front, nothing particularly crazy going on. I did learn a bit more about using layer masks, something that I've really not used to this point in my work flow process.

I think the point here is that just because you don't like the WHOLE original image, it doesn't mean you can't take part of it, and make something out of it. I really think this is a weakness of mine that I really need to work on. Too often, I write off an image looking at the whole thing, rather than thinking in terms of what actually is pretty good about it, and then moving forward with that aspect of the image and creating something pretty good.

Finally, I'd advocate for taking a second look through your old work - Too many times, I'll shoot, and disregard most of the work and only use a couple shots rather than thinking a bit more dynamically about what I captured.

Thats all for now!

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Beard Removal Project - Technical

2010-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

For my more technical followers, here's the breakdown on the setup for my Mini Project in Black and White.

The setup and work flow is really fairly simple for this set/project. My main goal was to go for simplicity because I wanted each shot to look exactly the same as far as the post treatment/black and white conversions went.

First, the camera/light setup:

Look here for some additional notes on the setup:

The flash was high just right of the camera; The flash tripod and the camera tripod were RIGHT next to each other. The flash was a 580EX at 1/8 +.7 power through a white shoot through 42in umbrella. White reflector below for fill. I had a large white roll of tag board behind me for the backdrop.

Camera settings were...
Canon 5D
50mm 1.8
f/4.5
125th
ISO125
"Standard" in camera processing
shot in raw

I dumped the shots into CS3 and the fiddled in the canon Raw editor, documenting my settings (secret! ha!) and then opened in CS3. I created an action with the look and feel I wanted and then applied it to all the shots for consistency.

To create the grid, I opened a new blank canvas in CS3 with the required dimensions to leave a space between (1200x800 times 3 in each direction with an extra 200 pixels on either end totaling 3800x2600) the shots and then just copied each shot and pasted onto the blank canvas. I Merged the layers and did a final tweak on the levels for a little more punch.

Here's the final -

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Mini Project in Black and White

2010-01-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well its been some time now since I offered a proper write up on my photography doings and this little project is more than enough reason, and its got a nice little story to go along...so here goes.

I grew a beard. It itched. I was lazy and didn't feel like shaving it off and my girlfriend kinda liked the look so I kept it around despite a few odd looks and comments at the office. Time passed, moons came and went (ok well maybe just one) and so it was time to shave it off.

I don't share many traits with elephants but a good memory is one of them (my friends may disagree with me on this) and I recalled my good friend Nick who after having been sick for a week and had a solid start on a beard, thought to shave it off in stages, taking cell phone pics along the way. I decided to steal his idea when the time came to shave of my beard and here's what we've got.

I consulted my girlfriend on the idea and she was super excited to help. This mini project also would be a great chance to test out a lighting setup for another project 'Friends' that I'm about to start (more on that later). So we disassembled my apartment and got my 'studio' setup and Liz thought of some questions. She did an awesome job at asking me provoking questions and timing the shots getting some awesome expressions. I've never had so many 'keepers' in a single set of shots - huge thanks to Liz for this.

We had a great time getting the shots and watching her reactions to my various states of facial hair was awesome (she apparently doesn't like goatee's - she about ran out of the room when she saw me with it).

Today we finally had a bit of time to settle down and pick out the shots to use and I dumped them into photoshop and did the (rather simple) edits. I will make another post on the lighting setup and the work flow breakdown for this project in a separate post.

Enjoy!

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Teaser

2010-01-18T17:48:00.000-08:00

I grew a beard in December and I've since shaved it off...however not before a little inspiration. I shaved it off in phases, taking a few pics of each phase and each look. Liz and I are working together (she's the photog this time) on putting it all together. This is just a little taste of what's coming.

Also - This was also a test session for another up-coming project I'll be putting together - interviews with close friends with pics along the way. More on that later!

A few randoms

2010-01-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

A few randoms from the past few days -

A Study In Black and White Pt. II

2009-12-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

So I've been trying to work on two specific aspects of my photography:

1) Shooting more/Taking my camera everywhere
2) Getting good looking black and whites

When I take my camera with me I take my 5D and my trusty 50mm 1.8 lens Read about The Most Important Lens here. I figure if I mess up the lens, its only $90 bucks...wish I could say the same for my 5D...but if that gets broken or stolen, its the perfect excuse to go get a 5DMKII :)

Most importantly, the setup is light and for the most part, people aren't intimidated by the small lens. Its the weirdest thing...people see a big lens on a camera and 1)ask questions 2)run from the field of view and 3) notice you (see #'s 1 and 2). These are all bad things when you're trying to get candid shots of whatever's going on around you. You don't want people to notice you and your big ass lens/camera because when they do, people get self conscious or they want to jack your gear.

So I took my camera with me to get coffee with my buddy Tyler this morning. We got caught up and then made way for Guitar Center...what else do you do on a Saturday?

Sure enough, Tyler started wailing away on one of the guitars and checking out some prospective amps...needless to say, the strings were smoking when he was done and all the other customers gave up and left the store knowing that they might as well give up having heard Tyler.

Prime picture taking session-

1) Dude is in his element and having a good time
2) Something is HAPPENING...there's the feeling of action and excitement
3) Cool backdrop that adds to the situation and help tell the story (when you see the wall of guitars, you know he's shopping around for a new axe)

These things add up to help make the ordinary a little more interesting.

A couple final notes -

I've been experimenting with not looking through the viewfinder. I tend to prefer what I get when I guess on my composition. In this instance, I held the camera out with my left hand and roughly pointed it at Tyler and took the shot. I used the light meter just prior (I shoot manual mode) to get the exposure about right and then reached my arm out and snapped the pic. It gives me a cool imperfection and an angle that I couldn't have gotten without making a fool of myself and being noticed and in so doing, missed the shot.

Finally, I dropped the shot into CS3 and used about 9 different layers to get this final product. Chanel Mixer/Dodge and Burn/Contrast/Liquefy/Exposure/Chanel Mixer2/Levels/Curves/Sharpen. Now I'm not saying this is the best method to getting killer black and whites...I know this still needs a lot of work but I figure it may help some of you. I spent a lot of time fiddling with the channel mixers and the levels/curves layers to get what I wanted. Here I was looking for a good balance of white and black (well duh - but seriously, looking for 'punch') and to minimize any 'muddiness' in the mid tones.

Enjoy!

Working on Black and Whites

2009-12-08T22:14:00.001-08:00

I've been spending more and more time scouring flickr and my eyes keep landing on black and whites that really pop. So I've been trying to get my own black and whites to get closer in quality to those that really catch my eye on flickr.

Queue carrying my camera with me more often... So I was driving to my grandparents and my camera was in the passenger seat...so I decided to get a couple self portraits while behind the wheel...dont try this at home.

So this is what I got - I'm pretty happy with my black and white conversion.

A few comments -

I used the channel mixer to get to black and white, and spent a fair amount of time fiddling with the sliders finding a combination that I liked. I wanted to boost the general level of light without blowing out the detail in my face and keeping the blacks nice and dark.

I used some vector masks for curves, levels and the channel mixer as well. I created a new layer for my eyes since they had become pretty dark and repeated the same process to the layer for my eyes and a little dodging for a touch more light. My right eye looks weird with the reflection and it being out of focus but I like the outcome with my left eye.

I threw a high pass filter to add some kick to the detail/sharpness of the entire picture.

As for the composition, I was just guessing, setting the camera on the dash... so on that front, I like what I got - Its not perfect which I think makes things more dramatic and interesting to look at. But I don't like how blown out the rear window is. It draws the eye away from the subject of the photo (your eye is generally drawn to the brightest spot in the photo) and my goal is to draw attention to the subject of image rather than the most boring part...more work to be done, more learning to be had. Next time.

Shot on my 5D w/ 50mm 1.8 processed in Photoshop CS3

AP1 Honda S2000

2009-11-26T22:32:00.000-08:00

What started as one rather upset dude, has turned into a rather happy guy.

Long story short, I was forced to do a little paint work on the hood of the car due to a leak in the garage and I decided to document the damage to my car in case I wasn't able to repair the damage. That led to about 20mins in the garage (post paint fix) snapping away.

My building has many vacancies so the garage tends to be pretty empty so I took full advantage and really spent some time thinking about my subject and the details around it.

I've taken pics of my car a million times but I always feel that when I'm shooting a car, I need to take some alone time with it and just drink in the details of the machine. Mind you this isn't a detail shot, I still like to consider all the different angles - all the shapes and curves of the body and find the perspective that is most flattering. This one works for me big time.

Yes, I did spend a bit of time with this in photoshop and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Its got a pretty commercial feel to it which I like a lot. I was toying with some new tricks and am pleased with the outcome.

Car is 100% stock.
OEM Front lip/OEM Rear Wing/Factory Hard Top

The Market

2009-11-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty absent lately - not been shooting much and really miss it. I can make some decent excuses though: I've been sick for a couple weeks, I've moved and the weather's been $hit...all excuses so I'm not happy with them or myself for not getting off my ass and shooting. Its weird, I can feel myself moving backwards, and by all measures, that bothers me. We all work hard at the various things we do in life, and it really makes me feel guilty whenever I have this feeling of regression. All is not lost however! ...I'm feeling the winds of motivation :)

On Saturday, I spent the day with my girlfriend and we made our way to the market in Seattle to pick up a few things for dinner. I had brought my camera up for the weekend as we had a busy schedule with many friends so I lugged my camera bag with me.

Although I wasn't able to get any solid time to shoot with my friends and work on my people work, I was able to take a few random snaps as we wandered around the market and enjoyed a little dry time between rain storms.

Many of the shots taken during the day were from the hip, literally. It makes me want to start working on a whole set of 'street' work that is all shot without looking through the viewfinder and just guessing on composition. The results are pretty encouraging so far and will show up here in the future.

A few words on the fist shot below -
I have a general interest in a photo journalistic style however I feel my skills in this department are VERY lacking and I feel this REALLY detracts from the wedding work that I do. This really bothers me and I feel an obligation to myself and clients to hone this skill. Cartier Bresson talked about "The Decisive Moment" and I think most would hold him as the master of capturing "The Decisive Moment," which is essentially the critical mass of a moment frozen in a moment in a photograph. I've felt myself really needing to work on this side of my shooting and feel like I'm on the right track with this first shot....the eyes of the man working the news stand. Note the people playing soccer in the intersection of 1st and Pike in the distance.

Bresson if you don't know:
Henri Cartier Bresson

Tacoma

2009-10-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take a minute and post a few of my shots from around Tacoma. Enjoy -

Its been too long...but I've been a bit busy

2009-10-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hey there -

Its been far too long since my last post and I figure'd I should share a bit of what I've been up to lately...

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The right song at the right time

2009-08-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Music makes all the difference. In all my infrequent internet ramblings, I don't think I've stopped to talk about the importance of music. I think we all know that exposing music to children at a young age helps to develop their infant brains but that's not what I'm hear (ha!) to talk about.

You're in the car...there's a stretch of open road in front of you despite the fact that you just got off work and its 5pm. Everyone is out, and so is the sun. Its Thursday and the excitement of knowing that tomorrow is Friday has you pretty amped (its the little things in life right?). Naturally your music playing device of choice is on random, cause, well why not on a nice afternoon like this? As the gap in traffic appears just before your favorite stretch of the drive home (the one with the sweeping corners and nowhere for "the man" to hide) THE BEST song comes on. It could be any song, but its your favorite song of the moment, or perhaps an old favorite that the "random man" inside your mp3 player dusted off. Suddenly, your perfect afternoon has just become somehow, more perfect. Oh the power of music, how it compels us. Without it, surely there would be no air guitar, and certainly no air drums. I'm pretty sure that back in the day, there was something called the "air harpsichord (not very rock and roll I admit)." Without music, how else could we embarrass ourselves? I digress... we're in such a good mood now that the odd look from the aging blond (look past the gray roots; she's a so-cal wannabe version of Cruella DeVille) in her Mercedes (its a bit too old, she's just pretending to have money) only makes us feel happier to be in this moment with this song....carry on with the air drums, shift gears, switch to air guitar as appropriate.

So whats the point here? Music keeps us young. What song, or album for that matter, doesn't in some way define a period of our life or perhaps a fleeting moment? Our favorite songs then in some ways, are like familiar smells, drawing out a full buffet of memories and emotions.

For me its hard to imagine not having music with me, especially when I'm out with my camera, or on the computer editing photos or, writing this entry for that matter. From where I sit, music is a critical part of the creative process. Queuing up the right album or favorite internet radio station, can set the mood and be a launch pad for great things.

Recently I did a shoot with a friend of mine who at the time, I hardly knew...friend of a friend of a friend situation. We got on well in social gatherings but never had a one on one. We found ourselves on a hot summer afternoon in the studio sorting out a loose ended shoot to get her started modeling again. We were making our way reasonably well, picking through a suitcase of clothes and discussing friends, the weather...nothing substantial.

She changed as I finished setting up the lights and we began to make our way through the first few shots. I could tell something was missing; something to make her feel more comfortable, more at home. I really wanted her personality to show through and I needed to connect a bit more with who she was and understand her person a bit differently. So I began to ask about music, and suggested we try a different station on Pandora. Queue my Old Skool Hip hop station and BAM! (think Emeril) things began to come alive. You can't not get excited when you hear Rapper's Delight; I'm talking the full version here, not the radio edit. Her eyes lit up and we were on our way, taking turns reciting each verse.

Music levels the playing field and allows people to open up a bit more and be themselves, which is exactly what you want if you're trying to draw out the emotion and personality.

The same goes for when I'm shooting alone or editing photos. With my headphones on, I can zone out and focus on looking at things from a different perspective and absorb the reality that is around me. Focus on the details that perhaps I've not noticed before...sit and stare at my subject and digest what is appealing about it to me and how I want to capture it. What else is around? How is it affecting the subject? Where is the light? Whats the STORY? All these things blend with the music to make the moment and define it through my lens.

So if you don't already, take your music with you when you shoot, and when you're working with people and its appropriate, get the right music going. It makes all the difference in helping to set the mood and the tone while you're shooting.

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Its August. Fall is here. Most people don’t know.

2009-08-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite season. Hands down. Without question. September specifically is the best month to live in Washington. Typically about the last week of August, I wake up and the light coming in my window is *JUST* slightly different. The blue of the sky has changed. The way the sun filters through the atmosphere is subtly different. Its one of those things that you keep to yourself thinking that you’re the only one who’s noticed. Stepping outside, despite that fact that its still a ‘Summer’ morning, I notice that the air smells a little different. Overnight the air has found a hint of the smell of leaves…leaves that have yet to fall from their branches. Gone are thoughts of afternoons at the lake or the 4th of July or barbecues on warm summer evenings with friends…

I’m wrapped in my own thoughts of back to school, even now years away from late august water polo practices and pre reading for AP classes...coaching the swim team and the return to campus and college football. I also think of chilled top down drives through the mountains with the leaves turning; and just the right song on the radio…perhaps on repeat.

Many of us think of the end of summer and view it as the end. Its really the beginning though isn’t it? Especially here in the northwest. It’s the beginning of our cycle of seasons, the long winter…I’m not one to moan about Seattle weather, it’s just the way it is here and I love it. I love it because it makes September the best month. It makes September worth loving. It forces you to stop and appreciate it before its gone again. You could say September is a final celebration in many ways.

I’m excited for it. Fall last year was epic. I suspect we’ll have a short fall this year so I’m going to enjoy it. It’s the only time of year where the light is the way it is, and as a photographer, light is everything. The light along with all the other thoughts of fall make it an awesome time to get out and shoot. Portraits especially. The season of weddings is winding down and fall rings of family. Portraits of family and friends in the dying glow of a Sunday afternoon in September only happens a few times a year. Be there and capture it with the people that matter most to you. Put off that back log of post work you need to be doing…you’ve got 6 months exactly like November to get caught up on that.

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Photography is like a relationship.

2009-08-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

My relationship has been failing the past month or so for more than one reason I suspect. I'm sure you're expecting some of the same tired excuses...its the summer, things are busy, work, blah blah blah. But I realized something last night. I put my camera away. And by away, I mean I put it in its bag and put it in the corner of my den and just didn't look at it. Out of sight out of mind.

Mini scooters are dangerous. Just because you don't need a motorcycle endorsement doesn't mean you can't hurt yourself. In the wake of high siding my friends scooter (Sorry AJ), and having done so on the eve of my 2 week vacation, I had to see if post shoulder injury, I could even lift my camera. Into my den I went and the familiar clink of the aluminum buckles as I gingerly (stiff shoulder and all) broke into my camera bag. Thankfully, I could lift the camera but wasn't able to hold it up for long without some pain.

I realized something though. I love my camera. Love it! I just like holding it and looking at it and cleaning it and pointing it at things just for the sake of it. I had found an old friend again (chhhhhheeeeeezy) but I came to realize something else. I should have never put my camera away. Putting it in the case and in the corner was the worst thing in the world. I didn't see it sitting there...I didn't give my camera a thought until I was out and about thinking, "Damn I wish I had my camera." In the world of being a photographer, that’s an epic fail.

Always keep your camera within reach. It’s wasted if it’s just sitting in your spare room or in the closet unused. How many craigslist ads have you read where the post reads something to the effect of "it’s been in the closet and I just can’t justify keeping it anymore."

DO NOT BECOME THAT GUY

From now on, my camera will be sitting in its bag, next to my computer where I spend too much of my time. It will be in my face and I’ll start fiddling with it for no reason (which happens to be the best reason). I can't tell you how many pictures of my keyboard and TV remote I’ve taken just experimenting with my camera because I was bored. The key here is daily interaction, no matter what the subject. Always learning and always looking at things in a new way.

So how is it that photography is like a relationship then? It’s rather simple. It’s like working out or anything else you do in your life. If you don’t constantly put effort into it, nurture it, talk to it, touch it, you won’t DO it. Simple as that. What if you came home at the end of the day and didn’t say hi to your wife or girlfriend? Didn’t give her a hug or kiss or even a second glance? How long would that last? Not long. I fear that I’d end up cheating….cheating on photography with… riding motorcycles and that only got me hurt! Lesson learned.

Kiss your wife/girlfriend hello and then pick up your camera.

_______________________________
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Details. Post. Subtlety.

2009-06-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

When I was young, I spent many Saturday afternoons building model airplanes. I began with the SnapTite ones that took like 5 mins to put together but I quickly realized that these well, sucked. They looked like crap and didn't do justice to the aircraft it was intended to portray.

So I sucked it up and started building the more complicated ones and spending more time on them and I learned one really important thing that bridges into most aspects of my life.

DETAILS MATTER

The little things add up BIG TIME! A little detail here, another one there. Suddenly things are beginning to look really nice. Same goes for anything really. It could be woodworking.

...but you're not reading this because you're into woodworking, or building 1:48 scale Spitfire fighter planes.

Details matter in all aspects of photography. Period.

From the composition, (are any trees or buildings growing out of your subject's head?), the subject, the light, the location and the post processing all contribute to the final product. I think we can all agree that we don't like to look at way overdone Photoshop work. But as with every other aspect of the shot, the post work is CRITICAL.

Now I'll not get into the debate about whether or not using Photoshop helps or hinders the foundations of photography because the reality is that nearly every image you've ever seen on a computer screen has been touched in Photoshop in some way.

The key is to be subtle and pay attention to the details. While the spectrum of possibilities in Photoshop are nearly limitless they are within reach thanks to the countless tutorial sites out there. See an effect you like? Google it or youtube it and you'll find multiple different approaches to achieve what you're looking for.

The key is to be subtle and look for every detail you can that detracts from the image. Stray hairs? bad white balance? Levels off? Minor blemishes? Dust spots? Dead pixels? An interesting trick I've picked up is to flip your image 180 deg and look at it upside down. You'll be amazed at what pops out at you that you may have not noticed before.

What details did I miss in this edit?

Personally, I think the intent is to correct any mistakes from your original shot (crooked much?) and then use the tools available to ADD to the appeal of the image. Remember, its about the details. ...the subtle details. Easy does it, don't overdo it, you don't want to appear (unless you really do) heavy handed and contrived because (in my opinion) that detracts from the appeal of the image. The last thing you want is someone to look at your image and say "I wish they didn't overdo it with the post, they had a nice image to begin with."

SO - As with my model planes, its important to pay attention to the details and not just throw a quick coat of paint on it and call it good. The same applies in the post processing of your photos. Take the time and put the thought into the right amount editing that will allow your photo to stand out for the RIGHT reasons. Remember, we're looking for quality, not quantity...

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The most important lens

2009-06-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

I always hear the phrase "the most important camera is the one you have with you." I'm not here to dispute that in any way. This phrase has sold a whole pile of iPhones in the photography community I suspect.

What I would like to discuss is, what is the most important lens for your SLR/Camera?

I'll contend that the most important lens to have in your bag (edit) *ON YOUR BODY* is a 50mm prime lens.

Most importantly its a fixed focal length. Without a zoom, you're forced to THINK (gasp) about your shot and move YOURSELF to achieve the composition you desire. I believe this is a fantastic passive creative mechanism. Anyone can stand in place with a zoom, machine gun and say "aren't I amazing?"

When you are forced to stop and think about your shot, you're much more likely to get it right, and get it the way you want it rather than just ripping off 100 shots of the same thing and hoping for the best. For me, this alone is reason to have a 50mm or 35mm (well any fixed focal length for that matter) lens.

Speed: My 50mm is a 1.8. That's almost an aperture the size of a sewer pipe...ok not really but its BIG. Sure you can get a 1.4 or even a 1.1 but those are 3-4x the price for a 1.4 and like 15x more money for the 1.1 With 1.8 you can shoot at shutter speeds in low light that are fast enough to stop motion without having to crank your ISO speed and loose quality.

Image Quality: Like most things in life, lenses are a give and take between image quality and flexibility. You can have a wide focal range, say 18-200mm (Nikon has a great lens in this range) but the laws of physics and the need for a reasonable (whats that mean anyway?) price make it difficult for a wide focal range AND a super wide, constant aperture across the focal length at a price people will pay. With Nikon's 18-200mm lens, its F5.6 at the long end, thats DRASTICALLY less light than our little prime lens. At a fixed focal length, the construction of the lens is far more simple and provides much better image quality at the prescribed focal length. ...the compromise here is the lack of zoom. But in this instance I'm viewing that as a benefit as well :)

Depth of field: At a very wide aperture you have a VERY narrow depth of field. This creates a great effect (bokeh they call it) where one thing is spot on focused while everything else fades further and further out of focus. The 'sweet spot' of the lens where it gives its best performance is also at a wider F/stop, again, allowing you to shoot faster shutter speeds.

Price: My 50mm 1.8 was less than $100 and is TACK sharp. What else do you want? (I'll argue sharper than the Canon 24-70 2.8...that's fixed focal lengths for you) Sure the AF is archaic, its a plastic mount, certainly doesn't have Image stabilization but that's not the point here ...is it?

I would say without question that a fast prime lens is the best student/beginner lens. Not only is it cheap and sharp, but it really does feed the creativity and force you to put a little thought into your composition...something that will make a MASSIVE difference in your end result.

If you are just starting out, or maybe have been shooting a while and have found yourself in a rut, pick up, or perhaps dust off your prime lens and really experiment with what you see through the viewfinder. Remember - YOU are the zoom!

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Living History

2009-06-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was young, I've been fascinated with history. I remember bringing home huge stacks of books home from the library on the subject. They always seemed to have had airplanes in them. Eventually I began to pay particular attention to WWII aviation. I was enthralled with it. So when given the opportunity to see what only existed in my mind as a grainy black and white photo in a smelly old library book, I jumped at the chance.

The Collings Foundation maintains a living history museum of classic aircraft. Most are still flown and this iconic B-17 from WWII is no exception. Each year, the plane makes its way around the country stopping off at community airfields. For a few dollars, you can spend as long as you want with the bird. Touch it, smell it...draw it in. The fore and aft compartments are open and young and old are able to climb inside and experience it from the inside as well.

The B-17 is perhaps one of the most iconic and symbolic aircraft in American history. Over 12,000 were built and flown around the globe, most notably to the English countryside that served as a launch pad for the US's daytime bombing campaign against Nazi Germany during WWII. It was not uncommon in late 1943 and throughout 1944 for 1,000+ bomber raids to be sent across the Channel to bomb various targets across the European continent.

Collings Foundation B-17 "Nine O Nine" from Sargent on Vimeo.

Each aircraft holding 10 men, and no less than 13 .50 Caliber machine guns, the bombers had to defend themselves against the most advanced fighter aircraft Germany had to offer. Unpressurized and with ambient temperatures within the plane often less than -40F, crews defended themselves against the Messerchmitts and Focke Wulf fighters sent to defend Germany. It wasn't until the legendary P-51 Mustang that the bombers had the luxury of fighter support all the way to their targets.

Its hard for me to wrap my brain around the reality that was the air war over Europe.

Each year I make time to go and see one of the last flying examples of an iconic machine that in many ways defined America's involvement in WWII. Its not uncommon for former flight crew to arrive, now in their 80s, to say hello and perhaps goodbye to an old friend, one that saw them through the most trying time in their lives.

In some ways this post dove tails with my previous one - how does photography blend in with your other passions in life? What do you love? What makes you stop and think? Can you capture that in a photo? Can you bring it to life?

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Converging Interests

2009-06-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have been delinquent this week in getting some meaningful content up, so I'll post a small shot in the arm. I wrote the piece a while back when I shot a historic racing event at the local Race track. The piece itself is more about the car than photography, but reading it again made me think a bit about how photography can bring you closer to other hobbies. I know a number of friends who have toyed with the idea of getting into photography but have said "I've already got too many hobbies."

Photography can bring you closer to some of your favorite activities rather than take you away from them. For me, I'm an avid Formula One fan and my love of photography and motor sport have found a fine marriage more than once.

Whats the point here? Evaluate your interests and how they are connected or disconnected...how can you tie them together? Perhaps photography is a new venue into a past love? Miss those basketball games? Maybe start shooting for the local HS or College team, I guarantee you'll not get a better seat. Your daughter on the swim team? Break out your strobist kit and do the team portraits and save the team a bundle in portrait costs.

What about music? I LLLLLLOOOOOVE my music, and I take time whenever I can to shoot a local show for some of my favorite local bands.

How is photography a bridge for you?

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___________________
History came alive today in what might seem an odd place, Kent Washington, a strange place indeed for such a piece of automotive history.

The 1971 Formula 1 season was dominated by the team founded by Ken Tyrrell and their chief driver, Sir Jackie Stewart. For me, all I can do is look at old footage, pictures and listen to the stories from nearly 40 years ago. Today however, I could feel the history storming down the front stretch at Pacific Raceways and get close enough to touch the gravel in the big slicks of Jackie Stewart's '71 Tyrrell Ford while it was parked in the pits.

Its an understatement to say the the Tyrrell-Ford team was successful in 1971. Powered by the Cosworth DFV engine, Jackie took this car to no less than 7 wins in the short 11 round season. Not only that, but he found himself on the podium for each of the 11 rounds amassing 62 driver points and contributing heavily to 73 constructor points. It was all competitor and second place constructor BRM could do to muster 36 points that year. It was a stellar season for a stellar car in what was the only Constructors title Tyrrell would secure.

It was by chance today that I happened upon this living piece of history. Many would argue that this car should be stuffed away in a museum as its sister chassis is. It's fitting then that this one is on track at vintage racing events like the Sovren event held at Pacific Raceways in Kent Washington.

The days events were a prelude to the coming annual Sovren vintage race event held at the same location. Today was somewhat of a test and tune and as such, there wasn't much of a crowd. I arrived early in the afternoon not sure what I would find. Walking up I could hear what I later found out to be the famous Ford Cosworth DFV engine that powered many of the cars fielding the 1971 F1 season; Tyrrell, March, Lotus, Mclaren, Surtees, Brabham and a Swiss team Bellasi, all with a DFV powering their championship challenge.

Nearing the fence line I spotted the blue and white streak, with that famous pot belly. Streaming down the main straight the gear changes were spot on leading me to imagine what it might have been like to see the same car charging through Parabolica at Monza, Eau Rouge in Spa Francorchamps or through St. Devote in Monaco.

SIDEBAR - Eau Rouge

Stewart Famously won in Monaco that year and today, the same car lapped the field, albeit its closest competitor was an out matched CanAm car, in less than 20 minutes. For me it stole the show.

Its amazing and special to see pieces of history such as this flying around the track at 10/10ths on a Sunday afternoon with hardly a fan in the stands. I'd like to imagine each lap was a quali lap at Monza or Silverstone. If you squint juuuuust right you can almost imagine it.

Here's to my next run in with history -

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Rule Number One - National Geographic Blog Wild

2009-06-14T22:23:00.001-07:00

Rule Number One - National Geographic Blog Wild

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Case Study - Carrera

2009-06-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

Discovering what you're good at -

Some of us are lucky and know straight away exactly what we are good at. We're naturally gifted and things seem to work out swimmingly. I think we can all think of a friend or two that seems to be good at whatever they touch.

I can only assume this is true for photographers as well. Some are natural landscape photogs while others come more naturally to portraits. This is all well and good and I think we'd all be happy to go along in life being content in our innate abilities and not strike out a bit.

People move me. People are about the only thing in this world that matter. I'm drawn to people, be it in everyday life or in photography. Think of the most moving photo you can think of... I bet you there's a person in that shot. Bottom line, working with people is one of the most rewarding aspects of photography for me.

but... I want to be good at automotive photography.

So Nick and I took off tonight, I'd rented a lens and he was to stay out of the house while the Mrs. studied for finals. We managed to find a few decent spots to shoot his new ride but I wasn't really feeling it. At the end of the day, shooting a car is just that, an inanimate object (never thought I'd say that! ...I love my cars!). So drawing out some life can be a bit challenging. I needed a new approach.

So now for the meat of the post -

I know I'm not an automotive photographer. Its not my gig. I love cars, I love cameras, but I really struggle to take a good shot of a car. I don't know what it is but my shots always seem a little flat and don't move me when I look at them.... 'ok.... a car. so what?'

For me, photography is a bit of a slow burn, when I'm shooting things that dont move. I like to take my time and absorb the situation, the light, and spend some time looking at the details. Standing close, standing far, crossing the street...looking from as many angles as I can... circle around if I can.

With the 911 tonight, I was able to take a few minutes and just stare. See it in a new way. I've seen these cars tons of times, driven and appreciated them. I needed to get to know the car a little bit and understand it in a new way before I squeezed the shutter for if I didn't, I'd just have a flat xerox.

Which brings me to my point.

We all have weaknesses, even in the things that we're generally good at. Don't forget to step back and think about WHY you thought what you saw was a good shot. What is compelling about it? Why does that make the shot interesting? Can you enhance that and add to the drama? ...are you just pushing the button to hear the CLICK? What is this picture about? ...or will you just delete it as soon as you get it on the computer?

Step back, think, absorb, understand; and with your new perspective - CLICK

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iPhone 3GS Is The Photographer's iPhone

2009-06-09T22:20:00.001-07:00

iPhone 3GS Is The Photographer's iPhone

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Pilfered from Chase Jarvis' blog

Rooftop Shoot - Tacoma Wa

2009-06-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

I've been working Angie for over a year and a half now and over that time we've become quite good friends, even outside of photography. It was a beautiful night so out went a few phone calls. Along with a couple other photog friends (and one new one) we setup on the roof of my friends condo building here in downtown Tacoma. We shot with the sun setting through the skyline with the help of two small flash heads shooting through white umbrellas with a gold/silver reflector for a little fill light.

As the wind kicked up, we took turns shooting and holding/adjusting the lights for whomever was behind the lens.

I lucked out to be shooting as the sun fell just right and I was able to work with some 'socal Jerry Bruckheimer' golden light coming through my lens. I was able to pick up just a spot of flare (some of which I had to remove in post as it messed up parts of the shot) that gave this shot a feel that really resonated with me. I know technically its not that great of a shot but the light, the dress and the sun seem to tie together quite well.

Part of me is really happy with this shot while a lot of me is rather displeased. I clipped Angie's arm and my focus was off but the flare and the light was too good to pass up.

Lessons learned/remembered:
- Know your gear in and out
- Capitalize on the moment (know your gear so you can!)
- Have good friends/helpers
- Be creative
- Share the love!
- Have fun, meet new people

So here's to shooting with friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends' friends. You never know who'll you'll meet.

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Dead Presidents

2009-06-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

The decision to begin turning your hobby into a revenue stream can be a difficult one. One many, many photographers struggle with. I would imagine that artists in any medium struggle with this prospect in the same way that a photographer would.

Will my art loose its meaning now that it’s tied to a revenue stream?
What will happen when money becomes my motivation rather than some other sense of inspiration?
Will anyone pay me?
Will it be consistent and sustainable?
What does it mean to be a professional artist?

The list of questions could evolve quite quickly if we put our heads together. I’m not going to answer all these questions in this post because in many ways, each of you need to be able to answer them yourselves, if they can be answered at all.

What I do want to share is the experience of making my first dollar as a pro photographer and how I was never able to spend that money and how ultimately, the lessons learned were far more valuable (cliché I know) than the value of the money itself.

By any measure, I was not expecting to get paid for my work the night it happened. I had been out killing an evening with a close friend with whom I shoot frequently. Our styles are infinitely different and we tend to feed off of that and provide each other a different perspective while challenging each other to push ourselves. I could write a whole post (and maybe I should) about the value of having a partner to challenge you, but I digress…

This particular evening we’d set each other a series of challenges to overcome weaknesses we’d identified in ourselves as photographers. For me, approaching people had been an issue when it came to street portraits. In the process of overcoming my fear of talking to people at random and photographing them, I also made, and lost, my first dollar.

I won’t go into gruesome detail of the situation because I want to focus more on how it impacted me as a person.

Long story short, a group of girls out for a night on the town had agreed to stand for a portrait and they like the result on the screen of my camera so much that they insisted in handing me what little cash they had on their person (who carries cash these days?).

I was floored! My only goal for the night was to overcome a personal challenge of mine and ultimately I was rewarded….with $6. I was elated! It might as well have been $60K! But the point here isn’t the money.

As the girls bounced down the sidewalk excited at the prospect of the evening ahead, my friend asked to see what I’d been given. Handing him the wad of bills, he carefully un-wrinkled them, straightened them so they were all in the same direction, and tore them in half.

A flash of anger hit me in the chest. It was like I’d been punched. It was honestly quite similar to the end of a long relationship. The hit in the gut feeling was profound if only fleeting. This feeling lasted maybe 1/3 of a second until I realized the meaning of what had happened.

Wile many of us are working towards making a living doing what we love, that night it wasn’t about making the money. It was about a number of other things.

First of all, I don’t know if we should really be paid to for overcoming our own personal fears.
Sure it’s nice to be rewarded for your hard work but this night wasn’t about reaping rewards, it was about growing together with my friend, both as people and photographers.

The second piece to this is that I dint earn that money myself. With out my close friend there pushing me, and I him, we wouldn’t have even been in the place to even ask the people for their picture. I was just the one behind the lens at the time. We’d been taking turns and it just happened that I was the one pressing the shutter release. So in another aspect, that money wasn’t mine, it was ours and the ceremonial tearing of the bills was symbolic of our achievement together and sharing the reward together. Having the money be unusable just added to the significance of the situation. He could easily have handed me 3 bills and kept the other 3 for himself. But he didn’t.

Tearing them slammed home the reality that 1) we weren’t here to make money, but we were here to learn and grow. 2) We did this together and we both share in the growth and reward. 3) I’ve got an awesome memory together with my friend and something to keep as a reminder. If he just gave me 3 dollars, I’d have gotten some coffee or something and the lesson would be long forgotten and the evening would have been about making the money, rather than making a step forward as a person and a photographer.

I keep those torn dollars on my desk even now as a reminder of that night and what we learned and why we learned it. It’s critical that we always push ourselves to evolve and be aware enough to learn from our experiences. I suppose in many ways, this doesn’t only apply to photography or at, it could easily apply in many areas.

What experiences in life do you have that you keep with you? What continues to motivate you when you’re not working for money?

Feel free to comment with your experiences as well in the comment section below or you can email me: mailto:rick.donohue@gmail.com

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Photography isn’t about taking pictures

2009-06-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

Photography isnt about taking pictures

Sometimes photography isn’t about taking pictures. Sometimes its not about waiting for the light to be just right, its always about pushing yourself and I’m not talking about seeing something that’s been shot a million times in your town in a way that no one has before. I’m talking about personal growth.

I’m sure as I begin to write more and more about my adventures in photography you’ll come to and understanding about not who I am as a photographer but also about who I am as an individual and how that in turn, is displayed in my photography. I’m excited to start creating more than just images and how my journey will continue to play out. I hope you enjoy and stay along for the ride.

Before I get too existential about the act of writing itself, I’d better get to the point of this post. Sometimes photography isn’t about taking pictures, it is always (better be anyway!) about personal growth. Very regularly I shoot with a great friend of mine ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/orangeradish/ ) who lives in a nearby town. We’d met up in his town (a fairly liberal, artsy hipster town if I’m honest) to hang out, shoot and attempt to make something of our Saturday evening.

As the sun set and long shadows streaked across the sidewalks, we’d managed to make a couple loops around the center of town on foot, shooting things from one side of the street, and then the other…practicing chicken shit street photography. Long lens, across the way from the subject, sniper style. This is the worst kind of ‘street’ photography in my mind. Its not creative, its not challenging and people see you straight away and think, “another weirdo with his camera.” ...it has its place when you catch a moment, a couple, a fleeting look...but generally, its cowardly.

I called it chicken shit street photography for a good reason. Despite my friend and I being rather friendly, out going personable guys, we both struggle very much with approaching a total stranger that has caught our eye and asking to snag a quick picture. I think this is something that any photographer struggles with if they’ve ever pointed their camera at a person before.

Full stop: It’s a daunting task to approach a random person.

Maybe you’re gifted and have no social filter but for many of us, we’re dying to snag a picture of that old man with a cane or that fashion forward lady marching down the sidewalk in the city, or the construction worker who wears 20 years of hard labor on his face. These are the shots we all see and all want so desperately to nail…if only we weren’t chicken shit and too intimidated to ask. …so what have we been doing? Hanging back and getting an ‘action’ of the subject from the other side of the street.

Having had enough of what we find to be a weakness as a photographer, we decided to set ourselves a challenge. A modified game of truth or dare. …portrait chicken.

Simple game. I pick a random person of interest and assign my friend the duty of approaching and posing the question; he too would present me with the same task.

Naturally I chickened out the first couple times. LOSE.

Soon enough though, I’d spotted my target, I hate that word but it was a subject of my choosing that I knew I could be successful with. I think he’d just landed a front side kick flip on his skateboard and was pretty serious about his business. Ear buds in, he was focused on landing his next trick. The first ‘Excuse me!’ failed to hit the mark. Thankfully, his friend noticed and helped me grab his attention.

“Can I snag a quick portrait?”

-huh?

“Can I snag a quick shot of you with your skateboard? I’m working on my portfolio of street photos and I’d love to have a shot of you in your element with your board, doing what you do.”

- uh, k. just stand here?

-CLICK-

"Awesome dude - you look epic! THANKS!"

It was a mediocre shot at best. There was a drain pipe on the wall behind him sticking out the side of his shoulder and the exposure wasn’t spot on. But this isn’t the point.

This time, the photography wasn’t always about taking the picture. It was about so much more than a lousy shot of a guy on his board. It was about identifying a weakness and overcoming it. Its pretty basic stuff at the core but very liberating once you've summoned the courage. ...Thanks J.

As I walked away, I felt lighter. Empowered, accomplished, successful. This shot was about pushing the envelope and taking myself to a place I’ve never been before, as an individual or a photographer. That was the first of many that night. By midnight, we had setup with a strobe, stand and a shoot through umbrella and were nailing street portraits left and right from happy-go-lucky pub crawlers. We had a great time, met some great people and even scored a couple bucks...another post on that to come....

Saturday wasn’t about taking pictures, it wasn’t about getting the perfect exposure or seeing the street art in a different way. It was about overcoming a personal limitation. It will still be intimidating but I’ll have the experience of having posed the question tucked in my back pocket for the next face that catches my eye.

What weakness sticks out in the back of your mind, or perhaps the front? What hurdle are you afraid attempt? What boundary are you afraid to cross? Liberate yourself. Elevate your game.

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