Back at the beginning of the year, one of the many goals I set was to grow my photography business. While I still have a few specific sub-goals left (more on that a bit later), I have been able to fulfill a few mileposts.
Years ago I remember being taught that a goal left unwritten remains a dream. As I pondered how to grow my photography business, I decided that I needed to set some specific goals and then write out a plan to achieve them.
I knew that a bazaar was organized twice a year at work, once before Mother's Day and once again before Christmas, so I decided to set the goal to sell at the pre-Mother's Day bazaar, which would probably be in late April or early May.
With that in mind, I set the following goals: March - put together a portfolio of photos I wanted to sell in large framed prints and also as cards, then have them printed. April, have the photos framed and then make the cards. I would also need to design and print my business cards, fliers for portrait photography, and put together a small portrait portfolio to demonstrate.
I was able to get my portfolio together with plenty of time and have the prints made. Then things got a bit hectic.
I found out the exact date for the bazaar with about 10 days of notice. As a result, I ended up going to a frame shop that was close by and could get the work done quickly, probably paying significantly more than I would had I taken the time to shop around a bit more.
At the end of it all, I feel the bazaar was a success for me - it was a great publicity opportunity and at least one neat thing came of it. Someone asked me if I would be interested in putting together an exposition of my work! While the details remain to be worked out, it is an exciting opportunity and one that will serve well to continue to grow and expand my business. During the bazaar I also got a lot of wonderful feedback from people who were there, some of whom have professional training in the arts, graphic design, and photography.
When I returned home that evening, I found that Getty Images had contacted me to license some of my images! It was a great couple of days!
As for my other photographic goals (working more with adults to take portraits), I have a couple of other projects that are in the nascent stages ... hopefully more on those in the near future!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 16
This week's photo is a recent set of photos, actually, that I took of the Cotopaxi volcano.
I took approximately 12 individual images and merged them together into one larger image, for the below result:
(click through to see a larger version - on Flickr you can see the full-size version.)
I went down to the area of Cotopaxi to check out a camping site for an upcoming youth trip. As we were driving down there, I could see that Cotopaxi was totally clear; I couldn't wait to get closer and make some great images. After a long rainy season, I was thrilled to finally have a clear view of Cotopaxi - and several other volcanoes, for that matter.
As we got down to the location where we were going to scout out for the camping trip, I noticed that Cotopaxi was beginning to cloud up (we left at 7am and it was about 8:30). I got a few pictures, but none that really got my attention. We continued on checking out the location and I noticed that the peak of Cotopaxi was beginning to clear. I got my camera ready and waited; as soon as it cleared, I began shooting a series of shots, with the goal of stitching them together for one image.
I took the shots with my Canon 70-200mm L lens, zoomed in to 200mm and used Photoshop CS6 beta to stitch the images. I then added a slight vignette with Adobe Lightroom 4.
I took approximately 12 individual images and merged them together into one larger image, for the below result:
(click through to see a larger version - on Flickr you can see the full-size version.)
I went down to the area of Cotopaxi to check out a camping site for an upcoming youth trip. As we were driving down there, I could see that Cotopaxi was totally clear; I couldn't wait to get closer and make some great images. After a long rainy season, I was thrilled to finally have a clear view of Cotopaxi - and several other volcanoes, for that matter.
As we got down to the location where we were going to scout out for the camping trip, I noticed that Cotopaxi was beginning to cloud up (we left at 7am and it was about 8:30). I got a few pictures, but none that really got my attention. We continued on checking out the location and I noticed that the peak of Cotopaxi was beginning to clear. I got my camera ready and waited; as soon as it cleared, I began shooting a series of shots, with the goal of stitching them together for one image.
I took the shots with my Canon 70-200mm L lens, zoomed in to 200mm and used Photoshop CS6 beta to stitch the images. I then added a slight vignette with Adobe Lightroom 4.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 15
The LDS Church has a (somewhat) new initiative to plug into its members across the globe and crowd source several things like document translation and photos - the Vineyard. I decided to submit my recent photos of the LDS Temple in Guayaquil and it was accepted! So, if at some point you see this photo show up, you know where you saw it first!
The other photo I had planned to highlight for a photo of the week was accidentally deleted ... that's what happens when I get overzealous in cleaning out my photos!
The other photo I had planned to highlight for a photo of the week was accidentally deleted ... that's what happens when I get overzealous in cleaning out my photos!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 14
Time keeps on slipping by and I realize I'm yet one more week behind in my photo goal ...
This week's photo comes from our recent visit to the Museo Interactive de Ciencias (Interactive Science Museum) - one of the best kid-oriented museums we've ever been to. The site used to be a textile factory and part of it is a museum to that industry; they still have a lot of the machines in there and displays to explain everything.
We were recently there to celebrate Natalie's birthday and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures - a kind of exploratory visit for me, photographically speaking, and I really want to get back there sometime to take some more photos. Here is one of my favorites:
Camera Info
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 12,800
Aperture: F2.8
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 45mm
Aperture Priority Mode
The mix of light in there - tungsten, sunlight, and other lights - makes for some interesting color combinations. In the picture above the machine closest to me is illuminated by a warm tungsten light, but the background is a totally different light, so you have this warm orange cast light contrasting with the cold blue light in the background.
I had to shoot at a really high ISO and then used Lightroom 4 to clean up the noise. While Lightroom does a great job cleaning up the noise, I would like to shoot a higher aperture and low ISO next time, which means I'll need to bring my tripod along.
Take a look at my Flickr page to see more photos from this excursion.
This week's photo comes from our recent visit to the Museo Interactive de Ciencias (Interactive Science Museum) - one of the best kid-oriented museums we've ever been to. The site used to be a textile factory and part of it is a museum to that industry; they still have a lot of the machines in there and displays to explain everything.
We were recently there to celebrate Natalie's birthday and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures - a kind of exploratory visit for me, photographically speaking, and I really want to get back there sometime to take some more photos. Here is one of my favorites:
Camera Info
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 12,800
Aperture: F2.8
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 45mm
Aperture Priority Mode
The mix of light in there - tungsten, sunlight, and other lights - makes for some interesting color combinations. In the picture above the machine closest to me is illuminated by a warm tungsten light, but the background is a totally different light, so you have this warm orange cast light contrasting with the cold blue light in the background.
I had to shoot at a really high ISO and then used Lightroom 4 to clean up the noise. While Lightroom does a great job cleaning up the noise, I would like to shoot a higher aperture and low ISO next time, which means I'll need to bring my tripod along.
Take a look at my Flickr page to see more photos from this excursion.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 13
I finally got the chance to go to the botanical gardens here in Quito. I've barely started going through my photos, but came up with a couple for this post.
So how do you spice up a kind of blase nature scene? Set up for a longer exposure and then zoom while it exposes.
So here is the scene:
Here's the same scene, but zooming while the shutter is open (explosion of life!):
Camera Info:
Shutter speed: .8s
Aperture: F8.0
Lens: Canon 70-200mm
Here's another example with some flowers:
So how do you spice up a kind of blase nature scene? Set up for a longer exposure and then zoom while it exposes.
So here is the scene:
Here's the same scene, but zooming while the shutter is open (explosion of life!):
Camera Info:
Shutter speed: .8s
Aperture: F8.0
Lens: Canon 70-200mm
Here's another example with some flowers:
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 12
This week's topic - refining my workflow between Lightroom and Photoshop.
Since I've started using Lightroom and the new beta version of Photoshop CS6, I've been working on how to integrate them, which I've found to be quite easy.
Here's the final image:
Camera Info
Shutter Speed: 1/15s
Aperture: F6.3
ISO: 100
Lens: Canon EF 50mm II
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash: Single flash, 1/4 power, through softbox
I begin by downloading my images from the memory card and onto my computer using Lightroom.
Once they are in Lightroom, I use that to do most of my polishing and edits - color balance, contrast, sharpening, add a slight vignette. A lot of the time I can get the image where I want it using just Lightroom.
The above image, however, had a hair going right down the middle of her face, which was rather distracting. With my image pretty much the way I wanted it, I simply right-clicked on it and opened it in Photoshop.
One of the tools I really like in Photoshop is content-aware healing. This is great because all I did was use a brush tool to highlight the hair and then, voila! It was gone.
With that done, I saved the image and the newly-edit version appeared in Lightroom. From there I exported it as a JPEG, with the above results.
Since I've started using Lightroom and the new beta version of Photoshop CS6, I've been working on how to integrate them, which I've found to be quite easy.
Here's the final image:
Camera Info
Shutter Speed: 1/15s
Aperture: F6.3
ISO: 100
Lens: Canon EF 50mm II
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash: Single flash, 1/4 power, through softbox
I begin by downloading my images from the memory card and onto my computer using Lightroom.
Once they are in Lightroom, I use that to do most of my polishing and edits - color balance, contrast, sharpening, add a slight vignette. A lot of the time I can get the image where I want it using just Lightroom.
The above image, however, had a hair going right down the middle of her face, which was rather distracting. With my image pretty much the way I wanted it, I simply right-clicked on it and opened it in Photoshop.
One of the tools I really like in Photoshop is content-aware healing. This is great because all I did was use a brush tool to highlight the hair and then, voila! It was gone.
With that done, I saved the image and the newly-edit version appeared in Lightroom. From there I exported it as a JPEG, with the above results.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 11
One of the hardest things in portrait photography (for me) is to get natural expressions. As I've mentioned before, portrait photography, particularly in the studio, is one of the most UNnatural things people can do. This means that it's hard to get people to relax and be natural; one of the reasons I like environmental portraits better - easier to get people to relax and be natural.
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get people to relax is to get them to laugh. This helps lighten the atmosphere and people will naturally relax. Easier with kids than adults and much easier said than done ...
Clara is just a natural - she's grown up with me chasing her with a camera stuck to my face and she does great in front of the camera.
I've shot a few engagement sessions, but this is one of my favorites. Engaged couples are great to shoot because after a bit they just forget you're there and are oblivious to anyone but each other. Makes life easy for a photographer!
Even adults will relax and you can get some good natural portraits. When I do my portrait sessions I block aside at least an hour. The first bit is mainly for us to get used to me having a camera stuck to my face, we'll shoot some test shots, we do a lot of interactive, I'll show them the pictures after each shot, let the kids take a picture of mom and dad, etc. This helps build rapport between me and the people I'm photographing and everyone relaxes, enjoys the photo shoot more, and we get better images.
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get people to relax is to get them to laugh. This helps lighten the atmosphere and people will naturally relax. Easier with kids than adults and much easier said than done ...
Clara is just a natural - she's grown up with me chasing her with a camera stuck to my face and she does great in front of the camera.
I've shot a few engagement sessions, but this is one of my favorites. Engaged couples are great to shoot because after a bit they just forget you're there and are oblivious to anyone but each other. Makes life easy for a photographer!
Even adults will relax and you can get some good natural portraits. When I do my portrait sessions I block aside at least an hour. The first bit is mainly for us to get used to me having a camera stuck to my face, we'll shoot some test shots, we do a lot of interactive, I'll show them the pictures after each shot, let the kids take a picture of mom and dad, etc. This helps build rapport between me and the people I'm photographing and everyone relaxes, enjoys the photo shoot more, and we get better images.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 10
I'm running a bit behind in my postings, but wanted to catch up this week with one of my all-time favorite photos.
Just before leaving Greece after having lived there for three years, we spent a week at a villa on the island of Kea. I spent three days dealing with packers and boxes while the rest of the family went ahead with my in-laws. Needless to say, when I got there, I was ready to do as little as possible and just enjoy the water, the beach, and the spectacular sunsets in the evening.
For me, this shot captures all of that. The lines made by the tiles draw me to the chair, the sunset, and I can almost feel myself relaxing, remembering what it was like to sit there and watch the sun set across the ocean.
Can I go back yet?
Just before leaving Greece after having lived there for three years, we spent a week at a villa on the island of Kea. I spent three days dealing with packers and boxes while the rest of the family went ahead with my in-laws. Needless to say, when I got there, I was ready to do as little as possible and just enjoy the water, the beach, and the spectacular sunsets in the evening.
For me, this shot captures all of that. The lines made by the tiles draw me to the chair, the sunset, and I can almost feel myself relaxing, remembering what it was like to sit there and watch the sun set across the ocean.
Can I go back yet?
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Photo of the Week - Week 9
So the theme for this week and next is "use the camera you've got." For different reasons I do not always carry my camera gear around with me, but my iPod Touch is much more portable. This post and the next will be on a couple of experiences using my iPod to take pictures.
While I won't be doing any portrait sessions or getting big prints from any of the images it is convenient and can help (partially) satisfy the photo itch.
This is a photo I would have liked to have had my "real" camera for. There is a great hacienda on the outskirts of Quito - Hacienda Rumiloma - which we have escaped to a couple of times. This was one of the times when you could actually see the mountains on the (very) far side of the other valley.
Both of these images would be difficult because of the high dynamic range - darker shadows, such as the arch and the fountain statue, and an evening sky that is relatively light. Despite the limitations in the sensor for exposure, there is no limitation on composition - just because I'm using my iPod doesn't mean I can't compose my images the way I would like.
Living some place means we can have the opportunity to revisit the same places at different times. I looked at this opportunity as a sort of test run - I could look for compositions I liked so that at some future point I can go back with my full kit to take a higher quality image.
When we lived in Greece, I got to know an artist who lived there in Athens. She got a cell phone with a pretty good quality camera (this is before the advent of the iPhone) so that she always had something with her to take a photo of an inspiring scene that she would later use to paint from. Kind of the same idea for me, but to return to the location to photograph it later.
While I won't be doing any portrait sessions or getting big prints from any of the images it is convenient and can help (partially) satisfy the photo itch.
This is a photo I would have liked to have had my "real" camera for. There is a great hacienda on the outskirts of Quito - Hacienda Rumiloma - which we have escaped to a couple of times. This was one of the times when you could actually see the mountains on the (very) far side of the other valley.
Both of these images would be difficult because of the high dynamic range - darker shadows, such as the arch and the fountain statue, and an evening sky that is relatively light. Despite the limitations in the sensor for exposure, there is no limitation on composition - just because I'm using my iPod doesn't mean I can't compose my images the way I would like.
Living some place means we can have the opportunity to revisit the same places at different times. I looked at this opportunity as a sort of test run - I could look for compositions I liked so that at some future point I can go back with my full kit to take a higher quality image.
When we lived in Greece, I got to know an artist who lived there in Athens. She got a cell phone with a pretty good quality camera (this is before the advent of the iPhone) so that she always had something with her to take a photo of an inspiring scene that she would later use to paint from. Kind of the same idea for me, but to return to the location to photograph it later.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Looking for details ...
As a follow-on to my last post, I wanted to post a few pictures from our recent trip to the equator - again. It's a place that I've been to several times and, frankly, is not very interesting, photographically, for me. When we decided to go there, I decided that I needed to look for detail photographs, something other than the typical shots of the big tower with the globe on top. As I did this, I found I was more excited about being there and enjoyed looking for "non-typical" shots.
Below are a few from our recent excursion ...
Shutter Speed: 1/40
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 50mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -2/3
Shutter Speed:5s
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 44mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -1/3
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 31mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -1/3
Below are a few from our recent excursion ...
Shutter Speed: 1/40
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 50mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -2/3
Shutter Speed:5s
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 44mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -1/3
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
ISO: 100
Aperture: F6.3
Focal Length: 31mm
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation: -1/3
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