20 posts tagged “photography”
Tuesday night I had the opportunity to meet with a group of local photographers all wanting to experiment with studio photography, though I have to say I'm still feeling quite out of my element trying to understand the lighting setup, something that has stopped me before when wanting to do studio work. I find myself getting entirely sidetracked by all the technical aspects, worrying I've forgotten something essential, and as I'm not one to multi-task well, I feel unfocused and out of "the zone." What I wanted was to be able to concentrate on coaxing the best from our great model Lizzie.
I find myself wondering if I like the results as well as the less structured shoot with Holly a couple of weeks ago, but I will continue with the group until I feel more comfortable with the technical part, and perhaps decide then. Here is my one keeper image from the shoot (though I only had about 15 to choose from).
Just a quick post for all you photographers out there. Tips from the Top Floor and Borrowlenses.com are having a contest where you can win a week with your favorite lens! Sounds like fun, right? Go to: http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/ for details. Like now!
This past Sunday was my scheduled shoot with my friend (and fabulous director of my old chorus The Women of Note) Holly, and though I'd thought to do some indoor studio work as well as going outdoors, I decided to stick with outdoors. I'd asked her to bring along something that was meaningful for her, and she did this in spades, making things easy for me.
We set up in a tiny fragment of a field next to our Wellington Mall, and I chose to use my 85mm 1.8 lens, known to be one of the best portrait lenses around, but one I've not had a chance to use as much as I would like to have done because it's a fixed focal length. Inspired by the work I've seen others do with it, I shot mostly wide open in RAW. Because it's been way too long since I've done this, I felt quite rusty and even awkward. The rusty part I understand, but the awkward always puzzles me a bit. I'm a people lover, and yet when I have to direct them photographically I get a knot in the pit of my stomach that interferes with both my techical as well as my creative self. This keeps me from doing my best, from producing work I'm completely happy with. Or is this even possible?
Don't misunderstand me. We had a GREAT time. Holly was fun and totally cooperative, and it was great to have time to catch up with her a bit. And I got some images I was very happy with (hopefully she will feel the same way). It's just that I would like to get to the point where I'm truly in the moment and firing on all cylinders, thinking of all those little technical things, thinking composition, waiting for the right moment, and capturing it.
Guess that will come if I'm able to continue to have subjects to shoot...
Well, now that I've gotten my feet wet again by posting, I'll update a bit more. The past two weeks at my job have been hard because my co-worker has moved on to another office, and I'm having to take up some of the slack, even though my boss has been putting in a good bit of time and effort there too. I'm having to stretch myself to do things I'm unfamiliar with, which can be frustrating because I'm learning by trial and error (mostly error) and this can be slow and often seemingly unproductive. I'm also having to get to work an hour early, so I'm putting in extra time every week. Honestly, I'm often exhausted and frustrated, but won't be much longer.
The GREAT thing is that help is on its way! They have hired a replacement and my new co-worker will be a very good friend who has known me for ten years or so and who helped me when I did this career change to insurance. We are both looking forward to her starting at the first of February. I will be so happy to have someone to work with all day, and in all the years we've known each other, we've been very much kindred spirits, and mostly because we often have the same interests outside of work. This is EXCITING.
Even more exciting, I'm starting to take steps to develop my skills in people photography, something I have neglected. I've been saying I wanted to do more of it for months, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I was motivated to do something more than just give it lip service.
Recently I've gotten acquainted with a wonderful guy (who unfortunately lives in another state) whose feedback has helped me remember my goal, made over a year ago, to do more people photography, both for the pleasure of doing it, and to also get paid as well. (Steven, I appreciate you so much for that!) With that in mind, I did two things to make this goal a reality...
First of all, I contacted a friend of mine and asked her to let me use her as a model, and we're planning to meet next weekend. I'm excited and am searching through Flickr for inspiration. Do you have a favorite people photographer? Please let me know who they are and where I can see their work online.
The other thing is that I've gotten involved in a local Meetup.com group of photographers, and have learned there is another one a few minutes away from where I live with access to a studio, and opportunities to meet and learn studio craft with other more experienced photographers. This has thrilled me to the tips of my toes! At last! This reminds me of the Learning to See workshop from over a year ago and how great that was to learn and experiment with studio photography.
I'm excited when change is on the horizon, especially when it is in a creative direction. More to come.
It has been far too long since I posted, but in my defense I want to say that, while I've not been here on Vox, I have been journaling, either on another site, or in a more analog version that I keep with me. Life has not been uneventful, even if things have settled into more of a routine, with no major moves to deal with, and my career going in a steadliy upward direction. I'll try to fill in the gaps here a bit.
I'm now working at a different Allstate agency than the one I'd been employed by last December. This past August I learned that office would be closing because the agent was not renewing his contract and had been unable to sell it, though he had on three occasions thought that it had been.
When I learned this, I was sitting in the waiting area of the Nashville airport on a Sunday afternoon after a wonderful four days at one of my friend Chris Marquardt's Learning to See photography workshops that I serve as US liaison for, and to my shame I have to admit I had a meltdown, surrounded by strangers who looked on me as perhaps a bit mentally imbalanced as I sat there with racoon eyes, sobbing to myself. I worried that soon I'd be on the street, sign in hand, much like the woman I saw in my last post, as perhaps some punishment for not emptying the contents of my wallet into her outstretched hands. Because I still needed much more training and experience, I worried at my employability, especially with comments from those in the industry about there not being any open positions and just how tight the market was. But, wonder of all wonders, my fears proved utterly unfounded, as I actually had my choice of at least three positions in a matter of weeks, and the long and short of it is that I was offered, and accepted, a job at a wonderful agency, where I am very well treated, and where I'm learning many new things.
I simply cannot account for this turn of circumstances, whether total chance, a product of my positive mental imaging, or divine intervention. Suffice it to say that I am incredibly grateful, every single day, a feeling which has only gotten stronger since our economy has gone on the terrifying rollercoaster ride it started in October of last year. I have so very much to be thankful for, and I hope to never take it for granted.
I'm a bit reluctant to even post this, as I know many who are out of work. If it's any consolation, I spent a year looking before getting my first position in my new field over a year ago, so I think I have paid my dues here. To those of you who are looking I can only tell you not to lose hope. Some days I thought it would never get any better, but it has. Much better.
And so I want to wish all of you a good 2009, no matter what the news predicts. To ask you to value the everyday things...friends, the beauty around you, food on the table. Take it from someone who has experienced it firsthand that these things are more important than having a healthy stock portfolio.
More exciting is that registrations for this year's Learning to See photography workshops have finally opened! There will be four of them like last year, in August, in San Francisco, Ft. Collins, CO, Nashville, TN, and Portland, ME, and based on response so far this year will be even better than last. They're taught by award-winning podcaster Chris Marquardt of Tips from the Top Floor (www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com) and are a great learning tool as well as a ton of fun.
And as I considered where I was last year, what was going on (more importantly, what was not), for the first time I can ever remember I find that a year later I have had a lot of progress, several important good things, and a good bit of fun too. For example:
- This time last year I was yearning for some animal company, and I well remember at Christmas feeling this acutely, to the point I couldn't watch anything with kittens in it! But in May that all changed with the arrival of Meimei, who has been that great little companion I wanted, even though she has some bad habits I hope will improve. What a pleasure to wake up in the middle of the night and hear purring at the foot of my bed, and to hear her calling for me when I drive up in the driveway (I can hear her from outside. The creature has some lungs!)
- December 2006 I was quite anxious to be moving on, to get back to all that is familiar and loved back down in Palm Beach county, feeling so adrift and alone here in Port St. Lucie. Being honest, I'd have to say I hated it here, no two ways about it. And now, I have plans to do just that in the early part of 2008, having found a friend with part of her house to share. I'm looking forward to it.
- I was also beating my head against a wall trying to get back into the jobforce. After spending six months or so trying to find something in the printing industry and finding nothing with a future, I changed professions. I got my 4-40 license and now work for Allstate, selling auto and homeowners insurance. I like it! My plan is to do my photography/graphic design on the side and see where that goes but having a dependable job is a life changing thing for me and I'm very thankful.
- On the fun front, I had the very enjoyable responsibility of being the US coordinator for my award-winning German podcaster/photographer friend Chris Marquardt (www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com) as he made his first workshop tour here. Doing this was such a good learning experience, coordinating the helpers in the different locations and trying to organise all the things that go into a successful workshop. Not only that, but I had one of the workshops in my home, and had a chance to have company too. Best of all, he's gonna do another tour in 2008, and he's asked me to do the same. Yay!
And that is what I wish all of you who read this. Good changes. Challenges and learning experiences. And things that make you smile and know you're loved.
He arrived a couple of days before the workshop was to start, and I did my best to show him the beautiful beaches, rivers, old downtown sections and the like that are not far from here in Stuart and Jensen Beach. Weather was hot with bright blue skies and was perfect for putting the top down and enjoying what South Florida excels in, stunning weather.
The workshop started on Thursday with an introduction to design principles; aka what makes for interesting images, complete with assignments and image critique. Friday we had an excursion to the Morikami Gardens to put some of what we learned into practice. When we returned in the afternoon we had a chance to see Lightroom in action, and I decided to start using it in postprocessing my images. Saturday was when (for me at least) the workshop became even more fun, as we focused on portrait photography and in the afternoon, we had a model come in so that we could play in a real studio setting. This was for me the highlight and I got a number of images I was very pleased with. The model was someone I know who's asked me to do a portrait of her but we'd not been able to get schedules to coordinate, so perhaps it was a bit less intimidating to interact with her. That is the one part of portrait photography I feel I need the most help with, this letting down of my guard, this connecting with a subject so they can relax, so that I can capture them in a natural way. I know I get nervous, concerned they'll realise that sometimes it's me just acting as though I know what I'm doing and I'll get caught out, even though I know they can't see this. (even if they did, it wouldn't matter) I know that if I want to be good at portrait photography that this is a skill I must hone - that is, if I want images that are more than just straightforward, standard portrait fare. I've posted one below as an example. I love her lovely skin, the shape of her eyes and her beautiful lips and she was not difficult to get to look very pretty.
Interested? Check out the video!
She is employed at my local grocery store, and I remember the first time I noticed her as she helped me carry my parcels out to my car that her fingers on both hands were contorted into what seemed very uncomfortable positions, and she walked with a bit of a limp as well. I never asked, but she told me once that she has scoliosis, and I immediately wondered if life had been hard for her in her perhaps 22 years here on this earth. Today when I saw her, she was learning to run the register, and I read a look of worry on her face as her sister stood next to her, teaching her all the codes she needed to input. I gave her an extra big and hopefully reassuring smile, and as she followed me out to my car, told her she'd do fine and she admitted it made her quite nervous to make people wait while she was in training.
I'm not quite sure what I see on her face that makes her appealing. Her looks are average, with shoulder length blondish brown hair and little makeup. I think I see compassion, a kind soul with a sweet smile who makes it a point to call me her favourite customer for no reason I can see. I've been halfway tempted to give her my card and suggest maybe taking pictures of her, but I worry her parents might wonder and worry about that. Next time I see her I think I'll take that chance, and if successful will post a picture. I think each one of us has a certain beauty, though it may not be the beauty that would grace the cover of a magazine. I would feel fortunate indeed to capture that in some way.
