Compose and wait

This is a great interview with Sam Abell!  He talks about his year long journey to getting the perfect image to complete his story on Charles Russell.

We, as photographers, need to make sure that we are patient to get the right images and not just snap away grabbing random pictures that have a subject in them.  Sometimes it is just a matter of allowing life to happen and being ready.

Just when I think I'm beginning to 'arrive' (it'll never happen), I see an interview such as this one and am in awe of the passion that great photographers of our time have.  And I realize that the journey of professional photography is not one where we will ever arrive at a final destination, but is on going like the rest of life's lessons.

I realize now that I am very near to the beginning of that journey.

Check out the interview here.

(Tried and tried and just couldn't embed the video.  FAIL!)

 

~Kevin

Courtesy of Chase Jarvis

Multi-Tasking

For a number of years we have heard how we need to multi-task to make the best use of our time - to get as many things accomplished in one day as possible.  But let me ask this, at the end of a day of unending multi-tasking, do you feel like you've accomplished as much as you possibly could have?  By the time you fully engage in your first activity it's time to switch to the second.  So, you disengage from the first to emmerse yourself into the second only just in time to move on to the third item.  So, you disengage from the second to ... well, you get the picture.

Really!?!...is this how people have always done things?  Not that we're all Einsteins, but do you really think the geniuses that came before us danced around from topic to topic, only to arrive at groundbreaking, revolutionizing ideas?  Now, I know that the majority of us will not come up with something as world changing as the light bulb or the sun being the center of our solar system, but still it's food for thought.

I, to an extreme the last couple of years, have had to be a multi-tasker and now see a huge problem with it.  I just don't get enough completed at the end of the day.  Is it just me?  Sure you make some small steps in many things, but hardly complete any of them.  And, you probably don't do as good a quality of job as you could have if you had emmersed yourself into it and finished one thing before moving on.  I understand that the ability to multi-task is a necessary one for some situations, but having to multi-task and making it a part of everyday life...I just have to say that I don't think it's the most efficient use of time.

What are your thoughts?

~Kevin

Reality Check

I'm not sure about you, but I'm a little tired of hearing about how great 'they' have it.

There are a few things that I've always tried to keep in mind when viewing others in order to keep a check on reality:  We all have good days and bad days.  We all have days where we wonder if we can continue on.  As silly as it may be ... we all go to the bathroom the same way and have some of 'those' days.  We all brush our teeth at night (hopefully!) before laying down for bed.  

We often put people on pedestals that no one could really ever live up to.  We tend to create these false realities in our heads about others, then we talk to our friends and family and spread those false reality as though they are facts.  And then we start to believe that Michael Jordan really can fly.  Sorry to disappoint...he can't, but he was an incredible ball player that practiced unendingly so that he would be the best at what he did.  Or how about Lady Gaga?  Don't you think she...the first time heading out to perform...maybe thought, "what are these people going to think of me?", but she went ahead and for all intents and purposes, made a fool of herself.  But look at her now! I still shake my head at some of the "works of art" she turns herself into, but no one can argue the fact that IT'S WORKING FOR HER!  Other artists: Prince, Elton John, Boy George (from back in the day)...were these people talented?  Absolutely, but ask yourself how much of it was talent and how much of it was choices that they made.  Lastly, how about Steve Jobs?  Look at what this man has done for Apple...incredible...but he is still human.  These people, however successful, are still just people.  My boss, and yours as well, are still just people.

So, what is it that is so different between the ordinary and the extraordinary?  What keeps you and I from being as great as we believe these others to be?  If they were able to achieve the incredible or seemingly impossible, why can't the rest of us?  There really isn't much standing in our way except for the choices we make and the way we think about the world around us.

One simple choice that I'm making, beginning today as I write this, is what time I choose to wake up.  I've always looked at the weekends as the time to get caught up on my lack of sleep...I don't know about you, but going to bed around midnight and getting up at 5:30am catches up with you.  But you know what, I won't get to where I want to go without making some sacrifices.  So where I used to sleep in as late as I could on a Saturday (not much past 8am if I made it that far), I'm gonna shoot to be up no later than 6:30am, if not earlier.

John Maxwell says "There is a surprisingly small gap between ordinary and extraordinary.  This gap can be narrowed daily by doing a few small things consistently."  The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little bit extra.  So, if we simply do what we already do, but also continually push ourselves to do a little bit extra...we will be on that path to being extraordinary.

So, think about it.  What small 'extras' are you going to set in place to change the course of your life?

~Kevin

Behind the Scenes with Sam Cullen

Welcome to a quick behind-the-scenes tour of our portrait session with Sam Cullen.

Sam hired us a week ago to photograph her senior year dance individual portraits.  Here we will give you a little taste of what it's like to spend an evening with Kevin and Heather Autry.  Enjoy!

How we got the shot:

We set up our strobe at about a 45 degree angle to camera right.  Typically we use our 24x36' softbox attached to our strobe, but the wind was too gusty this evening.  Even without it we were able to acheive the look we were aiming for.  After we decided what sort of 'look' we wanted with this image, we used our lightmeter to get our camera and strobe setttings just right the first time.  We ended up with f11 and a shutter speed of 1/100 at ISO 100 and strobe at aproximately 1/3 power.

Gear used:

Camera - Canon 5D MKII

Lens - Canon 24-70mm f2.8

Light - White Lightning x3200

Lightmeter - Sekonic L-358

Editing:

Cropped

Slight contrast boost

How we got the shot:

With this next shot we wanted a bit more of a dramatic look, so we changed our settings to f14, shutter 1/100, ISO 100 with strobe power just over 1/3 power.  Our strobe was set at about 45 degree angle to Sam again and we had her jump away from us as we shot.  We metered to strategically capture the gorgeous setting sun.  To heighten the perspective, I took this image while laying in the grass.

It's always fun sharing the shot to show the beauty of the imagery right in the camera.

Gear used:

Camera - Canon 5D MKII

Lens - Canon 16-35mm f2.8

Lighting - White Lightning x3200

Lightmeter - Sekonic L-358

Editing:

Slight vibrance boost

How we got the shot:

Getting down and dirty is all part of the job.  At this location however, it was awkward dodging all of the goose "gifts" - hazards of the job.  (lol)  With this shot it was getting later so our aperture could be quite a bit more open: f3.5, shutter 1/160, ISO 400 and strobe power at about 1/16th.

Gear used:

Camera - Canon 5D MKII

Lens - Canon 16-35mm f2.8

Lighting - White Lightning x3200

Lightmeter - Sekonic L-358

Editing:

Levels adjusted

Cropped

How we got the shot:

Sam's good friend and fellow dancer, Alissa Maedel, was on hand for inspiration and for her technical eye.  We were glad she was there because although I LOVE dance, I am not a trained dancer and couldn't instruct Sam on her form.  Photography we can do.  Dance, not so much.   

Our gear, editing and set-up for this shot were all the same as above. 

~Heather

Frugal Friday - Batteries...extended

This Frugal Friday we're going to piggyback on last week's post regarding batteries, but today we're going to talk about battery charging.  (excited yet?!?!  lol)

Last week we talked about 'slow charging' your batteries.  What is the difference between 'slow charging' and 'fast charging', you ask?  Well, you're in luck - we have the answer!  According to the Rechargable Battery Review: "Fast charging gets your batteries charged faster but usually results in more stress due to heat. This can reduce a rechargeable battery’s useful life. Also, fast charging may not provide a complete charge.

Slow charging usually means that the battery is stressed less and does not heat up as much. It also may result in a more complete charge. Remember, this is not always true. A bad slow charger can overcharge your batteries resulting in excess heat and permanent damage.

A good charger will not overheat or overcharge the batteries which can lead to damage and a shorter rechargeable battery life span. Good and bad chargers are not based on whether they are slow or fast chargers. Good chargers are built on technology that can monitor and react to changes in  the rechargeable battery temperature and voltage appropriately."

More batteries are damaged by bad charging techniques than all other causes combined.

With all of that in mind, we wanted to let you all know about a great product that will save you $$$ and still gives an accurate slow charge.  We found a wonderful smart charger by Maha that we absolutely love!! This charger holds up to 8 AA or AAA's. It has the ability to slow charge or fast charge, however we only ever use the slow charge feature.  This method of charging takes about 2 hours to complete, so plan ahead.  In comparison, the alternative fast charge option is completed in 1 hour.  We appreciate that in the Maha charger there is a built-in microprocessor that keeps the batteries from being over charged or under charged.

It's definitely an all-around great product to have on hand if you use batteries frequently, like we do. 

~ Kevin