Gotta love it.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Pizza Photography
Shooting Pizza today... All outlined (cutout) shots. Notice the gray cards next to the pizza? That's for color balance. Nothing really exciting here, just the bread and butter of the industry. We shot 3 pizzas, five sandwiches, a garlic bread shot and two other non-food shots. Pretty full day.
I'm blowing off tomorrow to ride my motorcycle to Richmond VA to watch (and photograph) my kid play some more Lacrosse. I'll show you some of the pictures, maybe on Monday. :+)
Have a great weekend.
I'm blowing off tomorrow to ride my motorcycle to Richmond VA to watch (and photograph) my kid play some more Lacrosse. I'll show you some of the pictures, maybe on Monday. :+)
Have a great weekend.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Splash photography
Okay… Here’s an example of what we were playing with today. The shots are for a flavored water package. The one I posted is actually an early test shot, but I really like it. They’ll never use it, but I still like it. :+)
The three other images (below) are samples of previous shots that the client happened to have on her computer, that she was nice enough to put on a jump drive for me. This is how they’ll be using the images we shot today.
If you'd like to read about how I shot these, I wrote an article about it on the web page.
Here's a "behind the scenes" shot from today...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Shooting Sports Action!
It’s lacrosse season again!
I haven’t quite finished the article on “What makes food photography look natural”, but in the mean time, girl’s lacrosse season started, and since I am a professional photographer, people expect me to shoot a few games. And since I’m shooting these games, I thought take the opportunity to share with “yous guys” what little I know about shooting sports photography. I’m surely no expert at shooting sports, but I have had quite a bit of experience, being that one of my kids is an amazing athlete and has played several sports over the years.
Rule #1 – Have the right tools. For me, that’s pretty easy since I get to write off all this expensive equipment. I usually shoot with a Nikon D2x. I prefer that over my D3 because the chip is smaller, which make the lenses longer. I’d like to brag and tell you that I own a 500mm f 2.8 lens, but I don’t. I do own an 80-400mm VR lens though, which was expensive enough… I bought the lens just for shooting my kid. I may have used it at work for a shot or two, but it’s basically for shooting sports. Unless that is, you work at the IRS… Then, it’s an essential tool of my business. :+)
Like I said, I usually use my D2x for shooting sports, unless that is, it’s a night game. Then the D3 stands head and shoulders above the D2x, with regards to low light capability. I’d gladly sacrifice a few millimeters of lens for beautiful grain.
Rule #2 – Shoot with the light. Good light is good lighting, whether you’re in a food photography studio or at a lacrosse field. When possible, have the light enhance your photography. Whenever possible, I like to have the light behind my back. This tends to evenly illuminate the players and is the most forgiving and flattering lighting situations. If you shoot with the light behind you, you will find that the success of your photos will depend more on the action and composition. You will get more acceptable photos under this type of light, and this is definitely the safest way to go.
Like in many rules, the rule about shooting with the light is sometimes meant to be broken. Having the light off to one side, usually makes for a more dramatically lit photo. The problem is that your subject needs to be facing the right direction. And since you’re at the mercy of the action on the field, you will only be able to get good photos when your main subject is facing toward the light. In a sport like soccer or lacrosse where the players face every which way at any given second, this means that your target subject will be facing the light only about half the time and you’ll be missing some good action at the expense of good lighting. This is good and bad. You’ll be missing some shots, but the shots you get will be even better with the more dramatic lighting. Hey, life’s a compromise…
Rule #3 – Go with the action. Great lighting of boring action doesn’t do you any good. Your job as a photographer is to capture the best action possible with the best lighting possible. To do this, sometimes you have to think outside the box a little. When the action dictates that I face the sun, I try to directly face the sun. What this does is to “rim” the entire person in sun and not burn out anything but the rim of the person. You usually need to go with manual exposure doing this because your meter often times gets fooled by the high contrast of light in your viewfinder. The ideal situation is having the background behind the subject in shade, just as the subject’s face is in shade. This effect makes for some pretty cool photos. Another tip here is to drop your camera angle so that you eliminate as much grass from the photo as possible. The grass (field) will appear brighter than normal and usually is a little distracting in the photo when your exposure is made for the subject’s face.
Rule #4 – The tighter the crop, the better the photo. Action is usually more dramatic with a tighter crop. Why waste all that space in your picture for unrelated data such as the school bus in the background. There are times when some of the background elements support the story of the particular photo, but for the most part, The closer you get to the action, the more dramatic the image.
Rule #5 – Variety is the spice of life. One thing I have to always fight in my own photography is to vary the crop of my images. While tighter is better than looser, when it comes to cropping, sometimes a little looser or even too tight a crop makes for a good thing, if your intention is to show several photos. For example, I figure that my shots will probably end up on the team’s web page, so that if I don’t vary the crop a little the resulting web page will appear boring. Mix in some close-ups and a few looser shots if your intention is to walk away from your shoot with several photos. If you want to walk away with only the best photos possible, then tighter is still better.
Another place where variety is important is in camera angle. When shooting field sports like Soccer or lacrosse, the photographer can’t vary the vertical axis all that much, even though I have been know to lay in the grass for some shots. A good way to get some variety is on the horizontal axis. Change your point of view. I know that I will probably get the best shots from behind the goal, but after a while, all the shots look very similar. There are nice shots to be had from behind the subject too. A shot of someone shooting on goal from behind is sometimes a welcome variation when you already have a hundred shots fro the opposite angle.
Rule #6 – Don’t forget the defenders. It’s easier to shoot the offensive players because their action is usually facing you and they’re usually closer. Defenders like photos too.
Rule #7 – Shoot high traffic situations. I try to shoot as many photos as possible when the target subject is in high traffic situations. Having the opponent in the shot brings more tension and purpose to the photos. It illustrates the struggle of the sport and makes everything more purposeful. It adds drama too.
This point reminds me of a photo I took of my daughter’s soccer game when she was nine years old. The shot was pretty cool. She was sort of hopping over a defender and you could see that she had just scooted the ball post the opponent and there were several girls in chase. It was definitely a keeper photo, but what made is really special years later, was that the opponents in the photo ended up being good friends of my daughter’s, that she hadn’t even met yet! It was like capturing a part of history that we didn’t even know would be significant.
Rule #8 – See faces. Sure, a dramatic pose is one thing, but if you don’t see the eyes of the player, it looses just a little. If possible, try to get the player’s eyes visible in the photo.
This is my kid. She's an amazing player and a pretty damn good person too.
Rule #9 – It’s about drama! Compositionally, you want some flow to the picture. If you can get the players with their hands, legs, and sticks forming an interesting shape, you’re much better off. A leaning body is more interesting then a straight up and down body and a falling body is even more fun to look at.
Rule #10 – Simplify the backgrounds – While action around the subject usually adds to the shot, “stud going on” way behind the subject, is usually nothing but distracting. Whenever possible, try to shoot with simple backgrounds, with as little in focus as possible. If you’re confident in your camera’s focusing ability, shoot wide open. That’s one of the tricks to making the viewer concentrate on your photo’s subject. Have only your subject in focus and there’s nothing else to look at, right?
If you are able to have the focus trop off so that the background is not distracting, it’s sometimes interesting to select a background that has some interesting colors. You don’t want to pick colors that distract too much or conflict with your subject. You don’t want a red background if your school’s uniform is red. Contrasting or neutral colors are good background colors, similar colors to your subject’s predominate color, do not make for good background colors.
Rule #11 – If possible, have the ball in the shot. Somehow, having the ball in the shot makes for a better shot. It brings relevancy to the photo. It’s not just a picture of two kids running down the field, it’s a picture of one kid trying to do something relevant while another is trying to prevent the success of the opponent. It helps tell the story. You will be able to have some decent photos without the ball, but you’ll find that the ball brings some excitement that just isn’t there without it.
Okay, so there you go… This is pretty much what I know about and use in my sports photography. Hopefully this will come in handy when it comes to shooting your own kids or maybe when you get to opportunity to make a few bucks on the side shooting the local teams.
Good luck
I haven’t quite finished the article on “What makes food photography look natural”, but in the mean time, girl’s lacrosse season started, and since I am a professional photographer, people expect me to shoot a few games. And since I’m shooting these games, I thought take the opportunity to share with “yous guys” what little I know about shooting sports photography. I’m surely no expert at shooting sports, but I have had quite a bit of experience, being that one of my kids is an amazing athlete and has played several sports over the years.
Rule #1 – Have the right tools. For me, that’s pretty easy since I get to write off all this expensive equipment. I usually shoot with a Nikon D2x. I prefer that over my D3 because the chip is smaller, which make the lenses longer. I’d like to brag and tell you that I own a 500mm f 2.8 lens, but I don’t. I do own an 80-400mm VR lens though, which was expensive enough… I bought the lens just for shooting my kid. I may have used it at work for a shot or two, but it’s basically for shooting sports. Unless that is, you work at the IRS… Then, it’s an essential tool of my business. :+)
Like I said, I usually use my D2x for shooting sports, unless that is, it’s a night game. Then the D3 stands head and shoulders above the D2x, with regards to low light capability. I’d gladly sacrifice a few millimeters of lens for beautiful grain.
Rule #2 – Shoot with the light. Good light is good lighting, whether you’re in a food photography studio or at a lacrosse field. When possible, have the light enhance your photography. Whenever possible, I like to have the light behind my back. This tends to evenly illuminate the players and is the most forgiving and flattering lighting situations. If you shoot with the light behind you, you will find that the success of your photos will depend more on the action and composition. You will get more acceptable photos under this type of light, and this is definitely the safest way to go.
Like in many rules, the rule about shooting with the light is sometimes meant to be broken. Having the light off to one side, usually makes for a more dramatically lit photo. The problem is that your subject needs to be facing the right direction. And since you’re at the mercy of the action on the field, you will only be able to get good photos when your main subject is facing toward the light. In a sport like soccer or lacrosse where the players face every which way at any given second, this means that your target subject will be facing the light only about half the time and you’ll be missing some good action at the expense of good lighting. This is good and bad. You’ll be missing some shots, but the shots you get will be even better with the more dramatic lighting. Hey, life’s a compromise…
Rule #3 – Go with the action. Great lighting of boring action doesn’t do you any good. Your job as a photographer is to capture the best action possible with the best lighting possible. To do this, sometimes you have to think outside the box a little. When the action dictates that I face the sun, I try to directly face the sun. What this does is to “rim” the entire person in sun and not burn out anything but the rim of the person. You usually need to go with manual exposure doing this because your meter often times gets fooled by the high contrast of light in your viewfinder. The ideal situation is having the background behind the subject in shade, just as the subject’s face is in shade. This effect makes for some pretty cool photos. Another tip here is to drop your camera angle so that you eliminate as much grass from the photo as possible. The grass (field) will appear brighter than normal and usually is a little distracting in the photo when your exposure is made for the subject’s face.
Rule #4 – The tighter the crop, the better the photo. Action is usually more dramatic with a tighter crop. Why waste all that space in your picture for unrelated data such as the school bus in the background. There are times when some of the background elements support the story of the particular photo, but for the most part, The closer you get to the action, the more dramatic the image.
Rule #5 – Variety is the spice of life. One thing I have to always fight in my own photography is to vary the crop of my images. While tighter is better than looser, when it comes to cropping, sometimes a little looser or even too tight a crop makes for a good thing, if your intention is to show several photos. For example, I figure that my shots will probably end up on the team’s web page, so that if I don’t vary the crop a little the resulting web page will appear boring. Mix in some close-ups and a few looser shots if your intention is to walk away from your shoot with several photos. If you want to walk away with only the best photos possible, then tighter is still better.
Another place where variety is important is in camera angle. When shooting field sports like Soccer or lacrosse, the photographer can’t vary the vertical axis all that much, even though I have been know to lay in the grass for some shots. A good way to get some variety is on the horizontal axis. Change your point of view. I know that I will probably get the best shots from behind the goal, but after a while, all the shots look very similar. There are nice shots to be had from behind the subject too. A shot of someone shooting on goal from behind is sometimes a welcome variation when you already have a hundred shots fro the opposite angle.
Rule #6 – Don’t forget the defenders. It’s easier to shoot the offensive players because their action is usually facing you and they’re usually closer. Defenders like photos too.
Rule #7 – Shoot high traffic situations. I try to shoot as many photos as possible when the target subject is in high traffic situations. Having the opponent in the shot brings more tension and purpose to the photos. It illustrates the struggle of the sport and makes everything more purposeful. It adds drama too.
This point reminds me of a photo I took of my daughter’s soccer game when she was nine years old. The shot was pretty cool. She was sort of hopping over a defender and you could see that she had just scooted the ball post the opponent and there were several girls in chase. It was definitely a keeper photo, but what made is really special years later, was that the opponents in the photo ended up being good friends of my daughter’s, that she hadn’t even met yet! It was like capturing a part of history that we didn’t even know would be significant.
Rule #8 – See faces. Sure, a dramatic pose is one thing, but if you don’t see the eyes of the player, it looses just a little. If possible, try to get the player’s eyes visible in the photo.
This is my kid. She's an amazing player and a pretty damn good person too.
Rule #9 – It’s about drama! Compositionally, you want some flow to the picture. If you can get the players with their hands, legs, and sticks forming an interesting shape, you’re much better off. A leaning body is more interesting then a straight up and down body and a falling body is even more fun to look at.
Rule #10 – Simplify the backgrounds – While action around the subject usually adds to the shot, “stud going on” way behind the subject, is usually nothing but distracting. Whenever possible, try to shoot with simple backgrounds, with as little in focus as possible. If you’re confident in your camera’s focusing ability, shoot wide open. That’s one of the tricks to making the viewer concentrate on your photo’s subject. Have only your subject in focus and there’s nothing else to look at, right?
If you are able to have the focus trop off so that the background is not distracting, it’s sometimes interesting to select a background that has some interesting colors. You don’t want to pick colors that distract too much or conflict with your subject. You don’t want a red background if your school’s uniform is red. Contrasting or neutral colors are good background colors, similar colors to your subject’s predominate color, do not make for good background colors.
Rule #11 – If possible, have the ball in the shot. Somehow, having the ball in the shot makes for a better shot. It brings relevancy to the photo. It’s not just a picture of two kids running down the field, it’s a picture of one kid trying to do something relevant while another is trying to prevent the success of the opponent. It helps tell the story. You will be able to have some decent photos without the ball, but you’ll find that the ball brings some excitement that just isn’t there without it.
Okay, so there you go… This is pretty much what I know about and use in my sports photography. Hopefully this will come in handy when it comes to shooting your own kids or maybe when you get to opportunity to make a few bucks on the side shooting the local teams.
Good luck
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Email promotion
This is what I've been doing the last couple of days (mostly)
http://www.foodportfolio.com/e/pages/MichaelRay3_09.html
I had a couple of small projects come in over the last couple of days, but for the most part, I've been working on an email promotion. Yes, some may call it spam, just as all those postcards in your mailbox are considered "junk mail", but if you're going to be a professional photographer, you need to promote yourself and email promotions are effective and have a great ROI.
So what do you think?
I tried to make it more personal than just an ad, and a few people (in forums where I gave it a preview) stated that they didn't care for the approach. Obviously, I liked it...
I know... This subject really isn't about food photography, but it is a bout professional photography. If you're not interested in marketing, you won't survive as an independent professional photographer. I'd put money on it, no matter how good you are.
Here's the way this works... I design this emaier in web page software (I currently use Go-Live,but will need to learn Dreamweaver soon) and then copy the html from the page into my "spamming" email software. In order to embed an images in the email, without having it be an attachment, you need to have the image or images on a server software and put the URL of that image into the html of the emailer. That way, the images shows up, but not as an attachment.
I got about 80 positive responses from my email blast. I'm not sure how many images were opened, but these types of promotions tend to work over time. Someone may have opened the email, liked it, went to my site, bookmarked it, but didn't contact me. And then, when the right job shows up on their desk, they'll contact me. As least that's how I hope it happens. :+)
TTFN!
http://www.foodportfolio.com/e/pages/MichaelRay3_09.html
I had a couple of small projects come in over the last couple of days, but for the most part, I've been working on an email promotion. Yes, some may call it spam, just as all those postcards in your mailbox are considered "junk mail", but if you're going to be a professional photographer, you need to promote yourself and email promotions are effective and have a great ROI.
So what do you think?
I tried to make it more personal than just an ad, and a few people (in forums where I gave it a preview) stated that they didn't care for the approach. Obviously, I liked it...
I know... This subject really isn't about food photography, but it is a bout professional photography. If you're not interested in marketing, you won't survive as an independent professional photographer. I'd put money on it, no matter how good you are.
Here's the way this works... I design this emaier in web page software (I currently use Go-Live,but will need to learn Dreamweaver soon) and then copy the html from the page into my "spamming" email software. In order to embed an images in the email, without having it be an attachment, you need to have the image or images on a server software and put the URL of that image into the html of the emailer. That way, the images shows up, but not as an attachment.
I got about 80 positive responses from my email blast. I'm not sure how many images were opened, but these types of promotions tend to work over time. Someone may have opened the email, liked it, went to my site, bookmarked it, but didn't contact me. And then, when the right job shows up on their desk, they'll contact me. As least that's how I hope it happens. :+)
TTFN!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Natural Food Photography
* For those on the mailing list, please post you homework assignment as a "comment" so that others may benefit from your insight.
I'm writing an article here that will probable end up on one of my other pages (pro-photography 101 or food photography blog) but I thought I'd post my working draft ere in the mean time.
I've come to notice some things lately in my own photography that I hadn't noticed before. I'm doing more subtle things that I think have made a big difference in my work. Once you get to a certain point in your career, the improvements tend to be minor, compared to when it's earlier in your career and there's more to discover. I guess it's the "old dog, new tricks" syndrome.
Anyway... I wanted to share some things that I think will help the budding food photographer's learning curve go a little faster. This is the first part of the article. I need to add illustrations and photos, but that will come later. You'll just have to tune in later.
Natural food photography – (First draft)
Have you ever wondered about what makes a food photo look natural? Sure, documentary and photojournalism photographs by definition, usually tend to look natural. What about other types of photography? What about food photography?
When a food photographer takes out his camera and takes a picture of an existing environment, things tend to look very natural in the resulting photo, but when that same photographer tries to create a natural looking photo in the studio, he very often falls short of the mark. I’m not saying that the photos always look good, but they usually look “natural”. There are many reasons for this shortfall, and this article will attempt to explore why many studio images (food photography in particular) do not seem to look as natural is they could.
For the sake of organization, I’ve broken the issue of how to make your studio food photography into two categories. One category I call “inside the crop”, which refers to all the elements that can be seen directly in the boundaries of the photograph. The other category I call “outside the crop” which refers to all the elements that aren’t inside the boundaries of the photo, but sill affect the look and fee of the food photo.
I consider this article to be a bit advanced for most photographers just beginning their career as a professional, but I think if you can understand that issues like this exist, you can shorten your learning curve immensely. Usually, beginning professionals are more concerned about things like f-stops and getting things in focus. Some photographers never get past that part of photography, while others realize that all that technical stuff is just a set of tools that enable the photographer to create photos that fulfill their visions.
When I say things like “fulfill their visions”, don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about some high falutten, mystical ideological translation of some obscure concept. I’m talking about simple decisions we all make as photographers to create better photos that fulfill out needs. One example might be, “which depth of field would work best for what I’m trying to do”? Or another might be, “What should be in focus to help sell this product”?
Inside the crop
When a food photographer sets up a shot, and I’m assuming that this is some kind of environmental shot, there will usually need to be several elements in the photo to make it look natural. If you look on your own diner table or restaurant table during your next meal, you will probably notice things that you hadn’t thought would be there. There might be a menu rack or table tent display, or an extra plate off to the side that no one is using, or a candleholder or some other object not normally around. I’m not saying that you should put weird things in all your shots, just be aware that thinking outside the box with propping, can sometimes make your shot look a little more natural.
Too many food photos tend to be much to sterile looking, in my opinion. People make a mess when they eat, usually. Some of their food leaves crumbs behind and sometimes not all those crumbs stay on the plate. Sometimes people don’t put their silverware back exactly where they picked it up. Heck, sometimes the kids set the table and the fork is on the wrong side of the plate and sometimes the water glass is not where Martha Stewart suggested it should be.
Sometimes, people actually eat their food. At least some of it might be gone before the picture is taken. In real life, that may actually happen ya know... Sure, it might not make for a national ad, but maybe it would be perfect for an editorial illustration.
To be continued…
Before I leave, I have a homework assignment for you...
Name three things that make the food photo look "more" natural than it might have...?
Good luck!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
K.I.T. Calls
While I'm on the subject of marketing, I wanted to suggest to you that's it's important to KIT, or Keep In Touch with your client base. One good way to do it is to get on the phone and just shoot-the-shit a little, and another way is to just drop someone an email once in awhile. Whichever way you do it, it's a good idea. Remember what they say... Out of sight, out of mind". The longer you're out of contact with a client, the more likely they are to find a new supplier.
Of course, like everything else, you can overdue this... I think that dropping someone an email once a month is just about the right frequency. The tough part about doing this is coming up with a good excuse for the contact. If you're at all like me, it's not all that easy for you in the social arena. Frankly, it's not my nature to just pick up the phone and chat, so I need to come up with an excuse. I'm always searching for excuses, but here are some favorite ideas I have for contacting clients...
Web page update - just let them know I've updated the site and that they should check it out if they have time. (just used this one today...)
New shot that I like - I'll send a .jpg and ask them to check out this new technique or style.
News / Gossip - Hey I heard so-and so just got canned.
I thought of you - ...when such a thing happened.
Ask a question - Hey, do you happen to know ...
Those are just a couple of my excuses. The tough part comes when you have multiple contacts at the same place. You just can't (you can, but you feel stupid) send the same kind of email to the same office, just in case the two people happen to talk aobut you and compare notes.
This may sound really contrived and a little fake, but it's still a good idea. If it comes naturally to you, great. If not, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Remember... Out of sight, out of work.
:+)
Of course, like everything else, you can overdue this... I think that dropping someone an email once a month is just about the right frequency. The tough part about doing this is coming up with a good excuse for the contact. If you're at all like me, it's not all that easy for you in the social arena. Frankly, it's not my nature to just pick up the phone and chat, so I need to come up with an excuse. I'm always searching for excuses, but here are some favorite ideas I have for contacting clients...
Web page update - just let them know I've updated the site and that they should check it out if they have time. (just used this one today...)
New shot that I like - I'll send a .jpg and ask them to check out this new technique or style.
News / Gossip - Hey I heard so-and so just got canned.
I thought of you - ...when such a thing happened.
Ask a question - Hey, do you happen to know ...
Those are just a couple of my excuses. The tough part comes when you have multiple contacts at the same place. You just can't (you can, but you feel stupid) send the same kind of email to the same office, just in case the two people happen to talk aobut you and compare notes.
This may sound really contrived and a little fake, but it's still a good idea. If it comes naturally to you, great. If not, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Remember... Out of sight, out of work.
:+)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Learn how to make web pages!
If you're going to be a professional photographer, you should probably learn how to design web pages. Sure, your design skills will probably never rival what a full time professional web designer could create, but still, the skill comes in handy. Really handy.
As a professional photographer, you'll need to market yourself, and in this day and age, the internet is a huge part of marketing. Show me a failing photography business, and I'll show you a poor marketer. Failure in photography has very little to do with talent (IMHO) it has much more to do with not being able to reach a market that needs your type and quality of photography. Yes, I'm saying that even horrible photographers can enjoy this profession, just to horrible marketing photographers.
That's where your need to learn web design comes in handy. Did you know that email marketing involves web design too? Yes, it does. All that spam you get is actually emailed web pages (html). Should you become a spammer? I am... kinda. The thing about email marketing is that there is a very thin line between email marketing and spamming. Think of it in reference to your own "inbox". There are probably emails that you receive that you find interesting, that I might consider to be spam. One man's spam is another man's opportunity.
It's about targeting. But that's another subject for another post. We're talking about learning to design web pages. If you can design web pages, you'll also know how to create emailers too and that's a big part of marketing for the professional photographer.
Sure, you can always hire someone to do your web design, whenever you need it, but when you start out in professional photography, money will be tight. There will be times (always really...) when you'll have to make decisions about where to spend scarce resources, and if at those times you can do your own web design, funds will end up going to other needed things. In the beginning, you'll have more time than money, time you could spend marketing, if you know how to design web pages and emailers.
In other words, success is largely about marketing and marketing is closely related to web design. Therefore... if success = marketing and marketing = web design, then it stands to reason that success = web design... :+)
This is a sample of my spam... I mean,,,, my email marketing. :+) I sent this to about 6,000 people. Not all appreciated it, some did.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I'm working on a new web page...
Big & Simple...
When you're a self-employed professional photographer, you end up wearing many hats. Today's hat is marketing manager / web designer. Part of building a business is marketing and thankfully, it's part of my job that I enjoy. As a matter of fact, there aren't too many parts of the job that I don't enjoy...
So here I am re-designing my web page. I like the current design, except for the fact that the images are a little too small. The current trend is toward larger images, I'm assuming because of the greater impact they have and also based on the fact that most viewers have greater band-width then they had just a few years ago.
I'm jumping on the band wagon and since I do my own web design, I'm in the process of making it happen. I don't have a shoot today so today I'm web designing. If you care to see the work in progress, you can see it at: http://www.foodportfolio.com
I'd appreciate any feedback.
Thanks!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Food Photography - It's about the details
Most novices to the photographic industry would think that "motion" photography takes longer than "still" photography, but in reality, the opposite is true. The thing about still photography that makes it take longer to shoot is because the motion image is only there in front of the viewer for a second or two, while with still photography, the viewer can sit there as long as they care to, and analyze the picture to death if they want. The still food photographer has to keep that in mind when he approaches his task.
I was listening to NPR a few years ago and someone was interviewing a member of the Bee-Gees (sp?). The interviewer said something like, “How do go about writing good music?) The musician said something to the effect of… “Most songs are about three minutes long, and I try to fill every moment of that time with something interesting”. That statement stuck with me over the years and I think that you can apply that same principle to photography. A photograph is a piece of paper (or file) with a defined area. It’s your job as a photographer to fill that space, all the space, with something interesting. The elements in your photo should be interesting to look at. Yes, you have to be careful that the wrong things in the image don’t look too interesting, and take attention away from the main subject of your photo, but they should look interesting none-the-less…
I’ve included three images from today’s shoot. We actually did four shots today, but I didn’t really like the fourth, so why share stuff you don’t like…? :+) One the third image, I’ve included a couple of close-ups to illustrate the point about how the details are important.
Here are three images taken as the shot was being built.
This shot looks pretty good, right? Ok, take a look at this shot and the next.
Here's the area to look at.
compare it to this area...
These details aren't even in focus, (on purpose) and I still thnk that they're really important in making a good photo.
Here's a little difference. It's just a little mirror into the rice and front of the fish
See how this shot has just a little more life...
And here way the last tweak I made. Most people wouldn't even have noticed it,but to me, it makes the shot. I think little things like this is what separates me from my competitors.
Before
After
Early
Final
Okay, that's it for this week. The whether is nice for a change and I'm going for a motorcycle ride!
Have a great weekend!
Stuff from yesterday
Here's some stuff from yesterday. I had two different clients, 1/2 day-1/2 day. Very different stuff, but like my email signature used to say... It's all in the lighting!
I'm a little short on time, I'll have more later. We're shooting food today. :+)
I'm a little short on time, I'll have more later. We're shooting food today. :+)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Take Notes
Sine part of the purpose of writing this blog is to give you an idea of the “life” of a professional photographer, I figure that I’d try to include a few “every-day” lessons. One lesson that I would like to share with you is the benefit of keeping notes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I remembered how I previously lit something. Many clients come back and want you to do “some more” photography for them and they’d like it to match the previous stuff you’ve done for them. A few years back, I started making notes on some of the jobs I did. Sure, some jobs I forget to document, and it comes back to bite me, but all-in-all, taking notes has paid off and I’d really suggest that start the habit.
There is one down-side to taking notes. It’s easy to get lazy and just refer to the notes instead of tackling a similar, but new lighting challenge. Why not just light this thing like I lit it last time? It worked then, right? Well, mostly because you’ll never grow as a photographer, that’s why. I pride myself in constantly improving as a photographer, so why would I not try to improve my lighting on EVERY shot? Why light it like I did a month ago, or a year ago? Aren’t I a better photographer today than I was then? I hope so…
Having said that… There will be times when you need to match an old job, and when that happens, it’s really good to know how you did it. So keep notes. I like to make little drawings and document the lights that I used and the direction and sometime the power of the strobes too. I usually like to write down the lens I used and sometimes even the aperture I used, and other times even the distance from camera to subject.
These drawings really came in handy with today’s job. Without my notes, I would have had a really tough time matching the shots form a year ago, but since I had them, it was a breeze…
You think clients would know better than to leave their products at the studio overnight. :+)
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