Experimentation with light
Many of you know and a bunch of you don’t know that Photography and Filmmaking are actually all about light when it comes to the image. Light is the key to making an image look great. Not enough light and the image is noisy and the colors will look strange, the sharpness of the photograph will be terrible making the image look grainy. In film/video it’s even more of a problem. The sensors our camera use today is light years beyond what was available just ten years ago but even still, they aren’t even close to the old celluloid film and much less, the human eye with its big grey central computer with the far superior AI built into every model.
Many of you know and a bunch of you don’t know that Photography and Filmmaking are actually all about light when it comes to the image. Light is the key to making an image look great. Not enough light and the image is noisy and the colors will look strange, the sharpness of the photograph will be terrible making the image look grainy. In film/video it’s even more of a problem. The sensors our camera use today is light years beyond what was available just ten years ago but even still, they aren’t even close to the old celluloid film and much less, the human eye with its big grey central computer with the far superior AI built into every model.
This last week, I jumped off the deep end and bought my first professional film/video/photograph light. I have never bought one before because of the high cost. With some models costing as much as twenty-nine thousand dollars, there was absolutely no way I would ever have a pro-level LED light of any kind.
The good news is, the technology always advances and the price comes down.
I searched the web and scoured the pro photography sites like B&H and Adorama and found that there is a brand out there that video/film creators have come to trust. The price point still being eleven hundred dollars for the buy-in though, I was hesitant. While I know that the price is pretty much the lowest it has been for this type of light, it is still a bit much. Actually, it is ALOT. I mulled it over and thought about the way it could improve my shooting. I wondered for a very long time if the light would actually be that much more powerful than the current Panel LED’s I was using. I scoured the internets looking for a direct comparison of the two types of light for weeks but found none. The unknown kept me from purchasing.
Then one night I was making a small thirty-second pitch to Imagine Impact about who My screenwriter Donald and I are and why out movie the “Conscript” should be made. I filmed Donald easily, as it was done in my home office against the couple of hundred books and an old manual typewriter I have laying around. Then I went to film my part. We wanted to separate the two of us and use the “atmosphere” to tell the viewer who we are since we did not have any time to use words for the explanation. I set up the lighting I had, two LED panel lights, in my yard against a spooky background. I wanted to use a Gel or a semi-clear plastic colored red to light the background and a blue, daylight color for my light or “Key Light”. I saw it in my head and it looked absolutely great. In reality, though, it was far from what I pictured.
The background was only slightly red and some foreground elements were red too. It is what cinematographers and photographers call “light Leak”. I tried to get it to look good but I couldn’t pull out the background with my Sony a7III SLR. I didn’t have enough light. It was such a colossal failure that Donald and I contemplated scrapping that idea and the footage to make something else. I hate having to go back and something again just because I cannot make it look right, especially when the performance was right. So, I caved and used it anyway.
Here is the final product:
It actually turned out pretty good and most definitely expresses that there is a major difference between Donald and me when it comes to the different approach to screenwriting and filmmaking. Mission accomplished, sort of. As a filmmaker, if I cannot match what I see in my head, it is actually a failure.
The only solution to my problem is to up my game when it comes to lighting. Because of the way I create is often spontaneous and usually happens fairly quickly, renting is out of the question. So the only choice I have left is to own the correct lighting so it is available when I need it. I have tried to plan shoots in the past but it hardly ever works out because of the commitments of other key players in the plan or lack thereof.
Aputure 300D MKII
So this last week I ordered the Aputure 300D MKII COB LED Light. It actually scared me to spend that much money on such a thing. I mean I have managed to pull off some amazing stuff in the past ten years with the absolute cheapest lighting gear I could find, and you know, thinking like that is probably what has held me back.
Now, I didn’t just order the light and go on, I know I am going to be faced with lighting challenges that are going to be super technical and I will need everything I know to get the job done right. That means I am going to need an arsenal of light modifiers to help me get out of any future tricky situation.
It does come with a very good light “can” as I call it and it is super useful. But that isn’t going to be anywhere good enough to make the 300D MKII a rounded tool that is capable of lighting multiple situations. The light by itself only lends itself to what is called “Hard Light”. If you have ever taken a photo with your phone during the afternoon and thought that it could have been a great pic but there is something that just isn’t right, that’s because you shot it using the hardest light out there, the sun.
So, I also had to get three hundred bucks worth of other things: a softbox, a Fresnel (pronounced Frenel), and some barn doors.
Light Dome
Fresnel (Spot Light)
Barn Doors
While you may not think much of these things, I assure you, they make a monstrous difference when trying to control light. The softbox basically softens the light, the Fresnel Sharpens, and amplifies light and the barn doors keep light from spilling onto unwanted areas or creating a “sliver” of light for more dramatic stuff. All of these tools can be used in extremely creative ways that add nuance to any Photograph or movie and boy was I anxious to try them out.
I ordered the entire set up on Monday and wasn’t able to get them for almost a WEEK! Seems that COVID19 has dropped the speed in which you can get your stuff delivered from two to three days to as excruciatingly long as one can wait while still being considered express. I watched the FedEx tracking number like a hawk. You can go to the website and see exactly where all of your packages are, or at least, where they were, whenever you want. It isn’t very accurate and it also shows you just how inept large companies can be at keeping inventory centralized. It seems that three of the four boxes this stuff came in weren’t even in the same location. It also let me know that FedEx runs at least two trucks at the same time from New Jersey to the Kansas City area. I wonder if the drivers ever noticed that they pass each other on the highway but never go to the same place? Anyway, half the packages landed in Kansas City while the other half landed in Lenexa Kansas, at almost the same time and only ten to twenty miles apart. I sat at my desk cringing and then cringing more until finally, it said: “on the truck for delivery”. Man, that was a long day. Finally getting my packages I put off tearing into them immediately for about an hour trying to retain some respectability. But, I couldn’t take it anymore and unpacked it all, put the light together, and trying out each attachment so I could see.
Oh boy, did I see
Getting the light out and setting it up, I compared it to the small light panel, praying under my breath the entire time that it would be substantially brighter and my money wasn’t wasted. Thank God I was not disappointed. Comparing the two lights I discovered that the small light quickly was overcome by the 300D. In fact, the 300D overtook the (now confirmed) dinky light panel with only Seven Percent output. Seven Percent! That means it would take ten light panels to create the amount of light of the 300D. Holy Cow!
So now it was time to put it to the test. I arranged for a model to show up at the house to be a guinea pig for my new found light source. I decided to only use the 300D and no other lights for the test. Because of its massive amount of light, I figured the best first test of its natural ability would be to recreate the old Hollywood lighting from the days of Noir and before. Truly a good place to start learning the nuances of the light. Plus the Fresnel is basically a spotlight so I could definitely use that for this type of photography. Two for one!
The day of the shoot was hot, muggy, and miserable. Within ten minutes of setting up, I was soaked to the bone with sweat. The model was suffering too, her hair, while straight and quaffed at the beginning, by the end it was crawling off of her head like Medusa’s snakes. Add to that the approach of a massive lightning storm moving in, well, I was in a hurry. When I am in a hurry, I make mistakes, as we all do. Out of all the photographs, every one of them was underexposed two to three stops. ug…
This is a photo straight out of the camera. I was using a manual lens with a custom white balance and I thought I took the photo correctly. Sadly, I didn’t. I have been shooting film and video long enough that you would think I would recognize when the image is underexposed this much. When shooting film/video I always over expose the frame to I can bring it down in post to keep noise out of my black or dark colors. For some reason, that strategy went out the window and I didnt pay attention to my camera when it told me I was under exposing.
Again, I was in a hurry because it was seemingly about to rain and I wouldn’t have been a happy camper if I immediately lost my light to moisture before getting to use it for the first time.
The saving grace, once again, was the power of the little Sony a7III. In movie mode, it only has six to eight stops of dynamic range but in stills mode that shoots up to eighteen. In other words, I can raise the exposure three to four times the brightness of the original without losing the range of color or introducing noise to the photograph and ruining it. Thank God once again for technology that saves my worthless butt.
Putting the photographs into Lightroom I was able to see what I was after. A giant sigh of relief was exclaimed and I began working on the photographs. While these aren’t the most perfect set of images in the world, I think they are pretty damn good, considering.
Isolation makes us do strange things.
I did create something exciting this weekend, though. I broke out my fog machine and filmed an eerie scene of smoke coming through the slats on a chair in my yard. Donald showed up for a few minutes. We stayed six feet apart, just like you’re supposed to (we do that anyway, no biggie).
I have had many jobs over the years. Most of them have been entrepreneurial. I sold Insurance for the majority of the time. Yeah, that was fun, NOT. I was, for a long time, a freelance filmmaker and photographer. That made for many long days and sometimes weeks working from home by myself. Rarely did I have any co-workers, and I was mostly alone in my house trying to edit or drum up a sale. Usually, I spent my time learning something new or honing my After-Effects or Photoshop skills. It was a solitary existence. I do not have children, and my wife works strange hours, so it is always eerily quiet. Some people might find that relaxing, but for a guy like me, it is exhausting.
I need action and conversation to stimulate my brain. My attitude gets questionable when I have no one around to stoke the fires of creativity. I like to tell people that I am the type of person that likes to hear the roar of the cannonballs. That means there always has to be something exciting happening around me. Solitude is boring.
These past few weeks have been nerve-racking to me. But I am working it out. I get to go into the office a little here and there. Even there, I am by myself. I have made a few product videos and some promotional stuff for an online event, but they are kind of lame. They aren’t lame because the product I created isn’t any good; they are lame because it’s not hard work, and it is just an inanimate object spinning around on a turntable. There is no meat on the bone, so to speak.
I did create something exciting this weekend, though. I broke out my fog machine and filmed an eerie scene of smoke coming through the slats on a chair in my yard. Donald showed up for a few minutes. We stayed six feet apart, just like you’re supposed to (we do that anyway, no biggie).
Here is what I shot. It doesn’t have a story, but it is kind of cool.
On the set; A film that took six years to make.
As you know, I love filmmaking. The one thing that always brings a smile to my face is when a project is finished, and the world gets to see.
On The Set of
The “Tech Files” by Joseph Hitchcock
As you know, I love filmmaking. The one thing that always brings a smile to my face is when a project is finished, and the world gets to see. Just the other day, I worked on a film set with one of the most exciting filmmakers in NWA Joseph Hitchcock on a project that has taken six years to finish principal photography.
Yes, you read that right, Six Years.
For me, that is an insanely long time. I tend to get my projects done in record time. It works for me, and I consistently win awards for my films. But not everyone who makes films does it this way. Sometimes, for an artist to really get what they want, it takes forever. It isn't a good thing or a bad thing, it is just how they operate.
No, he is not related to Alfred, but I do share the same birthday as the heralded filmmaker of classics such as "North by Northwest) .
Alfred Hitchcock and I have the same birthday!
Many years ago, Hitchcock asked me to film an action sequence for him. It was in a parking garage somewhere in Fayetteville, and I was more than excited to do it. Remember, I think this stuff is super fun and would do it all day for free if I didn't have bills to pay. He had some shots he wanted to get, and I talked him into getting some extra stuff that I thought would be super interesting. The shoot ended and I thought that was the end of it. I looked and stalked his online profiles for about a year, hoping to see the final product, It never appeared.
Oh well, I thought, such is filmmaking. Maybe it wasn't any good, or perhaps the other shots were so different from what I shot that it blew up the entire project. This is something that happens when you have several different shooters on a film. One may be conservative with their shots, and another is super aggressive, causing the film to look disjointed and hard to watch.
Turns out, that wasn't the case with this film (called The Tech Files), it was more of a matter of not having the time to do it, I would suppose. In fact, Hitchcock just got back from Eastern Europe where he has been living for the past year or more, and before that, he was living in L.A. while he was touring the country for his music career. He just did not have the time and opportunity to finish the dang thing.
Action sequence I shot from the film “The Tech Files”
Come on man, get off the phone Hitch!
As always, there were significant hiccups with the production. The warehouse that was scheduled for shooting canceled. I hate that. Hitchcock was scrambling hard to find a warehouse to shoot in with only hours to spare. We brainstormed for a while and came up with a couple of solutions. Finally settling on a place called "Free Geek." The lady who runs the place is pretty nice, she let us use the warehouse without any restrictions.
For those of you that don't know, Free Geek is a non-profit that recycles old electronics. If you have a bunch of hardware left over from dead or dying computers, printers or whatever, that's the place to take them rather than throwing them away. If they can refurbish them, they do. If they are just dead, they break them down into parts and send them to the appropriate places rather than just the landfill.
Plus, if you need something, they probably have it at a price that's much less than new. They also help out the community when technology is, but there are few funds to pay for it. The non-profit I run, Arts and Entertainment Council, get stuff from there every now and again.
Needless to say, we shot some pretty exciting stuff. I am eager (once again) to see the final product.
On that note, I do have a few projects of my own coming down the pipe. I am holding the first rehearsal or table read for a three page short about a Queen who has finally captured the leader of the resistance. This should be interesting, and honestly, it comes right before the giant fight scene that would typically be there.
The other project of consequence is Three "twenty-somethings" who find themselves being hunted by the most dangerous supernatural monsters imaginable only to find that the supernatural is also what can save them as well as gain a great friend. Yeah, I am still working on that logline.
On the hunt for a great Landscape
The end of a day; the sun making its nightly exit known to all. Its colors are the last grasp with the exclamation that it will return. It's rays folding through the trees, over the fields and bringing the depth of what is real to a warm and loving close.
I suppose I could say I am feeling better. The last piece of the puzzle to making me whole again is my voice. I am still just as hoarse and raspy as I was almost two weeks ago. Good news for anyone that thinks I am too loud (which is many more people than you may think) but bad news for me, as I cannot do some of my work yet. If you are an avid listener to my podcast, you would not be remiss to think that I may have just given it all up. Trust me, I haven't. I will be back to podcasting just as soon as my voice can handle it.
Since I was feeling ninety percent myself again, I was able to get out and take some photos. Because I haven't been shooting much, I decided to take some images of the Fayetteville Farmers Market. We got lucky and were able to get a great parking spot near the Fayetteville square (usually we have to walk four blocks) making it much more palatable for my weakened constitution. With just a few steps, we were smack dab in the crowd.
Typically, there isn't much more than the run of the mill Farmer's market stuff by the time we arrive (usually late because, you know, sleep). But to my pleasant surprise, we found ourselves face to face with a brass band. They were fair, not great, but good enough for a farmers market. I enjoyed the throwback tunes and the novelty of it all. Although I wasn't prepared to do so, I thought I would grab some video. After all, that is kinda what I do for a living.
After returning home and doing my thing with the photographs and the video footage. I mentioned to my friend that I was still trying to figure out precisely what kind of pictures people may want to purchase. He joined me in my office, and while contemplating his thoughts, we came across an interesting pic of a Golden Retriever. He sat up and exclaimed that it would be the perfect one to sell. I wasn't (and frankly, still not) convinced that anyone would want to purchase such a photo. It isn't their dog, so why would anyone want the face of a stranger adorning their walls, was my reply. He insisted and called in his girlfriend to confirm his epiphany. They were so adamant about it that I figured "why not."
What do you think? Is it something that would sell?
The next day, I still felt well and decided that it might be a great time to do a little more. I called up my friends and proposed that all four of us have a picnic somewhere, but we just weren't sure about the place where we would end up. It was suggested that we should visit a couple of swimming holes that my friend visited the weekend prior. Sounded interesting to me, Kelli didn't want to go (there was more TV to watch, after all) but we coaxed her into it.
We toured some very remote swimming holes just north of Devil's Den State Park. One of them was a little more "known" than we would have liked. It consists of some extremely tall bluff that the more adventurous like to jump from, A rope swing and lots of tadpoles. The sights were charming but I was more interested in watching the drama before me as group after group of novice cliff divers were coaxed by fiendish friends to jump into the cold river waters below. Personally, I agree with the ones unwilling to jump, but hey, life is short.
With the unknown perfect picnicking location looming above our heads, we decided to explore instead of having an old fashioned evening. Personally, I would have preferred a picnic. Things like that lend to serenity and peacefulness rather than rushing around trying to find something interesting to keep our minds occupied. That's one of the reasons I like landscape photography so much, you get to look upon views that the rest of the population generally are too busy to admire. Even more so when you are looking for that perfect landscape. To get it, you must take in all the beauty, not just what's directly in front of you.
Taking a landscape photo is more complicated than one might think. Yes, it is about photographing the thing in front of you, but there is a lot of preparations that go into it. The first and most obvious is the weather. To get that perfect sunset or sunrise, you need more than just a sun half nestled in the horizon. The beauty of the shot is rarely the sun. What makes that shot beautiful is the context.
The end of a day; the sun making its nightly exit known to all. Its colors are the last grasp with the exclamation that it will return. It's rays folding through the trees, over the fields and bringing the depth of what is real to a warm and loving close. Just like that sentence is dramatic and profound (although not my best poetic dissertation) a landscape must evoke feelings that rival, if not overshadow, any book that was ever written or poem that has ever been penned.
Sometimes just the sun can be cool. Reminds me of Miami Vice for some reason. Oh yeah! I had a Trapper Keeper in Jr High with this on it.
Well now, that was a little much, wasn't it? LOL,
To get that perfect landscape, though, you must look at the foreground of the picture as well as the sky. A bright day with a setting sun is nice, but a few clouds would most definitely be an addition that could keep it from being "ho-hum" and turn it into one of the most beloved sights anyone has ever seen.
Is the world ending? No, I'm just sick.
Over the past three weeks, I haven’t posted much or taken that many photographs. It may seem like I am neglecting my duties, but in reality, I have been very sick. Over my life, I have had pneumonia dozens of times. This time I thought I was OK until I wasn’t. It put me down hard. In fact, I didn’t know how sick I was until after I started to get better.
Over the past three weeks, I haven’t posted much or taken that many photographs. It may seem like I am neglecting my duties, but in reality, I have been very sick. Over my life, I have had pneumonia dozens of times. This time I thought I was OK until I wasn’t. It put me down hard. In fact, I didn’t know how sick I was until after I started to get better.
I did try to keep creating. I grabbed a sunrise, practiced focus stacking, and took a time lapse. While these aren’t the most fabulous photographs I have ever taken, I still enjoyed taking the time to do it.
I went out early one morning to Lake Fayetteville and set up two cameras in hopes of getting the marvelous colors that are usually displayed when the sun begins to peek over the horizon. The sky was clear, and the air was quite clean. Two things that do and do not contribute to a great photograph.
Usually, the air in NWA is thick with substantial humidity, making everything hazy. This also refracts the light making the great colors one expects to see across the morning landscape. This usually makes taking a photograph a little tricky, as the haze keeps the colors of the trees in focus, sharp and defined. So it is a trade-off, hazy photos but great colors or, in the case of that morning, bright and crisp with only a few colors. I really didn’t mind too much though, crisp air means low pollen. Something that is a big help when suffering upper respiratory distress. Like I said, I didn’t realize how sick I was, and heavily polluted air probably would have done more damage than I know.
Right now, the dam is covered in hundreds of yellow flowers, some of which are almost perfectly shaped. I have been fooling around with Focus Stacking, so I grabbed a few shots. If you look closely, you will see the old water intake is in focus as well as some flowers with everything in-between having a beautiful bokeh.
Since I was at Lake Fayetteville anyway, I thought I would look around at the docks in the marina. Docks can provide great photographs because of their straight lines that seem to vanish into the distance. I wasn’t disappointed.
The Rowing Club of Northwest Arkansas has recently installed a dock meant specifically for their sport. There are no railings, so it is easier to get in the water boats. It even has a little staging area to quickly mount and dismount the skiffs and vessels without the threat of falling in the water. It is interesting if you find yourself wanting to learn something new, go by and just take a look.
The dock itself had a problem that morning though. It was covered in Canada Geese droppings. I mean, covered. It was the most disgusting thing I have seen in a long while. If you know anything about me, you know I love Ducks but despise Canadian geese. They are the least friendly and most undesirable water foul I know of, and also the most damaging, in my opinion, to any Eco-system. But mostly it’s because they are jerks. Anyway...
I almost did not take the photo of the dock. I knew it would be at least an hour of work to remove all the droppings from the photograph and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to take on the task, but the dock looked too good that I couldn’t resist.
I have also been fooling around with daytime long exposure, so this was a great place to try it. When you use long exposure, things like water, and it’s waves blend together to make what could be seen as a mist, causing the camera to create some fascinating photos.
After that little trip to the lake, I thought I would go home and spend the rest of my day in Photoshop and Lightroom, creating my art. But I just didn’t feel that great and ended up napping. When I woke, I had lost my voice completely. This was a week ago, and I still cannot talk. In fact, I think I have gotten sicker.
It seems that every time I think I am getting better, the weather does something funky, and it makes me worse again. I am trying to get better, but until this passes, I won’t be able to put out any more podcasts or take any road trips for great photographs.
Why do photographers cost so much? (a consumers guide)
For those that don’t know or haven’t had the privilege to book a photo session in the past three or five years, the current going rate for a truly professional photographer may shock you. A traditional wedding shoot with just one photographer starts at about five thousand dollars. That’s a lot of money for photographs! Honestly, if you want really good photographs of the wedding and the reception, you need two shooters since one photographer can’t be everywhere. To add that second shooter though, you're looking at another twenty-five hundred dollars. OUCH!
Over the past few years, I have had many a client call me to get a quote for a wedding or a small outdoor photo-shoot only to have them wince and get slightly mad at me when I tell them the price.
It happens more often than not. Many times they call me back and, with hat in hand, book my services anyway after calling around. When they figure out just how much it costs to hire a photographer that knows what they are doing, they figure out real quick that I am not charging that much. Honestly, I probably should be charging more, but even I think that the prices are way too high.
For those that don't know or haven't had the privilege to book a photo session in the past three or five years, the current going rate for a truly professional photographer may shock you. A traditional wedding shoot, with just one photographer, starts at about five thousand dollars. That's a lot of money for photographs! Honestly, if you want outstanding pictures of the wedding and the reception, you need two shooters since one photographer can't be everywhere. To add that second shooter though, you're looking at another twenty-five hundred dollars. OUCH!
The prices aren't much better for everyday outdoor sessions either. Most of those "packages" start at about five hundred bucks and skyrocket from there. A good studio session usually starts out at the same price, but you get far fewer photographs to keep without having to pay more.
Many of you right now are thinking "For that much, I'll just use my phone or get a friend to take them on their phone." Sure, you can do that. The higher end phones take some great photographs. If you aren't picky about the way they look overall and are good with just snapshots, I say go for it. There isn't anything wrong with it.
The folks on Instagram make it look so easy.
In the age of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook we have gotten accustomed to seeing great photographs from our friends and family, and some not so great ones. In fact, there are many people out there that make their living on social media posting AMAZING photographs all the time with just their phone. Or at least that’s what they want you to think.
Below are two photographs that take a precision knowledge of photoshop and camera settings to create.
38.1k Likes, 1,088 Comments - Gilmar 'Silva Fotografia (@gilmarphotos) on Instagram: "Às vezes em meio a tantas árvores não encontramos um lugar para prender o balanço para a gestante..."
40.8k Likes, 585 Comments - Gilmar 'Silva Fotografia (@gilmarphotos) on Instagram: "LUGARxFOTO 🌟😱📷 Sabemos que fotografia é desenhar com a luz! Saber usar uma luz na hora de criarmos..."
In reality, they are posing and compositing by taking multiple images and combining them in Photoshop or other similar software. Most of the really great photos on Instagram are using the tricks and techniques of professional photographers that cost hundreds of dollars if you were to commission them.
The question still remains, Why does it cost so much.
There are three good reasons why photographs cost so much. In reality, it is just a matter of how far you want the picture(s) to go. The more you expect, the more you are going to pay. Let’s break this down.
Equipment Costs
We all know just how expensive tech can be these days. iPhones can cost as much as fifteen hundred dollars for about the same as a basic DSLR camera with only a minimal lens. In all actuality, prices for a great camera have come down, but they start there. My camera is a professional mirror-less SLR that is about twenty-two hundred, but its true professional counterpart, the Sony a9, is thirty-four hundred. I own the a7III because it’s better at video, my primary profession. But those prices are low compared to the Nikon and Cannon pro cameras of the past, those were above ten thousand at the time. Thank God the prices have come down on this stuff.
My Camera Gear
a77 on the left a7III on the right
So now you’ve got the greatest and best camera gear, right? Not even close.
Each lens has to be purchased. The prices I quoted above are for just the cameras. The lenses are an extra cost. As a portrait photographer, you need a bunch of lenses. These range in price from four hundred to three thousand. Yes, I said three thousand. I personally have five lenses. The total cost for these is somewhere between five thousand and eight thousand bucks.
Now can I take a photo? No, not yet. You need memory cards (64 gig high-speed SD cards), straps, bags, filters, lights, backdrops, shades, and the list goes on and on.
Now that you have spent upwards of fifteen thousand dollars, you can take a photo, but you can’t develop them. To do that, you need a good computer, a calibrated high-density monitor, storage space for all those photos and the right software. That’s about another five grand. Oh, and it’s worse when you shoot film (video for the kids out there). My rig is about four thousand eight hundred bucks, and it can barely handle the 4K footage I now shoot.
Plus there are more costs: office space, studio space, insurance, and advertising.
Now that the photographer has spent upwards of twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars, they are ready to start working.
Time
This is the real kicker for a professional photographer. We spend about an hour or two shooting your photos, and then you leave. That is all you see, and it seems simple. It really isn’t, but as far as you can tell the photos are done. They aren’t. A professional photographer takes their time to make each individual photograph right, beautiful and perfect (at least as far as they can take them). Some spend minimal amounts of time on the photos others much more. If you want blemishes removed, or like the Instagram photos above, something special done, or added, this takes time. I average about ten minutes per photograph that I show the client, but there is always that one photo that takes me hours to complete. Keep in mind that I charge way less than other pro’s in the market and that means you get touched up photos but not super edited photographs. I can do the highly retouched photos with fantasy add on stylistic touches, but that’s not what three hundred bucks buys. Think more like eight hundred for a set of those. Between the time spent shooting and the time spent editing I spend about two days editing on a good hour long photo-shoot. That’s sixteen hours of work, and I make eighteen seventy-five an hour. Count in my equipment costs, and I actually lose money unless I am doing three a week (that lets me break even).
Experience
We all know that someone who is considered an expert in their field costs more to hire. An excellent, seasoned professional with years of experience doesn’t work for peanuts. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. These folks know all the camera settings and what they are going to produce. They know how to do the math that comes with being a professional photographer and what terms like “Golden Ratio,” “rule of thirds” and “f-stop vs. t-stop” mean and what consequences they have if not applied correctly. They know their color science and contrast ratios. I could keep going but this is just the easy stuff, and you really aren’t here to learn photography. You are here to understand why photographers cost so much.
Now that you know a little more about what goes into creating great photography, I hope that you now hold it as an art and in high esteem. Yes, we live in an age where everyone has a camera, but that camera is only as good as the person holding it. Yes, you can take great photos with a phone or a cheap camera, and you may actually get a few more often than not. That’s really cool. But to take a photograph professionally is a different game altogether. Here are some great photographers you may want to look at, just to get a sense.
Erik Almas
Rosie Hardy
Joe McNallay
These photographers are pleasing to my eyes. There are better and worse photographers out there charging more and less, but these guys are pretty well known. You can see they have simple and very intricate work throughout their portfolios. Now take those and set them side by side the best iPhone photo you can find. I bet you see a difference.
Find the right photographer for you.
When looking for a photographer to create photos for you, I suggest looking at their work and comparing it to what you WANT to have created. If you are looking for cute pictures of your grandkids or your beloved pet that is better than what you can get, you might want to stay in the three to four hundred dollar price range. If you're going to post them to Facebook and Instagram, make sure that the pro knows ahead of time. Some charge more for the copyright release you need to post them on social media while others, like me, do not.
When you find the photographer that is the right fit for what you want, book it! You won't regret it.
One Last Tip
In the state of Arkansas, all photographers must charge sales tax. If the photographer hasn't included the sales tax in the price you will be held responsible for it and any fines that come with not paying it. I would go so far as to suggest that any photographer that doesn't include sales tax is not a professional and should be avoided.
To know more about how I shoot or to book your session, click the link below!
Wow, What a long weekend!
When we got the the park we looked at the hills, studies the trails and some topographical maps and this thing looked brutal. Maybe not for the guy or gal that walks or runs ten miles a day, but for two guys that spend ninety percent of their time sitting in front of a computer screen, yeah…
Well, It’s been an exciting few days since my last post. I am still playing around with the camera and got to take a few portrait/snapshots with it courtesy of Bedford’s Camera and Video. They put on a photo-walk where they get a model for you to photograph and let you try out new camera gear. The only thing is, they didn’t have anything for my Sony and said that demand has been too high and they keep selling out of stuff. It may sound like an excuse but, in fact, the Sony a7III has actually been a strong leader in photography gear sales for a year or more. The camera did what I expected it to do, and I got sidetracked with messing with the camera instead of taking photographs. Now that I think of it, I should have used my flash and really got some interesting shots. Never-the-less, the shots were, and I got to see what this camera can do in this type of situation. Not too bad.
I did use a mix of lenses though. The deep woods photos were taken with the Tamron 70-300 while the rest were a mix of the Sony 50mm and the Rokinon 35mm Cine-lens.
If you are interested in Modeling, you can volunteer with Bedford’s as well. They are always looking for new faces.
I have been working with my new Sony a7III for a while now, trying to learn its quirks and proclivities. It behaves much different than my old a77, that’s for sure. While I have gotten a few good shots with the camera, I really haven’t found myself in a position to make that one grand photo or video, but I got really damned close on Saturday. My screenwriter and I were going to walk Mount Kessler in Fayetteville Arkansas to see if we might find an elusive view of the city or a spectacular spot that overlooks to the west.
I’m feeling dizzy.
When we got the park, we looked at the hills, studied the trails, and some topographical maps and this thing looked brutal. Maybe not for the guy or gal that walks or runs ten miles a day, but for two guys that spend ninety percent of their time sitting in front of a computer screen, yeah… we weren’t going to do that. I mean, what if we get lost and miss dinner!? We then decided the better thing was to go downtown and enjoy the Fayetteville Spring-fest. Yeah, they have food trucks there, and it’s only about two blocks long. See, now that is much better. While not overly exciting, it was unusual for a dull Saturday afternoon.
Hello, World!
Since it wasn’t that big of a thing, we broke for lunch and headed our separate ways for a while. I had some lunch while my buddy found himself moving some more of his stuff into a new apartment, even though he hasn’t signed a lease yet. They gave him the key, so I guess its not a problem.
This fish is super hungry.
About five o’clock I called him up and told him the sky should be pretty good for a sunset that night. I figured I might as well try to see what I can get. Being that I was being kinda lazy this weekend, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Lake Fayetteville has a secret place you can go (maybe your not supposed to go?) and get a dead shot of the sunset against the Dam. It’s not hard to get to, but it’s not that easy either. It’s easy enough for even a lazy photog to get to, but I must say, I wasn’t disappointed. I actually thought I wasn’t going to get out of there with anything usable or exciting. But Six Hundred and Forty-Seven Photographs, you are bound to find something.
Ok, yes, I took way too many photos. But in reality, I didn’t. I was planning on making a time lapse out of all the RAW files, so I set it to take a photo every 1 second. I also wanted to see the range and depth of the camera when bracketing (taking multiple images and stacking them in Lightroom/Photoshop to get perfect exposure on every pixel). Between the two, I ended up with 35 gigs of photos and video. Most of which I will never use. If only I could bring myself to delete stuff. I am a terrible Data hoarder.
Sunsets/Sunrises are not all the same
Yesterday seemed like a great day for taking a photograph of the sunset. If only I had looked closer at the weather. While it was a great day yesterday, today is looking to possibly be a brute with a storm barreling in from the west.
Finding that ideal sunset or sunrise is always a big deal for me. I would also go so far as to say that Sunsets are a big deal for anyone that considers themselves a photographer of any caliber. The majestic beauty of the sun fighting its way through the haze and dust of the continent as it rises from the east or sets from the west cannot be understated. Yet, not all sunsets and sunrises are the same and seldom do they look the same day after day. Before a massive rainstorm, the skies of the west are generally cleaner. This causes the light from the sun to refract less and give us clearer blues and sharper clouds. When the storm has cleared, the winds calm down, and the dust rises to cause the light to refract and splinter into the brilliant oranges we love to see. Yesterday was a particularly standard pre-storm day that delivered precisely what it should have, a bland and lackluster sunset.
Yesterday seemed like a beautiful day for taking a photograph of the sunset. If only I had looked closer at the weather. While it was a great day yesterday, today is looking to possibly be a brute with a storm barreling in from the west. Already I have received notifications about possible Tornadoes from the weather apps on my phone. If I would have looked ahead, I wouldn’t have been so stoked for the sunset and would have taken the time to relax a little more and enjoy it. The photographs of the sunset are decent, but since the air was from the wind, they weren’t spectacular, by any means.
The fascinating thing about this outing is that I got a couple of photographs that aren’t of the sunset but seem to be either more exciting or more potent than these. My favorite is the cold Oregonian looking beach scene while my wife, Kelli, seems to prefer the exotic tones and depth of the rocky shores with the hibernating bush/tree.
Kelli found this to be the more interesting of the bunch.
This Oregonian like shoreline is one of my most favorite photos from the excursion.
What do you think about the photographs from this excursion? Which ones are your favorite?
If you wish to purchase any of the photographs in my Blogs most are available in my store. Can’t find the size you want or just want to purchase smaller versions, please contact me! :-)
Bomb Cyclone brings end to photo shoot
I went to the University of Arkansas to find a great spot to get the stadium and all that traffic. The video I got was all made in camera and isn’t the quality that I will get when I do it for real. This is just a scout to see what it might look like. Honestly, I am not going to use that spot again, it’s just not that interesting. But that’s why you scout!
From “The Weather Channel” website.
If you didn’t know, the mid-west is being bombarded with what the newsies are calling a “Bomb Cyclone. It is a blistering cold weather event that is over 800 miles wide. They even canceled school in the Denver area, that’s bad. Denver Schools never close.
When I lived in Denver there was a blizzard that put almost four feet of snow on the ground in three hours and it didn’t melt for a week. The Denver Schools were open the entire time. That means this must be something big.
I was out trying to discover the choicest places to shoot some time lapse videos. The camera does them nativity at a slightly lower resolution, meaning I was going for just a test shot, just to see. Soon, I will be receiving a new piece of equipment that calculates the perfect camera settings to get the ideal chance for a time-lapse.
Most time-lapse videos you see are actually hundreds of photographs compiled together. This takes forever to get right, and if wrong, they look terrible. I have produced every kind of video you can think of, except a time lapse. It takes a lot of patience and planning to get it right, and I just haven't made time for it. Now it's on my bucket list, and it's going to get done. If you haven't seen a time-lapse, here is one I found from Chris Pritchard on Vimeo. I love watching these things.
These are great for City-scapes as well. Here is one of NYC by Michael Shainblum.
As you can see, these videos can be mesmerizing, to say the least. But they have to be planned out. IN the NY time-lapse you actually get to see the camera move while the city literally runs at hyper-speed. Technically the second video is more of a Hyper-lapse, but a static shot for my work will have to do for now. Those take a motorized slider hooked to a computer to accomplish, and I just don’t have the 2K at the moment to afford the gear. Maybe I could rent it… hmm, that’s a thought.
That’s what I was doing tonight, scouting for a place to shoot my time lapse. I went to the University of Arkansas to find a great spot to get the stadium and all that traffic. The video I got was all made in camera and isn’t the quality that I will get when I do it for real. This is just a scout to see what it might look like. Honestly, I am not going to use that spot again, it’s just not that interesting. But that’s why you scout!
Typically, shooting video in the wind isn’t that problematic, and since these were really just for reference, it really didn’t matter.
Living in Arkansas, I didn’t think the “Bomb Cyclone” would effect us down here, but it sure as hell did. Tonight the wind gusts are so strong that it almost blew over my tripod while I was shooting. My “sticks” aren’t the super expensive Manfrotto ones, but they aren’t junk either. They are light though, carbon fiber is the majority of the materials used to make the legs. That wind just toppled them right over. Good thing I was holding onto them at the time. I really don’t want to file an insurance claim for a new camera and lens.
I did get to practice my long exposure photography though. Being that I have a new camera and I haven’t ever gotten to practice with it due to crappy weather, I thought I would share. But these also suffered from the wind. When leaving the shutter open for Thirty seconds, every little shake makes an impression. While this is the sharpest one of the bunch, it is most definitely not that great. Its composition needs a lot of work, but I proved to myself that I do understand the technicals of the camera well enough to really set up a beautiful shot in the future.
Let’s all hope that all we get is some more wind and a few days of sixty-degree weather rather than the pounding of snow and ice the north is getting.
The sure-fire way to improve your photography
The very first thing about taking photographs is the “Rule of thirds”. This rule is something that every photographer uses and will always use. This doesn’t mean that every photograph you take should follow it. It is not a rigid thing that cannot be broken. More of a great technique to build your shot around. Once you get it in your head and find yourself applying it without thinking about it, that’s when you know it’s time to start finding great ways to break it.
I have been taking photographs for a long time. In high school, no one knew that I was an intern for Craig Duffy, the local hotshot photographer at the time. I would help him with whatever he needed and learned a lot about how to shoot great photographs just by being there. It was immensely enjoyable, and I really liked it. If it wasn’t for him, I might not have really thought about what I liked and didn’t like about shooting. During those days we lived in the stone age. Not really, but compared to today’s technology, it might as well be. I had to learn everything about the camera I was using. It was just an old Pentax, but it got the job done. But that’s not why your here, is it? You want to know just how I am going to help you take way better photographs. I can teach you theory, mechanics and color. Do you want to know all those things? Maybe…
I can hear you guys now yelling at the screen. I thought you were going to tell me how to take better pictures NOW!
Ok, ok… I can do that.
Learn the Rule before breaking it
The very first thing about taking photographs is the “Rule of thirds.” This rule is something that every photographer uses and will always apply. This doesn’t mean that every photograph you take should follow it. It is not a rigid thing that cannot be broken. More of a great technique to build your shot around. Once you get it in your head and find yourself applying it without thinking about it, that’s when you know it’s time to start finding great ways to break it.
What is this Rule?
The rule of thirds is easily applied to almost any image. Basically, you overlay four bars on the image. These bars break up the photograph into three separate segments.
The Rule
Where these segments intersect or cross, indicate where the focal point of the image should be placed.
It’s that easy. Yes, it really is. I use it all the time.
In fact, It has gotten to the point that most of the time I don’t even know I am using it.
Every photograph you take and have applied this rule to will be better. In fact, I bet you have used it and didn’t even know it. Go back and look at some of the best photographs you have taken. No, I am not talking about the pictures of grandma that you took as a kid and love because they remind you of grandma. You like that photograph for a totally different reason. Someone who never met your grandma probably won’t feel the same way about it as you do.
I am talking about the photograph that you took that just seemed terrific, and you really didn’t know why. There is a good chance you can see where this rule is why it is one of your favorites.
If you would like to purchase any of the images in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
Screen tests and the a7III vs. the a77 in studio
It was going to be the first time I got to use my Sony a7III in a real studio environment. And It didn’t let me down. My a77, the camera that I have been using for the past eight years did though. I honestly didn’t have any idea just how behind the times it was.
As a filmmaker, I always enjoy talking to folks who might be, interested or are very interested, in making films. I like finding new talent. Yesterday I got to do both. I was invited to an acting class by a local lady who finds raw talent and sees what they can do. Not really knowing what to expect, I conscripted my screenwriter and gathered my gear. It was going to be the first time to use my Sony a7III in a real studio environment. And it didn’t let me down. My a77, the camera that I have been using for the past eight years, did. I honestly didn’t have any idea just how behind the times it was.
Acting Class lecture
The class went as expected. I gave my story which seems to be getting longer and longer as time passes. I guess I am going to have to decide what high points are the ones that I want to talk about; there are just too many good things. The class was full of novices, amateurs, and a few professional amateurs, so they mostly didn’t mind hearing my harrowing tale about how I went from a rusty photographer to an actual award-winning filmmaker/screenwriter. Those stories always go over great when the folks in the room have nothing to compare them to, lol.
Kendra went well with the background
I brought all of my gear this time around. Most of the time I just bring a camera, and that’s it, but I am tired of not being able to hear the folks or having poor lighting washing out the contrast. I set up a basic two-point lighting system, my boom mic, and recorder with the help of my screenwriter. The cool part is that the class was being held at the local photographer community room, so I was able to get a backdrop that wasn’t a bare egg-shell colored wall. Always a plus.
I set up both cameras, the a7III, and the a77, as an A and B camera. A is always the best camera with the lesser picking up slack where needed. The first thing I noticed was that the a77 had way too much contrast in it. The settings for that camera have the contrast set to -3; it was still way too much. The a7III was set to the same settings but with demonstrably less contrast and way better skin tone overall. This made it very difficult to edit the color in post. I guess I am going to have to boost the contrast on the a7III if I am ever going to get them to match without breaking the footage in post.
The contrast on the a77 is as low as it can go, the a7III is reduced by two (there are three in total)
The sharpness of the images.
Since there was only one camera operator (me) and only one director (also me) not all the a77 shots came out super sharp as I wasn’t overly concerned with it being in focus for every frame like I was with the a7III, my primary camera. It is a bit of an unfair comparison between the two cameras. The a77 is the best technology of 2011 competing with the best of 2018: the a7III. You probably already guessed part of it. I had the a7III set to record 4k while the a77 can only do a decent 1080p. Just as a matter of fact, the a7III is going to be a much sharper and more color neutral image.
Putting some Lightroom Color Correction on the stills killed the detail in the a77
As far as noise is concerned, there is no comparison. The full frame a7III will always outperform the crop sensor of the a77. I was expecting more out of my old war-horse though. I set the ISO to 400, and it was beyond terrible. The a7III had to have it’s ISO on 100 as it is an over-achiever when it comes to light sensitivity. The lenses, well, there is another rub. This is why I am not going to pixel peep in this review. I left on the Sony kit lens of 18-50mm on the a77 that isn’t that great while using a brand new Sony 50mm on the a7III. There just isn’t any way to critique the image with that going on. I chalk most of the sharpness up to prime vs. zoom and 4k.
Zooming in on the noise lets us know just how much there is.
Interestingly, there is quite a bit of speculation that the a7III footage in 4k at 8-bit color is actually akin to 10 bit color in a 16x9 format. You know what, I believe it. You see, it wasn’t the inability to adjust the color on the a7III that got in my way, it was the a77. To make them match at all, I had to color the 4k footage to match the 1080p stuff. Just another lesson learned. Thank God it happened on a day that I was goofing off and not at a paid shoot.
Of course, both cameras have built-in microphones. The exciting thing here is that the a77 has better audio than the a7III. I have also noticed this on professional shoots using the a7III with a microphone plugged into the audio-in jack. The a77 just does a much better job at handling the input and controlling the auto gain than the a7III. Yes, I know, only crazy people use the audio input jack to capture the main audio. All I can say is that when you’re a one-man band, you gotta sacrifice something or it will take all day.
Sony did update the color space the camera records, thank God. For those of us with the right eye, ALL Sony cameras had a slight green tint to them that you had to color-correct every time you would go on a shoot. With this camera, I have never had to do that. The color is better in every way in the a7III.
Everything being considered, I am glad I have the Sony a7III. I am delighted that I have the Sony a77 as well. After all, it’s better to have two cameras rolling instead of one.
My Journey into the past, instead of writing.
While he was staring down the old weapons I was wandering, looking for crazy things. There are stacks and stacks of shelves all holding important mainstays of archaeology like pottery and household implements to some really crazy and exotic things. It is kind of an x-file looking stack of shelves too. Just like in the movies and TV. So that made me somewhat interested to browse the place.
They didn’t have just pottery and bones though. I was kinda excited to see that they haven’t forgotten about the other things from history especially the more recent history. They had military helmets, Crazy formaldehyde jars of snakes, frogs and other not so normal things.
Today is a screenwriting day. The day where my writing partner and I go over the plot and circumstances of our current screenwriting challenge. Yes, you should write every day and make it a habit, but he really likes to work when he feels the time is right. Not saying that he doesn't work on other things like I do (I am writing this blog instead of a story, for instance) but he only feels he can work on screenplays when the time is right for him. Needless to say, it takes a long time for us to get a collaborative screenplay out into the world.
We generally go to Sam's Club every Saturday before we start because they give away free samples. Everything is always better when it's free, as you well know. We get to walk around the store and get any itch to goof off out of our system. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Today was different, there was an open house at the University of Arkansas' archaeology department, and he wanted to go. So we went. I took my wife, and he took his girlfriend.
I was surprised to see how many people were at the open house. They had pizza for everyone but that didn’t last!
Little exhibit where anyone could handle replicas of the artifacts stored there.
It was supposed to be held outside, but with this crazy-stupid Arkansas weather, they had to move it inside. I expected to see a few people but boy I was wrong. That place was packed. I also expected the folks to be rigid, facts oriented people that have no funny bone in their body. Wrong again. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few, but for the most part, they weren’t not cool folks.
3-D Printed copy of the artifact and the 3-D printer that made it.
The original artifact and the scanner used to make the 3-D Image
It’s still pretty cool, I guess. They scan in the image to the computer and plug it into the printer and out pops a replica. My buddy said that they need to refine the print head or something to make it more accurate, I do not disagree.
You could definitely see the printing lines in it and it only roughly the same shape when you look close enough.
Since it is actually a working laboratory for artifacts, I am genuinely surprised they allowed the access they did. We saw everything and anything we were interested in. My screenwriting partner asked to see the old weapons they may have in the place, and they happily obliged to open the storage area they are housed in and let him see them close up. Of course, he couldn’t handle them, but hey, good luck asking a museum to show you what they have in storage.
While he was staring down the old weapons, I was wandering, looking for crazy things. There are stacks and stacks of shelves all holding important mainstays of archaeology like pottery and household implements to some really insane and exotic items. It is kind of an x-file looking stack of shelves too. Just like in the movies and TV. So that made me somewhat interested in browsing the place.
They didn’t have just pottery and bones though. I was kinda excited to see that they haven’t forgotten about the other things from history especially the more recent history. They have military helmets, Crazy formaldehyde jars of snakes, frogs and other not so ordinary things that I find interesting.
Just some of the interesting and more modern stuff they have at the pottery collecting facility.
Of course, they have fossils at this place. Most are not that interesting, but there was this one thing. It is an alligator looking thing that was found in Germany. Wait, what? An Alligator in Germany, really? I mean that’s like finding a python in Ireland!
Mystriosaurus (Teleosaurus Bollensis
The keepers of the fossil were telling me all about where it came from and why it’s exciting. They said that the throat cartilage generally goes away when fossilization occurs but this thing, you can still see the esophagus. They believe its throat was made of harder bone than what would be expected in today’s animals of any kind.
The esophagus of the animal
They also pointed out that you can see what it recently ate as well. Ew…I guess it’s sanitary now being that its last lunch was over one hundred and fifty million years ago.
Lunch never got to quite be over, I guess.
For some reason, they also have lots of Taxidermy. Taxidermy isn’t just furry animals; it is also bones. One of them looked a little creepy, the Marmoset has a skull shape that’s eerily close to the form of a human skull. Plus, the plastic bag it’s in doesn’t help the situation much.
The rest of the taxidermy is pretty impressive. Just click an image below, and you should be able to scroll through all of them.
All in all, it wasn’t too bad of an excursion and being that today was a cold, bitter jerk, yet again. I guess the day wasn’t entirely wasted.
If you would like to purchase any of the images in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
Rain killed my image.
Once we got there, it began to pour. Maybe I could have found a way around the weather and shoot from the truck or other cover but the sky was also littered with lightning. Now, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to stand outside holding onto a large metal tripod in a lightning storm. Call me overly cautious but I wasn’t actually made with a bolt of lightning, stitched together by a madman in a dungeon laboratory even though that may be what many former high school girlfriends might claim.
The a7III is an exciting camera. Because it can almost see in the dark, I wanted to try my hand at some interesting photography in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I also needed to replace some of my older landscapes taken with my Sony a77 APS-C camera. It was a tremendous looking morning, but it quickly grew into a downpour that lasted almost all day.
Since I was with my father, I could not spend the entire day in Eureka and knew that I only had a limited window to get the shots I need. Once we got there, it began to pour. Maybe I could have found a way around the weather and shoot from the truck or other cover, but the sky was also littered with lightning. Now, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to stand outside holding onto a large metal tripod in a lightning storm. Call me overly cautious, but I wasn’t actually made with a bolt of lightning, stitched together by a madman in a dungeon laboratory even though that may be what many former high school girlfriends might claim.
We did stop on an overlook that has a nifty little cover, and I was able to test out the Sony a7III’s time-lapse video feature. Kinda cool, but not really a good test of the camera since the weather was so bad. Below is the video it created with some color correction in Premier. If you look closely, you can see the rain come in from the left and drench the Crescent Hotel.
But of course, I got some RAW photos of the landscape. It took a little doing to make those photos look way more interesting than the image in the above video, but I think it came out alright.
The Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs Arkansas. Some say it’s haunted…
I used Lightroom to make all of the edits in these photos except for dumping them into Photoshop to enhance the Gamma to where I like it.
I also went playing around with many of the “Free” presets on the internet. Some of them are pretty cool, but I find it hard to find any that work for every photo. If you download them, they are easy to install but sometimes how they get the result is kind of hard to figure out.
Needless to say, I did find one that I liked. In the context of the Crescent being haunted, after all, it was a hospital before it was a hotel, I thought the old-timey look was appropriate.
Nothing Beats A Sunny Day
Mini Suspension Bridge near Eureka Springs, Arkansas
I do plan on returning to the town in the future. I really want to get images of the old suspension bridge that hold up when blown up to massive proportions. I just love seeing these images larger than life, if you haven’t figured that out yet. Don’t worry, I will also be looking for that spectral image at the Basin Park Hotel and the Crescent this year. Ok, not really expecting to, but I might work a little photo magic and pretend something like that actually exists. And if it really does, I will be even more shocked than you would be.
If you would like to purchase any of the mages in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
The perfect location for a photograph
Some of the best portraits you will ever see more than likely could be a great photo without the subject sitting, running, walking or doing some damn thing. Its about the dream, your photograph. When taking portraits for clients it becomes even more important to have that backdrop be something spectacular. So today I was looking around for something that might make some great lines for some wholesome portraits.
As you may or may not know, the setting is as much a part of the photograph as the subject. You can have a beautiful woman or man sitting for a photograph, but if the background is a power plant, well, those photos aren’t going to impress anyone much.
A few decent lines and I can have them stand in front of the caution signs, might be good. Rule of Thirds will work great here.
Some of the best portraits you will ever see, more than likely, would be a great photo without the subject sitting, running, walking or doing some damn thing. It's all about the dream, your photograph. When taking portraits of my clients, it becomes even more critical to have that backdrop be something spectacular. So today I was looking around for something that might make some great lines for some wholesome portraits.
Every now and again, I go out looking for easily accessible spots in town that aren't too secluded. I used to try and take clients to the craziest places I could think of. Why? Because of the background! I would find the best environments I could. With my tastes, it meant that no one else would ever get that same photograph and probably hasn't yet either. The problem is, I may find that pleasing but the regular Joe doesn't or even worse, it scares them to death.
I once had a couple that needed engagement photos for their wedding. I love water being in all my shots, and I know of a place that's easy to get to and secluded enough that it would be a one of a kind. The path is level with the water. Leaving nothing but a clean horizon line full of a lake, BEAUTIFUL.
I took them out there, we navigated the little path made by the local deer population and got right up to the water's edge just as the sun started to hover above the glistening western horizon. It was going to be perfect. I was so excited that I didn't notice the bride-to-be getting more and more nervous. That is until she let out a little shriek.
“SNAKES! SNAKES EVERYWHERE!”
I didn't see them, the fiance didn't see them but SHE SAW THEM, and that was it. We were off to take the engagement photos in my front yard. Lacking anywhere else to take them other than the local museum turn of the century barn and homestead house, I was out of luck and out of scenery.
After that day, I began hunting for that great backdrop that would allow the client to feel like they are getting something beautiful and I didn't feel cheap shooting it.
This is one of my earliest HDR Photographs of the Shiloh Museum Barn
Yeah, I said it, I don't want to feel cheap. However, I get a few drinks in me, and I stop caring for about four hours, but I always hate myself in the morning. Cheap to me are the obligatory barn photos or the hay bale in a field. Put everyone in plaid and pile them against the hay, not my ideal photograph. YUCK! Ok, if you pay me enough and I'll do it, but I ain't gotta like it. Besides, old barns can be an excellent backup plan. Shoot them right, and you get to keep some self-respect.
That's where I went today, to make sure that the backup plan still existed. To my utter horror, my backup plan is completely destroyed. Well, not completely, but close. Sometimes I like to use the Shiloh Museum to shoot the "homespun" clients in front of. They love it because it feels like the world they wish they could return to. You know, the better days when family cared for each other and ate around the dinner table together. (Secret, those weren't the better days. You worked 12 hour days in the field and momma had to do the laundry outside by hand). It used to be a safe bet and friendly enough place for the majority of the folks but now the only thing left is the barn, and it looks like it's going to fall down. Now what do I do?!
I know what I am going to have to do, find another backup “wholesome” backdrop. Yay me…
Pretty Little Pink Flowers are here today, but they might not be here in June.
That’s when I saw this little gem. It isn’t much, but the flowers seem to be nice, there’s a micro-brewery nearby (two of them actually) so it might do in a pinch. Plus, it’s literally less than one hundred yards from the Police Station. Can’t get much safer than that!
But, there is a downside. Once the spring is over, those little pink flowers will be gone, and the contrast of the background will fade ever so slightly when there is nothing but green. I guess I am going to keep on looking. I wonder if those snakes are still there?
If you would like to purchase any of the mages in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
What makes a photograph worth buying.
While most people might not immediately understand that these images have actually drawn an emotion out of them, when you contemplate long enough and really relax and feel, you will find that you are actually feeling something. No, really. You are, I promise. That emotion may be good, bad or something in between but its there.
Have you ever thought to yourself “that would be so worth printing” when you took a photograph of your food, your dog or yourself? Why didn’t you? Do you think having it on your phone was good enough? Maybe you just aren’t that interested in doing all the work that goes with getting that great pic printed and framed. Well, that could be a mistake. Having that moment you like so much permanently on your wall, desk, refrigerator or nightstand could actually make your days better overall, Permanently.
Rib dinner I had in Ft. Worth TX about a year ago.
The emotion your feeling when you look at that photo of your “best breakfast ever” will fade very quickly after moving on to the next Instagram post. Think about how your day would be if every time you round the corner to get your keys, take the laundry into your bedroom, make a sandwich or do the dishes is right there, a photograph that brings up that great emotion once again.
No, really.
This is one of the Fine Art reproductions I have laying around my house.
Having something that stirs positive feelings, forever reminding you to feel better, always in your line of sight will actually cause you to feel better over time, permanently. I don’t even have to make a statement that is supported by “scientific” evidence because we all know, deep down, that it’s absolutely right.
Maybe you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on frames or high quality, acid-free paper, wearing gloves so as not to leave fingerprints on the print? Well then, just don’t. If you have a favorite picture, just print a little one and scotch tape it to the wall. You will see how much you like it and I bet you will want it to be bigger and better.
I have been in a lot of homes, and there are almost always four bare walls with nothing on them. Why did we, as a society, become so negligent of our living spaces? Blank walls, for me, are stressful. They convey no emotion, intent or even style. Our lives are not a bland eggshell colored existence, our lives are intricate and convoluted. Our lives have so many shades of color that exist simultaneously in every minute of every day, fighting for our attention. Why not set the rudder and take the direction we want by lining our lives with beauty and the exact things that make us happy, forcing the day into the kind of day we want it to be? I think that sounds like a good idea. I am glad I thought of it, lol.
If you aren’t that great at photography (you have got to have something on your phone that looks good, I mean, come on) just look around at places like Walmart or Hobby Lobby. They have tons of stuff you may like, and they don’t cost that much. Heck, you could even buy one of mine, if you want. I could use the sale, and I would feel so proud that you actually thought enough of me to buy something of mine. After all, I didn’t take these photos for just my enjoyment, I took them to offer to the world so others can have the experience of emotion and the immense pleasure of looking deep into a photograph.
Really, you can look deep into a painting or a photograph and find something you have never noticed before. This photograph I took of a tree, on the surface, it looks like a really decently made photo but not much else. But take a look at it, really look. What do you see?
First off that tree is crazy. If you look close, there are little fingers all over the branches, almost like a cactus.
There are some crazy, almost cactus looking thorns all over this tree.
Then this thing, it’s some kind of squirrely, crazy swirl of a branch on it. It actually almost looks as if it was made in a factory and not just grown randomly by a tree in the ground.
Swirly thing that just so happened to be a natural tree thing.
While most people might not immediately understand that these images have actually drawn an emotion out of them, when you contemplate long enough and really relax and feel, you will find that you are actually feeling something. No, really. You are, I promise. That emotion may be good, bad or something in between but it's there.
That’s what art like this does. It makes us feel something. Making you feel something is precisely why advertisements look the way they do. It’s why some ads have celebrities, and some have average looking everyday people in them. They are wanting you to relate subconsciously by pulling specific emotions from you that make you feel comfortable and safe causing you to feel the same about whatever it is they are selling.
Use your photographs or browse my photos for one or two you might like and make you feel the emotion you want guiding you through the day. Make it one of the most prominent things in your visual landscape. I know you will not regret it.
Sony A7III and Lots and Lots of birds.
One other thing that really makes me happy about the a7III is the amount of detail the stills retain when under exposed. Sony always does a good job at keeping detail in the blacks. Just like a RED camera, the Sony holds up when underexposed but really can’t deal effectively with over-exposure when compared to their counterparts. But really, I shoot dark all the time, it’s my style, so this camera makes my life so much easier in post.
This weekend was busy! My wife wanted to go to the Harry Potter convention here in town, so we had to go to bed early and get up like any other weekday without sleeping in. I know, such a rough life. It was pretty cool, the convention. I like the movies, but I’m not as big into HP as a lot of the folks there. One thing I found really interesting was the Raptors.
Wait, what? It’s a Harry Potter convention…
No! Not those kind of Raptors!
The Raptor Rescue from Conway brought them up because, you know, Hedwig.
Owls are part of the Raptor family of birds, and they are cool. They started off by sitting outside the Town Center, and everyone got a close look at them. My favorite? The Owls, of course.
As a photographer, I am happy with these pictures, but I am even more impressed with the quality of the camera I have. I have a new Sony a7III, and it really makes me not miss my “crop” sensor a77 that I’ve been shooting on for years. I shot all these photos with my Sony 50mm off the shelf Prime lens. Nothing special to it, just a run of the mill lens. But the quality is so good, way better than what I am used to. The Sony a7III is a full frame camera with about 20 stops of exposure built in.
Almost all of these shots on this page are cropped. Not just cropped in, but SUPER cropped. Here is the full photo of the Horned Owl.
Now, Here is just cropping in on the eyes.
It’s not precisely Pixel Peeping, but I am really stoked about the resolution of this camera.
One other thing that really makes me happy about the a7III is the amount of detail the stills retain when underexposed. Sony always does an excellent job of keeping detail in the blacks. Just like a RED camera, the Sony holds up when underexposed but really can’t deal effectively with over-exposure when compared to their counterparts. But really, I shoot dark all the time, it’s my style, so this camera makes my life so much easier in post.
These shots were mostly outside with the bright sky behind the subject. The photos were able to expose well and with very little noise. I was just running and gunning with these shots so let's not judge the shooter, ok?
As shot with no adjustments.
Fully exposed and adjusted. I even brought up the exposure more than I usually would.
In Lightroom, you can get even closer with the RAW photo, and I looked really hard and could not find any noise what-so-ever. Ok, maybe a keener eye might find defects, but they would be hard pressed.
Then we were off to see my father. It was his birthday on Saturday, and they had a little wine.
I noticed a cool looking thing in front of me on the counter. Since I had my camera with me, I couldn’t help myself.
I think this might be a shot I set up later for a product type shot. Better lighting, cleaner glasses, and probably not a wine stain, leaking down the label. But you know, it kinda works.
So, we all went out to eat for his birthday to an ok restaurant in Springdale that is kinda famous. It has been host to three Presidents and the latest season of “True Detective” on HBO, the AQ Chicken House.
Al and Vivian (Mom and Dad)
Kelli in all her Harry Potter stuff
CRAZY Chicken statue in the lobby of AQ Chicken House.
Still using the 50mm for all these shots, I was able to pull the detail out of them without sacrificing image quality even under some of the worst photographic conditions you can think of. Not too shabby.
The next day, it was finally sunny, but it was Sunday and Screenwriting day. Donald and I spent almost ten hours talking over just the opening image of our latest screenplay. UG!
He was running behind so that morning I went out and shot with my Tamron 70-300 zoom I bought for my a77. Fortunately, I thought far enough ahead to purchase the full frame version of the lens, so It works perfectly. The only problem I do have with it is that the lens information doesn’t pass through to the camera. Oh well. I can see the aperture but nothing else.
Since I couldn’t really go for a photo walk or leave the driveway (remember, I was waiting for Donald to show up), I decided to get some photos of the Cardinals and Robins that live in my yard, and of course, they weren’t around, so I had to wait on them too. With my patience rewarded I did get a few shots.
It was such a busy weekend that I had to include everything that went on in one post, I guess. Maybe I am just being a little lazy and not separating it all out into a daily thing, but as you can tell, I am really more interested in the photography of the weekend than I am Harry Potter stuff, but whatever.
New podcast!
New podcast from me! Listen and subscribe.
As of today, I have a new podcast available on Apple podcasts called “Aul G Newton on Everything”. Go to the podcast app on your apple device or visit the page or go to the page if you don’t have an Apple device or use iTunes.
Work, Work Work...
Working for a job I’m not supposed to have?
Today was exciting, to say the least. Many of you don’t know, but I was laid off from my job as the Video Production Manager at a national orthodontic firm about three weeks ago. Usually being laid off means that you don’t work for that company anymore, strangely, this time that’s not what’s happening.
It seems that the company may have been a little premature with my departure from the company. Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t want to leave after all. Last week I spent all week up there and nine hours today making videos for them. I don’t mind, since it’s too cold anyway, and it gives me something to do. But good grief...
The good news though is that I seem to have stumbled upon another opportunity. It seems the State has a program that will allow me to go back to school for Graphics Design. That’s pretty cool!
I already know a hell of a lot about color, composition, Photoshop and more but to get free training in all the other stuff, well that’s cool. Once I’m into the program, I actually may be able to qualify for a few grants as well. Maybe that will allow me to travel even more and get the really great shots I am looking for.
Quick journey through the fresh snow.
It snowed in North West Arkansas today so I went out into the cold with my camera and found some pretty interesting colors amidst all the white.
It is brutally cold here in the south. I know, I know… folks in Minnesota are used to being cryogenically-frozen until spring, but this is the south, my dear. We have brutally hot summers where the humidity is so high we sometimes have to wear scuba gear to breath, but our winters only get into the teens and twenties for a few days, and you know, we just ain't used to it. LOL. The good news for us, here in North West Arkansas, is that it snowed a little. Not a vast snow, just a good dusting that made everyone think it snowed.
Since there was a layer of white stuff on top of everything today, I figured I better get out and take a photograph or two. I enlisted my father (who is in his seventies) because my Mustang GT might just get stuck and his giant Dodge Ram probably won't. He and I bundled up and headed out.
The first place I stopped was Lake Fayetteville. It is easy to get to and just deserted enough to test the roads for ice. The calmness of the lake seemed the best place to start.
The cold touch of winter
While this photo is good, it isn't what I expected I would get, and I wanted to do better. When taking a photograph, its all about contrast. Not the contrast slider in your phone's photo editing app that can be taken too far and usually is, but about the contrast of the subjects. Being that winter in Arkansas is typically cold and grey with brown dominating all the scenes where green is overabundant in the summer. Things need to stand out when you take a photograph and not dominate.
I kept looking for something better, something that may spark my interest. I wasn't hitting on all cylinders by my eye caught the wavy vanishing point just to my right.
Wavy lines of man
But really, that wasn't what I was looking for, and it really isn't up to the standards I have set for myself.
Telling this to my father, he started the truck and headed south to the Boston Mountains. I was worried about this trek into the pretend mountains (they are really just very rugged and steep hills) as it is challenging to find the right viewpoint without traveling across private property. He assured me that there has to be something worth taking a photo of. So, off we went, but first, we visited Mount Sequoya in Fayetteville.
Usually, you can get a great photograph of the entire downtown of Fayetteville Arkansas from way up on top of the hill, but just not today. It seems that the upkeep of this particular spot has fallen short this winter, add to that the other sightseers and a persistent haze, it really didn't look all that great. NEXT TIME!
Old main was obscured by overgrown trees and a persistent haze.
I did get this cute photo of the guest house, though. It makes me want to go watch "Its a Wonderful Life" for some reason.
But then we decided to go south. Visit the river and follow it as far as we could stand. It was worth it. While not all my efforts were print worthy, for this blog, I think most of them will do.
Even better was that the cold of the day caused the water in the river to turn emerald green and turquoise. FUN!
But the best one, as it always is, was Devil’s Den State Park waterfall. It never lets you down.
Always running, this waterfall is great, any time of year.
After that, though, I was just too cold. We headed home and had some stew and got warmed up.
Old Man Winter
Old man winter is trying my patients.
Sitting on my front porch (yeah, whatcha going to do about it, lol) looking at the grey sky and sleeping trees trying hard to stay warm I can’t wait for spring.
The sky is grey and the trees are bare, Soon you will be photo-worthy after your long winters nap.
Spring is the best time of year for the most colorful shots and not freezing to death.
Oh, winter, you were fun for a day but three months is hard for a guy like me to stand.
The spring flowers are always in style.