Buttermilk Falls with Amanda and Bridgid

Amanda was my model for the afternoon and her friend Bridgid was my 1st assistant. We shot at Buttermilk Falls just north of Beaver Falls PA.

Girls in dresses

My daughter wanted me to take some pictures of her and her friend in their dresses.

I set up out back with a Vivitar 285 behind and to their right. I think it was set at 1/16 or 1/2 power with the wide angle head. Another Vivitar was set up below and to camera left at 1/16 power but zoomed a little bit.

I set my shutter speed at 1/250th and used the aperture to adjust for exposure and the look I wanted.

One thing to note....always check your camera setting before any shoot. This was the first time I used this particular camera after a cheer/dance competition so it was set for jpg (I always hoot RAW), custom white balance, high ISO and appropriate shutter speed. Ooops!

Technical Difficulties

NOTE: This post was written over 3 days..it might not be grammatically correct.

I would be remiss if I didn't add a bit of technical background today.

As I go through the pictures from the Cheer Ltd. competition and I remember the parents that sat next to me with their own cameras I have to reflect on what I think I know.

Preface: Human eyes see light very differently than an electronic camera sensor. A professional photographer has moderately to significantly different expectations than most people with or without a camera.

The first thing I look at when entering a venue is the light. Without light, we cannot take pictures. Secondly, I look at the backgrounds. Are they colorful, cluttered, dark, bright....lots of variables to have to deal with. Sometimes moving a few feet one way or another can make or break a picture. Even to the point by moving to a different location altogether to change a background. In many cases, you have no option of changing locations and have to work with what you have been given. Third, the subject. Is it fast paced, slow, colorful, drab or highly detailed? Add all this up and you have a venue. An opportunity. For success....or failure.

In the 2,200+ images I took Sunday, I will end up with only a few hundred or less acceptable images. Of those few hundred I could probably narrow them down even more to about 10 that are really good and possibly 1 or 2 that I think are worthy of saying...yeah...I took that picture.

Is that good or bad? Well, I have vastly different expectations for an image than many people I know. To ME, a great image has a perfectly clear subject. The sharpness of the subject is so I can count the eyelashes or the way they tie their shoes. Anything less is essentially unacceptable TO ME. I want to see the facial expression and emotion for the task at hand. Cheer and dance have great expressions. But the serious difficulties at these events are they held indoors, with poor light for cameras. We professional photographers don't get to use cameras with flash. Parents can get away with it, we cannot.

Add to the dark venues the incredibly fast pace and active jumping, dancing, tumbles, basket tosses, scorpions and.....lions tigers and bears..oh my!

When a cheerleader or dancer begins a tumbling run, it's easy to put your focus points in him or her and take pictures. But when they jump to perform a flip, they are no longer in the middle of your frame and the camera refocuses on a point that is usually the bleachers in the back. Which is much different than what you wanted....that...is the reality of the sport. Add in a dozen other dancers running in front of each other, passing combining and separating and it makes for a terribly difficult situation to get the perfect picture. Remember, the camera doesn't know you are following a subject, it only looks for contrast where you point it.

Note: Most anyone can take a picture of a cheerleader standing waiting for her run. But I challenge you to get a shot of her coming out of her tucked back flip and be able to see her eyes as she spots the landing. Not once, but every time! I know I can't do it....yet. (After the first round of these pictures, I have a dozen girls coming out of their back flips spotting the landing. But because of the slow shutter speeds, their faces are blurred enough so the pictures are not usable. I have the timing, just not the equipment to capture it.)

Another fun part of shooting indoor with available light. The lights in gyms actually change color. From blue to reddish. Humans don't see the color shift too much. But cameras do and they see it well. My camera can take 8 pictures in one second. I saw the color shift several times. Red skin, blue skin...it's so much fun. Kind of like a Dr. Seuss book. I can't do it justice, but Guy Rhodes can..and did on this old link. www.sportsshooter.com

Sunday cheer pics coming in a few hours.

Steel City Regional Championships

I had the pleasure of attending the Cheer Ltd. Steel City Regional Championships today at Robert Morris University. I've only been to one other cheer competition and that was at Charleroi High School last year. The biggest difference between the two was I took pictures this time and boy is this an incredibly fast paced sport.

I have always had an appreciation for this sport. But I wasn't totally prepared to shoot all day. I was there to get pictures of Tiffany, my daughters former teammate at Potter & Raccoon. Today, I got there early since I figured it would be jam packed. When I arrived, I found out there wasn't an event photographer so I secured a good shooting location....well, a few thousand pictures later, some tears were shed, a few hearts broken, screams of joy and some true happiness accompanied the trophy's and medals.

I'll get a few pictures up on the blog tomorrow and the rest will be on the sales site by Tuesday afternoon or sooner.

To all the competitors....GREAT JOB!!!

Chatham report

Well, it was slow....painfully slow.

We had 6 or 7 students show up to get re-takes of the yearbook pictures. Two issues were glaringly obvious.
1) We didn't have any signage set up. The posters were sent, but not displayed. One of the Chatham University yearbook staff members did get a couple up, but we were half way through the session. 3 or 4 students had to be BEGGED (seriously, we begged them) to get pictures taken.
2) We were competing against the Pittsburgh Steelers super bowl victory parade just a few miles away in downtown.

For me, the highlight was being to see a very small portion of the former home of Andrew Mellon. The Mellon name is prominent in Pittsburgh, so to see how the uber rich lived, was a treat. It's not an opulent mansion. At least not in my mind. But it's large and comfortable. The door way arches on the main floor looked to be made of carved Granite. There was a dining room that had incredible carved marble fireplace mantle. The details of the carved stone over each doorway was also very amazing. We didn't venture far. But it's a neat house and I would love to have a full tour some day.

Tomorrow's shoot (ptII)

I've used this title before, but it applies here too.

I met and talked with Cait at the Seven Oakes Bridal Fair a few weeks ago. She was one of those WOW! did you see that? type of women. She's a bit petite but carries herself like a career NYC/Milan/LA model. Or at least what I would recognize.

When I first talked to her, I was taken aback that she didn't have any modeling experience other than the bridal dresses she is currently modeling.

Well, to make a long story short, I will get the incredible opportunity to work with her on Thursday in the studio. I hope my image sof her are half as incredible as I think she is.

Today I am heading to Chatham University to get some headshots, studio portraits and possibly some stock images with Chris. Not sure if I will get any posted tonight though.

Two-fer

I was able to do a quick photo session with sisters Brandi and Alex this week. Earlier in the day, I was driving down the street and saw a couch and chair dumped in an empty lot......"ooohh" I said to myself.

Brandi and I were already at the location when her sister and (Brandi's) fiance showed up. We carried the couch into the brick lined street and I put a Vivitar 285 at 1/16th power behind the couch and another one off to the side. But of course my eBay poverty wizards weren't quite up to working consistently, so my exposures were all over the place. Next we headed off to a long set of stone stairs in town and shot until the light was pretty much gone.

Couch in the middle of the street


Serious faces


The eyes have it


Add a little flash for drama

Creative release

I got the opportunity to work with Jenn again this afternoon. We spoke about doing another shoot together in the past. Last week I just picked a day and today was it. We shot our session during her lunch hour in a cemetery in our town.

She takes direction well and poses very naturally. We bounce ideas off each other and I really enjoy working with her.

Here are some shots that we got a few hours ago. Some people drink, some gamble, I take pictures.

Heading to the fair

We set up the booth today at the Hookstown Fair then walked around talking photo strategies. With all the food trailers, rides and colorful surroundings, it's seriously a sensory overload/target rich environment for a photographer like me. PEOPLE and big activities.

I am estimating, that I could shoot 2-4 thousand images in a day if my batteries would hold out. BUT, I know that won't happen. Because of the massive amount of mixed light (inside the buildings, under shade for animal stalls/barns, large tents, etc) I will continually be checking my LCD on my camera to make sure the exposures are right. So I figure if I can get about 1,200-1,500 shots tomorrow, I'll be happy. Of course I will post some of them late Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon. I am pretty sure there won't be any WiFi at the fair.

Trip summary

Beginning May 1, 2008 I spent the majority of 9 weeks among the Tamarack and Red Fir trees. I woke to the flowing waters of the Naches River in the Wenatchee National Forest not far from Chinook Pass and Mount Rainer. I also ventured to the desert region of the Columbia Basin where sand and nuclear energy co-exist among the flowing waters of the mighty Columbia River. Where wind blown tumbleweeds and sage brush become yard decorations. I was back home in state of Washington.

Goal one was to help a family member with some projects after his retirement. A secondary goal for me was to bring my kids here for their summer vacation. That second goal sadly, failed to materialize.

Of course, I brought my camera equipment to shoot when I could. I tried to save a little money, but I ended up buying some more light stands, a bike from Craigslist and a few dinners. Never resting (photographically speaking), I talked to a lot of people to see if I could take their portraits. Suffice to say, the Yakima/Naches area of Washington is a veritable vacuum of talent. There isn't much here. I even tried to get a MUA (Makeup Artist) to work a shoot, but she didn't find it important to check her messages except once a month. Maybe she was busy, maybe not, either way, it could have been communicated. A few people I wanted to shoot, one was very interested, and kept saying so, but would never commit. Wish I could have that time back. Another was so rude you would have thought I almost ran over her child in the driveway. The project I mentioned MANY MANY weeks ago, will not get done. I had planned on getting environmental portraits of employees of the two restaurants up here in the valley. I planned several poses out for specific people too. But because of their schedules and mine, it will not happen. I will put the idea in my idea book, and hopefully excecute it at another time and or place.

On the other hand, things were/are going well back in New Brighton/Pittsburgh. First, I was selected by Fe Gallery as one of 250 artists to represent Pittsburgh in a 250 year anniversary celebration/project. Secondly, the building where I was planning on putting in a second photo studio is still open and the owner wants to make sure I will be up and running when I get back or soon there after. Still, that "project" is going on seven months overdue. Also worth mentioning, one of the models I shot with in the spring wants to set up another session. She is/has worked with another local photographer because of my images he saw on her MySpace page. Finally, my MUA (well, she's not MINE, but it's the only MUA I work with), wants to shoot with me too. So things are significantly more promising in "da 'Burgh" than here in "the valley".

I did however get to spend some great times with my family here in WA. I attended a graduation, made it for mothers day, did a little golfing (pictures actually) and a family reunion coinciding with a school reunion. Most importantly, I had a great weekend with my wife when she visited for the graduation.

Regarding physical labor, I have shoveled about 7 tons of sand/gravel, screwed in 150+ pounds of 3 inch deck screws and bent more 20 penny nails than I care to admit. I have cut, chopped and loaded hundreds of feet of wood (did I say hundreds?). Painted walls, decks, railings and even myself. After I bought the CraigsList bike, I started riding it. Usually a couple of times a week. But near the end of my "tour" I was riding every day. My longest ride was 15 miles one way (up hill into the wind)(30 mile round trip). Many rides were 10-12 miles on average. Traffic wasn't a big deal, but the wind was. It always seemed to happen to blow towards me regardless of when I rode. Uphill, into the wind just really sucks.

This is not a "look what I have done" posting. It is to inform you all of my summer thus far. I haven't had an epiphany, nor have the clouds parted for the voice of God. However, I have learned a little about my family, my friends, and myself. Not since Air Force Basic Training and Tech School have I worked so hard (physically and mentally) for so long. (By the way, Basic Training is where I learned that the mind gives up sooner than the body). I hope these mini lessons can translate well to running my photography business and I eventually become very, very successful. I am coming to the conclusion that the world needs wood cutters, painters and construction workers. It also needs photographers, in which I plan to add myself to that list.

New location

Oh, I am pretty bummed that I am leaving in a few days. I found another killer place for pictures in my town. It's a LONG stretch of stone stairs. I have no idea how many steps, but it's a killer place to shoot.

On another note, I was at one of my favorite local eats and was talking to a gal that wanted to do another shoot with me before I leave. I will know tomorrow or Saturday if it will happen. If it does, I will seriously try to work the stairs into the session.

I have also enabled comments. It doesn't mean you have to comment, but if you decide that something must be said, knock yourself out. If it's not nice, I will delete it though... :)

New approach

As a photographer, I am always on the lookout for new models/subjects and locations. Surprisingly, in our little town, we have a lot of places and locations to use as backdrops. Industrial buildings to grassy parks, coffee shops to tattoo parlors. As for people, in my mind, everyone is just waiting to get their picture taken. It's up to me to find the right timing to ask them.

Wednesday 4/23/08, I did a session with Jenn. She works here in town and I had seen her a few times. Being me, I approached her and handed a card saying I would like to take her pictures. Give me a call and I will see you around.

A few weeks later she called, we met at a local burger joint then set up a session. Here are a few of the 400+ pictures we took.

OUR point and shoot camera (needs replacing)

After shooting for several years with my dSLR cameras, I got to use my wifes point and shoot. It actually takes pretty nice pictures, if you are 5 feet from your subject. Tonight however, was in difficult lighting, and 15-20+ feet.

My daughter and I went to the Avril Lavigne concert (opened by Boys Like Girls). She has been wanting to go for three or four years now and the timing was right. Actually, she is old enough now. I emptied out the bucket I put all my spare change in and was able to afford tickets. Granted, it was about 4 years worth of spare change. But change nonetheless.

It was her first concert and we ended up on the floor, in the corner, 15 feet from the stage.

How cool is that?

The bus. Not hers, but part of the tour.


Almost as close as you can get. Front and center is the primo seats, but I wasn't thinking or else we could have gotten pretty close to F&C.


Avril and my daughter (unfortunately not next to each other).


Cell phones replaced Bic's. It was pretty funny to actually see.


Proof we were there.


If our arms were only 15 feet long.


Rock on Avril.


Only something an adult would notice...a great security staff.


Even center stage was close.


I think I need to invest in another point and shoot, but significantly better quality....sigh.

Final words:
I know I have permanent hearing loss from this concert. It was VERY loud, which also means I am getting older. I don't mind the loud. I mind the hearing loss. I was also expecting a questionable show. But her voice has definitely gotten better. I have seen some live performances of her and it wasn't all that great. But I think Avril has learned what her limits are singing live and she has also worked on her voice. I am sure she has a good sound board crew too. But I was happy with the concert and would go again.

Did you say something.......huh.....TURN THAT BELL OFF dammit!

The fortunate side of business

I got both insurance quotes back yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised at the cost. One was about $500 a year and the other was just over $600 a year. Now I need to get an accurate inventory and get the final quote so I can be in business. The higher priced quote had a more detailed quote request so I need to be able to provide both companies with the same info to be able to do an accurate comparison. Then I will sign and fax.

Getting insurance will let me breath a little easier during shoots. Especially when I start to to corporate gigs as well as try to network my way into some sporting facilities. But my ultimate goal is to start producing my own shoots. Doing large style images is something that really gets my mind into high gear.

I want to be able to have a story board or a sketch of my idea. I will gather talent (makeup, hair, wardrobe) and approach a city, or company with my idea. As one example would be to have a model in a activity centered wardrobe performing something (just as an example, it can be cutting up fish, or reading a magazine or acting like a dentist working on teeth). I want to be able to have police shut down streets/bridges, or companies like a foundry or steel mill be working in the background. So you have this WAY OUT OF PLACE activity happening with a busy industrial event going on in the background. I also want to be able to take FORMAL portraits in very unexpected places. Middle of the street. Tops of buildings. Places that the subject has a connection to, but in most circumstances, would never have a portraits taken there. The catch is that these are FORMAL portraits. Something that I have much to learn about. Formal portraits are all about two things. Posing and lighting. Those are two things I have very little knowledge with. I can light and I can pose. But a timeless picture from a good picture is in the subtle details.

Tomorrow's shoot

I have a commercial/lifestyle shoot tomorrow morning. It will be at the Hallowed Grounds coffee roaster I have spoken about recently. It should be fun. I will run it like a lifestyle shoot, where I watch and observe then shoot pictures of anything that looks interesting. There are a few goals for these images. The first is for publicity. I want to get some shots they can use for flyers and advertisements. The second is for a coffee table book project. I thought about getting their product from delivery to customer. Then they can put their story down on paper and that can be put into a book format and sold in the store. The initial shoot will be pro bono. But I need to come up with usage fees for the book. The time shooting the images are free. But creating products is where I will get some fees back. Most likely they will be from the sales rather than fees up front. Again, this is more to get my name and work out in the public eye and of course, word of mouth advertising. Hopefully in the positive. Especially since newspaper advertising was a waste of money.

Take it out, bring it back

One thing that REALLY sucked about yesterday is that since I don't have a studio, I have to move my stuff every time I have a shoot. On some shoots, I don't bring much, just the camera and laptop. On most shoots, I bring everything. Here's a rough list:

Camera bag: (everywhere)
camera body 1 (+ 4 batteries) body 2 (6 batteries), (lenses) 70-200, 50, 17-35, 85, flash, (7) memory cards, misc tools (lint brush, lens rag, screwdriver, flashlight, notebook, pen, permanent marker and many other small items), iPod, card reader. When I shoot sports, I also have the 300 lens and a monopod.

Laptop bag: (nearly everywhere)
laptop, AC adapter, photo portfolio, a few magazines,

Blue tote: (most shoots)
(2) extension cords, power strip, roll of aluminum foil, bag of 25+ assorted spring clamps, misc props,

Other: (most shoots)
(1) black (1) white 6'x4' reflector, (1) 18"x24" white reflector, roller suitcase of white background, black background, black velvet cover, gray, white, red, purple material sheets, bag of jewelry props,

Silver flash case: (most shoots)
(3) Vivitar 285 flashes, (1) generic flash, (1) ceiling grid mount, (3) flash/umbrella mounts, misc tools, Gary Font Lightsphere II, (2) 4.5 volt wet cell batteries and DC adapter leads in bags, color checker/gray card, (2) gel packs, turbo air blower, (2) wireless transmitter/receivers (eBay), box of misc flash/trans/recv parts/flash cables, black and gray gaffer tape, velcro ties,

Maroon bag: (most shoots)
(2) light stands, (2) white umbrellas w/black cover,

Tripod bag: (most shoots)
cheap tripod, cheap monopod

Plus: (most shoots)
I bring a case of water, a few misc clothes I have picked up at trips to thrift stores, spare AA batteries, a binder of release forms (adult model, adult minor, property and an adult (short) model form). The short form is 1/2 piece of paper and has few words. Versus the long form is a whole piece of paper. I also have two beanbags and a simple wooden kitchen chair with a round seat and round back.

Just a brisk little walk

Well, I am beginning the recovery process from my discovery yesterday. Even though I am still reeling form the loss of 1200-1500 images, I have to revise a few procedures and just move on. I suppose it is inevitable for one to have a loss, it's how you recover that makes a difference. At least that's what I am telling myself.

I went up to the storage unit today to help the in-law get a canopy on the truck. I like being the passenger because I get to scout for locations of future shoots. A few places I see all the time on this drive is an old abandoned one room school house. Complete with red door. But it looks to be in pretty bad shape so I am sure there will be no option to shoot from the inside. But from the outside with the weathered wood, could be a fine place in which to shoot. There was also a 1958 tow truck on the property where we have storage. By itself, it's a neat prop. But it needs to be put in a field or driveway to be really usable for my purposes. Next to the storage site is also a welding and fabrication shop. I will have to stop by one day to see if I could shoot there. I like images with a great looking model and a grungy, sparks flying, dirty background. HOT, right.

On the way back from storage, I asked the in-law to drop me off downtown so I could stop in and talk to Melissa at her hair salon called Head to Toes. But the door was locked, for the third day in a row. Not sure what's going on, so I called and left a message to see if everything was okay. I want to get the 2nd floor usable so I can shoot some valentines day photos in a few weeks.

Since the salon was closed, I headed to the Hot Dog Shoppe and had a burger and Pepsi. When I was leaving, Kayela came on duty. I want to get her on a shoot and we have been trying to match schedules for several weeks. There MIGHT be a chance on Tuesday afternoon.

I didn't stay long and headed up town to cross the street. As I was nearing the corner, a man was taking a picture of his paint job of a new business opening up. But he was using a cell phone. SO I offered to shoot the facade, since I was a photographer. We chatted and exchanged biz cards. Then the business owner came out and I talked to him. He will be a coffee bean roaster. Not a coffee shop, but a custom roaster. You can get your favorite bean and have them custom roast and grind it. So in 10 minutes, you can have freshly roasted beans in a bag to go. I don't drink coffee, but I bet for those that do, it will be pretty dang tasty. Of course, I offered my services for product shots and advertisements etc.

Opportunity. Once you recognize it. You have to grasp it.

Things I thought I'd never say (Pt III)

I just realized that I accidentally pulled the images of Liz/First model shoot off an earlier post. I will get those restored soon. Sorry 'bout dat.

Things I thought I'd never say

I have some pictures from today....but I can't show any of them to you.

Those are words I thought I would never say....well, actually, I knew eventually I would but for a different reason.

I went to the middle school today to do a photo shoot with 6 of the 6th graders. One of the agreements is that the images of the students cannot be used outside the classroom setting by me. They can be used as needed by the school/district though.

There are 6 classrooms and each teacher picked one student from each classroom. I was assigned 20 minutes to teach the student the basics of camera function. We didn't discuss composition in any way except that they could get close, get far, get low or high wide or zoom in. I used the same directions for each student.

The first shots were of a stuffed lion and a desk clock that looks like an apple. Then they each had about 10 minutes to freely roam the hallway and classrooms to take pictures of essentially anyone, anything anywhere.

After I get them selected and edited. I will show them to the vice-principal on Monday Jan 14th over lunch. I will ask to use some of the images at that point. If I get permission, then I will put some of them here on the blog.

First model shoot

I got the opportunity to shoot pictures for a model yesterday. Now, "model" is being used loosely here. Liz wants to model. She sure seems to have a natural talent for graceful posing but until she gets to talk to a talent agency, we don't know what her future will hold.

The day went like this:
10:45 left house to drop off rental movies
11:00 left to go to Liz's house (shooting in her basement)
11:15 stopped to get a couple Arby's sammiches.....
11:35 driving Rt. 19 thinking "I wonder if I will see Becca on my way?"
11:36 pulled into a Sheets gas station to buy water....Becca walks in.
11:45 drive up to the house
12:15 after the introductions Becca is setting up her makeup table setup and I am getting the equipment moved in....I already want an assistant
1:00 Becca has put a simple foundation on Liz and I have the equip moved into the basement
1:15 I shoot some basic head, 3/4 and full shots of Liz in a bikini, no makeup, smile/no smile. These are what the agency's like to see so they know what the pure/raw models are like. MUA's and Hair Stylists can make the magic later.
1:20 I begin setting up the black and white backgrounds and Becca gets Liz ready for the shoot
2:15 Backgrounds are up, I shoot some behind the scenes shots of Becca, the equipments and Liz getting ready. Liz is almost done.
2:30 Everyone is ready and Liz turns it on and we shoot.
7:30 Everyone is pretty much worn down. What was going to be a 2-4 hour occasion turns into a full 8 hours after the equipment is taken down and files are loaded into the laptop.

We didn't shoot a solid 5 hours. It's a bit of a coordinated effort. I set up equip and makeup is being put on. After makeup I go into action and Becca sits and waits, always checking for hair and makeup malfunctions. Then we do a wardrobe change (I sit and wait) Becca re-applies makeup then I shoot more. The model is the only one actually moving all the time. I can see the energy wear off over time. She was pretty beat in the end.

I still remember that after just a few minutes of shooting, I looked at the images and the first thing that came to mind was "this is what I want to do for the rest of my life". I don't know if I have ever said that to myself.....and I don't know if I will get to realize that, but it's what motivates me right now.

Here is Liz: