I have made my feelings known regarding hotshoe flashes being used as “strobes”, Nothing more than a gimmick, oops… But I did take a portable strobe and beauty dish out for some shots!
Blog
Last week a facebook contact sated on an update:”Ive said it before and i will say it again. It is about the light people! Photography is about lighting!!!”
I replied; ” Its about the connection first! Lights second!”
She replied: ” I could take a person off the street and not say a word to them…..and get an outstanding pix if i have the right light. Connection is only a necessity for portrait biz….i am talking u and being one with your camera.
Repeat after me…..i can see the light!!!!!!”
I hate to hit you with the importance of Mentors but I am. One of my Mentors, Art Ketchum once told me “You aren’t sh!t” if you can’t shoot white on white and keep the integrity of the clothing. Do THAT and hell, I’ll say you’re good”
Of course after he said that, I went out and tried to shoot white on white.
Back in 2001 when I got “really fricken serious” about photography, I found myself trying to decide which genre of photography I should get into? Fashion? Glamour? Swim? Beauty? It was at this point that I decided a mentor was crucial and found one. The mentor I had was a glamour guy. I didn’t chose to shoot glamour strictly because he was a glamour guy, at that point in my career I had enjoyed the bluntness of glamour.
There was a model that I’ve wanted to shoot for a while named Ann Bang. She was perfect as she has a great look and killer body! She was out of the country for a while and once she was around, I was leaving Colorado. Before I left, I had a chance to shoot her but it was part of a workshop. We had agreed to shoot before I left, but it never worked out. I sent her another email letting her know I was going to be back in the area and she ignored it. Guess I won’t be shooting her anymore lol.
I often reflect back on my first talk with my mentor and friend Art Ketchum and I remember specifically complaining as all I had was a cheap pair of Ebay strobes and a cheap camera and starter lens. In his book, Portfolio by Art Ketchum, Art states he had a ton of strobes and modifiers. He also stated if the reader or anyone else who wondered why he had so many, his response was simple; “Because I can”. It floored me
I’m amazed by some of the conversations I have with other professional photographers. A lot of well accomplished photographers, people I look up to, don’t make money in “model photography” This has always amazed me as I was able to make money in it! After talking to them and breaking through the unwritten rule of “Never discuss business” I found that none of them had a business plan!
Today’s update is of Nicole. Nicole came as a referral shoot for a website. It’s been a while since I’ve shot for a site so I figured why not? The setup was simple, just one light a Photogenic Solair PLR500DRC with a silver 24″ beauty dish with diffusion sock. Not sure what happened to her, she sort of disappeared off the face of the earth (as many of them do!) My hopes is she’s alive and well and pursuing other dreams.
I was talking to a friend and we started talking about tag lines. Now if you don’t know what a tag line is, allow me to tell you:
“Coke is it”
“You can’t beat the real thing”
“You’ve got the right one”
A few weeks ago, I posted some images of Jacqui. I’ve gotten a lot of requests for more so I put together a little demo video as well as some images from our shoot.