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Whoops! and Give in to Sin
Ok. Shame on me. It has been not quite a month since my last posting. I shall hang my head in shame. But fear not! I’ve been taking photos like nobody’s business. I promise I’ll be keeping it more steady and catch you up on what I’ve been doing.
Last week was Give in to Sin. This was a benefit for Sinsations in Austin. Their lease expires in less than two months and the owner of the property has decided not to renew it. Morgan wasn’t expecting it, so a bunch of people helped get this benefit together for her so she could have the funds to move. Morgan does quite a bit for the local community with the other benefits she puts on, so it was time to give back.
The show was at Red7. There were bands, burlesque, boobs, beer, art, and spankings. It was a pretty great show with lots of interesting folks walking around in not so much. Met some cool people too. Here’s some more of the evening.
The full set of photos can be found on my myspace page (mostly because I was lazy and didn’t want to use flickr).
The art:
The comedy:
The fun:
The burlesque:
The flames:
The bands:
New toys!
Well, I finally went and did it. I got even MORE camera gear. I’ve been looking at new lenses recently because I’ve noticed my current 18-55 kit lens is not as sharp as I’d like it for doing portraits. Plus, it makes it extremely hard to get good separation of the subject and background when I’m on the long end; it drops down to f5.6. Great if you want a somewhat deep depth of field. Not so much when you’re shooting someone’s portrait.
I spent several weeks looking back and forth between the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 and the new Sigma 24-70 f2.8 HSM. Man, was it a toss up. On one hand, I wanted to stay with as much Nikon gear as possible. On the other hand, I’m a cheap bastard at times and was looking to maximize the amount of stuff I could get with the budget I had. $1800 for the Nikon lens wasn’t going to cut it, no matter how much I lusted after the lens.
I played a bit with the non-HSM version of the Sigma and concluded that the zoom ring was entirely too stiff. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to use it on my d40 if I chose to use that as a backup with this lens. Reports on the web showed that Sigma corrected some of the problems in the new HSM lens, so I bit the bullet and went with that.
I’m entirely pleased with my choice.
The one downside is that the lens is huge. heavy. beastly. It’s like the eye of cyclops staring you down and peering into your head while you scream for an escape.
I love the bokeh on this lens too. I haven’t yet been able to do a full out shoot with it, but I’ve certainly played with it taking photos of random stuff (like squirrels).
In other toybag bits, I also got the new Nikon SB-900 and more portable light kit for it. That brings my overall light kit to three flashes so I can do more stuff outside of the studio.
Anyway, it’s two more bits of stuff for my kit. Yay!
Dirty Inspiration
I love Mike Rowe. Don’t know him? He hosts Dirty Jobs on Discovery. It’s a fascinating series about the dirty jobs that help make this world run. (Kind of obvious based on the title, eh?). Mike talks about the episode he did surrounding the job of a sheep herder. It’s a captivating and animated story that he tells.
A few things are impressed upon me from this video: the ideas of anagnorisis and peripeteia and the notion that your preconceptions are wrong.
Now, anagnorisis and peripeteia don’t necessarily apply directly to photography, but work with me. Anagnorisis and peripeteia are literary devices. Wikipedia, the source everyone loves to hate, notes that anagnorisis means discovery in Greek. It’s the sudden realization of a situation. In Greek tragedies, it was often preceded by a peripatetic event, a sudden reversal or turning point in the story.
With me so far? Good.
In the journey to become a photographer, one makes mistakes. A lot of mistakes. You forget to focus. You forget your batteries. You forget that larger f-stops give you smaller depth of field. You know, simple mistakes that affect how you achieve the photo you’re going for. If you’re paying attention, you learn from these mistakes. You have your “ahha!” moment. The lightbulb flicks on just above your furrowed brow right as you make the mistake and you think, “I shouldn’t have done that!”
It’s that realization that you’ve made the mistake that’s important. But, not everything is a mistake. Many times it’s understanding that what you just did failed for some particular reason outside of your control and figuring out why. Another “ahha!” moment. Discovery. Sounds so simple, right?
Yes and no.
When I started shooting, I had a brand new camera in my hands, a bunch of book learning in my head, and my personal experience amounted to a photographic hill of beans. In other words, I was fresh off the boat and I knew it all. All I had to do was get the camera off automatic, twist a few dials, and my inner magician would appear, flashing the scene with The Light Fantastic, and I’d have amazing and emotionally charged photos.
Great concept. Reality left a little bit to be desired. Ok. That’s the understatement of the day. Blast! That’s when I begun to realize that there was something more to this than whacking the Easy Button and waiting for the benjamins to roll in. As Mike put it, I had a bit of anagnorisis and peripeteia on my chin.
Mike touches upon this idea of challenging your preconceptions. He’s right: what if it really is “Safety Third”? Think about that. It goes against your nature to even consider that. Right or wrong, what’s important here is that you make the leap between what you know is correct and true to what is sheer crazy talk. It’s this leap where the interesting ideas come from. I’ve often heard this as: when shooting with other photographers, if they start shooting something to their left, you start shooting to their right … because something interesting is being missed over there.
In the end, what it comes down to is this: we spend our moments looking at what we’re doing and testing ourselves in order figure out a better way to do it. If you’re good, you question yourself and your routines. If you’re better, you listen to those questions and do something with the answers.
Me? I’m going to go wipe these bloody bits of anagnorisis and peripeteia off my chin and find something right to shoot.
New Rules: How to shoot a datacenter
[Ed. note: I wrote this years ago while after encountering a photog at a day job in a datacenter. I recently came across it again and thought it would be fitting here. Enjoy!]
Today I was tasked with the job of being the grand overseer of the pretty people and the magic picture box trolls who were rummaging around in one of our datacenters. (read: corporate used one of our datacenters for a photoshoot. They had a professional photographer and a bunch of “pretty people” who were trying to act like sysadmins, scampering hither and thither in our room).
If you’re a photographer taking marketing shots of a technical area, I’m going to give you a short guide on do’s and don’ts that you and your models should follow.
- Do show up on time and listen to the rules the nice sysadmin gives you.
- Don’t be put off when the nice sysadmin tells you that you can’t shoot in the room he has to work in while he’s overseeing you.
- Do ask questions about what you can and can’t do.
- Don’t just start touching the pretty lights.
- Do ask for assistance touching the equipment.
- Don’t look for a wall of monitors in the datacenter. The datacenter is for computers that are remotely managed. We don’t like the datacenter. It’s cold, loud, and obnoxious. We therefor spend as little time as possible in there to save our hearing and keep our butts from freezing off.
- Do pick models that look like they’re sysadminish geek types. I’ve been a sysadmin for almost a decade. The number of pretty people you brought in to act as sysadmins equals the number of pretty sysadmins in the continental US. It just doesn’t happen.
- Don’t ooh and aaah at the pretty lights and have your models make fake poses pointing at them. It looks silly.
- Don’t have your models squat on the floor, looking down the length of a cold isle. It looks stupid.
- Contrary to popular opinion, sandals are not usually worn in a datacenter. We don’t like how our feet hurt when we accidently drop computers on them.
- No matter how much you think she is, the gorgeous blonde with the lime green, mid-thigh flowing skirt is not a sysadmin. No. Not ever.
- In raised floor data centers, air moves from the floor up to the ceiling. It generally moves pretty fast. We move alot of air. Things have to keep cool. Why does this matter? Unless you want a Marilyn Monroe moment, your models should not be wearing lime green, mid-thigh skirts. No matter how much the overseer wishes she would just walk back and forth over the perf tiles.
- Don’t pester the sysadmin about what he thinks should be shot. He’s a sysadmin. He’s not a photographer. If he was a photographer, he’d be doing your job, not his, and likely be getting paid just as well, if not better, than you.
- Do complete your research before the shoot. This will help you compose your shots appropriately.
- Don’t ask the sysadmin how he would best show “virtualization” in a datacenter. How would he do it? He’d do it like IBM. One big fucking empty datacenter. One rack. Right in the center. Nothing else around. No, it’s not sexy. Get over it.
- Sysadmins don’t generally walk around in high dollar clothing from the Gap, Ambercrombie and Fitch, or Banana Republic. That shit’s expensive. We work in dirty environments. The last thing we want to do is waste our precious money on getting expensive clothing dirty because we’re doing our jobs.
- No, we will not stop doing the regular work in the datacenter so you have a “cleaner” shot. It’s a working production environment. Completing our jobs is worth more to the company than your pictures.
- Do thank the sysadmin for all his help.
- Don’t call the sysadmin “dude” or “buddy” or “pal”. He has a name. He told it to you when he introduced himself to you.
- Don’t get pissy when the sysadmin can’t remember your name. His only concern is that you’re not fucking up his environment while you’re getting your shots.
- When the sysadmin tells you to stop doing what you’re doing, you will stop. You will cease and desist. You will move into a place not immediately connected with what you were doing. If you don’t, he will get pissed and likely remove you forcibly from the room. Why? Because you just fucked something up and he’s realized it.
- When the sysadmin tells you to leave, you will. Have a problem with that? Please go talk to your contact, who will talk to his boss, who will then talk to the sysadmin, at which point the sysadmin will give justifiable reasons for the decision. Boss will side with the sysadmin. Get over it.
- When the time comes for your photoshoot to end, you will pack up and leave. You will not go over your time. The sysadmin has been stuck in this room with you for several hours. He’s tired, cold, hungry, and probably has to take a leak because he’s been unable to leave the room unattended while you’re in there. Also, it’s probably quitting time and he wants to go home.
- Do take the sysadmin’s rules as law. He has been given final say about your existence in his world. You’re there as a guest. Don’t fuck it up.
- When you fuck something up you will have your models leave the room and a representive from the photo shoot will stand out of the way and be present when things are being fixed. Your rep will be respectful and quiet. The sysadmin’s job is to fix this visit from the fuckup fairy and then convey to you what damage has been done and what it has cost the company.
- Stay away from the networking gear.
- Stay away from the networking gear.
- If there’s networking gear, stay away from it.
- The thing that has all the blinky lights and the pretty tentacled masses of cables coming out of it. Yeah, stay away from it.
- No, the sysadmin won’t turn his music off. He’s using it to help protect his hearing from all the loud noises. Yes, those pink and purple things in his ears are ear plugs. He’s using them to cut out the white noise in the room so he can hear his music.
- Don’t freak out when the sysadmin whips out a knife to work on something. He’s a professional. He’s not going to bloody his tools with the likes of you. Well, as long as you don’t cause a visit from the fuckup fairy.
- No matter how sexy you think the other room is, you’re not going in there. The last photoshoot that happened there is the cause of rules 26 through 29.
- Be nice to the sysadmin. He might take bribes. Offer him food and drinks. He likes free things, especially if they’re highly caffienated.
I will say, though, the young lady in the lime green skirt … damn.
[Ed. note: The model in the photo is Hayley. She is not a sysadmin.]
How do photos affect you?
Last night, a friend and I went to an exhibit of Fritz Henle’s photography at the Harry Ransom Center. Excellent exhibit; you should make the trip down there to see it while it’s still in Austin. While going from one photo to the next, we began discussing how there’s a natural flow to some photos that makes them appealing … or quite the opposite: turning your stomach because they’re composed in a way that’s just so utterly jarring to the natural order of things. I didn’t pay much attention to the discussion after we left the exhibit until today at lunch when having a discussion about one of my recent photo shoots (last Tuesday’s in fact).
I’m not exactly sure what drove me to do this. I’d seen the idea some place else and wanted to expand on it. 
Basically, I wanted my model completely wrapped in plastic. Tightly. We covered her head to toe in a cocoon of pallet wrap, split open a small hole to breathe from, and I went to town with the camera. One of the photos I took was a closeup of her exposed lips. This was soon after the model started getting a bit claustrophobic because the breathing hole was too small. No biggie, rip it open a bit more, and we continued on.
Today, I was talking with another friend at lunch about this photo. Her reaction to the photo was one I had not expected: she said she immediately got lost in it, got claustrophobic, and then had to force herself to look away and breathe to calm down. I can see how this photo goes against the norms of society (who wraps a person in plastic for fun? :-) and can be utterly jarring. I just didn’t expect the photo to affect someone that deeply.
Do some photos do that to you (in the “I have to turn away right now or I’m going to pass out” sort of way)? What was it about the photo that did it? (And I’m not really concerned about the photos that are blatantly fucked up … I’m more interested in those that, at first blush, seem ok until you really look at them and get dragged in).
It’s a bizarre curiosity for me, I guess, understanding the design dynamic that goes into making a photo that’s sole purpose is to tweak a person in what may be perceived as a negative way. I mean, it doesn’t take much to make a photo that someone looks at and gets turned on by. But to make one that has a subtle but gnawing detail in it that sticks in your subconscious and eats at you? You know the kind of image I’m talking about … it’s the train wreck one. You just have to look at it to figure out what went wrong, when, and where.
I think a lot of it just comes down to wanting to know how to affect the mood and emotion of the viewers of my photographs in any way I choose. Like I said, it’s easy (in my opinion) to make something that warms a heart. I think it’s harder to do something that turns one frigid or throws chills up your spine because we naturally don’t wish to encounter those things. They’re potentially painful.
As an aside: I recently got access to a well stocked library again (and one that should have some excellent photographic resources), so I think I’m going to spend some time going through to try and understand where this idea is coming from. Just something for me to think about.
The model here was a trooper. We had her wrapped up for over an hour or so, pushing her this way, shoving her that way, rearranging her until she fit the light the right way. Apparently it’s hard to move around when your body is mummified in plastic. Who knew?
Oh, and Fritz Henle? Yeah, you really ought to go see the exhibit. It’s free at the HRC and worth the 30-45 minute walk through. Excellent work (although, I’m really not big on his fashion photography … but I digress).
Austin Hangouts
Every Thursday I go to hangout with friends after work. Nothing fancy, just a group that likes to sit down, have some dinner, maybe some coffee, and bullshit for a few hours. Invariably, we all tend to haunt the same dives in Austin for our merriment. Figured I’d at least share some of the better places to go kick around.
Spiderhouse: one of my local haunts for the last few years. Spiderhouse is rather … eclectic. Even for a coffee house. Spiderhouse wasn’t so much designed as organically grown. Most of the seating is outside either under the porch awning, out on the brick patio, or under the gigantic pecan trees out back. They food is ok. It’s mostly vegetarian. Not particularly my thing. But I don’t go there for the food, I go there for the occasional good DJ playing while we’re relaxing with friends, the decent cup of hot chocolate or apple cider when it’s cold, or the pint or two of Liveoak Heffe that’s needed when it’s blazingly hot out.
Ruby’s BBQ: Ruby’s is a stone’s through from Spiderhouse. If you’re a meatasaurus rex and you’re craving meat, it’s the place to go if you’re up near campus. Another one of Austin’s hole-in-the-walls, the place looks like it’s about to fall apart. The tiny one-toilet men’s room is covered in graffiti and you have to squeeze your fat ass into the door because it’s just so damn tight. But the staff is good, the brisket is better, and the cobbler … pretty damned tasty.
Dirty Martin’s: I found out about this place a few months back. If you could throw a stone and hit Ruby’s from Spiderhouse, you could hit Dirty Martin’s with a bow and arrow (“I fire an arrow into the air and where it lands I know not … ooooh! damn, it hit Dirty’s”). Yet another greasy spoon in Austin. If you have a heart condition, this is probably not the place for you. Serving one of the best quadruple bypasses in the city, Dirty’s is the place to go for hamburgers and fries. This is one of the line cooks. I never caught his name, but his expressions are hilarious when you catch him listening to conversations. Nice guy. Sit at the bar if you can. One of the more classic diner feels in Austin. Oh, and the milkshakes aren’t half-bad either.
Changing of the Guard
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.Niccolò Machiavelli
Friday was my last day at work. After almost 11 years there, it was clear that I needed a change of pace. I start the new job on Monday. Same type of work, different setting. It should be slower paced and more relaxed. Not much to say beyond that. I’ll probably have a bit more time to work on my photography. I’m going to miss working with those folks. Quite a few were like family.
Friday evening quite a few of us met up for happy hour at Serranos to send off me (and my boss, who coincidentally, also found a new job too). Took a few photos, had some taken of me. It was quiet, but good. Sad to go, but looking forward to the change.
White: The Prequel.
Not much of a blog update. I’ve been furiously working my way through photos from three photo shoots over the last week and a half, trying to get everything edited, uploaded, and distributed out to their respective models and clients.
And I’m bushed.
Donica and I had a shoot Wednesday two weeks ago. She wanted to do something different and I wanted to practice with my new white muslin. I think it worked out well. Especially when you realize that up until this point, I’d stuck to grays and blacks for backgrounds. This was something completely different. The work I did with Donica in understanding how to use this tool ended up being put to good use in the White: The New Experiment.
Overall, I’m fairly happy with how the high key photos turned out. We shot some low key things too. Mostly because I was getting bored with the white and wanting to try something different that evening. I’ve shown some of the high key photos around and gotten some good feedback. Mostly, I need to watch out for having the model wash right out into the background and get some tile board for the front part of the muslin ( the part nearest the camera) in order to help get rid of the cloth ripples I was experiencing (and about ready to bang my head through the studio wall because of it too).
In other news, there’s been someone of a heated discussion on the Strobist Austin discussion group regarding allowing the group to accept moderate photos in the pool. There are some decent reasons, both for and against for doing this. 
Tonight after considering the comments (of which, most came from moderators … I don’t know what that means … do we just care more because we have to work at keeping the pool clean?) In the end, I opened it up to see how well we deal with it. If it becomes a problem, I guess we’ll figure it out then. We’re all adults, I think we can handle this.
Anywhoo, without further ado … more Donica photos! Enjoy.
Austin Music Awards circa 2009
Whew! What a busy week. You may remember that I mentioned the 2009 Austin Music Awards a few weeks back. Well, the show has finally come and gone and it was definitely a blast! This year’s lineup included Bob Schneider and the Fireants, The Dicks, Augie Meyers, and many, many others.
The two differences from last year is that I was allowed access backstage during the show thanks to the work of my friend Scarlett and the graciousness of Margaret Moser. Since I wasn’t officially part of the staff crew, when I arrived, I had Scarlett walk me around backstage to introduce me to the key folks I’d be encountering. These were the people I wanted to make sure I paid attention to! If they told me to get the !@#$% out of the way, I wanted to get out of the way. 
Second, my friend Quentin loaned me his Nikon 80-200 f2.8 lens (practically insisted when I waffled on it). I must say, while that lens is heavy … it’s about 3lbs I think, not including the camera body … it was worth it; damn, is the bokeh on it creamy like butter. I was getting great separation of elements in my photos this time.
Thankfully, nothing happened. I went back several times throughout the show but didn’t camp out. The space was rather tight and people were moving too quickly to get good candid photos (I did get a few!) so I focused on staying frontstage.
About halfway through the show, I started walking around to find a different vantage point for the photos. That’s when I noticed that there were two balconies above the stage on either side. An adventure awaits! The first balcony I went to (stage right) I got politely rebuffed. They were partially using it as a dressing area for the women helping musicians and entertainers across the stage. My second attempt, which had me over on stage left balcony was fruitful. I walked up to the security guy, asked if I could get back there, flashed my staff badge, and voila! The Pearly Gates parted, harmonious music was playing, golden light … wait, that was from the set being played on stage. But, you know what I mean. 
I had an excellent view of the band looking into the crowd. The bad news: it was from the side (but that’s ok!). The good news: I had maneuvering room! By the time I got up here, The Dicks were playing and that’s when I noticed the mad rush of the crowd and fans towards frontstage despite security’s ability to do anything about it. I wouldn’t have been able to move at all.
But, again. That’s ok. I had a vantage point that no other photographer was going to get (thanks to Scarlett and Margaret)! I ended up there a few more times throughout the evening.
In all, I ended up with just shy of a thousand photos from the entire evening. I’ve whittled it down to 166 really good ones and uploaded them to flickr. 
Nothing as dramatic as the photo I got of The Judy’s lead singer throwing water into the crowd, but I got some extremely good ones of The Dicks lead interacting with the crowd and some good ones of Augie Meyers.
Feel free to check out the 2009 Austin Music Awards photo set on my flickr stream.
I hope you like ‘em as much as I do. I’m looking forward to shooting the Awards Show again. If you want, you can jump straight to the slideshow!
Oh, and before you ask, I don’t know who some of the musicians are. I have to work with Scarlett to make sure I get everything noted properly on the photo descriptions.
White: The new experiment!
A few weeks back, I picked up two new tools for my photographic arsenal of DOOM! One was a white muslin which I needed for a photo shoot. The second was a Nikon D300. Like chocolate and peanut butter, I’ve discovered that these are just two great tastes that taste great together.
There was a bit of a learning curve with both the camera and the muslin, but I’m slowly getting in the groove of things. I absolutely love the feel of the D300. It’s entirely different from the D40 I started out with. It feels better in my hands, fits better, and I’m finally able to properly play with my 50mm f1.8 (which wouldn’t autofocus on the D40).
I wasn’t sure about the muslin when I got it. I tend to steer towards the dark side when it comes to my photography. I like it low key, lots of shadow, lots of room to hide in. But man, after seeing how well some of these photos came out, I’m thinking I found a new toy to play with more often. The downside to the white muslin is that I still haven’t figured out how to deal with ripples in the fabric on the floor. If I can’t figure out how to get those blown out (without having to photoshop), I’ll have to pick up a few pieces of tile board to hide them.
But, if I keep the photo limited to a 3/4 shot and ignore the floor? Man, it’s just sexy how the light works so well. All of these photos were done with a pair of AB-800′s pointed into the muslin at 1/2 power. There was also an AB-800 shooting through a gridded softbox off to camera right at about 45 degrees off of center. Just enough to light the model and let there be some depth in the photo with the shadow and falloff.
The models for this shoot were fabulous. Definitely going to be shooting with them again I think.
Oh, and stay tuned! I’ll have some teaser photos later this week from the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday. I’m definitely excited about that!
And now, for more photos!
I won a gold Austin ADDYs award!
Well, ok, I helped win an ADDY to be more precise. A gold one, at that! A few months back, I got contacted by John Livingston via flickr. He’s art director for nFusion here in Austin. It’s a local advertising and marketing firm. John happened across a photo I took a year ago on a photowalk.
I didn’t think much about the photo at the time. It was a red bike with a sign on it discussing what it was worth to someone with AIDS. I sat down on the ground, framed, clicked, and moved on. Fast forward to December ’08. John contacts me, tells me about his involvement in the campaign and that he wants to use my photo as part of the submission to the 2009 Austin ADDYs Award.
Sure, why not? At worst, nothing came of it. At best, I get a bit of recognition out of it. For a photo that I didn’t expect much out of after taking it, what could I lose? So, after a bit of discussion, I licensed it to them for use in their submission.
Today I received this email.
Travis,
Hey this is John Livingston from nFusion. I thought you might like to know that the picture you contributed was part of a gold award-winning campaign at the 2009 Austin ADDY awards. I just wanted to thank you for allowing us to use your great photograph.
Here’s a link to the brochure they made with the winners. Look for your name on page 19 under the Red Bike Campaign:
http://www.austinaddys.com/2009austinADDYsWinnerBook.pdf
Unfortunately they didn’t feature your picture of the bikes in the book, but your image was used in our entry.So now you can say you won an Austin ADDY ward. Nice job!
-John
And, sure enough, I downloaded the PDF and found an attribution.
Woot! It’s not much, but what the heck. A bit of exposure for something I likely wouldn’t have done anything more than keep in my flickr stream. I think that’s a fair exchange for the amount of effort put into the photo.
So yeah, I’m happy claiming I helped win a gold Austin ADDYs Award.
Links for 2009-02-20
Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet
DELARGE: Flickr finder tool – Find flickr photo owner / user by photo id, url or filename Nifty! Have a direct flickr url or filename and can’t figure out who the photographer really is from that? Just paste it here and the magical flickr elves will figure it out for you. (tags: photography flickr tools search)
"I’m going a hundred miles an hour down a dead-end road."
Just some notable quotes that struck me as I was listening and watching this.
“I placed myself against my peers this year and was ready to walk away from the camera for good. I have so far to go and I’m tired. It was time to reinvent myself again but I didn’t have it in me to even try.”
“I’ve been driving as fast as I can for as long as I could remember. I’ve been stuck at this breakneck speed and it seems as though I can’t get out of first gear. By the end of last year, I was throwing rods and the gaskets were blowing out like birthday candles.”
“Chances are you have your voice. You can say whatever you want to say right now. So what are you saying? What are you doing with the time you have right now?”
“Some of you are the real top ten photographers in the world and the rest of us don’t even know you’re alive. You don’t even realize how amazing you are. Some of you are just getting started. Be patient. Don’t rush. Chill out. You are on your way. Some of you suck and you really need some help.”
and shortly followed by
“Every photographer in all of the history was a horrible photographer for some period of time. They learned. They grew. They had dark days. They persevered. That is the way of the artist.”
Talk about hitting you like a five pound sledge. In the grand scheme of things, I haven’t been a photographer for long, but I’ve definitely stepped into these dark, lackluster corners of creativity. It’s sort of cathartic and uplifting knowing that even pros get this way at times.
Links for 2009-02-18
Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet
Magnum Blog / Wear Good Shoes: Advice to young photographers – the photo blog of Magnum Photos Tips from the pros and things you’d probably only pick up at the bar. (tags: photography inspiration photographers advice)
10 ways to break photographerâs block :: Photocritic photography blog 10 things for inspiration when you are beating your head against the wall creatively. (tags: photography photo tips inspiration motivation creativity)
Things that make you go HmmMMmmMMmm.
Hello. My name is Travis and I’m a Firefox Tab-a-holic. I first realized I had a problem a few months after my first hit of Firefox. I was young. I thought I was invincible. I could quite anytime because I was only using it to relax. First it was just one or two tabs a day. And I began seeing how much better I thought my life was if I just had a constant stream of two or three. Sometimes it was a crazy day and I ended it with seven or eight open. But each tab was so very important as it contained useful information to me.
Always useful.
But soon, I discovered that I couldn’t get enough of them. I was popping them like a mescaline-crazed nerdy Hunter S. Thompson on a crack binge with a typewriter and a bottle of whiskey. I was opening five and six tabs an hour, leaving them open for days and weeks, always going back to reference each page. Bookmarks? Bookmarks are for pussies. You don’t ever go back to a page once you’ve bookmarked it. But an open tab is a constant thorn in your side. A reminder of something you must act upon.
Once it’s open, do you keep it? Do you read it it? Do you leave it there until you have more time to come back to it? Maybe you just let it sit there and stew like a half-written poem bubbling and boiling until it erupts with the furor of a mad poo-flinging monkey. It’s a hard call when it comes to having to close a tab. They’re all like my children now. Could you cut off one of your children? I thought not.
Anyway, tonight I had an epiphany. I have a problem. I just can’t let go of my tabs. I had 48 open going back months. Things I popped open intending to “read later”. I have a tab open from Sept 2008. Why do I know that? Because it was a blog posting from some random blogger I follow, dated from September.
As I looked through each of these tabs this evening, I remembered why I kept them open. There were bits of paragraphs, little thoughts, and random sentences that leapt out at me for one reason or another. And I’ve come to the conclusion that if I don’t write something about them, they’re going to haunt my tabs till kingdom come.
So …
Over on Positive Space Blog, Dave drops this quote:
Just as important as being able to stand up for your choices when you’re right is an ability to admit when you’re wrong. Maturing as a designer means learning how to tell the difference.
Dave Shea Creative Advent 2008
… and it gets me thinking. I’m pretty stubborn about my opinion and it is pretty difficult for me to take a step back and listen to opposing ideas, but once I realize I can do it, it is refreshing to hear what other people have to say about a design or idea. It sort of goes back to what I was talking about in Thievery gets you everywhere, only a slightly different facet of it. If you’re not paying attention to the ideas of others you’re going to grow stagnant with your own opinions and thoughts.
Over on Look for the guy with a hammer
Yeah, the right tool for the right job. Don’t second guess yourself about it.
I don’t remember where I saw this quote by Diane Arbus, but I liked it nonetheless.
I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.
Diane Arbus
It’s a struggle to come up with an interesting photographic idea. What I’ve found with following through is that sometimes they work, most often they don’t. Some of my favorite photos have come from happy accidents and others are born of an idea that turned out so much better than I could imagine.
Finally, sometimes you just need to try a different path. I’d been in a slight rut lately with my photography. James, a photog buddy of mine, invited me out to the studio Monday night to shoot with Stephanie. He’d wanted to do some white-faced photos of her with makeup on. It was a good evening. We ended up playing with the idea of the makeup, mostly. She was quite animated at times and kept opening her eyes really wide (which would freak James out … and she’d do it again and again creating a vicious circle). It was fun. Different, but fun.
Hooray Music!
Wow, awesome news! Last year, on a lark, I got invited to the Austin Music Awards by my good friend Scarlett. I asked if there was any chance I could bring my camera to the show. She poked around and got the OK from the show director. I ended up having quite a bit of fun and got some amazing photos of musicians like The Judy’s, Gary Clark Jr., Billy Gibbons, and many others. My photos apparently made the rounds of the event staff and were well received.
The other evening, Scarlet called me up after having just gotten out of the first volunteers meeting for the award show. I’m getting to come back to the show and take photos again! I’m so looking forward to this! And with luck, I’ll have my D300 by then so I’ll have even more fun.
You can see my photos from the 2008 Austin Music Awards on my Flickr stream.
Thievery gets you everywhere.
Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery–celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from–it’s where you take them to.”
– Jim Jarmusch
By way of Wizwow’s blog.
This sort of dovetails back into a conversation I had with Morgan a month or so back about certain photos being done already. We were talking about pinup art at the time, but it really translates into many other realms in photography. Take The Red Cloth as an example. My inspiration for that came from an ad within Instyle … or some other women’s magazine. I forget.
As a photographer I look all over the place for ideas and suggestions on what to do next. Heck, at one point I was going through every single photo that came across the Strobist Flickr group stream to see what other people were doing. Alas, I can’t do that any longer because of the sheer amount of stuff that comes across the stream now. But the point is, I gather my creativity from seeing what else is out there. Or what isn’t out there. You have to pay attention to both.
I take the bits and pieces I like, remix them, and throw them against the wall like spaghetti to see what sticks. Quite a lot doesn’t.
I think Jarmusch had it right. Nothing is original. But, the way we cut and whack at those things we pilfer makes them original long enough for someone else to steal. It’s the nature of the art.
Links for 2009-02-01
Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet
Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers Wizwow discusses techniques for using speedlights on location to combine ambient with flash for a more natural feel. Definitely some cool stuff. (tags: photography lighting flash tutorials strobist portrait)
45 Must-See Incredible Resources And Inspirational Collection To Discover The Best Of The Web In January – Opensource, Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers Some interesting links here for things like photoshop. (tags: photography photoshop tutorial inspiration webdesign)
57+ Free Image Gallery, Slideshow And Lightbox Solutions | 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design Various slide show and gallery solutions for websites. (tags: photography gallery lightbox javascript slideshow)
25 things.
There’s a meme going around on various social websites where you tell 25 things about yourself that someone might not know. You’re supposed to tag 25 people who you want the same thing from but I really don’t care to go that deeply into the meme.
- My first camera was one of those a 110 film camera. I think it was from kodak, but I don’t remember. I recall it having one of those flash cartridges that had 4 or 8 uses on it.
- I quietly lust after new camera equipment. It’s not uncommon for me to sit with a B&H catalog for hours.
- I’ve shot digital cameras for the last few years but I want to get a Holga just so I can experience film and have fun with it.
- I have a hard time remembering that I’m supposed to talk to the people I’m photographing. I zone too easily and have to constantly remind myself to not do that.
- I know it’s been a good evening shooting in the studio when I have to lay down and pop my back. Sometimes you just have to lay there and relax.
- I get an adrenaline rush when I’m shooting for a long time.
- I love Ansel Adams and his photography, but I don’t think I could ever be a landscape photographer. I absolutely hated his autobiography. I thought it was dry.
- I don’t have any formal training in photography. Everything I’ve done has been self-taught and gleaned out of many mistakes.
- I find it funny that people are surprised when I tell them I’m only shooting with a Nikon D40. For a consumer-grade camera, you can really do a lot with it.
- I suck at photoshop.
- I understand the meaning of the word “deviant”. Unlike a few photographers I know. ;-)
- I’m not big on shooting models. I like photographing people I’ve met. I find they have more character, even if they may not be considered “pretty.”
- After working on Strobist techniques for the last year and a half, I can no longer look at porn because I spend more time figuring out the lighting setup than I do looking at what’s really in the photo. Sad, isn’t it?
- Photography has been the longest hobby that I’ve ever been able to consistently follow through on. This surprised my wife because I have a bad habit of getting bored with something in midstream.
- I prefer low key photography to high key. I like the moodiness and darkness of shadow.
- I have a long term goal of changing careers and becoming a full-time photographer. Another 6-8 years of hard work and I might have a shot at it.
- I like the look of leather and latex in photos. I don’t know why. I just like the shiny highlights.
- I plan on going back to school and getting a degree in photography. Or, at the very least, getting some college-level classes done. I think it will help out my abilities going forward.
- One of the best things that has happened to my photography is gaining access to a studio. I’ve had such an improvement in the last six months because of that. It’s been a great source of learning and practice.
- My next home will have a 20×30 studio. Mostly because I’m lazy and want to be within walking distance of it whenever I’m at the house.
- Joe McNally rocks my socks. He does things with light that I find positively amazing.
- Why, yes, I do look at women’s magazines for ideas. Why do you ask?
- While I shoot a lot, I have no earthly idea on how to print photos so they look good. Ironic.
- There’s a pair of hawks that lives on a road near my house. Every time I see them I think about taking a photo of them, but … it’s hard to do when you pass them doing 60mph. I think they sit there taunting me and laughing loudly in a shrill hawkish way. One of these days I will stop and get that photo.
- Getting bored with photography is my biggest fear and something I constantly struggle with. There have been times where I’ve gone a month without taking a photo and I have to kick myself in the ass to do something about it.
The young lady at the top of this post is Donica. This was from our first shoot in January. I love how this blue turned out in the light. Heck, I just love how all of the photos turned out.
The Red Cloth
“So, yeah, the photo that James came up with for the contest was really good. The barbed wire was a great touch. It definitely made it WAY more deviant than Chris’ photo.”
We sat at Opal Divine’s that morning discussing the bet between Chris and James. The aftermath was kind of hilarious. James with a resounding 11-to-1 win over Chris. Especially with all the smack Chris was throwing around.
“But, honestly, I think the photo I did of Morgan wearing the gas mask was definitely more deviant than James’.”
She walked into the game room where we were sitting. “oh! Gas masks?”
My ears perked a moment and I turned around. She was cute. Spritely.
“Yeah. I recently took a photo of a friend wearing this gas mask she picked up.”
“Photos? Are y’all photographers?”
I looked around at the other six guys at the table. “Yeah. We meet up here frequently to talk about photography and stuff.”
“Cool! I love having my picture taken. I could model for y’all sometime!”
Everyone laughed. Sure, why not? I looked back at her and said half-jokingly, “Sure, give me your contact info and we’ll set something up.”
Funny. Some of the guys assumed that was meant for everyone. She laughed, took some of our drink orders and wandered off. We went back to discussing the photos and other random Strobist stuff.
About fifteen minutes later she came back in and walks up to me, a slip of paper in hand. “Here you go!”
It was her contact info. Heh. I turned to look at the guys and saw jaws drop. Yeah. Definitely funny. As I started to slip the paper in my pocket, one exclaimed, “But that’s for all of us!”
“Yeah, sure.” I laughed, “and you’re more than welcome to ask her for the same …”
A few weeks later, we had the shoot set up.
One thing I’ve learned in the last year is that if you don’t have the balls to ask someone for something you’ll never know if they’ll do it. When an opportunity presents itself you’ll do one of two things: take it or sit there kicking yourself for not opening your mouth. Be bold, live notoriously, whatever moniker you want to attach to this idea … all it takes is opening your mouth and asking the question that hangs at the tip of your tongue.
This is Donica. She’s a sweet girl. We had a lot of fun in the studio. This was one of the shots I was explicitly looking for that night. It’s variation of something I picked out of a magazine last year, the main focus being a red cloth sweeping down across the back and just barely hiding a nude woman. We’re definitely going to shoot again, though, next time I think she’ll be in a mohawk. She’s wild like that. Gotta love a woman who’ll let you fuck up her hair for art.
Links for 2009-01-19
Interesting links gathered from all over the Internet
Flickr: Discussing OT: developing an artistic eye in Strobist.com Wizwow’s notes on developing an artistic eye. (tags: wizwow photography ideas artistic)
Doom on you! Doom on you!
Oy! It’s already well over a week into 2009 and I’ve yet to post anything useful, thought provoking, or incendiary, or eye catching! Crazy. I ended up in the studio Wednesday evening with my friend Wes. She designs costumes for fun and does a pretty awesome job at it. A few weeks back, Morgan showed me the costume that Wes was working on for a New Year’s Eve masquerade ball here in Austin. It wasn’t finished at that point, but I mentioned to her that I’d have to drag Wes into the studio once it was done.
Now, Wes is one of those fun people that you want to have in front of the camera. She’s comfortable with herself and has an intensity about her that makes you go click-click-click! with the shutter button.
So, back to Wednesday. I’d stopped by Morgan’s place to pass some time before the shoot. Wes was there getting ready and putting on makeup. What I hadn’t realized at the time was the accent color she was putting on to match the dress: a green that faded to yellow around her eyes and that wrapped across to her temples. It’s great working with someone who knows what the hell they’re doing with makeup. (Aside: I really need to find an MUA that I can consistently work with; but that’s for another time.)
I headed over to the studio and started the setup. I’ve realized that I’m getting faster with putting everything in it’s place, which is great, but the downside is that I tend to stick with the same setups, so I need to work on that this year.
James came by for a bit and dropped off the smoke machine he purchased for the studio. We talked about some ideas for the studio going forward; it’s clear that I need to get a few muslins of my own because we’re definitely going through seamless paper far faster than we should. 
The downside to having more than a handful of people in the coop. Meanwhile, Wes showed up, got all set up and in her Doomsdame la Douche persona: a fitting name considering the tone and timbre of the dress.
We didn’t get fancy, but we certainly used a few props that someone had left in the studio: a chainsaw and a hobby horse. One thing that was self-evident, albeit after the fact: don’t lick a chainsaw if you don’t know where it’s been. Apparently the taste is quite unnerving, if not disgusting, according to Wes.
I’ve had a few comments about that photo including: it would be better if it were a gas chainsaw and if it were running! I could see the first one. But really guys, the second? Really? I think what we did worked. Especially since it was one of those unrehearsed and unprompted moments of the shoot. Wes is entertaining like that. I mean, c’mon, would YOU give it a second thought before licking a chainsaw? I thought so.
The hobby horse was just cute. I couldn’t resist dragging it onto the seamless and putting her on it. It kind of reminds me of a bizarre bastardization of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, only more adult but still getting her way. I could just hear her saying, “But I want a pony NOW, daddy!”
One of the other shots we did was with the fog machine. Now, I have to say I expected it to work differently. I was expecting the fog to more or less hug the floor, making it nice and dense. Since we had no fans going there wasn’t going to be much air movement in the room. Did it work that way? Of course not. It just filled the room. And filled it some more. And then some more. It was clear that, two minutes into it, we were going to me smoked out of the room so I turned it off. The only shot I really got that turned out well was one of the first ones where I had her backlit by one of the strobes; the smoke behind her was being illuminated so you could see some of the small swirls of whatever air current there was from us moving around.
The big lesson learned? Playing with that damn fog machine made it impossible to do anything for a good 15-20 minutes afterwards while I got the room flushed out. Talking with some of the other photogs later, the suggestion was made to use dry ice for the effect I wanted, which was to have a myst hugging her feet. I’ll have to keep that in mind because I’m sure there will be other times I can use that.
After we finished up with the Doomsdame la Douche, we did a few shots without the brunette wig. Wes has lush red hair with blonde streaks in it that complimented the dress amazingly well. Once I got home and started doing post, the thought that struck me was that she could easily pass for Poison Ivy from Batman. The green makeup and dress, flaming hair. Definitely.
Finally, towards the end of the evening, she changed into a flowing silvery skirt and black leather corset. She’s got these great wigs that just work as excellent detail touches, so I got a chance to throw some blue gels on the lights and bring some complimentary light into play. While I had her on the seamless working on a shot, I happened to glance over at the wall where one of the mirrors was set up and was like, “DON’T MOVE!” 
I’m not sure what she thought at that moment, but I turned and started snapping photos of the mirror. The reflection was great. I loved how the blue light just framed it all, with the softbox lighting her up from the other direction. It worked. I love those happy accidents.
I think my favorite photo of the evening is the first one shown. I’m not sure why really. The lighting is just striking. I love it when a face is half hidden in shadow the way Wes’ is in this photo. I need to play with that idea more.
Goodbye, 2008.
Goodbye, cruel world
I’m leaving you today
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbyePink Floyd
I can’t believe we’re on the cusp of a new year; 2008 has flown by so, so quickly. Looking back at the last twelve months, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve progressed much farther in this art than I had ever expected. I’ve been working with the Strobist stuff for a year and a half, soaking up everything I could like a beached sea sponge. But, it wasn’t until earlier this year that I really began focusing on photographing people.
And would you believe, before that, I abhorred photographing people. Not because people were uninteresting but because I just sucked at it. I mean, thoroughly sucked at it. I couldn’t capture the essence of a person if my life depended on it. Photos would were mired with half-closed eyelids, the cheesy “do you really have to take my picture?” smile, sometimes even the really bad horror photo that people wish had never been captured. It was bad, bad I tell you.
I made a lot of mistakes. This, mind you, was never a bad thing. I’ve learned from every one of those, no matter how big or small. In fact, one of the problems I see myself experiencing is getting too comfortable in any one style or method. The dark photos, for example. I love dark photos. I love the simplicity and timbre found within. A thief in a pitch black room with only a flashlight and all you get to see is the shape and body I reveal with the beam.
But. Really, that’s not enough. I know it. It’s a mistake to think that I could spend my time creating a body of work where it, eventually, all looks the same. Robert Heinlein’s character Lazaras Long is quoted as saying, “Get a shot off fast. This upsets him long enough to let you make your second shot perfect.” I’m not looking to make perfect photos, but I do realize I need to keep plugging away at it to continue improving.
In The Secret to Success in Photography, Chase Jarvis talks about two things you need to really make it: be undeniably good and spend 10,000 hours doing it. The second part of this photographic “Pirate’s Code” doesn’t surprise me. I know artisans and craftsmen who’ve spent years perfecting their artform and experience. Heck, I’ve spent years doing the same in my 9-to-5 job. It makes sense. To master something, you need to do it a lot.
But, the first one. Like Chase, it just hit me. “Be undeniably good.” It’s simple and obvious. Be so good that people won’t ignore the work you’re doing. This is the hard part of the whole equation: knowing what works for you and getting so comfortable with it that it becomes an extension of you. Second nature. The art of photographing without photographing, if you will. Show it off, but don’t beat people over the head with it. I’m getting to the point where more people are noticing what I do. And they’re asking if I can do the same for them. It’s an odd feeling to be complimented on your photos … and complimented enough that you begin to believe that they really are good.
It’s validating. And the more I’m reassured, the more I’ve realized my mistakes helped me sculpt an eye for good photography. Not only in my own photos, but in the images taken by other photographers. I know what I like. It’s an amazing feeling to look at a photo and to pick out the details that make that image gel for me. Yeah. Validating.
And it’s all happened so quickly in this last year. I’m somewhat sad to see 2008 flying towards it’s end. But, without question, I am looking forward to what challenges and mistakes I encounter in 2009.
The lovely lady pictured above is Morgan. This is from a recent photoshoot with her in the studio. Looking back over my last year’s worth of shoots, this photo is one of the best (if not THE best) portrait I’ve done to date. Yes. Definitely an exciting year for me.
The Painted Veil
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
I was talking to my Dad the other day about my photos. He’s been following what I do since he meandered his way onto the grand ol’ Intartubes. He made an interesting generational conjecture about women being tattooed. To be short and sweet: he doesn’t like it. He’s not the first person of his generation and upbringing that I’ve encountered this opinion of.
I found it rather interesting in all honesty. Not because he doesn’t like them, but because in a single generation, he’s encountering someone who is the complete opposite of that idea: me. I find tattooed women to be intriguing. Hmm. Let me rephrase that: I find certain tattooed women to be intriguing. 
I’m not talking about the college coed that goes into a tattoo parlor on 6th Street to get the classic tribal tramp stamp. Picking an image off the wall has no artistic allure for me.
I’m talking about the woman who goes in with the empyrean idea of allowing ink and thousands of tiny bee stings to color her body in ways that make Michelangelo take a second look. A living canvas of flesh covered in nothing more than a lifetime supply of art. Those are the women of singular photographic attraction.
Of particular note is Morgan. I shot with her and her friend Natalie two weeks back. Morgan and I didn’t really have a plan, other than to shoot something with her gas mask. I wanted to do something different and edgy. That’s about the only direction I had. Oh, and tattoos. Morgan has these amazingly detailed tattoos. We ended up doing a significant number of pin-up style photos before and after we played with the gas mask (and a Christmas tree … how’s that for a combination). Natalie joined in on a few and we ended up having a lot of fun with that.
After Natalie left, I shifted over to doing more artistic shots of Morgan. I wanted to see what I could arrange with the tattoos in order to show off the detail and coloring within. A little post with some cross-processing and I came up with some absolutely stunning photos (like the first one).
One of the things I found after doing the photo shoot was how much better my photographs look when I spend just a bit of time on them in Photoshop. Previously, I tended to stick in Lightroom for 99% of what I did because … it was easy and I was lazy. In this case, I wanted to see what trouble I could get into by combining Nik Efex and a little bit of skin work.
Oh. My. God.
The quality of some of my photos increased tenfold. Easily. It was a very pleasant surprise what some work with the healing brush would do (compared to using the spot tool in Lightroom), for example.
I still prefer to do most of my work in Lightroom right now because of the ease of using presets, but my notion on which photos should get some extra work is changing. Spending the time to make some things “stunning”, as a friend exclaimed, is worth it.
As mentioned, the models shown are Morgan (with all the tattoos) and Natalie. Playing with the gas mask was definitely the highlight of the evening. Definitely different and edgy.
You may see more of Morgan and Natalie in my flickr stream.