First off, let me say a big “thank you” to the great group of friends who responded to the call to be photographed. It’s extremely cool that you didn’t hesitate to help me out with this photo project. In addition to being awesome, there was another defining characteristic to the people that responded – they’re all distinctively artistic individuals. There were no accountants or lawyers in the group, but dancers, designers, and fellow photographers were well-represented.

As the shoots progressed it was interesting to think about how I’d come to know these particular friends. Some were current co-workers, while others I hadn’t seen in years. A few I knew mainly from group situations, so to spend one-on-one time with each of them was really cool. We talked about art history, Madagascar, water under the bridge, and life’s trials and rewards.

One friend admittedly hated to be photographed (and wouldn’t you know, her photos were beautiful) but she volunteered in order to show me a 2010 photo-a-day book of her family. She credited me with helping to inspire the project, which I took as an immense compliment.

The burning question

If I were asked five years ago, “how many friends do you have,” I’m not sure of my response. Though I’ve known scores of great people over a lifetime, the answer would probably have been something like, “hmmm…maybe…thirty?”

But now, on Facebook, I count over ten times that many people as friends. Why the disparity? I hoped this project would provide some insight…and it did.

To be honest, I had fears that Facebook was devaluing the word “friend.” But I found out that, for me, quite the opposite was true. Though it was easy to click a button and call someone a friend, those clicks haven’t been made without thought.

Unless you’re just trolling to build your friend count (which I guess some people do), you don’t become friends with someone on Facebook just by accident. There’s some tie, somewhere, that binds you together. It may be small or it may be large – a time in your life, a common interest (I know a lot of photographers), or a mutual friend – but there’s something there that can be built upon. And that’s exactly what my friends and I did over the two days of this photo shoot:

We remembered the ties that bind us.
We built upon our relationships.
And Facebook and photography made it all possible.

Which, really, was the coolest possible outcome. Now if only there were time to photograph all of my other friends, too…

- Jim T.

If you’ve been a follower of this blog you know I’m now on staff with a former client, working at the convergence of internet, photography, and video. I still find time to do my own personal photography, though, and a recent shoot involving some Facebook friends was a fun and educational experience, one worth sharing on the blog, I thought.

There were two main reasons I wanted to photograph Facebook friends.

1. Photo aspect – I felt like photographing portraits and needed a few subjects. Being connected to literally hundreds of people on Facebook provided a great resource, one worth tapping into.
2. Social aspect – the word “friends.” Do we define friends differently in this day and age of rampant social media? What is a friend?

Putting out the call

First, a web page describing the shoot was created and posted on my personal blog. Over the next two weeks I linked to this page a couple of times through Facebook updates. Some interested responses came in immediately and some didn’t filter in until a day or so before the shoot. And, of course, there were the “can you do this another time/special request” questions, but the premise was really simple: I had the studio for one weekend only and the photos would be of Facebook friends, only.

I decided to cap the number of sittings at ten and scheduled them fairly evenly over the two-day period. It turned out to be a good number, large enough to satisfy the intentions of the shoot but small enough that we could take our time.

Photo/technical aspect

Wouldn’t you know, the week prior to the shoot turned out to be exceedingly busy, with not much time to think about the set up. On Saturday morning I headed to Daylight Photo with only a loose plan in mind.

My initial intention was to bounce a bunch of light into a side wall and not worry about the lighting too much – just take what it gives me and work mainly on the interaction with the subject. When I entered the studio (after a few month absence) I was reminded that the only solid side wall was covered with cabinets and other obstructions. That’s not good for bouncing light. Time for Plan B.

Out came the strobes and a couple of soft boxes, a 24” x 36” medium for the main light and an 18” x 24” small for the hair light, set directly opposite one another. Maybe I’d play with the lighting a bit more than originally intended, I decided.

The plan for working with the subjects was simple – give them a starting point and then let them be themselves. There were three basic set ups during the shoot: a stool to sit on, standing, and sitting at a table, and a wide roll of gray seamless paper served as the backdrop.

Each shoot was scheduled for half an hour but probably ended up taking 45-60 minutes. Once a subject arrived we’d talk for quite a while, then move through the basic set ups rather quickly, spending 5-10 minutes on each. Our conversations continued all the way out into the parking lot after each shoot was finished.

As far as technical details go, most of the fiddling was done with a large (4′ x 8′) foamcore panel on the shadow side of each subject. This is all pretty standard stuff for studio photographers: black foamcore was used to subtract light, making dark, dramatic shadows, and white foamcare filled in light and softened shadows. I played with both on each subject and am glad that I did. Soft light can be beautiful but when does it become too soft (and all definition is lost)? And at what point does hard light go from strikingly beautiful to simply harsh? I have a good sense for what works best but this allowed me to push those edges on a number of subjects, in a no-pressure situation. And if we’re not continually pushing the boundaries of what we know (or what we think we know), then we’re not learning, are we?

The camera was a Nikon D90, with either the 18-70 Nikkor zoom or the Nikkor 85mm f1.8. The 18-70 was once a standard Nikon kit lens but it remains one of my personal favorites. I find it very versatile for general photography but there’s noticeable distortion at each end of the range, so it’s not ideal for architectural subjects.

Most shots were done with the lens stopped down to f14-16, a very small aperture. Yes, shooting wide open can be beautiful but I prefer that look with natural light. When shooting in the studio with strobe power I prefer the safe route, stopping far down so depth of field isn’t a concern. I know the lenses are sharp at that aperture and there’s little risk of something important falling out of focus, so no matter how fast we’re shooting or changing things up, focus is a non-issue.

All post-production was done in Lightroom 3, which handles 95% of my image making workload (a free trial download is available from Adobe). A minimum of retouching is done  to retain a natural look.

That’s it for the technical stuff. As far as studio shoots go, it was a fairly typical two-light set up with minimal post-production.

Next up: in next Tuesday’s post we’ll look at the social aspects of the shoot and my search to define “friend” in the age of social media.

- Jim T.

Testing, testing…is this thing on? Can anyone hear me?

Hey there, I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been 18 months since my last post here on prophotolife, and a lot has happened in that time. Here’s the short version: the recession really rocked the photo business, so I happily accepted a full-time creative position with one of my favorite former clients. If you’re interested in the long version and this photographer’s view of this recession, well, read on…

When last we spoke, the recession was in full effect and I was looking for the way forward for my commercial photography studio, Daylight Photo. After twenty-plus years in the photo biz, I’d survived a whole bunch of ups and downs, but by February of 2009, it was obvious that the year ahead was shaping up to be an especially bumpy ride.

Clients began canceling projects left and right in the spring of 2009. I’d survived some pretty tough times in the photo biz – the recession of the early 80s, corporate downsizing in the late 80s, the downturn during the Gulf War, the dot com bubble bursting, and 9/11/2001 – but the difficulties in this recession were exacerbated by other dramatic changes happening within our own industry. After months of looking for answers, I seriously questioned my desire to continue running my own business. Yes, the work might eventually return, but would the budgets?

My personal good news is that now, over a year later, I’m still making my living as a photographer, in addition to being a videographer and a webmaster. Established photographers intent on survival understand that they must evolve and be willing to adapt to new technologies and methodologies. I’ve thankfully been able to do that…by adapting my way into a full-time position with one of my former clients, a professional arts organization.

About a year ago, I stopped by their office to pick up some products for a photo shoot. Our conversation turned to their internet needs and we discussed how prophotolife had been created and developed. About two weeks later, that initial conversation turned into the offer of a full-time position in their publications and web department. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I have prophotolife to thank for the skills that helped land this new opportunity. Originally created as a way to share ideas and information with photographers, prophotolife also allowed me to witness closeup the convergence of photography, video, the internet, and the revolution in digital publishing. Was it tough to leave Daylight Photo and much that I’d worked for? Sure, it was. But I’ve always believed in “living to fight another day,” so it seemed wise to jump out of the ring when this opportunity presented itself. It was definitely the right decision.

In recent months I’ve taken part in a number of publishing projects, including the launch of a large organizational website and a site for a regional university. Another large video/website project is also in the works, an arts-related public awareness campaign. We also just shot the cover and inside spread for one of the organization’s monthly publications. So, by climbing the project ladder a rung or two, I’m no longer simply awaiting assignments, I’m also helping to create new vehicles and additional needs for visual content.

A staff position also provides an interesting sideline view of the photo industry. After taking leave from prophotolife in February of 2009 to devote full attention to Daylight Photo, then experiencing the tumult of the current recession as a small business owner, it became hard to see the photo forest for the trees. Now I spend more time listening and learning, rather than teaching and talking, and I’m enjoying the perspective. It’s the right place for me, for these times.

So what does this mean for prophotolife? Well, prophotolife certainly isn’t going away, I’ll keep paying the hosting bills until the content becomes irrelevant. The videos still get frequent views and I’m often thanked for them, which is really nice. The comment feature on the site has officially been disabled, though, to battle heaps of spam and my lack of time to actively manage an online community. It just makes sense.

Will there be any new updates? I honestly don’t know. I recently picked up a Panasonic LX5 that I’d like to write something about. The same goes for Lightroom 3. And there was this thought-provoking ASMP Copyright Symposium in NYC this past spring. But I honestly don’t know if there will be more updates or not. Never say never.

As for Daylight Photo, it’s alive and well and being managed by my former business partner, Bob. He and his wife took over my portion of the business and they’re making a go of it, enjoying some success despite the difficult times. I still help out on special projects at the studio (it’s only a mile from my new office) and we talk often and at length about what’s happening in the industry.

Well, that’s the view from here. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in the States and I thought it would be a good opportunity to touch base again, to let you know that I’m alive and well, and to thank you for supporting prophotolife. I hope all is well in your world and that you have much to be thankful for this holiday season, also. Till we meet again…

Happy shooting,
Jim T.

In December I promised a look at the new photo studio when there was something to see – here it is! We’re really happy with the new, downsized digs and it’s probably 90% complete. The new studio is where my time has been going, along with the photo a day project. Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with comments here on prophotolife and the follow up to my prior post. I hope to have a day this weekend to pull those things together.

Our approach for the studio move was to pitch (or donate) about 75% of what we’ve accumulated over the years and concentrate on simplification. So far it seems like a smart move. The most visible benefits are that our expenses and daily commutes are only a third of what they were before. We’re also estimating a couple of sizeable jobs that will all be done on location and the creative atmosphere of the building is a benefit. The pieces are fitting together in the way that we’d hoped, so far. Given the economy and the typically slow month of January, we’re in the best “new year” position we’ve seen in recent years. And have I mentioned enough how much I’ve wanted a natural light shooting space?

Being leaner and more efficient should also create more time for growing the business and require less time just trying to keep up with overhead. We’re brainstorming ways to further integrate still photography, video and our problem solving capabilities to advertise our rather unique abilities.

And, for anyone that’s interested, the dining room table, chairs, coffee table, overhead lamp and counter top were all from the local IKEA and were relatively affordable. We already had the other elements: leather couch from my basement, office furniture, wall photos and base cabinets. The only thing left is to get some new images up and add a few more bits of personality.

Since we all enjoy learning about photography it seems a natural to share what I’m learning from starting the photo a day 2009 blog (Talkington Photo Video). What is there to learn? Well, a new blogging program, new processing software and a new camera and lenses. If there’s not something there to learn then I’m definitely not paying attention!

This is pretty much the way I learn. We all have different methods for what works best for us as individuals and clearly defined goals are effective for me. “Photo a day” is perfect for that. There are a number of things on my “I’d like to do that someday” list…and that’s just when they’ll get done: someday. But, hey, announce to the world you’re going to start a project on January 1 and now there’s a greater sense of obligation, a purpose beyond my own learning.

Online photo sharing is still relatively young but it’s dramatically changed the way photographers interact. We’ve become accustomed to showing our photographs and we all enjoy receiving kudos for a nice image. The approval of others can lift us to new heights and the sharing of ideas is an incredible boon. For instance, yz (a photo blogging inspiration) suggested I print one of my abstracts really large. Hmmm, I hardly ever print large but that’s a really cool idea and it has me thinking in completely new ways. That’s one of the really enjoyable things about such a photo project (and it’s nice we’re still talking about printing in this online age…I was starting to forget about printing!).

But, when you’re trying to post 365 new photos in a row, they’re not all going to be winners. There are going to be photos that are part of a process that aren’t finished works of art, they’re just steps along the way to improving as a photographer. While it’s nice to produce work enjoyed and understood by others, sometimes you have to do like that old proverb, just put it out there and “dance like there’s no one watching”. Those are some of the most important images of all.

Trying to achieve a photo goal like this is also not just about the photographs. I realize that 365 photos aren’t just 365 photos. Hopefully, they’re also a wide range of experiences and recollections. Photography has given me many gifts in the form of personal experience.

For instance, I’ve never watched The Surgery Channel and often turn my head at blood and gore in movies. But I’ve had no problem photographing in an operating room, framing incisions and complicated procedures through the lens of a camera. The camera has done that for me.

Extreme heights are something else I’m not particularly fond of, yet I’ve leaned out the side of a plane with the door removed with no problems, all because a camera was in my hands. Go figure.

Who knows? We’re only 3 days into the new year as of this writing but I’m certain that 362 photos from now I’ll have enjoyed some new experiences as a result of photo a day. I don’t plan on hanging out of any planes in the coming year but even seeing my own neighborhood in a new way would be reward enough. Maybe it will be a year of new visions, maybe a year of refinements.

Next week in part 2 I’ll share some of the technical things I’m learning from the initial experience regarding the Olympus E520 and lenses, Pixel Post and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom!.

A few things have amazed me since starting prophotolife almost a year ago:

1. The unbelievable reception from readers. We’ve jumped around from topic to topic, sharing random thoughts, and there’s always been someone there to help build the conversation, no matter where it‘s gone. The atmosphere has been incredibly supportive for both the newbie and the professional photographer. That’s something I’m pretty darn proud of, it was my hope from the beginning and it’s proven effective.

2. I’m also amazed that, after 227 posts and 32 videos, writer’s block hasn’t really been a problem. Photography is a huge subject and there are so many aesthetic, technical, practical and business angles worthy of discussion that the topic seem limitless. Yes, it has taken considerable time to create all of this content but it’s been a natural extension of my passion for photography.

While topics for photo discussion seem limitless, the time available for operating prophotolife has become more finite. My photo studio (Daylight Photo) is what pays the bills and it’s begging for more attention. We’ll be traveling on assignment much of January and the studio website and marketing need an overhaul to go along with the new space. From a business standpoint this is all good and exciting news and we feel very fortunate to be so busy.

Speaking of the new space, I’ve wanted to share photos of the new studio with you but it’s not yet finalized. Boxes still crowd the shooting area and we’ve been working on location for everything lately. When it’s ready, though, the images will most surely make an appearance on my 2009 project: the photo a day blog.

As for the photo a day 2009 blog…well, I’m a photographer. I need to shoot more. Writing so much about photography has opened my eyes to many new things but a photographer needs to take pictures and I just didn’t do that enough (outside of work) in 2008. The good news is that there’s plenty of room to write about relevant thoughts and influences on the photo a day blog. I’ll be writing on the new blog on occasion still, perhaps in a more abbreviated format. The important thing to me, though, is that new photographs will be the root of the website. Whether they’re good or bad, complex or trite, I’ll be traveling the road to discovery again as a photographer. I hope you’ll join me for some or all of the trip.

So that’s the focus of my photographic energy for the next year: growing my studio and exploring new visions again through personal photography. There are also a couple of video documentary project possibilities, we’ll see where it goes, but that‘s secondary (every overachiever needs a backup plan, huh?).

And what of prophotolife? I’ll continue with updates for the next two weeks and then it will remain online (as will the videos) so that they can continue to benefit photographers for some time to come. That’s the reason the site was started, to benefit photographers, and it was written in a way that will hopefully stand the test of time. Over the next two weeks here I want to say some thank-you’s and point to other really great resources online.

One of the toughest parts of this decision has been that, by all measures, prophotolife is an extremely successful website. In the last month it’s seen:

56,399 Visits
31,882 Absolute Unique Visitors
160,878 Pageviews
2.85 Average Pageviews Per Visit
00:05:15 Average Time on Site

Those are great numbers. Is it hard to divert attention from a website that’s doing so darn well, something I‘ve worked so hard for (I have many hundreds of hours in the site)? Yes, of course it is. This decision has been a tremendous struggle, to say the least. But here are the ideas I had and the ultimate conclusions drawn:

Idea: I could struggle to keep pace with the site while exploring new creative directions.
Conclusion: The studio needs more attention and I need to shoot more personal work, of these things I‘m certain. That leaves little to no time for prophotolife and it deserves to be more than an “also ran“. A big part of the success of the site is that I’ve strived to give it as much attention as possible, though I wish I had been able to keep pace better with emails and personal requests.

Idea: I could do occasional updates when possible to keep the site going at a reduced pace.
Conclusion: Then it wouldn’t be prophotolife. Without the schedule it would be too easy to put things off…and off. And I’d quickly be back to thinking it deserves better.

I hesitate to say that prophotolife is dead, though. If the studio slows appreciably there’s a great foundation here that I would return to in a heartbeat. I’d also enjoy any opportunity to grow future videos or workshops related to prophotolife. That’s more than I can handle on my own, though, at least at the moment. If there are any corporate sponsors waiting quietly in the wings then speak up now.

I always revert to that old saying, “if you love the bird, set it free. If the bird loves you, it will return”. Simple, yes, but it’s been effective.

The good news is that by committing to a photo a day 2009 I’ll still be sharing and discussing photography in a public forum with less time requirements. As my friend Davey at Racer X Illustrated always says, “it’s not a party unless everyone is invited”. The new party starts January 1 and you‘re most definitely invited.

This is an eclectic selection of links for around the net. Without further ado:

Photo Instruction Resource

I’ve been a fan of professional photographer Will Crockett and the photo instruction on ShootSmarter.com for years now. The free content (and there’s a lot of it) is accessed by subscribing to the weekly Shoot Smarter newsletter. Once you’ve signed up you can access the wide variety of useful content, ranging from using a light meter on studio portraits to documenting the working of a shot. They also have instructional DVDs and other educational materials available for purchase.

Photoshop / Lightroom Contest with Benefits

Brian Auer at Epic Edits Weblog has come up with another great contest to benefit photographers, the Photoshop / Lightroom Action and Preset Extravaganza. Have you developed your own favorite action or preset for one of the image editing programs, something that has made your life easier or enhanced your workflow? Would you like to share it with the world? Entering your action or preset in the contest has a couple of benefits: you will have a shot at a number of cool prizes and the entries all become part of an online resource of presets for photographers. Hurry, though, the contest ends January 2. Complete details are available at Epic Edits.

Business and the Changing Times

Chase Jarvis had a recent post titled “After Photography” (which is also the name of the book featured in the commentary). It’s an intelligent post on the changing world of photography, a hot topic around the photo blogosphere. The post closes with a mention of “cheese” at the end, which reminded me of my favorite business book of all time: “Who Moved My Cheese?”. It’s a short, simple book about a few mice dealing with an ever changing environment. If you haven’t read it yet it‘s well worth the 30 minutes or so of cover to cover reading. It should be available at your local library, bookstore or you can find it here on Amazon.com.

Creativity

New Year’s Day is coming up and I’m especially looking forward to it because of the launch of my new photo a day project for 2009. As a result, I’ve been thinking a whole lot about creativity. There was a helpful post about reaching one’s potential recently on another of my favorite blogs, A Photo Editor. This article features videos of Ira Glass, the producer of “This American Life”, a wonderful weekly radio broadcast on NPR.

Glass talks about reaching higher levels and says “the most important possible thing you could do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline”. It sounds reasonable to me, especially coming from someone at the top of their field.

Thinkin’ ’bout a lens

Hey, I’m enjoying the new Olympus E520, it’s a fun little camera. The things I’ve read pretty much ring true, it’s a well-made camera that’s a little more susceptible to noise than the competition. With after Christmas pricing on photo equipment so darn low I’m eyeing a Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX . The kit lens does a great job stopped down but the f2.8 all the way through (coupled with the built in image stabilization) should help with low light / noise, assuming the Sigma is decent wide open. Is anyone using this lens and would you recommend it?

That’s it for this week, I’m sure many of you may have more time off work coming. I’ll be out shooting when obligations aren’t calling. Gotta be ready for a photo a day!

- Jim T.

Commercial Photography

As you may know, commercial photography is what pays my way. The year started with promise: verbal agreements with a number of clients this past January had us very optimistic. In February we began receiving product for a large catalog photography job and our studio was converted into a forest floor…fun stuff. Well, the fun lasted about two weeks before our contact was let go from the company and the job was pulled due to budget cutbacks. After being paid for the sets and the work done to date, the company took the photography in-house. From the start of the year it seemed obvious that retail product companies looked set to have a tougher go of it in ‘08.

The best piece of advice I ever received was “expect the best but prepare for the worst”. I’ve seen many such occurrences over a long career and when tens of thousands of dollars slip through your fingers you just immediately focus on putting your fingers on a new job.

Overall, though, our regular clients really came through for us, across a wide range of industries. All except for the aforementioned consumer products category and, also, one of our most dependable categories: manufacturing. From 2004 to 2007 we were kept busy by companies that built components for manufacturing plants and facilities. 2008 turned eerily quiet, a sudden pullback in the manufacturing sector, it seemed. Now, looking back, some of those companies were closely connected to the auto industry. While headlines didn’t proclaim a problem for the automotive industry until fairly recently, it seems obvious now that cutbacks began a long time ago.

Our studio has managed to finish 2008 strong, though. Really strong. How is this possible in a tanking economy? Well, people seem much more deliberate with their purchases and this applies to photography, also. Where once we heard cries of “cheaper and faster”, now clients are focusing on quality service again, not just inexpensive prices. They recognize that our experience and professional practices are bringing them greater value than much of our competition and they’re thanking us for everything we do. Just when it seemed like the bottom could fall out of the value of photography, the economic downturn has restored a genuine appreciation for quality, at least for the time being. Go figure.

Video Services

After introducing video services to our clients in 2007, we’ve had the opportunity to expand our services in 2008. In the coming year I fully expect that our income will be a 50/50 split between still photography and video.

What prompted the addition of video services? A look at the visual direction of newspapers and online media. Still photographers at newspapers were being given video cameras and told to shoot streaming media. As we’ve watched media migrate from the printed page to the web, video has become more and more accessible to all. By shooting both stills and video our studio has solidified our position with our clients and created another income stream.

Photojournalism

Speaking of newspapers, we’ve seen over 15,000 jobs lost at newspapers in the past year and some of the biggest names in publishing may not make it through another year. So where does this leave photojournalism? Well, we’ve looked at some great photojournalism links here on prophotolife and there are photographers doing wonderful documentary work out there. At one time there were many newspaper internships available to students that could eventually lead to a staff position. Now, I honestly don’t know where graduating photo-j students go to fill out a job application.

Camera Gear

Wow, think about the photo equipment we’ve seen emerge in 2008. There are a handful of 20+ mega pixel DSLRs available now and the least expensive of them, the Canon 5D Mark II, also shoots hi-def 1080i video. All for around $2800.

In 2000 I was shooting with a Nikon D1 that probably sold for $5000 and was 2.7 mega pixels. How would I describe the D1? It was simultaneously amazing and crappy. If you had one you know what I mean. There were focus and color issues, the sensor was a dirt magnet and the batteries lasted about 100 shots. But, wow, it was a DSLR that took all of our Nikon lenses!

Just out of curiosity, I had to compare the professional Nikon D1 against the semi-professional Canon 5D Mark II in terms of cost per megapixel:

In 2000, approximately $1,852 per megapixel
In 2008, approximately $133 per mega pixel

Wedding Photography

My only real connection with wedding photography is as an observer. When friends ask me if I’ll shoot their wedding I always say, “I’ll do it if you ask me…but please don’t ask me”. Plus, I don’t want a qualified wedding shooter to lose a payday. I like to keep an eye on the business of wedding photography, though, because it’s been the fastest growing sector of professional photography for a couple of years now. There’s a new guard replacing the old guard, it seems, and from conversations with friends it seems to me that wedding photography is currently a Tale of Two Cities: it can either be the best of times or the worst of times.

Many of the more established professionals are seeing their businesses slow, either due to the economy or increased competition. And some of the up and comers, shooting at lower prices, are flourishing.

The market ultimately decides what it is willing to pay and if the established professionals are too high then the market will adjust. I do have some concerns with some of what I‘ve seen, though.

Unfortunately, some of the up and comers are highly talented photographers who think a logo and a website constitutes having a business. They may be skirting around income taxes (all such income is taxable, whether it‘s from a business or a hobby), sales taxes and business insurance. That’s not sustainable for the long haul and it artificially deflates the pricing of professional photography. By the time these issues eventually catch up with them there’s another hot new up and comer to take their place. As I always say, if you truly want to make it for the long haul, your best bet is to join a professional photo organization and learn from the shared wisdom of others. We’re all in this together.

In Conclusion

Photography seems to reflect the general trends we’re seeing in the overall economy and business environment. It’s competitive and money is tight so purchases are being made more deliberately. Yes, advertising is sometimes referred to as “selling the sizzle and not the steak”. At the moment our particular clients aren’t saying that, though, instead they’re asking: “where’s the beef?”.

Hey, that’s it for what I’ve seen in 2008. Are there any interesting personal experiences or obvious trends you’ve witnessed this year?

Next Monday I’d like to share what I expect and hope to see in the year ahead.

It all starts with an idea and grows from there. I had a new beauty dish to test out and my friend Kelly (a talented photographer and stylist) and I were looking for a project to work on together. To me, a beauty dish conjures up images from the 40’s, a time before softboxes and strobes. A vintage portrait seemed like a perfect application and an opportunity to try and connect with the work of portrait artists like George Hurrell.

Some photographers like to manage every detail of a shoot like this but I really rely on and enjoy the collaboration with others. Plus, I realize where my strengths and weaknesses are. Kelly had a friend she felt would be perfect for the look and she also took responsibility for lining up the clothing. We knew from the outset that hair styling would be key to pulling off the look, so Kelly offered to find a hair stylist interested in contributing. I would put my energy into studying the technical look and lighting from the era.

After years in the business I do have relationships with other creative people that are sometimes interested in working together on projects like this. You don’t have such relationships, you say? Well, if you know anyone with an interesting look or a hobby that’s worth photographing, why not ask them if they’re interested in working together? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The important thing about testing for me is that, well, it’s testing. A chance to try some new things out and experiment. That’s always been my primary goal, the value of the experimentation. Yes, the hope is to make at least one good photograph but, more importantly, I view it as an opportunity to test equipment and / or ideas in a non-pressure situation. Kind of like the dress rehearsal for a play.

Doing the research

An online search and a trip to the library turned up plenty of vintage Hollywood portraits for study. A closer, objective look at the photographs revealed a few surprises. This is a pretty common part of the process for me. You see, I had an image in my head of what a vintage portrait looked like and it was pretty accurate, overall. But the camera angles, in particular, were lower than I would have thought. Eye contact with the camera wasn’t as common as I’d envisioned. Research pays off.

Study reinforced that depth of field was generally shallow in the vintage images because large format cameras were used. High contrast was the order of the day because of the photo materials available and to “blow out” details in the skin. And, of course, airbrushing was utilized extensively to eliminate blemishes. I printed up a few images as technical reminders and would have them on hand as references at the shoot.

Time for the shoot

With everyone gathered, the collaboration comes to life. Carmen, our talent, was perfect for the role and the hair styling was spot on.

Kelly rounded up a few different choices for clothing so we could make final decisions together. Having options is important in case something might photograph better than another choice. Patterns may not work as well as imagined, certain fabrics may produce a difficult moire pattern or a particular cut of fabric might not behave well in the chosen pose. It’s good to have choices.

So, what did we find once the photography began?

I think of a shoot like this in two parts: first, let’s get the basic technical details worked out and then it’s time to move on to the aesthetic part (clothing, hair and posing). Yes, each part will be continually refined, but I like to feel comfortable with the technical aspects first. Then, when it’s time to really get rolling, fuller attention can be give to the model.

I struggled with the look for a bit, to be honest. We watched the images pop up on the screen in full color while shooting tethered to the computer. The color threw everyone off a bit since our final image would be black and white. Ninety-nine percent of the time we shoot directly to Phase One Capture One software in the studio and it works perfectly. In this case, even though the Canon 5D camera was set to shoot RAW in black and white, the previews still popped up in color. Apparently, Capture One doesn’t recognize this particular setting automatically in the previews. This was news to me and a good thing to find out in a test situation.

Even though I could say, “we’ll just convert them to black and white in post-production” (or convert the occasional image while shooting), it was still preferable for everyone to view a more accurate image as we shot. In order to get the previews to show up in black and white we switched to Canon’s own supplied software, DPP (Digital Photo Professional) and Canon Capture. It was free and available and we keep it loaded on the computer as a backup, just in case. Seeing the images immediately in black and white brought a higher degree of comfort to everyone.

I chose to shoot using a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens, a personal favorite (both the focal length and the lens itself). This is a really sharp lens, though, and we found ourselves focusing on the hard, crisp look to the photos. This was distinctly different from the vintage images. I dialed down the power on the strobes until the depth of field was more shallow (working around f4 to f5.6). This lessened the area of sharp focus but there was still a sharp “bite” to the images. Again, this could all be solved in post-production and everyone was reminded that the vintage portraits had undergone extensive airbrush retouching. But I wanted everyone to have a more accurate vision of the final product so I did what any film shooter would have done: time to reach for the soft focus filter. This would soften edges nicely while keeping the image sharp enough.

For this I used a homemade filter of black stocking stretched over the front of the lens. We also have a white stocking for softening. The black gives more contrast than the white and, with it in place, we began to see more accurate results.

A Calumet Travelite 1875ws Three-Head Portrait Kit was used for lighting with a beauty dish (Calumet 15″ (38cm) Soft-Lite Reflector (79 degree)) on the main light and 40 degree grid spot on the background and a snoot on the hair light (when used). I played with lighting, sometimes blowing out details I would normally try to retain, all in the pursuit of greater historic accuracy. How far can you push it? Testing is the time to find out. As you can see, I’m trying to do what’s possible to create the look in-camera instead of in post-production. This is completely up to the particular photographer and their personal preference. Some photographers may prefer to simplify the shooting process and do more in “post”.

Don’t fall into the technical trap

There is a trap to trying to do everything in the camera, though, especially when going for a very specific look. At some point I have to realize that I’m not using a large format camera, hot lights or orthochromatic film. This is 2008, after all, and there aren’t any awards being give for historic accuracy. Getting too mired in the technical aspects of the shoot will leave little energy for concentrating on the look of the clothing, hair and posing, the next step.

We all pitched in with thoughts on posing and how hair and clothing looked best. It’s great to hear feedback from everyone involved because these test shoots can also serve as an audition. Will we want to work together on future projects, either tests or paying assignments? How do we work as a team?

Good stuff

I was happy with this test in all respects: the teamwork, the final images and the experience and knowledge gained along the way. What you see here has had very little retouching, just a run through Lightroom 2 for basic correction (increased contrast and vignetting) and a quick retouch in Photoshop Elements on my blogging laptop.

A busy shooting schedule doesn’t always allow for shooting tests but we work them in at least a couple times a year because it’s a great way to sharpen the saw. It’s all about having fun and learning, a process made even more rewarding through the collaboration with others.

Are you ready to start looking back at 2008? A number of prophotolife readers have identified The Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” section as a favorite for photojournalism. The Globe has just published the first part of  “the year 2008 in photographs (1 of 3)”. There are 40 photographs in all and I admit to viewing each photo and reading every caption. Thanks to the working photographers that captured these images I know more about the world than I did before viewing them. I’m looking forward to the next 2 parts of the series.

Guess who just got a new camera? After talking about getting a new point and shoot I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a camera (actually, a DSLR) I’ve been curious about for some time:  the Olympus E-520 w/ 14-42mm lens. Why the E-520? The small size, the 4:3 aspect ratio, built-in image stabilization and some really great discount prices. As a long time Nikon and Canon user I just really wanted to try something different. Various reports of the camera’s relatively limited dynamic range and high ISO noise had me hesitant but, hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’m looking forward to giving it a good workout as my 2009 photo a day blog camera. I’ll keep you posted on how it works out.

While thinking about getting a new camera I went to some resources that are often overlooked, the camera manufacturers own websites. It’s obviously a competitive marketplace and the camera makers are trying to run special promotions and provide information that brings added value to their consumers. If you haven’t checked out the manufacturer sites in a while they have more info these days than just camera and lens specifications. There are also shooting tips, special promotions and rebates aplenty. Here are some highlights from the major camera makers:

• Nikon Digital Learning Center
• Canon Digital Learning Center
• Pentaxian (this section of the Pentax Imaging website highlights 4 pro shooters who use Pentax, complete with a video, photo gallery and equipment list for each)
• Olympus Digital School in conjunction with Photoflex – bonus: there’s also a drawing for an Olympus e420 and various studio lighting outfits.
• Sony is the latest to the digital SLR game and if there’s any sort of photo educational info on the site I couldn’t find it. But…WOW…do they ever make a lot of electronic products.

That’s it for this week, time to do some last minute Christmas shopping and charge up the battery on this Olympus! Have a good weekend and we’ll see you next week…

- Jim T.