Sunday, September 28, 2008

Be Inspired

Be inspired - it doesn't matter what you are doing in life. Have people who inspire you and surround yourself around those people. Don't limit yourself to just a 'on the surface' inspiration. For example - find individuals who inspire you not only in your business, school, hobbies, etc. but look deeper for those who also inspire you in your core beliefs and values. I can look at many photographers a day whose work may inspire me, but only a select few can inspire me in a deep and lasting way. Why is that some people can touch us in these certain ways? I think a lot has to do with who they are as a person. I may love a photographers work, but then see that their core values are not open to giving, sharing, and helping others. This suddenly, for whatever reason makes them an individual who is not able to offer me a deeper, more personal inspiration. Individuals are just drawn to people who give and inspire. But it shouldn't stop at just being inspired.

Reach to inspire others. Provide people with deep, lasting inspiration. There is no better feeling in the world then helping somebody else and knowing that they are achieving things they want out of life in some way because of you.

Be Inspired, then Inspire!
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Saturday, September 27, 2008

Kids Are So Fun To Shoot



Well..they are! You honestly never know what you're going to get. Every time I am around my girlfriend's nieces I can't help but pull out my camera and start shooting. I can only imagine how I am going to be with my own kids some day!

We were all together yesterday evening for a get together and, as usual, I decided to get out the camera and run around with them and get some shots.

Here's Lexie, and at almost 3 she is getting to the point where every time my camera comes out it is time to run away and hide. She wasn't fast enough! I managed to get this shot of her sitting in the dirt in the backyard.

At first glance I was bummed the shot didn't capture her whole body, but the more I looked at it the more I started to love it for that reason. Don't think your shots have to be 'compositionally correct' to make great photographers. I believe photography is in the eye of the beholder. There are always going to be people that love your photographs and others that will critique it until they're blue in the face. Shoot to capture the moment!

Here are some image specs for you photographers:

camera: nikon d300
lens: 50mm/1.8
focal length: 50mm
shutter speed: 1/60
aperture: 2.5
iso: 800
mode: manual
meter mode: matrix

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Storyboards..

Storyboards, have any of you seen them? They are a series of photos that usually 'tell a story', hence the name, or are a series of photos similar to each other. The neat thing about them is that they don't necessarily have to be framed, but they can be. They can be backed by a number of different materials (foamboard, styrene, masonite) which makes them sturdy enough to just lean on a shelf.

Anyways, enough talk. Let me show you mine I finished this evening. I sent it off to my lab and it should be to me within a day or so. Once it arrives I will take some photos of it to show you guys.


Photography - A Never Ending Learning Process

It's funny - When I think back to the days I first started photography I laugh at myself about how little I knew. But really, now I can sit down at the end of every single week and look back to see how little I knew before the week began. Photography to me is a never ending learning process. One week you think you've learned it all and you couldn't possibly improve anymore, just to find out that next big secret that pushes your photography even further. I absolutely love it.

I first want to urge anybody who hasn't tried photography to really give it some thought. I never considered myself a person of 'the arts' going through school. As a matter of fact, art class bored the heck out of me. Me, drawing? Yeah. Right. It's a shame I had that attitude because now I see how much art and photography have in common. I honestly picked up a little, cheap Sony Digital camera one day and started taking pictures. They were horrible, but something inside me clicked: a talent God instilled in me that I never knew was there. Pretty cool. Long story short, here I am. So enough of this, just try it out and see where it takes you.

For you out there that are already into photography. That's awesome. All I can tell you is read, read, and practice more. I have a problem with the latter. I tend to read a little too much and don't practice enough, which gets you no where! The internet really is a classroom filled with more information then you could ever imagine. It's amazing. We really are at a stage in society where anything we need to know is only a click away.

Keep learning!
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