Howdy

Hello Everyone,

Just figured I should send out a quick update to everyone that has considered themselves a fan of my photography. I greatly appreciate all the motivation you've all provided to me. These last few months have been hard for me to get motivated, but every time I would go back to the source and just look around the page to see the numbers climbing daily. I would have never thought I'd have this many people committed to my photography! That's motivation! Thank you so much!

Lately I have been doing a lot of little photo shoots. Working on my portfolio, and working on a new web page for my photography. I feel that my current web page at willfoster.info is definitely lacking in every way that it could. Marketing myself as a Photographer and Graphic Designer is difficult with a web page like mine. It needs SERIOUS help, so that's going to be my focal point for the week (or any more needed after that).

Speaking of updates, I recently uploaded some photos from a couple photos shoots with some of my friends on this Facebook fan page, and I would be grateful for you to check them out and leave a comment. Also, there is a lot of features on my Facebook Page that nobody has really explored. The wall is hardly ever written on, and I have absolutely no reviews, and some of you I've never met. Feel free to send me a personal message through my normal profile, I will most likely respond! I am not a celebrity or anything, I value every message that is sent to me, and manage everything myself!

If you are in the Eugene area, or interested in visiting the Eugene area, I would be more than interested in getting coffee and hanging out. Discussing photography, or even just life. I appreciate conversation, and especially in a great coffee house atmosphere!

That's all for now, I will try to make these updates more regular, especially in my blog. Have a wonderful day!

Quick Update

So, some of you may be wondering whats been happening with me since I got laid off from my job. Things have been extremely busy. Who would have known? Being unemployed and everything. I have kept myself busy with photography, and just trying to get things in order. I have been able to keep my bank account populated, and my life busy with many different projects. Most of my photography lately has been paid work. Which means I don't get to share it on here with you. I will get back in order with some model shoots here soon, and just for fun photo shoots.

I am in the process of getting in line some new tools and toys for my photography. I just got my self a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens, Battery grip for my D300, new Dell XPS 1530 laptop, a camera/laptop bag, a back drop stand, 104" wide white/black seamless paper backdrops, and some more gear to get me pointed in the right direction. I am excited to see where my photography will go in the next year. Even though I am not really quite sure where it is going.

I am looking forward to getting some new photography up on here and on Flickr to share with you. So keep your eyes peeled and look out!

The photo above is from a recent set from a week or two ago of Heidi. It was a fun shoot and i got to play around a lot with some new lighting ideas and found a cool location for rainy days. You can see more from this set here.

Have a nice day.

Stranger Things Could Happen

So, some of you may know that before last week, I had a full time job. A well paying job. One that I obviously did not enjoy. I was often reminded that money doesn't equal happiness. My bosses knew that I had better plans with my life, and the same with my coworkers. They always told me to pursue my dreams, and my passions. They knew I was a photographer. I worked there for almost a year, just about 20 days short of a year actually. It was hard, not because the work was difficult, but because the job bled into my personal life. I would go home, and stay at home. Never wanting to do anything for the rest of the day. It was bad, especially getting off work at 5pm. The last few months, I skipped lunch so I could get off work at 4pm. But things change.

After last week, I got laid off. I was more expecting it, so I had prepared by not making any major purchases for the last few months. I started putting more money into my loans than into entertainment. My life ha s changed a lot since getting laid off. Besides getting my loans all paid off on Friday, I finally have time to breathe! I have been hanging out with friends and family more, and being available to those people who need me. I have also been available for more photo shoots, especially for those that bring in some income. I am very excited to be available to those around me, and especially to spend more time toward my photography without forfeiting time away from my friends. I have seriously been busier being unemployed than I had ever been employed at my last job. I love it. I absolutely enjoy being busy with stuff that I enjoy. I hope that I can keep this tradition of bringing the income to my bank account, or at least find a part time job to cover the basis.

So, it has been a very interesting two weeks. Going from working full time to essentially a hard working professional photographer. It has been interesting, and i still have a lot to work out before photography is my full time job. But i feel i am on the right track. I am very excited for everything that is going on. This summer, I will be working at Camp Harlow, and still trying to keep my photography career going on the side. It will keep me extremely busy.

I am ready for it.

PS: Don't forget to buy my photo book, Streets of Eugene! It's currently $5 off the original price!

Friday Thoughts: Unforeseen Consequences

Walking down this road of life, I have learned a lot of things. What to do and what not to do. I have written many entries on here about how my life has affected my photography, and how I plan to change my life to improve my photography.

It is so crazy just how much stuff can change in such a short time. I have been doing photography for 2 years, and I am already developing a very specific style to my photography. I am not sure if that is a good thing, but I feel it is important to have a style where people can see my photographs and know who it was behind the camera.

Who says a consequence needs to be a bad thing?

I absolutely love changing my life. The consequences are just all so very interesting, and most definitely challenging! My more recent consequence is my job. I don’t know really what is going on there. I had a job description and everything when I started, but times have changed and since I took on more responsibilities, eventually my job description was obsolete. Eventually, they hired people to take on the roles that kept me busy during the day. I enjoy being busy. It makes the day go faster! Times have changed. I am hardly ever busy, or occupied with anything challenging anymore. Looking for a new job is difficult, especially with the economy as it is. Everyone is downsizing. I just need to find a temporary job to soothe the bug in me to do something new.

Photography has consumed me, in a good way. Great even! I like using words that people usually use negatively, and instead use them positively. Anyway, it has changed my life. It has caused consequences that have changed my life. Changed my outlook on life. Morphed me into something new. I am passionate about my work as a photographer. I am a much more passionate person about what I stand for, and who I am. I still haven’t made much money doing it, but I will continue to do it, because it is my passion. Someday, I hope that people will consider purchasing my work. I think that would be swell.

Lately my father, Bary Foster (I call him Dad), has inspired me. He is involved in so many non-profit organizations here in Eugene, Oregon including raising money with Team in Training by doing some thing he loves, riding his bike. He is also starting to blog more about his Team In Training experience (which you can read here). My dad is an amazing person. I am so blessed to have him as a father. He has most importantly and more recently inspired me to take photography and be more passionate about it. Use it for the good. Sort of like Robin Hood, but without the funny hat, villain, and weaponry!

Recently, I decided to work full time at a local camp for the entire summer. Which is a consequence of me looking for a new job. I have worked at this camp for the last two summers, and I am very excited to be a part of the team again for another summer. I suppose this is a great example of a consequence that is life changing. I think this is a start on my goal to help the world with my photography. I won’t get a lot of money, but it is a huge doorway into success in what I would like to do. Serve people around me, and change lives!

How has a consequence changed your life for the good?

Second Thoughts and Apple Sauce

So, some of you may have heard about me considering going to school to pursue graphic design and/or photography. Since I have done a lot of thinking and processing about the whole idea of jumping ship, and moving to Seattle so suddenly. Then other thoughts came into mind about the expenses, risks, and such.

I don’t plan on staying in Eugene for the rest of my life, or very much longer, but I do know that it isn’t my time to leave here. I have a lot going for me in this town, and it would be difficult to let it go. I have built some amazing friendships, and I am just starting to get noticed and recognized as a photographer in this town. Business isn’t exactly rolling in the doorway, but I am on the right path to start earning some income.

Secondly, school is very expensive when it comes to art schools. I was thinking about attending the Art Institute in Seattle. Sure, it seemed like a great idea. The location was amazing, the school was promising, and I would already be on top of the game in the classes since I have a background in graphic design and especially photography.

So why have I changed my mind?

Well, I wouldn’t say I have changed my mind. But more delayed the thought of going to school. The cost to go the Art Institute in Seattle (just for tuition) was somewhere around $80,000. Of course, they let me know that there is financial aid and such, but if I didn’t qualify $80,000 is a lot of money. And that is if I was sleeping in my Volvo and not living anywhere specific each night a different street corner. So, we are looking more at a $100,000 price tag on my education. Now, that doesn’t seem too bad, I get a degree and probably a job. They say 100% of all graduates have gotten jobs in the graphic design market. Starting salary at $32,000 a year. What? I earn that much money without a degree. I could start a business for $100,000 and with proper marketing I could earn more than $32,000 a year.

Maybe I should go to a local community college and study business?

So, my goals have changed, and my thoughts on life have changed. I am looking at the larger picture, maybe not the largest, but larger. I have been processing the concept of traveling. I am not sure where to, or for what. I have a couple ideas bouncing around, but nothing has made it to the surface. A lot of doors are opening up for me, especially since I almost have all my loans paid off and under control. At 25 years old, apparently that is unusual. I will have no credit card or loan debt. Apparently, I am good with money or something. Unusual, especially for the amount of gadgets I have for my photography.

So, this has been a case of another “thoughts on life” by Will Foster. I hope you enjoy the photography I have been posting here and there. I have been a little distracted by thinking about what to do with my life. You know, it can be stressful, making these “life-changing decisions.”

Thanks for all your support!

Thursday Thoughts

A few weeks ago I drove up to Portland, Oregon to go to a photography seminar after work. The seminar was exciting, being my first, but disappointing that it was mostly just advertisement for product.

A few things that I did learn were the importance of a tripod in specific shoots, which convinced me to get a new Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a cool head. At the time of writing this blog entry, I have not gotten to use my tripod considering that it is still conveniently located in it's box, and the head is sitting somewhere in either a UPS truck or UPS's home base in Springfield. Regardless, I am excited to use this tripod for some Midnight Photography with some of my friends.

Most importantly, at this Seminar I realized how important it was to go out and take photos for me. I never really went out on my own to explore and take photos by my self. My first time was Sunday afternoon after a couple of my friends convinced me to get out and do some photography. The weather was amazing for early spring, and I took advantage of the amazing clouds in the sky to help compose my photos. And also, later in the week I took some more to add to the collection.

Photography is very important to me, there is very little that can stand in my way of pursuing it as a life long goal. I have been processing the idea of going back to school and it has been becoming very huge deal in my life to find a great school, but not disconnect myself from Eugene at all. I am currently looking at the Art Institute of Seattle, which is very expensive.

Other projects in mind include raising (yes, 100% of all profits) money for a charity or a missions trip by putting together a book of my photography related to Eugene, Oregon before I move on to another location (such as Seattle). I would be getting it printed and selling it myself (obviously) through my web site. Also, I think it would be really cool to have a coffee table book with my photography it.

Anyway, thanks again for all the support, and thoughtfulness. Go ahead and check out all the photos from my photo walks in Eugene, Oregon (More cities coming soon!)

Living the Simple Life

I never quite realized how I much I was missing out with my family before this last weekend. I had the opportunity to get down to Eureka, California where a lot of my mother’s side of the family resides. It has been over 12 years since I have visited family down there.

They were all so thrilled to see me!

My mother is from a very old fashioned LDS family. Two of her 3 living brothers (2 have passed away from accidents) live practically together after my grandmother and aunt (oldest uncle’s wife) passed away. Their low social security income is of no bothersome to them. It is so strange to me seeing them live in such poverty, and me walking around with all my expensive camera equipment. It is quite humbling.

Technology is a huge deal in my life. I live, breath, and basically bleed technology. Every aspect of my life includes technology in someway or another. When friends come over, we play video games, cook with my George Forman grill, watch movies, do photography, drive around in the Volvo, and more! I couldn’t sit still if I was limited to just a newspaper or radio for an entire day, let along a lifetime!

The only technology that my uncles have acquired over the years is a DVD player given to them from my mother. And a small 13” (or so) television, they live their lives from a radio and newspaper, and watch old-fashioned movies. I never really considered myself as someone who is materialistic, but spending a day or two with people so simplistic, was definitely a humbling experience. I will repeat many times, I was very humbled.

Recently I have been working on simplifying my life. Getting rid of the things in my life that have become a distraction from my goals. It has become more and more difficult. Since these distractions usually are what keeping me entertained. What do I need in my life, and what can I get rid of? What can be my radio? What can be my newspaper? My necessities. Of course, I don’t mean I am going to go all low-tech on everything. I am talking about how I need to make my photography my focus, my passion, and continue to grow as a photographer, instead of let these distractions keep me away from keeping my camera in hand.

My question to you: What have you done to help yourself focus on your goals? Where have you struggled? What type of suggestions do you have for the next poor bloke working to become more successful?

It's A Wonderful World

Louie Armstrong sang it best, this world we live in, may occasionally be riddled with what the world has become, but if you look through the cracks. The beauty behind the scenes is still out there. I have never been much for nature photography, or just taking photos out and about, but lately, I have been uploading a few photos that are just that to my "The Great Outdoors" Flickr Set.

I have discovered that with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, I can make a seemingly boring photo of nature, pop, and come alive! I haven't taken many outdoor photos in the last year, but I am going to start to try to snap a few during some of my outdoor photo shoots. It is very refreshing to have just a photo of nature to edit, instead of focusing on making someones skin look good. It is less challenging, and I've learned that a sky doesn't always have to turn out blue, unlike skin, which is recommended to stay the natural color of the person. I haven't been able to get away with editing my models with green or purple skin! Maybe next week?

So, I urge you, as a photographer, to not focus on just what you want, but attempt to take something that you know someone else would like, and capture it, and make it your own. You'll be surprised how much you can enjoy something, that you normally avoid. I personally do not go out just to take photos of nature, but I feel it is something that I must do as a photographer, and I never know when i could use one of these nature photos for a replacement background for a portrait shot. But maybe one of these days, I will just shoot for the environment, instead of a model's portfolio.

Photoshop is an amazing tool, and nature is a wonderful subject! Be sure to stop by and take a look at my Flickr Photo Stream, to catch a glimpse at my latest photo uploads!

My Father, Bary Foster

My father is an amazing man. He is raising money with "Team In Training" so I donated some photographs to the cause. You can learn more about it on his web site at www.baryfoster.com.

Here is his letter:

2007 was a strange year for me. In March I crashed my bike and had to have shoulder surgery. I recovered and I went Ice Skating and opps, I fell and messed up my other shoulder and another surgery. Now I’m back and ready to go. The problem was after 10 months I was having a hard time getting back into riding my bike, working out etc.

Not unlike many people today I have a growing number of friends that are fighting some form of cancer. In 2007 I had 5 friends that were fighting cancer and one died. I feel so helpless. So what can I do?

I have seen the “Team In Training” teams at some of the events that I have participated in. When TNT is there, so are lots of fans cheering for all the TNT team members. Looks like fun!

TNT is in its 20th year and is planning on breaking the Billion Dollar mark this year. To make a long story short, I am very impressed with the “Team In Training” people and I have joined the team. I am now excited about getting out riding because I feel along with your help we can make a difference.

“Team In Training” is part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a nonprofit health organization dedicated entirely to finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma and blood cancers. There are 68 chapters of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that support research, patient financial aid, education and community services. Everyone on my team is raising money and wants a cure to these diseases. I have committed to raise $3,600 to support the cause and would love your support. Your donation will help The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission of finding cures and saving lives. What’s more, it’s fully tax deductible.

It is with great excitement that I tell you I am training for a 100 mile riding around Lake Tahoe on Sunday, June 1st. And it is with a humble heart that I ask for your contribution to my undertaking. My goal is to raise the $3600 by April 1st. I will accept donations after April 1st., however it would be nice to be able to focus on training in the last month before the event.

Go to: www.baryfoster.com and there is a link to Donate, along with my Blog so you can follow my training; maybe take a look at some photos.

Thank you!

Keeping Busy

A lot has been going on in the last few weeks.

Although, I haven't had a whole lot of time to work through the photo shoots that I have done in the last week. I did however have four main photo shoots in the last week, but none of them have really been uploaded to the Internet. Two of the main photo shoots were using my new canvas backdrop that I purchased from Home Depot. It was $20 for a 12' by 24' piece of canvas. I actually had to cut down the 12' side down to 8' to fit in my garage. It is absolutely huge, and wrinkled. I really need to purchase a steamer to get those wrinkles out. Or, just forfeit some money into getting some proper back drops. So, back to the wrinkles, which were still in the canvas at the time of the photo shoot, it doesn't look terrible. I was not too excited for these background imperfection, but the photo shoots turned out okay. I did however upload a select few from the shoots.

Something that is worth mentioning, a I just recently finished up the design for Brent Cole's "Good Love" CD, and should be printed in the next few weeks. I will be very excited to share the artwork that I did for that! I now have two more full CD designs to work on in the next few months. First one for the talented Caleb Paul's "Learning to Fall," and then my second for Mark Wade. I had done a cool CD design for Mark Wade for his first CD, and he is having me do the artwork for his second as well. I am really excited about these projects. I hope they go over well, and will set me up for more projects like them.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday about business of photography. It got me thinking about how I need to approach this business. I feel I have been carefully pondering the idea of some business strategies a little too carefully. I haven't really spear headed or taken any major risks besides purchasing equipment. My friends keep reminding me that I have a lot of potential, and I usually just rub it off as the usual positive friend's advice. I have noticed recently, that my web site has been gathering a lot of hits, and I have been contacted by a few families about portraits, but nothing has come through. I have thought about becoming a wedding photographer, a fashion photographer, or just staying freelance. It is such a hard market to get yourself into. I basically need to market myself, as the greatest photography that has ever lived, but how am i supposed to do that? The competition is everywhere! Everyone owns a DSLR these days, they don't make bad cameras anymore, and some so called Point and Shoot cameras are good enough to make a living off them. I might have jumped into this one a bit late, you'd say. I may have a competitive edge. I have geared myself with equipment that keeps me mobile. All of my gear can be relocated in one small storage bin to any location. Each individual type of equipment is neatly packaged into a smaller tupperware container. This makes for a very mobile setup, minus the part where I have to carry this large tote everywhere i need a lighting setup.

Other than the CD designs, I have a lot of work to keep me soaked up to my knees in projects. I enjoy keeping myself busy with these projects. I will look forward to sharing some finished products here shortly.

Group Pictures

Group photos. A photographers worst nightmare. This last weekend, I got to do three extremely large group photos. One with up to 60 people and two others of 30. A little background, I was doing photography for The Onyx House, it is a CO-ED Christian house in Eugene, Oregon. I actually lived there for two years, but moved out last summer in 2007. It was a great place to live, and a great place to learn how to deal with large amounts of people! I actually setup my first photography studio on the basement of this house, and convinced housemates to let me take pictures of them.

My main task of the night was to take a group picture of all the residence.

Before the big group photo, I got the pleasure to take pictures of everyone individually. The whole night was a mystery going into it. I knew I needed to bring all of my lighting equipment. I setup two flashes in a wide clamshell format, one high the other low. Both at 45-degree angles from the subjects. The background, and surroundings was already setup for me. I shot one test picture, and I had it! I was completely pleased! Bring them on! You can see one of the earlier pictures to the left, and if you are interested in seeing the rest, go ahead and click the image!

I had my brand new Nikon D300 camera. It was definitely a great way to test out the capabilities of the camera. I was shooting JPEG images most of the night at 1000 ISO. The pictures turned out magnificent without any additional noise reduction there was hardly any to be seen! I also had not recharged my battery since putting it into my D300, and had already taken over 500 pictures. I had around 50% battery left, and an extra battery just in case. By the time the night was over, my camera had 6% battery, and I had taken nearly 300 pictures. That’s a total of 800 pictures before having to recharge my battery. Quite an improvement from my Nikon D200!

After the "Narnia" pictures. I got an opportunity to play a little. When everyone was asked to go over to the "dance floor" I quickly followed with my two flashes in hand (I ditched the umbrellas). I placed them on opposite sides of the dance floor, and since I had them triggered on wireless by my trusty Pocket Wizards, I was free to move around the room wherever I pleased! I got a few interesting pictures.

Lastly, after everything was winding down, I was pressed with a daunting task: a group photo of everyone in the house. My trusty D300, and 12 mega pixels to fit 60 people into. I had two strobe lights and with my stands on some dining tables was just enough to light the scene.

I added a black border to focus the attention toward the people in the picture. Here are the pictures from the shoot. I hope you enjoy them!







Lastly, I decided that I could throw in a picture I did a few months ago of the staff of my personal church, Eugene Faith Center. This one has a little more flavor because it actually had appealing surroundings.

Spending Money

Being a photographer is not a cheap profession. I can't even focus all of my time on photography, I have a “real” job to cover most my expenses. I just recently came to realize that having illegal software was not something that I wanted to be associated with anymore. So after a long time using the trial version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I could finally afford to make my first big software purchase. I would highly recommend giving both of these applications a try, they are very much a huge part of my photography. If you buy the two expensive applications together through Adobe.com you save exactly $125, which i definitely took advantage of.

My goal for the rest of the year is to be completely debt free (minus the student loan), and be able to afford to lease a brand new 2008 VW Jetta SE for 3 years. The main idea behind getting a car, would be the trunk, just so i can keep my gear safe, and out of sight. This is very important to me, especially since I currently have a 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo station wagon. Where you can see what I have from a mile away.

I plan on saving a lot of money by doing less of the things that I don't need to do. Unfortunately, I will occasionally do these things. No more expensive movie theaters, no more buying things that I will use just once. Selling expensive things/toys that I hardly use. This should be no problem, now that I have everything that I will need for my photography for the next few months (besides a really nice zoom lens, but that will come later in the year).

So, what's the plan now? You may ask, but this is about as good as I can answer.

I am planning on spending the next year working on my portrait and stock photography portfolio. I haven't really accomplished anything in the stock photography world. In fact, I have been denied many of times, and have unsuccessfully added no photographs to iStockPhoto to date, but at least this time i have made it past the qualification tests. I haven't gotten a chance to take too many stock photos, and have only submitted one. They are very picky, and the photograph i submitted had some visible sensor dust.

Which is mostly my fault, I should have cloned out the small yet faint black dot.

Stock photography is a trick. Especially when i have a hard time just being able to setup some sort of photo shoot with a friend! But hopefully this week will be a start with that. I am still enjoying my Nikon D300, and will hopefully continue to enjoy it as i get more used to the features that it offers.

I also convinced myself to get a Wacom Bamboo tablet. Wait, whoa! I know i was saying i was trying to save money, but it was only $67 through Amazon. It is a low end writing tablet used by a lot of photographers out there, and i have wanted one for as long as I have ever doodled on a pen and paper!

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! And if you don’t know what Thanksgiving is, well, us Americans like to get together with the family once a year, and eat a mandatory huge meal, then sleep for a couple of days. We did not watch any football.

This thanksgiving weekend was fun for me. I got to spend some time with my parents! It was just my parents and I. Both of my sisters and their families could not make it. Fortunately, for my parents, they still have one child that is not occupied by a spouse, children, or live a long ways away. Such a wonderful Thanksgiving feast! I talked my mom into cooking chicken instead of turkey, just because chicken tastes better, and she agreed. It was great! Not to mention that afterward we watched together, the entertaining “Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause,” and then shortly after the much more exciting, “Live Free or Die Hard.” I know, those movies don’t seem very exciting back to back, but they were a nice blend.

I brought all my camera equipment, and decided to snap some pictures of my pets, because, well, it was my last opportunity to get some decent pictures with my old Nikon D200. I also missed my animals, and wanted to catch them in their prime and hopefully print out some pictures for my parents. We have some really photogenic pets.

Then Friday rolled along, and I casually woke up around 11pm and strolled over to Shutterbug where I received a phone call earlier in the week that the D300 would be available for me to pick up. So, short story shorter, I have now upgraded my gear from a Nikon D200 to the brand spakin’ new Nikon D300. I was able to sell the D200 the next day for $1100 with the battery grip thanks to Craigslist! I was able to sell the camera to a local man who was delighted to venture into photography, and hopefully I will get to see some of the stuff he comes up with using the camera. I utilized the micro studio that I made a few weeks back for the pictures of the items I was selling. I am also trying to sell my GL2 and a MTX Amplifier, but neither has been showing much interest except for a few people in relations with people in Africa. Red flags anyone?

I haven’t gotten to do too many photo shoots with my new Nikon D300, just a few messing around pictures, and a shoot at my church of a couple dancing, and a ballerina. I had one senior photo shoot lined up for the weekend, but the father felt it was too expensive and cancelled the shoot. I am still baffled by this, because I feel like I am way too inexpensive. To each their own!

So far I am extremely satisfied with the Nikon D300, the image noise has been reduced a lot, and I can shoot in RAW with much higher ISO, and not worry about such nasty color noise and quality decrease. Of course, shooting with lower ISO will always increase the image quality! I try to shoot at ISO 200, but for the dance pictures, I shot at ISO 1000, and the pictures are definitely usable, and one of them will be in next weeks bulletin.

I am still looking forward to my first actual photo shoot with the camera. I will keep everyone posted when I have an opportunity and finish a photo shoot. Here is just a couple random pictures.

Senior Photos!

Senior Photos? The pinnacle of youth, the 12th grade, on the edge of becoming an adult, eight teen years in the making, you are just about to end your K-12 experience, and you need pictures to prove it!

This is quite possibly the silliest reason for anyone to have a professional photograph taken of him or her. Now don't get me wrong, I love photography, but most senior photos are a joke. Now, I have looked around at some senior photography here and there to kind of get a grasp what everyone out there is doing, maybe pick up an idea or two. But the more I look at it, the more I realize how boring these pictures are! People, you are so much more creative than this! Not all of these pictures are boring, but most! They don't usually impact me as an exciting photograph expressing the full potential of the model (the senior student). It bothers me more than anything.

I guess this is more directed toward the portrait studios that have the fancy signs out front, that hardly leave the comfort of their own studio.

Typical, standard, and boring are all terms I would use for the general senior photo category. Unfortunately, I don't think any yearbook team has really gotten the point. But then again, they are just looking for a way to streamline the process when they have 200-300 graduating seniors. What’s the deal with the requirements for senior photos? It has to be a certain height, with only a certain amount gap between the face and the edge of the photo, and such. Oh my goodness, this is ridiculous! Why even get a senior photo taken? Let the kids submit a picture into their yearbook that actually expresses their personality! Okay, so yeah, then again, if there were 200-300 students with senior pictures, it would be a little aggravating to have a bunch of “personality” pictures. If someone submits a bad picture, then nobody will never able to recognize him or her for the rest of their live. Wait, that doesn’t make sense.

Okay, I guess this is where we look back on my life, a little retrospect if you may. Maybe because of a little bit of a soar thumb from my senior year, let us look back to… the year 2000.

I suddenly feel like I am in a Conan O’Brien skit.

Okay, so here we are in the year 2000. Okay, so it is still now, but you can just pretend we are in the year 2000. Wow, almost years ago? You know you are getting old when you have to start thinking about your ten-year high school reunion. Should I start working out? Come up with a dramatic business plan to make millions so I can arrive in a Ferrari (maybe I could just rent one for a day?). I have two more years to lead myself to perfection! Actually, I will probably just show up with my brand new 1990 Volvo station wagon claiming I am a photographer, and people will look at me funny. Okay, so the car is not specifically new, but it saves me money because it is old, it runs, and it is 100% paid for!

Wow, I am easily distracted! Are you still there? Oh, hello!

Anyway, back to the point! Okay, so this was well before my photography years, in fact, I have not even discovered the ways of photography at this age. I was still trying to make web pages, and do computer programming as a hopeful living. I was the classic nerd, without the classic nerd glasses. I had 20/20 vision. I didn't really know much about anything besides computers. What does this have to do with anything? Well, I got my senior photos taken, they were not too fantastic, and my mother only bought one. It wasn’t even accepted by the yearbook team, and they instead, with out any warning, put up my student body picture. I wish I could find my yearbook, so I could share you the humility. It was horrific!

I decided to add my senior photo to the mix, just to show you how NOT to do a senior photo. I have nothing wrong with backdrops, but the one that was selected for me, was just terrible. I should have been in a wedding with the light haze and the faded edges.

Of course, I figured it was only appropriate to paste a hand on my face for cheap mild entertainment. I should have submitted the picture with the hand as my face to yearbook.

I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone! How humiliating? I get my yearbook, and it is the worst picture of the century! This is the picture that all my classmates will have to look back and reference me when my name comes up in the news, or something.

Anyway, point is, why does a senior photo shoot have to be so generalized, streamlined, and generic? My goal as a photographer is to keep away from the generic, and produce something fantastic. I want to treat each individual senior as a model, and make him or her feel special during the photo shoot, no matter how long the photo shoot. I understand this isn’t for everyone! Maybe someone might want to be generically placed in a picture, that’s fine, we can do that! Senior photography is a trick, and I feel I am already on the path of starting something interesting!

Here is a look at some examples from my recent senior photos from the last few months, please enjoy, and be sure to click on the ones you enjoy most and leave a comment on my Flickr gallery!

American Love

Last winter, a few friends and I discovered midnight photography. The hit and miss (mostly miss) photography at night using extremely long shutter speeds, and a lot of patience! We would setup our cameras on our tripods and wait for a result. For some reason, we have never done this during the summer, when the temperature would be more comfortable. Oh well, running around being completely cold is fun too!

Now, I call this form of photography Midnight Photography just because I felt that it needed some type of lingo to discuss the pictures between my friends. Night Time Photography just wasn’t quite as catchy to me, as Midnight Photography! I don’t know, you can be the judge on that one!

So, the other day, a post I read on Strobist about continuous lighting revolutionized my process on midnight photography, and gave me a real “duh” idea. Bring a really high-powered flashlight to add some light to the picture! Wow, why didn’t I think of that? I could even use it to shine light on what ever I am trying to focus the picture onto, and improve focus quality. Wow, I suddenly feel innovative through other people’s ideas.

So, later in the evening after getting some things done, my friend Scott and I went out on a quest to find the right equipment for the shoot. We first visited Home Depot, but to no luck, we ended up in a half hour conversation with one of the employees. I had explained to her that I never shop at Home Depot for building houses, but really only for my photography. She was so confused, and didn’t really know what to think about this. After much looking around, I found nothing useful, but the employee kept trying to get me to order a flashlight boasting 18 million power flashlight (no mention of candlelight or anything, 18 power of what? That was ridiculous!) from their web site. I agreed, but only if they could get it shipped to me in 15 minutes. Of course, they couldn’t, so I went to Wal-Mart, and bought a Black & Decker 2 million-candlelight flashlight for somewhere around $30. Which was perfect, I couldn’t imagine what I would do with 9 times the power! Well, then again, I am sure I could come up with something!

So after messing around with the flashlight, shining it on our bodies and in our eyes for a few minutes and getting some food in our systems we were eventually ready. Now, I don’t recommend shining something so bright into your eyes, we were just wondering because it was so incredibly bright that it would be interesting to see what it would feel like.

So we eventually got everything together and went out in search for the perfect location for the nights shoot. We eventually came up with the idea of an abandoned gas station in west Eugene. We arrived after 15-20 minutes of driving, and we were completely satisfied, we hung out for a while and took some fun pictures. But it wasn’t until I remembered that I had a smaller crank-rechargeable flashlight in my glove compartment in my car when I decided to start drawing words in front of a huge painted American flag mural.

This is when I came up with the idea of writing LOVE in front of the flag, something I have been feeling like our country has been missing out on. LOVE. I am always out to make pictures that mean something to people. And I feel this picture hit the spot. It may not be amazing, or breath taking, but at least I feel accomplished!

So behind the scenes on the picture, just a little background on how it was shot, and what process I went through to take it. It was actually a rather simple picture. I first shined the bright light onto the wall and focused the camera, and set all of the settings. I had it set to 30-second exposure, and at 100 ISO, and around f/4. I had Scott push the shutter button, and as soon as it opened, he swooshed the bright light across the flag. I quickly there after jumped into the frame and drew with the flashlight facing directly toward the camera the word LOVE. I felt really girly writing this, because you have to move your body in such weird ways to get such large, and cursive letters. But overall, since you can’t see me being girly in the picture, I think it worked out!

Light my World

I have been on a temporary slump with photography since I when whale watching a few weeks ago. I haven't really taken the time to really take pictures, and explore photography. Something about that trip, and how unsuccessful i was at getting a descent picture just really got to me. Looking back at it, I honestly wasn't really setup for success. The weather was not the greatest, the whales were always really far away, I was using a crappy lens, and it was just unfortunate that I could not get a good shot! And for some reason, I took it personally.

Yesterday, was something different!

I had been talking with a local group called "A Family for Every Child" and "Lane County Heart Gallery," and yesterday I finally got together with then and got to see first hand what they are going for. It is simply amazing. They find homes for children with out permanent homes. These children are without permanent homes, and are living with foster families around town and document the kids lives enough to provide pictures and video of the kids being them selves, and what they enjoy doing.

This experience has put a whole new light into my world, and I hope I can keep it up. I suggest you find something that makes your day light up, and fire up your passions.

My boss today brought me into his office for a talk, I was terrified at first, since this was a very unexpected and urgent meeting with him. I didn't know what to expect. Not everything he said was something to worry about, besides someone complaining that I don't work hard enough (which is bogus), he had something very comforting and uplifting to say about my photography! He realizes that this work place isn't a passion of mine, and that photography is, and that he recommended that I keep my head up, and continue to seek my passion in photography. He then went on to compliment me on some of my photography.

So, don't let yourself fall into a photographic slump. Even after bad shoots, stand up tall, and don't wait for your next opportunity to bring that passion back!

Broken Laptop Screen

Sorry I haven’t updated lately. I have recently encountered a problem with my laptop. I have to send it in to get it repaired. They explained that it would take 7-9 days until I get it back. Wow, what a bummer! Luckily, my screen wasn't cracked, it just randomly went to a white screen after i gave my sister a tour of my duplex with my laptop.

So while it is being sent in, I am going to buy some parts for a desktop computer. I already have a screen, mouse, and keyboard. It should come out to be somewhere between $600 and $700 for a pretty decent computer! Before I decided to get a decent desktop, I was looking at laptops and for a similar model with similar specs would have cost at least $3000.

I have some future purchases coming up in the next few months, such as a Nikon D300 ($1800), and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Productivity ($1600). I don’t think a $3000 purchase would be very “smart” right now. Although, once I get a Nikon D300, I would be selling my Nikon D200 for around $1300 with a battery grip, and extra battery. I could also sell my laptop and get a smaller more portable replacement laptop such as maybe a 15” but I think I might stick around with a 17” laptop just because it has a little more beef! But, if I can find a decent 15” laptop with similar specs to my 17” laptop, it doesn’t seem like a terrible idea.

Anyway, sorry about my little computer rant, I guess basically what I meant to say is that it is always good to have a good backup desktop computer, just in case the laptop needs to get sent in for repairs!

So, what I have done for you, is create two simple wish lists through Newegg.com if you are interested in buying computer parts to build a good desktop computer for around $700. I created two wish lists, one with the monitor, keyboard, and mouse (which is a little more expensive), and another with just the desktop computer. (Both of these computers have a total of $70 worth of mail-in rebates! Also priced after shipping!)

Desktop with recommended LCD screen, keyboard, and mouse ($1098 with Vista Home Premium)

Desktop only ($864 with Vista Home Premium)

You may add, and remove from these wish lists as you please! Let me know how you set up your computer, it would cool to hear!

UPDATED: Don't forget to purchase an operating system, since this is a 64bit processor, I chose Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM. If you would rather go "old school" you can also purchase Windows XP 64bit OEM. OEM is just barebone, no fancy graphics. Just a disc and a key-code, which is all you need! It is also cheaper than retail!

She Could Stop a Train

Senior Photos are in the air. This is my first school year that I am actually going to try to pursue senior photography. I don't mean old people, but young and ready to graduate high schoolers.

I am trying something unique for my senior photos, unlike any that I have seen for a long time. I am pushing the limits, I don't want to follow any kind of tradition with senior photos. I want to make each student feel special like a model, and spend as much time as needed to get plenty of excellent shots of each of them.

As you can see, the picture that I have here, this is Aubrey. My first senior photo "model" of the year. She did great, at first it was a little rocky, as we went to a very beautiful park, but all the flowers were dying, and there was a wedding going on near the more photogenic locations. We later decided to go downtown, and get some pictures around there, and we got a lot of fabulous pictures!

I will edit more later, but I just wanted to show how excited I was about the photo shoot, and I am looking forward to more!

So, stay tuned! More from the photo shoot coming later!

The Season for Senior Photos

I have some senior photo shoots in the works, I will get them online as soon as I am done processing and editing these pictures. They are turning out pretty good, I would say they are slightly unique, but then again my subjects so far have been extraordinary! I have finished one of two shoots so far. I should be able to get some of these done today, but probably not likely until Thursday.

So far I have two girls, both I knew before doing the shoot, so that makes it extremely easy! I am hoping that with both of them combined, that they would be able to bring me some more business! I am looking forward to seeing where this goes, especially since I am a lot cheaper, and offer a lot more than the competitors.

My only weakness, is the years of experience. Years don't really mean quality, it just means an they've got an old shutter and probably have some sort of strategy to get things out the door like a factory. I feel like i have a very special unique touch to each of the pictures I take that exceeds the expectations of my customers.

Photography Studio

First off, I just wanted to personally congratulate you for finding my new Blog. I recently moved over to Blogger just so everything would be more streamlined, and controlled. I have a couple different services such as Flickr and YouTube attached to this Blog, and I hope to be able to integrate the content that I post on these with my Blog. I will also be importing all entries to my Facebook profile.

This is really exciting! My goal for this Blog is to just discuss different things that are going on with my photography, what I am learning, and just what ever comes to my mind that is related to my work! I will post links and examples of my latest projects as well! I have a lot of new projects coming up, and I just wanted to let everyone know just how excited I am for my work!

So, this is my first official post. So I should probably write about something!

In the next few days, I will be putting the final touches to my garage in hopes to create a small photography studio. This is really exciting for me! I am looking forward to having complete control of my light! So far, I have only dealt with really low-key studio type of locations. Such as my bedroom, living room, or other random places. As you can see in the picture for this Blog entry, I have a picture of myself! It is a very simple setup, just one umbrella shooting right at my face. I am sitting on my bed. How silly is that? Fortunately the ghetto ness of this picture does not show up, and it overall looks like a professional picture.

I am going to try to convince myself to take more self-portraits. Not because I want to be an emo kid, but because I want to practice my lighting techniques, and being in front of the camera. Being a photographer, I feel much more comfortable being behind the camera, and in control. This will be nice once I get my studio setup, so I don’t have to sit around on my bed!

So hopefully, my garage studio will be done in the next few days, and definitely before… tomorrow?