Simple things

On 09.01.10, In Commentary, Landscape, Photos, By Chester

Spiderweb

While on a recent High School Senior photo shoot, I spotted this spiderweb in the sun. Just a quick snapshot, as I had other things to focus on. Been shooting a lot of seniors lately, and it’s been interesting to meet them and hear what their aspirations are.

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Like this pic? I need your help

On 08.30.10, In Commentary, HDR, Landscape, Photos, By Chester

Golden Gate

I have entered this photo in an online photo contest on Facebook. If you like the image, then:

  1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/LightStalking and “Like” the group. They publish some pretty cool stuff.
  2. Go to the photo itself and click “Like” on the page with the large version of this picture.

Winners are going to be determined by how many “Likes” they get, and I think this picture is worthy of winning. If I win 1st place, I’ll pick one name from everyone who “Likes” it and send that person a signed 11×14 of the image.

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Slots for Senior Pictures are going fast

On 08.27.10, In Commentary, Photos, Portraits, By Chester

Megan K - Lakewood High School Senior, Class of 2009

With the kids back in school, everyone wants their Senior Pictures soon. Slots are filling up fast, book yours today. Urban or mountain landscapes, we shoot on location for Seniors in Alameda, Bear Creek, Green Mountain, Golden and Lakewood High School’s.

Yearbook Headshot Due Dates:

  • Alameda – September 24, 2010
  • Bear Creek – October 7, 2010
  • Green Mountain – September 3 (yes, really)
  • Golden – September 27, 2010
  • Lakewood – October 1, 2010
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First Day of School – Class of 2023

On 08.23.10, In Commentary, Photos, Portraits, By Chester

First day of Kindergarden

Today is the first day of school for kids in Lakewood, Colorado (and all of Jefferson County I believe). More importantly, it was the first day for the Class of 2023. This is my youngest daughter’s first day of Kindergarden.

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Deceased Dragon

On 08.09.10, In Commentary, Macro, Photos, By Chester

Deceased Dragonfly II

This is the second large dragonfly we have found around the house that was no longer alive. I don’t know much about dragonflies, including their lifespan, but 2 in a few days seems odd. Made it easier to get a picture of though.

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What’s in a crop?

On 08.06.10, In Commentary, Macro, Photos, By Chester

P7232515

When I first started working on this image, I did basic things like cropping it down to get a good focus on the bee. I liked the colors and everything else (Olympus really does a great job with color), so I called it done after the crop. The result is above.

But then I kept looking at it and something was bothering me, but I couldn’t quite place it. I posted it to an online forum and asked some friends for their thoughts. Then it hit me. It is way too heavy on the left. The image seems so busy over there, and it was just bothering me. So then I thought about a couple things. I could reduce how tight the crop was:
P7232515
Nope, that won’t work. Darn stray petal.

So then I decided to try something else entirely. As far as photo etiquette goes, I don’t know if this is proper or not, but I reversed the image. Just flipped it horizontally, loading everything to the right.
515 Inverted

I think it works a lot better this way. Your eyes ease into the image instead of being overwhelmed right away. Or maybe it’s because I am left-handed, I don’t know. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

And for those interested in the technical bits, this was shot with an Olympus E-30, on a tripod (only used two of the legs though), with an Olympus Digital Zuiko 50mm f2 macro lens. I really love that lens.

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Shooting for fun

On 06.02.10, In Commentary, Photos, Portraits, By Chester

Natalie

Recently my 4 year old daughter, Natalie, and I took a drive in the mountains west of Denver for the express purpose of taking pictures for fun. She is starting to get better with her camera (Fuji A330) and I was wanting to play with my Olympus 50mm f2 (a superb lens in every way).

I can’t remember the last time I went out and shot for fun. It was probably 9 months ago when Jennifer and I went to Silverton the same weekend we were taking our oldest to college in Durango. I love my pics of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad steam engine 482. Nat and I were on our own this day, so we packed some snacks and headed to the hills. We took Colorado 74 out of Morrison toward Kittredge. First stop was Corwina Park, where the photo above was snapped. I have shot some senior pics before, as well as our family photo a few years back. Natalie loves the stone picnic shelter here and she took some pics in the area too.

At Corwina, we realized it was way too windy to much portrait stuff, and Nat didn’t like the dust blowing into her face. We packed back into the car and continued west on 74, through Kittredge (making note of a cool playground to have a picnic at sometime) and continued on to Evergreen. I thought it might be less windy by the lake, and that it could provide a good backdrop, so we turned right at the light just past Little Bear and started around the lake. As we were even with the dam, Nat asked what it was. As I explained it to her, she wanted to get closer and take pics there. So we turned around and went back into downtown Evergreen, parking just off Colorado 73 at the base of the dam.

We wound up spending the rest of our time shooting from there. All sorts of stuff to see, different perspectives, even a bird on a wire. The next three posts to this blog will be from our time at the dam. After we were done shooting, we decided it was lunch time and headed home. I really enjoyed getting out, and Nat said her favorite part of that day was taking pictures. Couldn’t ask for anything more.

If you are interested, you can see her perspective on the day, through her camera, by viewing her pictures.

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Pet Portraits

On 04.01.10, In Commentary, Photos, By Chester

Randall - Bichon Frise

I have been around dogs for pretty much all of my life. Except for when I was at college, there has always been a dog in my home. I think the longest gap without a dog in my house has been maybe 6 months. Randall, the Bichon Frise pictured above, is the latest one to live in our home. Technically it belongs to our oldest daughter, but he lives here (as does she) and we all take care of him.

In taking photos of pets, I have seen a lot of similarities to kids. They can be incredibly cooperative, as Randall was above, or Schroeder, an Australian Shepherd we used to have. They can be extremely disinterested like Ozzie, one of our cats, or very excited like Daisy, our neighbor’s Weimaraner. Sometimes they don’t even mind an accidental finger in the eye. And much like kids, we don’t want them to be too far out of character when we get a photo of them. Just like anything else, we want the photo to reflect who they are, because that is what we love.

Rio (our German Shepherd) reminded us a few years ago that pets don’t live forever. I had her for about 8 years (I jokingly say I had her longer than my wife and kids), and she and I were pretty close. It wasn’t until she passed that I realized how few pictures I had of her. Being someone who likes to take pictures of anything and everything, it is a bit embarrassing to admit this. But I have precious few pictures of her, and it bothers me. Since then I have tried to capture more pictures of our animals. Or at least some signature photos that really bring their character to light. I am pretty satisfied with the results so far. The picture of Randall at the top was shot earlier this week, and I think captured him quite well. Possibly the best pet photo I have shot so far. I know my daughter will be happy to have it when Randall’s time comes, and that makes me both proud and happy.

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Continuing Education

On 03.30.10, In Commentary, By Chester

Setup

On my Twitter page, it says I am an insatiable student. I do feel this is an accurate depiction of myself. Every day I hope to learn something new about my chosen profession or my passions (hobbies). Photography is no exception. I try to attend SMUG get togethers when I can, I have attended two sessions by David Tejada, and a workshop by Sandy Puc. It is important to me to keep learning more as I refine my craft and find my real niche in the photography world.

To that end, Thursday I will be attending a seminar by Peter Read Miller. He is a noted sports photographer, with multiple covers to his credit for the big magazines. I feel really comfortable on a youth baseball or softball field, but I want to see what he sees, and learn how he has gone about doing what he does. I am really excited about it. It is being hosted by Working With Artists, a local arts facility in Belmar, here in Lakewood, Colorado. Becoming a member of this group was a nominal fee above the seminar fee, so I went ahead and joined. One side benefit is that I now have access to very affordable studio space. I need to get in there and learn how to use a few things, but that is another extension of the learning process.

I never tire of learning. I want to be the best I can at what I do, and the only way to get there is to keep learning, on my own and with the help of others. I owe it to my clients, but more importantly, I owe it to myself.

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Getting Into Stock Photography?

On 03.23.10, In Commentary, By Chester

Autumn colors in Colorado

Only one thing seems to generate a livelier debate in the photography world than Canon versus Nikon – stock photography. Magazines and blogs are rife with material talking about the evils of microstock, the difficulties of getting proper rights managed sales, and people wondering what the problem is. It has indeed become a world where anyone with a good camera can contribute, but it doesn’t appear a lot of people are making any money at it.

When I finally decided to get serious about photography a couple years ago, I thought I could make a go of being a stock photographer. Then I had a wake up call. I submitted several images that i thought had real potential, only to be rejected for what seemed like various and random reasons. Indeed, some of the stock photo companies seem to have so many reviewers working. As a result, the subjective part of what gets accepted and what doesn’t feels very disjointed and random. Ultimately, I did have some submissions accepted. I have even had a few sales (the sum total has amounted to about $3.50).

The bottom line is that, for me anyhow, stock photography was not all I thought it could be. Sure, there are success stories out there. But as with other parts of photography, there are a few well known success stories sprinkled in among the majority of people who have had little success. What made me write about this today? I was reading a copy of Photoshop User last weekend, and a nice parody of the concept of stock photography was presented. Earlier in the morning, there was a Denver Post article talking about how Colorado is pursuing the license rights as a taxable item. My hat is off to the photographer mentioned, Dan Coffey of Edwards. He has enough money coming in from stock photography to have a significant tax problem if the state can come after that income source. But he is one of the few. If you are thinking about getting into the stock photography game, think long and hard about it, and look at your images with a very critical eye.

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