Imagine Dragons

Honestly, this show was beyond inspiring. It was the best I've ever seen. EVER. Better than Lights, Owl City, PTV, or Rush... The sound was so perfectly clear, every detail captured and mixed beautifully. It was like studio quality sound live, only better. I could even hear the rice shaker in the mix with the guitar and drums and cymbals. The lights were astonishing. Brilliant design combining intelligent LEDs with carefully placed projectors and customized screens. The simple complexity of it all was genius. And their performance, was so skilled, tight, and interactive... Not to mention they played an hour and a half long set, and only started to show signs of tiring after 45 minutes straight. Even at that point it was totally awesome!

Fun

Sometimes I like to just have fun. You know, not have some deep profound meaning to something. Just make something artful or go somewhere and just experience. It's crazy... but that's what I do sometimes.

I'm trying to steer myself away from lingerie and anything that could lead people to believe I was just some perve with a clicker, while at the same time everyone seems to be pushing me towards that. With is typical.

New rules being made regularly, as new problems arise. A few developments to mention. I will no longer offer free shoots to anyone who stands me up. This won't count for past instances but will define future ones. Along with this there will be an increase in charges to those who stand me up, with payment to be made in advance prior to the shoot in the event that happens. I simply can not waste time waiting around for people. Which means from now on I won't wait more than 45 minutes. If a client/model is more than 45 minutes late I'll consider it the same as being stood up.

I may have discovered a new way to shoot my macro/product photography. Using my sb-600 off camera with a diffuser creates ample fill light and minimal shadows. Further testing needs to be done though.

On a separate note I finally got a roll of 16mm film through in my Hit Camera. Severe light leaks, likely caused while loading the film, have nearly destroyed the images. However the test was literally just to define the process to use.

Today I did a shoot with this amazing girl. One I'm sure will become a great model and friend to me, and hopefully I a great friend to her. Concerns that came up were firstly regarding my model release. As though I could somehow Shanghai her into a secret underworld. Maybe I can... however I wouldn't go leaving evidence around of such.

Second concern seemed to be getting the photos in a timely manner. Well it's been about 5 hours and she has all the unedited images (in a smaller 1k x 1k pixel size) and the first edit has been posted to Facebook and here. So I think I've covered some form of speed.

Winter is truly the worst time to shoot on location. It's cold, the fountains are turned off, and cool grassy places have been cut back for new growth to rise.

I've been playing with film more these last few days. I keep trying to make this "hit" camera from Japan work. So far it's the second most difficult camera I've dealt with, but that's what I get I suppose. I've created a film cutting contraption from an old point and shoot 35mm film camera. I have one last correction to make to it before it is complete. I also have the tools needed to grind my own 120 spools to 620 spools. For use with my Kodak Duaflex.

I've also been thinking about Kimberly a lot lately. Why is it the prettiest model I had, and the girl I love, had to be the most complicated person I've met? lol


I will also be joining a couple photography groups soon, to work on enhancing my skills, as a recommendation from someone I asked for advice. To anyone who secretly thinks my work needs a lot of improvement or sucks, you can tell me this. I'd rather know how to improve than continue sucking, if that makes sense.

The future is coming

I've been shooting now for years. Always just for fun, as a hobby. I've never really had training, never taken a class. On occasion I've received advice about this or that, typically technical stuff.

So now the time has come. I'm going to start charging for my work, renting equipment to enhance my quality, and selling prints to clients. I'm going to expand past what I do well and into areas I'm unfamiliar with.

- There will be a PDF and Web Guide to modeling, as a collection of what I've learned and seen works. It will be the basics, nothing advanced.

- My starting charge will be a base $20 USD for a single shoot. Shoots of a nature I have not excelled at will still be free while I develop my skills in the area.

- I will begin expanding my portfolio first into the areas of "male modeling", "auto"/"cars", "couples", "product"

- Ads will be developed to promote my Facebook page, and future web page. Featuring these ads on your Facebook User Profile or Elsewhere will act as discounts/credits for photoshoots.


There's also a coming plan to rent out my old cool cameras. Though details for this idea are premature still. Film will come preloaded, operating instructions will be provided, and film development will be included. As this grows and develops I intend to partner with Blue Moon and Pro Photo Supply to increase my client base and reach.

Sparkles