Floundering In Unit 5

I feel so close to finished, yet, so very very far away.

I find myself struggling with Unit 5, that is keeping up the momentum from Units 3 and 4.  I don’t know if it’s because I feel the Photo Projects daunting (which I do!), or if it’s because Unit 6 and the completion of the course is right around the corner (which it is), or if I’m just not that interested in Photojournalism (which I’m not).  Perhaps it’s the combination of everything, or perhaps because I’ve been spending more time involved with Dill-Fisch.  Lately I feel like there is way too much on my plate, and this has been an easy option to sacrifice.

However, finally forcing myself to sit down and finish listening to the audio for the 2nd Photojournalism lesson, some ideas for a photo essay are springing to mind.  In fact, I feel torn between two different ideas.  The first, is to use a wedding Dill-Fisch is scheduled to shoot, and create a photo story, which would be a portion of the photo album we would put together for the couple.  This is a direct correlation to what I want to do in photography, and getting feedback as it relates to this career path.  The second idea is to use my nephew’s upcoming race, as an opportunity to create a feature that spotlight’s his first year in competitive quad racing.  This feels more “news-y” to me, and would force me out of my box a little bit more.  It’s about sports, it has a clear point of view, and I think it could be more interesting.  Not to mention, it would give me an opportunity to spend time with my nephew. At this point, I’ll likely shoot both things, and then make up my mind when I view the images.  The photo story for the wedding will definitely be developed, since it’s a cornerstone of the wedding album, and the racing story with my nephew might end up as part of his senior picture package.

Moving forward, despite the molasses around my ankles!

The Further You Travel, the Harder the Course

“I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don’t like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.” – Diane Arbus

Photojournalism – the style and not the profession – is elusive to me.  It’s a style that lends itself to freedom from convention in the fields of portraiture and wedding photography.  It’s more than a candid shot, and it’s more than just shooting what’s in front of you without interference.  When done correctly, that one single shot, distils the complexity of life into one complete moment.  A moment that tells the story with eloquence, and without judgment, but with unvarnished truth.  Whether it’s a picture from the 1940’s showing scientists feeding radioactive food to sheep at the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant, or a bride sitting in the middle of a picnic table taking a moment for herself, despite being surrounded by her family and attendants. It’s truth, and truth has power. 

As I begin the 5th Unit in my certification program at the New York Institute of Photography, this in one of the challenges set before me, and it’s more daunting than lighting, exposure, and composition, combined.  It’s a line I’ve drawn in the sand for myself – I MUST master this if I’m going to tell stories of people. 

In the next few weeks, I’ll be tipping my hand in this direction.  I’m nervous, but I’m not going to learn about by reading about it.  I have to get out behind my lens and shoot.

Patience Learned

My “day job” puts me on the clock Saturday – Wednesday, leaving Thursday and Friday off to focus 98% of my attention on Dill-Fisch, as opposed to the 50% I can give it when working.  This means I schedule the big things for these days, and last week was no exception.  Thursday was a scouting trip for a possible, last minute family shoot in a small community off the sound, south of Tacoma. Friday, was a gig with one of our first customers, a couple’s shot in and around the Tacoma area as well. 

Thursday ends up being a bust, as the weather changed, and a hard fall killed my point and shoot (and covered me in mud).  Add to that the family’s (good) decision to postpone until the weather warms up.  It just was a frustrating day, to say the least.

Moving on to Friday, when we were meeting a couple up at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, then heading on over to Titlow Beach Park, also in Tacoma.  It was a perfect day for outdoor portraits. The sky was gray and overcast, but still bright, the weather had warmed up, there was no rain, or wind! 

We arrived at our meeting place early, there was an event taking place at around 4pm, so we were anxious to get started and move on to the second location.  3pm came and went, but they had yet to show.  The park’s representative showed up and unlocked the doors for the event’s organizer, and they let us in to take pictures of the indoor architecture, which was really beautiful.  She also encouraged us to send her our business information, which they keep on file for bride’s to peruse.  The 3pm hour pushed into the 4pm hour, and it was clear our clients weren’t coming.  The venue was beginning to fill up, so we gave up our front row parking, and decided to go to our second location anyway.

I had hoped (after our scheduled session was over) to get some twilight pictures of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge…for those of you who don’t know about this bridge, I encourage you to follow the link.  We had two hours before sunset, and we meandered around the rocky beach.  I rely very heavily on my telephoto lens…I can’t help it, I love tight shots with selective focus, but today I forced myself to use my wide-angle zoom.  I really like the beach shots I got with it…putting into practice some direct advice from my NYIP instructor. 

The beach bends a few time, and passed the second bend, I decided to put up the tripod, and wait for sunset and twilight.  I took some test shots, and while it didn’t look bad in the viewfinder, the bridge just didn’t seem to jump out the way I wanted it too.  Once I got it home, it was stronger than I thought, but I’m still glad I followed my Dill-Fisch partner up the beach passed the third bend.

Sunset had finally come, but it was behind us, and being winter and an overcast day, it wasn’t the strongest light, but it did create a beautiful blue-hued sky and water combination.  The problem was, I just wasn’t getting the images I wanted.  They were okay, but it wasn’t the bright, twilight-ed, colorful evening shot that I hiked 3/4 down a rocky beach to get. 

A while back I wrote about how my greatest liability (I felt) in becoming the photographer I want to be is my lack of patience.  Tonight, I told myself that I was going to work my camera and be easy on myself until I got what I really wanted.  I moved through the following series of shots:

I was using a very small aperture, and about a 25 – 30 sec shutter speed, playing a bit with underexposing to bring out the color of the lights…as you can see, no joy.  However, with the third pic I started to like the mood, but I wanted more color on the bridge itself, I also switched to my faithful zoom, because I felt the bridge’s power was getting lost in the sea of blue.  My epiphanl change?  I opened up my aperture about 3 stops and adjusted the shutter speed so it was still “underexposing” just a bit.

Here’s the result:

 

Now this was the image we hiked down the rocky beach to get!  We took a few more shots with different angels, and compositions, but this one remains my favorite of the bunch. 

By the time we finished taking pictures it was time to walk back to the car.  By then the beach was dark, so we adjusted our route.  Other than some mild trespassing, a moment of being fenced in, and then a small hike through a wooded area with only the faint light off a camera LCD and my partner’s white-soled Converse, we made it back to the cement path that parallels the beach.  It was a good thing, too, because the tide had come in, and the beach was pretty much gone. 

So despite the fact that we’re disappointed that our couple hadn’t shown up (we still haven’t heard from them despite phone calls and emails). I count the day as a total success, and am grateful to patience, patience, patience.  It would have been my instinct to walk away after the first few frames didn’t work out.  I’m happy with myself that I stuck with it, and got the shot I really wanted.

Dill-Fisch Photography – Excellence Is In the Details

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, it seems that my plan to post once a week flew out the window due to some very positive changes in my workflow.  The first of which is that I, along with a partner, am launching Dill-Fisch Photography, a wedding and portraiture photography service.  The second, is that the rainy Washington weather is relenting a bit, and I’ve been able to take pictures! 

The name Dill-Fisch comes from the smooshing together of my partner’s last name with my last name. It conveys a sense of fun that fits our personalities. It’s also proving to be something unique and memorable.  Now if you google Dill-Fisch, you’ll still get a long list of German recipes for dill fish, but the first hit is our Facebook page!  We’ve booked a couple portrait sessions, and one wedding for June.  Our website went live this weekend, the url is temporary until we get passed our free trail with Viewbook.  All in all an exciting time.

When we first initiated building the business, it seemed to take front and center and the actual art of photography became theoretical. When I actually got behind the camera again for a photo session with my Mom and her best friend, I just couldn’t get into the groove of what I was supposed to do.  The following day I had another shoot, this one was some children’s pics for Unit 4, and was very successful.  It’s so easy to hide in the details of business building, forms, pricing structures, and marketing plans.  However, at the end of the day, what sells the business is the photography. Without that, the rest of our efforts are in vain.

We are officially launching in July, until then we’re building our portfolio, tapping into friends and other networks to get the work we need to get the work! It’s been fun, and nerve racking, and exhausting, but it’s been so rewarding, too.  I used to kill myself for the benefit of others, now it’s nice to know that all my efforts are going into building something for myself, my future, and my community.

Hands: A Moment Still

It’s not often that I post multiple times in one week, let alone two days in a row, but the sun finally emerged behind layers of gray clouds and I had an opportunity to tackle one of my lighting projects.  I needed to use 90 degree side lighting to bring out texture in a subject and I had it in my head to photograph my mom’s hands, which are beautifully lined and have so much character. I also wanted to challenge myself in using the 18-55 mm zoom instead of my telephoto for this.  I have a tendency to favor the other lens and feel I too readily jump to it when taking creative shots. 

The sun was setting, and our neighborhood was already covered in evening shade, as we’re tucked down in a small cavern surrounded by towering evergreens.  We headed down the road to the Black Diamond Cemetery, mainly because it was on a high, flat hill. The lighting was perfect, we arrived about 30 minutes before sunset.  My mom had never been there and we joked about “killing two birds with one stone”.  Now you know where I get my slightly morbid sense of humor. 

Anyway, I feel great satisfaction in how they turned out, it’s how I envisioned them when I first thought of the project. I hope you enjoy them.

January 22, 2011. Nikon D40. 45 mm f/5.6 1/200 ISO 400

 January 22, 2011. Nikon D40. 42 mm f/5.6 1/200 ISO 400

 January 22, 2011. Nikon D40. 55 mm f/5.6 1/200 ISO 400

 January 22, 2011. Nikon D40. 55 mm f/5.6 /200 ISO 400

Technorati Tags: Nikon D40,Side Lighting,Hands,Prayer,Bible,Mother

Score 1 for Patience

“So here’s another photographic technique they never talk about and that you can’t buy at your local camera store: patience.” David duChemin, Within the Frame

I’ve been thinking about patience lately, and when I read this the other day, I said out loud, “That is my problem”. I’ve never been a patient person, and that’s especially true for being patient with myself. Lately I’ve found myself impatient with my photography plans and goals.  Most of this impatience stems from elements that are out of my control: weather, work schedules, logistics, etc. This impatience ultimately leads to frustration, and I’ve found frustration leads to uninspiring photographs.

I have two units of shots I need to get, and they are all people shots.  Many of them require outside lighting conditions.  Lately, if the sun comes out, it comes out when I’m at work, stuck behind a counter until 9 PM.  My subjects are all busy people with obligations and families, so coordinating our free time is challenging. Finally, I’m trying to put a business plan together and a very unfortunate and not-at-all-controllable set of circumstances has kept my partner on the other side of the country for several months.

Yesterday I decided that without fail, I was going to jump in between rain showers prior to sunset and get some pictures of the cresting Green River. This desire had nothing to do with any of the things frustrating me (okay, a little about the weather). I just needed to take pictures, to remind myself why I love this, and that I can do this.

I drove down to the nearby state park, and was determined to give my mind and my frustrations a rest: to let the park guide me in what to photograph.  I can’t say I was as open to the place as I’d like to be, I never reached that Zen connection, so-to-speak.  I had to talk to myself, take a deep breath, “be patient, did you get what you need?” I started snapping away and felt that old impatience within myself resurface as quick as a shutter release.  I took a step back and told myself to find my subject. As I kept that in mind, the pictures began to take shape. 

Not all the shots turned out, I want to go back and have another go at the big entry bridge, the sky wasn’t as moody as I hoped, and the actual pictures of the river didn’t call to me the way I’d envisioned.  However, I did find this marshy area where the reeds were flooded and created a reflecting surface. There was this small waterfall framed by some downed trees.  It arrested my attention on my initial drive through, and it’s not likely to be there again once the flood waters abate.

I’m calling the day successful.  The main thing, that which was truly important, was after a long creative dry spell, I was outside shooting again.

Taken at Flaming Geyser State Park, Auburn, WA. January 21, 2011. Nikon D40 19 mm f/14 1/2.5 ISO 400

Technorati Tags: Nikon D40,Flood,Nature,Waterfall

Lesson One: Don’t Wear Your Favorite Shoes

Last spring my mom asked me to take some pictures of these uprooted trees she spotted in Enumclaw.  I dutifully drove up there only to discover they were covered in vegetation, and there was no where to safely park.  So, when we had a bright sunny day a couple weeks ago, I decided to head out there again.

The roots are probably a 12’ diameter, and they stood like small mountains in amongst the underbrush.  I had a project to complete that used 90 degree side-lighting to bring out an objects detail, and we were about an hour from sunset.  Since the roots were facing a southwest direction, the sun worked great, and the frost tangled in the roots sparkled like diamonds.  I pulled over at a large shoulder and walked the 100 or so yards to get to my subject.  The embankment was about two feet down, and there was a crust of half melted snow pressing down the reeds that grew in the ditch.  Cautiously I worked my way down, worried about slipping on some hidden ice.  I finally got to ground level, took a step forward, and crashed through the ice covered reeds into the foot and a half of ice cold water below.

Only wearing jeans, bootie socks, and a pair of suede Adidas, the water instantly soaked through my meager layers, and ruined my favorite shoes.  It would have been worth it though, if I really got the shot I wanted, but because of the water, I couldn’t get the angle I needed to create a photo I would be proud of.  So, I hauled myself out of the icy ditch and drove to my brother’s house, where my sister-in-law loaned me some flip-flops. Thank goodness for a warm car with foot-level heating

So lesson learned:

• Wear shoes you don’t mind destroying
• Wear good socks
• Bring extra clothes
• Don’t trust snow covered reeds!