My Dream Job ... Isn't Photography?

I'm sorry, photography. It's not you, it's me.

Actually, it's editing, standing over there in the corner, brazenly brandishing that saucy red pen.

She is my first love, and I've never gotten over her. Truth be told, we've been in a long-term relationship the past ten years.

You, photography, are wonderfully captivating. Bright and new. I will always love you. I will always pursue you. But I'm afraid you will never oust editing from my heart.

Especially not when the job I've dreamed about since chasing after my English degree a decade ago just posted an opening. One I finally have the experience for. At the imprint that's pressed its mark into my heart ever since that first black spine drew my eyes.



So please, don't hold it against me. We'll always have Paris, and Russia, and Madrid.

But London's calling, and I have to try to make it work with editing. I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't.

The Self-Portrait Project

Last year I embarked on a 365 project. I more-than-half succeeded. Finally, all those crazy self-portraits may do me some good.



I've just learned about The Self-Portrait Project at Artists Wanted. Thinking not enough people had seen my silly SP antics, I threw my port out there for more public embarrassment. If you have a moment, take a gander. And if you like the portfolio, give it a vote, would ya'? You can vote once every 24 hours, if you feel so inclined.

Faithful Travel Companion for Sale

We first met in the summer of 2006. I was getting ready to embark on my first extended overseas vacation, and I knew I didn't want to go alone. We flirted at first; tried some new things. It wasn't long before I knew we were a perfect match. A few weeks later, we were on our way to Reykjavik.

From there, we traipsed through London, Paris, and Madrid, and we never parted. Thankfully, my companion took up very little space, making it easy to share the small European hotel rooms without ever feeling cramped. Together, we watched many sunrises and even more sunsets.

Since then, my companion and I have added a few others to our entourage, and we all have experienced deserts in Moab, winding roads in Wales, golden fields in England, rustic hills and heather in Scotland, cold summers in Stockholm, star-gazing in Helsinki, and palaces in St. Petersburg.

But last year, our time together began to grow short, as I found another companion to suit me better. I had outgrown my first, and we both knew it. Now, as the winter chill sets in and the snow drifts down over our memories, we hope that another traveler out there needs a new companion.

For Sale: One well-loved and faithful Nikon D80, with constant companions Nikkor 12-24 and 18-200, as well as newcomer RRS BD80-L Plate.



To get to know your potential new co-traveler better, please visit this thread on DGrin.

Safe travels!

Best of 2009

Hopefully everyone survived the new year with minimal damage. Welcome to 2010!

To kick off the year, I took a moment to review the previous year and pick out my favorite shots. It's become a small tradition to see how or if I've grown photographically during the year, and how I might build on what I've done in the next year.

So without further ado, a brief look at what I consider my top shots from 2009.

Found on SmugMug

In what I hope signals the start of a great holiday, I learned today that the good folks at SmugMug featured my photography on their "Found on SmugMug" blog. Go check it out!

They even have a sneak peek of the series I'm currently working on.



I'm honored and flattered they felt my work was worth featuring. Thank you, SmugMug!

Toddlers and Twins, Oh My!

It has been a very long while since I've photographed children for an assignment, and the one and only previous occasion involved a newborn, who really didn't move. God bless babies that don't move, because I bit off a bit more than I could chew with this second assignment involving kids. Toddlers. Eighteen months old. And twins to boot!



These boys could scoot! I got a good workout chasing them around the house and front yard.



The mom, a good friend of mine, offered to forward my business information onto a group of moms with twins. Once I recovered from the shock, I asked her to hold off on that just long enough for me to recover from her terrors. ^_^



My muscles are still aching...

What I Learned from Joe McNally

When I signed up to participate in Paso Robles Workshops' “Hot Shoe Diaries” with Joe McNally, my first thought was, “Is this like ‘Red Shoe Diaries,’ but steamier?” I mean, they both involve gorgeous-looking people under great lighting, right? Uh, the models, not Joe. (You’re ruggedly handsome, Joe.)

Okay, not really. My real first thought was more like, “Holy Hell, I get to spend a week learning directly from Joe McNally with a small group of photographers, AND it involves shooting models the entire time? Heck, yeah!” It didn’t take much arm-twisting from a friend and fellow photographer to encourage me to sign up.



The Paso Robles Workshops are a fairly young venture run by Syl Arena and his awesome wife Amy. Homegrown and handspun, they have created something amazing in a picturesque town I’d never been aware of before. Paso Robles is a fantastic location, full of local characters, that wonderful small-town feel, but with a variety of cuisine and the best damn food concentrated in a four-block radius. When they say lunch is included with the workshop, do not expect sandwiches. A week in Paso Robles will be one of the best-fed weeks in your life. And let’s not forget about the wine! If you manage to recover from the hangover and food coma, you’re in for an incredible experience.



Joe McNally is a character himself. Humorous, down to earth, full of stories, and one of the best damn teachers out there. And he doesn't have a huge ego, though he has every right to one. If you don’t agree, then you haven’t looked at his work. Go look. Come back later. I don’t think anyone can understand how much knowledge and experience he truly imparts during one, short week without perusing his body of work. The guy is a quick-lighting genius. And he divulges all his tricks. He is open, honest, and generous with his feedback during critiques and in the field, and he never hesitates to answer questions in the same way.

I’m not sure I can fit everything I learned from Joe into one blog post, but here are the highlights:

1. You can be the most celebrated photographer in the world and barely be scraping by financially. If you’re not in this photography business for the love of it, you’re going to have a very tough time when the going gets tough. You’ll have tough times even if you do love it, and hopefully that passion will see you through.
   
2. You will never love every picture you take. Being self-critical is not a bad thing. It makes you try harder next time, or even in the next frame. And eventually you will get one shot that makes your heart soar and will obliterate for a while all the bad ones you had to take to get there. Keep striving and keep shooting.
   
3. It’s okay to turn down the best-paying gig in the world if it goes against your practice as a photographer. Saying no can be even tougher than saying yes, but sometimes it needs to be done. Trying to balance the need to make a living with your love of photography can be difficult. Don’t let anyone talk you into a bad decision just because it pays well.
   
4. The photos you love won’t always be the photos that are published. But it’s important to keep taking the photos you love.
   
5. You never stop learning, no matter how good you are.

Oh, I also learned some amazing things about lighting in very tough situations with small flashes. Things that I had read and comprehended, but I was never able to put into practice successfully. Joe forced me to put them into practice, every day, until it all finally clicked. The biggest “aha!” moment for me was this:

Expose for ambient first! Then add one flash at a time.



I know it’s simple. I know I’ve read it elsewhere. But until I was forced to do it (and fail at it a few times in quick succession), I could never actually do it. By the end of the week, I was having a lot of fun trying to add lights quickly and creatively to a scene, and I wanted to do more. The workshop was so inspiring, I wish it could have gone on another week. It lit my mind up with ideas.



If you have a chance to learn from Joe—and his awesome assistant Drew Gurian—or if you’re debating about attending a Paso Robles Workshop, do it! You will have no regrets.

…except perhaps a slightly expanded waistline from all that fantastic food!