Road Trip

Travel is something that is a regular part of my routine. Usually every three weeks or so I have a meeting to attend in one place or another. But in the fall, things get a little crazy as there is usually a conference or two to attend.

This fall I'm attending the Microsoft Sharepoint Conference under the bright lights of Las Vegas. This is a long conference, running from Sunday -Thursday. Extending it were the meeting in Boston, bring to a total of 9 days away. For me, that's a long time away from the people I care about. 

But, a good thing is that I always take my camera, which gives me something to do in my free time and to remember it all by.

Here are a few pictures of the interesting things from the conference. For one, there was this very interesting magician doing magic trips. This guy was amazing. He had everyone watching flipping out over how he pulled off his trips.

The other interesting booth was the one that had a air tunnel blowing money around. The person catching the most money won a few bucks themselves.

Today I'll be on the lookout for a few more pictures worth shots...

Business 101

If you didn't already realize this, photography is a hobby for me. No, actually, "addiction" is probably a better description. See, it's not only the fact that I carry a camera almost everywhere I go, it's that if i'm not processing the pictures I took, I'm reading about some other new gadgit that's come along.

Fortunatly, the addiction has the ability to pay for itself simply by doing what I enjoy, photographing other peoples special events. And although I don't do as many events as I wish I had time for, each and everyone that I have done, I have had a blast.

Andre & Andrea's wedding is was no exception. It wasn't too long after moving to North Carolina that we started getting inquires to shoot some weddings. What was really interesting is that Andrea found us on Flickr, a service that both Maribel and I had been using for years.

Needless to say, we were both very excited about this wedding as it was local to us and we suspected the wedding was just going to be a lot of fun. Lets just say, we were not disappointed and the images showed it. I'll never forget pulling away from the reception hall and needing to get to a gas station to something to drink because I can't remember ever being so dehydrated. We had both worked our butt's off in 90 degree weather all afternoon then ran around the hall to take all the guest shots that the bride wanted.

Like any wedding though, as great as it goes, there is always something to learn. Usually though, these lessons come as I'm combing through the days images. "I should have stopped down here", "should have used flash here", "should have caught the bra strap there". These are things I find myself telling myself. This time though my lesson was a little different as this time it had nothing to do with photography but rather with general business rules. What lesson you may wonder? Let's just say, I now know why photographer are paid in advance rather than after the fact.

Regardless, Andrea & Andre's wedding was fun and I did learn alot about shooting in a different kind of setting. A bonus was that a couple of our images were published in a wedding magazine printed here locally in Cary, North Carolina.

That made it even more worthwhile!

Breaking the Rules

Like in anything, there are always "do's" and "don't" and it seems that when it comes to photography, even the most casual photographer has a general idea of what those rules are. But again, like with most things, there is usually a way to break the rule and still end up with a great shot. In fact, I argue that you could end it with a better shot, mostly because the result will be very different from others who wouldn't even have given it a whirl.

So, you want some examples?

Rule-Use a tripod in low light

Well, often it is said that that you shouldn't shoot in low light with out a tripod. Although that's mostly true, I happen to almost never use a tripod, simply because I can't take one to the places I go with low light. So my work around is to boost the ISO (the sensitivity of the camera) on the camera to it's highest point, open my Apurature to its widest point (make sure the most amount of light comes in through the lens) and tuck my arms in tight to the my sides and then breath out and hold my breath...

Remember, with a point and shoot camera, you can do the exact same thing and get very similiar results.

Rule-Don't shoot in the brightest part of the day

Another often "rule" is to avoid shooting in the brightest part of the day. The reason is that usually this is the least flattering to your subject, especially people. Generally you will find harsh shadows on there face.

Lately I have actually been doing more shooting during this time of day. The reason is simply is that it is my lunch time and no other time really works as well to get my camera out. So, how do I get around this generally bad lighting? Well, since I can't control the light of the day, I insert a light that I can control, namely flash. As you can see from the shots here Maribel is very well lit and quite beautiful if I may say so..

So, grab your camera, turn the flash on and get out and shoot the people you care about.. And remember, DELETE the unflattering shots... :)

Just Another Guest

You probably already realized this, but the older one gets, the less likely you are to be invited to a wedding. This has nothing to do with your popularity or likability. It's just a simple fact of life. Most of us have friends that are out age. The average age that people get married is 25-35. So, if your past that, most of your friends are married (perhaps already even divorced), so thus, less weddings to attend.

I've been fortunate to have been able to attend a lot of weddings the last few years simply because I've been hired to do the photography. Now, even though most of the wedding I don't really know the bride and groom or their friends and family, I still have a blast at each and everyone. In fact, I can't think of a one in which ultimately I didn't say that I felt more like a guest than a hired hand.

In August of this year though, I was actually a bonfied invitation holding guest. Yup, I actually got to sit down during the ceremony. Let's not even go into how hard that was to do. I kept wanting to jump into the aisles and start shooting.

The wedding was for Casie & John, two of my newer friends here in Apex, NC. Let me just, Casie & John are two very special people. Both are much wiser than their years, especially when it comes to understanding people.

More outstanding though is was their ability to plan a wedding and make sure their guests (like me) have a good time. And, I have pictures to prove it. :)

This image was one of a handful of shots that I got from a very different perspective than usual. Although it would have been awesome to be their wedding photographer, it was even more so to be their guest..

Best wishes to you both, Casie & John. And thank you for being such wonderful friends.

If you would like to see all of the images from this wedding, head on over to Casie & John's Wedding

People People

From as far back as I can remember, I have always been surrounded by people. Not just family and same age friends, I mean people of all ages, color, race and background. So to me, people are people. I can honestly say, that it would be highly unusual for me to ever meet someone and give thought to anything more than struggling to make sure I remember their name. Even more true is that I am surrounded by people just like me.

So, I had a person mention to me recently that they had been going through my pictures and was impressed with how diverse my pictures are. Now at first, I was thinking my style of photography, maybe perhaps even the mix of black & white vs color processing. But then she was perfectly clear, she meant how diverse my subjects are. From the conversation, I understood that I was being extended a compliment.

Having given thought to the my encounter with this women it made me think just how much can be learned about someone from the ways they express themselves. Perhaps that's why I spend as much time looking at other peoples photography as I do my own. I'll admit, I do that so as to learn, but, I really do draw conclusions about a person by what they capture in their photography and how.

Which brings me to my last point. As much as I love all forms of photography, landscapes, food, architecture, there is nothing more I love than seeing pictures of people. Both of people I know and those I don't.

So, ask yourself, do you take enough pictures of people, which are the most important in our lives? If not, why not? If it's not lack of opportunity, then challenge yourself to change that.. If you do, you may have the result that will give people more insight into who you are.

For me, that has been a good thing.