D83: The Intrepid Explorer

Meet Mitch, he's a space cop. I captured a picture of him tonight as he was hiking through an icy wasteland. You'll get to know him a little better next week...

Tomorrow I head to the Sundance Film Festival. We'll see if I come up with anything interesting for tomorrow's blog post.

Manual: Page 169 - Connections
Yes, I do in fact know how to connect my camera to things. One of my favorite uses of a connection is my remote cable.

Images:Anna Kuperberg
I absolutely loved Anna's child photography. I'll have to revisit her before some of my springtime shoots.


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D82: A Shot In the Dark

I decided to combine tonight's ice shot with an bottom-lit idea I saw a while back.

No Photoshop work here. I used a plastic form designed to make ice shot-glasses. A little food coloring gave the ice a little pizzaz.

Manual: Page 163 - Language
Umm... yeah, I'll stick with English on my cameras.

Images:Jason Christopher
Jason does some amazing fashion work. I really love the look of his lighting.


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D81: Details

On the way to check the mail this morning, I stopped to take a picture of some icicles hanging from a juniper bush. How often do you stop and actually study icicles? Once I loaded my images into Lightroom, I immediately noticed a very unique texture on the ice. I haven't the foggiest clue on how this would form, but it was quite interesting.

(and now the conclusion to yesterday's story...)

I may never be able to afford all of the new equipment on my wish list. Instead, I am committed to producing increasingly better images with my current equipment.

I will never stop learning from my peers, and I hope for a day that I can give back to them.

Today's big thanks goes out to Tasra & Ron Dawson.

Tasra is the reason that I started this project. Without her, I may never have decided to push the "reset" button on my photography. Tasra got me out of my comfort zone, exploring areas of photography that I've never even considered before. When I'm in a slump, I always go to her site for inspiration.

Ron has truly given me an inside look into the minds of so many photographers. I listen to Ron's podcasts at the gym, in the car, or while I'm editing photos at home. Ron has given me a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives of so many talented photographers. It is because of Ron's interviews that I truly feel I will one day make it in this industry I love.

Thank you Dawson family!

Manual: Page 165 - USB
Does anyone really use the USB connection on their camera anymore? I think just about every computer on the market now has a memory card reader.

Images:Scarlett Lillian
I just finished watching Scarlett on today's askdane.com episode. She's such a neat person, and I absolutely love her work.


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D80: Support

I walked around my neighborhood today, looking for something to kick-off my "ice" series. I came across a sheet of ice that had cracked into hundreds of tiny pieces, yet was still intact. I took a closer look to find out why the ice had not fallen into the hole below.

As it turns out, there was an intricate support structure consisting of pine needles, acting as nature's scaffolding.

That got me thinking about our support structures as individuals. How many of you have a support system to catch you if you fall? Does this allow you to take bigger risks? Have you ever shied away from taking a chance on something because you lacked adequate support?

Seven years ago I decided to pursue my photography as something more than just a hobby. During those seven years, I made all kinds of excuses as to why I never sully took "the plunge".

Truth be told, I was afraid of completely putting myself(and my work) out there for everyone to see and judge.

There were maybe 4 or 5 people that supported my work. Everyone else in my life thought I was crazy. They had never looked at my work, they just thought I should get a "regular 9 to 5" with benefits, 401k, etc. Not much has changed in the last 7 years in terms of support from those around me.

I've tried a million times to push photography back into the hobby category. Its kind of like trying to put the genie back in the bottle. When I look at photography, I get that warm fuzzy feeling that most people get with a new love interest. There are days when I spend hours browsing the work of other photographers, completely losing all track of time.

Part of starting this 365 project was to build a new support structure, consisting of people in the photographic world that inspire me. Most of the photographers that give me "support" have no idea who they are. I listen to their podcasts, read their articles, browse their work, etc. That is what gives me the motivation to keep trying.

I am not a phenomenal photographer.
I have not produced any groundbreaking images.
I have yet to define my style.
However, I am learning.
I am evolving.
I am striving to be a better photographer.
I am a photographer.

That's what the last five months have taught me. I am a photographer, and nobody can take that away from me. I may never be the best, and I may never be well-known, but I will always be a photographer.

(I'm going to cut myself off right there. Part II of this story will be tomorrow.)

Manual: Page 102 - Flash Exposure Compensation
I played with this quite a bit during my 1st experiment with HDR. The jury is still out on my HDR skills.

Images:Gabrielle Geiselman
Today I looked at some of Gabrielle's portrait work. She is great at creating drama in her images. Loved 'em.


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D79: I Love Goldfishes...

...'cause they're so delicious.

Ok, tomorrow begins my attempt to limit my "filler" images. Time to get creative again.

Manual: Page 112 - (Blank page)
Haha, I'm awesome.

Images:Tasra Mar
I revisited Tasra's site today for some inspiration. Tomorrow will start a series entitled "Ice".


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D78: The $70 Sandwich

Mini BLT's. That's what I wanted for dinner.

Grocery store trips are never that easy.

After finding many of my favorite things on sale, and a new waffle iron, my BTL's suddenly got pricey. In the grand scheme of things, I saved about $40 tonight!

That's what I'll focus on.

Manual: Page 97 - Using the Built-in Speedlight
The only time I use my speedlight nowadays, is when I'm using it as a remote trigger.

Images:Brad Mangin
Brad has some awesome sports shots, and is frequently featured in Sports Illustrated.


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D77: Apocalypse sNow

Its the middle of winter, yet people still think the world is ending when a little snow falls.

As I traveled through town this evening, I noticed that half an inch of snow prohibits people from parking normally in a parking lot. The streets were a mixture of motorists driving 10 mph and some other idiots that must have thought they were Nascar drivers.

It was maddening.

As I sit here editing photos, my house is full of girls. There are worse ways to spend your Friday night.

Manual: Page 86 - Exposure Compensation
Again, not something I used that often, as I'm always shooting manual mode.

Images: Anonymous Photographer
The wedding photographer I reviewed today shall remain nameless. There were so many issues with this person's shooting style. I am far from perfect myself, so I won't burden them with a publicly poor review.


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