recent work: Training environment
I recently completed work for a local information technology training company. They were tired of using the same old stock photography for their catalogs so we put together a small shoot utilizing real life instructors and several employees acting as students. By using real people you achieve a real people look. The client ended up with a nice catalog of images and was very satisfied. Here a a couple of my favorites.
The shoot took a half-day inside their local training room. Myself and their marketing team pretty much rambo'd through. It was great working with their team and employees. I tried to make it a fun time for all. The hardest part is getting the lights down for each different shoot. Some were better than others. It is very important to work your shot list and develop a lighting plan ahead of time if possible.
a little news and in print
Back at it again with Chef Mario in the latest Cary Living and Midtown Magazines. We both thought these looked great in print. It has certainly improved the look and feel of the article and I would venture to guess the editor is giving the article a little more weight (square inches) when editing the issue. We're putting together next months shoot and should have interesting stuff to come.
Polaroid Pogo instant printer.
FridgeFilters.com
I just wrapped up a large product photography assignment for FridgeFilters.com. It was a unique process in that the client was delivered a Lightroom catalog of their images complete with key words, meta data. I basically am helping them build an image library for their products. I will be shooting more of them in the coming months and adding to their library by importing the catalogs I provide for them. Offering an image catalog is a great service for small companies dealing with a large volume of images on their website.
I'm putting the finishing touches on my business plan for 2009. It's not a bank officer ready business plan, but more of a set of goals both financial, artistic, technical, equipment and otherwise photography related. I hope to use it as a task list to move the business forward. Some of the tasks are a revamped website, migrating this blog to WordPress and increased marketing initiatives.
On the book shelf: What am I reading now?
Annie Leibovitz "At Work".
The majority of my photography training is self-taught. I usually immerse myself in a technical book or subject and generally come out with a good grasp. Technical books can be hard to read as a relaxing venture and sometimes require tremendous amounts of brain power to read them. Annie Leibovitz's book allows me to read about photography but it is light enough and entertaining enough to allow my brain a respite from technical jargon. I'm taking a break from technical reading.
Keeping with the technical sabbatical, I am also reading The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski. First published in the 60's and stemming from an art exhibition that Mr. Szarkowski curated, it speaks about composition and what makes a photograph. What does the viewer's eye see? How to see? Using examples from a who's who of photographers, the author showcases certain composition, tone, style and production techniques. I purchased the book based on a recommendation by Paul Giguere from the Thoughts On Photography podcast. (BTW, an excellent podcast on the business and artistic side of photography. One of my favorites).
I don't get anything for these links. Just sharing the love is all.
Backblaze online back-up is not for me.
After testing the Backblaze online backup (written up last week), I have decided their system is not correct for my needs. I think the basis of their system is a good one but assumptions on their part lead to frustrations on my part. My biggest peave? It makes the selection for back up for you. As a skilled computer user, I know what I want backed up and what I don't need backed up. They made a huge selection and I had to add folders for exclusion on the list. I would much rather work with an empty selection and add the folders/files I want backed up.
But I worked through the gravy covered selections and attempted to have my files backed up. The application would repeatedly fail. Not in a bad way, but I would return a few hours later and see the application just stopped and waiting to be started. I'm not sure what that is all about.
I didn't see a good way to manage what I wanted backed up and that was the stickler for me. I'm primarily concerned with my photos, business files and documents. I can rebuild all the operating system and installed programs easily enough. Finally, the speed at wich to upload wasn't that impressive either. I think Backblaze has a good idea but they need to streamline it for computer savvy folks and not assume so much on the selections. I'm going to pay attention to what they do in the future.
trying out an online storage company: Backblaze
As a photographer, I have an extensive back up routine in place for all of my photographs. It starts with the initial download of the raw files. My import option (in Adobe Lightroom) has the ability to create a back up the second you first import. I do this with an external USB drive connected to the laptop during the import procedure. One copy on the laptop and one on the external drive. I then burn archival DVD discs of the raw files and put them away for safe keeping. Lastly, I have several external large drives that I use for a library function as well as back up. I always have multiple back ups.
But what if the place goes up in flames? I'm out years of photography. I've played around with Photoshelter as an archive tool but it's not designed for it. While listening to the latest Lightsource Podcast, they mentioned a new company called Backblaze that offers unlimited storage space for $5 a month! That is crazy cheap!
An online storage system has been in the back of my mind for years but for some reason, this one resonated with me and I bit. The peace of mind from having my files stored in a redundant datacenter with floating floors will surely allow me a good nights sleep.
I've signed up for the free trial and downloaded the application. It basically will upload all the files in the background and incrementally back up as I make new files. I most likely will schedule it to back up when I want (I'm a control freak like that) because I want my photo applications to have all the processing they can get. As I write this post, it has identified 65 Gig of files needing to be uploaded. I wonder what happens when I plug the libraries in? Can I delete from the archive list online? Can I restore selected files only?
I'll be sure to post back up my results.
Corrupted hard drive platters shot with Nikon Micro 60mm lens and one strobe with a yellow gel on it. Processed in Lightroom and hosted on Flickr.
http://the-photographer-directory.com/
http://the-photographer-directory.com/
A link I picked up from John Harrington's site that offers free directories for photographers. If you're a photographer with a plank out, you need to be on it.
Does your food smile?