Ben Cochran
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I agree that the fine is low but it is great to see the tides turning on these reckless developers. Perhaps, first time low and second offense more serious, just hope it doesn’t have to come down to it though.
Nice shots Scott. That sure is a lot of water and I really like a lot of your photo’s on your site đ
Nice shots Kevin, I really like the second and third ones the most.
It is funny in the context that many think that great images are all skill where the truth is: It is skill plus luck. Joe McNally says that many of his preplaned shots were changed as soon as he got on the set and saw something different, like natural lighting and so on. He also goes on to say that a lot of his finals were shots that were pure accident, still I know that the skill has to be there but compositions do have a tendency to sneak up and reveal themselves. It just takes the willingness of the photographer to stay humble and go out of the box.
Thanks Kevin, just didn’t want you to think that I was not a person of my word đ . The drawing of your Grandfather sounds cool and I have no doubt that it is an amazing image. I envy drawing abilities as I can barely draw my name, much less something recognizable :).
I have spent some time thinking about all of this and I would have to admit that I have been spending to much time working more as a graphic designer and less as a photographer. I think that I have spent to much time with the designers and kind of let go of how I use to shoot.
How-ever, not every image has to have the rest of the story, dependent upon use and intention of the image. I know that you know this, product shots and illustrations for example. When shooting the Challenger, the AD didn’t care about or want the illustrated second story as they wanted the focus on the automobile as an illustration. I did some product shots, a while back, and that too was a singular focus. Have to admit that it is kind of cool to go to markets in the Baltic States and sections of Russia and see part of my portfolio on packages setting on the shelves. lol
I do agree that an image that does reinforce the story are or can be amazing shots but in commercial photography, one is not always aloud that sort of luxury. I know that some of the art directors get very upset when a photographer decides to sell their artistic flare over what the assignment was suppose to be shot for and the product or services that it was suppose to highlight.
I agree though, I too like images that have supporting stories but not always.
Kevin, sorry for the delay. Today, I am getting ready to take off to Philadelphia for a week but when I get back, I will go through my archives and collect some photo’s for you. đ
I don’t mind egg on my face though, it keeps me humble and makes me want to look at things in a different way as well as forces me to always keep learning. I am no where near a graphic designer or graphic artist but I do love learning and using the software. I get your points and agree, thanks for making them. I seemed to have gone the opposite way in this image but I think it is because I get such a big kick out of creating fog ;D. I am going to go through some of my archived backgrounds and see if I can take the image into the direction that you noted.
Like I said, this image is just something that I wanted to have for myself. Don’t get to touch and shoot these pieces of Americana everyday…
I take it that you mean the original? Guess that leaves me with a bit of egg on my face  đ  I didn’t like the original at all, the lighting and everything around the car is way off and I really hated the distractions, but that doesn’t mean that the processed image has to be any better, guess it could be worse.
What, no one wants to call it cheating đ Here is your chance đ We have had some really great threads on here lately and I have always taken the side that the future of photography isn’t just in the software but more along the lines of shooting for the Graphic Designers or for a pre-planed workflow. Granted this is a very simple illustration of what I have been talking about and if it were for an actual publication use, I would of done this a bit differently.
I am hesitant about posting this image as it really does look like crap. However, with a preconception and plan of composite build, an affordable image can be created in the software. Still, it is photography, in my book, as the image of the car was shot with the intention of creating a pre mapped out work flow. I know that more work need to be done on the car and that it isn’t the cleanest image but I figured that I would put my but on the line to better illustrate my opinions on the future of digital photography, from a publication stand point. A very strong balance between good originals and good graphic design.
A little side note: David King: I really do like you and like your opinions, don’t hold back on me, my friend, as I really do like your takes on things đ
Kevin, I know that feeling well. I was in Germany, a little over a year ago, and ran out of memory on my lap top. I decided to just migrate all image files onto one of my backup drives and migrated the data from another backup onto it as well, wanted to have another free one for new files as well. With Murphy adopting me as his best friend, I had a catastrophic crash on the main backup drive and lost over 200GB of image files. Now I carry many 2.5 backups, in my bags, for multiple redundancy; but that is another topic.
As I stated; I know your pain and would be more than happy to help out, where or however I can. I take a lot of shots of potential future backgrounds as a means to help increase derivative sales. Nonetheless, I would be happy to share some of those with you, but I can’t share any that were part of any of my assignment shoots, I know you understand that part. If you could offer a wish list, I will see what I have and will be more than happy to send what I can find for you. Or, if I run across something that you may want, I will be happy to get some fast shots of it for you. Feel free to send me an email, if you like.
I agree Cameron, something about natural patina that really does define the character in a way that no amount of polish can define. The more I looked and admired the natural aged character of this car, the more that I wanted an image of it.
Shoot from a different angle. Even though you have conflicting colour casts, you are still shooting into a background that does not offer very much contrast from your subject: skin tone and clothes are effected equally to the colour casts on that wall, which seems to be in the some colour margins.. Also. always WB to your subject, unless you are going for special effects. If you move more under and to the side of your subject, you may find that the ceiling creates better contrast of your subject and/or collateral object. Off camera flash would be a huge plus too but you can still pull this shot off without it.
Kevin, I donât know if you have been posting on this section of the forum, if you have I missed it. Nonetheless, I want to express how glad I am to see you posting over here as well. It is great to have a Graphic Designer adding to these great threads, that we have been having lately. You a so correct in that most only know the surface of PS and there is a very deep ocean underneath the surface that most fish around in. Channels are so cool and really make some of the other heavily used tools close to obsolete. Through the process of learning, in my early process of learning by watching graphic designer’s use channels for painting the process of sharpening and cloning, without using the unmask sharpen or smart sharpen tools or clone brush, it blew my mind away. You can correct me if I am wrong on this but from what I have learned or am learning, one really doesnât need any of the third party plugins as they can all be created in either channels or vectors; just takes more time. I am really looking forward to your participation in some of our discussions over here, as I firmly believe that the future of a photographer and/or photography is in the knowledge and/or capabilities of same in the new era of digital darkroom.
Aaron, think of a photographer much like a racecar driver. It isnât how fast you drive as much as it is how you know the best practices of getting the most out of your car at peak performance. Over the many laps that you run, the driver that best uses the efficiencies of his tool, have the greatest likely hood of winning the race, or at least placing. The question now would be, how many races would a driver win with automatic transmission. Even film processing was dependent upon the quality of the darkroom but both digital and film required a great image capture to start with. It is not cheating as if it were, all film photographers would of used the same film and chemicals. Great images take far to much time to try and create and even at that, it is very unlikely that they will morph into a great image. Rarely is an out of the camera shot as amazing as it can be and it is far from consistent. If it were cheating, then the processors inside of all digital cameras would have to be removed. If you donât mind my saying this, you have to be willing to commit to the time but you donât have to become a graphic designer. I would never recommend any of the automated enhancement tools as you are giving up data and image control that you may not want to loose especially if you want to become a professional photographer. It is more important to capture a great image first and then using the software properly to really make it pop. Remember that for print, there are many levels that have to be done correctly because a great image can print terribly. (edited: I am talking about enhancements and resizing. Question; What would you do if you created a great image but then found out that your file was way to small?)
I think that you hit the nail on the head Chad. it isn’t really as much about the rates getting low as much as it is that there is a new bread of photographers that are willing to take $100.00 for a similar shot that might of cost $1,000.00.
Phil, that is both a very cool and also a scary offer, I like it though [ch9786]. On the cool side: WOW!! I would love to be able to get a glance a lot of the assignments/wish list from many other magazines and advertisement firms, as well. You might just be the new trendsetter for editors and just open it up to anyone with a camera. It will provide for great opportunity for every photographer that has a dream of getting published.
On the scary side: It can take from the sacred client list and/or connections that many professional photographers hold in deep secret. On a humorous note, I would kind of hope that you get several hundred thousand images with only 1% being really good LOL..
On a more serious note: I have always heard that it is the open competition that makes a professional better and more diligent about staying on top of their game. Like Richard said, âif it is run like a businessâ, then no professional should be seeing a loss of revenue unless they are just bad businessmen and not as good a photography as they thought. Granted your rates are not great but they are very far from bad. Using your cover shot and full page figures as an example: $700.00 for a shot, that might take 2 days in both location shots and post edit, is still close to a six-figure income; for freelancers. $350.00 for a full page that might take one day, of shot plus post edits. Is still close to a six-figure income. All we need from you now is for you to change your publications to biweekly and make us even happier [ch9786].
Granted the contributions to the bottom line would also have to factor in what the actual associated production costs run but very few photographers are booked for everyday and this sort of assignment is a great vehicle for supplementing the down time between other assignments. Again, as Richard stated, and I paraphrase: If a photographer runs it like a business then they can actually increase their revenue stream.
Thanks Phil, that really is a cool thing that you offered to do, you too Zach!
I have been active on several fly fishing forums for about 10 years and left them because I just got sick and tired of some of the bickering that went on. It seemed that most of it stemmed from who is better and who wanted the most attention but it was just a handful of people that did this routinely. I even lost my passions for fly fishing, for about a year, as I remembered it as once a true gentlemenâs and/or gentlewomenâs recreation. I love this site as for once, I see people acting like gentle men and women again. It actually helps me to feel the passion of the sport again and get away from the over obsessive challenge of inferiority complexâs in believing that a persons character was measured on the total count of the day. It is great to not see any of that on this forum!
I agree that the email Zach received is disgusting! I also believe that if a person wants to call himself or herself professional: SO WHAT! Why all of the bickering over who has more time in or knows more about all of the algorithmâs and engineering features of the equipment that they use? I am a firm believer that the only thing that matters is the quality of the final product. I donât like using the term âprofessionalâ but I know that I have to in order to market my business. Yes, my business is a business and it is separate from me as I put my heart and sole into it but it is not I. As it must be attended to separately, with deliberate diligence.
