Category Archives: Art

The Great Culling

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bunny_pancake1

Every ADD blogger who has ever started their own personal site and maintained it over the course of several years knows about the great culling. I’ve come to a point where I realize that this site, and a couple of the others that I attempt to add content to, are terribly out of date with their design, coding, cohesiveness, and content. I laughed the other day while reading through a couple of the old posts on this site because they were so badly written and off topic.
G@C has gone through several variations since its inception, and a new change is on the horizon. I’ll be culling the goofy or off-topic posts and bringing over some of the content from my other sites. It’s time to streamline my web footprint. Even this post will get pulled when the great culling occurs.
Let me know in the comments if you have any posts you’d like kept. Otherwise, everything is on the chopping block and in danger of going away.
The G@C site will also be fully re-designed so as to integrate smoothly with several satellite social networking sites where I’m already hosting content. The YouTube channel will also undergo a revamp and be culled to match with G@C. Speaking of which, after a little trial and error I’ll be pulling together a schedule to create and post regular content for the YouTube channel. The content will tie into the posts on the G@C site and events or hangouts on the G+ page.
Xonikz.com will also be totally revamped. The content currently at that address is in desperate need of a reality check. I had a grand scheme in mind to expand my footprint into a variety of topics by using separated industries. I’ve rethought that as it is impossible to maintain and entirely unnecessary. I’ll never let the URL go as it’s been my thing for years and years, but it is going to be a bit more back-burner than it currently appears. I’m thinking it might make for a good front-end to squish all of the satellites and content sites into one place. I don’t know. I’ll have to figure that one out later. It might just become a specifically gaming related site, or film… I have no idea.

The great culling is scheduled for the end of the month. See you then.

Traveling Photo Studio: Practice Makes Perfect

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Black Backdrop Test ShotI decided this past week to attempt to travel via air with a decent approximation of a portrait photo studio packed neatly into my standard luggage. Since the airlines limit standard baggage to 50lbs it was a challenge. I was in Milwaukee for an auto show for ten days and had to pack normal clothing and supplies for that time in my checked luggage too.

Utilizing a bit of creativity, I was able to fit the following into my checked luggage: six t-shirts, ten boxer-shorts (answers that question), 11 pairs of socks, two pairs of dress shoes (required by contract), two vests, five dress shirts, two pairs of jeans, one leather belt, a set of scrubs with lab coat (always good to have on hand), track pants, slippers (a bit of home), and a dopp-kit. That wasn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is that I could fit in all my tertiary photo equipment: two light stands, a 24″ softbox with mount adapter, 18″ octagon,  48″ 5-way bounce, reflector clamp arm, 24″ 5-way bounce, 2 light-stand flash adapters, a wired mouse (for comfortable editing), and laptop tray (so I don’t overheat my baby while processing huge files). The whole checked bag, when packed, weighed in at only 46lbs and could be tossed around or stacked during transit without damaging anything. The interesting part is that the Dakine bag weighs at least eleven pounds when empty.

In my carry-on pelican case I packed all the secondary equipment like the tripod, secondary flashes, clamps, modifiers, adapters, batteries, chargers, and laptop. I also carry a Tenba Ultralight in which I pack my primary camera and gear including a secondary body, three lenses, my favorite flash, and a king size black sheet to use as a temporary backdrop or light flag. I packed the black temporary backdrop under the assumption that the hotel I was staying in would use white sheets, and that I could scavenge one to use as a white backdrop. The pelican case weighs in around forty pounds and the backpack is easily thirty. In case I have to gate-check the case, due to the jet’s size, I can remove the laptop and lock it. Everything else tumbles without damage.

This is the set-up I achieved in my hotel room.Travel Studio - Setup 001

I really only brought the equipment as a trial to see if I could. I figured it was better to try it in a no-pressure situation before committing to a future client (like you? :mrgreen: ). I know I could always shoot on-site without the extra flashes, stands, and such by utilizing a local setting and daytime lighting, but there are no guarantees in weather forecasting.

At the top is one of the test shots I took of myself on the black background. I was just getting a bit goofy. Thankfully, I told my coworkers, in advance, that I planned on bringing my gear. I had a couple willing volunteers to test the set-up in exchange for free photos. As of writing this I haven’t touched up everybody’s favorites (’cause they haven’t picked them yet), but Heather of HeatherSkipper.com has agreed to let me use one of the shots as an example of the travel studio when used on someone more beautious than myself. :-D

Heather Skipper - Practice Shot

Hopefully, I’ll see you on the road in the future. I’ll be in Minneapolis this coming week and many other locations in the following months. If you’d like to discuss any photo projects you might need a shooter for, let’s talk. Just send me a note by way of the e-mails. :mrgreen: info@jondeckerphoto.com

Can photography be learned for free?

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I recently had a conversation with an individual during one of my photowalks in Portland, Maine. The individual, let’s call her “Jane”, had been shooting photos for a while and had participated in a couple photo contests at a local camera club. I didn’t know Jane at very well, but it wasn’t the first of my photowalks she had attended either.  Our conversation started when she pulled me aside to ask why everybody seemed so thrilled with the light from the overcast sky. I pointed out the usefulness of the lack of harsh shadows and the great fill light bouncing off the snow, but Jane was still dubious.
“It all just looks flat and grey. I can’t get my camera to make it look good, like normal.” Jane said. “How do I make the pictures look interesting?”
I went on to explain the use of depth of field, composition, and subject matter and how it helps to try and tell a story or convey an emotion with a photograph, no matter the lighting conditions. I explained that an overcast day allowed greater flexibility in composition practices because the photographer would have a wider contrast ratio to work with and wouldn’t have to worry about losing data in the blacks or whites on the image file.
After I paused to hear her reaction to my explanation she responded with, “Where did you learn about this? Did you go to school for photography?”
“Honestly” I said, “though I did have to take a class in film photography for my degree, I learned most of what I know through books and practical application. That holds true particularly in regards to light theory.”
Jane responded with, “Oh, but I hate reading. I want someone to teach me photography.”
“Have you considered taking a class for photography?” I suggested, trying not to debate that she’d have to read sooner or later.
“I don’t want to pay anyone. Isn’t there any way I can just learn it for free? And don’t say ‘the internet’ because that doesn’t work.” She retorted.
Thankfully, I was saved from arguing my point with her as other photowalk attendees stopped to find out what we were looking at. Upon returning home I started thinking about what Jane had said and her attitude toward learning the traditional way. I came up with a simple formula regarding learning any creative topic of your own volition.
There are three factors involved in choosing a source for learning: 1. inexpensive, 2. widely available, and 3. worthwhile content. Of these three factors you can only obtain two from a singular source. How does this play out? Well, if Jane wants to learn photography for free then “inexpensive” becomes the given factor for her and the source is either widely available but not worthwhile, or the source is worthwhile but not widely available. In her case the most worthwhile source would be someone willing to train her, one on one, for free – not widely available but definitely the best method according to her wants. Alternatively, the most widely available free source of learning for Jane would be the library or internet, but her attitude towards these sources indicates she would perceive them as not worthwhile. What Jane would probably be better off searching for is the tutorship found in classes (I.e. worthwhile and widely available, but not inexpensive).
So, can photography be learned for free? Yes, absolutely, if the future photographer is willing to put in the time to find quality sources through their local library, the internet, friendly tutorship, or by working as an unpaid assistant.

One source I also find invaluable is podcasts like “This Week in Photo” and “Photofocus”.

If you have no-one in your network that can mentor you in your pursuit, consider joining a photo-club and discussing the desire to be an assistant to one of the pros. There’s usually someone who needs willing interns that want to learn.

Ships in the West

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Ships-in-the-WestI just posted a couple shots taken from Owl’s Head Park in Brooklyn, looking west over the bay, near sunset. It was a very peaceful time and location with dragonflies buzzing around snatching up insects and children and dogs playing on the nearby hill. The ships in the bay were busy finishing up the day’s work and I watched them until the pre-rain fog finally rolled in fully blanketing their indistinct outlines in the distance.

 

 

Go check them out on PurePhoto: Ships in the West, Anchored in the Fog, and Fog Rolling in the West. Prints will be available within two days.