When you as a business owner hire someone to do the marketing and advertising for your business, make sure you don’t expect him or her to do “ALL” the leg work. Marketing and advertising takes allot of skill, you can’t expect you one source in getting the word out to go out and pass out the flyers to!
Get Real, get off that high horse and get working lazy-ass!
A couple months back I was called in with my team by the crew over at ClubZone.fm Radio for an interview. At first I wasn’t familiar with who ClubZone.fm was until I logged on and was set to see who these guys were. It was a week before my interview, so I decided to check Clubzone out for the next couple days. God knows that I was in need of some good music and entertainment while working in the lab processing my images from my current shoots. So I gave it a go. I rely on music while working, and I have tons of CD’s and Mixtapes from various DJ’s from around the world that I have worked with and still do work with today.
Monday- Friday: 8am EST The Morning After Show with Al Money
When I launched my browser and directed to www.ClubZone.fm I wasn’t expecting to get what I got that first morning. I logged in and heard a well control morning show Uncensored of course with the host/owner M.C. Al Money and his Co-Host Jay the Intern. Giving their viewers and listeners (because its online and mobile enabled) up to date information on Sports, life, entertainment and a whole bunch of other non-censored stuff people listen to while at home or work. To put it this way, invite Opie & Anthony, Howard Stern, Star & Buckwild, FunkMaster Flex and Ed Lover… put them in one room, one radio station for 4 hours and that’s what you’ll get on the Morning After Show with Al Money. Not only are they a great source for music and entertainment but they also help out struggling DJ’s and other raw sources of talent get their time on the waves and get recognized by the listening public and build a fan base over at ClubZone, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and the rest of the social networks they all affiliate with.
Short Light vs Broad Light
In the example you see here, the photographer who shot this cowboy portrait, chose to use broad lighting, placing the light to photograph into the broad side of the face (or shooting into the cowboy’s ear). The image of the rollergirl was shot with a modified short light as depicted in the diagram.
Short lighting occurs when we place the light to photograph into the persons face – lighting for the back half of the face and the front side (closest to the camera) will fall into shadow.
In this example of the rollergirl, Pippi Van Whalen of the North Star Roller Girls we’ve modified the short lighting by placing a reflector on the shadow side to reduce the shadow just a bit.
The benefits of short lighting:
gives you great catchlights in the eyes. Makes ‘em sparkle
The ways to control the shadow:
Now don’t get me wrong, there are times when broad lighting is the best choice for the subject, but for portraits I’ve found the rule of thumb to ring true and use short light or modified short light for your best portraits.
I look forward to seeing your examples of short lighting.
Thanks and have a wonderful day!
~fotodog
I once noticed a sign on a copywriters wall that said:
When shooting rapids in a canoe, if you say ‘I don’t know’, the river will decide for you. In marketing if you don’t know what to do, the river of consumerism will drop your brand right over the falls.
You and your team need to have a clear detailed plan of where you’re going and how to expect to get there. And equally important, that plan needs to be actively managed by the team, with changes and alterations as the consumer landscape data is refined into information and analyzed into knowledge.
Climb into you canoe – and get ready to ride the rapids.
Remember, things are not easily done over night. Success takes hard work, studying your competition and last but not least, make sure you involve your team in your next venture.
Keep moving forward, your time will come. Build a niche and mold an effective brand!
A year ago today I lost my best pal Lynx due to kidney failure, I know many of you may say “Oh Boy, Get over it!” But that’s not the case. The main reason I still carry this on my shoulder is because Lynx was not only my best pal, he was like one of my children. Everyday, every morning Lynx made sure I had his attention and he had my attention as well. Lynx was not your ordinary cat, he was one to hold a conversation with anyone who was willing and dedicated to speaking and listening to him.
Lynx gave love to everyone who walked in the door. Human or Animal Lynx was there to share his expertise in love giving.
Last year I went on vacation when all of a sudden he got sick on me. For 10 days straight we went from one expert vet to another, we got nowhere, Same results and no good news. Our final stop was to a specialist local in our area. Lynx lasted 3 days with them. With the best of care every hour, every minute, every day this special team of vets ran tests and couldn’t come up with any solution to save Lynx and that’s where I got the suggestive bad news. I had no other choice, he was suffering and I was suffering. He was in pain and I was crushed inside wishing I was in some third-world country where they would build him an iron lung that’ll help him live at least 10 more years. After my family and I agreed to the choice we gave our final “Good-byes”. We took it in harder then we thought!
Lynx, you will always been in our hearts!
Lynx was my sunshine!
I miss you and I love you Lynx!
I refuse to say goodbye… so I’m going to say see ya later my friend!
Hugs and Kisses <3
RAINBOW BRIDGE POEM
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When a pet dies – one that’s been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable, fear and worry free.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and the vigor of youth. Those who were abused, hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again just as we want to remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them – someone who had to be left behind. That someone who was kind, gentle and loving. That someone who took the extra step, stayed the extra minute, reached out and touched with love, even once.
The animals all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent, his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look into the big, trusting eyes of your special love, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together. . . . . . . . . . . . .
~Author Unknown
Everyone seems to have their own technique and I’ve tried a few over the years but what the best way for me to get predictable fireworks photos is by using the following technique.
What you’ll need:
Camera with manual settings I prefer a digital SLR for complete control, but you can make this work with compact cameras with either a fireworks setting or manual override
Sturdy tripod I know many people say this, but if you want clear straight lines, a dependable, adjustable but sturdy tripod. You don’t want this slipping and shaking during your exposure
Remote Cable Release I prefer one with a lock and one at least 30 inches in length. You’ll use this to trip the shutter and hold it open for longer bursts
5×7 inch black non-reflective card To cover the lens and adjust your exposures
Flash Light To help you review your settings or possibley paint your foreground with light.
Water, Insect repellant and comfortable shoes You have to take care of yourself, right?
It helps if you can scout the location prior to the event. Preferable getting an obstructed view and a place to place your blanket and cooler and relax. I try to find a place that could offer some interesting reflections or silhouettes.
Set your camera on the tripod and make sure the legs are secure from slipping. Connect the cable release and test to make sure it’s working and get out your black card. Set your camera to manual setting and put your shutter speed at B (bulb). You will dictate the shutter speed using your cable release and black card.
Now decide if you want the skies to be black or if you want some detail or colour in the background. Or if you have a building in your foreground you may want to include some of that detail in your exposure. I prefer black skies and will use the following as starting points for exposure settings for sensor sensitivity/ISO and your aperature.:
ISO/Sensitivity: 100, Aperature f/4
ISO/Sensitivity: 200, Aperature f/5.6
ISO/Sensitivity: 400, Aperature f/8
ISO/Sensitivity: 800, Aperature f/11
ISO/Sensitivity: 1600, Aperature f/16
Keep in mind that the fireworks are extremely bright and will clip out very easily. The lower your ISO the darker the skies and the limited amount of detail you’ll have.
Now you’re ready to shoot.
When it’s time for the fireworks, place the black card in front of your lens, trip the shutter (lock it if you can) wait for the trailer to shoot up and once it disappears, lift the card away from the lens and capture the burst.
Place the card back in front of the lens. If you want to capture multiple bursts repeat this process. If you’re satisfied with one burst, release the shutter, review the exposure (assuming you’re shooting digital) and adjust the f/stop or ISO to suit your camera, lens and environment.
Now this seems like a lot of detail for getting the shots, why not just trip the shutter and let it go? By all means, do it, have fun with it and see what you get. Shooting fireworks is a lot about adjustments and experimenting, but if you can predict what it’s going to look like and being able to adjust will help you increase the number of amazing fireworks photos.
So what kind of lens do I use? Most of the time, I’m shooting with an 18-55 lens. Moderate wide-angle to normal. But shooting with a telephoto zoom can help you create some nice abstract light paintings.
Things to consider for the quality of your image
With higher ISO you will increase the grain/noise of your image plus it will detect a lot of the bomb smoke. While it can provide some great effects, you may want to experiment and adjust
To capture the trails/bursts, you’ll have exposure times for a single burst around 4-8 seconds, This can create some great light trails from other sources but may also create hotspots around street lights. Just be aware.
Reflections of water are generally between 1/2 and a full stop below your normal bursts but are amazing if you can get them just right.
If you’re shooting the grand finale you will see an enormous amount of bursts in a single area and you may experience some blown out areas in your image.
Experiment and have fun. I’d love to see what you shoot for fireworks this season.
Cheers!
~fotodog
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