Black Cloud

You've seen this image before, but it was in color. I've been having a bit of a big with Silver Efex Pro 2, not that I don't still totally love it, but it's been crashing on me lately. And so I was testing out using it under a few different parameters and ended up converting this image, which you may remember from this blog post. And I kind of enjoyed what it became. I'm a sucker for black skies, really. That must be it. Because I do still think that I prefer the color version.

I took a walk today, without my camera. Recently I've been feeling like the camera holds me back from really experiencing walks. It's bulky, it's heavy, it slows me down. So I left it at home. And I made it farther today than I usually do. I ended up at the rose garden in Golden Gate Park. It's a pretty good time of year for roses, and they all smelled so lovely. I'd show you a picture, but the only shots I took were mental. And I'm fine with that. I have plenty of rose photos already, not to mention the billions that other people have shot.

It was also that kind of cool, gray, misty weather that only true San Franciscans love and that even they might get a little fed up with at the beginning of June. It only reminded my how much I love the mist, and I forget that most of the time. The greens seemed more verdant; everything was softer somehow. It's how I like to see my city.

Mouseover Monday 5

85mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO 500 Mouse over to see the original in color.

Don't forget to look up! We're all so busy looking forward to what's next that sometimes we miss what's around us.

Open Studios First Look

So I had a couple of requests to talk about the photo exhibit that I'm currently part of. It's fun to have my work on a wall that's not my own, that's for sure!

All right, so here's the deal. A couple of months ago I joined a couple of photography groups on Meetup. I went to a few meetups (and I blogged about one here and also here) and I didn't really fall in  love with any of the San Francisco groups, but there was one in Oakland that was run by a really nice guy, Bill McClaren, and that was pretty active and doing interesting things so I ended up staying a member and going to several meetups. The name of this particular meetup group is the Oakland Fine Art Photographers.

I admit, there was a bit of a hitch when I first thought about joining a fine art photography group, because it's a distinction that I'm not really sure could be applied to my work. But then, on the other hand I figured, why not? Who really cares what you call it? We're all looking for arresting images, one way or another, whether you use the moniker 'fine art' or not.

So fast forward a few months and the group had a little contest to see who might put some images up for Open Studios, using Bill's rather generously shared space. We all submitted up to five images, the judges deliberated, and two of mine were chosen, so I printed them and then all the images were hung on the walls. Yay! My first show.

So this morning I went to the studio for a few hours to hang out and try to sell some work. (More the former than the latter.) As it was pouring rain not many people showed up while I was there, but it should get busier as the weather improves.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the prints in the space. It was all set up and hung beautifully.

Also, I loved the reflections from the window on the photos. (Shh! Don't tell the photographers that's what I was really admiring.)

Bill painted all the walls white specially for this event. Turned out looking pretty good!

And he hung a few on gray seamless, artfully draped to give it that 'photographer's studio' ambiance.

And last but not least, here are my two (on the right)! Can you tell that they don't fit in? Everyone else matted and framed their prints, but I'm a maverick and I don't follow the crowd, so I chose to make some gallery wrap canvases instead.

Just kidding about being a maverick. I didn't really know that mine were going to look so different from everyone else's. Really, I'm just a failed sheep.

Anyway, so that's how it all came about. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Tape for Sale!

Evan got a new job selling gaffer tape, so I offered to do the promotional materials. What do you think?

Ok, just kidding.

After the snake debacle, I'm a bit wary of making any jokes on the blog lest they be taken too seriously. I can't tell you how many people believed I had adopted a snake I found under the house. I mean, do I seem like the kind of person who adopts stray animals? An animal I had just found on the street?

Don't answer that.

I was taking some head shots at an engineering firm today and it was pretty tough getting them to smile. I tried all my tricks - making jokes, making fun of myself, making fun of them (just a little) and I would get them laughing, then focus the shot and snap! just like that, they had wiped the smiles off their faces. Fastest smile to neutral I've ever seen. Those engineers are in a serious business. They don't want anyone thinking they might be soft.

Anyway, have I mentioned how glad I am that it's the weekend? I'm going to the studio tomorrow to go meet the public (hi public!) and try to sell a couple of prints (fingers crossed), so it should be fun. And although I have a lot of processing to do over the weekend I'm feeling more relaxed about it all. It'll be raining here in SF, so I won't have much better to do. Somehow it's harder to buckle down when the sun's shining outside.

So what are your plans for the weekend? Want to buy some tape?

Do What You Love

I was walking home and this wall caught my attention. As a photograph, it's not going to win any prizes, but just the act of framing it made me happy.

I think it's so important to be doing what you love. Yes, if there's a paycheck involved, people will do most anything. And there are quite a few who choose their life's career based on the size of their monthly deposits.

I happen to think the true test of if it's meant to be is this: what do you do in your free time?


Do you leave a job and just-want-to-check-that-last-thing, hmmm-what-if-I-try-this-next-time, oh-I-think-I-figured-that-thing-out-that-was-bothering-me, or is it more like I'm-so-dead-can't-wait-to-get-home-and-tune-out?

I was walking through a fairly dicey part of town recently, feeling slightly on edge, at attention should anything happen. Then I turned the corner and the light was just so beautiful that I had to relax, and smile and enjoy myself. Before I picked up a camera seriously that never would have happened, because I wouldn't have been watching the light. Wouldn't have always been thinking. "How would I photograph that?"

All this to say, I count myself lucky that most of the jobs I've had in my life, I've enjoyed. Even looked forward to. And the older I get the more important the enjoyment seems, and the less the rest of it all matters.

So, what about you? What do you love? Is what you love what you do, or do you keep the two separate?

PS Check the top of the blog for a note about an art exhibit I'm part of these next two weekends in Oakland. All the gory details are there!

PASS

We walked into the room and we weren't quite sure what to expect. Not the numerous red vinyl couches, the offbeat decor and the tealights strewn about. No. That's not what I was expecting.

And I certainly wasn't expecting to leave with a such huge crush on Zach and Jodi Gray, Promise Tangeman, and David Jay. Because all of them ROCKED it!

So what is PASS exactly? That's the one question I definitely wanted answered. Well, basically it's a file delivery system and a way to store images from past shoots. But it's really not basically anything at all, because I think it is going to majorly change how we handle digital files and certainly how our clients view them.

First up: Promise Tangeman discussed branding and website design. I really loved when she talked about doing less than your competitors, not more as we so often want to do. Underdo. Not overdo.

Next Zach and Jodi Gray taught us all how to court our clients. How to build a personal relationship with them, not just a business relationship. I loved everything they had to say. If you get the chance to see them in person, take it! They are so awesome together. I love watching couples react to each other. You get to see the love, but also the running jokes, the things they struggle with and overcome. And they seem like a very evenly matched team, which is not as common as it could be.

By this point the house lights were almost off and I couldn't see my pen any more, but I still kept taking notes!

Then David Jay gave us the skinny on PASS and why it's so white hot. If you have the chance, sign up to hear about it yourself!

All in all, it was an awesome evening. Can't wait to play around with the software some more and finally figure out how to put it all together!