Good photography is like a great dog.

They forgive you when you can’t be there. They are attentive when well trained. And they reap great benefits when you keep at it. The more you work with them the better it gets.

Shoot your images from where you like to be. Shoot from what you love to do.

I am happiest doing the big studio productions shoots but those won’t happen for me unless I’m shooting all the little things I really like to shoot. Creating the network of people that allow me to get there is essential to keeping my craft going.

I am surprised to learn in the relatively small amount of time I’ve been professionally shooting I’m more well know for my camera work than that other life I have.

Funny how life works.

For any close friends  that know me well. I love all things tropical. There is nothing wrong with Denver but after spending many years there I long to go to warmer places. I did have the chance to live Tampa, Fl  for a couple of years but the situation required me to take an awesome opportunity in Colorado.

Lucky I have friends in warm tropical places that I spend time with. And as always I bring my camera along to shoot fantastic images of what I get to see.

With those wonderful friend I was able to take photos like this

and this

Never under estimate the power of friendships. I take care of my friends when ever I can and I know they can always assist me.

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to shoot a lunar ecplise.

Lunar Eclipse

There are a couple of things you should keep in mind when shooting celestial bodies.

Believe it or not, they move! Your naked eye may not be able to tell, but your camera will. You need to take your shots faster than 1/50 of a second…. Yes, you read that right…faster than 1/50th. Objects in the night sky are moving fast enough that you won’t be able to get a clean shot, otherwise. You should not see stars that look like streaks in your images. If you do, your image is blurred.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need a REALLY big lens. This image was created with a 400mm at an L4 setting. And that is still considered be smaller than what should be used. Optimal lens size would be in the thousand range 1000mm or better.

The above shot is still not close enough to meet my personal standards for clear imagery.

It’s that time of the year ( in the US ) where all good companies and the regular folks fill out and send in some government forms.

Basically, it’s true up time for the US folks. If you haven’t paid enough taxes to the government you’ll need to belly up to the bar and pay up.

If you’re like me and make sure your bases are covered, you will most likely get a nice little check back in a couple of days.

So what is the point…..

I am a professional photographer! Not an accountant or a lawyer. I PAY other people to do that job for me because they are PROFESSIONALS in their field.

My guys/gals know I don’t ever want to run afoul of anyone so this is why I have these people. And you should too! If you’re serious about your business, then this is just what you have to do.

Treat it like one!

The rules and regulations for  these are too numerous for me to keep up with so I pay someone else to do it for  me. And it works for me.

There is an old saying about this. “Pay me now a little, or pay me later ALOT”.
Don’t be that “pay later” type!

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, then I will have to admit something:

Ipad, MacBook Pro, Iphone

I am addicted to machines, computers and gadgets that work well together! In my life, I have no more time for fixing, repairing, or working around glitches for the devices I’m using. And when I talk about using a device, I will literally use it farther than the fullest extent the device was designed for. I am really big on things working well together because it gets me closer to my goals and assists me with my everyday life. If it doesn’t work or stops working, there are no second chances… I will throw away or sell off that device immediately, since I have no patience for “down-time”.

So here are the reasons why I like Apple products, not in any particular order….

A Macbook laptop is a well-designed machine. I can put it in my camera bag, take it on airplane flights, and to-date it has never let me down. The only maintenance I ever have to do is a software upgrade here and there. I have never experienced the “blue screen of death”, hard drive crashes, or errors that destroy important data, files and photos. The cases are designed to take the beating I don’t mean to give them. And when I am back at home base, my system is able to back itself up without any input from me. If I am going to have a hard drive problem, with a little bit of knowledge of UNIX systems, I can actually TELL when it is going to happen. So when that time comes, I know all I have to do is run to “the Apple store”, use my protection plan to get a new hard drive and reload everything back from my time capsule. I just love when things work well together.

My iphone is totally integrated in my system. I can capture information on it and in a matter of minutes it will be copied to my Mobile Me account and redistributed to all my other Apple devices, such as the laptop and ipad. If I have to update any business and personal information on any one device, MobileMe will update all my other devices with the changes. There is nothing I need to do because it is done automatically.

My ipad started out as just a gadget, but it really helps me write the code for these websites. It holds my 20 book collection of recreational reading material, as well as manuals for my cameras, computers and anything else I’m taking with me. This is great for those times I’m traveling and don’t want to carry all my reading material with me. Another great feature is that my ipad becomes the world’s largest remote when combined with my Comcast cable account. It also allows me to carry my photography portfolio with me at all times.

In a world where I have no more time to spend doing the things I don’t like to do, this helps me get my ideas, thoughts and dreams out. So, why not make them all work well together! It just helps to create a better me in my personal and professional life. I hope some of this helps you!

Stock Show Bull locking onto me

Okay, so after walking/running with the bulls during the Denver Stock Show Parade a thought just hit me. There are varying degrees of danger I am willing to put myself into to get a great shot. Now granted, I’m not giving you any leeway for doing something dumb, but I usually size up the situation I’m in to get the shot that I need. Some of us have no problem standing in the middle of the street to get a great perspective on a building and its surroundings in the shot. There are even those times when I’ve stood in the way for a moment to frame up a great shot…like directly in front of the bulls during the parade.

I personally don’t recommend you do this.

Also, depending on your situation and personal experience, choosing to put yourself in a bad spot is actually colored from your own experiences. For instance,  I am Chicago-raised and I’ve been around. It doesn’t phase me to stand in a downtown street in Colorado to get a shot. But I would never dawdle in the middle of a NYC street. Drivers in that state and city will actually change lanes to try to hit you. (That is scarier than anything!)

But would you believe that even after standing in front of the bulls as they walk towards me for this shot, or standing in the middle of the street or anything else that I do…. nothing really scares me as much as standing on a 12 foot tall studio ladder. Yeah, go figure. I will hang out of  a car, dangle from a sailboat, stand on the edge of a cliff, but those damn tall ladders…..Ewwwwhhhh, those really get to me!

So, let it be said, be safe when you go shooting. You need to live another day to keep creating great shots!

On a cold, snowy day in Colorado, I sit in my warm apartment after taking a short walk.
So, I thought I’d share some learned information about shooting images in the cold.

Panorama of the Safeway Parking lot

So here it goes…

First, your camera gear needs to be the same temperature as the outside temp. It may take several minutes for your gear to acclimate to the surrounding temperature, but this is critical to prevent the eventual fogging up of all things glass and mirrored.

When you bring your camera in or out from the cold, outside air, keep it in the camera bag. Your camera bag will act as an insulator allowing the air in the bag and your gear to slowly come up to temperature. If your camera changes temp too fast, there is a chance of condensation forming on the inside elements.  If you don’t have a camera bag, keep your camera in the pocket of your winter coat or wrapped in heavy towels

When you are not using your camera, keep the batteries in your pockets close to your skin. Rechargeable batteries react a bit differently than regular, single use batteries in the cold. As single use batteries get cold, the power output starts dropping. As rechargeable batteries get cold, they start to lose power. Somewhere in the down slope of power, they will suddenly stop working and much sooner than regular batteries. Both types of battery reactions are being slowed down by the colder environment. Now here is an interesting thing, if you are in a really hot climate and shooting (i.e. 85F and higher), the chemical reaction is happening faster, so both types of battery are going to be used up faster in hot climates.

Keep yourself warm. Okay, this may go without saying, but if you’re shaking from the cold, I doubt you’re going to get a good clear shot. I tend to overdress when I go into the cold because once you get cold, it’s impossible to warm back up. The only way to do that is to go somewhere warm.  And remember, you can’t take your camera with you (see comment above). So, as they say here in Colorado, LAYER, LAYER, LAYER!

And while you’re at it, don’t forget your hands. A great pair of insulated leather gloves not only keeps your hands warm, but still allows you to touch all the camera buttons.

So, I sit here typing this blog with arms and legs that are so sore they’re actually shaking. These are the after effects of my morning workout. It dawned on me during this shaky recovery from my workout session that remaining still is pretty important when shooting images. That can be particularly challenging when it means remaining perfectly still while perched at a precarious angle trying to  grab that awesome shot.

Being in shape helps me to get to the right location at the right time.

Me at a better than 45 degree angle

There is also the issue of the amount of gear I carry with me. My current camera bag that goes everywhere with me is nearly 60 lbs. Yes,  it really is that heavy! Technically, you should never carry anymore than 1/4 your body weight, which makes this bag about 15 lbs. heavier than I should be carrying. Lucky for me, I work out everyday. I may not be the strongest looking guy in the crowd, but when push comes to shove, I can hold my own. This makes me able to do things like hanging my body over the edge of a sailboat to grab a shot I see; or running up a 12 foot studio ladder to get a bird’s eye view for a production photo; or  being able to run down the street and grab shots of the bulls during Denver’s Stock-show parade; or even scaling stadium seats before a baseball game to get  some family shots.

The best thing about doing this is… that at my age (don’t ask), I can do more than most guys half my age.

So, get in shape, stay in shape, and enjoy all the cool things you can do because you are more fit than everybody else..

This can be one of those very painful lessons to learn if you do it the the hard way. That’s why it needs to be said.

Delete screen of a 5D mark II

When you delete your images “in camera” there is always the possibility that you could remove ALL the images off the memory chip. Since this is a possibility, I recommend  to NEVER do it because once the images are deleted they can’t be recovered.

You are much better off to “copy” the image directly off the memory chip onto your computer to make sure you have copied every single bit of information that you can. All decent computers (I use apple products) have multiple ways of recovering files, even if they’ve been deleted, since in a way they really haven’t been deleted until you really say so. Once the photo files are saved on your computer, there is much less potential for wiping out all of your work. That’s not the case when you work from your camera to manage your photos.

Please take special note,  I said to COPY the images and NOT MOVE. Depending on your system, MOVE is a very dangerous function. While copying files just transfers the bits, MOVE does a COPY first, then DELETES the files on the originating system. This is where things can and do go very wrong. If the COPY in the MOVE was not done correctly, the computer will still delete the files in the move…… Trust me on this folks… You don’t want to do this!

card reader and memory chip

Part 2 of this lesson is that when you copy your images off the memory chips, use card readers versus downloading the images through your camera. By copying the images through the camera, you are sending the images back through the camera processor, then though your computer processor, and finally onto the storage device. That is one too many processors for your images to go through since all you’re doing is copying from one storage device to another.

bamboo pinhole camera

There are a lot of photographers (me included) that are pretty gear crazy, meaning we are always on the lookout for capturing the best image with the best camera. I don’t think that should always be so. Case in point, I carry an iphone4 with me and it does a really nice job shooting photos. Granted, it has it’s limitations but hey, back in the day of film, people were running around with black-colored boxes with little holes in them (pin hole cameras) shooting some pretty awesome stuff.

So just because you don’t have your “baby” with you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pull out the old camera to grab an image or two!

Those can be the most important images of your life.  Trust me, I’ve been there.