What do you do when you have an assignment in Chattanooga on energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority's 800-megawatts of electricity-generating-capacity expansion? You light it. I drove by the power grid the evening I arrived in town and figured out the sun was going to come up behind the grid in the morning. I don't always have time to location scout before shooting but when I do I try and take advantage of it. I decided to get up early and use the sun to silhouette the grid. I was trying to get an image that showed a massive amount of power. My thinking was that by lighting the rocks using a blue gel it would create a feeling of electricity and energy.

Here’s how it looked on the page:

Here’s a link to the virtual magazine: Southeast Resource

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I've been working on an off-camera lighting workshop geared towards subject-and-location-driven lighting, which simply means working with what you have. I took artist Bailie out with me and we scouted a few locations. You can find interesting and cool places to photograph people just about anywhere. This location is not much more than an abandoned warehouse off of a four-lane highway in small town USA. It's bent and broken, grown over and spray painted. Most people would have driven right past it and not given it a second look. But when you start pulling lights out you can turn almost nothing at all into something worth looking at in a matter of minutes. This shot took about 15 minutes start to finish.

The white balance is set to Cloudy and it’s a basic two light set-up using Nikon Speedlights. The main light is set to quarter power with a grid spot, it's four feet above the subjects face and the light stand itself is about three feet away from him.

The second light, the back light, is set to full power with two CTO gels on it and simply stuck in the back of the sliding-metal door. I did have to flag it with a Tupperware top to keep the spill under control on his face. I wanted the separation but not a flood of orange light on his face.

It's all trail and error for the most part. I started with the ambient light. It's about 3 stops under, flat and kind of gray in the open shade. Once I was happy with the ambient light I worked on the back light. One CTO gel wasn't strong enough so I added a second gel. When the light on the inside of the sliding door was rich enough and the exposure was correct I added the subject and placed the main light. While working on the main light I noticed a good bit of the back light spilling over onto his face so I went back and added the gobo. A few more test shots while moving the main light up and down until I was able to control the shadow under his chin and I was ready to shoot. I came down off the dock after about 20 or so shots and started shooting through the overgrown weeds and trees coming out of the parking lot.

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I shot for the official 2010 North Carolina Travel Guide which came out this week. Whenever on assignment I'm always looking to grab the safe shot. I tuck it away and it keeps me from worrying during the rest of the assignment. Now I'm ready to shoot something different, something more creative, something I really want to run on the pages. Sometimes the designers will go for it and sometimes they won't but I always try. If nothing else I might end up with a portfolio piece and that's what happened this time. The above shot is what ran in the magazine and the shot below found its way onto my Web site.

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Before I made the transition from cushy-staff-position photographer to freelance photographer, I had to ask myself the question, what type of photographer am I? When we think about photography as a vocation; there are generally three types of photographers.




There is the Commercial Photographer; they make images to promote a product, person or idea. Think of Commercial photography as print advertising, billboards, annual reports or product packaging.

Then there is the Editorial Photographer; they create images to educate or illustrate a written story. Think of editorial photography as images used to help tell stories in magazines, newspapers, on-line news or textbooks.

Last you have the Retail Photographer; photos that are commissioned for personal use. Think of retail photography as weddings, family portraits, greeting cards or school portraits.

I had a general idea of where I stood but I wanted to research the types of photographers to get a better idea of exactly where I fell in this long chain of photographer types. I think you'll find that many of these descriptions overlap and you might be one or more at the end of the day.

What type of photographer are you? Get the full list after the jump and feel free to add to it via the comments.

Continue reading "What type of photographer are you?" »

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As I travel the country I have a deep interest in photographing structures. Sometimes these are iconic structures and I’m photographing them for a magazine, which is a bonus because I'm getting paid. Sometimes I'm on vacation and I'm dragging my family around waiting for the perfect light, that's how these images were made.

The idea is to get something different than the mass images that are already out there. The Brooklyn Bridge has been around since 1883, it connects Brooklyn to Manhattan and has been photographed from every direction by almost every photographer living in or visiting the area. What could I do that was different? I knew before heading to NYC that I would only be there for one day. I was visiting family in Philadelphia for the New Year and only had a small window of opportunity. The first thing I did in my research was check the weather. I needed sunshine or at least a sunset, no clouds. We picked our day visiting the city based on this factor. I knew I wanted something with no people and saturated color. I also knew I wanted to get close, for me the skyline was not important, I wanted to focus on the bridge itself.

Here are the two shots I came home with. Shot with a Canon G10 in 4 degree weather.

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I’m heading up to Philadelphia and NYC over the Holidays and I wanted to share what I plan on taking with me.

You can get some pretty amazing photographs with a minor amount of inexpensive gear these days. Outside of using my iPhone, which I do often, I travel with my Domke F-5XA bag, Canon G10, (1) Nikon SB-28s, (1) Nikon SB-80, a Nikon SC-17 sync cord and a handful of filters. The key here is carrying the right gear and this little package offers complete control. The G10 can operate in full manual, a must if you want to use strobes. The SC-17 sync cord and the Nikon SB-28 allow me to get the first flash off the camera and the SB-80 slaves allowing me control of the second light. I can get a folding 6-foot-light stand and a 33-inch umbrella in my suitcase and it still fits in the overhead on the plane. This entire setup takes up about as much room as a pair of shoes.

Shot with the Canon G10:

Also shot with the G10

Los Angeles - Signs

Disney Concert Hall

Venice Beach

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With the decline in newspapers, magazines subscriptions slipping and the disappearing staff position, you might think it was a bad time to be a vocational photographer. I completely disagree with this way of thinking. It's the future holes needing to be filled that keep me excited about being a photographer. The need for images is as strong as it ever was. Not only is the market there for all types of photography both still and moving, it's expanding into uncharted waters. Don't believe me? Just click the links below and enjoy the future of our industry.

Mag+, a concept video on the future of digital magazines

Outdoor Magazine – Living Magazine Cover

Worlds first video in a paper magazine

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When I show people images that I've made with my iPhone, I'm always asked, "what apps are you using?" Today I thought that I would share five that are in my heavy rotation. Each of these apps hold their own, but sometimes I find that I’ll run an image through three or more before posting it online or even printing it.

Photogene was the very first photo app I bought for my iPhone. Short of having a clone tool, it's very much like having Photoshop on your phone. My favorite features include crop, straighten/rotation, sharpen, levels, contrast, exposure, color balance and saturation, but it has many more. For the power behind this app, it was easy to lay down $2.99 for it.





The second photo app that found its way onto my iPhone was CameraBag. With filters like Helga, Colorcross, Lolo, 1974, 1962, Magazine and Instant, this app is a must if you like toy cameras and/or a fun vintage feel. It’s fast and simple to use and a great introduction into processing with iPhone apps. I recommend that if you only get one photo app, you spend the $1.99 on this one.





I was using Photogene and Camerbag on a regular basis when I was turned on to Photo fx. Photo fx has way too many features to go over in this review but it was the Center Spot and Grain filters that sold me on it. However you'll find plenty of other uses for this app. It must have at least 100 filters packed into it, ranging everywhere from black and white filters to old photo filters, filters that change the lens perspective to filters that change, night vision, fog, color graduations, the list just goes on and on. You can even upgrade this app for more filters and options. It’s another $2.99 app but I couldn’t imagine not having it.





TiltShift Generator is shortchanged in my opinion; a fantastic app that seems to be overlooked all the time. Its prime function for me is using it very much like a tilt-shift lens, being creative with selective focus. But it also has a powerful vignette filter and a great color filter allowing you control over saturation, brightness and contrast. For $0.99 you really can't afford not to have this tool in your iPhone Photo Bag.





Last on my list and used almost every time I process an image, is Best Camera. Find the app here and its community Web site here. This app has several stackable filters that can turn the worst of images into something you want to share with the world. It’s a romantic app with filter names like Jewel, Paris, Slate and Candy, it also allows you to add vignette, crops and borders. While I highly recommend this app and will easily call it one of my favorites, I must admit that I wish it allowed a little more user control on some of its features. Another $2.99 app that I don't think I could live without.

Find me chatting for 6:40 mintues about iPhone Photos here.

Follow my daily iPhone Photos - here

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Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months you are well aware of Jeremy Cowart's project, Help-Portrait. It happened yesterday and it was a pretty humbling experience.

CNN's piece - here

Behind the scenes stuff from Nashville - here

And a nice news piece - here

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I was asked a few weeks ago if I would present in a series called Talk20 for Hub-Bub at the Showroom in Spartanburg SC. Talk20 is basically talking for six minutes and 40 seconds about a creative topic. You get 20 slides and 20 seconds to talk about each slide. I choose to yap about the iPhone as a suitable camera in the professional photographer's bag. It seemed appropriate; I've been shooting them like crazy lately. I'm not too sure about the video guy's steady-hand skills, it's a little shaky but it gets better about the 1:30 point or so.

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