LAST FEW DAYS

Ok so I didn't keep posting everyday but will try harder. Please keep looking.

This was shot for the Detroit News to go with a story on the growing number or bars and restaurants in the metro Detroit area that do no allow smoking inside so smokers are sent outside. I like how this frame turned out and the fact I was able to shoot at 3200ASA and it looks nice. The Canon 4oD I got does this well. I could never shoot that high of an ASA with my Nikon D2X. Right now I shoot booth Nikon and Canon and might keep doing it for awhile. I here great things about the Nikon D3 and D300.

Shot this for the News over in Windsor, Ontario Canada. The story is about how bars and clubs are hurting for business with the weak US dollar and how its kind of a pain getting back across the boarder into the US nowadays. So people from Detroit are not going over to Windsor as much. The was a cool club but empty even at midnight when this was shot.

A portrait for the News. This couple is getting married on leapday at this punk rock bar in Detroit. Scott is in this bank called the Amino Acids. Check out this cool music video. The beginning is a little slow but keep watching. Its cool and creepy and done by a local 21 year old film maker.

Another story for the News. Kids returning to a different elementary school after a fire at theirs last week. These kids were hamming it up for me and the TV cameras.

DON'T TAKE MY PICTURE! Shot a baby portrait today. You have to work fast with babies and in short bursts to keep them happy.

Oh ya, wait till you guys see what I'm shooting Friday night.! :)

I'M BACK WITH A MOON AND ROCK STAR

Wow! Its been to long since I posted anything. I'm back on track now and will try to post almost each day for awhile so please stick around.

Last night was a full lunar eclipse. I don't really have long enough glass to shoot it but I grabbed a quick shot anyway. I almost forgot about it after finishing up shooting the Bon Jovi concert below. Boy that brought back memories of high school.

DETROIT "KID ROCK" CITY!

I shot the kid rock concert tonight and it was a challenge. First the light was bad. Second us photogs were in the pit but the stage went out into the crowd and Rock was out there most of the time so we got a ton of shots of his back. We got the first 3 songs to shoot but Rock was only out for 2. And I seemed to always have the wrong camera and lens at the wrong time and to slow of a shutter speed a few times so some shots were too soft.

So I did my edit at the Detroit News office and was not feeling good about the shoot at all. The shooting was a challenge, I felt off and I wasn’t use to the papers monitors that are a little darker then mine and the workflow system is a little different so I made myself feel rushed because of the deadline. Things just didn't seem to go right tonight.

But after I got home I looked through the photos again and although they were not the best the take was not nearly as bad as I felt about it and with what we had to work with I was able to make a couple interesting shots that are different then what you usually get at a show.

The second picture should probably be the one that runs in the paper but I missed it on my first edit at the News. When I saw it at home I sent the image in but I'm sure it was too late to make the deadline. They can use it on the web though. I like the first shot. It’s different but still has a rock star feel to it.

So I didn't have the best night shooting but it turned out I was also too hard on myself. And like Darrel the photo editor said, "We get another chance tomorrow!" Yes we do!

PHOTO BOOKS FOR SALE

I have a few photo books for sale on Ebay.
Most are older books I bought because of the photojournalism and some I used in a photo class I once taught at Schoolcraft Community College

TEN TIPS

OK so this post isn't for any pro shooters out there or those serious armatures that know quite a bit about photography but don't have to make money at it, but feel free to add to the list. It’s for the moms, dads and others I know who come by and visit. I use to teach a continuing education photography class and always gave out my tip sheet first. It’s not new to photography or unique but this is my version. Maybe I’ll post about each one someday. So get out there and shoot.

1. Get close – Either move close or by using a longer lens. Don’t have a bunch of wasted space around your subject.
2. Fill the frame – Like getting close, make sure your subject is very dominant in the frame. Like real close on faces, don’t worry about cutting the top of someone’s head off.
3. Use the rule of thirds – Dived the frame horizontally and vertically into thirds and put your subject, or something important, where the lines intersect. By moving things away from always being centered you give photos more drama and they are visually more interesting.
4. Use your flash outside especially in bright sun – This will help take away shadows on faces.
5. Turn your flash off inside – Try to use natural light like moving your subject by a window and use the window light to light it. Also try shooting a higher ASA to shoot available light.
6. Bounce your flash indoors – Tilt or pivot your flash and bounce it of the ceiling and walls.
7. Keep your backgrounds simple.
8. Get down to your kids level – Don’t always stand and shoot down on them. Get to their eye level or even lie down and shoot up at them.
9. Edit and crop picture in Photoshop – Don’t always just print the way they come out of the camera.
10. Always have your camera close and ready – If you say to yourself, “I should have a picture of this”, you are right!
11. OH one more. Use off camera flash. See STROBIST for this. Its the place to be.