This past year was a roller coaster. Ups and downs with everything in my life. I spend a lot of time behind the lens and in front of the monitor. Editing, reading, searching, learning. There has been one reoccurring theme that kept coming up this past year.
I get a lot of questions from people that go something like this. "Dave, I want to get a new camera, what's the best camera I should get?" I then fire back with numerous questions of what they want to do with the camera. Do you want to have a lot of control of the settings? Do you want portability? Do you want one that has a shoe mount flash? (That one gets the 'deer in the headlights' look) And when all is said and done I dig a little and then I get back to them with an answer. This is truly something they can do on their own, at home online, clicking through the likes or dislikes of what they want, but I'm happy to help out in any way I can.
It was a couple months ago that I found this little bit of info from Khara Plicanic at Kabloom Studios blog.
The explanation of which camera to purchase that she fires back is one that I have used ever since. And when you think about it, it's really true. People get a camera and set it to AUTO or PROGRAM and leave it there. The advice of reading the manual of the camera you already have and learn to use it to it's fullest will yield you much better results from the start. And it's a big money saver. It's when you find that your current camera isn't giving you what you need that it's time to start looking for a new one. And she can give it all to you for a fair price, I think.
So that is it for 2012, take your current camera and read the manual. Start making more images and learn what it is that your camera can do. Especially if you were given one over the holidays.
Reading this morning, I found an incredibly powerful story about what a picture can do and how that one picture can mean so much. Take a look.
If you've been around me a while, you'd know that at one point, this was really where it all started. I created a blog because a: it was free and b: I wanted to document my longest bicycle ride vacation ever. I signed up, created a site, tested it and off I went. That was a long time ago and the intention was to let my friends and family have something to follow along to as I made my way from Mackinac Island (Michigan) back home to Portage, MI...on my bike, almost 500 miles along the lake shore. I had become quite the avid rider and needed a serious vacation from work, so what better way to vent than to ride along the lake shore of Western Michigan while taking pictures and blogging from my Palm Pilot TX (I told you it was a long time ago).
Since those days back in 2008, the blog had progressed, as did I, making images that people wanted to see. The blog ventured into a portfolio website at Zenfolio. Things kept rolling and I kept making images, falling completely in love with the process of making a better image than the last. Learning new techniques, reading up on honing my skills, learning what the heck HTML code was and how to use it to my advantage. Long since the days of a site where you could just view my images. That evolved into a site with a more artist portfolio feel, then to a site where you could purchase my images...and people did.
Muskegon, MI
I shot mainly objects and landscapes and rarely any people. My first real shoot opportunity was from my good friend Becky who worked at a salon. She had some co-workers who wanted pictures done to send to Inspire Magazine, a dominant publication in all salons these days depicting the newest hair trends. The shoot went great and although none of the images were chosen, due to the backgrounds being "too busy", I learned a lot. I wanted to learn more!
Inspire Magazine Shoot
I started shooting anything and everything. Following photographers blogs like Chase Jarvis, David Hobby, and Joe McNally, to learn all I could about artistic images, lighting and making my own gear on the cheap. Not long after I shot my first wedding, then another, then another, then a portrait shoot in which I attained one of my best and favorite portrait images ever!
Hilary
This got me even more excited and with that came more drive to create more portraits and soak in as much knowledge as I could.
Becca
I kept adding pictures to my "website" but never really blogged anymore. I just uploaded and told people about it. Eventually I started shooting more and more for paying clients and then in October of 2009 I met my future wife. I packed up the gear and headed North to Minnesota where I got married in 2010 to the most supportive, patient and understanding woman on the planet.
David and Nicole
Near the end of 2011 I was shooting a lot, personal projects and for clients. I told myself that it was time to completely revamp the website and to really start using the blog to keep people in the loop. You can only answer the question, "How's the photography going?" so many times. So a new blog, a new website, and a new year on the horizon for 2012. Thanks to all who have supported me in my passion for the last few years and to Greg Meyer for shoving a camera in my hands along with the words, "Here, keep your hands busy with this".
