You want how much? For what?

Something to think about...


How much was your wedding dress?  The rental fee for the reception if you had one?  The food?  The invites?  The cake?  The flowers?  The DJ/band?  The shoes?  The tuxes?  The list goes on and on...now take all of these things and think about which one of them you are still using today...hmmmm.


When I started taking pictures...and that's what it was when I started, just taking pictures, I didn't know much about cameras.  I didn't know much about how light affected anything or anyone I was taking pictures of!  I shot for me and only me.  As time went on, I started to learn more.  I bought books and magazines, I read articles online, shot with other photographers, bought software to edit those "pictures", took some classes, bought more things to make better "pictures" etc.


Slowly, my "pictures" started to become actual images.  I went from a film camera to a digital camera.  A Fuji S5200. My first digital.  I bought that specific one for a few reasons.  A long optical zoom and it took regular batteries.  If it ran low on power I could get batteries anywhere and not have to worry.  As time went on, I figured out the things I wish I had on that camera.  The things I liked and disliked.

On to the next digital camera I went, then the next and the next...each time learning about the camera and what it was that I wanted in it.  New cameras, bigger and better lenses with better glass that let more light in with less distortion.  One set of lights like you'd find hanging in a workshop, then some constant running lights with umbrellas to soften the light and create a bigger light source, then a flash and another and another.  Now there are too many cords!  On to a wireless system, etc.  Like the first paragraph, the list goes on and on, but I can take these things out and use them anytime, without fail!  Sure the camera and flashes I have now can create an amazing portrait rather quickly, but can my first point and shoot do the same?  You bet!  It just takes longer and is more of a hassle, but that's part of the learning process.  The digging, the research, the late nights trying to figure out why you get those red eyes whenever you take a picture of someone!!!  (laughing)  I remember being at a party with a friend and she asked me to take a picture of her and her friend.  I took her old point and shoot and shot one picture.  You know what we got...dark black back ground, bright flash in their faces...hideous to say the least.  I asked her to hold on for one second.  I took a small piece of paper from my wallet, put it in front of her camera's flash, tilted it so the flash light would bounce off the card and up to the ceiling.  This created a bigger light source and a much more pleasing photo.  Did it work?  Yup.  Did it look great?  Not really, but it was better than the original.  Next thing you know everyone is pulling out cards and trying it, most covering up the flash completely...it was quite comical.  But that's what you learn over time...


The real point of this post is to direct you to a post that my wife shared with me.  The client just isn't aware of what it is a photographer can do for them, what they have to offer as far as value and how much work it is to get where you are today.  So please take a moment to read this Why Wedding Photographers' Prices are WACK! and let me know your thoughts.  Good, bad, or indifferent.

Something to think about...

Dave

Fire Burns On With Negative Temps Outside

Last evening I went out in search of incense.  You know, the kind where you light the tip and it gives off a somewhat disgusting yet intriguing smell.  Old school, fill your house with a haze, incense.  It's surprising hard to find now a days.  It seems to have been replaced with the oil that wicks up through sticks that you place in a little glass vessel.  Anyways...

It's winter now, and with snow on the ground it's a great opportunity to go out and shoot some winter scenes.  One factor that keeps me from doing this, however, is the slight breeze wind tunnel speed winds that make a 5 degree temp feel like -20.  Not so comfortable.

To keep the creative juices flowing I decided to try something new.  Enter Smoke Photography.  Everything I have researched has you buying incense to burn.  Incense provides a steady stream of smooth squiggly smoke.  The problem is finding incense.  Most of the major retailers have opted to carry the oil and sticks as mentioned above.  I do not recommend lighting these on fire!  So being the impatient problem solving guy I am, I turned towards simple candles to light, blow out, and test my smoke patterns.

Candle Smoke Purple

The setup is simple...way simple!  You will need these things:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Black Sheet of anything for background
• Flash (off camera)
• Snoot for flash
• Pocket Wizard or some type of flash triggering device
• Incense (or a candle in my case)

Set the camera on the tripod and about two feet away from the smoke source.  Set the flash up with the trigger and place it at a 90 degree angle to the camera facing the smoke source.  I synced my camera on manual to 1/200 sec @ f20.  (This allows a squashed amount of light in and incredible depth of field.)  Place your black piece of poster board or material about another foot or so behind the smoke source.  Don't get it too close, you don't want the kitchen going up in smoke along with the images you're trying to create.


Light the candle, let it burn for a minute or so, blow it out and fire away!  The camera, fire away on the camera.  You'll have to experiment with the flash power, distance, etc.  But for the most part...that's it.


I took it a step further and brought the images into Photoshop, cleaned it up some, inverted, and colored it.  Nice stuff for 15 minutes worth of shooting :)

Candle Smoke Red Dancer

Candle Smoke Color Tip

Dave

Where are my images?

Well, it's finally snowing here in the middle part of Minnesota and I've shoveled three times.  My wife is the avid shoveler in the family but since it's my day off I thought I'd pitch in.

The first pass I pushed it all out into the street since it was just a dusting.  The second time I pushed it into the street as well.  Now there's a build up that could become an iced over speed bump that I would surely get stuck on upon leaving the drive way.  The third time I pushed it all into the 10 x 15 patch of grass we call our front lawn.  What the heck does this have to do with the title is what you're thinking right now...good.

As I write, I am transferring images and making copies.  Archiving, backing up, call it what you will.  But it's a good rule of thumb to do this on a regular basis.  You'd hate to have all of your Christmas pictures that you painstakingly moved from your digital camera to your laptop, only to have your laptop fail on you...after you've erased your card from the camera of course...EEK!

The general method is easy to remember, it's the 3-2-1 method.  Have 3 copies (one original and two copies), on 2 forms of media (hard drive and a cd/dvd) storing 1 off site (at a friends, parents, work etc)  This will be a great way to have "peace of mind" in knowing that if you do encounter a virus or you spill your coffee on your computer...don't ask...that you will have another resource to pull those images from.

I have been lax on this process and right now I'm transferring about 30,000 images around and reworking my archives.  Hey, I had nothing else to do today but shovel!  :)

If copying files and burning things to disc to move around is too much work, then look into an off site storage place "in the cloud".  I'm really leaning heavily towards CRASHPLAN.  It's a great way to put things on your computer and forget about them...they back everything up...I mean EVERYTHING, pictures, movies, files...EVERYTHING and all at a pretty reasonable price.  If I lost all of this data and brought the drives somewhere to get it recovered...schwew!  Mucho bucks!!!

So far it's only taken about six hours to scratch the surface of rearranging my files.  Do yourself a favor and start backing things up today, you can thank me later ;)

Dave

No snow? No problem!

The second week of January in Minnesota is traditionally one of the coldest during the year.  This year, so far, has been anything but traditional.  With temperatures reaching near 50, it was unclear whether the Snocross Racing at Canterbury Park would take place, but as temps dipped below freezing at night, 3 million gallons of water was pumped through snow guns and the races took place.

I have seen many pictures of skiers, snowboarders, etc., jumping and doing tricks in which the entire action sequence is caught as the action unfolds.  Since the races were going on, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at capturing some of that.


You can do this type of sequence with just about anything that involves some sort of action.  A soccer ball into the net, sliding into home plate or a dog catching a frisbee for that matter.  Snow sports seem to lend themselves well because the whole body is the point of focus for you to watch the action.

Freestyle Jump Sequence (12 shots)

Finish Line Sequence (9 shots)

You'll need a tripod, or a very steady hand.  A camera that allows you to shoot continuously one frame after another while holding the shutter down and if its just you and a friend out doing this, then flashes are great.  My current camera allows for only 5 frames per second.  Shooting in RAW I can get about 18 before the memory card starts to 'buffer' itself.  Not to bad for this type of quick action.   After the shots are acquired you'll have to load them into some editing software, stack them up and mask away the unwanted parts.  It's not terribly difficult, a tad time consuming, but the results are pretty sweet.


Of course, you'll want to sit back and enjoy the show too and maybe you'll catch some close crash action which always gets the fans going.

Back Seat Driver

Dave

New Addition to the Website

If you read my last post you saw a small video at the end of the wedding album I did for Scott and Christy.  It was tiny and when you enlarge it, it got a bit blurry. :(

Well, now there is a link on the website to view the albums that I create.  Just follow these instructions and you can view them all as I post them.

1. Head over to The Shutter Verdict
2. Hover your cursor over "Big Days".
3. Click on "Albums".
4. Click a video.

You can watch it right there or expand it to full screen and it looks amazing either way.  Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment here or there.

Toodles,

Dave

From Florida to Minnesota, with love.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of going to Key West, Florida for my sisters wedding.  It was such a great time.  I also had the pleasure of being the photographer for the weekend and ended up with this solid shot of the happy couple. This is the cover of their wedding album that they have on the shelf, proudly displayed.

Jeanise and Mike Butterfield

This was taken right before we went to the beach for the ceremony.  My sister (the bride) literally said, "You better hurry because we get married in 15 minutes."  So here's the set up.  Two shoe mount flashes with snoots triggered via CyberSyncs.  The flash placement was done with a couple of VALS (voice activated light stands i.e. Mike's older brother and father).  They held the flashes and I told them where to go and what to do...pretty handy, thanks guys.  Dialed it in around shot number seven and then off to the beach we went.


This past summer I got an email from Mike's younger brother Scott.  He and his fiance, Christy, saw the pictures I had taken and wanted me to shoot their upcoming wedding.  They live near me in the Minneapolis area so it was a done deal.  Right away I knew the shot that I had to get of them.  Scott and Christy both ride street bikes, just like Jeanise and Mike, and both couples do "track days" where they take the bikes out dressed in protective gear and rocket themselves around a track.  It's quite intense.

Mike Butterfield - Gingerman Raceway

Mike Butterfield - Gingerman Raceway

Considering that I wouldn't be able to hit a track day with Scott and Christy, I opted for a glamorous wedding shot of the infamous "endo kiss".  This didn't take as many tries as I had thought, but once you nail it...move on!

Scott and Christy - Wedding Day Endo Kiss

Moving right along, the main reason for the post tonight was to reminisce about the past weddings and to show you Scott and Christy's wedding album.  Put together with InDesign and published in Lightroom 3.  Lightroom 3 is a must have and was such a wonderful Christmas gift from my wife...I don't know how I ever lived without either of them! :)  Check it out and let me know what you think.  If you view it at full screen, it's quite blurry, had to keep it small to run it around the web, but I can assure the happy couple that the album is incredible!

Dave