"The Can"

"Crowned Can"

I recently challenge myself with a project that I am struggling a bit with, an empty unused can. This can, unlabeled, never been used, has me stump for new looks for "The Can". I took "The Can" to the beach to start. Filling the can with items and putting it in positions and scenarios. Not a bad subject, but what you do with a can after this.

"The Can"

I mean my creative juices seem to have dried up. I find myself struggling trying to find subjects to shoot. Creating projects is not as easy to do, especially when you work late and get home with time only to eat and sleep. Setting up a shooting station to shoot from takes time to assemble and disassemble, I don't have a studio, so leaving it setup in my living room will not make my wife happy. So I continue to work on trying to get myself together to produce an image that will bring in some funding.

"Can Crab"

"Can Worshipper"

So when I went to the beach I filled the can with rocks and found a crab to model for me. Being that the crab was dead helped a lot. To get a crab to chill like that would be a trick. As for the young women, I had to use my street photog skills to get her to worship the can. Getting over the fear of rejection is quite an achievement. You know some people will say yes. This can is going to be a challenge. My idea is to take it to various locations and shoot it, until I work my way back to a studio shoot with it. This project I hope helps me to be more creative and inventive so that I "CAN" be a better photographer.

"Dam Can"

"Can Adrift"

Changing My Style For 2014!

"Christian" ©fotoconcept

Today I want to talk about photo projects. Trying to get models, is like anything else you want to do. You have to find time for them, for you, to find a location, and actually getting them to relax and take this seriously. I find it hard as a truck driver, to get time to set up an actual shoot. As much as I love photography, I always see what I want to shoot, But be to tired or don't have enough time to do it. It seems like if I was just doing this instead of driving I could be a lot more creative. But as a married man and gran-dad, I need the income, so I keep driving. I'm to old to be a starving artist. But I've decided to narrow my field down to portraits. I love portraits. I seem to get the truth out of my subjects. I see more the longer I am with them. I feel comfortable and assured about what I am doing, than shooting weddings or events. There's so much stress with weddings and events. My greatest fear of them is losing important shots. Bad lighting, poor planning by the wedding planner, losing images on your CF card. Long hours on your feet, It's just to much. Portraits and head shots are what I'm made for, it's my gift to society. So I will be inviting friends and family to sessions to rebuild my portfolio for head shots and portraits.

"The Wife"  ©fotoconcept

My wife is an excellent subject. She use to think that she was not "photogenic", as you can see she was so wrong. But that gave me an idea. What if I could build confidence in people that think they are not photogenic? How do I get this idea across to the public? Why am I asking you? lol. (I got that from Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles.) But to have this talent can be beneficial. To give the subject the confidence and assurance to take an excellent portrait. So I don't do weddings, but wedding portraits, and Executive portraits, engagement portraits, models and actors head shots, that's where I'm going now. With my little skills in Photoshop©, I can create some pretty nice portraits.

Still Photography....Creating a set

In this blog I found me some old boards that I used to make me a vintage looking table for my apple shoot. By doing this I allow myself to work on my porch where I can use natural light instead of artificial to bring a real look. But as I look at my finished shots, I see that artificial light can do the same thing, as I have done in the evenings at my home studio. This was my first time setting up a set outdoors. I usually work indoors, using window light, but this was something to try. In my opinion, using strobes or continuous light is the best way to work. But only when you don't have natural light,(not the beer). Controlling your own light is the way I roll. This way I can take my time and not worry about losing the proper light.

Apples and Pine Cones

In this photo, it looks like I used a flash, but the light is natural. The hard light gave it a little more texture and detail to the cones and the apples. Knowing that I have a choice I feel that artificial is the way to go when you don't have natural light available. Using reflectors and foam core to bounce light allows you to shoot with one light. In this case, I only had one light source, the sun, so to fill the shadows camera right I used my foam core. My next project is to find food and dessert to shoot. I may have to go to Wegmans. As Bryan Peterson always say; "Keep Shooting!"

Shooting stills.....Where's the work?

Finding a brand is very hard. Mostly because your clients aren't into this kind of business. To do this work you really have to find clients that are willing to pay for this type of service. Where do you find these businesses that need photos of there products. Where are the chef's that want the world to see their creation. Maybe funding is causing them to reside to using stock photos instead of paying for a shoot. Maybe it's because you don't have enough talent to create an image that will sell. My goal is to work on this niche until I master it and convince the public that a low budget shoot is right for them. When you are able to make a tomato look tasty and it's not even sliced, then you are doing something right. This tomato was shot with natural available light from camera left and a reflector on camera right. The camera settings are up to you. If you need the settings, well... Your not a photographer. (smile)

Cobbler Shoot

Hello gang. I'm back with some new images. I can't wait to tell you the fun I had doing this project. On This past Sunday my nephew Ian came home on leave from the service. His mom (my niece) had a get together for him, with food, fun, laughs, family. I brought my camera to the party to shoot family photos and the such. But while I was in the kitchen with my niece, she was making a Peach Cobbler from almost scratch. This was the perfect opp to have a food shoot. She had started to make the dough, so I got my camera and started shooting. Like anyone else I had to tell her I wanted to shoot her cooking. She wined for a minute, then she complied. The kitchen was lit only with natural light, the kitchen light was off. The sun was not shining directly at the window, but was shining between the white buildings which created a soft box effect coming through the window over the sink. I set my shutter at 1/80sec. with my aperture at f/4. I used my 50mm lens because I love that thing. My ISO was at 800. These shots were taken with no preparation, no food stylist, no retakes, just run and gun cause she was not doing anything over. Being that this was my first shoot with food prep, I kinda enjoyed the shoot. It was very educational and now I can do more being I have a little experience in the field. Food Photography, I think I got the bug.

Today I came to my senses and decided to stop procrastinating about making self assignments for my self, and go out, like Nike says and "Just Do It". So today I got my gear and headed out the door. Not to far though, it was raining and windy and I really didn't want to get my gear wet. So I went as far as the porch of my apartment building. Even though it was still raining on me I waited until it slowed down. In the front of my complex there are shrubs that were nice and green and saturated. Not many flowers just green leaves. To shoot these fine foliages I used my Sony A300 with my 70-300mm macro lens to catch those fine droplets on the stems. I also had my Vivitar 285HV Flash with my wireless triggers, this way i didn't have to limit myself to just the leaves on top. I started by shooting with natural light. But who hasn't done that already. After a few shots like that I switched to using my flash, A.K.A. Strobist. By using the flash I was able to shoot in the darker side of the shrub. This gave me a greenhouse effect. By stepping down the aperture I was able to create a dark background so the subject could stand out more. As you can see the shots look as if I took them indoors. I used the pillar as a reflector to bounce the light back to the top of the plant. I didn't need to shoot light through the leaf, this made the water droplets disappear. I did not expect such fine results but the shots were crisp and clean. 

As always I love using my flash in all my projects. It gives the shots a lot more pop. And it helps to control the background. I used these settings to capture these shots. The camera was set to 1/160sec., ISO 200, with the aperture set at f/13 with the lens set at 300mm macro. I was going to use my tripod, but I felt that it would limit my mobility to capture some shots. Got a little soggy, but for these shots I may find myself shooting more shots in the bad weather rather than good. With the over cast its like working with a giant softbox. Now if I can convince a model to work in these conditions, I might come out with some nice shots. 

Starting the year off right.