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)

First Shoot w/my new camera

As you all know my purchase of my Sony A200 was delivered to me in early December and the unit did not work. I was very upset! I personally took it back to get it replaced so I would not have to go through the 10 days of waiting on the post office, and what if the unit fail again, I can't. So I take it over there and being that it is the worlds largest camera store, it took a while to get customer service to help me, but I was patience, being I have the love of the Lord, I waited, and waited. Finally the guy shows up to look at the unit and ask what's wrong with it. I said, it won't come on! He ask me if I charge the battery, DUH!!?? So he goes through a series of back and forth with the unit and after all that, he ask, What do you want to do? HUH!!?? I want you to give me a working camera! So he looks for a A200. He find one like I ordered and then he says to me, You have to pay the state tax on it being that I am picking it up from the store. Well you know I said that I was not paying anything being that I burned gas and payed tolls to get there I thought it was an insult. So he made it so that it look like I purchased the camera and that was it. I made a comment about it on Twitter and the rep from the store responded. I told him what happened and he was very concerned about my situation and made it right by sending me a $25 gift card. That was very nice of him and I am happy with my camera. The photos above are of my model Sade. She bared frigid temperatures for the shoot. It was shot on my balcony with a single strobe through the window and a diffuser. The setting were ISO 100, 1/20, F/5.6,w/18-70 lens. I adjusted to exposure in Lightroom because it came in a little dark for my taste. The weather was a bit rough, we have a blizzard warning so I knew we will have enough snow for the shoot. But it was a great shoot. So until we meet again, Let your light shine!

My new umbrella set-up

Recently I received in the mail my new wireless trigger system for my speedlite set-up. I got the idea from this website Strobist.com. They deal with only speedlite set-ups, and how to light your subject as cheaply (economically, or how ever you want to say it) as possible. With this system I can shoot out doors with out bulky batteries or extension cords. With this system I am able to do more, just like the big name photographers with their big budgets and fancy equipment. I now have the power to produce great photos at low cost, sounds good right, "I KNOW!!" I ordered my trigger, and speedlite bracket from Ebay. I have two of everything so I can have a key and fill light to work with. I have a shot of my grandson sitting on his play chair modeling for me. I can have that dramatic light look and be free to shoot without wires. I highly recommend you to go and become a strobist, the results are outstanding, even in the rain. When I have more shots I will post them. See the Light, Be the Light, Capture the Light! (All shots were taken w/a shoot through umbrella)

Park Shoot

I was at Warinanko Park in Roselle, NJ. for a shoot with a client of mine Aleia Moore (moore2lifemotivation.com) 0n the 15th of August. I used natural light w/a reflector to fill. I used the warm side (gold) since she wore very little make-up to give color to her skin. The shoot went very well despite I had no assistant to hold my reflector. I also used a strobe in the areas that I could not reflect the sun. I shot with my minolta 7D and everything came out well. My next shoot, I will let you know. But it only gets better and better. My goal is to support those that need the service, but can not afford the high price that most photographers charge, but receive the same quality. That's favor.

Zaymusic Shoot

Mini Maglite and you.

You can use any light to get good results. In this picture I used a mini mag light to light the subject. I set my camera to the bulb setting, ISO 100, aperture to f/8, with my camera mounted on a tripod. You want to get the focus of the subject and then turn off all the lights. With my finger over the maglite, I hit the subject with three(3) hits of light, and the results was awesome. I took several shots to check for hardness, and softness of the light. It's clear to see that as long as there's light, things can be capture.

White Parties

My first white party was a blast. I was at Damon J's release party and was ask to shoot it. I loved it. Want to do more. The lighting was horrible, but with the proper settings you can pull off shots like the ones in this blog.