B&W vs. color

Browsing through a photo series by Vlad Artazov (quite cute in its own right), I was struck by the effect when it halfway through changes from B&W to colour. The color images, even though they have nice colours, have less impact and seem harder to read. The story doesn't come through nearly as easily. Yet more proof that B&W is an important skill to learn.

Wedding photography

I am now officially a wedding photographer. While no payment was involved (it was a wedding gift for a pair of very good friends of ours), I was the main photographer for them. The results were pretty good in my opinion (they will be put up here when and if the pair okays it). I would not be averse to doing it again for money, though I might want to rent an extra body for it.

Some things learned:

* Shoot for getting there at least an hour early, just to account for problems, getting lost etc. If possible, check out the place some days in advance if you don't know it well already.
* Have a large reflector. The small one I have will bounce light into a face, but not onto a full body.
* Have a good flash and plenty of backup batteries. I ran through one set of batteries. A good flash can be rotated as well as turned up and down, and recharges quickly (look into LiIon AA batteries, they might give enough power, NiMH batteries certainly don't)
* The lenses don't matter so much, but you gotta have a standard zoom (something like 24-150 mm equiv). A fast portrait prime is a good thing too.
* Learn to do a good fill flash for indoors.
* Look for different angles/framings. One of the more interesting shots was a silhouette kiss taken framed between two candles.
* If shooting outdoors, have something the bride can sit on. White dresses get really dirty really quickly.
* Avoid sunlight if possible. The black vs. white contrast is a killer.
* Consider the age of the inlaws before you ask the to sit down on their knees:)
* Talk, talk, talk. You pretty much can't talk enough during the photo session proper.
* If possible, get shots of everybody at the tables (if there's a formal dinner) and the seating arrangement. Then you can match up people and names afterwards.

Portrait class

These are the best results from the portrait photography class I took through local adult education organization FOF:

A photo idea

This idea for a photo project just occurred to me on the way to work:

I have long been annoyed at what architects were able to sell to cities as being great, innovative architecture, which then turns out to be ugly or boring or impractical or all of the above. That's actually one of the few things that have ever tempted me to get into politics, just to be able to be on a committee to choose designs and go "No! That's ugly! Go away!" when needed. However, it'd be a lot of bother to get elected and do all the other stuff just to have that pleasure on occasion.

Instead, I could dig out the original architect's impressions and put them up next to a photo -- from the same spot, with the same perspective -- of how it turned out in reality. Maybe do it as a triptych with the original drawing, a photo converted into drawing style, and a full photo. Since I can't pass a law to require all architects to live in the buildings they design*, this would be one way to put the spotlight on "architectural marketing".

* And for children's books authors to read their books to children every night:)

Images on RedBubble, not on DeviantArt

I have been uploading a number of my older pictures on RedBubble. I am quite happy with how it works, upload is simple and fast, and they provide not only website creation tools, but also embedding of slideshow or semi-shops within your own website.

I am not uploading on DeviantArt, as I am less impressed by the overall quality of the pictures there, and I would have to pay $25 per year to be able to get more than about 10 % of the sales price. Given my sales so far, this would be money out of the window. If RedBubble gives some results, I may revisit other sites. Or just stick with them. I like them.

Storefronts

Signed up for at DeviantArt and RedBubble after an evening of researching the alternatives -- there are many, but there were too many issues with the rest. I am 1000words at RedBubble and LarsRaeder at DeviantArt. My main purpose with this is to have a place where it's easy for people to order prints of my photos. I don't expect them to advertise for me, but I don't want to roll my own web shop yet.

No pictures up there yet, but there will be soon.

Reflector

These two photo show the difference between using a reflector and not:

Without reflector:



With reflector:



It's more than just a little more light, it gives volume. Definitely a useful tool.