Well here is Cleo at her best, looking to get into something.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Meet Cleo
This is Sara's newest Best friend Cleo, a 3 year old pug that became a part of our family last weekend. The first week has been full of learning, surprises, and laughter as we become accustom to being pet owners. Cleo is starting to get used to us as we are to her. Sara loves running around with her and giving her treats. One interesting fact that I learned is that you will never be at a loss for pet accessories. Wow, from clothes, to costumes, to toys, to food, there is an endless supply of 'things' out there. I'm sure we will be investing in more this coming up weekend. *As funny as it might sounds, a toothbrush will be the next purchase. While Cleo might only be 3 years old, her breath is full grown!
Well here is Cleo at her best, looking to get into something.
Enjoy.
Well here is Cleo at her best, looking to get into something.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Migration
It's funny how you never realize how much stuff you keep on hard drives until it's time to migrate data to a new machine. I recently acquired a new computer, so I am going through the old one to see what data needs to be migrated over, which can be a daunting task. System migrations are good times to take stock of what you have, what is needed, and identifying your clutter. Here are a few tips:
1. Taking a little time to document, electronically and a hard copy, the names and serial numbers of the software loaded on your computer. Going forward this will help to avoid spending time looking for the boxes or CD/DVD cases to find the serial numbers needed. Also, it's the perfect to determine if you still need or will use the software and if there are any dependencies that you need to load with the package.
2. Check the versions and verify they are up to date, the last thing you want to do is load old software and then wait around for the updates to download too. If the software is out of date, look for updated versions while considering the pros and cons of updating and free vs. purchasing an update.
3. Just as you should write out how your website should flow before designing it, the same applies to how you will manage your files. Folder hierarchy, backup plans, and workflows should be written out and followed to avoid clutter and non-efficient structure. This will give you a process to follow when creating new folders in the future, which will speed up your workflow in the long run. Avoid clicking around for files because you don't remember where you saved that album design last week.
4. Backups - even though I mentioned it in the previous note, your entire backup plan should be analyzed at this point. Do you have a offsite backup solution like backblaze ? If you studio were to flood or catch fire, would you be able to access your files/backups? How long would it take to get them? Where do you store your archival disc onsite? While the disc maybe guaranteed for 50+ years, it has been 7 months, have you tried them recently?
5. Determining the need for a work and a non-work computer. It is possible to get a switch that will allow you to toggle between the old and new computer [MAC or PC]. This will help keep the new machine free of sharing the music and/or movie files that can eat away at your precious space. *You can always plug your speakers into the old computer and listen to music while working on the new computer - switching back and forth really only takes 3 seconds.
Just a few things to think about that may help make your future computing (editing, uploading, designing, and jamming out in your PJ's ) more efficient.
Ja mata,
Brian
1. Taking a little time to document, electronically and a hard copy, the names and serial numbers of the software loaded on your computer. Going forward this will help to avoid spending time looking for the boxes or CD/DVD cases to find the serial numbers needed. Also, it's the perfect to determine if you still need or will use the software and if there are any dependencies that you need to load with the package.
2. Check the versions and verify they are up to date, the last thing you want to do is load old software and then wait around for the updates to download too. If the software is out of date, look for updated versions while considering the pros and cons of updating and free vs. purchasing an update.
3. Just as you should write out how your website should flow before designing it, the same applies to how you will manage your files. Folder hierarchy, backup plans, and workflows should be written out and followed to avoid clutter and non-efficient structure. This will give you a process to follow when creating new folders in the future, which will speed up your workflow in the long run. Avoid clicking around for files because you don't remember where you saved that album design last week.
4. Backups - even though I mentioned it in the previous note, your entire backup plan should be analyzed at this point. Do you have a offsite backup solution like backblaze ? If you studio were to flood or catch fire, would you be able to access your files/backups? How long would it take to get them? Where do you store your archival disc onsite? While the disc maybe guaranteed for 50+ years, it has been 7 months, have you tried them recently?
5. Determining the need for a work and a non-work computer. It is possible to get a switch that will allow you to toggle between the old and new computer [MAC or PC]. This will help keep the new machine free of sharing the music and/or movie files that can eat away at your precious space. *You can always plug your speakers into the old computer and listen to music while working on the new computer - switching back and forth really only takes 3 seconds.
Just a few things to think about that may help make your future computing (editing, uploading, designing, and jamming out in your PJ's ) more efficient.
Ja mata,
Brian
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Returned
We are back from Mexico with a lot of images to show. Here is one to start off the series of 'Around Mexico'.
We already cannot wait to go back...
We already cannot wait to go back...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Finding Your Style: Part 1 - Selection
Finding your Style:
Finding your shooting style is like figuring out what type movies you enjoy, just takes more work. The best way to discover the types of movies you like is to watch a generous amount, of a wide variety, of films which genre interest you most. Of course, that in only going to give you a high level indication of the films you gravitate towards. For a deeper understanding, you would need to find which actors were your favorite, which plots pull you in the most, director style you like most, cinematography that appeals to you, and more. I'm sure a few months and a subscription to Netflix would put you on course to only selecting movies that you would thoroughly enjoy.
But what does that have to do with your shooting style?
Everything. When I started shooting, in nature photography, I heard many of the seasoned pro's talk about other photographer 'Style' of shooting. The most I got from the question 'How do you find your style?' was 'Keep shooting and you will find it.' Well they were right, and finding your style is no different than the movie example mentioned above, just on a different scale. Be for warned; it is a long, tedious road that you will travel, but the rewards are well worth it.
First, you need to amass a collection of work to begin culling through. Whether the work is from assignments, personal work, or a mixture is up to you, but the end result will give you an indication based off of the sample. There should be a variety within each grouping. For instance, with nature photography can have wildlife resting, in motion, feeding, hunting, exploring, sleeping, defending, migrating, and any other situations you can find them in.
*One tip when shooting is to ask yourself 'What is it about this subject that interest me?' , 'What am I trying to convey', and 'How do I capture this subject in a way that the viewer feel/see it too?' Now there are many other questions you can ask and these do not have to be verbatim. This is just a small practice I learned to help identify what I wanted to shoot, why, and how, so that I wasn't stopping at every blade of grass and shooting it.*
Now from this group of images you will make your initial Selection of images.
But which moments do you select?
In my opinion you should select the images that speak to you, whether technically good images or not, ones that draw you in. Try looking at your images first in a thumbnail view via what every editing software you use. On the first pass you should select the ones that catch your attention the most, as they are the 'stand out' ones. Then take a second pass through the images to find the remaining ones that you 'feel'. For the sake of having a decent size selection pool, let's say out of 150 images you select your top 50 (Again 'top' referring to the ones that you feel impact from the most) This will give you your 'Genre', from here we move on to specifics about that selection, which I will talk more about in a future post.
Until then, enjoy the journey, as you never know where you will find your style.
As always, if you would like to share some step you took to finding you style of shooting, leave a comment.
Finding your shooting style is like figuring out what type movies you enjoy, just takes more work. The best way to discover the types of movies you like is to watch a generous amount, of a wide variety, of films which genre interest you most. Of course, that in only going to give you a high level indication of the films you gravitate towards. For a deeper understanding, you would need to find which actors were your favorite, which plots pull you in the most, director style you like most, cinematography that appeals to you, and more. I'm sure a few months and a subscription to Netflix would put you on course to only selecting movies that you would thoroughly enjoy.
But what does that have to do with your shooting style?
Everything. When I started shooting, in nature photography, I heard many of the seasoned pro's talk about other photographer 'Style' of shooting. The most I got from the question 'How do you find your style?' was 'Keep shooting and you will find it.' Well they were right, and finding your style is no different than the movie example mentioned above, just on a different scale. Be for warned; it is a long, tedious road that you will travel, but the rewards are well worth it.
First, you need to amass a collection of work to begin culling through. Whether the work is from assignments, personal work, or a mixture is up to you, but the end result will give you an indication based off of the sample. There should be a variety within each grouping. For instance, with nature photography can have wildlife resting, in motion, feeding, hunting, exploring, sleeping, defending, migrating, and any other situations you can find them in.
*One tip when shooting is to ask yourself 'What is it about this subject that interest me?' , 'What am I trying to convey', and 'How do I capture this subject in a way that the viewer feel/see it too?' Now there are many other questions you can ask and these do not have to be verbatim. This is just a small practice I learned to help identify what I wanted to shoot, why, and how, so that I wasn't stopping at every blade of grass and shooting it.*
Now from this group of images you will make your initial Selection of images.
But which moments do you select?
In my opinion you should select the images that speak to you, whether technically good images or not, ones that draw you in. Try looking at your images first in a thumbnail view via what every editing software you use. On the first pass you should select the ones that catch your attention the most, as they are the 'stand out' ones. Then take a second pass through the images to find the remaining ones that you 'feel'. For the sake of having a decent size selection pool, let's say out of 150 images you select your top 50 (Again 'top' referring to the ones that you feel impact from the most) This will give you your 'Genre', from here we move on to specifics about that selection, which I will talk more about in a future post.
Until then, enjoy the journey, as you never know where you will find your style.
As always, if you would like to share some step you took to finding you style of shooting, leave a comment.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Twigs & Spikes
There is never a shortage of inspiration when you follow your passion. My passion is photography and nature, so with 30 minutes in the field I walked away with these:
Giving yourself some time, daily or weekly, to be creative and produce personal work lets you experiment with new techniques in different settings. All of which, will benefit your future clients as you will be able to incorporate what you've learned into the assignments you take on. The cool part about it is this goes for any career.
My favorite of the group is #4, would love to hear yours...
Enjoy -
Ja mata,
Brian
Giving yourself some time, daily or weekly, to be creative and produce personal work lets you experiment with new techniques in different settings. All of which, will benefit your future clients as you will be able to incorporate what you've learned into the assignments you take on. The cool part about it is this goes for any career.
My favorite of the group is #4, would love to hear yours...
Enjoy -
Ja mata,
Brian
Friday, November 5, 2010
Patty & Frank: Married!
Patty and Frank, seen here at their Reconnection Session, are two of the nicest and loving people you will meet. Perla and I had an amazing day with them, their family, and friends capturing their wedding as it unfolded. The ceremony was beautiful, with vows that left those in attendance shedding tears of joy. Before arriving to St. Vincent's Church, Patty & Frank, did a 'first look' at Virginia Kendell park in Cuyahoga Valley Nation Park. The color scheme of silver and dark purple was perfect for a fall wedding with the changing colors of the leaves.
Perla and I were honored to document Patty & Frank's celebration of love.
Enjoy.
Brian & Perla Palmer
We would love to hear which captured moment you liked the best.
Perla and I were honored to document Patty & Frank's celebration of love.
Enjoy.
Brian & Perla Palmer
We would love to hear which captured moment you liked the best.
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