As you may have read, my uber-understanding wife bought me the Canon 5D Mark 2 for my birthday. My first-pass review of this camera is beyond words (in a very, very good way).

So now that I’ve had a chance to play with it, I asked myself ‘What Does 21 MP Look Like?’. It looks like a messy corner of my office, that’s what. But besides that, just how much detail is captured in a full frame 21 MP RAW file? Check out the pix after the jump to see.

more…

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has created a TV ad for the Super Bowl considered too racy by NBC.   It’s not any ‘worse’ than the Victoria’s Secret TV ‘Special’ or the Sports Illustrated ‘Swimsuit’ Issue in my opinion. In fact, if NBC showed the ad, it might get more viewers than their sitcoms.

View it for yourself and ask yourself the one questions that no one dares to ask…is NBC anti-veggie? ~

PS – My vote for the sexiest Super Bowl commercial has to go to Catfight for its very high production values – and two uber-babes!

Over at MAdvertising is a sixty second commercial shot for Guiness. In my opinion, this is what ALL advertising should look like.  The direct link is here.  Seriously, it’s sixty seconds but they are sixty of the most original seconds you’ll see all day, and perhaps all week. Inspiring stuff and pay close attention to the words, they’re intense. I’ll bet you can’t watch it just once.

Well, this was a suprise.

My very understanding wife was able to ascertain, via all my subtle and not-so-subtle hints (and occasional begging)  that the new Canon 5D Mk2 would make a fine birthday gift.  After the year we just had (nine months of unemployment plus other ugly stuff) I didn’t think she would go for it but she did. I know a part of the reason she went for it was because she loves me but I also hope a part of the reason was that she knows I’ll make good use of it.

But therein lies the rub.

I’m more than just a little introspective on this birthday. Like that stopwatch that opens the news program ‘60 Minutes’, I feel like time IS slipping by. I feel like I have to get better faster. Make that much better much faster. There are just too many of you out there posting stunning work and I’m still catching up. This camera will not make the catching up any easier or faster but it will allow me more creative options. Now all I have to do is BE creative with my time, my study and my gear.

On my birthday I have a gift for you. I want all of you to receive the gift of impatience.  I want all of you to sense that we only have a finite amount of time to cram in an infinite amount of creativity and ideas. We all have these ideas and  ’someday’ we’ll shoot them. My gift to you is the itch, the burn, the impatience to make it happen. Please receive this gift and go build the best shot of your life.

And hurry, I’m not getting any younger, you know!

I don’t have Rock Star status as a photographer. In fact, when I show people my shots, typically they say something like ‘YOU took that?’.  Or my second favorite response is ‘Wow, you must have a REALLY good camera!’.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a shooter in the middle of nowhere. More than once I’ve considered moving to ’somewhere’ but selling my house for a huge loss in this economy doesn’t get me too excited. Besides, if I did move to ’somewhere’, there are photographers with Rock Star status already there and breaking in is hard to do. (If you don’t believe me, ask Neil Sedaka).

But on rare occasions, I get someone who asks me if they can be in my studio during a shoot. They ask me all kinds of questions about lighting and my studio and my camera and I LOVE to answer them all. When I meet someone who finds the ‘before the picture’ as exciting as ‘the picture’, then I instantly categorize them as a person I can borrow money from a person on the right track. Those were the same questions I annoyed other shooters with when I got my first camera in 2005.

So welcome to the happiest place on earth for me. No, not Happy Hour, welcome to my studio.

more…

Ah yes, good friends gathered around a table by the warm hearth

exchanging stories and laughter and tipping a few beers. Does it get

any better than that?

Why are you asking me? I wouldn’t know, I was the guy running around the bar taking pictures!

In my last post I mentioned that I suddenly had a full shoot calendar. Last night was the shoot for Imagine Magazine and I am very grateful for my friends and to the management of Public House for  making it a pretty simple shoot except for one thing. It was dark in there. Really dark. How about ISO 3200 and still using a flash dark?

Bring lights you say? Excellent idea except for the fact that the pub is open and innocent bysitters (they’re not all standing you know) did not come to this fine establishment to step over extension cords and be surprised when my AB 800’s cut loose. No, this was yet another assignment where you are asked to capture the ambiance without destroying it in the process.

My solution to this is not a stroke of genius, in fact, I am hoping to solicit more than a few comments from readers describing how they would solve this challenge.

So, how did I solve it?

Fast glass.

No, not that kind of glass…just keep reading.

more…

It’s silly to even type the title of this post since the friends I’m referring to are two people I have never met.

JimmyD and Lin at Fluffytek have both contacted me asking why I haven’t updated the blog in a long time.  This is very touching actually.   In Bloggie-World (Lin’s word I think) we’re all supposed to be fighting for readers and attention. These two bloggers are showing more than a passing interest in my silly little blog.  I am sincerely flattered but I am also somewhat embarrassed as to the reason why I haven’t updated in a while.

I’M WORKING!

2009 has very little remblance to 2008 so far and that’s fine by me. 2008 was a very tough year both professionally and personally. I know I’m not alone in my kvetching but seriously, 2008 was a year I was happy to leave behind.

So far in 2009:

• I shot the February cover to Imagine Magazine (a local mag put out by the nice folks at the Fresno Bee Custom Publications department). The theme was ‘love’. What else would you expect, snowboarding?
• I have been contracted by a local Ad Agency to shoot for their newest client. I would be lying to say that there wasn’t some drama involved. It went from one model being too expensive to booking four models and getting a boat in my studio. Yes, I said boat as in ‘Ahoy there’. Ironically, I cannot swim but I’ll sure as hell make this work. Stand by for a new blog post or my obituary. I WILL make this work. The shoot is this weekend.
• I got a call back from Imagine and they want me to shoot the March cover. The theme is ‘beer’.  You just can’t make this stuff up. Even JimmyD is going to be jealous over this assignment. And they want it in the next seven days.
• A swimwear company that I did test shots for is now asking me to shoot a portion of their 2009 catalog. Just because God has a sense of humor, they want it ASAP. If I could just keep the boat for a few extra days…and maybe the beer…

The shot above is Amanda. This is a shot I took as a test shot for the Ad Agency as they went through the model selection process. Unfortunately, she was not chosen for the ad but fortunately we did produce this shot.  We both get it for our portfolios and  I have a new model that I would recommend without hesitation.

So, the bottom line (as Lin might say in the accounting world) is that I’ve been juggling time and attention and little of that attention has been given to you, my dear readers. As way of apology, I promise to post the inside story of all these adventures plus whatever else comes up. 2008 was a terrible year but I am sincerely hoping that 2009 is far more than just a tease…which is what this post is.

And a message for Jimmy and Lin – I love you both for your help and concern but my lazy posting is because of the best reason I can think of – I’m working.