Honey, Where did I save those files?

Normally I would include artwork on the blog but this topic is important and I don't want you to be distracted by any shinies.  If you have taken any photo class at the Art Institute, I am sure you have heard this from your instructors, but it is IMPORTANT and it needs to be said again...

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP! 

Do it.  Don't forget.  Make it part of your work flow and don't blow it off because its a pain in the but, or it takes too long.  If time is an issue, get you work done earlier so you have time to backup your files.  Why is it important?  I'll tell you why...hard drive failure happens.  It happens when you least expect it and when you can least afford for it to happen.

I have personally had 2 incidents when I have had irreversible hard rive failures.  First was a couple of years ago after I returned from a deployment.  I had all of my images saved on an external hard drive.  That hard drive had accompanied me around the world and back again with no issues.  Then one day it just wouldn't spin any more.  If this had been a copy of all of my data it would have been fine, but it was the only copy.  Not fine.  $2300 later and I was able to recover all of my data.  This is not the way to go.

More recently, and by this I mean last Thursday, I lost files again.  I was in the process of moving files and images to my new Mac.  Some how I managed to format my external hard drive (so I could have the proper file system for the Mac) without verifying that I had a second copy of the data on another hard drive.  The last time I made a full backup of my files was in late October of last year.  OUCH.  I lost almost a year's worth of images and to make it worse I did it myself.  It wasn't hard drive failure, it was plain old human error.

Now that I am done kicking myself, I am looking at realistic file back up options.  I have a dropbox account, but it's not big enough to hold all of my data.  The same goes for Copy.  Its bigger but not big enough to hold all my data.  The other option is to use an external drive with Time Machine on the Mac.  Another option is to get a set of external drives configured in RAID 1. 

I haven't decided yet what option I am going to go with, but I am sure it will be a combination of multiple options.  What is your backup solution?  How do you fit it into your workflow?  Let me a comment letting me know, or feel free to ask a question about backup options.

Sequence Photography

Good morning Tuesday aficionados and welcome once more to another Terrific Tuesday!

Today’s blog is going to be a short one, I just finished two classes that gave me headaches for the whole period and just started two more that might not be as stressful but will require a lot of time!

My last class had a lot to do with proper sequence of images in a way that will make sense to tell a story, that was the headache part.  The good part was that I was able to take a lot of images with my models and of my town.  Of course everything has another size and all the models wanted copies of the images, so I had to deal with dividing over 900 images, do post-production and copy them to a disk for the ones that went over and beyond the help that I needed at the time.

So while I was looking for examples and help in creating proper sequence of photographs for a story I came upon this site that has some great action sequence photography and I wanted to share it with you.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-beautiful-examples-of-action-sequence-photography/

Some of the examples of this type of photography from the site can be seen here:

 

Jordan | mr.ainsworth

 

Greggins Jumping green water | ivotedforkodos

 

Have any of you ever done anything like this?  If you have, I would love to the see the images and I am sure the rest of the readers would love to see them too!  I am going to way until this weekend and I might try to find some kid on a skateboard and try this sequencing photography it seems to be fun.

Ok, so you might be wondering how to do it, right?  Well, check this site, it provides some instructions in how to do it, it has two parts but you can access the other part through the site.

http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/234/how-to-get-killer-sequence-photos-part-1/
 

Well, that is all for today, if you have some images to share, go ahead and let us see them.  Until later then, this is your Tuesday Ambassador wishing you a great shutterspeed day!

See you around cyberspace!

Tuesday Ambassador

Fear Freezes

Four weeks have gone by since I was able to post to this blog.  I apologize profusely for that.  But out of that comes a life lesson I think is important for all of us, as photographers and all areas of our lives.

Four weeks ago my family suddenly faced a major life crisis.  One that was thrust upon my children and I by no choice of our own.  Yet we were forced to deal with it.  Dealing with a major life crisis is a much larger task when there are ten children involved.  So to say it was all consuming is an understatement.  I emailed our blog leader as soon as possible to fill her in.  She was more than gracious.  Being a very responsible person myself, I fully planned to post another blog the next week. 

That week passed. Then another.  My mind started to analyze and play over the events of the week before and what if you knew what happened, how would you view me and I worried what people that I had never met and probably would never met would think and my mind kept spinning and spinning and spinning and

Set in.  

And I was frozen.  Even though I wanted to blog again I was stuck.

See, even when our fears are irrational they can send us into a place of inactivity.

How does this work in our photography?

What about that photography job you really, really want?  But you are afraid your work is not good enough.  You are afraid other people have much better work.  You are afraid that people will judge your work.  You are afraid people won’t like your work. 

Guess what?  You are right.  There will always be people that judge.  There will be people that do not like your work.  There is always room for more learning and improvement in your own work.

BUT – and this is a big BUT, there are people that will love your work.  There are people that will judge and say, “WOW!”  They will see the beauty of what you have created.  And ultimately, if you love what you have created, that is what truly matters.

Each and every one of us got into the photography program at AiO for a reason.  I am willing to bet the reason is deep, personal and different for each of us.  Whatever that reason is, I challenge you to dig deep and find it again today.  Bring it to the forefront.  Remember it.  Keep it in front of you.  Photography is a beautiful art that you are passionate about.

When our passion is great and it is something we love, we can push past the fear and move forward. 

It’s just another Manic Monday ……

Monday Ambassador

How Big Is That Thing?

Saturday Ambassador

As photographers, we know that creating great art is not as simple as snapping a few pictures of your subject and you're done. We survey our subjects for exemplary features and hidden possibilities. We explore all the angles and apply creative lighting. We capture the details and choose our camera settings carefully to exemplify that which intrigued us about the scene in the first place. Sounds complicated, doesn't it? Who knew art could be so much work!

A recent expedition of mine reminded me of a few other variables which can separate the ordinary photographer from the extraordinary. I love nature and I travel frequently; these types of images often attract my attention, and one thing I encounter is issues of scale. When you photograph an object, will the viewer instantly understand how large or small it is? If you are the photographer creating travel brochures, this could be important.

 

Tonto Natural Bridge, photographer unknown



 

This image is a lovely view of this natural formation which achieves depth through perspective, is dimensional because there is a contrasting ratio of light and shadow, demonstrates texture via the angle and intensity of the light and is aesthetically pleasing for its use of the thirds rule and the interesting composition. It is used by the Park Service to promote the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park in Arizona. But, how big is it? Should I travel hundreds of miles to see this hole? Is it really that interesting?

Tonto Natural Bridge, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, HDR Composite



 

I considered this dilemma when I photographed the natural bridge and resolved the issue by including people in the shot. My instinct when photographing nature is to exclude all things man made, but this is an exceptional circumstance. In my image, the trees could be shrubs, but we all know the general proportions of people. Therefore, they make a great tool to demonstrate the scale of this momentous natural aperture.

I stopped at this park because I was in the area with time on my hands. Although the promotional image is technically correct and visually appealing, I'm not sure it would have enticed me to drive 100 miles to view it. As it turned out, it was well worth the drive and the hike required to get there. As a photographer, however, this is certainly something to consider.

~Saturday Ambassador

*Tonto Natural Bridge State Park is located on AZ highway 87, north of Payson.

Source:

Diaz, Mimi. "Geologic Mysteries". Arizona State Parks. N.d. Web. September 6, 2013. <http://azstateparks.com/parks/tona/feature.html>

Liquified!

Good Thursday morning everyone. I had someone mention my last post in a class the other day. That was so exciting. It really means a lot to us to know you are reading. We cherish your feedback!

Something else that excited me happened this week also. Last Saturday I took fashion photos out at the beach and then got to play with them. I planned to create a water effect from this image, but I was overwhelming surprised by the liquefy effect in Photoshop. I took shells, and water colored tulle for my model to lay on and in. The image with no post-production was quite satisfying, so I assumed I could really go someplace great with it.

I had an image of a lighthouse with its reflection on the water that was slightly rippled, but very calm for Lake Michigan! Because I was working on a Lighthouse project, this image worked into my scheme.  By itself it creates a very interesting image, but a lot of people will wonder what the shadow is along the side.

Placing the water over my model, I lowered the opacity to 66% so that it created a soft watery look over her. Then came the fun. I duplicated my portrait layer first of course to preserve it (don’t forget this step)! Using the Liquify (apparently Adobe doesn’t know how to spell J) tool, found under Filter, I began playing with her hair and the tulle around her. I used varying sized of brush and pressure. The rest, beneath the water layer, was almost like oil on water. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to share.

What have you created lately that you couldn’t wait to share. Tell us about it. We get as excited over other’s work as our own!

Where are the Models?

Hello everyone, and welcome again to another edition of Terrific Tuesday blog, I am your Ambassador today and every Tuesday!

If you are in the field of photography, there will be times that you are going to need a model to complete an assignment or homework from one of your classes.  If you are in your first year and have not have the pleasure to have living subjects in your compositions, well, just wait it is around the corner.  Courses such as Lighting, Portraiture, Portraiture II, Advertising Photography 1 & 2, Creative Concepts, Advanced Studio Techniques, will have the need for living subjects.  So by know you might be wondering; where do I find models to help me with school?

The answer is simple: everywhere and anywhere!

Let me share how some of my models came out to be part of my experience with the school, you might find that you are in the same position as I was when I first started.

The first area that you might explore will be family and friends.  That is great, they might say that they don’t have experience, you could say that you don’t have the experience working with models either.  I started with pictures using my wife as a model, she was very shy at the start and now she helps me by giving me opinions about my ideas and serves as someone that I can share my vision, after all, she knows me better than anyone else.

That followed by using my daughters who have modeled for me for fun and for classes.  Once their friends saw some of the pictures I took of them, some of them asked if I could take pictures of them too!  Ok, so now I have more people that I can use for assignments, which brings me back to one important statement: don’t let the models run YOUR show, the object is for them to have images for themselves but you also need to do your work at school!

http://www.modelmayhem.com/411651 Ajani Photography

Once my co-workers saw the images that I was creating, some of them decided that they would help me too (see the pattern?).  I have now taken images of co-workers, families and friends, and it all started with creating great images that were admired by others.

Ok, you might be wondering how to coordinate all the people that I have mentioned here.  Well, remember that every course is 5.5 weeks long so you do not need to use all your resources at once, look forward to what you need in the next classes (if you can) and figure out who in your pool would work for what you have to do. It is not always going to work out with a limited pool of people and that is when you need to branch out and seek new models.

Once you are comfortable with your skill directing others and you have a better understanding of how your vision, your brand and your concept can work together, you might want to venture out and become a member of Model Mayhem.  This website provides an area where you can search for photographers, models, stylist and other professionals that can help you with your work.  Becoming a member is free and the process takes about a week to complete.  If you want to look more into this website and what it has to offer, here is a link for you to follow.

http://www.modelmayhem.com/

So, there you go, finding models is not as hard as it sounds as when you began your studies.  The more people you photograph, the better you will get.  The more new people you photograph the better the chances that your vision and work will be seen around the world!

Just keep shooting and don't be afraid to ask new people to pose for you, who knows you might be taking images of the next supermodel!

Drop me a line and share any of your experiences with models, we all can share and learn from each other. Until then, this is your Tuesday Ambassador signing off for now.  You all have a great and wonderful day!

Tuesday Ambassador

Increasing your portfolio without breaking the bank or paying out of pocket.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I wanted to talk about a great experience that I had last weekend. I recently joined a group called the Philadelphia Glamour Photography Group on Meetup.com. I joined at a time when they were just about to have their huge meet up that they have every year at Riddley Creek State Park, in Media, PA. The meet up was on a Sunday, close to 160 Models, Photographer's and MUA's showed up.  This whole thing was new to me, I was a bit overwhelmed as I didn't know any of the member's yet, but I did go with a friend, her boyfriend and her kids. That made it a bit easier when they arrived. Other than being overwhelmed, I was really taken back, by how inviting, accepting and friendly everyone was. They had a small ceremony for one of the members that  had recently passed and had planted a tree in his honor. This was very moving, being able to be a part of this was truly amazing.

Now on to my point... Many of us want to increase our portfolio, but you don't want to have to pay a model or you may not have the money. This meet up was free to everyone involved. The MUA's were paid for their work, understandable as they need to replace their makeup. Models brought many different outfits and then it was like a feeding frenzy. Models changing outfits, changing locations several times during the day. All with over a 60 or so different photographers asking them to do different things. Every model will get copies of their photographs, usually in digital form. (I'm assuming), but this was an opportunity to really expand your portfolio with several different models with different looks and not breaking your bank or paying out of pocket. There are many other groups that do similar meetups, some charge depending on the event, but I suggest that you take a look at this option and find  a group in your area or even start one of your own. So get out of your comfort zone and start taking a chance!  I did and I will never regret it.

Below are some of the photos I took during this meet up.

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  

                                                      

   Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

                                                              

Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne