Dream In PicturesPhotography

I’ve learned a lot over the years with my camera, and I’ve downplayed my abilities to some extent to not set false expectations for my clients.  I wasn’t my clients to have the best possible images, but trying to be something I’m not is not something I’ll do.

As a photographer, you have to understand your technical limitations, and those of your equipment as well.  You may know how to take a great picture, but you may not have the hardware to do it.  That is a limitation that you have.  If you have a camera which produces grainy images at high ISO and are using a slot kit lens, you have no business shooting someones wedding claiming to be a professional.

The same goes for people who have all the gear in the world, but have no idea how to use it.  You can have Canon or Nikon’s most professional camera, but if you don’t know what aperture, shutter speed, ASA/ISO, depth of field, chances are, you’re just popping off pictures with no idea about what the camera is actually calculating for you.

Sadly I had a woman email me about two months ago about a photographer who posed as a professional and then couldn’t deliver quality images of this couple’s wedding.  You can imagine the horror of opening up the proofs for your images, and seeing very grainy, dull looking pictures that have been overly photoshopped to try and compensate for how badly they have been shot.

Click on this image to the right that this poor girl sent me. I’ve cropped in the full size view a bit for you so you can see how out of focus and muddled the image is. Almost all of the images she send me were like this. This is just a shame because there are no do-overs for a wedding.

To drive my point across even further, you should really take 10 minutes of your time and watch this clip from Judge Joe Brown that was aired on March 1, 2010. I’m rather impressed with the judges’ knowledge of photography, and the complete lack of knowledge by the photographer.

I’m not even sure it was just the quality of the prints that was an issue here.  Also take note the unprofessionalism of this photographers behavior.

I have made one blunder in writing this post in that I have no idea who I’m really writing it for. I saw this video earlier today and it reminded me of the woman who approached me about retaking her wedding shots, and its just got me irritated. I guess it fits for anyone though.

If you’re a bride looking for a photographer, make sure they have more than some prints to show you, and don’t assume that because your friend knows someone who knows someone that they will be right for you. If you’re a photographer, and you’re guilty of any of this…. please stop and fix the problem.

I’ve got little problems telling someone when something is out of my scope of work, and if you approach me with such a project I will be glad to help you any way that I can. If I can’t help you, I’m sure I know someone qualified, and I’m more than happy to introduce you….

A bunch of stuff you should care about if you like us….

I’m back in the game

As anyone who knows me or who has followed me from this blog, you have probably noticed that I have not updated since I told you all about my camera equipment being stolen while traveling in Peru.  Its been a rather disappointing time for me considering my love for photography, but I’ve made the best of a bad situation and spent the last six months doing development work and shooting when I can get my hands on some equipment.

I’m happy to announce that no longer will I be needing to borrow or turn down large jobs because of lack of equipment.  I’m back in business, and I couldn’t be happier about it. A few friends already knew I had gotten an new camera, but I wanted to wait until I had a chance to do a bit of shooting with it before I let everyone else know. The quality on this 5D Mk II is far greater than what I previously had. The sharpness is out of this world. The low light shooting is freakishly good. Topping it all off is a video mode which rivals anything I’ve ever had my hands on.

Offers for the very best

In an effort to kick start everything back up again, I’ll be offering some really interesting deals sometime after SXSW, but there is just one catch:  You need to sign up for the email list to be informed of any of it.

I know I know, another message getting delivered to your inbox, but the truth is I really want to know who you are, and this is a great way for me to offer you something for letting me know.  You give me a name and email, I give you the low down.  I think its a win-win.  This doesn’t mean I’m going to stop blogging, this just means I’m going to reserve a little extra for those of you who care. RSS is great, reading the blog is better, but signing up for the mailing list is just smart.

SXSW

Being involved with SXSW over the last few years has lead me to believe that I’ll never have another beach spring break again. I’m okay with that. In fact, I’m more than okay with that, because for 10 days I get to spend my time with some of the greatest people I’ve ever had the privilege to be associated with. My main involvement has been with the Interactive portion of the conference, but I always stay in Austin through the music as well. If you are going to be in Austin this year for the conference I’d love to hear from you. I won’t be shooting specific events this year, but I will be shooting press for the event. I’ll have more updates when I get them myself about what i’ll be doing for them.

Some of you who were following what I’ve been doing lately may not have known that I had somewhat of a quarter life - midlife crisis this year.  No I didn’t go buy a sports car, or make any purchases for that matter, but I have however been traveling around trying to figure out just where in the US or the World I’d like to live for a little while.

I left College Station, Texas around mid Feburary and headed for Austin where I spent a few months and got the opprotunity to shoot a few events in the area.  I love the Austin area, and I’m sure I’ll be back sometime soon.

From Austin, I made my way to San Francisco by way of road trip through Phoenix and LA before arriving in San Francisco for two months where I spent my time attending different technology events and experiencing the culture that is so vibrant in the Bay area.  I’m in love with the area, but find it a difficult place to get a fresh start due to the cost of living here.

After my two months in San Francisco, it was time to leave the country so my friend Kristine and I headed to Peru for a month, where I spent my time exploring the natural wonders of a country that just blew me away.  If I didn’t have things to take care of back here in the United States, I could have easily just stayed in Peru, and may get the chance to go back there for more business related issues sometime in the near future.

I did however run into a major problem just this last week.  The majority of my camera gear was stolen while I was sleeping on a bus, so take note that when traveling by bus to litterally lock your gear to your body somehow or it will just walk away.  Its going to take me some time to replace, but I would never let this event take away from my experience of my trip.  I had a wonderful time while I was there and I’m glad to be back “home” for at least a little while.

I’ll get photos from the last couple months up as soon as I get a reliable and fast internet connection, and I’m in the process of typing up my personal travel journal that I kept while I was in Peru.  You can find my journal online at http://cummin.gs within the next two or three days.

Thanks,

Michael

With an amazing backdrop like this, how could I shoot with anything other than a ring light?

See the Rest of the set on Flickr

See the Rest of the set on Flickr

Frog Design put on a brilliant opening party for SXSW and here are some of the Step and Repeat shots…

See the Rest of the set on SmugMug or Flickr

See the Rest of the set on SmugMug or Flickr