When I first downloaded Eli Reinholdtsen’s new eBook, honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I figured, what could one possibly write about reflections? How hard could it be? Just walk up to a chrome bumper on a sunny day and shoot it, right? Maybe, a cliche’ shot of your dog’s reflection from a side view mirror of your car? I just didn’t see how a photograph of a reflection could be written about. Maybe, it could be tweeted about but not a 72 page eBook!

I had decided that there must be something to Chasing Reflections as I don’t think Craft and Vision would release mediocre publications. After reading Chasing Reflections, my respect for Eli’s work shot ten fold. My first mistake is that I did not truly “look” at the image. I merely glanced at an image so I did not “get it” and thought it to be boring. Chasing Reflections will help you understand her work and art in general.

Eli goes on in great detail about her process. Her muse is the “reflection”. They fascinate her and her images will fascinate you, when you really look at them. Don’t just glance at them, really study them. You will find many things going on in them. You could revisit the images time and time again and see something new.

After explaining the “process” of how she crafts an image. Eli goes on to explaining the techniques used to express her vision. Things such as choosing a focus point, choosing an angle, posters and people, playing with mirrors, when there is not enough light; they all paint a story and have a “decisive moment” element to them. And here I figured there was nothing to shooting a reflection… boy, was I wrong.

Do yourself a favour and pick up Chasing Reflections from Craft and Vision. It’s only $4 for the download when using the checkout code, REFLECT4. Chasing Reflection, really opened my eyes to the type of creativity we can do with our camera and a reflection. Thanks for the great book, Eli and Craft and Vision.

This time off will also allow me to get my camera out for an orgy of photographica! Next week,  my wife and I have a three night stay in Whistler booked. Originally, it was supposed to be a predominately a mountain biking trip. Unfortunately, Trish cracked her shoulder bone the other day while mountain biking so biking is off the list for Whistler. That means more time behind the lens. I really look forward to shooting some of BC’s most amazing scenery.

Yup, it’s that time of year again. Christmas is over and now the beginning of a new year. Once the climax of Christmas has worn off, we get a chance to reflect on our year. We think about what goals that we set out to hit and the ones we missed. Did we lose the extra weight we had promised to last year? Did we make a career move? Did we take take a workshop, course, or on-line learning subscription?

It not matter too much if we achieved our goals that we set last year, as long as we made some sort of progress toward our goals. For us non-vocational photographers sometimes our vocation takes time away from our hobby, as it did this year for me. Some times life just gets in the way of our passion.

As I reflect on 2009, my photographic shooting life has been slow. I had not shot as many photo’s as I should have or could have. On the other hand, I made an effort to connect with other photogs through social media. Also, I went on a few photo walks with others and had a fun time while creating some decent images. Connecting with other photographers, as I am finding out, is important. We can learn, network, share, and inspire each other. We photo-holics need this.

In 2010, I want to keep the goals simple and well within reach. I am not on some sort of fast track program to full-time vocational photographer. This is not my goal. Therefore, I can take my sweet time and enjoy the process. As long as I make progress, improve on technical skill, get some art on my walls, and have a good time with my creative outlet…  that is all that matters.

Action Goals

Gear Goals

Learning Goals

Happy New Year, All!
Shoot like hell in 2010!

Recently David DuChemin created a fury of comments about NOT getting into debt for buying gear. I agree with him 100% not just for your photography business but for your personal finances as well. Sure, use your credit card to make a purchase as long as you can pay the balance off immediately. The benefits are purchase protection and travel miles/bonus dollars.

As photographers, part of the draw we have toward the craft is “fancy-dancy-newest-technology”.  At least it is for me. I admit liking the gadgets and new technology. However, I refrain myself from have the newest gadget for the sake of financial responsibility. I know going into debt for gadgets that make me little or no money is not financially responsible.

Will the new pro-body camera make us better photographers? No, I don’t think so. If I drove a Ferrari, it wouldn’t make me a better driver? In fact, it would probably make me a worse driver. Anyways, there are tons of arguments on David’s blog on “why” to stay debt free. Most of his readers understand them. Including myself.

What I suggest is have a look at people who DON’T use pro-body cameras! I have stumbled upon a “pro photographer” who still uses Polaroid. He created great images with his cheap old camera. I just wish that I book marked his site to share with you. My bad. Anyways, I took a look at Flickr to see who else out there is using old gear, including a Kodak Brownie, which I personally own thanks to Grandma. She left it for me years before she died. The camera is the image above.

A photographer who still uses his Brownie is here. There are others who use older gear, some for the sake of using old technology and some who are satisfied with what their current gear does. I believe many night photographers still use slide film.  Troy Paiva finally moved to digital in 2005. He is now using a Canon 20D.

I challenge myself to stay with the gear I have. I am resisting the “Gear Gremlin”. Maybe I  will use LESS gear or OLDER gear than I already have. Maybe I should get some film for my Olympus OM-10. Confining yourself will force you to “think outside the box”. It’s a challenge… but without challenge there can not be growth as an artist. That goes for anything really.

Finally, FYI the above image was created on my kitchen counter. I guess I do have a studio after all, my kitchen studio. A science fair white display board thing that I had found at Staples for $15 that is used as a back drop. The Brownie sits on two pieces of white printer paper. A SB800 flash on a portable light stand worth about $60. The flash was bounced off a 32″ collapsible reflector that cost about $30. A cheaper piece of white board could of had the same effect. My Nikon D200 is two years old with no plans for an upgrade to a D700… well, unless I win the lottery.

Last Saturday evening, Simon Beaumont organized a little photowalk for a few of us that had participated in the World Wide Photowalk. Though there were no big lights and pocket wizards this time. That’s ok because I had a good time regardless.

A smaller group of photographers was more intimate and social. There was Simon, Bryan, Sabrina, and my wife, who was there to tag along. Ironically, we were all Nikon shooters which was kinda cool because there was four speedlights that could be utilized using the Nikon CLS system. At one point we all dug out our speedlights to use. One of us fired a shot from our camera then all the flashes fired too! A happy accident.

We skirted our way down the gritty part of town then over to Crab Park. It is amazing how much of a contrast two city blocks is. One part very “gritty” then a block or two over, it’s very “pretty”.

We hope to continue doing this image capture/social gatherings in the future. It was a lot of fun.