FINALLY - I'll never do that again

FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY!
I'll never do that again.

Wow, oh wow, oh how I need to make sure I have the correct lens for the job.  Specially when you are doing a high volume of photos.

From February through June... I was editing photos for a figure skating competition.  If there was one thing that I could have done to not take so long, it was to have the lens for the job.  It wasn't to say I hadn't used a good lens.  But it was a 50mm prime.  What I should have used: 70-200 f4 or better.

What is the difference?  Cropping.  I wasn't going to present photos that had a relatively little spec in the center of the photo be the subject of some one's review.  So I cropped, to show what I was thinking during the photo.  And I didn't have a way to automate this process.

I use Adobe Lightroom, and it is great at taking all of your photos and (provided you have the same settings on all the photos) you can correct the color, exposure, shadows, lens flaws all at once.  It makes general editing a breeze. And I think it made me over-confident.

Then what lengthened this time... I started taking time away from other things and I started realizing I could not do this straight through.  I almost resented the job and opportunity.  I started to resent the things that took me away from the project.

So I have 2, possibly 3 major projects coming up this year.  First is a national figure skating competition in Grand Rapids, MI.  Then I have an opportunity to maybe get a shot of the Eclipse in Tennessee.  Finally, an ice show this winter.  I call these major because I fully intend on a good volume of photography.  And I'm going to start things out by renting lenses.

If you haven't heard it from other photographers... you'll start hearing it from me:  "I hate cropping!"  Does this mean I won't ever do it any more.  I'm mortal, and sometimes won't be able to help myself.  But large volume photo jobs need the right tools.  Or you are never going to get any money doing what you love.

That or you are going to burn yourself out and annoy your customers.

One done in full, competition now

So I have an Ice Show done in full.  And now the competition, over 6000 photos to work on.  But I also have another project in the pipe, a personal one.

So, the competition. I'm sepating this into the groups that took the ice.  Since the same sheet of ice can have one event on one side and another event on the other side, the groups can actually be 5 events in one group. Tonight I should have the first group done.

I'm insane, 8700 photos to go through.

As promised... some story and documentation about editing my photos from this last weekend.

So, I have this Park and Rec end of year Ice Show.  There were well over 2400 photos I took. I know, I need to be better at pairing this down before I even take the photo.  Part of this is that it is sooo easy to take 3 shots with the Sony a6000.  (I leave the motor-drive on because when it is a great jump, it makes for a great 3 or 4 shot board.)

So, after my first pass of the photos, I got it down to about a 3rd.  But who wants to go through 900 photos?  So, I'm doing a 2nd pass. Might have to do a 3rd pass.

I know part of why this is so hard is that many of these kids are also students of my wife.  Also, so many of the little ones were so cute (Yes, I'm a grown man... but I can say "cute" when describing little kids 6 years or younger.)  But, that is why I need the multiple pass process.  Each pass makes me be more and more critical of the photo's subject, lighting, composition, etc.  That makes me remove my own emotional reaction, and judge them on the level of what I would want to bring to the viewer.  Believe it or not... not every photo I take is a great shot.  So most of them never, ever, ever get released.

Oh, yeah, um... next up is the competition from last Sunday.
Over 6300 photos in that one to comb through.
I guess that was over 8700 photos in one weekend.  I'm insane.
Thank God I have the day off from my day job today.

Year in review, new camera training

Over the past year I've been working on a new camera, Sony a6000.  I don't have the luxury of the deep zoom of my old camera.  But I do get forced into being better and capable of pro-quality photos

I just have lenses that are best used for portrait and wide angle views.  Very different from the point n'shoot with a 500 mm equivalent zoom. So I am getting used to this, finally.

But, to be clear... this still is better than my old Nikon COOLPIX P510 when taking figure skating photos... even when cropping to about 8 megapixel of the 24 mp on the sensor.  And best lense I have is a 50 mm f1.8 on loan from my brother.

Think about this, I have a better picture at 8 mp cropped (original photo is 24 mp) compared to the 16 mp on the Nikon COOLPIX P510.  I still need better lenses for wildlife and sports, but for now, I can do good.  And I'm honored that some people have actually paid me for some of my shots.

In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to document some of what I have to do now for my figure skating photos.  The sorting, sorting some more, cropping, editing, sharing.  Because last Friday, there was an end of season ice show for a local park and rec, and yesterday I shot action photos for a basic skills competition.

Just a sample, I like shooting in B&W with RAW.  I find it helps me compose better.

Chilean Flamingos of Lincoln Park Zoo

Chilean Flamingo of Lincoln Park Zoo 

The Chilean Flamingoes of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. In the morning, birds like to get themselves cleaned after a night's sleep. They spread out the feathers as much as possible to prean. 

But, might this be to serve another purpose? That this reveals to competing flamingos a posture, a level of attraction to the opposite sex. An attempt to take their place in their social pecking order.

Portfolio: Events

Portfolio: Events 

Concert patron outside of Chicago, IL.  November, 2015

Rotary Lights, La Crosse, WI.  November 2014

Bicycle Race, La Crosse, WI.  May 2015

Half Marathon, La Crosse, WI.  May 2015

Onalaska Cheer/Pom Squad, Oktoberfest Parade, La Crosse, WI. October 2015

Lead female singer, Hair Bangers Ball, Libertyville, IL.  November, 2015.

Color Run after run party, Riverside Park, La Crosse, WI.  Sept 2014

La Crosse Central Marching Band, Oktoberfest Parade, La Crosse, WI.  October, 2015

Mississippi Valley Mayhem, Roller Derby at the Onalaska Omnicenter.  May, 2015

Park and Rec baseball, Viterbo Field, La Crosse, WI.  July, 2015

Guitarist of Hair Bangers Ball, Libertyville, IL.  October 2015

Guitarist of Hair Bangers Ball, Libertyville, IL.  October 2015

Duties and playing catch up

Yes, it has been a while since I've been posting regularly. I haven't stoped or given up on photography. Just the contrary.

I've been paying attention to my past Duties and playing catch up on past work that I should've been doing all along.

Primarily, this is about grading my photos. Then getting them sorted into different types of portfolios. This will help me with my marketing and getting future jobs.

With a little help, I've seen my work specialize in a few categories.

• Events
• Sports
• Wildlife
• Portraiture 
• Cityscapes and Landscapes 

I see this as interconnecting fields of work, and I  eventually see myself doing wedding photos eventually. Sports and Events are very fun for the speed and pace of the job. Portraits give me a challenge to a client that is gives me feedback drives me to be better.  While wildlife has a lot of adventure mixed with hurry up and wait. And the city/landscape shoots bring out an artsy version of myself.

To say the least, moreis on the way.  And soon.