Ok so I was out shooting a Mercedes SL500 with Ray, Carry from SAcarFan and Matteo two days ago and as we drove around town, we happened to notice yet another production crew, yet another set of traffic officers with their lumo vests and orange cones blocking off a piece of road that would have been nice to shoot on and then immediately after that we notice why – someone else had the same idea and beat us to it! As a consolation, we got some glimpses of the brand new Peugeot 2008 that was doing all sorts of posing. It is only set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March this year, so this is a special little treat to show you the first in the metal shots of this interesting and fun looking car.

I was immediately attracted to the car and the bubbled roofline. The roof rack lines together with the lines of the headlamps and tail light really hold the design of the car together in a pleasing and promising form that look seager, and purposeful, without looking thirsty for fuel. I’m quite keen so see what the 2008 will be like to drive and how much off-the-street driving it will be willing to do. If looks are anything to go by, then its one is something to look forward to.

This crossover is another exciting offering somewhere between an SUV and a regular hatchback. There seem to be a growing trend in these types of vehicles. In my opinion, I think its because people want the slightly higher ride hight and bend-over-to-get-the-kids-strapped-in height, without the fuel bill or price tag of a BMW X5.

For more great insights, specs and just a good read, go check out Ray’s article at SAcarFan.

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Having said that, there are a number of ridiculously amazing and successful photographers that make it work on their own and equally, those that aquire extra guys on the team – so which way do you go… The A-Team or The Lone Ranger? In this post I will try and highlight a couple of key factors to take into consideration then working in team, as equal partners or as photographer-assistant. The point is this as the afrikaans saying goes: “Vele hande maak lig die werk” (many hands make the burden of the work light). This does bring about a number of challenges – things i wish someone else had told me about, but i suppose thats part of learning what it means to be a photographer.

When it comes to wedding photography, people often ask me what I pay my assistant or second shooter on the odd occasion that its needed. the simple answer: I think it should be relative to the cost of the package and taking into account their experience. I have had a couple of second shooters over the years and have learnt some valuable lessons:

1) Mostly, a good assistant is not simultaniously a good second shooter; that breed is few and far between and is worth paying extra for.
2) Most second shooters are also there to learn by observing and shooting at a wedding – its a nice way to learn hands on with NO risk. Some people are there to contribute to the main photographer’s shoot, some are there to steal with their eyes to get onto the business of competing with you in a rather saturated wedding photography market.
3) If someone is a good second shooter, dont expect amazing assisting. rather split the roles and have three people on the team. or choose to have either an assistant or second shooter.
4) An assistant isnt always needed – when using reflectors, you can ask the best man to hold it for a minute. If you tag an assistant along because you are lazy or to make you look important (mini-entourage allaert), then think again.
5) Be VERY specific about what the roles and expectations are before and during the shoot. This includes not “poaching” similar shots to those you are making (this is a tell tale sign of someone who wants to build a portfolio that looks like they shot the wedding themselves)
6) A good second shooter keeps tabs on what you are not shooting and not seeing and getting that. when shooting the same subject, it should be covered with a different lens and from a different angle, not interfering with the couple or getting in the background of your shots.
7)  If you use any shots of the second shooter, make sure you get ALL the RAW images unedited. (and by RAW i dont mean unedited JPEGS – actual RAW files like .NEF or .CR2)
8) If the RAW images are edited, get the .xmp sidecar files along with the lightroom catalogue. Most people have their own editing styles and worse, presets, most of those are not as good as they would like to think, sorry to say. Also – if your client gets images from you, the shots should all be edited in the same style. HDR is not a style, like a bumper sticker is not part of the design of a car.
9) Make sure that the second shooter / assistant understands that all the shots made as part of your photographic team, will fall under and be licensed as your own brand. If a second shooter wants the oportunity to shoot with no real pressure to perform AND get paid for that privilege, then the licensing is the sacrifice they should be willing to make until they have proven that their images are of the same quality as your own (hardly ever the case, and when it is so, why are they second shooting then?) What other benefit is there of having them on the shoot with you?
10) The copyright belongs to the main shooter.
11) It depends on your view, but decide of you want second shooters to shoot on their own, often entry level lenses or do you supply them with good glass and a matching body?
12) Also depending on your preference, but I feel that i a second shooter wants to get paid, he/she needs to be there for the selection process.
13) The most important thing that a second shooter has to offer you, especially shooting a wedding is giving you a greater variety of shots to choose from, hopefully.

Having said all this – I would not be able to  where I am today if it were not for the often mundane and overlooked value that a couple of assistants who I can proudly also now call my friends.

I would like to hear from assistants, second shooters and fellow photographers alike – what insights do you have to offer on this topic?

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Now when you shoot any particular thing more than once, the first shot might be to quickly evaluate the composition and exposure, make adjustments and do a final shot – this seems to be the way we all shot film – possibly only one shot even. Alternatively with digital, shoot a hellavalot with a number of

small tweaks as you go along resulting in a series of which there is a final shot. if you have been shooting digital for more than a year by now, I’m guessing there are by this time a multitude of DVDs or extarnal hard drives (Drobo caters for this…) containing all those shots that never actually got deleted along with the few and far between shots you actually tried to make and succeeded? HA! I’m onto you! At this stage i have to introduce one other small problem I have – I am a hoarder. Not because i want to keep stuff, but i dont want to chuck anything just incase i might need it later. Every now and again I hit spring cleaning mode (could be any time in the year) and decide to start culling away at those shots that take up terrabytes of space only to get lost in the minefield of almost-there shots and when i look through them, they get better and better as i go along with a great moment inbetween every now and again.

As a rule however the best ones are right at the end of a series or pretty close to it. so here is my solution: the “sort direction” button on the Lightroom toolbar. Other software also have this feature, probably named similarly, but the idea is to sort your images based on capture time, so they are presented chronologically as you shot them. and with this button, you can reverse that order to start with the last shot and gradually work your way through them to the first one.

what is so great about that? well then you get to see what is most likely your best shot first. any shot after that get a little worse as you go along.that speeds up the selection and sorting process because you stop second guessing yourself about which one is actually the better shot. fine so out of 20 or 50 shots (easy for one look when shooting models) you can get you 3 or  very best ones and mark the rest for delete with much more confidence and at a far greater speed. hope this helps you as it did me.

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ok so you guys are getting into the commercial side of photography. i think it is much needed practice to charge according to your skill level, but also not give you work (and intellectual property) away for peanuts.
check out the sites after the jump to help you establish your rate, capture fee, editing rate, etc.

there is also some good info on copyright. this is important! in SA the copyright defaults to the commissioner (its the only place in the world that does it… and we are fighting hard to mend that) so be SURE to make the client sign that they understand that the copyright and ownership belongs to you the photographer, and that they are licensed to use the image(s) within certain boundaries negotiated by you and the client.

the assumption is often that digital photography is cheaper than film, but not really. as you need a whole lot more camera kit, computers and software that will outdate faster and costs more to replace. not building a capture fee for this reason into your cost estimates is a fatal flaw that will benefit you in the short run, but wil come back to haunt you in the long run in many different ways. we need to fork out cash for camera equipment, insurance, traveling, computers, software etc. where does it all come from? well we have to work for it, but most amateur and semi-pro photographers work with their income in a hand-to-mouth way purely because they are undercharging for what they are delivering – thus you might never be making any money but just replacing old equipment and and plugging holes when things go pear shaped.

here are some handy guidelines:
http://www.appa.org.za/appa/rates_bur.html and
http://www.copyright4clients.com/faqs (handy to explain to clients)

if photographers keep undercutting each other we are eroding away our future income, sustainability and the core of our professional business. by adhering to these guidelines, we protect our industry as well as inform the clients of why they need to cough a little more for professional images.

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This thingamagiggy is called FlikrSlidr and I came accross it here. Please support these okes for making something so easy and cool.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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Art Deco boutique hotel is the prefect venue for a shoot thanks to load of light spilling in from large windows and skylights.

super-imposing that same shot into the cool-looking location in front of me. thats lame in all honesty. its perfectly fine if i’m aiming to just try out something, but if i’m going to be out shooting and making the effort of setting up lights, organising assistants, make-up artists, stylists and whatever, i might as well take it to another level and not just shoot someone against a “live backdrop” but work with a clear concept instead.

A clear concept will inform the whole shoot – thats the benefit. so it fixes the very thing that makes most “pro-looking” shots an average image as so many images dont seem to speak as a whole. imagine 7 different people trying to speak with you at once. chances are unlikely that they wil say the same thing in sync with each other. it will be a lot of info without being connected besides where all the sound hits your eardrums. in the same way a conceptless image assaults your retinas with different elements “shouting” for your attention. combine them in the right way and you have the visual version of an angel choir singing in harmony.

just to be clear – this is a HUGE learning curve for me to make it happen when shooting models. the shots that stand out for me in my own work and that of others is the work that has the elements connected and referring to each other.

To pull it all together then: working with a clear concept allows me to plan a look, make wardrobe choices, get the make-up and hair right and then make sure the location fits the concept. in the past my knee-jerk reaction was to see a great location (based on other people’s cool shots, or great colours or textures, etc etc) and then imagine an image i could make there. that caused me to become very annoyed with models that didnt make great poses and guess what? i needed to direct them so i had a lot of fingers pointing right back at me. so after a generous helping of humble pie, i had to reconsider why i shoot and how i go about it. now i know i want to say something with a shoot and even the poses are informed by the intent.

typing this i realise it might sound like such a no-brainer to come to this understanding, but the implications are massive. to me it is the difference between just shooting models, putting techniques to the test, and knowing the difference between shooting beauty, fashion, modeling, editorials, etc.
Once you are able to discern between the two areas, it will be much easier to hire the correct lighting for the job as well.  i’m not proclaiming to know it all not by a long shot – this is the beginning for me in many ways. i’m just over 30 and feel like i have another 70-80 odd years to go.

this feels like a theme for a couple of blog posts to come, so watch this space

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Ok so it has been another while… I’ve been working hard to afford my latest gadget: an iPhone 3Gs 16GB. And I am glad to report that it is even more of a dream than I thought

Normaly when I get excited about things, they seem to under perform measured againt their appeal and marketing promises. The iPhone just gets better. Now I can of on the run when I’m bored or waiting for someone or something to happen… Which brings me to my next point – I’m typing this message FROM my phone to see how it holds up. Let me know what you think or what you experiences are with blogging from your phone (tweeting does not count here)

(By the way, this image was shot on my phone, edited and made to look like a polaroid snap all in-phone, and resized by the app for uploading speed.)

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more to follow soon.

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As you might or might not know, most shopping centres, malls, etc. have signs that says “no photography” and even if you try, security comes out of the woodwork and tells you you cant take photographs inside. i asked so many of them why and non could answer, so i got chatting with centre managers. The best excuse so far was that the shop owners did not want their shops to be photographed. sorry, but what on earth can you see in a photograph that you cant see with your eyes?Before I continue – i need to urge you to PLEASE not make photographer’s names bad in an already distrusting shopping environment, so get the permission from centre management before you barge in there all lenses blazing. ok.

I think if they want to outlaw photography in shopping centres, they should also say no eating, drinking, talking, MXIT while walking, or handbags allowed inside. Handbags are more detrimental to public safety, more likely to carry a bomb, more likely to get stolen, and when the bags get big and the isles in Exclusives Books get narrow, they become weapons of mass obstruction. 

also:
- one way traffic 
- keep left pass right. 

- no walking nextto each other – that obstucts the walkways and would be deemed a fire hazard… single file please.
- no kids under 8yo – they drop cooldrink, icecream and vomit on the floors that are extremely slippery = hazard to others.
- no elderly of other slow moving people. for fair trade to take place people should have equal chance to view all stores. – all shops should have an outside-section as well for drive-by shopping (mostly for men – because men know what they want before they go to the mall)
- no music in the mall either
- that is used to emotionally and subconsciously manipulate you into buying things you wouldn’t normally even consider
- no scantily dressed, cleavage bearing girls / woman and definitely no trousers-hanging-below-the ass for the guys. 
- all similar stores must be grouped together for convenience sake. Canal walk is WAY to big and you’re already not allowed to run or use rollerblades… what if PnP does not stock something and i need to get to right on the other side about 1km Checkers? man what a marathon.
- introduce conveyor belts in the middle of walkways like at big airports
- introduce escalators that can take trollies and prams
- waiting at those damn lifts when some lazy people dont want to walk around the lift to take the escalators and people with niggly babies have to wait in line? no no. i can go on but this should cover it for now. 
 

please feel free to add to the list.

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What I found was that the flowers got quite abstract the closer I got because part of the petals became ridiculously out of focus (OOF) to a point where it started to look like abstract paintings and the colour fields of  Mark Rothco, just with some flowery details mixed in. These were mostly shot hand held, because the tripod was to much of a mission. it was nesesary for some of the shots where i wanted at least some depth of field (DOF). With macro even f8 rendes a very shallow DOF, so getting sharp focus and good depth, I had to shoot some between f38 and f54! … and those were obviously on a tripod.

I am happy to report that if you have good hand-holding technique, the VR (vibration reduction) in the 105mm is super effective even at 1:1 magnification – it makes focusing and composition so much easier if you can handhold around the f19 mark.

Have a look here and enjoy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonslens/2969207012/

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