Gamers

I've been attending a regular game night with friends since about , at least 2006. We play on Wednesday nights, and it has been very much fun. I am not a hard core gamer like some of them, more of a social gamer who shows up for the photos, beer, and an occasional game play.
For a long while, I have been posting my photos of the games and people who are playing them. It has been a fun exercise. I've seen my photos get a lot better along the way. From available light, to other lenses, to bounce light, to multiple remote light triggers. I like the challenge, and it is a great way for me to get regular practice at photography.

In early 2011, the President RBM design studios, Rodger MacGowen, contacted me about my game night photos. He offered some mutually beneficial exchange between me and his group. He would send some magazines and games for photos to be used on his website for his magazine- C3i. Alrighty then... I had no clue who the guy was. I talked to my gaming buddies, and as it turns out he has put out a CRAP load of games. He is part of the management team at GMT.

To put it mildly  the dude is in gaming. He contacted me for photos to use. Really?


Rodger asked me to do some photos for the C3i magazine, adverts. The first couple were not QUIET what he was looking for. Ok ok ok... they were total ham shots. I wanted to come up with something slightly better.

My mind started thinking of posed shots- not the impromptu shots I am used to getting with the gaming friends. Rodger game me a couple ideas he was looking for, and I ran with them.

First, I needed to light the C3i magazine. Thats a given. Snoot or grid spot. That takes care of one of my two light sources. The 430EX because of the ability to dial down to like 1/64 power. Ok...  Then a soft light for another axis of light. This would be on the subjects face while 'reading' the magazine. That would get my Vivatar 285. Which means I had to go 1/4 or 1/16, as it does not have 1/8 power. *sigh*

Seemed like a great idea, the problem is I don't do this type of shooting enough to just setup and go. It took me a good 10-15 minutes to dial everything in. But once I did get it, I was just nailing shot after shot. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Nice soft light on one side of the subject away from the magazine cover, and the cover nicely highlighted with a direct light source.

Rodger was very happy and turned it around the next day for an on-line advert.

[follow-up] I often joke with the guys that if a GMT game is on the table, I am legally obligated to photograph it. Rodger did me one better, he said I was ' "unofficial" GMT photographer.'

David Gray, 9/30/12 Baltimore Lyric

I was not planning on attending the 9/30/12 concert of David Gray in Baltimore at the Lyric. A buddy contacted me two days before, and asked if my wife and I wanted to go with him. Someone who had planned to go dropped out last minute. We scrambled for support of the kids, and we were going!
Buddy of mine had 2nd row, center tickets via the fanclub. Pretty darn sweet.

My next set of questions involved photographing the show. As I stated with U2, if I didn't have my camera at the show- all I would be doing is thinking about taking photos at the show. It is how I am wired. I could not find any photography policy either by David Gray's fansite, nor via the Lyric. My one phone call to the Lyric got sent to voicemail, it was the weekend I suppose. The fansite was pretty lacking in the support area, but then again I believe the height of his musical influence occurred in the 2003-2004 time frame.

I debated to myself on what to do, and the day of the show was rainy. That sealed the deal. Because we were so close, I would take the Canon 7D body without the battery grip, and ONLY the 50mm f/1.8 lens. While I would have loved to take the 17-40mm, or even the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, being in the second row would have been too much. I also did not want to get to the door and be told to go away until I got rid of that stuff. I was also not sure how the fanclub operated entry etc. So less risk on my behalf.

When we got there, it turned out I could have taken a duffel-bag of camera gear in. No one cared what you had to be honest. I was thankful that our seats were so close, so my 50mm was effective. Lighting was not too challenging. David Gray did not move around too much, though for a couple songs he moved to a piano further back. Otherwise it was just lighting effects, a very active head movement by David, and getting the right emotion during the song. Dialing in the camera was pretty easy- it stayed at 640ISO the entire show.

I took about 110 photos total. Not that many... But I was pretty happy with most I took. I did publish 30 of them on Flickr.

Image use requests

Occasionally I get a request for use of my images for various reasons. Three of the most recent images were for completely different reasons. This was over the past two/three months. I don't get them too often, well, in terms of requests per year.

The first was of Sierra's paws in a stream. (see right image)
The group who wanted to use it was for a non-profit book of poems and short stories. The proceeds were going to support a local SPCA.
Not only did I agree with enthusiasm, but I supplied a higher quality image than they were expecting. I love to help non-profits in this manner.

I even submitted an image of Sierra to the Lab Rescue group calendar. Not sure if it will be picked, but if it helps get a few more dollars in the donation box for a great group, I am more than happy.

The second image was for the use of Bono U2 image. (image on left)
I am usually happy to help folks as best as I can. Occasionally they find the image because they are in the background, or that it was a moment they recalled from the show.
In each case, I ask them if they are familiar with the African Well Fund. Once they are, I ask if they make a donation for getting a print made, it is up to them. I have no real way to find out if they donated, I suppose I could inquire,  but I am the trusting type. At least 75% of the time people disappear after me asking for that donation.  It is a little sad to think people just want a free hand out, instead of making a small donation for a great charity to get something they want.

The third and last image still makes me laugh. I was contacted by a magazine company owned by a MAJOR credit card company. They stated they had a very tight timeline and if I agreed to have my credit with the image, they would be happy to use it.
I replied with a very nice, "thank you, but I value my images more than to have a photo credit. If we can sort out a compensation for use, I'd be happy to help out."
Needless to say, I never heard back from that contact. I am all in favor of promoting my images, but not for free folks. You have crap loads of money to put that product out. I am sure they found someone else who was more than willing to give their product away for "free." Oh well.


Some random photo links I have found recently:

- Gizmodo: The ASCII Photobooth! Wow that is just so super fantastic I can't believe it hasn't been brought back yet for hipster weddings.

- Photography Blog- CameraImagesSensor.com- I wish I had more of a use for something like this.

- DIY Photography- How to Build A Beauty Dish- I still really want to do a project like this. And from the looks of things, I think it is highly doable. Just need to find the time and parts. Ha.

- LifeHacker- A Geek's Guide to Budgeting Hobbies- Yes, photography is a hobby. Some really good tips... now how to balance hobbies and being an active parent!

- LifeHacker- Know your rights!- Knowledge is indeed power, especially when people are paranoid as hell and just assume you are doing something wrong.

- LifeHacker- How to keep track of your media on-line- I've tried Tineye in the past, pretty much a pain to use and keep up on. The Google Alert bit is nice, assuming they credit you.

The Daguerreotype

Been forever since I posted, but I thought these two videos are fantastic in terms of photographic history. Even if they are short, they are great brain fodder in my opinion. I am trying to wrap my brain around the idea of seeing a photograph for the first time of what truly was instead of an interpretation. (painting, etc) I agree that this process changed the way humans thought.