Show Season

It has been too long since my last blog here. Lifes necessities keep getting in the way of lifes wants.

As spring approaches, so do the art shows. My schedule of prepping for the various activities coming within the next two months is a bit overwhelming. The first show opened last night at the Belton Center for the Arts. The show is a motorcycle themed exhibit named Two Wheels - One Journey. The exhibit runs through March 30, 2012. There will be a motorcycle rally at the location on March 24, 2012. Tammy and I went to opening reception last night. The reception was fantastic. Based on what I have seen at the center, I will be joining later this month. The center really put on a first class soiree. The exhibit itself is not what I envisioned. The theme is "motorcycle" related. Viewing the exhibit one would get the impression that it is a Harley Davidson themed exhibit. I am the only artist representing anything other than Harleys. I entered four pictures. One Ninja, one Goldwing, one chopper, and one Harley which happens to be a hearse. I think diversity is needed to make a more rounded show. One standout on display is a chopper. It truly is a thing of beauty. I have posted a gallery on my website with the pictures that are on display at the art center.

http://smu.gs/yR1iL5

The next event to prep for is the Pickens County Museum of Art and History juried show. This is a tough one. I always have a difficult time deciding what to enter for this one. I really want to enter a print on canvas this year. After prep for Pickens county, I am looking at vendor spaces for a couple of different events. I need so much stuff in a short period of time. The prep work is the not so fun part of running a photography business. Just in case some of you thought it was all just pressing a button on the camera, making a print from the inkjet and selling it at exorbitant prices. Maybe that's a topic for another blog. What goes on behind the scenes of a photography business.

I also have motorcycle season starting in a couple weeks. I plan on being out every weekend taking pictures of everyone enjoying the warmer weather. Motorcycles, exhibits, festivals, spring flowers, and juried shows all flowing together in a never ending stream of semi-organized chaos. It will settle down some in 3 to 4 months and the chaotic dance of organizing that which cannot be organised will be missed.

Photography, Business, and Aspergers Syndome

For those who  are not familiar with Aspergers Syndrome, there are good explanations elsewhere on the web. One of them is Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with mild Aspergers. This is something, that up until now, I have shared with very few people. The diagnosis was actually a relief. So many things in my life have now been explained. Aspergers is not a handicap in the traditional sense. The biggest problem for me has been a complete lack of social skills, as anyone who really knows me can attest. Aspergers is a big part of who I am.

I started my photography business three years ago with the encouragement of my wife. At that time we had no clue about Aspergers. A key in any business is social skills. I bet you can see the conflict here. When I started the business I decided that I did want to deal with weddings, children, portraits, or parties. The reasoning at the time was I had no interests in those things and I knew that my people skills were weak. A good decision that now has a medical basis.

So where do I go from here? I have my own photography business. I possess very few social skills and even less desire to learn those skills. Even with not shooting social events or people directly, I still must have the ability to meet with and talk to clients in way they are accustomed to in business situations. The necessary skills can be learned by people with Aspergers. My desire to be successful with my business outweighs my lack of desire to learn social skills. With help from various sources I am learning to be more socially acceptable. People with Aspergers can be successful in business, look at Bill Gates for one.

Why photography? I love taking pictures. I am a bit of an anomaly in the field of photography. Many photographers are creative, abstract thinkers. I am just the opposite. I am a detailed oriented thinker, a trait of people with Aspergers. There are niches in the field of photography that cater to the more detailed inclined photographers. I have little interest in those areas. A common trait of Aspies (people with Aspergers) and other types of autism is the thought process. Most of us think in pictures at least some of the time. A good book on the subject is "Thinking in Pictures" by Temple Grandin. For me photography is a method to capture scenes the way I see them. I can then share those pictures with others and hopefully convey how I see things in a way that I can't do with words. Pictures are easy, words are difficult.

A big part of business development today is the use of social media. A key word here is social. To the aspie, that word can be kryptonite. As I have discussed in another blog, I am trying to use the social media tools that are available. As I blog I am constantly thinking about my own feelings towards social media. Who cares what I have to say? I certainly don't care what most other people have to say in their blogs. But I do find some to be interesting. I have to force myself to realize that these tools are a way of letting possible customers know more about me and my business. I also realize that most people are not like me and are actually interested in what others have to say. A concept that I may never fully comprehend. I do care what others have to say if it is a subject that I have an interest in or may affect me in some way. Tweeting is still totally foreign. I have started following people and businesses that are photography related as well as the local news. These are things that interests me or me affect me. I have garnered a few followers so far. I have followed back because that's the way to be social. I have found that I   really do not care what many of these people are tweeting about. Maybe I'll learn how to use all of these tools effectively at some point in the near future.

After I started my business, I struggled with creating a look and feel for the various things needed for the business. Things such as business cards, website design, what fonts to use, and a logo. The single hardest thing was logo design. Professional logo design services are very expensive and really don't seem to want your business unless they can have creative control. Excuse me, this is MY business and I am the one with creative control. I had many ideas through the first two plus years of the business. The thoughts of incorporating a camera into the logo or using one of my pictures somehow always seemed to be central. No matter what my wife or I came up with seemed to be right. After the diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, everything fell into place. While Aspergers has no official symbol (a common symbol is a rainbow), autism does. The symbol for autism awareness is a puzzle piece or pieces in various colors. I noticed many photography related businesses use a stylized picture of a camera shutter. I drew my own version of a six bladed shutter. In the middle I wanted to use multi-colored puzzle pieces to represent my Aspergers. I filled in the shutter blades with three puzzle pieces and used pure red, green, and blue as the piece colors. The choice of colors brings everything together. Red, green, and blue are the primary colors of photography, hence the common RGB designations. With these three colors, all colors of the rainbow are possible. I drew and colored everything by hand and found a local company that said they would help with the conversion to the various digital formats I needed. When they discovered that I had designed the logo and just really needed the conversion work, they wouldn't even respond to my emails. A friend at work (yes, I still have a day job) does some design work on the side, mostly vinyl signs and so forth. I asked him if he could digitize my design, he could and did for a very reasonable price. The result is a logo that my wife and I love.

Aspergers Syndrome can be limiting in many ways. It also provides access to paths that are not well traveled. Aspies travel these paths and can do great things. It is commonly believed that Albert Einstein suffered from Aspergers Syndrome. You probably know several aspies in your own life. Aspies have the ability to conquer whatever it is that they have decided to conquer. My own battle is to build my photography business to success. There are obstacles that may be bigger for me than for an NT (neuro-typical or normal person), but I am also free to explore areas not seen by others. Photography is my outlet to share my vision, the vision of an Aspie, of the the world around me. The business? Why not? I am an outstanding photographer with the desire to succeed. Aspergers Syndrome has provided me with a unique skill set and tools to make that happen.

Steps to Becoming a Better Photographer

I'm doing something a little different today. It is basically a how to blog. If response is favorable I may do other more in depth how to blogs.

Christmas is a mere 28 days away. A popular Christmas gift is new cameras. Sometimes the camera will be just a newer model and other times it will be for someone who knows nothing about photography. The following steps can apply to everyone (although more so to the novice).

1. READ, READ, READ. If you are new to photography, find resources on basic photography to familiarize yourself with the terminology. Without a solid base your photography will suffer. The same applies to experienced photographers. There are a lot of good articles out there on advanced techniques. A couple of good sources are Popular Photography  magazine and Shutterbug magazine.

http://www.popphoto.com/

http://www.shutterbug.com/

2. Continue reading. Read the manual and look at the CD/DVD that comes with your new camera. These resources are indispensable in most cases. I say in most cases because there are some poorly written manuals. I don't go anywhere without my manual. The manual can answer a lot of questions before they become questions. I have had people ask questions about the most basic camera controls. Questions that are normally explained, at least somewhat, in the users manual.

3. Put the batteries in the camera and go through all the setup menus while following the instructions in the manual. Make note of anything you are not sure about or that the manual does not cover well enough.

4. Start shooting. At this point the subject matter does not matter. It can be your nephew picking his nose or your dog licking himself. The purpose here is to familiarize yourself with all of the doodads and whatsits on the new camera. Play with the buttons and dials to see how everything affects the pictures. Learn what everything does. These steps now can be the difference between getting that once in a lifetime picture or missing it. It can also mean the difference between gray snow and white snow or a yellow wedding dress or a white one.

5. Go read some more. Find a forum for your camera model, find photography forums. Ask your questions. Try new things with the camera. Take lots of pictures of nothing important. It's not like you have to pay for processing with digital cameras. Taking pictures of nothing important while using different settings will teach you how the camera needs to be setup to get the picture you want, not the picture that the camera thinks you want.

After taking pictures for 25 years, I can tell you that the read and play cycle never ends. I am always learning new things about my equipment and it's limitations or learning and mastering new techniques. The way to mastery is through education (reading) and practice (playing). How many bad shots have I taken over the years? Way to many to count. The novice thinks every picture needs to be good. The master knows that sometimes only 1 out of 100 needs to be good. As you go through the read and play cycles, you will learn about more than just the camera. You will learn techniques and composition and many other wonderful things.

6. Ignore everything I have just said and leave your camera in automatic. Your snapshots will be acceptable as snapshots. Not always a bad thing. We all have a need and desire to record things that happen in our life. That's what a snapshot is, a recording of a particular moment in time to keep the memory of the moment alive. If you have no desire to make photographs instead of snapshots keep your camera in automatic. But if you have ever wondered how some photographs are done, read and find out. Almost 100% of the time it is not done with the camera in automatic mode. The photographer knew ahead of time how the camera needed to be set to get the photograph he desired. The photographer did not allow the camera to make decisions. Snapshots or photographs...the choice is yours.

The Off Season

Photography is a seasonal profession for many of us. While I don't know the exact up and down seasons for other types of photographers, I do know that the winter months can be very slow for outdoor photography work. My motorcyclists won't return until late March or early April. The trees are naked until about the same time. Everybody is in a rush for Christmas. The days can be cold, and sunrise and sunset even colder. For many of the uninitiated, these factors conjure up dreams of sitting on a beach in the Florida keys sipping tropical cocktails.

Many of us simply do not have that good of a business. During the slow periods I am still very busy, just not taking as many pictures. I am planning for the upcoming spring months. Spring is a time for many art shows and juried art competitions. Preparation now is essential for success. A lot of business management things are also happening. Tax season is just around the corner. Filing taxes on a business is a little more complicated than the 1040EZ form. Now is a good time for website updates, designing new business cards, finding new prospective clients, and taking care of a thousand other little things that there is not time for during the busy times. It's not all fun in the sun during the times when I am not taking pictures.

Even with all of the really boring but necessary business requirements going on during the off season, time must be made to take pictures. As an outdoor photographer, winter is a great season for black and white photography. The grey winter skies and the lack of foliage can make some very artsy black and white images. Some touristy type attractions can also be good places to visit. The crowds are kept at bay by the temperatures, giving me the opportunity to shoot at will without the clutter of people in the shots. Between now and late January is an excellent time to get sunrise photos. The skies are generally free of haze due to the cooler weather. Dawn comes later, so I don't have to get up at 4am to get the shots. The Cowpens Revolutionary War battle field is about 60 miles from my house. Every January there is a reenactment at the battlefield. I am sure there is a market for the reenactment pictures, I just have not learned how I want to market the pictures yet.

What season is really the off season for photographers? That's easy. The off season is really the one that puts me behind the camera, doing what I love. It is the time not spent with my camera that is work.

Happy Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving day I have many things that I am thankful to have. I have a wife who loves me. I am gainfully employed and have my own business. I maintain a roof over my head and food to feed my family. What else do I need? Nothing. There are many other things that my wife and I may want, but our needs are taken care of. For that I am thankful. There are many people in this world whose basic needs are not fulfilled. It is those people who I keep in my prayers during this season and throughout the year. Take a few moments to think about what you have, no matter how small or trivial. Realize that there are many people who do not have the things that we take for granted. Take that spare change or give up a latte to help someone less fortunate. Take this day to be thankful for what we do have and give just a little so that those who don't have what they need can be thankful as well. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Tis the Season

Black Friday is almost here. The season of commercialism is upon us. Throughout the year people ask me for camera recommendations. I usually tell them that any of the dslr cameras from the major manufacturers should work well. The people usually ask what brand of equipment I use. When I tell them I use Pentax, many people have not heard of Pentax. Pentax makes great cameras, so do Nikon, Canon, and Sony/Minolta. Up to this point I have stayed with Pentax so that I can use all of my lenses. I love my Pentax. But when asked what camera I would purchase today...the answer is Nikon. The answer is not due to any problems with Pentax. My Pentax equipment continues to serve me well. I still use 25 year old lenses. The reason I say Nikon is not for any reason that people looking to buy a consumer level dslr will care about anyway.  I want a full frame sensor, Pentax does not offer one. I want a better lens selection. Nikon and Canon users have an almost unlimited lens selection. Nikon and Canon users also have an outstanding selection of accessories. I would love to have one of the aftermarket eyecups for my viewfinder. The company that produces them only makes them for Canon and Nikon. Another reason I personally would buy Nikon today is their support for professional photographers.

For those of you looking at camera equipment for Christmas. Here are my recommendations. Do the research. Define the features that are important to you. Go to a store and hold the equipment in your hands. Don't let the recent high school graduate working at the big box store sell you on all of the geewhiz gizmos that you may never use. Many of those gizmos are very similar from one manufacturer to the next anyway. Keep in mind the two most important things when buying a camera are image quality and ease of use. Ask people that use the equipment what they like and don't like about there cameras. Don't be sold on megapixels. Pixel size is just as important as the number. Larger pixels make better pictures. The vast majority of people are not going to try to get those jumbo poster size prints made, the one area where megapixels count. A mere 8mp will produce outstanding 8x10 and 11x14 prints. The lens is more important that the body. Upgrading from the kit lens is something you want to consider. Using a lens of poor quality will render the best of cameras useless.

An old adage in photography is that the best camera is the one in your hands. Make sure that whatever you decide on, it is something that will be in your hands often. If you enjoy the camera your photography skills will improve. If you don't like the camera, taking pictures will become too much work and image quality will suffer. Decide on the camera and lens you want and go enjoy yourself.

What Kind of Photography do I Do?

Something I have encountered on many occasions over the years is people not understanding that there are different types of photography. I went to the local BBB to get information about joining. The lady I talked to was really excited because of the low number of photographers that are BBB members. She immediately assumed that photography meant wedding/studio type work. I explained that I don't do that type work and attempted to explain what types of photography I do. She searched her computer for the correct classification of my type of work. There wasn't any. I have encountered the same problem while trying to set things up for yp.com and other similar sites for listing my business. There simply is no classification for my type of work.

In the broadest classification, I do most types of outdoor photography. While I can do sports such as football and baseball, I have no interest in those. That falls mostly under journalism and I have done that type of work in the past. Outdoor photography encompasses nature, wildlife, sunrise/sunset, architecture, street scenes, historical, and many other subjects. I really do not like using artificial light sources. A little is acceptable to help knock the shadows down, but too much makes the subject look artificial also.

I love doing wildlife. A couple of years ago a local wildlife park started offering photography days. I signed up and went to one. The price included entering the enclosesures for some of the animals. The experience was wonderful for the most part. I came away with pictures that I would never have gotten in the wild or from standing outside the cages. I said for the most part and that is because there were about 30 photographers of all skill levels trying to get similar pictures. There was one novice in the group that kept going on about wanting the sun behind her. Normally a good practice but not always attainable or wanted. A good photographer knows how to work with the various lighting situations encountered while doing outdoor work. This includes shooting into the sun and using backlighting for some very dramatic photos. I did my best to stray away from the crowd to get unique shots. There were a few other pros there and we tended to go our separate ways and stay away from the non-pros. We weren't being snobby, each of us knew how to evaluate the scene and what we wanted to capture. Part of the experience was driving into the safari area and being allowed to exit our vehicles. I had the pleasure of having an older gentleman riding with me who used to work for National Geographic.

Links:

http://www.hollywild.com/

http://www.pgwelchphotography.com/Zoos/Hollywild-Animal-Park

I do a lot of motorcycle photography. When I tell people that, they assume it means that I go to bike shows and rallies. Where I live, curvy roads are the norm. Many motorcyclists come to this region to have fun on our curvy roads. Those same motorcyclists like to have pictures of themselves leaned way over in a curve. While there is not enough motorcycle traffic in my little corner of the mountains to maintain a photography business, there is an area just outside my range that provides enough business to support several photographers. I get pictures of bikes going to or from that area. I also get the business of the motorcyclists that do not want to deal (no pun intended) with going to that area and it's associated traffic. This type of work is not for everyone. Sometimes it can be rather boring sitting and waiting for riders. My usual spots have no cell phone service. Other times there can be too much excitement. I have seen a few riders go down and an SUV hit a tree at 30mph. Even after explaining what I do with motorcycles, I think many people still do not get it.

I have galleries of battle reenactments, battlefields, animals, flowers, trains, and many other things. To really understand what I do, wander over to my website and browse through the galleries. There is something there for almost everyone.

http://www.pgwelchphotography.com/