Last Friday was my first Fort Wayne Museum of Art fundraiser Gala. It was held at the newly rennovated Museum. The turnout was really impressive, there were about 450 people attending. It was a swank affair with open bar and great food. They had a silent auction (none of our bids were high enough) and then after dinner there was a live auction. It was a fun evening.

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I decided to add a new section to my website. Under the about page I now have a link to my Personal Project section. These are photo that I have taken just for me. There’s a pretty wide range of photos there, everything from photos of Fort Wayne Landmarks to wildlife to fantasy images. The section is accessable from the About Page or by following this link.

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Ok, on to another thought. Last week I was going over some of my recent shoots and making sure files were backed up and archieved. Nothing will ruin your day more that losing some photos due to hardware problems. One thing that struck me was the diversity of what I shoot. For instance, below are two recent photos.

How’s that for diverse, a portrait of a 3 month old and a product shot for an advertising agency?

But that’s one reason I really enjoy my job. Every day is different, unique, and offers new challenges. I am truely blessed to be be able to work at a job that is also my passion.

Thanks for reading and have a happy Monday!

-Ken

You know, yesterday’s blog entry got me thinking about senior pictures and about when I was graduating from high school. Back then, as the school newspaper and yearbook photographer I shot film and processed it in the school’s darkroom. (Yeah, I know, that was a long, long time ago). Some people look at graduating from high school as a cross road in their life, while I can see that, I considered it more like a milestone.

All the time you are in school, from first grade to twelfth grade, you are most likely living with your parents. You are taught and guided how to live your life. However, after you graduate, you are either going to college or joining the work force (or both). You life changes in many ways. You are on your own and have to start making your own decisions. You also have to be accountable for the decisions you make. Mom is no longer there to tell you to get up or you’ll be late for class. Groceries no longer magically appear in the cupboard or fridge. Leaving the lights on or turning up the thermostat will actually cost you money. It’s the first step in becoming an adult.

So, Why is a Senior Picture important? A good senior picture should capture that stage in your life. If should reflect your personality and say something about who you are. You only pass this milestone once in your life so you want it done right. Believe it or not I still have a box with wallet sized photos of people I went to high school with all those years ago. Most wrote some silly sayings on the back that, now looking back, was cheesy and corny.

They make me smile.

It’s interesting, when I look over these pictures. Some of them show what these folks were like back them. I can picture the things we did and the laughs we shared. Other photos look like mug shots. While I recognize the person in the picture, it doesn’t really convey who they were at that stage of their lives. I guess that’s on of the differences between a good portrait and a so-so portrait.

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And for a laugh click here to see some really, uh, interesting senior pictures.

Once again, thanks for reading.

- Ken

A couple of days ago I received an email from a high school senior who was inquiring about having her photo taken. Now, I get a lot inquiries and questions, but never ones like these. It was really evident she has been talking to a lot of her friends and possibly other photographers, cuz she really did her homework and put a great deal of thought into her list of questions. I was really happy that she was so diligent about looking into choosing the right photographer. For me, the more a client knows, the more they appreciate what I do and how I work.

Below are some of her questions and my answers.

How many outfit changes do you permit and do I have to wear solid colors?
I don’t limit the number of wardrobe changes. I usually allocate 2 hours for each shoot, so it’s up to you as to how many changes you want to do. No, I don’t insist on solid colors. I always ask that my clients bring a variety of colors and styles.

Where do you shoot your senior pictures? Do you have a real studio or do you always shoot at a park or someone’s house?
I shoot portraits in my studio on Coliseum Blvd. as well as at the location of your choice. I also have some cool, edgy locations we can shoot at. I insist that I meet with the senior as well as a parent in advance of the shoot to discuss these details. This makes the day of shoot go more smoothly and uses the time more efficiently.

Do you use a lot of props and sets in your senior pictures? If so, what will make my pictures unique?
While I do have some props, my photos are driven by my subject. All lighting, backdrops, poses, camera angles are customized for my client. I usually don’t preset anything, each portrait is unique because all the elements are assembled just for you. In fact, in the studio, I shoot with my camera attached to a computer and you can see the photos in real time, as they are shot. Depending on the location, I frequently use my studio lights outdoors to create customized lighting effects specifically for you.

Do you print your own photos?
No. I use a few different professional color labs to produce my prints. These labs use the latest techology to produce true photographs (not inkjet/laser prints) on a variety of different paper textures as well as canvases.

Can I bring a friend with me the day of the shoot?
Absolutely. I try to make my shoots fun and relaxed. Have a friend or two around will help you relax and give you feedback on your photos.

Anyway, these were a few of her questions. I appreciate alll the thought she put into researcing her senior pictures and look forward to shooting with her.

Thanks for reading!

-Ken

OK, I put together a brief video that shows some of my different portrait styles. Typically I don’t shoot in a certain “style”. How I light and style a shoot has more to do with my subject and the kind of image they want to create. I craft an image that is appropriate for my subject, in terms of lighting, pose, and camera angle.

Here is a link to the video – Portrait Styles

Take a look and let me know what you think.

I am active on Twitter and you can follow me here.

Also become a fan on Facebook here.

Thanks for reading,

-Ken

For the past 5-6 years the debate has raged whether or not film is dead. Over that time technology has vastly improved and thus the quality of digital has also improved. Another factor has been the improvement of digital workflow that allows post processing to be a bit more efficient.

For the most part, if you are a professional photographer it is likely that you shoot 95%+ digital. There are, of course, exceptions, but this is true for the most part.

A couple of years ago I had a high school student shadow me in the studio for Career Day. She was considering majoring in Photography when she went to college. One of her frustrations in high school was that the Photography I class required them to shoot film and work in the dark room before they could advance to the Photography II class the next semester. The Photography II class moved to using digital and learning Photoshop. She wanted to skip the whole film thing and just head straight into digital.

I guess the way I look at it, learning to shoot film is a good thing. First of all, digital photography (including Photoshop) has it’s roots deep in traditional film photography. Much of what you can do in Photoshop can also be done in a darkroom if you have the skills. Understanding this will make you a stronger photographer and editor. I’m not saying you should become an expert in the darkroom before you move to digital, but I think that if you spend some time to learn the basics of traditional photography, you’ll gain some good habits and skills that will help you in the digital world.

One large advantage in shooting film (especially medium format), is that you learn to see the shot before you shoot it. The reason this happens is that when you are shooting film, you have a finite number of frames available to you. For instance when I shot 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 film, I had 8 shots to a roll of film. I learned to get things right before I tripped the shutter. If I shot 32 photos that’s 4 rolls of film. To process 4 rolls of film would take a couple of hours, plus drying time. And that’s just for the negatives. So you learn not to waste film.

So you ask, “how does that have an effect on digital?”. The payoff comes in post processing and disk management. When you learn to shoot more economically, you shoot fewer photos. Granted in digital, more memory cards are cheap, but your true gain comes after you download the photos to your computer. As a professional photographer, time is money and the more time you spend sorting thru photos and organizing them, the less time you can spend shooting. It’s better to spend your time looking at fewer, higher quality images than it is to go thru hundreds of poor quality images to find a few good ones.

People who learn to shoot digital tend to have a “pray and spray” mentality. In other words, they are likely to shoot lots of photos in hope of getting a few good ones. While that is not always the case, it is usually the majority.

Anyway, I think the idea to take away from all of this is to slow down and look at what you are shooting before you hit the shutter. If you do this, I think the quality of your images will improve and you’ll spend less time staring at your computer monitor. More camera time is more fun and will make you more money.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!

- Ken.

This week I got to shoot some fun photos. While I really enjoy traditional portraiture, I also like being challenged to shoot something different and unique. The first photos were shot on location at a nightclub called Early Bird’s. Chantel, a model and Miss Indiana contestant, wanted a location that was different and unique. We got some great shots.

Chantel

Chantel

 This next set of photos are of Natasha, a model and hair stylist. We shot some fun, diverse photos in the studio. Everything from dark and dramatic to bright and dreamy.

Natasha

Natasha

OK, a friend of mine and I were talking this past weekend. He’s a amateur photographer and shoots with a DSLR. He was talking about taking his skills to the next level and create more artistic images. Now he shoots almost exclusively on automatic exposure, basically letting the camera choose the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.

My first piece of advise was to switch over to manual setting and gain some control over the camera. He balked at the idea initially saying that he wants to be more artistic not be more technical. He said he didn’t want to be become a “camera geek”.

I explained to him that having a proficiancy with the tools of the trade is not becoming more “technical”, it’s learning the things that will allow him to become more artistic. The analogy I used was to Rembrandt, one the greatest artists. A painter not only must have to have an artistic eye, but also must learn how to mix colors, use different brushes and tools to create new textures. They have to know how to prepare their canvas, how to care for their brushes, and how to preserve their work. When you are look back on on the work of Da Vinci or Rembrandt you also have to remember that, if they needed paint, they didn’t just run to Hobby Lobby and buy a tube. They sometimes had to know how to make the paint they wanted to use. They had to know the characteristics of different brush materials and brush sizes.

My point being that an artist must know how to use the tools of the medium in order for their skills to improve. This is true regardless if you are sculpter, painter, or even a photographer.

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On an unrelated note, a client of mine, Apex Marine, has updated their website with photos I shot for them last summer. They just updated the website in time for the spring boat shows. Check out the product shots here.

Thanks for reading!

-Ken

Saturday night was quite a busy evening. Early in the evening my wife and I attended the Heart Ball. The Heart Ball is a black-tie fund raiser for the American Heart Association and is quite a fun event. It was held at the Grand Wayne Center which is a great venue. There was a dinner, an auction, and then there was a a DJ and dancing.

We had to leave early however because I had a gig that same night across town at Checkerz, a local night spot. Dash Rip Rock, a client of mine and great local band, was playing and they wanted me to shoot them live. Since they don’t usually perform in Fort Wayne, this was a great opportunity to shoot them while they were in town. So we ducked out of the Heart Ball in the middle of the Auction, ran home and put on some jeans, then booked it to Checkerz just in time to catch the end of the bands first set.

Eddy working the crowd.

Eddy.

Greg

Sammy and Eddy

So, it was fun evening and I got some great shots. The ones above were just a few I quickly chose for blog (I know I’m really behind on keeping it updated). I need to go thru the photos and look at them more closely.

Thanks for reading and I’ll post again this week.

-Ken

Whew! Just got home from Nashville and the PPA (Professional Photographers of American) conference known as Imaging USA. Wow, what a lot of information! This conference is quite intense. Learning sessions start at 7:00am and run to 7:30pm every day. In the evenings, various vendors sponsor events so that you can network with other photographers, then it starts all over again the next day. During the times between seminars, there is the expo where all the big name vendors of photographic gear are showing off their latest and greatest.

This year the Imaging USA had a record number of attendees, over 10,000!! It’s no wonder nearly all learning sessions were nearly booked. The event was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which is a very impressive venue. It’s huge! At nearly 3000 rooms with 4000 employees, it is really a city under a large glass dome. I tried to take some photos that would capture the scope of the place, but short of an arial photo it’s pretty hard to do. Here are a couple of photos:

A view of the Garden Conservatory area.

Balconies overlooking the garden.

An Orchid in the garden

The hotel is truely a beautiful place. If you get a chance to visit there, I would highly recommend it. Even though we were all there to learn from the seminars, it is difficult for a group of photographers to get together like this and not get kinda crazy and creative. While there I met up with my friend Barabara Mendez (another Fort Wayne photographer), Alvaro Balderas (a photographer from Mexico), Vilma Deckena (another photog from FTW) and Jenny Deselms (another photog from Lander Wyoming) one evening to shoot some fun and challenging photos. We were in a late night situation with nothing but a couple of speedlights and Pocket Wizards. Not the usual studio environment we were used to working in. Below is a time exposure of the general area we were shooting in.

The street scene of Delta Island.

The photo below was taken using a single Canon 550Ex on full power triggered with a Pocket Wizard.

This next photo was captured using a Canon 550EX, full power, gelled, camera right, and a Canon 580EX, 1/16 power, camera left.

It was a fun and late evening, but after spending a couple of days going to seminars and listening to lectures, it was fun to hear the click of a shutter.

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Apex Marine has created a cool video using the photos I shot for them this summer. While the start of the video is pretty neat, the last part is pretty cool. Because I was shooting in burst mode during action scenes, they took sequencial shots and strung them together to create motion. Those Art Directors are so crafty. Watch it here – Apex Marine YouTube Video

Thanks for reading!!

-Ken.

I have been really bad the last couple of weeks. I have been neglecting my blog. It’s just that, with holidays and travel, there’s been too much going on. We were out of town visiting family the week of Christmas and things have been hectic.

Over Christmas I shot senior pictures for my nephew Zach. I brought lighting gear with me and setup a makeshift studio in my mother-in-law’s garage. We also shot some photos on location. Here are a couple of the location photos:

Anyway, I have a gazillion of photos from the past few shoot to edit. I’ll try to post more later this week.

One more thing, my wife got me a Kuerig coffee maker for the studio. I highly recommend it. Great coffee. Stop by and I’ll fix you a cup.

Thanks for reading!!

-Ken