A working lunch

Things are progressing along nicely. The last of the items I needed to work away at my bromoils has arrived and I can get started working my butt off on them on Monday. I've shot three friends so far and need to get the film all developed. Bit of a backlog there, as I still have film to develop from my workshop in Oregon, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper doing it yourself then taking it all to a lab. And right now, that's got to be a priority. It all comes down to "what can I get away with making do on?" and what can I cobble together. Some things it only pays to get new, such as clean trays to avoid contamination rather than buying used, but many things when you are starting out definitely end up being DYI. For example, an excellent film drying cabinet can be made from an $11 hanging closet from IKEA and grandmother's old bonnet style hair dryer.

In terms of progress, I had a chance to do some event photography last week for a great charity. While ideally one doesn't work for free, there are times when doing so can bring you a lot of benefits. I got to support an important charity, practise my photography, make some great contacts and even got a free, delicious lunch out of it. At this stage in my career simply getting a chance to shoot for someone is important and the means less so, especially when it brings tangible benefits, and those don't only have to be monetary.

As a first shoot for someone other than friends, paid or not, it's still a little nerve wracking, because, more than anything else, you want to perform well, and get the shots you need and that will make the client happy. While some would tell you I generally don't lack confidence, anything but really, the first time for anything can bring a few butterflies. I am really happy with the photos, they capture the event well I think, have all the important bits, tell the story and show the spirit of the people. That's what you really want out of good event photography.

The charity, which does some great work with BC women is The Minerva Foundation for BC Women. They provide women and girls with programs in education, leadership development and economic security amongst others. Programs such as helping women re-enter the workforce are vital, especially in our current economy. Well worth checking out and supporting.


So here's a sampling from their Education Donor Awards Luncheon.

 

1st Steps

So I've been researching and reading tons of material on photography and business. I have a lot of preparation to do before I can get the business side of things started. My 1st step, before I apply to the small business program is to get my portfolio in order. I need a lot more portraits and the easiest way to do this is get my friends and associates to sit for portraits. Or stand, or whatever. Heck, they can balance on their heads if they like, as long as they let me take their picture.

Since I'm choosing to specialise in natural light fine art portraiture, this will involve a lot of traditional portraiture as well as environmental portraiture. I'm studying up on my lighting, looking at portraits by the masters, both photographers and painters, working on getting my exposures bang on. When you are shooting film, you don't have the luxury of fixing it in post. Then again, you really should get it right in the camera in the first place regardless of whether you are shooting digital or film. I also have to work on my presentation, making a portrait session a wonderful experience for the sitter, not just a shoot. It's a collaborative process that ideally ends with great images and was wonderful to participate in for both of us.

And of course, I simply need to shoot, a lot, and make a lot of prints. Standard black and white prints, lith prints, bromoil prints. Whatever suits the mood of the image and highlights best the nature of the person in the portrait.

My goal is to try and get as much complete on my portfolio over the next two months. Then start on the business side of things with getting the business plan in order.

With ink and a brush

I just got back from a 6 day workshop on how to do bromoil prints. For those unfamiliar with this alternative process, you take a black and white image, bleach it back, then while damp use said ink and brush and carefully stipple on ink, layer after layer, and where the silver was in the image, it now takes ink proportionally, and you build back the image in ink.

It's a wonderful process that gives you a great deal of control and creative freedom on how you create an image. Depending on softness of ink, your technique, brushes etc you can control how grainy you want the image from a coarse lithographic style to a very fine grained photograph. You control density by deciding how much ink should be deposited, and you control how much you want the highlights to stand out. Contrast is also something you control in the final image. It's a technique that lends itself to sensitive interpretation of a subject beyond just what the camera records.

The instructor, David Lewis is one of the few remaining masters of this process and an excellent teacher. He's also quite the character and keeps the workshop entertaining. He gives workshops primarily down in the U.S. If you are lucky, try and get in on one down in Arch Cape, Oregon.

It was gorgeous there, right down on the beach. Our host was Linda Lapp Murray, who is a wonderful lady and fantastic photographer. Arch Cape is near Cannon Beach, but a bit off the beaten path, so the weather was great, scenery gorgeous, and it was quiet and peaceful.

Here's a few examples from the workshop as well as a couple of pictures of Arch Cape.