Digital Apple Juice

For sometime now I have been meaning to talk about a website that is a must for all photographers to have bookmarked. Digital Apple Juice is in part the brain child of Dr. Michael Roach along with a few of his former students. Dr. Roach without question used to be one of the top five photography instructors in the U.S. I'm not bragging, the accomplishments, awards and photography of many of his former students will back that claim up. A few years back he retired from Stephen F. Austin University after enduring decades of daily wars that probably made his multiple   Vietnam War tours seem like a picnic eating pieces of cake before a Sunday stroll. Now the world can gleam from this mans brilliance along with the team he has recruited. No offense to Scott Kelby, but just Dr Roaches basic tutorials on Photoshop blows away anything I have seen at Kelby Training or anywhere else for that matter.

If you need to know anything about Macs, I suggest you just go ahead and start here, because if you don't, chances are you will end up here. Pretty much anything Apple or digital Imaging related can be found there. I now consider Digital Apple Juice pretty much my online photographic Swiss Army Knife.

One last thought and then I'll give you the URL. Be sure to check out Robbie Lacombs article on Composite Art. If you have not seen her work, you are missing out on one of the best Photo Composite Artist in the world! I kid you not, some of her composites just turn me into a zombie. I can and have sat and looked at just one of her photos for an hour admiring it in part and trying to figure out what all the elements are...and I'm really good at finding Waldo! Ok here is the url...http://digitalapplejuice.com/ GO!

Royalty Free is not Free

Yesterday one of my photo agents sent me an email with some very bad news. It seems The National Geographic Society has succumbed to greed and has changed it's contracts with photographers to include a "royalty free" clause for themselves. In other words, when they hire a photographer to shoot any job, then those photos becomes theirs to use as they see fit, without any further payment to the photographer. Photographers, RTF is not free to you. It cost you lost revenue, It creates new expectations in the industry that does not favor the photographer and it sets the standard for the RTF photographer to be "Cheap". I reallllllllly encourage all who read this to watch out for these rights grabs by greedy self serving businesses. Oh and beware of the red herring promise clauses to pay you even though they have the right to not pay you. LOL Do they think we are just plain stupid. Well, I guess I shouldn't laugh since so many have proven that yes, there are a boat load of stupid photographers out there willing to completely ruin our industry...for what, 15 minutes of fame and 30 pieces of silver!

Kevin Vandivier

Lighting with FourSquare

Every year I attend the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas. Every year this conference recharges my batteries and inspires me. This years conference was incredible and will be the subject of a future writing. Today, I want to touch on last years conference when one of my all time favorite photographers spoke, Dave Black. Not only is the man an amazing photographer, he is a wonderful person with some pretty good wisdom. I'm hoping soon to write about Dave in this blog with his permission. Stay tuned for that.

Last year Dave introduced everyone to a cool little item called the Four Square. This little tool is very cool and a must have for those of you who like lighting with hand flashes. I traded my masses of Dynalights and packs in for Nikon Smartflashes a few years ago and never looked back. What FourSquare does is hold four flashes which is great for increasing your lighting output. Which comes in handy when shooting in the bright of the day. here's a link and few more shots using this wonderful tool. Oh yeah, I don't work or represent this company or gain anything for bragging it up. I just love well thought out and useful photographic tools. I rank this one up there with the Bogen's Magic Arm! Here's the link...http://www.lightwaredirect.com/ ...and a few more photos...

 

Just for the record, you can learn how to shoot using these lighting packages in my Masters of Light Workshop and the Art of Telling Stories Workshop at  http://www.texasphotoworkshops.com

PERSONAL PROJECTS

I'm a big believer in personal projects for photographers. The main reason for this is it keeps the creative juices flowing. Many of my personal projects have also turned into actual assignments. For example, I just found out a Magazine called Christianity Today wants to buy my photos for a story they are doing on refugees in the U.S. This has been a project I've been shooting on for about three years now.

Here's what I do starting a project. First I must have a personal interest in the subject. Regardless of how popular the subject might be, if my heart is not in it, then neither will my commitment to do what it takes to complete the project. That way, you will be shooting for yourself and not others. Whatever you like, go for it.

Like all communication, the more you can address the who, what, when, why and where questions, the better. So, as you prepare for starting to shoot, think about how to visually communicate the message of the story.

If your project is about some natural beauty like mountains, then you may want to first decide which mountains you want to shoot and from what angle. I like to shoot subjects many others have done before me in ways few before me have done. Most mountains are shot in clear sky conditions. So, first I'll wait for a day with clouds that will give me some dramatic sky structure. Then I decide the time of day. If most shoot at dawn, then I'll shoot at dusk. If most shoot at dusk, then I'll shoot at dawn, etc. In short shoot them in a unique and different way than others have.

If your project is about people or a person, then your approach will be different than when just collecting a series of beautiful shots. You will want to actually tell a story with photos. You'll want to shoot your subject loose and wide to show their surrounding environment. You'll also want to shoot closer to isolate your subject but still leave a sense of their environment. Finally you'll want to shoot your subject up close to provide details that reveal intimate info for the viewer.

All this takes time, but if you stick with it, you will in the end collect some great shots and continue to grow as a photographer. My workshop "The Art of Telling Stories" is a great workshop to take for learning and sharpening these skills. As an award winning former photo editor for Texas Highways Magazine, I'm just the person you want teaching you these skills. Here's a link in case your interested...http://www.texasphotoworkshops.com/node/222

Covering Hurricanes

When I was young and dumber, I would go and shoot things like war in the middle east, erupting volcanoes, tornadoes and hurricanes. One of my wildest rides was covering Hurricane Gilbert which landed a cover and double truck for Life Magazine. With spring upon us, hurricane season is just around the corner. I thought I would take the time to share what I have learned from covering many hurricanes in the past. First, there are two sides to a hurricane. The WET north/east side and the DRY west/south side. The wet side is were all the dangerous action is…tornadoes, 30 foot storm surges, 150mph sustained winds, etc. Here is the big question, who can shoot in that? I’ve been there, you are surviving and fighting for your life. Photography loses it’s appeal during those moments, not to mention camera’s don’t work well wet. I learned the hard way that the dry side of a hurricane is less dangerous and you can shoot dramatic photos during the hurricane without being in the worst part of the hurricane. Once the worst has past you are usually about an hour away from the wet side and arrive about the time other photojournalist have come out of their zombie states the hurricane beat them into. I have literally followed the waters edge of a storm surge as it recedes into the heart of the destruction where you can find more unique and dramatic photos. You just have to watch out for the snakes, alligators and power lines.  The shot I got for the cover was on the dry edge of Hurricane Gilbert. Then photojournalist Doug Milner and I drove decided to drive into the middle of this monster to get better photos and ended up holding on for dear life and got no photos during the storm. We did get some great aftermath shots…which did not make the cover.

TP&W Cover continued

I felt like it would benefit all if I also posted here many of the photos submitted for the request so you can see what kind of variety was sent. Along with the cover, the magazine also selected another version of the photo used as a full page photo inside the story. For this photo, I shot with the white balance set for daylight and used a warming gel on the flashes. However, I positioned the one light at about the 340 degree mark. The photo had a completely different look, even though it was basically the same shot published for the cover. This is one reason why I usually always change my lighting package up when shooting assignments. It many times will lead to more sales. The magazine also used the cover for their online edition and in the end hundreds of dollars was sent to my mail box.

As I mentioned before, I teach this stuff in my workshop called Masters of Light, which is without question one of the best lighting workshops offered. Here is a link...http://www.texasphotoworkshops.com/node/212 I also teach many of my lighting techniques on our expeditions. The next one up is Glen Rose, Texas and it will be an amazing workshop. Here is a link to that one as well...http://www.texasphotoworkshops.com/node/222

God be with you all!

TP&W Cover

One of my favorite things in this world is mailbox photography money! Recently, one of the magazines we submit stock images to upon their request is a wonderful little pub called Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine. The love to use images big and the design of the magazine is really nice. In February, they wisely chose the above image which was originally shot for National Geographic Adventure Magazine. A lighting package I’ve used since the mid 90’s that Joe McNally made himself famous for was chosen for this shoot.

To start with, my camera white balance was set on tungsten. Some of you are asking why would a photographer do that when shooting outside? Isn’t tungsten used for indoors? Normally yes! However, the color temperature reaction is a heavy shift blue. Add underexposing a stop and you end up with what you see in the background. This part of the river is pretty shallow with deep channels running through it so my Nikon flashes were attached to stands and placed in the river with us. Since my camera was set for tungsten light, a CT Orange conversion gel was needed to convert the daylight balanced light coming from the flash to a tungsten balance so the flashes light photographed white.

Finally, one flash was used to light the subject and it was placed about the 140 degree mark. For me, that scrapping light/angle of incidence is what I was going for, which helped illuminate the fly line whipping in the air as it is being cast. So, with the shutter, I controlled the exposure of the background and with the aperture I controlled the exposure of the flash. This is called dragging the shutter. At 100 ISO, I shot at 1/3 of a second @ F 5.6.

Ansel Adams always talked about seeing the image first in your minds eye and then shooting it. Most of us know that shooting the image is only half the job. Superior darkroom skills also are required to finalize the photo as you saw it originally in your minds eye! That said, for this image, the photo needed very little darkroom work. The sky was burned down a little to achieve that rich looking blue. You can learn more about my lighting techniques via my photography workshops or one on one mentoring programs.

FREEDOM FIREWORKS

Since I was in high school I’ve enjoyed shooting fireworks displays/celebrations. Just about every year I try to get out and shoot different fireworks displays. I always like to look for the unique versions. In my opinion, the big brand fireworks shows with big city skylines all look the same. Last year I found this show and shot if from down on the bridge.

This year I chose to climb this hill to gain a perspective that would include the bridge I shot from the year before. Wow, what an angle! You have the time exposed car lights stream through the frame, along with the boats on the water cruising and anchored watching the show. Of course the main thing is the fireworks display going of in the middle of all this. Off in the distance you can see the show for the city of Austin, Texas. This show is on Lake Austin sponsored by Austin Country Club.

Here’s how I shot this scene. It all starts with the angle. When shooting events where you get just once chance to get the shot, I always scout my angles out ahead of time. The day of the shoot, I arrive early to make sure I secure my preferred angle before anyone else does. In this case I was set up ready to shoot three hours before the show. I had my assistant hold the position while I went to this great Mexican food dive to grab some spicy food to go along with the show I was about to shoot. I still shoot with a Nikon D2x for one reason…four kids in college! Attached to my D2x was a Nikon 17-35mm 2.8 zoom. My camera was attached to a Gitzo tripod with the graphite legs and a Gitzo ball head. Using Nikon’s cable release I would shoot my exposures ranging from 30 seconds down to 5 seconds at F-8 up to F-16 always at ISO 100. The actual setting depends on the frequency of the fireworks burst along with the overall scene. One thing you need to watch for is burst frequency. At the start of the show, the bursts start out slow. At times they will increase in frequency of burst and then slow again. Always at the end there is the grand finale which if you’re not careful, you will overexpose your shots.

I like to use the aperture to control the over all scene with and I use the shutter speed to control the look of the fireworks with…shot burst and long trailing burst. My favorite exposure for fireworks is ISO 100, 15 seconds at F8 plus 2/3. Usually the trailing of the fireworks is just the way I like it, The 15 seconds allows for three burst and the illumination of the three burst is just right for just under F11. At least it has worked for this scene for the last two years.

One last thing to note, In Post you can curb the contrast levels by using a little Shadow/Contrast control in Photoshop. It’s also fun to play with the layering capabilities Bibble offers, which I prefer over both Aperture and Lightroom hands down!

I’ll be teaching a fireworks workshop on New Years Eve in Austin, Texas. For more info you can check it out at www.texasphotoworkshops.com.

Don't forget to checkout my workshops at www.texasphotoworkshops.com...Maybe we can use your mom on a workshop shoot.

Aprils "2 Minute Workshop"-Time Exposure Portraits

I have several very hard working interns and when I can I like to set up a photo shoot as a private workshop for them to say thanks for their hard work! So, recently we made arrangements with a carnival company to shoot on one of their Ferris wheels. Since my seventy something mom is the craziest actress I know, I asked her to be our model. As you can see, she came up with a great outfit and some scary make-up.

My favorite portrait lighting style is something I call Time Exposure Portraits. Basically, this is where we light our subjects using a moving background, usually with artificial commercial lighting and drag the shutter so the background exposure is properly exposed. In this case, we will use the Ferris wheels movement as our background. The Ferris wheel basket we had also had a center poll mounted roof. Perfect! This will be a great place for me to mount my Nikon SB-800’s set on remote from. Using a couple of Manfrotto Majic Arms with Super Clamps on one end and a flash shoe mount on the other, I hung my lights on each side of the basket. They were placed slightly in front of my subject, pointing at her and locked down with diffusers.

I waited until dusk to start shooting and we shot through dusk to complete darkness. Since the lights were so close to the subject, we only needed about 25% power. Using the SU 800 Commander on my camera, I dialed down the flashes. I was also shooting with a Nikon D2x and a 17-35mm 2.8 zoom. The iso was set at 100. My f stop was F11 and when we started, the shutter was dragging at 1/10 of a sec and at complete darkness the shutter drag ended up at 4 seconds. Oh yeah, one last thing…I had the shutter set to go off at the end of the shutter, which is called a rear curtain sync. This means the shutter opened first and at the very end, just before the shutter closed, the flashed triggered. I also hand held the camera.

One little backend story… When I recruited my mom for the shoot, I had only told her we would be shooting at a carnival. When we got in the Ferris wheel basket for the first time, I could tell she was upset with me. Since there were interns with use, she was quiet, but her eyes said “Your Dead when I get through with you”. I think we all have moms with that look. When the operated cranked up the wheel and we jerked to a roll, my moms eyes almost popped out of her head and she screamed in complete terror. She then explained to us she had a sever fear of heights and had never been on a Ferris wheel before. So, the fear looks are not all acting on her part. As you can see, the shoot was a huge success and we all got some very funny photos…at my moms expense! Thanks Mom, now I know you really do love me. I’ll make it up to you on Mothers Day. I have a sky diving shoot I’d like to use you on:) Don't forget to checkout my workshops at www.texasphotoworkshops.com...Maybe we can use your mom on a workshop shoot.

http://www.manfrotto.com/
http://www.nikonusa.com/
http://www.thomascarnival.com/
http://www.kevinv.com/

Two Minute Lighting Workshop #2

In the not to distant past, I taught what is my favorite workshop to teach, "Masters Of Light". I won’t make some cheap pitch here for the workshop, but here is the url to my workshops in case your interested… www.texasphotoworkshops.com. I wanted to teach my students how to think wildly out of the box. My neighbor is Willie Nelson’s Golf Pro and he looks like he could be wild, but in fact he is gentle as they come. Well, unless you really piss him off and from what I’ve seen that is pretty hard to do. Anyway, I recruited Jeff to be our “Bad Ass Harley Model”. However, rather than shoot the typical location static portrait, I wanted my students to learn how to shoot action portraits using remote lighting. First I demonstrated the shoot with my Nikon D2X (yes, I’m a bit behind on updating my equipment. It’s called having too many children in college at the same time:). I also used the Nikon SB800’s. I mounted my camera on the back gate of my SUV using a Bogan majic arm. The Nikon master SB800 was attached to my camera's hot shoe, but the flash itself was in the off mode. I also attached another SB800 to the frame of the Harley using a Bogan Super Clamp. I've also connected the camera to my computer so I could control everything remotely from the front seat. I’ve left the flash in the shot so everyone can see its placement. For publication, I've photoshoped it out. From here, we took off and cruised 6^th street in Austin, Texas. Jeff followed with his cig hanging from his lips. Oh yes, I also dragged the shutter for one second. Dragging means to set the flash to trigger at the end of the shutter setting and in this case it was one second. My aperture was around F 8 and the iso was set at 100. My zoom was set at 24mm. As we cruised, sometimes we would hit small bumps and the camera would bounce a little, adding to the unique wild look of the photo. Now that’s how you shoot a “wow” portrait. Again, this is my favorite class to teach.

Story Behind The Photo #2

Years ago I shot a story on "Babies born addicted to crack". It was a very rough assignment and life changing for me. In the photo above this mother was brokenhearted her babies death sentence because of her addictions. Normally, I try to stay out of the story, but when I get nudged by God to try and comfort her, I obey. I had the shot and knew it, so I put my cameras away and began to tell her she could be forgiven. She was absolutely convinced she was going to Hell. I always keep a bible in my camera bag, so I pulled it out and spent an hour going through multiple scriptures about Jesus Christ's love for her. I knew of a church service in that town that night, so I loaded her and her family up and took them to the service. Only God would know that he had brought a preacher from New Zealand who preached on prostitution and drug use. It was tailor made for this family. After the service she and her baby received prayer and she gave her life to Christ and asked for His forgiveness. I wish all my assignments where like this!

What makes a "Pro Photographer"

For years and in college I was taught the definition of a "pro photographer" was when one starts to get paid for shooting photos. Perhaps in some ways this could be considered true. However, when a photographer claims to be a "Pro", that photographer is communicating that he can be trusted to shoot the same quality work he presents in his portfolio or website!!! The photographer that can do this 99% of the time is a true "PRO PHOTOGRAPHER" and is qualified to claim so.

The problem is this, I and many true pro photographers I know through the years and especially these days are having to come behind these "wanna be pros" and clean up their messes. It damages the reputation of our industry and people begin to think "well hell, I can just do this myself if this is what pro work is"!

Personally, I would like to see the photography industry adopt the same system plumbers use. If you are serious about becoming a professional photographer, but have not established you skill set consistently, then you need to call your self an Apprentice Photographer. Once you have establishes your skill set to be able to consistently deliver the same work quality in your portfolio and on your website and say have done so successfully for multiple clients over year or two's time, then you should call yourself a "Pro Photographer". Before that day, do yourself and the industry a favor and let your clients know you are still establishing your skill set as a photographer.

Just my two cents worth. Let me know what you think!

Kevin Vandivier

WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

When I was growing up, most people kept their opinions to themselves unless asked. It was just polite. Today, people vomit opinions constantly...behind others backs. To their face its always niceties. Before, when you did ask for some ones opinion, you got it...the truth, good or bad. Today, it's all about BFF (for you older folks, thats Best Friends Forever). How can we grow when people only say the bad things behind your back instead of to your face. Personally, I'm looking for true opinions. The more detail, the better. So, I'm asking for your opinion! What's wrong with this picture?

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO I

©2009 Kevin Vandivier

This last summer I scouted the Tetons for a workshop I would later lead there. I decided to get up early and shoot the Mormon Barns in the park the day after landing in Jackson Hole. Arriving while it was still dark I found one other photographer who had beat me there, nabbing the best angle of course. Since, like most of us, I’ve seen millions of images of this barn over the years, I wanted to find an angle at least rarely shot. Deep in a hole my angle was found. First the 4x5 field view camera was set up and then my trusty Nikon.

Soon there was ten photographers around me, but birds could still be heard chirping. Then 20, 25, 30 35…at least I had my unique hole angle…whatever. It now sounded more like a packed Starbucks than a national park before sunrise! Then the peak dawn arrived and a gaggle of voices was replaced with a array of shutters. I simply felt cheap! I had built a very successful career on always shooting the unique angle or approach. Truthfully, I still even haven’t bothered processing the 4x5 film yet.

After spending the last day scouting my workshop, I landed hard in my bed a bit depressed, still haunted by what was experienced at the barns. Then it hit me…What about light painting the barns? I was out of that bed like a 17 year old teen. Though it was darkening, I still had time to make it. Long story short, the shot above is the end result. I left the mountains pleased and soon the photo caught the attention of those at Rangefinder Magazine. Rangefinder was intrigued about how I shot it and asked I write an article. One other note, as an email promo, my site traffic increased the most from all my other email promos. Unique approaches and angles is what everyone is looking for, not the same old shots!

THESE DAYS…

We’ve opened a gallery in Austin, Texas and have hung some of my work, but mostly the works of others. I really do enjoy encouraging other young photographers…and a few old birds as well. Texas Photo Workshops was formed to educate photographers about two things killing our profession, Viral Mediocrity & amateurs/pro’s desperate to get noticed giving away their work or charging next to nothing. Then everybody losses! Through TPW I strive to train photographers to shoot for excellence and help them understand why it is important to the business to charge a fair wage for their work. So far so good! Finally, I also still shoot assignments when I’m not teaching workshops or writing photography articles for magazines like Rangefinder.

To circle the wagons, I’ll leave you with this…my dad listlessly waned in his death bed a few years back as I visited him for the last time. I gave him an 11x17 print of the photo attached and he mustered all his strength to hold the photo above his face and gazed at it with a smile that lit up his face for the final time. He then slowly turned to me and mouthed, “I’m proud of you son”!

THE REAL WORLD

The third man to radically change my life was Ray Adler who was the Director of Photography at The Dallas Times Herald and the man who hired me to shoot and learn among the best gathering of photographers ever, second only to the National Geographic staff of the late 70’s and early eighties. I had to impress my boss by out shooting three Pulitzer Prize winners on staff and a couple of National Photographers of the Year. I soon found the need to be free of tyrannical bosses, (not Ray) so in 1985 I left the newspaper and started a wonderful career as a freelance photographer. Man, that was the best career decision I ever made.

Over time I’ve shot for just about all the top magazines and many ad agencies and corporations. I even got to work as a photography editor for one of the best photography magazines ever to be published, Texas Highways Magazine. Two things pulled me away from that job…I just have to be the boss thing and my love for the free world of freelance photography! I even managed to win a handful of national awards over the years for both my photography and photo editing.

My best friend now is Jesus Christ, the ultimate man that radically changed my life, but photography is still one of my best friends and over the years has taken me around the world to photograph the kings of nations & the poorest of the poor, to the center of the largest hurricane on record & the edge of a volcano producing the longest eruption in history, to war in Lebanon and Israel & Love in Hawaii. Best of all though was that one assignment flying off the deck of an aircraft carrier shooting a story on fighter pilots…WOW! The three of us, Jesus, myself and this Nikon Camera, have had a lot fun together and they helped me through some tough times. The worst of which was the tragic loss of my young son Ryan to an accidental drowning. I was pulled out of many a dark day by getting lost in the process of shooting a timely photo assignment.

Coming soon...THESE DAYS

THE COLLEGE YEARS

In 1977 I enrolled into the Forestry program at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches to study Wildlife Game Management. Three years into this degree, I discovered I had a true talent for photography when I shot a photo of a Red Phase Screech Owl and Texas Parks & Wildlife bought it for $75. I was hooked, so photography became my new major and I took all the classes Dr. Michael Roach taught at the time. He was the second man to radically change my life. Without question, one of the best Photo Profs in the U.S. Many of his students have gone on to have stellar careers in photography.

Once I had taken all his classes, I decide to change my major to Photojournalism and transferred to The University Of Texas in Austin. I learned there that you always go for it and never say no for other people. Make them tell you no. Which is why I proposed stories to top newspapers and magazines while I was still in college and landed assignments with several including Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic World Magazine, The Dallas Times Herald, and The Houston Chronicle. My last years in college were filled with regular assignments from United Press International and the top newspaper in the nation, The Dallas Times Herald. In Fact, those guys decided to hire me full time before I had graduated from college. Thank God the Dean of the College of Communications allowed me to finish my degree via mail (no internet, no email back then).

THE REAL WORLD ...coming soon

My Photog Story

THE EARLY YEARS

When I was an aimless teen in the early seventies elated that the draft lottery was cancelled and the draft was ending, for the first time I allowed myself to plan for the future instead of worrying about dying in the Vietnam War. My dad wisely suggested photography as a career and my eyes must have said I loved the idea Though we lived in the low middle class range he went out the next day and invested in a full Nikon setup, 20 rolls of Kodachrome 25 and some lessons with one of the top pros in Houston, Texas. My dads sacrificial gift radically changed the course of my life. 

The Camera helped me navigate the serious bumps of teen life and horrible tragedies I would later have to endure. Shooting photos taught me ways to see life most others are oblivious to. It’s a language that allows me to speak from my heart in a way that words can never do.  Photography became my best friend!

THE COLLEGE YEARS...coming soon