Close

somewhere between a handshake and two kisses

teenagers

What does stock photography mean?

Another Petaluma photographer, Jude Mooney, and I are working on building a library of images to join a stock photography agency (click here to see related posts.) So we have been asking everyone we know to help us by modeling for us so we can have enough photos to join… but some people are hesitant to volunteer to be models because they are not sure what stock photography means.

Our photo shoot last week with Kira, is a good example of what it means to be a model for us. It means you doing what you do best, in your environment, and wearing lots of different outfits…. sometimes your outfits, sometimes Jude’s. I think you can guess which outfits are Kira’s and which outfits are Jude’s.

Jude, as well as being an awesome photographer, is the expert stylist in our team. She is really good at details and making sure that everything looks perfect… whereas I am the spontaneous-seize-the-moment and come-as-you-are photographer… which has a different set of advantages.

Once we are accepted (fingers crossed) to an agency, the photos can be selected by magazines and businesses that need photos for stories or promotional campaigns. So instead of hiring photographers to take specific photos, they go to the stock agencies and buy the rights to use the photos. Therefore, the photos need to be somewhat generic and simple. We don’t get to choose what or how the photos are used… but we figure if we take wholesome, happy lifestyle photos then most likely the photos will be used by wholesome happy magazines and businesses.

At first I had a hard time getting used to staging everything and creating fake scenes… but I am really enjoying playing with Jude and with all our wonderful friends who are volunteering for us. We are always looking for more volunteers, so if you are interested in being a model, in exchange for some fun and funky photos, then let us know and we’ll come play photos with you too, even if you don’t have a chicken.



Another Comparison…

I apologize for being repetitive… but now that I have said sorry… here I go again… these are the Rollei’s version of the same weekend adventures… and my conclusion on the battle between film and digital… I like both. I think both have the potential (depending on the human making the decisions) to take really beautiful photographs… but they are different. They create different photos… and depending on what you want to photograph, you have to make the call. Or not, like me, and just lug around two obnoxious cameras and see what you get.

Here my cold friends are admiring the view for me, while I fiddle with the Rollei’s knobs, I think at this point, as their heads were blowing away, they would have preferred I stuck with digital.

And this is for Frank, he wanted the kiss…. and he almost has it.


Weekend at the Beach

My assignment this weekend… photograph a few of the beaches in Sonoma County… the problem: the wind chill factor felt like it was about 10ยบ and blowing at about 50 mph… so not the most conducive for enticing people to visit… especially when the article is coming out in the summer and photos show people all bundled and windblown… but it was fun nonetheless and these are my favorites.

I must be gaining confidence because I had the nerve to interrupt this young couples’ kissing session to ask if I could photograph them… but the double-fur-lined hoodies in the grass were irresistible.

This is my dear friend Heidi who went to great pains to take this photo… it was definitely not candid… as she would have preferred to check the view from the car.

Not normally a sunset kind of photographer… but sunsets with kites are pretty cool.


Go Rebels…..

nixonnuts-07-01web.jpg

Byrnes High School’s Nixon Nuts.

nixonchicks-07-03web.jpg

Byrnes High School Nixon Chicks.

byrnes07-02web.jpg

Byrnes High School Nixon Stadium with Byrnes High School Rebel Fans.

cheer-byrnes-07-01web.jpg

And don’t forget the Byrnes High School Rebel cheerleaders….

jones-family-07-02web.jpg

Combine all these ingredients with a Rebel victory and the Jones Family is going home happy. Sam’s kicks helped the Rebels beat Dr Phillip’s Panthers, from Florida, Sept 6, 2oo7. The game was televised on national TV.

Where did Byrnes High School get its name? From James F. Byrnes who was elected governor of SC in 1950. He is remembered for his attempt to improve the impoverished African American schools in order to convince the Supreme Court that the separate but equal laws were working.

The Byrnes High School mascot is the Rebel, however due to the controversy over the significance of the Rebel, they are no longer allowed to have an actual mascot at their games. Sam tells me, to him a Rebel is a football player and it has nothing to do with history.

Daughters of Destiny 2007

daughters-web.jpg

On the 25th of August at 5 pm, The Walker’s Chapel Presbyterian Church held the 1st Anniversary for the Daughter’s of Destiny.

daughters-2web.jpg

The Daughters of Destiny is a dance ministry made up of young women who have come together as a team and have made great efforts to become one in Christ, so that people would see them as a pathway to Jesus. Arann and I went to photograph the celebration. It was my very first time in a black church.

paigegreenaug26-07571web.jpg

To be honest I was nervous about how we would be received. I knew one person at the church and I proved that I did not know him very well, as I referred to him as Belton Wayne instead of his proper name Belton Lane.

The history of black and white relations, especially in this area of SC, is scarred from the years of injustice towards the black population. Physically we were reminded of the separation by the fact that this church is the ‘black’ presbyterian church and it sits 100 ft behind the ‘white’ presbyterian church. In conversation we were reminded of the tension by a lovely older woman who said, “If it weren’t for the Lord, my people would have been wiped out by the way we were treated.”

But despite all of our nervous, it was an incredible experience: the music, the praising, the energy, the stories, and the people who welcomed us without hesitation. I met some wonderful people, who I hope to talk with again, to hear their stories of picking cotton and peaches and growing up black in rural South Carolina.

film vs digital…..help please

So I have been trying to use Matteo’s medium format camera…..for many reasons (including: I like the slower more thoughtful portraits and the waist level view finder)……but I am not sure I am getting results that are good enough, and at first I was frustrated and disappointed in my washed-out, flared results, but then I have started to like the images and I have been justifying the way they look to myself, by saying that it is just my style…..I am a quick shooter, I don’t like to use flash, I don’t like other gadgets or gizmos (tripods)….I want natural lighting even if it is poor indoor florescent lighting….because that is the way life is…..but what if people tell me I am being lazy and actually the quality sucks….then what, then I have spent a lot of money and time on a project that fails…..so I need some help…..here is an example of basically the same photo on both film and digital…..guess which is which……and then tell me which is better……

thegirls07-01web1.jpg


thegirls-oi-0107web1.jpg

Taylor

taylorparty2-07web.jpg

This is Taylor. She just turned 10 and for her birthday she wanted to have a boy-girl dance party. Her favorite presents were a razor to shave her legs and a toothbrush with a picture of a new boy-band singer who sings when you brush your teeth. She is wearing her new favorite clothes she got for her birthday.

taylorparty24-07web.jpg

Unfortunately the party was not a huge success, because it seems 10 year old boys are not as into dance parties as 10 year old girls and so Taylor spent most of the time upset that her boyfriend was not acting the way she wanted. And by the end of the party there was a rumor that he was going to break up with her which made her upset because she really wanted to have a boyfriend for the fifth grade. Taylor’s mom (left) and step-mom (right) tried to make her feel better by giving her their relationship advice.

taylorparty22-07web.jpg

Moments later the grandmother’s ex-husband, who she is dating again, rough-housed with this dog until the dog bit his arm and made him bleed.

%d bloggers like this: