Choosing to Shoot a Job

It’s the end of 2023. I dont care who wants me to work, I’m happy to take their money and give them value as well as photos they deserve. I’ve taken on clients who were less able to pay and still delivered fantastic photos for them. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to have amazing wedding photos and I’m happy to offer that value. I’m not the Walmart of wedding photographers and need to charge what i’m worth, however there are some market pressures that force me to accept what they can pay.

I’m also not bothered by same sex couples. Weddings, engagements, whatever they’d like me to shoot. The amount of work that goes into a job is the same regardless of who I’m shooting. Some photographers turn down clients and send them to me because they are hung up on a same sex couple. I personally believe they have the right to be happy and the right to excellent photographs.

To pay or NOT to pay

Non paying customers are the bane of any business. I have had a few people hire me to do photos of a house and then dont pay. I even get a text praising how great the photos were and then get totally ghosted where they dont answer my calls, return messages or emails. I put in a ton of work to get them some great photos and even jump through hoops to get them done as soon as I can, but for some reason, these entitled people think that I dont deserve anything for my work. If it were easy, they’d do it without me.

Geotagging

Geotagging photos is a contentious subject. There are photographers like me who dont mind sharing locations, settings, etc. I’ll tell you everything about how I made the shot, where I took it, etc. I think it's great for the community and dont mind if someone else goes to a location and takes a photo. That doesn’t diminish the value of the photo that I took. -Other photographers dont want to publish a location because they feel that for some reason they have dominion over a specific place that they took a photo and dont want other photographers to over-run the location.

Theres spots where Ansel Adams took photos. Going to a location and trying to recreate one of Adams’ images is an homage to him and how that art moved me. I think if he was here today, he wouldn’t mind that I went there and tried to take the same image. If anyone wants to know where I took a photo, even what equipment I used and what my settings were, I’m happy to share. Feel free to ask me

Trolls

I edit my photos. My customers like my style and what I do. I face trolls every now and again who say something is “photoshopped”, but honestly, I dont find it to be a bad thing. Photographers used to manipulate photos in the darkroom. Ansel Adams would have definitely used photoshop if he had this tool available to him.

Loss

I haven’t updated my blog in a few months. It wasn’t because I didnt want to write, but I suffered the huge unexpected loss of my wife on Feb 1, 2023. She was the Scotch to Scotch and Waller and absolutely devastating to me.

Winter Wonderland

I’m here in the mountains and just staying home and warm. It’s a slow time for wedding season. Gives me time to go through my camera gear and get all of my batteries charged.

I’m also spending time doing some real estate photography and some portraits.

Client Contact

I suppose the most annoying thing about being a wedding/portrait photographer is making contact with a client and everything seems to be great and then getting ghosted. I try to reach out to clients and be involved with their planning process. It’s fine if they decided to use someone else or change their plans, Its just nice for them to contact me about it and tell me what they’re doing. It’s an important thing to have contracts in place ahead of time so I’m not sitting around the week before a wedding date wondering if I’m shooting this or not.

Camera Settings

When I started in digital photography, cameras sucked. If my ISO was over 600 there was noticeable grain in the image. The camera did an okay job focusing, but definitely not to the caliber they do now. I shot on automatic for the longest time. My photos were okay but not great.

When I started getting serious, reading books and learning, It was frowned upon to shoot in automatic because you gave up creative control and relied on the computer inside the camera to take your picture. If I’m doing that, am I a real creator? Any monkey can push the button on the top of the camera. I started early shooting in manual and making mistakes but learning.

I was posting on Flickr and other photographers could see my settings. It seemed that I was less of a photographer if I wasn’t shooting on manual mode. I switched to manual and took a lot of photos that didn’t come out.

I still shoot in manual, but I let the camera have a little input now. I always control one of the parameters, but I may let the camera do one or two of the other sides of the exposure triangle. I used to lock my ISO as low as I could because it yielded the best, no grain results. My current camera can handle a very high ISO… 12500 without noticeable grain or acceptable amount of grain in low light. I also use higher iso to let my flashes not work as hard.

I never shot flash until the past few years. I didnt understand how the exposures worked. Now I control the light using multiple flashes, higher iso and aperture or shutter priority modes. I also shoot a lot of photos and still throw a bunch away, but when I get it right, man does it come out excellent.

Does gear matter?

Theres a lot about “does gear matter” its like the old question about nature over nurture that’s been explored in movies like “trading places”, but for me, taking photos is leveraging the best equipment to get the best results.

Yes, a great photographer can get great results with rudimentary gear. The pioneers of photography definitely worked with gear that would leave a modern photographer in the fetal position and crying. The fundamentals of photography haven’t changed but is it cheating to leverage modern gear and software?

I just sent my Nikon (two) Z7 and Z6 to Adorama, along with my D810. I’m buying another Nikon Z9. I think theres a lot of value in having two of the same body so my brain doesn’t have to process using two different bodies. I originally purchased the two Z7 because I needed the same body and the Z6 for the same reason (with lower resolution).

Last week at a wedding, I was struggling with the Z7. I noticed it was so much slower, missed focus on a lot of shots and I just can’t have that. Dont get me wrong… the Z7 is fantastic. It takes awesome photos, especially when paired with the new S nikkor lenses. I’ve had great results with this system, but the Z9 is just another level.

The Autofocus on the Z9 is just so much faster. I know that it’s still behind the cannon and Sony systems, but the lenses are superior. I love the quality and edge to edge focus that I get out of my nikkor glass.

I’m buying another Z9 to remain consistent because this is the best, fastest and most flexible camera on the market. It’s huge but extremely capable and durable. I’m never easy on my gear and need the best that I can have and afford. This Nikon system is the best that I know and any minor differences between Nikon, Sony and Cannon, are just nit picking like choosing between a Honda, Toyota or Nissan.

Real Estate Work

Real Estate has been a challenge lately. I’ve been shooting photos by bracketing and blending in HDR. I think I’m going to start shooting using flash and a “Flambient” technique that blends ambient light, flash and a window pull to make the photo really pop but show realistic colors inside.

I’m also going to start doing a twilight photo to make the set really stand out and sell houses.

Last Minute Cancellation

I’m seeing a lot of wedding cancellations at the last minute. Cold Feet? Fights with (future) the in-laws? Interesting…

Mirrorless vs DSLR

Five years ago, I was working as a chef in a local lodge. I took photos but it wasnt my primary job. My boss and I were talking about cameras and he was surprised to learn that I was shooting with a DSLR. A Nikon D810 at the time. He said “you dont have a mirrorless?”

A year later, I ended up breaking my D810 and when I was replacing it, I decided to buy a (used) D850. It was cost prohibitive to me to buy mirrorless at the time since I wasnt making money.

When I got into weddings, I quickly realized that I needed a second camera body. I didnt know if the mirrorless was going to produce better photos or not, but I saw the writing on the wall and knew that I’d need to eventually make the switch.

My shooting style was way different between the two systems and I finally decided to go all in on mirrorless. I had my apprehensions since the focosing on the Z7 was way slower and I seemed to be missing a lot of shots. I contributed it to my own shortcomings, but I realize now it was the focusing system on the camera itself. The photos that turned out were exceptional, but I still wasnt totally happy with missing as many photos as I did.

Is Photo Editing Cheating?

We have this debate a lot in my photography class. I teach photography as continuing education for a local community college. One of the topics that usually comes up has to do with editing.

I personally have mixed feelings on the topic. When someone shoots a photo for a newspaper, they have a completely different set of rules to follow. They can color, crop, etc, but not add or remove elements.

For myself and my own photography, I’m an artist. I’m trying to make a good image. When I shoot a house or a wedding, my job is to sell that house or capture the moment for the Bride. I may change the sky to set the mood or remove blemish from a face or distracting elements in the background.

I think my job is not to capture what I saw, but what the bride felt. I edit to convey an emotion in my photographs. I want the bride to remember what she felt when she was standing on the wall, not necessarily remember there was a cloudless or overcast day.

So yes, I edit.

Ranting

(some) people buy a camera and think that they can do what I do. They think its easy. Most people can’t do what I do. I spent countless hours learning how to use my camera (any camera) and another set of hours learning how to edit. I’m constantly learning how to twist the pixels into the image that I had in my head.

Photography is not about the gear or gizmos or things like presets and filters. Photography is about the photographer. The camera didnt take a great picture any more than the typewriter wrote a great novel.

Admiringly, I got my first DSLR Camera and thought that I was taking great photos and could sell them. Reality hit me hard when I started trying to sell stock photography. I worked my butt off and made like 3 dollars. I probably haven’t even realized those three dollars yet. Stock photo sites usually wait until you have a certain amount before they send you the money.

Even with newer cameras and great lenses, its daunting to try and sell your work. Prints, digital copies, it doesn’t matter. Theres tons of people who think that they could do what I do.

I still have a lot to learn and am not the quintessential expert by any stretch of the imagination. The difference is that I know that I have a lot to learn and will admit that my photos are okay, but when I see how some of the “experts” work, I admit that I’m not really there yet.

Dunning Kreuger

I had a student a few years ago who just pushed the button on the camera. She has an entry level DSLR and thinks she’s a professional photographer now. I’m happy to help her, but she’s honestly too big for her britches. you don’t necessarily need an expensive camera to take great photos, but the passion takes your photography to another level.

Theres more to being a photographer than having a camera with an interchangeable lens (mirrorless or dslr) and pushing the button. Sometimes the auto mode does a great job, but professional photographers understand how to see the light, control the light and expose for ambient and then modify the light.

I appreciate people taking photos and wanting to be a better photographer, but some people just want to push the button and not understand what the camera actually does or how to use it. There is a natural talent sometimes and you just get lucky, but understanding all of the settings and being able to troubleshoot your images is golden. Never stop learning.

Panic Attack

I have a four different mirrorless bodies and a bunch of lenses to choose from. I bought Nikon Z7 when it was their top pro model and ended up with two so I could have everything (buttons, dials, functions) all in the same place on both cameras. I got a Z6 which is the same exact camera but half the megapixels. All of the buttons and dials are still in the same place, but I usually give this to second shooter or use it for video.

My primary body is my Z9 and I use a Z7 with a different lens, usually a 70-200 because I’m not working as fast with that lens and frankly the camera isn’t as fast to focus and lock on to subjects as the Z9. I just can’t keep up with moving subjects on the older Z7 like I can on the Z9. I use multiple cameras as a backup. If one camera totally fails, or a battery dies during a key event, I still have some photos to deliver to the client.

My cameras have different filenames so if there is ever a problem with my photos, I can narrow it down to which camera just by looking at the file names. This system just seems to make sense to me.

I got home from the last wedding and was sorting photos based on filenames and I was missing ALL of the photos from one of my cameras. The bride would never know because I still had over 6000 photos from her wedding, but I was really wondering what photos I lost. I was literally heartbroken.

Then going through the photos, I saw myself in an image. It was at that point I realized that I didnt lose any pictures. I can copy and paste settings across my cameras and I had done that not long before the wedding. I had just forgotten to change the filename back to indicate that the cameras were different bodies. Turns out my panic when I got home was actually not an issue.

Controlling the Light

Some photographers, especially just starting out consider themselves “natural light photographers”. To me, that’s code for “I don’t know how to use flash”. I personally think that this is right up there with not editing. I use flash and control the light in all of my photos. I also edit and make the photo look the way I want.

My thoughts on manipulating images is that I’m NOT a photojournalist, I’m an artist. I’m not here to document a scene and show you what I saw, but rather to show you what the couple felt. Theres a huge distinction to me. I need to control the light, the exposure, the setting and remove distracting elements from the background (or even from the subject, like if theres a blemish on the model/bride)

My approach to photography is to tell a story with my photos that my couples will love for their lifetime. I have conflicts sometimes with wedding planners who are trying to keep things on a timeline and have guests waiting around. My personal philosophy is that in 10-15 (or more) years, they’ll still have beautiful photographs of their wedding and will not remember that they were a little hungry or that the food was cold when they sat down. Creating the memories that will last a lifetime is what I do.

Sharing

I saw an outstanding wedding photo on instagram from a planner at a location that I thought was epic. I asked her where this was and she pointed me at the photographer who shot it. The reply that I got made me want to find the guy an punch him in the throat.

He told me hat he “didnt share locations” I was really taken back by this. I’d share my places with anyone who wants to know. I’ll even tell them where I shot the photo and what settings I used. my thoughts are that they wont incroach on any of my business sand if I can help a photographer grow, they might rhrow business my way.

If you want to know where I shot a photo, what camera, lights, camera settings, etc. I’m happy too tell you everything that I did.

New Camera, Nikon Z9

I was struggling with this making purchase. Did I really need the new flagship Nikon mirrorless camera or did I just “want” one? Could I justify the substantial purchase? I already had three other Nikon mirrorless cameras that I used daily. I carry two Nikon Z7 at every wedding and had a Z6 to hand to a second shooter and use for video.

The Nikon Z9 had been on backorder since it came out in November 2021. Everything I’ve seen online showed if I ordered one now that I’d probably get it in January of 2023. I decided to go ahead and order one and see how long it took. I also remembered that I was a Nikon Professional Services member and they offer expedited shipping on a variety of new (and out of stock) products. I filled out their form and 4 days later, there was a shipping notice and my camera was on its way.

I wanted this new body mostly because of the autofocus system. Everything I saw indicated that it found faces, cars, animals and focused fast. It also (and most importantly) tracked the subject and kept focus on it. I needed this in my life. I missed so many shots with my Z7 because the autofocus system couldn’t keep up with moving subjects. It shot fantastic portraits and macro shots but I’d miss about one out of every 4 or 5 shots when subjects were moving towards me.

Now that I’ve had this body for a c couple of weeks and shot a wedding with it, I can’t imagine going back… kind of like I am not going back to the mirrored DSLR. The new Nikon lenses are just so much sharper than the older Nikon F mount lenses. I’m loving this new camera and all of the new mirrorless Nikon S lenses.

Evolution to Mirrorless

My life with digital cameras started in 2003 when I purchased a Nikon D100 with a nice lens and a 1GB memory card. I still have the manfrotto tripod that I purchased with this camera, although I’ve changed heads a few times. This D100 was a 6.1 megapixel camera and totally state of the art. I used and traveled all over the world with that camera until 2006.

I decided to upgrade and I really wanted a Nikon D2, but that body was just so out of my price range. I made a compromise and got a Fuji S2-Pro (12 megapixel), which had a great sensor and the same megapixels as the D2x. It used the same F-mount Nikon lenses so it wasnt that big of a leap. When I got home from Iraq after using that Fuji for nearly 2 years, Even though the D3 had come out, I picked up a used D2x (12 megapixels) in 2008 that was my main/only camera until 2016.

When I retired from the Army, I decided to get a new camera body. I had a few Nikon lenses and wanted to be able to keep using them. The Nikon D810 was the top pro model and they had the flagship D5 out. I could definitely tell the difference with 36 megapixels. I had an unfortunate accident with my D810 in 2018. It literally fell out of the back of my car with my 70-200 lens on it. I broke the lens hood but the lens, although scuffed up, seemed to be just fine. The camera was not. It was still connected to the lens although the two were in separate hands. I wanted to cry.

I got a used D850 to replace the D810. Holy Cow… this new camera was just amazing! I loved shooting it and amazed at how fast it was and how great the photos were. It was literally the best camera I’d ever used to date. Mirrorless cameras were out but I was still holding on to my DSLRs. I just couldn’t make the leap yet… until…

I started shooting weddings. I had a D850 and a bag full of lenses. I was trying to switch lenses in the middle of ceremonies because I wanted to use different focal lengths. I realized quickly why wedding photographers had two cameras on them. It was so they didnt have to switch lenses. It was at this point I decided to give the mirrorless game a try. I got a Nikon Z7 in order to be able to use my current inventory of premium Nikon lenses.

My shooting style was vastly different between the Z7 and my D850… I was so conflicted. The 850 was just so much faster though. The turning point for me was actually shooting real estate. I had a 24mm tilt shift lens with the adaptor on my Z7 and was scratching my head at how muddy the photos were. I then realized that I was using a 20 year old lens designed for film cameras on a 45 megapixel digital camera. I sold my D850 and all of my F lenses and purchased a second Z7. Now I could use two different lenses on the exact same camera so my shooting style would be exactly the same.

I have some issues though. The autofocus on the Z7 has eye detection which is awesome when it works, but its been slow. I miss some shots at weddings and its been frustrating. It also doesn’t shoot as fast as my D850 and theres only one memory card slot. I’ve taken over a hundred thousand photos with the Z7 and have NEVER had an issue with a memory card.

I now have a Z6 that I use for real estate, and video and my brand new Z9! This is going to quickly become my main camera body for everything! I’m still going to have a z7 on my side and a probably hand a Z7 and Z6 to me second shooter at weddings. I’m excited to use this new camera and I already feel its going to be amazing!