My daily read or I'm a sponge

As I continue to absorb everything photographic I can find, I've developed some daily reading habits. The first blog I check out regularly is David Hobby's "Strobist" . This blog has been a wealth of information for me and I really enjoy his style and writing. He takes 'sharing' to a new level and inspires me to share my photographic knowledge as well.

I'm developing a great appreciation for John Harrington's Photographic Business Forum. This is the business 101 of photography and John is doing pretty much what I want to do as a photographer. A must read for any aspiring pro. Between him and David Hobby, I have my role models.

Next up is the Online Photographer. It's a mix match of different photographic conversations and is very entertaining. It has a less than serious side that I enjoy but it also is very informative.

Photocritic is a new one for me. A freelance photographer from Europe. It offers some different views that help me think fresh.

Lastly, I'm a regular reader of Fred Miranda, NikonCafe and Professional Photographers of America and glean tons of scoop from them.
Websites are addictive but I try to limit them to ones I can learn from. At this stage, I'm a sponge.

One more pick from Shawn and Hope's wedding. This is Alex. He followed me around like a puppy dog and was very intrigued with my camera and what I was doing. He pretty much never left my side. I tried getting him to use my spare camera, but he was too shy. He really enjoyed seeing himself on my LCD screen. Kids are cool.

Capturing emotion: One of my goals during a wedding shoot

I believe what sets good wedding photographers apart from great ones is their ability to capture the emotion of the day. If you add up all the photos from a typical wedding it is an easy task to portray the love and happiness of a wedding. Can you capture it one photo? Sure, we've all seen photos that demonstrate this concept.

Capturing the emotion is, however, not the easiest task. I try to get that certain look or smile from the lovely couple. It doesn't always come across. I often wonder if it was my inability to catch that shot or perhaps it wasn't there. A question that I will probably never know the answer too. I make it a point to try and capture the emotion of the day, preferably the love between the couple, on every shoot I do. I also try to nail it one or two particular shots. It's not easy.

I took this photo this weekend of Hope & Shawn. It's not the greatest photo by any means nor the best from that shoot. Something about the way she is looking at her new husband caught my attention. You decide, but I feel she is definitely in love with him and this picture shows it.

And by the way, this was with the spiffy 85 1.4 lens. I'm calling it the super lens.

85 1.4

Well, I got the lens I've coveted for a long time. I sold my other favorite lens (18-200 vr) to fund it and I'm so pleased with it. This is my first attempt at some real photography with it and of course, my little buddy was there to help me out. Thanks bud.


This was a two light shot. One in an umbrella to camera right and one behind the subject to white out the background. Click on the image to see the true quality. I'm turning into a prime lens fanatic.

John Harrington: Photobusinessforum and my failed lighting class from last night.

http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/index.html

One of my favorite photography authors has started writing a blog. I'm really stoked about this as John is the best at sharing the business side of photography. I've already read it from top to bottom and it will become a daily read for me.

I attended a Nikon CLS (wireless flash) class at Southeast Camera last night. The instructor was Vinny Colucci. It was billed as an intro to CLS and how to effectively use the wireless flash system. Class was to be 2 hours.

I was pretty disappointed with the class in general. Vinny seems very knowledgeable and takes some great photos. He had all the trick Nikon gear and it was interesting to watch him shoot with a wireless transmitter to his laptop (I want this). But the class had serious flaws. There were far too many beginners in the class who didn't even know the difference between rear curtain and front curtain synch. This is basic flash stuff, not wireless. Sure, it could have been mentioned but the instructor spent far too much time off the subject and was easily strayed. He spent a lot of time with individuals helping them set up (learn) their camera. By the second hour, we hadn't started the second half of his proposed agenda. I hadn't heard a single piece of advice that I hadn't read or heard before. Perhaps he should have a more advanced offering with more hands on instruction to include light ratios, flash placement, examples and discussion of certain shots?

The class was 7-9 PM. I left at 9:30 having not covered most of the proposed agenda. I'm sure some folks thought it was a great class and I would consider an advanced class with him. I'm looking for some advanced photography instruction and I'm having zero luck finding it. I need David Hobby to give a Strobist class in the NC-VA area. I'd be there in a heart beat.

Bud & Beth McKinney Real Estate

I had a spur of the moment opportunity last night. Sarah, from the B&B Country Inn, called me last night to see if I could shoot the display set up for Beth's real estate wine tasting. Grabbed a lite set of gear and zipped over there. I spent about 20 minutes shooting several angles of the car and blow up balloon. I used some off camera strobe to light up the balloon.

It was fun, quick and I'm pleased with some of the results. I'm not charging for this work as I feel a relationship with the B&B and Bud & Beth McKinney is well worth cultivating at this point. Bud & Beth are great folks and Sarah is happy to be working with such dynamic and fun couple.

Mordecai Chapel

I've tried to make this image a couple times and I'm very pleased with how this one came out. Mordecai Estate is right down the road from my office and I spend the occasional lunch hour there with my camera.

Windows: a photography project

I'm getting back to some of my artistic photographic roots. I'm a fan of abstract and especially black and whites. This stems from my early love of Ansel Adams (as most photographers are) and Weston. I think it's the art of taking something ordinary and turning it into something artistic and wondrous.

My plan is to take photographs of windows, doorways, arches and entrances over the next year and see what comes of them. A collection if I may. I'm not sure what prompted this project. I was riding my bike last weekend on some back roads south of Chapel Hill when I spotted a run-down, deserted house. What caught my interest was the window with it's one broken pain and tattered curtain. Who lived there? What did they see from that window?

Here is the start of this project.

2007 will be a good year!

I'm very excited for 2007. It will either be a break through year for Tim Broyer Photography or one that will be apparent that perhaps I should find a different dream. But for now, I'm running with it. My friends have been giving me some good practice. Take a peek here:

http://timbroyer.com/personal/family/Sofaportraits122906/index.html

As usual, my little model continues to work well with me. Thanks little buddy.

Quick book review. I'm reading "Skin" by Lee Varis. This book is turning into my bible of sorts and is already helping me create and adjust better images.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/047004733X/ref=s9_asin_image_1/105-4251903-0503646

It covers light set-ups, camera functions and most importantly post production instructions geared towards skin colors. I highly reccomend it.
Business is a little slow, but I've met with a bride last week that I think will sign me on. Look for major website changes this month.

Cheers,

Tim