Mariana

Great afternoon shooting in downtown Raleigh with a very cooperative model, Mariana Jacob. This Indian beauty has a great natural look. Adam Hajnos assisted me as we prowled the NC Museum of Natural Sciences until we were booted out by State Capitol police for not having a permit. I never knew you needed one. He later stated that if it was after 5 PM, no one would have known.

We proceeded to Glenwood Ave and scoped out a nice alley by the Vin restaurant. Mariana has never modeled before, but it certainly can't hurt her television career. I don't do much modeling type work, but this was fun. Mariana is a friend and that helps too!

Fogwood Farms Photo Essay

I put together a photo documentary, also known as a Soundslides show from my Monday afternoon with Brenda at her farm in Reidsville. After spending some time photographing her and the mushrooms, I interviewed her with my portable recorder (Edirol R-9). The essay is a new multimedia item I am trying to perfect. I'm pretty good at getting photos and capturing the story in a visual sense, but the audio portion adds a whole layer on top of that. I edited the audio in Audicity, a free audio program. I am going for a three minute presentation that tells the story of the farmer. It's my goal to polish this type of presentation and offer it to small businesses and artisans. I envision it as a sort of webmercial to post on their website and illustrate in 180 seconds what they are trying to sell and get across. I need to polish the audio capture and the editing a bit. I'm also going to change my shooting style a tiny bit to work more fundamental story telling photos into the essay.

This type of photography really gets my juices flowing. Sure, mushrooms may not be a glamorous commercial subject but that was half the battle. Brenda is doing something that no one else in North Carolina is doing. It's a character study in a sense.

On to the show ---> Fogwood Farms Photo Essay

I would love to hear some constructive criticism on any aspect of this project. Feel free to leave a comment.

Portait of Brenda Sutton

I spent yesterday afternoon with Brenda at her shitake mushroom farm in Reidsville, NC. We had a great time as she showed me the process for growing and harvesting mushrooms. Brenda was very nice to photograph and I had a really nice time. I'm putting together something really nice from these photos, so check back next week!

Panning

Just wanted to share this neat shot I took yesterday while riding with my good buddy Carter. I've pretty much had zero luck with panning type shots but it doesn't mean I don't try them!

f3.2 @ 1/25

My luck is improving!

Studio Shitake!

Konnichiwa! I took my little mushroom friends into the mini studio yesterday for some stock submissions.


Where am I selling stock photos you ask? I'm proud to affiliate Tim Broyer Photography with Photoshelter. I've signed on with them for my online archiving and sales needs as well as their recently launched stock photography service called Photoshelter Collection. This is a company I have been studying for about a year now. I really think they have the right direction and corporate leadership to steer stock photography towards a lucrative position. Their archiving solution is superb too and I plan on archiving my best photographs on their servers located on both coasts of the US. Time and sales volume will be the final test, so check back with me in a year.

Photoshelter
Photoshelter Collection

Farmer's Market in Moore Square, Raleigh NC

Yesterday I spent some time downtown Raleigh at the Farmer's Market held in Moore Square. The market is open every Wednesday featuring local produce, baked goods, cheeses and a host of other treats. I met Brenda Sutton of Fogwood Farms. She grows shitake mushrooms and agreed to let me take a few photos of her and the mushrooms. I spent a few minutes setting up one remote strobe to cross light the area and provide depth.

I ended up buying a half pound of the little beauties as well as scoring an invite to her farm. She's about to harvest 600 logs that are growing shitake mushrooms. I look forward to that trip and hope to make a soundslides presentation from that and also add to my stock collection. I'm going to present them with a nice portait made at their mushroom farm. I'm thinking a nice editorial piece could stem from that visit.







I also met Chef Holly Mohajer of Mo's Diner. She was preparing sweet potato latka's as part of the Farmer's Market chef series. They were incredibly yummy.


She served them with a light cream and some type of homemade apple sauce. I don't care for sweet potatos but I could have eaten a dozen of these little jewels.



Lastly, I had time to eat some lunch too while strolling the other vendors and listening to some live blue grass music. Although I did get these ladies to sign a model release, I didn't really come home with any solid images. It was tight quarters and challenging to capture them whilst they worked the crowd. But it was good practice and I made a couple great contacts. I'm going back soon.

Shrimp Boil!

Fun shoot last night. A classic shrimp boil and man did it taste good.


Commercial shoot for a project with a chef.
Mulitple lights and reflectors. Pocket Wizards used to trigger.

Shrimp, red potatos and corn all cooked in the same pot with some Old Bay seasoning. This particular shoot had a great finish!

Set up shot here
www.flickr.com/photos/timbroyer/1385754657/

Photoshelter
Today also marks my entrance into Photoshelter, an online photo stock site that also offers online storage. I look forward to posting some of my best work on this site and marketing it towards commercial and editorial applications. It's a 70/30 split and I consider it a good deal with all the marketing and pricing tools available while working with them.

Convergence

Just a random photo really. Nothing special. I took it this morning outside of my favorite coffee shop in Raleigh (Helios Cafe). I was going for convergence as a theme. Nailed it the first try. I desaturated it a bit in Lightroom to give it some mood.

The picture is symbolic of Tim Broyer Photography, LLC. Things are coming together and I look forward to the next few months and making some changes for the good.

Bookings for 2007 Weddings are almost full. If you're getting married in November or December now is the time to book!

Pam & John Gallery is up!

http://www.timbroyer.com/clients/PamJohn07/

I'm pleased to release the gallery from this wedding. A fun couple and some wonderful photos. Enjoy!

Drought

I'm not one to argue politically or hold my ground on issues. I usually prefer a course less travelled yet unobtrusive. As such, I rarely post issues on my blog. I went for a bike ride yesterday at Jordan Lake and I was astonished by the low levels. Sarah and I are big on recycyling and conserving our own resources whatever they may be. But I also live in middle class America and take advantage of the country we call home.

But the drought has me thinking. We haven't seen rain in a couple months it seems. Every nightly newscast is full of water restrictions and drought stories. Yet I still see automatic sprinklers and folks washing their cars as I roll through my neighborhood. I'm sorry, but dead grass is a small price to pay in order to prevent severe water restritions that have a huge possibility of impacting everyone in the Triangle area. My truck can stay dirty so farmers have resources to produce crops. My grass can die so I can wash clothes, flush toilets and cook. If you've ever experienced severe water conservation efforts you might not appreciate the efforts under way to conserve water. Starting to conserve now isn't too much to ask for. Now back to your regular scheduled photography blog...

My first camera

I found this in the trash outside Peace Camera. They posted on Craig's list that they cleaned out the back room and had free stuff out on the curb. I was hoping for some props to use in photoshoots and I found this. It's the same exact model I had as my first camera. I remember the big green 1 on it. My parents bought it for me as a travelling gift. I was headed to France to spend the summer with my grandfather. I remember the camera well and I took lots of photos with it. Unfortunately, I don't know where any of them are now. Wish I had them.

This camera is now part of my antique collection.

Pam & John preview

Labor day found me in Morrisville for a lovely small ceremony with Pam & John. I really enjoy the smaller, intimate weddings as they provide a lower stress environment but push me to think harder on my photography.


Pam's mom was great. She jumped in help produce this great portrait.



If I dont' mind saying, this is a pretty sweet ring shot that would make a killer background in an album.


Who got married? Pam & John, that's who!

2nd Shooter for Jacoby Wedding Photography: Adam & Amber

I was asked to assist Anne Wilson with Jacoby Wedding Photography on a very elegant wedding at Duke Gardens. This is the first of what will become some great collaborations between Anne & I. It was a wonderful wedding in a wonderful location. I have a wedding here later this month that I'm really stoked to shoot.