September 22nd, 2008
Shot a really cool wedding yesterday in Myrtle Beach. It was almost cheating because the weather was perfect. The wedding took place at 5pm and the clouds were just thick enough to create a very soft light effect on the environment while keeping people eyes in relaxed state. The images came out so well I put the card on the computer at the start of the reception. I did no editing what so ever to the images. Every image that was shown as exactly as I photographed the day. I told a few people I didn’t have time to edit through the images. Their response was “I haven’t seen one I don’t like yet”. That’s really nice coming from the father of the bride. Everything just went so well. The wedding was held at Waccashaw Plantation. The very professional and easy to work with coordinator said I would definitely be on the list of recommended vendors. After shooting there one time I was amazed I would get such a status being located in Wilmington NC over one hour away. I also had a wedding on Friday; the Myrtle Beach wedding was on Saturday. Fridays wedding was in Kure Beach. It was a small wedding with about 15 people total. The couple’s personality type matched mine so well it was almost strange. I could really relate to their easy going goofy personality types. They asked “what do we do” so of course I said “jump” .. and sure enough all 15 people jumped as high as they could. So I said lets go chase the birds. They did that too! We created some of my coolest images this summer with one of the smallest weddings I’ve done. Having a good personality match with your photographer really does keep the images popping. What really made me feel good at that wedding is when the groom said “I’m really having a lot of fun with you as the photographer, we’re really glade we chose you” … then the very next day in myrtle beach the bridal party of 14 said the same thing. The funny part is I’m really just trying to do the best job I can as a wedding photographer. I think it’s the people that allow me to help them make it fun. Then again it is possible the 2 java monsters I had before the ceremony helped with my energy level. I love coffee. Java monsters are my #1 drink for any occasion. The best children beach photographs I have created were shortly after a java monster … there seems to be a connection between having a high energy level and people enjoying their photography experience. The times have changed, it is no longer about posing and taking 2 or 3 images. people want variety and they want quality with nice expressions and above all … good hair. One of my hardest tasks when standing behind a camera is posing or anticipating a photo where the hair will fall the way it is styled. I have created some amazing photos with ok hair but when I show a female a beautiful image with less than perfect hair there is only one response I get … ”No”. I did another portrait session on bald head last week too. We did images in front of old baldy with a family or 7. I was worried that the light would be too harsh. When I looked at the images on the computer I was sooo excited. I can’t wait to show the family. on the way to the beach as we were riding in the golf carts I saw a patch of sunflowers on the side of the road. The person who hired me has a 1 year old son. We put him in the middle of the sunflowers. They were small, only about 2 feet high or less. If you have ever been to Bald Head Island you know the road down the middle is dark. I think it’s federal street if I remember correctly. That’s where the sunflowers are. There was a beam of light shooting right at the sunflowers through the trees. I did a few back lit then moved around to the light side. There I created images that will surly make the mother cry. They are just adorable! All these photographs I am mentioning will be online on my website very soon. I always make sure the family or client is finished ordering before I post images online for the world to see. I need to see what kind of comments people will say about images of themselves. I never put an image online if the subject does not approve. This week I’m bouncing around from topsail Island where I have a few portrait sessions then to Wrightsville Beach for portraits then back to topsail then to Wrightsville again ending with a portrait session next Saturday at Carolina Beach. I’m excited about this week especially because I had to order a new monitor for my studio. My CRT retouching monitor has died after 4 years of solid service. I never turn my monitors off so 4 years is good in my book. This Wednesday I have the best retouching monitor made arriving. It is a Lacie flat screen 24″. I am hoping to get out of the studio Tuesday night for shag night at the Carolina Lounge here in Wilmington NC. Yes, don’t laugh … I like to dance. It keeps me on my feet when I’m not in front of a monitor editing photography.
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September 18th, 2008
The definition of liability is the state of being legally obliged and responsible.
My goal in this post is to educate people in the seriousness of photography for assignments that can not be rescheduled or in anyway recreated. It is important to have someone behind the camera who knows what they are doing with digital technology which is why you see the higher prices when searching for an experienced professional. The truth is it easier for the average person to get higher quality images because of digital, being able to see results instantly, the price we pay in terms of consequences falls heavily on the liability end. If an agreement is made to produce photographs in a verbal or written form then it is considered a legal contract and it is the photographer’s obligation to produce these images … point blank, no exceptions unless otherwise agreed to before the assignment. Because the images can not be recreated another day the risk factor is very high causing the labor fee to increase to justify the risk the photographer has agreed to. When an image can be recreated and the risk factor is not as high the labor fee is generally very low. For weddings and family reunions the labor fee is generally higher because of the consequences faced if the photographer does not produce what is expected. One bad job could mean the end of that photographer’s career in a small town. There is a lot more that goes along with being a professional wedding photographer or family portrait photographer than people in general realize. I believe this is a result of so many people picking up a digital SLR and slapping on the professional status like a washable tattoo. If it doesn’t work out as a photographer they can simply wash the tattoo off and go back to their 9-5 jobs. Professional photographers who do photography for a living do not have this option. If every client is not 100% happy the consequences can be horrifying. To the consumer not producing the images could mean not being able to reference their family as a whole when the family is spread apart across the US and only get together every 10 or 15 years. It could also mean never knowing how beautiful your wedding dress looked on you if you did not receive images from your wedding day. These are very serious matters.
Liability explanation:
The short version is explained by simply asking a question. How would you feel and how far would you be willing to go if you hired someone to photograph your wedding or family reunion and they did not show, or at the end of the event had no photographs to show? You might think, “Today we have digital, how can anything go wrong?” Everyone today has used a computer at some point. Even if you have only used a computer once you can understand and/or relate to how fast computers can malfunction or render corruption errors. Now think about someone who only uses one digital camera at a wedding and what would happen should that camera malfunction before the ceremony. I see photographers pop up every day as professionals who have not been doing photography long and suddenly decide to start offering services with their new toy to make a little extra money on the weekend. Then I hear people saying how horrible their photographers were and how they wished they would have paid the extra money for someone more experienced. Before digital photography rolls of film were lost, exposed to light or drop in mud. The more common problems were film would be incorrectly exposed or incorrectly processed. Liability is not new to photography because of digital but there is no doubt the game has changed in terms of what we need to be prepared for. Inside that digital camera is a very sensitive computer. Would you want the guy with no backup camera to photograph your wedding? I have 4 digital cameras. When I am on the job I have 2 with me at all times. It is a day that only happens once meaning if something is missed … it’s gone for good. Still there are other variables that increase a photographer’s responsibility even more; like photographing near, on or around sand and salt water. The wear and tear on the equipment is much greater than being in a secure studio environment. If a photographer has something happen where the images get erased from the digital cards or images are missed after the bride and groom specifically put the images on a contract, at that point there is means for action, full payment refund and legitimate public degradation. Wedding photography comes with the highest level of liability of any genre of photography. On average 3 professional photographers in the US get sued each month, 10 photographers have to pay 1k per gig to have images recovered from a faulty hard drive or flash card, and 5 photographers each month go out of business. I take photography very serious because it is all I know. It is what I do every day and how I eat. I am a very easy going person. I have a lot of fun as do my subjects when I am behind the camera because I am relaxed and confident in my ability to meet and in most cases exceed my client’s expectations. To date I have never had a wedding go bad (knock on wood) as you can see from my online reviews and other wedding websites. If you look at the online reviews of other photographers you will see negative comments that dramatically hurt my competitors business. I know this because I get the business they would have had those comments not been written. Online comments are easily written and can not be erased. One bad comment online in today’s web based world, placed in the right spot, can destroy a photographer’s once reputable career. It is very disturbing the power we give the search engines. You pay for this ability as a consumer when you pay the high prices of a professional wedding photographer. From the photographers perspective the risk is worth the average wedding package price of 4k because 4K will cover the cost of any recovery or legal backing needed should something go wrong. The is the reaon many photographers today set 4k as their entry point.
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August 17th, 2008
What makes up photography is an endless list of job hats most people do not realize. My time spent learning about computers has helped me a grate deal with cutting cost in today’s digital world. I build my own machines to make sure they are capable of pushing the sometimes 500mb to 1.5 GB files. Permission from the government to be a photographer is another hat all to itself. Photographers like all business owners have taxes to deal with and an endless list of PR work to maintain the exposure and keep inquiries coming in so we can give 30% of what we make to uncle same. Printing is separate from photography. Just because you can make a baby smile and capture a solid exposure does not mean you can produce a print capable of winning awards. There is a step between shooting and printing that is often missed. Being able to sell the work that is created is 90% of being a photographer. Not everyone understands why one image will print better then another or the twenty million options for final presentations you have to choose from. Selling when done well leaves a customer with a feeling of being overwhelmed with options but satisfied the option they chose is the right one for their needs. Giggles and grins we all like to see brings up another job hat. In order to bring out a subjects personality we have to ask questions and talk to people. When people start talking you never know what to expect. Everyone goes through hard times with different issues in their life. These are the easiest things to talk about. More often then not photographers will have to play the roll of sociologist friend to comfort subjects to help explain why things are happening in someone’s life to get the subject back to a happy place for a nice expression. Each genre of photography comes with a new set of hats to wear and each hat I put on makes me a stronger person and a better photographer. Photography found me at the age of 18. It is my job, my career, it is who I am. I wake up every day and check my email wondering if I will get an inquiry for something new. Will it be a wedding in Ashville or a commercial job in Charlotte or maybe a magazine editorial where I’ll have to fly to California to shoot an image for a hot new story? Whatever it is you can promise I will try my hardest to do my best and be the best at getting the job done with the highest respect for quality. As a photographer Qality is what counts more then anything else as in most industries to seperate professionals from those who pick up a camera for the first time and slap a label on their door. Some people go through the motions in life, some try hard but only hard enough and others simply push. The ones that push are the ones that produce what is considered quality. A comment that sums up how i look at what i do would be “do not just do somthing, do it so well others want to do it too”. I do not remember who said this to me but it stuck. Every day no matter what hat i wear i have this statement echoing in my head.
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August 17th, 2008
I am excited every day to wake up and learn about the changes that are made in my life by simply doing what I know how to do. Photography is all I know. If you care to find out how i got started and why, this is my story. After high school in Arden, NC I attended WCU. Like all freshmen who graduate from boarding schools where they prep you with an ego before sending you off into the world, I thought I would be an easy “A” student majoring in computer science; that was not the case. I left high school working on a pretty intense graphics program helping other students with Photoshop needs. Shortly after my first few months of college I found a SLR camera at a friend’s house, a cannon rebel film body like the ones they use to have at Wal-Mart. My friend sold me the camera at a give away price which was all i could afford at the time. The short version is, I never put it down. That did not work well with teachers wanting homework and perfect attendance. I didn’t care, I had something I needed to get good at. I didn’t know why I had such a drive to use this new device and when I had the camera in my hand I felt a peace. My camera was like a beer or a cigarette for most people. It was my addiction and my comfort zone. I had found something that made me stand out. There are many different personality types out there. Mine is the type that starts something, develops a strong desire to have a solid understanding, fulfils that understanding then moves on to see what else life has to offer. When I found the camera on my friends coffee table that day I had no idea what I had found. For the price tag he gave me of $30 I figured it would simply be a fun way to fill the time when I was not working or doing homework. The camera provided a way for my personality type to explode. It gave me a reason to explore the world. For the first time I new what it was like to enjoy learning about something. Not learning to impress or to get a grade but learning because I wanted to show others what I had seen while on an adventure. At the time I was going hiking to water falls around North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Parkway. I would find a waterfall i had not been to on the internet then get a group of friends together from my dorm and take off on an adventure simply because I could. I can’t just find a bug and take a photo. When I photograph something new, it reveals a whole new world of lessons to learn. For example you can’t just shoot a face, a face has a nose and eyes with eye sockets. Noses are a form of texture and to create shape the dimension in that texture you need to create shadow. Then you learn the different patterns for how to light a nose in a pleasing manner so the eyes will shine without shadow falling on the pupil and the image will be appealing to the subject and/or the viewer. When you photograph horses the head and legs have to be in correct formation so the horse looks well bread. Metal needs to look like metal and not blown out or have funky reflections. Underwater photography creates a haze on the capture created by light shining through the water which needs to be fixed in post production if you are shooting in ocean water or a pool with chlorine. If you can work with the haze you still need to stay down long enough to get the shot. Bugs never stay till! The closer you get to a bug the more detail you see. The first time I photographed a spider I was terrified. Photographing a praying mantis close up can seem almost comical because of the way they move. Every type of photography starts with a single photo. For some the process moves on to a print being put on the wall where the process then ends. For me the learning process can go on forever. It is a constant battle to stay ahead of my competition at the genre’s that pay the bills and to learn the tricks to photographing new things. I want to know why the subject is beautiful in the image I have created, why is it scary, why does it make you feel excited or emotional. Photography is my way of life. It is all I know and all I understand. I have tried learning other things. My brain does not seem to absorb relative information like it does with digital photography related education. I tried to learn horticulture a few years ago. I can’t remember a third of what I learned. Yet I can recall word for word what my teachers at Hallmark institute said to me in nearly every lecture I sat through like it was a recording in my head. If i were still shooting film I would probably not be a photographer right now. In school and for the few years after when I worked with film the process was to slow and time consuming. Finding a negative in an envelope of 20 rolls use to drive me crazy.
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August 5th, 2008
This should be fun; I just booked a wedding for May 2nd on a party boat. I use to fish at night on my boat up until about 8 months ago under snows cut bridge at Carolina Beach. There was always a boat that went by with music and disco lighting and people screaming at me. I remember thinking to myself, “that would be fun to photograph.” If nothing else it would be interesting to be on the release side of the flying beer bottles. I love being a photographer because every job is different and everything I do keeps me pushing to be better as a person and as a professional. If you read my previous blog you might find it interesting this bride also wanted the thin magazine style coffee table book. I also just booked a wedding in Ashville NC and another in Silver City NC shooting a photographers daughters wedding. I think a little time on the road will do me good. Shooting for other photographers always lights a fire under my feet to be more creative. I’m currently putting together an album for a landfall wedding in between phone calls and emails. I have also booked a family portrait today for august 9th at ocean isle. It seems Ocean Isle and Topsail photographers are in high demand right now. I’ve been shooting at both of those locations about 3 times a week for the past 2 months. I just received another email for an ocean isle portrait session and will be calling in a few minutes, wish me luck and thanks for reading!!
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August 5th, 2008
This morning i woke up to my dog Reesy trying to tell me something, it sounded like “wraw wraw wraaaw” fallowed by a very enthusiastic ”wake up” lick. Being a pet photographer i had an urge to grab the camera, then i realized i had a consultation in just under an hour and Reesy has been shedding like a wild dog lately. I jumped up and grabbed the vacuum, started a little jack Johnson gave Reesy some food and went on a dog hair removal mission. The phone rang a few minutes later. It was the couple letting me know they were in town early and wanted to come. I had finished my mission and started feeling excited to show my creations so i said ok. Reesy Greeted the couple as they pulled up with her tail in full wag mode. I could tell they were pet people by the way they took to Ressy almost instantly. The couple came inside and introduced themselves explaining how their wedding would be at Fort Fisher and the ceremony would be at the North Carolina (NC) Aquarium. I recently did the promo work for the NC aquarium so that was the first thing i showed them. Then we sat down and looked at albums. Times are changing with Albums. I started offering a thin coffee table book with thin pages and a basic page layout design. I show this album in addition to the several others that cost $1000 or more. This new book is only $500. The common comment is “those are nice but the thin coffee table book is more us”. Personally i would probably get one for myself if i had the need, now that i think about it maybe i’ll put one together using all the images i have taken of Reesy. After showing the albums, prints, matted images, left over wedding wallet favors and digital slide show the couple seemed very happy. They had been together for 10 years already and seemed just as sweet to each other as couples that had recently fallen in love. I think these guys were a very good match and from the sound of their last few comments I’m feeling good about seeing them again. I ended our meeting with a little help from Reesy. If you’ve seen our myspace photo on my personal profile http://www.myspace.com/tomsapp you’ll see she’s a talker. Random noises and showing off her abilities are her specialties. The couple laughed for a minute then said their good byes. They were heading over to the Aquarium for a meeting with Terry Bryant. She is a wonderful event coordinator and the NC Aquarium is such a cool place. When the couple left i checked my email. It turns out I’m doing a wedding for a bride that works with Kyle mentioned in my first blog posting, the aspiring photographer. They work at South Beach Bar and Grill in Wrightsville Beach together. She emailed me letting me how happy she is with the engagement session, another email was letting me know i have a comment already on my blog from Tiffany Strickland. I did her wedding about 2 months ago then saw her at her friends wedding i shot in Greenville, NC 2 weeks ago. She was such an awesome bride to shoot for and now she’s taking the time to write me a blog comment, that is just awesome. If only i could get every day to start out this well!
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August 4th, 2008
Aspiring
Yesterday I did a photo shoot with a family of 19 at the north end of Carolina Beach. The shoot was a little different because I had a new helper with me, Kyle from Wrightsville Beach. Kyle is an aspiring photographer at the age of 17. He has a spark in him; an element of excitement for what will come next that makes me remember how I was before I went to photo school and started my own business. We had a blast running around rolling in the sand and getting the kids to be silly. The family members were having so much fun I had people from around the Carolina Beach pier come up and ask me for cards. It makes me feel good when I can bring enjoyment into peoples lives like that so much so others see what I do and want me to do it for them. There was a little girl at this session that did not like to have a camera pointed at her. The parents wanted a family portrait but she was not having it. I told them to let her run for a few minutes when I got her playing and being a silly goose I told the parents to come in next to her, I called her name as the camera was in focused shooting position … CLICK …. The perfect family portrait. I’ve had so many family beach portraits lately time has flown by without me realizing what day it is. Today is the first day I’ve had in about 3 weeks where I haven’t photographed someone standing on sand. It was nice to take a breather but at the same time I have so much fun when I shoot I feel energized for tomorrow’s session. At the end of the family portrait session Kyle told me he had learned a great deal about getting really awesome portraits, “what’s that” I said, “you have to be super animated and have fun!” His comment made me laugh. I told him most of that was the cup of coffee I had before the shoot. He is right regarding the session we had just done because there were kids involved and that is the style they wanted based on a phone conversation with the grandmother earlier that week. That is also why I had a cup of coffee before working with 19 kids and 7 of them being between 14 and 2. It’s not often before a session I have people point to a photo and say “I want that”, if they did it wouldn’t be special. I felt the 19 people on vacation I was photographing simply wanted fun memories. Later that theory was backed by a dunking session into the ocean. Every shoot is different, as a photographer it is my job to get a feel for personality and try my best to understand what my subjects are expecting. If a little girl doesn’t like to have her photo taken getting a timeless portrait in 5 minutes is not the most likely thing to happen. I was very lucky in this situation the parents were open to my suggestions. It is better to let the energy out, find a happy place then try again. For that reason I try to take more time to work with kids like this and sometimes adults to help them feel relaxed and comfortable. There was another little girl that was the complete opposite. I played a game where the kids jumped in front of the camera and made faces at me to get giggles and grins. The last little girl to go couldn’t have been more then 2 years old. She has poses better then national editorial models I work with. That one little girl made 20 people laugh for 5 minutes without a comments. I can predict but in truth I never know exactly what to expect. I carry all the backup equipment and lighting or gear should something go bad. Nothing can prepare you for a 2 year old comedian female with pigtails. When laughter hits, I must be ready! After the session I ran into my photographer buddy Matt and Wilmington NC Videographer Pete Bruno at McDonalds. I sat down to a glass of cold ice tea then got an invite to a lawn movie party next to the Carolina Beach Lake. It seems there is a weekly movie watched on a giant blow up screen with rear projection. After the awesome shoot I had I was ready to wind down a bit. The movie was spider wick chronicles. I would recommend this movie to anyone of all ages. Definitely one of the better movies I’ve seen in a while.
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