Nicolesy Photography: Blog

Kenneth Linge’s “Photographing People” – Tomorrow!

Nicole — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:25 +0000

This is a guest post from Rich Legg at Leggnet’s Digital Capture.

There are a few pivotal events in my life that I can single out as instrumental in my transition from a khaki and polo-shirt wearing real estate broker (not that there’s anything wrong with that) to my current life as a full-time professional photographer. At or near the top of that list is my introduction to Kenneth Linge. I met Kenneth several years ago when Michelle presented me with an anniversary gift of paid tuition to his 3 day Wedding School. It was during this class in 2007 that the light turned on for me (both figuratively and literally) in my approach to photographing people. Kenneth is an extremely gifted and award winning photographer and freely shares his years of experience in his teaching clinics.

Roll the clock ahead to 2010, and not a day goes by when I am creating imagery that I don’t use some of the skills that I have learned from Kenneth. In the years since our first introduction I have had the opportunity to take several more of his classes as both a student and an assistant. I will forever be thankful for Kenneth’s friendship that began on that fateful Monday in 2007.

The reason for today’s post is to say that there are still a couple of spots left for tomorrow’s Photographing People Part I class that Kenneth is teaching in his Orem (Utah) studio. I have been involved in this class numerous times and can say that it is a great starting point for any photographer that wants to improve their photography when it comes to people pictures. Capturing great images of our fellow human beings can be a struggle for many shooters. I have known some great wildlife/landscape/still life photographers that literally freeze up with fear when it comes to shooting a portrait. This class can be a great step in overcoming that anxiety.

The class isn’t cheap at nearly $300, but as the old saying goes “you get what you pay for”. The combination of small class size and Kenneth’s years of experience create a great learning environment. And guess what? As an added bonus the students to this weekend’s class will also receive a highly-desired-and-heavily-sought-after ticket to this year’s sold out Photocamp Utah. I know – wow!

To grab a last-minute spot to tomorrow’s class, click here or visit the International School of Photography website at http://intsop.com.

And yeah, I know this post looks kind of like a long-winded advertisement. Rest assured, I receive no compensation from Kenneth – I just believe in his product and want to help a good friend succeed.

Are You Who You Want to Be?

Nicole — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:12:46 +0000

Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L IS Lens, 1/30 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 3200

A few days ago I was blasting Switchfoot on my iPod and tuned it to my favorite song, “This is Your Life”. One of the verses in it really made me think about it in terms of my life in general but I also started thinking about it as a photographer. it’s really a very simple phrase, but has so much meaning to it:

This is your life, are you who you want to be?

Try to put his into perspective as a photographer. I’m not talking about the photos you create or the amount of photography knowledge that you know, or how “good” you are at photography. Set aside the idea of how much money you make (or want to make), how many books you’ve written or contests you’ve won. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you, who you are and if you as a photographer reflect that as well.

When you are photographing someone do you talk with them and treat them with respect? When you interact with clients are you fair and just, even though it is business? Are you kind to other photographers, even though they are the competition? Now I am of course under the assumption that most people want to be good, fair, honest and nice, but sometimes we tend to only want to apply that principle in our personal lives.

I’m not saying that you can’t have high prices for your services, or that you have to give all your “secrets” away to other photographers. For me photography is my job, it’s how I earn my living and it’s a very big part of who I am. But I want to run my photography business in a way that I can feel good about. I want to treat other photographers with respect and courtesy, even though they might be my competition. Part of how I do this is by sharing my knowledge with other people – that’s just a part of who I am.

You can be as cutthroat, rude and mean of a photographer as you want … but if that’s not who you are as a person then why are you that person when it comes to photography? Life is about people, it always has been and it always will be. Be who you want to be, be yourself and you can never go wrong.

Judge Joe Brown & Cheap Wedding Photographers

Nicole — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:02:42 +0000

Please take ten minutes of your day and watch this video – trust me, its so worth it. It’s a perfect example of two women who are mediocre photographers trying to market themselves as professional wedding photographers and failing to provide quality images to their clients. In a nut-shell these women are very inexperienced and really should stay away from weddings until they learn more and can live up to their client’s expextations.

My favorite line from the video was when Judge Joe Brown (who really knows his photography, btw) asks the woman about her lens and says “what speed is it” … her response was “I don’t know”. Seriously? And you call yourself a professional? The Judge also noted that the images were very pixelated and couldn’t be enlarged … perhaps they did a bit (LOT) of creative cropping to compensate for their lack of composing correctly in-camera?

The sad part is that these women actually think they did a good job, the Judge isn’t afraid to tell them what he thinks of their equipment, photos and their “professionalism” and it’s very clear how he feels when he gives his ruling. I hope they learned their lesson.

Photoshop Seminar with Dave Cross

Nicole — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:01:34 +0000

Last week I attended the “MAXIMUM Photoshop Tour” with Dave Cross. I’m a NAPP member so I’ve been to both seminars and Photoshop World and always enjoyed them thoroughly … this seminar was no exception! I consider myself an advanced Photoshop user so there are usually topics on things that I’m already familiar with, but the great thing about Photoshop is that there are soooo many ways to do one thing so I always learn something new that I can plug into my workflow.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a NAPP seminar I would highly recommend it – you can find them at KelbyTraining.com. They are usually $99 for one full day of training, but if you’re a NAPP member like me then you get a nice $20 discount. At the end of the day I always feel like I get my money’s worth. :)

BTW, if you’re an avid Photoshop user and not a NAPP member then you should definitely check it out. It’s only $99/year and you get a magazine subscription, access to tons of online training and lots of discounts on gear, software, and other cool stuff. I’ve been a member for about two years now, and it’s so worth it. :)

“Learning Digital Photography” – Podcast Interview

Nicole — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:30:30 +0000

Last week I was interviewed by Jason Anderson for the “Learning Digital Photography” podcast. We talked about micro-stock photography (mostly iStockphoto) and a lot of other general photography and camera related things. I had a lot of fun chatting with Jason and answering his questions … take a listen and you’ll hear some of my take on microstock and also about my new Canon 7D.

Check out the blog at CanonBlogger.com and go here for a link to listen to the podcast in iTunes.