ANSAROV's blog

Amy R shot at 1 to 1

2011-11-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

When not chasing after critters in the backyard, I also have been working on another personal project. It's been in development for about 3 years now and I am very excited to see how it is turning out.

I call it the 1to1 - Up close and very personal.

This is a socially significant fine art project conceived, developed and created by me. Be sure to check out my website built specifically for this at www.1to1.me.

This images is one of my latest. The file is 45,000 pixels by 48,000 pixels. That's 2.16 GIGAPIXELS. Wow. My poor computer.

In real terms this is a 12 foot by 13 foot print.

What this also means that printers can't handle this. It will take each image to be printed separately and then put together manually. Which is what I am proposing for an installation… coming soon!

Papa at 1:1 ratio

2011-11-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is a short video from my iPhone of my computer monitor. On the screen is a digital version of my grandfather for my fine art project simply titled 1 to 1.

The final file size is 37,800 pixels wide by 54,000 tall. Equivelant to a 10.5' x 15' print.
For more upcoming info about this collection and upcoming gallery exhibits, be sure to like my page at Facebook.com/ansarovstudios

Cuban Tree Frog and Sphinx Moth

2011-10-19T17:57:00.001-07:00

So I started doing photo nights at my home studio. I used to do this in Virginia when in the Navy and would get upwards of 15 kids. The goal is to make myself an open book to all who are interested to learn and ask questions regarding anything photography or photo business. I've had a few here already with sometimes 3 guys, but last night all but one cancelled. I was a bit let down to this since I am providing time that I really don't have with no agenda other than helping people I know to be successful. So the one that did show up I spent a few hours with. As we were talking my neighbor knocked on the door. He said he found a cool critter for me. It was this giant Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis). I was very excited about it, but didn't want to stop with the student so I captured him in a cage and set aside. Her son was with her so I took a few minutes to show the many details and beauty of this simple creature.

Then as the student was leaving her son, now interested in nature, saw this beautiful Tersa Sphinx moth (Xylophanes tersa)sitting on my van door handle. It was another creature I had never seen before. I was completely amazed and captured him as well. It was if nature knew how I felt and decided to raise my spirits by presenting two new opportunities. Both creatures where extremely calm and docile. I spent upwards of a half an hour on each before releasing back into the wild. I went to bed very happy.

Silver Argiope and family

2011-09-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I found a beautiful Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata) in the backyard. She was pretty large and not easy to overlook. What I didn't notice was this amazing egg sac. It was HUGE. Almost bigger than the Argiope herself. At the same time, I had a new student, Amy Yeatts tell me she wanted to get into Nature photography. What better way to bring one into nature photography than by forcing to get close close to a spider. She did well.

Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra

2011-09-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a great day!
One of my classes at school gave me the opportunity to work with the Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra in Sunrise, Florida. This is a small, yet strong orchestra that has been in operation for over 25 years. As part of their new marketing campaign, I offered to donate my time to help shoot their portraits and video interviews. These are a few of my favorites from that shoot.

A baby corn snake visits my backyard

2011-09-04T19:09:00.001-07:00

So I was mowing my lawn today when the beautiful Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata). He was only about 12 inches, but put up a fight like a super predator. Because he was so active I had to re think my typical way of shooting. Usually they are manageable to the point where I can keep them on an open vinyl, but this guy was not going to cooperate. So I pulled out a small fish tank and cut some foam core as a base and background. It is a set in progress, but it is a good start. The little fella was acting up a lot, but I was able to keep him in enough of a confined space that made for some great shots.

Father / Son / Spider bonding

2011-08-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

Today, my son, Corbin Ansarov, found a baby Banana spider. He captured it in his little bug cage I gave him and asked to photograph it. So we set up the lights and I let him go to town. With a little guidance he quickly saw how close we can get to these things. He had a great time and I was very proud of him.

Delray Beach Jelly Fish

2011-08-03T10:08:00.001-07:00

The latest addition to the My Backyard Beach project. A very colorful jellyfish. This one stung me a little, but the images are very worth it.

a living Sand Dollar

2011-07-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day at the beach. The water was calm and very clear. I decided to go out snorkeling for a bit and relax with the fishies. I drifter about 500 feet out when I found a great surprise. Hundreds of Sand Dollars where casually resting everywhere under the sand. They were only visible by their edges sticking out from the sand. I took a deep breathe and dove the 20+ feet to get one, brought him back, shot these images and raced back out to put him back. It was pretty cool being that most of the time a person sees a sand dollar is when it is dead and bleach white. I never jnew how amazing the texture was. Not just on the bottom, but his entire body was moving with millions of living arms reaching everywhere. Before I took it back, I showed a bunch of kids that were playing nearby. I really enjoyed sharing this magnificent gift with other kids. It truly was a great gift.

Thorn bug wanted to be a school project

2011-05-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Found this guy (a thorn bug, Umbonia crassicornis) on a Royal Poinciana leaf today. Funny thing was I was on a school assignment to find an interesting item to make a story about. I grabbed the leaf because I wanted the leaf. I only found him after I got back to class. He was pretty cool just sitting there pretending to be a thorn.

Opportunity can slither in at the most inopportune time.

2011-05-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Since my wife, Anna was a child she has always been terrified of snakes. So this kind of put a blockade on any opportunities I may have had on adding snakes to my backyard collection. So when she left last week for a two week trip I can't say I didn't think for a moment in the back of my head that I would take the opportunity to photograph a snake.

Instead of crwaling around the backyard though I have been taking the opportunity to remodel a part of the home. Building and painting walls, etc. Stuff that I really couldn't do with a pregnant wife and child here. The thought of finding anything to shoot this week was farthest from my mind.

So it was pretty funny, when my new friend and neighbor stopped by to pick up some plants that I was giving a way and I found this ring neck snake underneath. As soon as I saw him I smiled. I knew he was there for a reason and I was supposed to photograph him.

Then the excuses started setting in.

"I have tons of work to do today and no time."

"I have two projects due tomorrow and two midterm exams on Friday and have to study."

"I have to clean the entire house to get ready for painting on Saturday."

"This place has to be done by the time, Anna and Anabella gets home."

etc, etc, etc.

One of the ideas I try to push on everybody is the fact that it is much easier to create the NO in our lives than providing the YES!

I started thinking of my many many mentors in my life. They are always with me telling me what they would do.

Then the positive thoughts come in.

"How often will you get this opportunity?"

"It won't take much to set up and shoot."

"Look how beautiful he is."

"You can always stay up late tonight."

etc, etc, etc

My passion won!

I spent about 10 minutes setting up and 15 minutes shooting and 5 minutes breaking down. It was a pretty difficult shoot. Probably one of the most difficult. Try holding a snake that is constantly moving in one hand, while holding the camera in the other, With the lens in manual focus, moving slightly back and forth with the camera to get the perfect focus. Did I mention the snake is moving?

And so you also understand, when using a macro lens at a few inches away, a fraction of an inch is completely out of focus.... And yes I am pretty proud of myself and yes I am bragging. : )

I used my elinchrom Ranger RX battery kit with a diffuser on one side and a 8º grid on another. Shot with a Nikon D90 and 60mm Micro lens.

The ringneck snake(diadophis punctatus) is a very common in Florida. It is fairly small and gets to about 10 inches at the largest. This guy was about that big. They are distinct by their red band around their neck and orange belley that turns red towards the tail. They are non-aggresive and only eat worms, lizards and small frogs. They do have a poisnous saliva to immobilize their prey, but it is not dangerous to humans.

Polka dot Wasp moth - Latest in backyard project

2011-04-29T15:38:00.001-07:00

I think it's pretty cool that I just shot the caterpillar of this species and recently found the moth that it turns into. He was truly beautiful and gentle. The biggest challenge though was that he wouldn't settle down until he was upside down. So what you are seeing are images taken from underneath the table then rotated.

I got Manduca Quinquemaculata in my tomatoes

2011-04-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I built an above ground garden in my backyard. Not so much a "Crisis Garden" yet, but it sure is practice and a good form of relaxation and zen for me.
Recently I was in my tomato plant when I found this happy little critter. He was nearly invisible, but he wasn't prepared for me. Or was he waiting for me?

There's an image of my fingertip to show reference to size. I was really happy to capture the one of him reaching up in the air. Getting a moment like this is not easy because there are so many elements involved. First is the fact that the thing is moving all over the place. This means I can't necessarily have the camera on tripod. So this means I have to hand hold and maintain a focus. And shooting something at hearly 1:1 ratio means that a fraction of a centimeter puts me out of focus. Somehow I manage to get something most every time.

To see more from this project, go to my website at www.ansarov.com

Polka-Dot Wasp Moth caterpillar

2011-04-19T19:15:00.001-07:00

Now that the dust is setting a bit in my personal life, I am starting to notice new backyard models for my project.
These are always fun and inspirational and I have been putting them off for too long.
Now that I am in a new home an new location I have a new crop of backyard treasures to populate my photo collection. The overall theme is to show the beauty in the creatures that live their lives right under our noses. I use either black or white backdrops so not to take away from the subject and always treat every creature with respect. Every one is unharmed and released back to the wild after the photos. You can see more from this project in the backyard treasures gallery at www.ansarov.com

BREAKING NEWS Photographer sets up witty family portrait. Baby floats away!

2011-04-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

I recently took this photo of my family in front of our new home and posted it on my facebook as well as emailed to family to announce the great news that we are expecting a new baby. What I fund to be pretty hilarious was the fact that every time I showed the image to someone, the first response was "How did you do that" or you are crazy to hang your baby by balloons like that. So after a few times of having to explain how I did the shot, I started playing around and making up stories. Like, "Yeah, we found it took exactly 135 balloons to keep her level. We had made the mistake of putting 140, and thank God she floated into a tree limb and some balloons popped or else we would have been in big trouble..."

Other stories went like, "Yeah, the tough part was the wind. We would position her there, but the wind would push her back and by the time we noticed she would be floating towards the neighbors house."

But before anybody starts calling child protective services I would explain that maybe (just maybe) I might actually be good at Photoshop as well.

To me, it isn't like it's a huge secret. In fact, I think it is safe to now make the same statement that has stood true for photography in general, It's not the camera (or computer software) that makes a great picture, but rather the photographer (or operator) using it.

I had this idea in my head for a while, but never saw an opportunity (or was probably too lazy) to buy a ton of balloons to do it. But we were recently at a relative's baby shower and they had all these balloons there. After the party they were going to just let the balloons go away. Knowing what would happen if I didn't take advantage of the opportunity I asked to take them instead.
Because (over the many years of doing this) I have gotten pretty good at being able to reverse engineer an idea which is pretty important when dealing with the nature of a 10-month old daughter in the hot sun.

So as you can see, NO I did not hang my baby from a bunch of balloons. What kind of idiot does that??? I took this photo as is on a tripod. The important part is to make sure your tripod, lens, exposure, etc does not change. This can make life a ton easier.

Then I took the shot of us without the baby in the background. Notice that with this picture I now have a clean background to work with for later.

Other shots are filler balloons.

I then opened them all in photoshop, placed them all onto one canvas as layers then made working masks for each.
After that it is simply choosing one layer at a time and erasing what you don't want in that layer and keeping what you want.
Of course this makes it sound easy and please remember I've been using photoshop since it was version 2.0, but honestly it is a simple concept that (with a little bit of practice) can provide great results.
The final touch was selecting the green balloons and replacing colors to pink.

I hope this helps. And maybe hopefully I will start to have more time for blogging soon. That is until the new baby is born...

Aa

2011-03-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

A typical night at the Ansarov home...

This was done as a final project for my desktop video class at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. I have been a student there for over a year working on my Bachelor's in Science degree in Advertising.

One of my biggest projects yet- Anabella, the first 6 months

2010-11-19T21:11:00.001-08:00

It has been tough for me to keep up with my blogging these past 6 months. I typically enjoy it and make every effort to take the time to do it, but I have since found that I have spent more time with my most recent and most important project yet. This one is going to take me a long time and countless man hours to make it perfect and I am sure it is going to be a complete success. We are calling her Anabella.

I do hope to be revamping this blog soon though. On top of the addition of Anabella, I have also started school for a Bachelors in Advertising. This isn't a total career change, but more of a career enhancement. I see myself moving more towards not just being a talented photographer, but also a Creative Director. Just adds more tools to my bag. So far this year I have stayed on the Dean's list so I must be doing something right.

So now expect more positive and inspirational blogs geared towards not only creative photography, but now how it fills it's place in the Advertising world... or something like that.

Great inspiration from Gail Mooney

2010-04-21T06:48:00.001-07:00

Some great inspiration from Gail Mooney. READ IT!!! LIVE IT!!! DO IT!!!

Never Let yourself regret a missed opportunity to better yourself.

Click here:

http://wp.me/prfWh-if

AARON ANSAROV

passionatephotographerflorida

WWW.ANSAROV.COM

+1.305.951.4795

Totally cool future

2010-03-31T18:27:00.001-07:00

This is a totally cool time to live. I am very excited about being a part of this future.

VIV Mag Featurette: A Digital Magazine Motion Cover and Feature for the iPad from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

Quantum Film the new phrase for coolness.

2010-03-30T07:19:00.001-07:00

This is truly amazing.

Just when we thought our technology was reaching a peak...

InVisage Technologies is going to revolutionize the photo/video world.

Check out their company website at

http://www.invisageinc.com/page.aspx?cont=QuantumFilm%20Technology

Read the NY Times article here.

www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/technology/22quantum.html

AARON ANSAROV

passionatephotographerflorida

WWW.ANSAROV.COM

+1.305.951.4795

The President's image used for advertisements???

2010-01-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

So here's a photo ethical dilemma of the day. Here is an article about a recent use of an image of Barrack Obama in an advertisement for a jacket.
ABC News
Fox News
LA Times
New York Times
New York Magazine
The articles state the photographer gave permission to use the image which he should have known better to license an image for commercial use without a model release. Also, it's an AP image so what was AP thinking???
Same thing happened with Michelle Obama and PETA. PETA should know better as well. Watch this issue close. If nothing is done with this then I can expect we will see more "unsponsored" and "unapproved" images being used without concern for repercussions.

If nothing happens, do you think other companies may be fighting for the chance of getting an image of the President holding their product. Can you imagine if a cigarrette company gets a picture of him holding their brand? What would Burger King say if all of a sudden there is a photo of him holding a McDonald's coffee cup in his hand on a billboard?

Why is there little chatter on this?
It blows me away.

Perhaps no one will notice when he goes to give his state of the Union speech wearing a jump suit with hundreds of company logos and brand names on it looking like a race car driver.

A few ideas that I can pass along.

2010-01-06T18:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to all.

Today was a pretty interesting day. But all that happened today didn't
compare to the 2 hours of powerful conversation I had with a Navy
photographer who asked for advice on his portfolio.
I have always taken the charge that was given to me many years ago to
"Give back as freely as it was given to you." I always tell people I
am always willing to devote the time and help young (by young I mean
less experienced) photographers in wherever they need it. From life
experiences to passionate and emotional thinking. From understanding f-
stops to elaborate flash set ups and capturing creative impact in
images.

What started off being a simple conversation in response to a
portfolio critique soon became a 2 hour 'power hour' on basic photo
thinking, life choices and keys to a successful photography career.
It was an exciting conversation and it felt good to hear things click
and feel that what was being said was being taken as gold and to heart.
There was many items discussed. Some specific to his photography and
career. Other items general towards what I deem to be 'bare
necessities' in photo thinking.

Some of the items discussed I thought I should mention.
Here are a few items that have been taught to me that I feel all
photographers should have in their minds.

6 things to look for in telling a photo story
- Overall
- Medium
- Close up
- Extreme Close up
- Detail
- Portrait

Whether you are a videographer or still photographer. This is a brush
stroke of 6 basic visual varieties to think about whenever a camera is
in hand. It forces you to think and see in different focal lengths and
angles. I STRONGLY suggest taking this and taping to the back of your
camera until they are memorized and become a natural list you look for
in every scene.

3 things to do PRIOR to taking a shot
- CONTROL the background
- FILL the frame with what is important
- WAIT for the moment

Again, this should be a mantra you say to yourself EVERY time you put
the camera to your face.

3 items to look for in editing every image (in order of precedence)
- CONTENT?
- COMPOSITION?
- TECHNICAL ABILITY?

Use these three questions in every image you are editing. Remember
that an image could be poor technically (over/under exposed), and even
poorly composed. But if it has content, then you may still have a
great image.

Try it!!!

2009-12-23T06:02:00.000-08:00

So I have been out of sight for a while now on blogger. It doesn't mean, though that I haven't been hella busy. In fact, I've been all over the place in business, photos and more. One of the most important 'projects' I have been working on (or more my wife Anna) has been this super secret project shown in this video.

I hope you like it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T09:11:00.001-08:00

Wishing everyone a Happy and Thankful Thanksgiving. Now is the time
not to worry about the things you don't have, but to be very Happy for
the things you do have. Try hard enough and I am sure you will come up
with something. Being alive is one of them.

Legion Photo is up and running

2009-11-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I put regular blog entires and I do apologize for that. But I now have a lot of catching up to do as I announce the release of my new photo agency, Legion Photo. This is a creative collaboration of 8 other amazing photographers from my military family. Each with a unique talent they all have very diverse styles, but combined we make up the top military background photographers around. Our mission will be to cater and target to a high end editorial and commercial client with photo and video needs in the aerial, machinery, military and special security and service genre.

Take a few moments and check out the site. I am sure you will be incredibly impressed.

Legion Photo is
Stacy Pearsall, Jeremy Lock, Andy Dunaway, Shane McCoy, Lance Cheung, Brien Aho, Johnny Bivera, Tom Sperduto and Aaron Ansarov.

2009 Black Team video

2009-10-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you don't know about the Eddie Adams Black team then you really haven't lived. Each year a collection of the top passionate people in the industry get together to create the Black Team at Eddie Adams Workshop. Sure the workshop is greta and all, but being on the Black Team is probably the most important life altering experiences on can have.

Anyway, one of the many many things that black team members do (other than mowing lawns, setting up chairs, driving VIPs from NY and other things) is a Black Team video.

Here is 2009's video which was accomplished even with the heavy economy hit. Simply amazing!!! Great job guys.

Living magazines are coming. Get over it! Love it!

2009-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

If I ever here one more old (ph)ogie tell me that video convergence is a fad, I will just cry.

Watch this now!

Living Magazine Cover & Spread - Outside Magazine from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

Firemen rescue a cat. News at 11

2009-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

So there was Anna, sitting on the corner of a street with all the gear, waiting for me to park the car. Then she hears it, meow meow meow. So she starts looking around and what do you know, right down a storm drain was this little baby kitten sitting on a ledge a few feet from the grate high above a ten foot cavern below.

So here I come walking slowly not to break a sweat before shooting another VIP when I see Anna waiving her hands and crying to me, "the cat, the cat." So I asked her. Did you shoot it? With an obvious look on my face like it was so obvious that why I should even ask the question. "No!!! Go get help!" She says.

SO I went to a bank nearby and asked if they could call the non-emergency number and within minutes this huge fire truck was on scene. Then I told Anna, "Here they are. Now shoot it!"

It took only a few seconds before the courageous firefighters lifted the steel grate and swept in to grab the cat. One of the ladies in the bank told me that if no one wanted it she would take it.

There you go. We saved the kitties day. And did a nice street portrait of the fire crew as a thank you. Now back to work as we photographed the owner of the Sun Sentinel newspaper. Oh, did I mention that the building next to us was the Sun Sentinel newspaper. Damn I should have brought the images to them.

Watch the video here.

an Iguana found me

2009-09-26T19:38:00.001-07:00

This is just one more example of a fact to me that there is a divineintervention in my life. Recently I got the call again from a majorpublication that is interested in possibly a feature about my backyardproject. I won't mention the name (ng), but will say it will be a very cool part of my life.

Only problem for me though was I hadn't photographed a backyard creature in a while. It just seemed to dry up. I do feel like I send out radio waves that attract these things. How else can I explain that this giant 6 foot long Iguana appear out of no where. He showed up this morning right next to the porch. We had one apple in the house and a bag of carrots we were going to throw away. Anna cut them into pieces and we started tossing them to him. Because these guys can be very rough if threatened I chose to try not to catch him, but let him come into the house on his own. After about a few minutes of coaxing him to our open door, he just walked right on in. I was a little unprepared for this (mostly because I wasn't thinking he would come in), but I set up my Elinchrom Ranger RX battery kit with two S heads. One with a soft box and another with a grid reflector for some backlight. Because I didn't think I would have much time with him, I didn't even set up stands and just rested the lights on the floor or a nearby chair. As a backdrop, I used two pieces of giant 4x8 black foam core, cut to fold in half. He had no problem walking onto it and posing for me. As long as there was some carrots to occupy him.

Actually it was pretty freaky how good he was. Almost as if he was
modeling for me. Watch the video Anna shot of the event here.

What to learn from this? Take advantage of every opportunity God gives
you. No matter how trivial it may be. Don't get lazy. Just create.
This has to be one of the coolest shoots from this project yet.

Of course I could have done without the Iguana leaving a human sized
poop on my foam core, but I can't complain.

Socialnomics

2009-09-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Ian Summers' blog and had to post it. It is very real and exciting. Just think about our parents and them saying, "If I only knew to invest in this or that company way back when..." Well, here we are on the edge of a shift and seeing the ones that are succeeding. What are you waiting for?

A conversation with Dave Moser

2009-09-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

Recently I had a conversation with a friend, Dave Moser. Dave is a photographer based in Philadelphia and strong supporter of the ASMP. In fact it was he that pushed me to join and get involved. While we were on the phone I congratulated him on his latest marketing campaign and decided to ask him a few questions for a blog entry. Below is what he said.

A little background about Dave. He graduated #1 in his class from the University of Dayton with a BFA in 1990 and started full time in 94 after being the most booked assistant in Philly.

When you first started how did you do your marketing?

Marketing is something I have never really made enough time for. I was very fortunate to run a strong business based on word of mouth. I am now looking to grow my business and work more consistently with top creatives who hire based on style and collaboration rather then locale and price. In January 2008 I started consistent efforts by hiring a team to help. This has proven to be a great choice and I am now heavily involved directly with the marketing along with overseeing the team. The team consists of Ian Summers (coach), Anna Adesanya (marketing coordinator), David Samson of Adville (copywriter) and Partners Design (Design Firm). This allows me to wear less hats and do what I really love to do, take pictures! I have not only gained more time after delegating these things but have gained an enormous amount of energy as I am not bogged down with things that are not my strengths!

What influenced you to make changes (if any) to target very specific audiences? Unlike many others that apply a shotgun affect to their marketing.

I want to work for top creatives at Ad Agencies, Design Studios, and Magazines. I am less concerned with the "company" and more concerned with what I saw as great work from an individual. I am now seeking to build relationships with these individuals and looking to maintain them as they move from job to job. I believe this industry is about relationships (even more so then other industries) and this seems to be the best way of growing my business/marketing virally as well as keeping pace with such a transient industry.

What can you expect for the next year's efforts in marketing as we start to ease out of these 'tough times'?

I have received some really great unsolicited national press and really great feedback on my campaign but have been told that there has been very little work out there. Some of the strongest feedback has been about how memorable the campaign and my work is. With continued consistent efforts and follow up, I hope to be considered for the projects that are now starting to materialize. Just in the last three weeks work has picked up profoundly, and I attribute this to our marketing efforts.

What organization would you say helped you the most in your path to success as a photographer?

ASMP and Editorial Photographers. Since the beginning of the internet photographers are less likely to be islands and are more willing to share information. This has greatly empowered us as an industry. There is still much to learn from networking, thank you Aaron for this opportunity, and working together in numbers to insure the profitability and sustainability of our industry.

Anything else that you think a 'self-promoting photographer' should consider on their path?

I believe creatives are very interested in seeing our personal work and experiments along with our commissioned work. Our personal work shows not only where we are going but hopefully shows something new unique and exciting. This also provides a chance to expose them to our passion and why we entered and remain in photography.

Check out Dave's work at http://www.dwmphoto.com/

Backyard project featured in October's Popular Photography magazine

2009-09-15T10:25:00.001-07:00

October's issue of Popular Photography magazine is the Nature issue. So it is pretty much an honor to be presented so well in such a specific subject of a large magazine as this. Many thanks to Peter Kolonia for the text as well as Tim Barker who did the amazing illustration.

http://www.popphoto.com/

Click on the photo to see it larger.

A few questions with Matthew Pace

2009-09-07T09:15:00.001-07:00

Matthew Pace is a corporate portrait and food photographer based in Miami, Florida. We know each other from the American Society of Media Photograpers (ASMP) where he is current South Florida chapter president. A wealth of knowledge and experience, Matthew is always willing to answer questions and mentor me when it comes to business and photography.

When I first transitioned from the Navy to the commercial world, moved to south florida and became a member of ASMP, he was one of the first to start helping me in getting on my feet. Here are just a few of the important questions I asked him when I first started.

Tell me a little about your websites and email blasts?

I have a few websites that feed off the main one. I also have 2 separate blogs that I sometime feature images on and talk about them or perhaps a subject that relates back to what I do. The blogs have some advantages over the websites but the drawback is, you need to blog regularly to keep them coming back. I send out email blasts to drive them to my blogs and sites but for the most part, I get clients from the searches they do.

Today's industry has changed slightly on usages of images and compensation to the photographers that license them. Tell me a bit about what you are seeing in the industry of usage.

The licensing has changed dramatically today...the fact that usage is web already says ..international use..multi times..and perhaps in multi versions. Space rates somehow don't seem to make sense to clients in this arena unless they are buying stock as in..a need for a banner ad. For your photography service, web usage seems to be a lumped thing. As for print ads, in the editorial market, usage is often determined by them as space rates. I do find however that work for hire is no longer an issue and I am seldom asked to do it.

How do you go about coming up with prices for clients?

Pricing is always an issue. You have to determine your CODB (Cost Of Doing Business) and what you think is fair since there are no set rates,.Clients will fall into a few catagories...a direct client(consumer)..third party client( from an agency)..corporate client( represents a company dept.)...and editorial...

Consumer clients basically shop...they have little clue and often small budgets.They start with.."How much would you charge?" they have little info to offer of what they need as well and require a lot of hand holding. But there are more of them to deal with.They are the small businesses that thanks to the internet can put up a store cheap. I generally ask where they have budgeted at and then try to work from there unless that job is simply not workable. Third party come to agency or designers with a round budget already established by them.The agency will try to get it under the mark to save on their end. Basically, they know how much to spend, it just matters on who.If you are a top name, they expect a known rate,as they are buying that name. At a lower end, they buy the service,talent understood otherwise they wouldn't be calling you.

A corporate client, is spending company money and is often more flexible in budget.They have a give and take and will usually shop around to get a ballpark figure. They will ask for as much usage as they can get.

Editorial clients already have a set fee in mind.It goes with the page rate and they get one time non exclusive usage as par.

All never get copyright and none have third party usage.

If (when) the client comes back with a lower budget or needs to come down on price, what factors influence you on negotiating this?

I try to play in the usage end...since most ask for the most, I try to explain why they don't need that much and show them what that can translate to in $$$... I might try to trim some expenses if possible, perhaps in re-thinking the job and finding it really doesn't need 3 assistants..or an extra day if we can do this..but there will always be a point where it simply pays to walk away as that type of client will be problematic to the very end.

I recently had a client down on their budget argue a usage fee.He had a product that I normally buy so we agreed on a barter against usage(not the fee) and we both came out with a win win.

What is the most important thing to remember when discussing licensing images?

Any other guidance you could give someone trying to learn proper business in photography?

ASMP is the best place to go to ask questions and find guidance in this business. They fully address most issues and scenarios, along with the 6000 other members who can tell you what is happening in the field. Their website www.asmp.org is a host of info and the dues asked for will be compensated in knowledge,friendship, and business generated , but like any organization, what you put in is what you get out .

Matthew's imagery can be seen at these sites.

PEOPLE in places

http://www.matthewpace.com

FOOD with visual flavor

http://www.matthewpacefood.com

BLOGS.. http://www.matthewpacephoto.blogspot.com

http://www.matthewpacefood.blogspot.com

I can tell you first hand the advice he (and others) gave me was paramount to success in my career in this industry.

Thanks Matthew!

Fwd: FotoWeek DC Awards Competition - 9/13 Deadline

2009-09-02T13:16:00.001-07:00

This is a great competition. I highly recommend submitting.

Dear Friend of FotoWeek DC,

Entries to our 2009 international awards competition are pouring in, and with our Sunday, September 13th deadline just around the corner, we encourage you to submit your best work!

Our annual festival, November 7th to 14th, is shaping up to be yet another amazing year with critically acclaimed international exhibitions, portfolio reviews at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, stimulating lectures by sought after photographers, and exciting events throughout the metropolitan area.

Nine good reasons why you should enter!

* Have your work displayed at FotoWeek DC Festival Nov 7-14, 2009

* $21,500 in cash awards

* Media & online exposure at f otoweekdc.org

* National Geographic Society Awards Ceremony & VIP Reception Nov 5, 2009
* Published in Limited Edition 2010 FotoWeek DC Book
* Open to all professionals, amateurs, and students around the world!!
* Entries judged in 12 separate categories (including social documentary and multimedia)
* Images accepted in digital, film, cell phone, and alternatives processes
* Distinguished p judges

Enter no later than 11:59pm PST on Sunday, September 13th!

Visit www.fotoweekdc.org for a complete listing of award categories, eligibility, rules, judges and information on FotoWeek DC 2009.

FotoWeek DC relies on your generous support to fund our non-profit programs and events.

We look forward to seeing your work & good luck with the competition!

FotoWeek DC

ASMP - Red One Cinema Camera Show and Tell

2009-09-01T18:27:00.001-07:00

I set this up and, if you can make it, would love to see you there.

"Red One" digital cinema camera show and tell

Tuesday, September 15th
Barry University
Andy Gato Gallery, Thompson Hall, 2nd Floor
11300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores
6:30pm gathering 7:30pm showtime.
Refreshments will be served.

Free to all ASMP members/ guests and students

Anybody following industry trends cannot deny the advances in video capabilities has begun to impact the still market. Many of the new lines of pro digital SLR cameras already have video capabilities and over the next few years this will increase exponentially. Now with the release of the Red One digital cinema camera, the ability to freeze a movie frame and have enough quality for print is now present. Just look at Greg Williams' cover of June's Esquire magazine and you will see the applications are already being practiced and used in the market.

ASMP will be providing a unique 'Show and Tell' from one of Florida's providers of this new equipment. David Cox is the owner of Highway Definition in Stuart, Florida and has agreed to bring a red camera set up with him and to speak about the applications of this technology to your still photography business. He will be showing examples as well as a hands on demonstration of this next generation of digital capture.

Visit the follow ing links for more on this and other happenings:
ASMP South Florida Blog
ASMP South Florida Home Page
ASMP National Home Page

Check out my interview on photophanatics

2009-08-27T17:14:00.001-07:00

Recently I was called by David Murphy and asked if I would be
interested in participating in a podcast interview. It was a great
time and wonderful interview. Anybody wanting to know what my path
should check it out.

Check it out here at http://photophanatics.podbean.com/2009/08/26/photo-phanatics-ep-14/

Or here.

Marta and the iPhone

2009-08-24T17:47:00.001-07:00

Today my niece Marta left to return to Poland. She spent two months with us and had a complete blast. During this time, we photographed her during her "First time to US" vacation. During our last visit to Ft Lauderdale beach, I took this image with my iphone. Not the megapixel monster that many people think they need or the latest photoshop marvel that many rely on to 'fix' their images afterward.

Just an iphone and a 99 cent application. Cinema FX by Nexvio Inc. (download the App here).

Of course having a beautiful 17 year old Polish woman as a model doesn't hurt.

I read a quote somewhere that really makes a lot of sense to me.

Amateur photographers worry about gear.

Professional photographers worry about money.

Master photographers worry about light.

- unknown

LEAKED: New iPhone Commercial

2009-08-24T15:20:00.001-07:00

This is freaking hilarious

Sony's Flexible OLED and video being played in print magazines

2009-08-20T08:40:00.001-07:00

For those who have been fighting multimedia, you better beware. For those who think print magazines are going to die, you better beware.
New technology like the Sony Flexible OLED allows for thin bendable screens and now the first ever video advertisement is going to appear in a paper magazine. Check out this article here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8211209.stm
and here

http://www.thewrap.com/article/cbs-unveils-first-video-print-ad_5328

It is only a matter of time before this technology becomes available to everybody and there will be screens in every magazine.

Lead, follow or get out of the way. - Thomas Paine

Interesting facts about images on the web

2009-08-15T10:17:00.001-07:00

I am subscribed to frequent updates and articles from webpronews.com. Some of their info and tips are just simply way above my head, but many times, just from reading headlines can give me insights on directions to move towards web marketing. This article that came in today was so interesting I just have to share it. I would suggest reading the entire article and possibly even subscribing to their email blasts, but the most interesting fact is this...

"Google Director of Product Management R.J. Pittman dropped some facts at SES. 300 million digital photos are taken every day. 100 billion images are taken per year. There were half a trillion images in circulation by 2009. That's the past up to the present. Do you think it's going to slow down? Pittman says there were 800 million camera phones sold last year, and there may be more images online than web pages."

Here is the link to the article

One One Software has really set a new bar

2009-08-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is totally cool.

One oNes Software has released a new iphone application that allows for you to wirelessly control your camera, trigger and see the images straight on your iphone.

go here

http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=38

The software for the Nikon will be out soon. I have recently been exploring the opportunities with setting cameras on remotes. When shooting animals, I currently use a pocket wizard with an adapter that only remotely triggers the camera. I then have a cable connected to a small TV so I can see the result for a few seconds before it goes away.

Now with this software and the WT-4 wifi transmitter. I could set a camera in a remote location, trigger it, adjust exposures (and more) and see the result on my phone.

How crazy is that???

Lacie's new rugged XL 'portable' hard drive

2009-08-12T14:01:00.001-07:00

First, I have to give grand props to Darryl Masterson and his team at PC Connection. PC Connection offers incredible discounts for members of the ASMP. This product was backordered by all major companies. I sent him an email telling him of an upcoming assignment and asked if I could get this product to me in time. He was honest and very quick to respond to my need and was able to get this out to me in awesome time. Thanks very much.

I can't say much about this yet because it is literally out of the box, but what I can say from experience is every rugged drive purchased from Lacie has always impressed. This one was a little bit larger than what I was used to, but at 1TB, I am not complaining. Especially when inside it contains a eSATA drive. This means that when I am done using it as a mobile storage (or upgrade to something smaller), I can simply pull it out of the case and slide it right into my Drobo to replace a smaller drive.

That's smart thinking and planning if you ask me.

Click here to see this Lacie

Ian Shive ROCKS the web with his new new book

2009-08-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

I met Ian Shive at an Aurora meeting last year. An amazing man with a very contagious smile and outlook on life. Truly an interesting individual. Recently, Ian put together a book called The National Parks: Our American Landscape found here, which is filled with truly amazing nature photos. I really admire the way he captures light in such a way. Truly amazing.
Part of his marketing for this book has been his prodcution of four webisodes titled Wild Exposure with Ian Shive. But he doesn't stop there. What he then did was market these videos (6 inutes each) to broadcasters and now Current TV will be shown to 50 million US households. Now how would anybody be able to do something like that in the past? With little budget on top of that?
Ian really did a great job and I am sure his approach is already being copied and used as a template for more to come. This saturation marketing is what the businesses want and eventually will need if they expect to get their product out.
As visual communicators, it is your job to start developing these ideas and collaborating with the right people to make these dreams happen for the client.

I can't wait to see what Ian's return on investment is. But even if it is minimal it still is something I am sure he will be very proud of.

Check out an interview with him on this project at LiveBooks blog .

Wild Exposure with Ian Shive from Ian Shive on Vimeo.

Photojournalism in the age of Youtube

2009-08-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

I just read this great article about multi-media. Interviewed by Ed Kashi and Brian Storm of MediaStorm.

These two have been prophetic in the concept of where photojournalism is heading. Read the article.

There's a quote that comes to mind on this by Thomas Paine - "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

Which are you going to do?

Read the article at Digital Photo Pro

Live feed at Eddie Adams Workshop

2009-08-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

At one point or another, many of my friends have been a part of the Eddie Adams Workshop. Most of us have or are currently on the Black Team. This is the "ELITE" group of people that make the backbone to the workshop. From mowing the lawn, repairing the barn to set up and take down. It is quite the team of passionate individuals that give tons of time to make Eddie's workshop great. And a fun crew to hang with.

Now they are testing a live web feed of the goings on at the barn. Check it out here.

Make comments/suggestions. They appreciate it.

Photoshop is great for fish stories

2009-08-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

I was fishing with my son, Corbin, today in the backyard. We caught
his first fish ever. It was truly a great father/son moment. We will
cherish the moment for years to come. And we have pictures to remember
it by. Of course in the old days we could make stories up without
proof. Nowadays we can justify our stories with visuals. But I guess
now with photoshop techniques, we can still keep to the "larger than
life" fish story traditions as passed down from father to son for
generations.
So which photo do you think I am going to add to the family album???

Sometimes a "FREE" Photographer proves your point

2009-08-03T07:57:00.001-07:00

Over the past few months I was discussing with a local business their needs for a photoshoot of a 'product' they are wanting to market. Not to get into details (not important), but when I sent the client the first estimate, I didn't hear from them again. I was told that they wanted to wait on it until the product came in and they would contact me later.

Ever hear this before?

Well, I was contacted the other day and was told that they had hired a "FREE" photographer.

Ever hear this before?

As a devil's advocate, I can't blame the client for trying. Being a business person myself, I understand that when budgets are tight we make decisions to cut corners where we think we can. There are tons of examples of decisions we make every day. We make the decision so we can maintain expenses in other areas that we feel are needed. Photography, unfortunately, is often perceived as one of these areas that many people feel 'anybody can do.'

And sometimes they are proven right. In the days of film, a person that didn't know even basic techniques could screw up a shoot very easily making it a risk that a company could not take. With today's advances in camera technology it is getting pretty hard for a person to NOT expose a frame properly, and even if they did, they could most likely 'photoshop' it. They could essentially point a camera in a direction, set the camera to "P" and will have an immediate result with the push of one button.

ALL photographers are going through this situation at ALL levels.

Check that!

ALL people and ALL businesses are going through this situation at ALL levels, but in the end quality will always be what separates a person buying a cheap watch instead of an expensive watch. They both tell time right? "It's just a picture."

But when it comes to the quality of an advertising photo of a product a client wants to sell, why on earth would they go cheap on this?

The one thing that separates the client from the consumer is the communication of the product.

Unfortunately for the client (fortunately for me) the results the client got back from the "FREE" shoot was way below standards. They then made the decision to come back to me with a clearer mind and understanding that "Not just anybody can do it."

They learned from their mistake early. All they wasted was time and realized before moving forward that if they would have used the images for their marketing, then the possible loss of money (from future sales) would be worse. Many other businesses mke worse mistakes by using substandard imagery and won't see their mistake until after the sales decline.

This state of the industry is worrisome to many photographers. For me, I am not worried. I keep the faith and continue to push my quality photography services (product) as something very worth the investment.

I still have the best job EVER!!!

There is a quote from Ansel Adams that always comes to mind, "The most important part of the camera is the 12 inches behind it."

snakes and mess

2009-08-02T08:04:00.001-07:00

Please pardon the mess as I make adjustments to my blog. I am in the process of having my website redesigned and this blog will soon be attached to it. It is going to look AWESOME so I want everything to be fluid for the entire experience.

In the meantime, check out this image I did a while back. I saw it in the archives and figured I would talk about it.

This is a couple that I met through One Model Place. The woman wanted me to photograph her with her five snakes. That shoot was awesome, but afterwards I offered to do a couples shot with her and her boyfriend. I like this the most because it is a nice view into their lives. The snakes tongue doesn't hurt either.

Velia and Sophia

2009-07-25T12:42:00.001-07:00

Recently I had the wonderful privilege of spending a week with Velia
and her daughter Sophia. Velia is an old friend of Anna's from
language school in Canada and is currently living in Colima, Mexico.
They came to spend a week with us and we had a blast. Velia is
learning photography in school, so she asked if I could teach her a
few things. Famous last words. We had fun spending some time learning
basics, but the most important thing I hope she learned, was this.
"Master the basics so you can start shooting." I don't know how many
people I have taught, but what always seems to be the common thread is
the lack of knowing the basics. When you can get past the factors that
affect light (exposure, shutter speed depth of field, etc.) then you
can start paying attention to expression and moments. But I also
believe that you can't talk the talk without walking it, so I got the
two to sit for me for a couple hours.

Be careful of you facebook photos being used for ads.

2009-07-24T09:28:00.001-07:00

Here is the terms to consider

From Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (copied on 24JULY2009)-

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account (except to the extent your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it).

That means they can use your image for ANYTHING at ANYTIME and sell or use for ANYONE. You still maintain the rights, but it is like owning a car and someone else driving it and making money from it.

NOW that said. There is no rights granted to manipulate, crop or alter in any way. As a photographer we are always put in this situation as to sticking our photos in a shoebox for fear of someone else benefiting from them or to show to the world and someone else possibly benefiting from them. One way a lot of photographers help stop this is by slapping big logos and copyright info on the image. I do this for most (nothing taken from my iPhone) of my stuff placed on facebook.

I want the world to see my images. That's why I take them, but I also don't work any other job. This is my livelihood. If I don't make money from photography then I don't eat. If I work another job, then I can't be a successful freelance photographer.

Well now it seems Facebook has agreed to let a 3rd party advertiser use your posted pictures without your permission. This is a blatant steal of imagery for other's benefit. Don't do it.

You can stop this by doing the following.

Click on SETTINGS up where you see the log out link.

Select PRIVACY SETTINGS.

Select NEWS FEEDS AND WALL.

Select the tab that reads FACE BOOK ADS.

There is a drop down box, select NO ONE. Save your changes.

Be sure to check your settings on your applications as well.

If you consider any of your imagery of any value (even on a personal level) don't think to yourself that it is good. Lawyers and agencies have been pretty successful in telling the world that photography should be cheap and accessible to anyone. They do this for a purpose. So they can charge the same to a client and not pay you what is due. Trust me, I have been way too nice over the years to people and agencies that seem so noble, but find that they just want to take something and run. We all do it. We love using a free sample to it's fullest extent, but rarely finally buy the product. Any body going to that wholesale club at noon will see what I mean. Crowds of people gather. It's free sample time.

Also, make sure to ALWAYS put your logo, name, something on your image. Most editing programs allow you to do this very easy.
Photographers everywhere are talking about this. Look at this blog at http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/ for a more descriptive explanation.

An Eastern Pondhawk flew in my back door

2009-07-23T10:06:00.001-07:00

I was just getting ready to settled down for the night when my wife, Anna, opened the backdoor and an Eastern Pondhawk flew in. It was a male. Not because I checked the undercarriage, but rather because I checked online. You see the female is all green and the male is all blue. Now there's something you didn't know. I think one of the most fascinating results of this project is the fact that I get to learn little tidbits about all the species around me. I don't want to be (and never have been) one of those that say, hmmm that's neat and then dismiss it like a misplaced roadsign. These guys are part of our lives. They help to take care of us. Even showing the smallest interest like knowing what color a male pondhawk looks like can be contageuous. I can bet that now that you have read this you (all 2 of you) will remember and mention it to a friend or kid or whoever is next to you when you see it. By me not having the fear to actually catch, shoot and release these creatures, I have the added bonus of adding this experience to my life. I certainly will not forget the beauty and design of this little guy.

I shot this with 2 Nikon SB-800 flashes. One positioned under a white plastic board and another to the side with a snoot.

Feature on some of my Combat Camera buddies

2009-07-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.kusi.com/home/51235927.html

This is a nice feature on the Navy Combat Camera. Some of the best trained and talented guys in the military. I served at Combat Camera in San Diego for three years and can say it was one of the best times of my life. It truly is one of the best jobs out there. If I could do it again, I would stay. The camaraderie is unmatched the motivation and passion is completely insane. Where else are you going to find a bunch of bad ass soldiers with tons of combat, survival, weapons and tactics training that can also take time to take an artistic and creative shot. Of course what the news shows and what they discuss is to entertain the audience, but truly you should see what these guys put out that is other than night vision of kicking down a door. You can view some of my past work as a combat cameraman on my website at www.ansarov.com.

Also here are a few other links to check out.

http://www.defendamerica.mil/specials/CombatCamera.html

http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/military_photographers/

http://www.mpjconnection.com/

ΛNSΛROV passion / photo

__________________________________________________________________________

web ⎢ blog ⎢ facebook ⎢ linkedin ⎢ twitter

The Halloween Penant dragonfly

2009-07-19T12:48:00.001-07:00

Over the last few days we have had some crazy weather push through
with heavy winds and lightning storms that seem to come out of no
where. They last for about an hour and then gone. As we returned from
a day out, we had a nice surprise of this Halloween Pennant dragonfly
that must have been either tired of trying to fight the winds or was
too wet to fly (or ready to die). Either way, he was sitting right on
the door nob as if waiting for me to invite him in (or her, didn't
check). I have seen these dragonflies hundreds of times before. They
stay mainly near ponds where they mate and can be found throughout the
year. What I found made him very interesting was the way the orange
color of the wings made for a nice filter effect when photographed.
The light weemed to add a nice glow to him. I am also very fascinated
with every intricate detail of their design. Always cool.

I only had him for about 10 minutes. I grabbed a D90 and 60mm micro
lens while using a SB-800 which was controlled using the Nikon
commander mode of the camera. I used a black foil to snoot the flash
to give a direct snoot effect to the light. He was placed on two
pieces of black foam core and that was it. I knew he was done when
after I said, "that's it. I'm done." He took off flying towards the
door. I opened the door and he was gone.

Sign up to ZenFolio!!! I'll pay you!!!

2009-07-16T13:06:00.001-07:00

OK, I must warn, there is a self interest for me to get some credits, but it is also a very good deal and I would not recommend them unless I checked them out extensively. Many photographers use, as part of their service, the ability to archive and upload images and offer for print sales. When it comes to consumer prints, the best company out there is MPix. These guys rock and have an amazing quality control. Also a benefit I use is to be able to sell and ship prints internationally (jobs in Poland hint hint).

To top it all off, their annual fee is cheaper than most others.

No catch. Check them out and ask me questions if you like.

If you do decide to sign up with them, please use this code. SAK-6AX-9EY

Now here is the even better deal to prove I am not selfish.

From now until August 15th 2009, Zen Folio is offering to me the benefit that if someone uses my code, I get $10 back.

Here's the deal. If you sign up and use my code, you will get $5 off. If you do it before August 15th and I get $10 back, I will split my profit with you and send you $5.

No dishonest people please. You have to become a member and I have to get the referral in order for me to send you the 5 bucks.

So when it is all said and done, you sign up for the annual premium membership, you will pay $95 (instead of $100), I will get $10 and pay you another $5. I call that a big win/win.

USE THIS CODE

SAK-6AX-9EY

Here's the deal

Here's the website

Here's my site to look around

Action figures as a photo subject

2009-07-12T14:54:00.001-07:00

Today, my son, Corbin, asked me if we could take photos of some of his action figures. I said, why not? I actually then pulled out an old box in the garage of Star Wars action figures I used to play with when I was a kid (although a few are newer). We decided we wanted to make portraits like I do of living things. We took two SB-800s. One was put inside a homemade softbox that was blocked off to make a strip light. The other was positioned overhead and to the back to create some separation from the backdrop. Then Corbin helped position the guys as if we were on the Death Star. You can't tell me there wasn't a photo studio on the Death Star. Ok. getting a little geekie here, but the point I am making is from a few minutes of set up, a little mentorship and a little creative thinking my son and I were able to put together a pretty nice portfolio of action figure portraits.

Most importantly we had a great time bonding and playing.

So what did you do creatively today?

AA

Overnight prints great quality cards

2009-07-09T12:52:00.001-07:00

I have been on a much earned vacation for the past week. Celebrating family, friends and, life in general. The blogs have backed up recently, but are going to be coming soon. In the meantime, I wanted to pass along this great deal from Overnightprints.com . After checking out a ton of different companies (some very expensize/some very bad quality), I honestly can say that these guys have great quality AND great prices. Their color quality, QC and uploadability is pretty nice and after ordering tons from them I have had no problems at all. They are also pretty fast. Don't take their name to heart. They aren't that fast. Use this code to get 50% off postcards. Offer ends on July 12th so try them out now. (code is summerpc ).

What are you DOing lately

2009-07-02T10:09:00.001-07:00

"Times are tough." When have they not been. It seems it is a human condition to either complain about something or be happy about something. Which condition do you do the most? Yes people are having tough times right now. We could cry about it or move on and do whatever I can to make the best of it. The industrial age is gone and the information age is here. Deal with it.

That said, I want to mention something about sources of information. It is everywhere. There is a chance that if you are reading this blog it is because you seek some form of knowledge, inspiration, entertainment or something new to complain about from my information. A good investment? I hope so.

One thing is for certain. If you aren't doing something to learn something new every day then you will fail. You will get run over. You will die on the vine. And 9 times out of 10 you will blame the economy, the government, the weather or any other element other than yourself.

Here is a phrase I learned a long time ago.

The CHOICES we made in our lives led us to be hear this very minute doing this exact thing. They where ALL DELIBERATE AND ON PURPOSE. They where YOUR CHOICES and no one else's.

It is the choices you make from this point on that will take you to where YOU WANT TO BE or DON'T WANT TO BE. They are also DELIBERATE and ON PURPOSE. The are no one else's.

If you make yourself realize this daily and understand this in your mind as true, then I think you will start to consciously make better choices.

That said, I make choices to read, do, or learn something new daily. The best times are when it is something that makes me a little uncomfortable. A challenge to push myself. Either creatively, spiritually, physically, etc.

Everybody has seen those muscle-bound guys. Those 'monsters' with ginourmous arms. Or the ones who are so obese that they can no longer walk, yet they are at McDonald's. Both were not born this way (small percentages excepted of course). Both made choices. Both are living the way they want or don't want. It either takes a lot of hard work to get to that place in life or no work at all. Both provide results.

Ever do 100 push-ups? How many on the first time trying?

Now if you have read this far and not deleted the page or moved on to something that doesn't challenge you, then great! I will now give some great advice.

Amanda Sosa Stone and Suzanne Sease are two amazing consultants. I met them both a while ago and the little info they did share with me was quite amazing. They really care about helping others and especially focused on photographers. Yes they do this as a business which helps them to survive in life. But they just put out a book that I am sure is going to be a winner. It will be something that will challenge people and put things frankly which is what we need in these days of laziness and blame.

Check their book out at this Random House link ( http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780817476779 ).

FotoWeek DC 2009 Awards Competition

2009-06-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

This seems like a good contest. There is a $20 fee for each entry, but the licensing and categories are good.

Remember, there is 100% chance of loosing... if you don't enter

FotoWeek DC is pleased to announce the second annual FotoWeek DC Awards has expanded from a regional competition to an international call for entries of remarkable imagery, both in single and series form, as well as multimedia pieces that combine the strength of still images with video, sound and graphics. So much profound work has been created by photographers from around the globe we felt we needed to include this work in our Awards and at our Festival.

We invite you to submit your best work!

* Open to all professionals, amateurs, and students around the world!!

§ * $21,500 in cash awards

* Distinguished panel of international judges
* National Geographic Society Awards Ceremony Nov 5, 2009
* Work displayed at FotoWeek DC Festival Nov 7-14, 2009
* Published in Limited Edition 2010 FotoWeek DC Book
* Media & Online exposure at f otoweekdc.org
* Entries judged in 12 separate categories (including social documentary and
multimedia)
* Images accepted in digital, film, cell phone, and alternatives processes

Enter by July 26th for 20% discount. The final Awards deadline is September 13, 2009. Visit www.fotoweekdc.org for a complete listing of award categories, eligibility, rules, judges and information on FotoWeek DC 2009.

FotoWeek DC relies on your generous support to fund our non-profit programs and events.

Good luck with the Competition!

FotoWeek DC

When someone you photograph dies

2009-06-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

Carlos Gonzalez was a man that I met once and for about 30 minutes. He was the only one to respond to a failed personal project called "Tree Hugger." It was to be a series of portraits of people and their relationships to trees (quotes and individual stories). I put an ad in a few places including craigslist and although a ton of people responded, only Carlos showed. I never considered the shoot a total loss because of him. We had a wonderful conversation about Guerrilla Gardening. Check out this blog and see for yourself. http://www.guerrillagardening.org/.

Well I was just informed yesterday that he passed away. It made me very sad and as I was bringing up the images to provide to his partner of 27 years, I couldn't help but wonder how many things he did to help beautify the world around us. I was always meaning to contact him to do a photo story about him, but kept blowing it off. Now it is too late. I am glad I met him for that short amount of time though and will always appreciate that, but will wonder what kind of project we could have done together to make more of a difference.

"Never let yourself regret a missed opportunity" - Chip Maury

May he rest in peace.

Peacock Bass

2009-06-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

My son, Corbin and I caught this Peacock Bass from the pond in the backyard. It didn't take long. In fact all I did was put a bit of bread on a hook, dropped the line in for a second and pulled this 12 inch (OK maybe 6) guy right out.
He was pretty cool looking and although he was very active when we caught him,
once he got in the tank and the lights started going off, he calmed
down a bit. We photographed for maybe 20 minutes and then put him right back. Once we put him in the pond he sure left in a hurry. It was pretty exciting to do this as this was the first time using a fish tank to hold a wild animal. It seems to have opened a brand new world for me and the Backyard Project. I am using a 10 gallon tank (I think) with a tank filter that is meant for a 30 gallon tank so the water is kept crystal clear. I made sure to keep the water temperature to about the same as the pond so not to put him in shock. Also it was important to make sure the glass was clean and I stay at a same angle to the glass so there is little distortion from the glass. I also ended up using a black board as a Gobo (GOes Before Optics) so there was less reflection from the glass. I moved my lights a lot which is pretty common with me as I try to get as much variety in light from a shoot.

Fish Photos (A new project)

2009-06-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

So I have this family of Peacock bass living on the edge of the pond
outside my back porch. A perfect addition to the backyard project. But
I never shot something like this before so I figured before getting
these wild creatures in a tank and not doing things right and maybe
even killing the guys, I figured I would practice. Not that these fish
are dispensable, but they certainly are used to a tank.
My first goal was to have a tank. Second was to have clean water. I
hooked up a filter that is meant for something twice the size as this
tank. I let it run a few days so the water was crystal clear. Finally
I 'obtained' three variety of fish to photograph. Using my Elinchrom
kit and a white vinyl backdrop I placed the tank (sans filter) on the
kitchen counter. Making sure the glass was spotless, I was able to see
the fish floating in what seemed like air. It was pretty cool to see.
I then just went to it. Positioning the light either overhead or to
the side. Using a second light for the white seamless or just putting
a black foam core behind to get the black backdrop instead.

On of the challenges ended up being that the fish sank to the bottom.
Because they were already stressed they sat on the bottom trying to
figure things out. The gold fish seemed less affected, only raising
his top fins every time the flash went off.
One cool side affect of the other chiclids (Jack Dempsey and an Albino
Oscar) sitting on the bottom was that it made it easy to focus. I had
to make sure I was parallel to the glass most of the time in order to
avoid distortion. Also, some of them sat really close to the glass
which made it easy to use my 60mm micro to get super close. I removed
a few spots here and there from the water, but other than that these
shots are as taken.

Now, when I get the Peacock bass in the wild (unclean) water I will
have a challenge of him flopping all over the place and also the water
getting really dirty really fast. We will just have to see what happens.

Regardless, I think I started myself on a new project of shooting fish
tank pets. It should be fun and will give me a ton of ideas to work
with. Now I have to figure out how many friends can donate their fish
or how many times the local fish store will allow me to use their
liberal return policy.

At what point does a student become a family member?

2009-06-17T16:31:00.001-07:00

I have to say that in the short life I have lived, I have met and been with many wonderful passionate and creative people. As I grew I started to meet more of which that became students, protegés, mentee, young pattawan learners, whatever you want to call them. These are people that see that I have something to give and teach and come to learn and take. Some of them end up being the takers and leavers, but many of them end up becoming friends for many years. Of these groups of students there is an even smaller percentage that end up becoming something much more than I could ever imagine as a student. These students end up becoming buddies and then close friends and finally so close they could be considered a family member. I would do anything for them and they for me. It is a great feeling to have.

One of these people I am proud to say is Samuel Rogers. I met him about 5 years ago at one of my Light Nights in Suffolk, Virginia. I would have a weekly light night in my garage for whoever wanted to come and chat about photography. Sam was stationed at a nearby AirForce base and would be there every time. He later started spending more time with us picking our brain and taking every bit of guidance to heart. From basic photo skills to life lessons to business management. I spoke it and he listened. But more importantly, he was there for my life lessons and always there to give back when I needed it.

Sam recently ended his career in the Airforce after 8 years of great service to make his way as a freelance photographer in Virginia. After a ton of mentoring and helping him get on his feet he has quickly gained his confidence and independence. He is soon to be a huge threat to any local guy out there and is going to take the industry by storm. I feel this. There is much future in this one.

He finally got his blog up and it already looks great. I would suggest getting onboard with it now and seeing what this guy has to offer. It is all him and it is great.

http://dudewheresyourcamera.blogspot.com/

Ansarov on Wikipedia

2009-06-16T17:47:00.001-07:00

I am now a success. Nothing else matters. If you can end up in Wikipedia then you are a part of something big. Almost as big as having a username FloridaPhotographer on Facebook.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Ansarov

Elderly Woman in her Sunday best

2009-06-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

In the process of creating a new portfolio book. This time I am going
to try Graphistudio. They are PRIMARILY a book company marketed to the
wedding market, but dam do they have nice books. And for about $800
bucks I can get a very nice 12 x 16 book with an Awesome cover design,
50 pages AND about 48 4x5 books in the same design for leave behinds.

Anyway, Going through past projects and found this gem. I remember
this as being a "hook up" shot I did for the person that gave us a
great deal on my Dodge Durango. This is her sister who wore her Sunday
best. I did the shoot in 10 minuts and that was that, But because I
NEVER delete anything and archive EVERYTHING, I was able to find this.
Now whether it ends in my portfolio or not is a different story, but
this is a great shot regardless.

Facebook freak. Resistance is futile.

2009-06-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

Join me on facebook at

www.facebook.com / Florida Photographer

So while others may have spent their Friday night watching some sports game or at a party with friends, Anna and I sat in front of our monitors watching the clock tick down to zero hour as Facebook unlocked the ability to create a username for our profiles. Some people see this as a no big deal, but to us this is a huge business move.

Up until yesterday, anybody that created a facebook account had the identity of some long set of numbers resembling a facebook social security number. But now people will be able to create a username that helps create a searchable identity. This allows for people to not only say, "Look me up on facebook (where there is 500 results)" but rather got to facebook.com/johnsmith. Now think about how google is going to be influenced by this?

I don't know the ins and outs of all this stuff, but I think I did just fine by creating a username "FloridaPhotographer" While Anna got "MiamiPhotographer." We will see if the few hours we spent in front of facebook instead of out in town paid off. Only time will tell.

So what is your username?

Picture Licensing Universal System

2009-06-12T16:53:00.001-07:00

So today I had to put together an estimate for licensing of three images for use in a magazine in Europe. I was lucky that the client at least can type descent english, but am I expecting that he is going to understand what I mean when I say he has one-time Non-Exclusive Restricted rights for one time print run on half page in the inside of his magazine and that there is no web usage authorized???

Enter the PLUS Coalition.

I knew about these guys about 2 years ago and always checked them out from time to time to see if they developed. Even became a member through my wife's company. It has been slow growing, but they are progressing and the meat and potatoes are there. What is very cool about their concept is the fact that I can describe a certain usage that I want to give and it will pop out a code that would coincide with a definition in the client's language that they would understand. It is like math for the licensing world. 2 + 2 = 4 No matter what language you say it in. That is what the PLUS code is about. When it is all said and done, I could use one code to describe one use in all languages. Pretty cool.

And yes, licensing still does exist. For those who lost faith and simply give their images away because they don't like discussing this matter with a client (I have tons of friends out there doing this) you need to think again.

First off, this really is one of the main things that separates a professional from someone who sees no value in their work.

Second, there is a residual income here that is important to the survival of a photographer and

third, this is your work. You have no idea what the value of an image is going to be in 2 or 20 years.

I just relicensed a set of images from my first shoot since being out of the Navy (2 years ago). Great feeling.

NEVER do work for hire! Never do buy out!!! First of all, both terms are vague to a lawyer. Second, everybody perceives it as being that the person that paid you is therefore the photographer and owner of the images. How can you like that?

NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!

In a worse case scenario (I mean worse as in you want the job very bad and the client absolutely will not budge) Then grant them unlimited unrestricted use in perpetuity. Never buy out!

ANYWAY... I digress. Back to the PLUS coalition.

These guys are great. Try them out. It is free to try for now. search around their website and read about what they are doing. I think you have to be a member to download their embedder tool. This allows for you to create a license package and embed the rights into the image. Pretty cool! Also, anybody can take the image, grab the code and go to the USEPLUS.com website, paste the code into the reader and see exactly what the image rights are.

I donated to the cause a while ago, I would suggest paying and becoming a member and be involved with the start of a future in universal licensing.

www.useplus.com

Best,

Get out there and shoot

2009-06-11T16:00:00.001-07:00

Since I got back from a long trip, I haven't shot much. Stuck in front of the computer either editing or working on a proposal for a HUGE project. It gets boring, but is necessary for business survival. But we can't forget that what we also need to get out there and feed our creative beast in order for it to survive as well.

Sunday, my friend John, his son, Cameron and I went out to the everglades to go 'mess around.' Like always I brought my gear. Really, how much extra work is it to put a case in the back of a car? And if you call it work then you are reading the wrong blog.

As we were driving, we came across this huge Lubber Grasshopper (romalea guttata) crossing the road. Not quite the same criteria as my backyard project, but who am I to turn away a client.

This is the first time shooting a critter in a while since being so swamped with work so I was very excited to get down to basics with this guy. He was so beautiful with his elaborate colors and design.

It felt really good to be out shooting something in nature again.

Shooting from the window

2009-06-03T14:47:00.001-07:00

One day I read from someone about shooting from car windows
so I always think about him when traveling in a foreign country. I
shot this during an average day in Poland. These young boys had just
picked some amazing blooms of lilac flowers and where on the side of the
road. It was the end of a very long day of tons of shooting horses and
we (Anna and I) were both just wanting to go home and take a shower
when I saw this. Granted we didn't come to a complete stop, but I at
least picked up the damn camera and stuck my head out the window. It
is shots like this that, if I had not taken the little bit of effort,
would keep me up at night kicking myself for not getting the shot.
This just happened to Anna in Frankfurt airport. She was so excited to
tell me about how beautiful the light was and how amazing the view
through clean glass as the planes where landing. She felt terrible for
not taking out the camera and shooting. My good friend and mentor,
Chip Maury, told me once, "Never let yourself regret a missed
opportunity."

Gospel!!!

Look3 Festival of the photograph http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/look3/about

2009-06-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Submit up to 3 images and see what happens. What do you loose other
than time. The most valuable thing a person can have. What would you
be doing otherwise.

Changed my mind on Blurb. They can't be trusted

2009-06-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

In the past I had made comments about Blurb and their book quality
being spotty, but if it was budget you were concerned about then they
were the ones to go with. But I must say that there is no way I could
ever use these guys again. Not for anything.

One thing I was happy with was that you could put a book up on their
site and offer for client's to order more, advertise to their friends
to order, etc.
But now there are other places that offer this.

Another item to be happy with is their customer service. They are
fairly quick to respond and have very little issues to send you a new
order with little issues.
But if you have to contact them EVERY SINGLE TIME you order a book
because it sucks then it isn't worth it.

I don't order books so I can enjoy emailing the customer service. I
don't dare want for a client to order a book on their own if I know
what the chances are that they get a crappy quality book.

Here is another example. The top is the first set of books. The bottom
is the second run. The cover was so bad it should not have left the
warehouse. I understand the prints where dark already, but the color
balance is drastically different from one book to the other.

Next check is on My Publisher. I already ordered a few books from them
and they have been good in quality. Of course if money is not an
option for the client then ALWAYS go with ASUKA Books.

Here is a comparison to MyPublisher. http://community.mypublisher.com/showthread.php?t=530

A little about flash/shutter sync speed

2009-06-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Not talking about medium format and leaf shutters. In the past a
camera used to sync at 1/60th only. I remember shooting my first
basketball game in high school where there was this huge shadow on all
the player's heads. I couldn't figure it out until my teacher (Annette
Cowart) told me it was the shadow of the shutter on the film plane.
This was when the shutter would move horizontally from left to right
on the film plane. (the heads where cut because I was shooting
vertically). Then the industry moved to a vertical shutter that uses
two shutters moving from top to bottom. This greatly increased the
shutter sync speed with flash from 1/125th to eventually 1/250 which
has been a common standard for a while until recently I find that the
D300 now syncs at 1/320th.

There is one thing that Nikon has (not sure on Canon) that makes you
able to sync at super high speeds. That is by using the SB flash with
a setting at FP (which stands fro Focal Plane) High Speed Sync. The
flash is blasted at a longer duration so to not have a shadow
anywhere. This will decrease the battery life of the flash though so
be aware. Also the biggest problem is that the higher in shutter speed
the more power needed and therefore the range is decreased. I have
been told that at 1/8000th the flash would need to be less than 4 feet
away.

I was recently called out by a blog reader named "Stef."

She (assuming she) made mention of my past statements on some of my
Elinchrom lights and the flash sync speeds. She made mention that it
isn't up to the flash head to determine sync but the camera body. She
is right... sorta... for small format SLR cameras with focal plane
shutters.
However, if you have a leaf shutter (like in many medium format
cameras) then you are dealing with a very different situation. The
super fast sync speed Elinchrom and other manufacturers are talking
about is for use with those medium (and large) format leaf shutter
situations. This is something I was used to when using my hasselblad,
but since I don't typically use it, I need to change my thoughts on
this.
One idea though.
If I am still shooting a fast moving subject, have a camera on tripod
(slow shutter speed of 1/60), little ambient light (dark room) and a
flash that blasts light at a certain speed (say 1/4310s), then am I
still capturing the subject at that flash duration??? at 1/4310 of a
second? or at 1/60th?

I am going to shoot a bunch of tests on this and show more about this,
but one thing is very certain; As the years progress, we are seeing
that we can shoot in very subdued light (with little to no noise) and
even into the sun (and syncing the lights)which is opening our
palette. We now seem to be limited only by our imagination. No matter
how much B.S. or misinformation (accidental. I swear) we give, it
really all comes down to one thing. It is all about the results!

attached image, f/22 1/160s ISO 100

Dude, how much effort are you willing to put

2009-05-30T19:21:00.001-07:00

It always fascinates me when I see someone with so much passion and determination to put a vision like this together. This clip is an example of someone who had a great idea and didn't just talk about it. He DID IT!!! It isn't something that only an elite few can do. My son (if taught the basics) could do it, but still needs to have the drive to stick through the entire thing. I would love to know how long this took, but then again, it doesn't matter. Whether it took one day or one year, it is brilliant. I appreciate this big time.

What am I talking about? Check out this video, my friend just sent me called, "Sorry I'm Late."

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9euu3_sorry-im-late_creation?from=feedblitz_523284_1789063

"A stop motion short shot with a camera in the ceiling pointing straight down at a guy lying on the floor.

For more info and making of- stuff visit http://www.sorry-im-late.com"

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

2009-05-28T06:31:00.001-07:00

This is an awesome example of what many clients will pull with a photographer. Just doesn't make sense and is very rediculous when it is pulled on a hair stylist or restaurant, right? Then why is it just common practice when it is pulled on a professional photographer. Just doesn't make sense.
In the video, you see that NO ONE is budging. No one is even contemplating doing what the costumer is asking. Therein lies the difference. Many photographers WILL come down on a price, do it with expectation of getting better job later or simply just for credit. This just happened to me a few days ago. "I want to use 2-4 images for our (large business) website." said the client. "I'll give you credit to the images."
Think about this video when 'working with' your next client.

Polish Catholic 1st communion anniversary

2009-05-24T13:14:00.001-07:00

I was recently able to follow a young boy and his mom to church for his 1st anniversary of his 1st communion. It is a chance for him to put on his robes once more and celebrate the special moment once again. Only this time, he isn't getting as much presents as last year. Whatever religious views you are, a true journalist should always show what they see and try their best to be honest and unbiased. I shot what I saw and think I edited everything I shot not to leave anything out that would sway one way or another. I hope you like.
All shot on a Nikon D90 and edited with iMovie. I get back from Poland on Tuesday. I will be back to be home to sunny (rather rainy now) Florida, but I do have a piece of my heart in Poland now. It is such a beautiful place with wonderful people. I wonder if it all starts with a country that has one religion. Or all the Kielbasa. Maybe it's th Vodka that cools the nerves or just the pure air and environment. I don't know, but I like it.

Horses of Poland

2009-05-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am currently in Warsaw, Poland working on a huge assignment. I shot
this yesterday during one of my shoots. I find horses to be the most
fascinating creatures. It doesn't matter what culture you come from,
horses are somehow a part of it. They are majestic and powerful
creatures with raw passion like no other. It was truly a wonderful
feeling watching these two stallions at play and in their natural raw
action. I processed this image using HDRsoft photomatix program to
really bring out the already surreal look to this moment.

2009 Las Olas Wine and Food Festival

2009-05-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

We don't typically shoot events, but I like to do them on occasion because it allows me to work with great people and have a great time. This is my second year shooting for the American Lung Association of Florida and I hope it is just the beginning. We have tons of plans for next year. This time, I got help from my good friend, John Sturdy who is a very talented Videographer of many years. Also look for the time lapse of the overhead of the street using a D2X and about 400 frames.
To view the gallery of images from the event, go to this link.
http://anacreatives.zenfolio.com/p673082038

Skateboarder shot

2009-05-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was at my buddies house yesterday, when his son asked me if we could get some shots of him jumping off the skateboard ramp. Who am I to deny him. The sun was really bright at that time, but that doesn't stop creativity. I am really loving the ability that I have with my Elinchrom Ranger RX kit and it's ability to match the sun with little problem. I used a Nikon 14-24 lens because of it's wide angle and ability to correct for distortion. Laying on the ground, I adjusted my exposure to f/22 to bring everything in focus and my shutter to 1/250 to freeze the action. If I had the Freelight A head (hopefully soon) I would be able to bring my shutter speed up to 1/5000. This would allow me to bring my ambient exposure down by at least 4 stops. That would make the sky almost completely dark. Something very cool when dealing with south Florida mid-day sun. For this scene 1/250 was just fine.

We did about 10 shots of Cameron jumping from the board before getting this shot.

Las Olas Wine and Food Festival first shot

2009-05-02T21:00:00.001-07:00

I don't know what it is. I don't think I have ever come back from a
shoot unhappy. Sure there are times where things don't always work
out, but no matter what, if I have a camera in my hand and I am
creating, I am in my zen. Tonight was a long 4 hours on Las Olas Blvd.
We were commissioned by the American Lung Association to document this
event for next years advertising. They hired us because they are
looking for someone that can shoot beyond the event. Be creative and
come up with things outside the norm of just on camera flash, grip and
grins and other such stuff. Last year, I tried to get access to the
building at the end of Las Olas in order to get a great overall. I was
able to get A shot, but not the one I would have liked. This year, I
made sure we got into the very top and very farthest corner room of
the hotel. It was awesome to be in a place that not many people can be
during an event like this. I shot a ton tonight, I even experimented
with timelapse this time (which will be on another blog soon), but
this shot really stands out to me. It is processed through Photomatix
HDR software. Three shots taken 2 stops apart. Looks much nicer in
super big size, but even in web size it is still hot. I hope they like
it.
More to come.

Keith Loutit's personal project

2009-04-29T17:11:00.001-07:00

I always find it amazing when someone takes a new style and does something newer with it. I am a huge fan of Vincent Laforet (among others) for their use of a tilt/shift lens in a way that the tilt/shift wasn't truly designed for. Remember when a ring flash was truly meant for medical and dental use? Well, take a look at any fashion shoot over the past 10 years and you will find ring flash used.

Using new technology in a new way is one thing, but to use it creatively and with a purpose is the next level that I always love.

Keith Loutit is a Sydney based photographer who is working on a personal project called 'Little Sydney.' Combining a variety of techniques (I want to know how) he shoots ordinary places in an extra-ordinary way.

View his videos on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/channels/keithloutitssydney

His latest one, Bathtub IV, is his recent and simply AWESOME!!!

Check it out and support him by letting him know what you think.

Fun with Guinneas and lights

2009-04-27T07:28:00.001-07:00

I was at my friend John Sturdy's house yesterday for some creative time and creative food. While there I brought his son, Cameron a print of a turtle asa gift. It was then, he suggested I take photos of his two Guinea Pigs. Who am I to refuse an opportunity. Luckily I try to make it a habit of always carrying a basic camera kit. My trunk kit includes my D90, a 17-55mm lens, 60mm lens (specifically for backyard project) and 2 SB-800s. Also, I typically will have a couple black foam core boards (bought at walmart office section for a couple bucks) and a small roll of white vinyl backdrop material. The boards and white Vinyl are versatile in that I can use the vinyl for backdrop when I want to go with that and the boards can be used as go-bo for light fall off. In this case I used the boards as backdrop and the vinyl for a small bounce of my flash. I usually have a bit of black foil (as seen here) for making light diffusers, snoots and such. I was out, but luckily John had a bit handy. I won't get into flash position or set up as it was always changing. The beauty of 'playing' with light is to be able to adjust your lights, experiment, test and see what you get. It is always fun to be around creative people and to do this kind of stuff. Like I say always, when you stop treating it like work it is always fun. We had a great time and the images show. I think even the Guineas enjoyed it.

Who's your mentor???

2009-04-26T09:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I woke up at 6am to drive 3.5 hours to Lakeland, Florida for the Sun-N-Fun fly in. It is more or less an expo of planes and plane show where people go 'shopping' for their next plane purchase. But that isn't why I went. I did it because I needed to see two people who have impacted my life immensely. Calvin and Leisa Goad. They live in San Diego and are one of the most inspirational people I have met in my life. Taking me under their wing when I was going through tough times in my life, they helped get me on my feet and in a path that I can be proud of. I should also mention it was them that introduced me to a class called the PSI Seminar which did more for my life and my career than any photo class could ever have done.

Their passion, happiness and outlook on life is what inspires and helps me to be a better person.

Mentorship - Have One / Be One

I believe everyone should have mentors. The ones that are in the place we want to be. You don't necessarily need to be physically with the person to learn from them. Or even know the person to have a great relationship with them (although it helps). You just need to want to learn, want to be. and don't just talk about it. Do it!

On the other note, you should always seek out others to mentor as well. Help them where they need. Always be open and ready to work with people. I now have a principle that when someone seeks me out to help them with something, I drop what I am doing. I devote myself to them and give them 100% of the attention. Why do I do this, because I was mentored by people like Calvin and Leisa who did the same for me when they didn't have to. I have had tons of incredible mentors in my life and it is because of this that I am they way I am.

It truly is a great thing. Try it, you'll like it.

GREAT DEAL AT LIVEBOOKS (I'll give you $100 back).

2009-04-23T16:22:00.001-07:00

Every now and then Livebooks offers great deals on their website packages. Now is one of those times.

If you don't know about LiveBooks, check them out (click here). They (in my opinion) are the absolute best in websites for photographers, videographers, agencies and artists in general. Each site is hand made to your style and they are always on the forefront in keeping up with the latest in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) needs. Don't listen to those other companies trying to offer "bigger" sites and "flashier" presentations. It don't matter if your site isn't seen in a search. Here is one of the best reasons I can think of to get your attention. Many sites you see with images sliding, popping, moving, dancing across the screen are made with a format called Flash. This is great, but in the world of internet and search-ability it is nothing but a blob. Web crawlers (like google) see a flash site and can't get in. They can't see how many photos you have, the kind of photos, keywords, metadata, etc. So therefore they move around it and leave. The heavy-hitters in the industry know this, they pay thousands of dollars for a company to design instead an html site (or do it themselves). This may have flash in it, but that is cool because there is all the meat and potatoes also in the html coding that allows the crawlers to categorize and eat up. The more threads for the google monster to look at the better.

What Livebooks does is allow for you to view the best of both worlds. It has a flash site for people to see, but behind it is an html site that is able to be categorized, logged, eaten by the google monster and other crawlers. I am not saying that all flash sites don't have a chance of showing at the top of a search result, but it is more likely the html sites will first. Or they flash guys are paying tons of money for this to happen. In the long run, the money you spend on a LiveBooks site WILL pay off.

Oh, and another thing. Flash sites don't work well on iPhones and other devices. If someone types my website on an iPhone, they are automatically directed to the html version to be seen. This makes a difference when sending your emails to agency leaders that are most likely on the road, busy or doing their surfing while in a slow time on their phone.

So now, here's the deal. Among other deals, LiveBooks is offering a $200 cash back for all new sites generated from referrals from current site owners. This is cool, but what does it mean for you? I am a big supporter of the WIN/WIN situation. I am not greedy or sleezy. I think that the more people that sign up to LiveBooks the better they will become. So I will make a deal. For every person that signs up for a SELECT or UNLIMITED site and uses MY NAME as a referral, when I receive my check for $200, I will mail you a check for $100. How's that sound?

So if you purchase a $1,700 select site (and referr my name), you will get $100 back. That is just over 5% back. or your first year of hosting for free.

Another killer deal is they allow for financing. Ask for more info.

Here is a link to more deals they are giving.

http://www.livebooks.com/promo/clientdiscounts/

Lloyd and LaDawn - Model portfolio photo shoot

2009-04-22T09:56:00.001-07:00

We were recently approached by two models that needed to have their portfolios shot. We were very glad to help them with this and you can see the results on this new video. You can also view images from their shoot at http://anacreatives.zenfolio.com/p180537217

Photos

2009-04-20T13:13:00.001-07:00

Here is an example as to why you ALWAYS carry a camera. Yesterday
(Sunday) I was with a friend at a nearby horse farm. Anna's major
passion is horse riding so this was a great day for her (although she
is very sore today), but while she was riding, my friend and I took a
drive in a nearby back wood where we came across this horrific site.
Literally tons of fresh produce being dumped in an empty field and
left to rot in the hot sun. It is unclear as to the exact reason why
this was happening, but what is clear is that this shouldn't be
happening. I always believe that if there is no imagery (video,
stills) to document something then it never happened. This is a
terrible proof of something bad happening and it must be seen. In
order to show the scale of the scene, I stood ontop of my friend's
truck and did a panoramic shot. Using Adobe Photoshop's photomerge, I
was able to process about 20 images onto one large scene. That was the
only thing that can be considered manipulated.

How I did the Jet/Car/Motorcycle/Da'Man shot

2009-04-18T09:46:00.001-07:00

As soon as I started sending this shot out, a lot of guys started asking me how I did it. So I figured this would be a perfect time to start putting my drawings on the blog.

First I have to say that many people get really scared when it comes to the weather. They fear rain destroying gear, getting people upset because they are wet, etc. Of course the same people will also complain of a harsh 12 noon bright sun day.

I say, "Bad weather is awesome weather." Any weather is just a part of the assignment. It only happens once and is there for you to capture. If it is bright sun or heavy overcast. We work around, under, through these times. And if you take it on without fear and understand it is uncontrollable then you will start to notice the beauty in it.

I say it was perfect. The overcast increased the saturation (especially in the trees). It created a nice wrapping affect of light on the otherwise very reflective glass and metal in the shot. It also had a great affect of wetting the pavement which is almost always common when doing a shot like this.

I used my Elinchrom Ranger RX battery kit with Freelight S head and 6 foot Octabank. It was attached to a hefty Avenger Century light stand and remotely triggered using a Pocketwizard. I used my Nikon D2X with the other PocketWizard and finally an 80-200 mm zoom lens so I could compress the elements together. If I had more options I would have been able to back up another 100 feet to shoot the shot at 200mm. This would have pretty much filled the frame with the trees in the distance and been cool. Knowing this, I am very happy with he shot and will make a mental note for the next time I shoot something like this.

I balanced my light to match my aperture. Remember the flash will always pop at the same speed. This particular head will sync with the Nikon at 1/250, but will put the same exact amount of light is you shot at 1/4 second. So note that I was controlling much of my ambient light with my shutter speed. Next my f/stop ended up being at about f/9. This was so I could get everything within the depth of field and tone down the ambient light even more. So all I had to do next was match my flash to the f/stop and pop away.

Easy day!

Tag Heuer Ambassadors photo shoot

2009-04-17T14:25:00.001-07:00

We were recently commissioned to photograph Pat Rogers, owner of Pat Rogers Speedway Harley Davidson and Wendy Venturini, Pit Reporter for Speed channel. We travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina for the shoot and had an awesome time. Watch the video to see.

Us working ;)

2009-04-17T07:57:00.001-07:00

Hello,

Here is Multimedia video about us working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuc037xPLT8

Please feel free to rate and comment this video on you tube.

Our select of images from this assignment you can see at:

http://anacreatives.zenfolio.com/

album: premiere vision 13Apr2009

password: eyewear

Love you guys,

Anna and Aaron

Pat Rogers Speedway Harley Davidson of Charlotte, NC

2009-04-15T20:03:00.001-07:00

We recently returned from one of the most exciting shoots in a while.
We were recently commissioned to shoot images for a two page
Advertorial of Pat Rogers for an upcoming issue in Nascar magazine.
Not knowing who Pat was, we treated it like any shoot. Always excited,
passionate and looking forward to meeting another amazing person.
Little did we know he would be treating us the same way. He was very
willing to show us around and basically limit us only to our
imagination. From taking us to the race track to even pulling out his
Lear Jet, we had Carte Blanche access to this wonderful man's life for
the entire day. It was almost hard for us to have to stop. He just
kept going and we know this will not be the last we see of him.

The extra treat was to also photograph Pit Reporter, Webdy Venturini
of Speed channel. Another wonderful person with an awesome attitude,
the two of them made yesterday an awesome day filled with excitement
and passion. As for gear, Anna was using the D90 in order to shoot
video for an upcoming multimedia piece on the event while I used my
D2X as well as my Elinchrom Ranger Speed RX kit. We used a multitude
of light diffusers from bare bulb to the huge Octabank. It seemed that
no matter what I used for lighting, the quality was always there for
me and never slowed me down.

There is more to come on this shoot so I won't spoil the behind the
scenes on this yet. I just thought I would share a few images first.

shooting Marco Andretti with a LensBaby

2009-04-08T16:12:00.001-07:00

I was at the St Petersburg race Sunday shooting images for Jonathan Summerton and Marco Andretti websites. I announced this on my facebook and a friend of mine, Mark Rebilas , gave a friendly challenge that I better impress him. I tell you what, Mark is such a perfectionist that I don't know if I could ever pull that off. You see, I met Mark as a young guy in the Navy with a hat in his hand asking for help and mentorship. I knew from the start this guy was going to be some amazing photographer. Sports or not, he had a natural talent for catching peak action that was very rare. He ended up getting out of the Navy and doing exactly that. Now he is living his dream and doing great at it. So it is only natural for him to challenge a guy like me to see what I have to say. Laughingly, I told him I would shoot the entire event with only a lens baby. Well, I didn't shoot the entire event with a lens baby. Maybe half. The other half was with an 800 mm lens that I borrowed from a friend.

I just love me some extremes!

Feeding Tarpon

2009-04-08T14:46:00.001-07:00

This really isn't too much of an exercise on photography skills or passion, but thought it was fun to share.

ASMP Strictly Business Blog

2009-04-08T09:36:00.001-07:00

A while ago, I was privileged enough (and smart enough) to be able to attend one of only four Strictly Business 2 seminars. These were 4 day seminars put on by ASMP and taught by some of the leading and most successful photographers in the industry. They gave a wealth of information that cannot have a price tag. What I do now and how I operate is in direct reflection of the knowledge I gained from this class. I was able to talk two other friends into attending and they are experiencing the same awareness and successes.

This blog is open and free. Why such information for free you might ask. Well, here is a thought. If I want for my business to be successful and for my competition to also be successful, wouldn't it behoove me to make sure you are all on the same wavelength? If you have no idea about business and make stupid mistakes, give your imagery away, underbid on jobs, not even know how to manage your imagery, then you are going to possibly destroy a client's impression of what a professional photographer is like.

We have way too many people that think that just because they own a camera that it makes them a pro photographer. You wouldn't think of a person that buys a canvas, brush and paints to be a serious artist would you?

This blog already has a ton of information that is extremely practical towards your daily photo career. No matter how many years you have been in the business, it is very healthy to look through and get a few new ideas.

http://www.asmp.org/strictlybusiness

Marco Andretti website

2009-04-07T12:45:00.001-07:00

Geez, how much more exclusive can I get???

I was recently commissioned to photograph Marco Andretti for his website. We had about 2 hours to shoot and had a blast doing it. Marco is sometimes a shy guy who doesn't typically smile so the challenge was to get him to open up a bit and make him look more approachable. This isn't too hard a task for us and I think we did a really good job with what we had. The best thing ever happened on Sunday while we were chilling off at the Andretti Green tent in St Petersburg. The marketing director for Andretti Green (and tons more) came up to the AD and told him how awesome the photos where and how everybody loved them. Then as if in a staged commercial, the AD raises his hand and says, "Well here is the photographer responsible right here." BAM!!!

Take a look at his site at http://www.marcoandretti.com/

A bonus is if you scroll to the bottom of his front page, you can see a blurb that says "Exclusive photography on marcoandretti.com by Aaron Ansarov" Click on the link and there is an an entire page dedicated to me. wow! what a celebrity (in the background) I am becoming. ; }

The importance of Synergistic relationships

2009-04-02T21:06:00.001-07:00

Today was an incredible day.

Rewind by about three months when I had the honor to have an image presented in a small photo exhibit put on by ASMP. While at the exhibit party, Anna and I met with John Sturdy of the Sturdy Group. He is a videographer who is also an ASMP member. Very passionate about what he does, John became a member of ASMP because he enjoys being around other passionate visual communicators. Impressed with my 1:1 project, he had offered to help put a video documentary about me and the project. "Call any time," he said. How often do we hear that and never get a response? But I am always a person that gives the chances. Fast forward to last week when I was working on an assignment with Jonathan Summerton and images for his website. I called John and asked if he would be interested in participating in this. Little did I know he would bring award winning Niki Hinman or offer to do a multimedia project on the agency I have been working with NOR offer to help along with a production about Jonathan NOR even become a great friend in the process and so fast.

He came to the house today to do interviews with Anna and I and ended up spending most of the day doing it. Going way out of his way for us showed he had a serious attitude towards doing great things at great lengths... JUST BECAUSE!!!

It is people like this that make my life all the much better and enjoyable. It pays off. Because of all the extra effort he and I did with Jonathan we were able to acquire special passes to this weekend's race in St Petersburg to get imagery of Jonathan in action. I can't think of a better example of Synergy. That way of making 1 + 1 = 3.

This attitude and passion works. TRY IT!!!

The best training is PAID training

2009-03-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Of course I would not recommend for people to try this without full confidence in at least coming through for a client. Although I could care less if someone tells us we will never work in this town again, I would not recommend making too many enemies. We are always prepared to provide for the client no matter what!

One of our goals this year is to dive head first into multimedia. But it is always tough to take on such a new thing with little pro training and even less time to do training. I always believe the best training is to just shut up and go out there and do it. I tend to learn much faster through making mistakes than by reading a book or sitting in front of a classroom.

But the best way ever is to have a client that wants to pay!!!

We got a call today from someone who owns a kiosk at a nearby mall. He wanted to have two "Quick and Dirty" commercials (one spanish and one english) made for Youtube. We told him we could do it, but we would not be cheap. He agreed to pay what we asked for which wasn't as much as a super pro, but within typical editorial standards and rates. With all our new gear in tow, we showed up, shot for about half an hour and spent the next few hours editing. We learned from a TON of mistakes. Audio and video (mostly audio), but we did it. We are happy, we know the client will be happy and we got another experience under our belt. The best part is we made a new client that was even more impressed by the speed at which we came through for him and he is going to refer us to his friends.

It isn't something we are going to retire off of, but definitely pays for our little trip to Key West this weekend. ; )

Marco Andretti photo shoot

2009-03-30T20:53:00.001-07:00

Today, we had the privilege to photograph Marco Andretti for his website promo. He lives in an Apartment in Miami Beach and we only had 2 hours which to me is TONS of time. When shooting celebrities it is always important to be very very prepared as they don't usually give much time. In the past I have only had 5 to 15 minutes. But since this shoot is for his website promo the time was not as important as the images I needed to get to show him as a personable and approachable person. When we arrived, he was outside with his two very nice and very expensive cars. He asked if we could shoot that first. I wasn't expecting this as I had all the gear ready in the back of the truck to be set up inside his apartment. But we went with it and shot away. For this shot (and the others) I used an Elinchrom Ranger RX kit, one S head and Elinchrom umbrella. Anna held the umbrella on the end of a Bogen stand high overhead. I pumped up the power to compensate for the very bright 330 pm sun. My exposure was at f/22 and 1/250 of a second. I would love to have a faster shutter, but this is the fastest the elinchrom S head will sync at. The A head syncs at a much faster rate ( 1/5120 s ) so this is something I may consider getting later for stop action, but for now, 1/250 works.

It was just at the perfect timing when the sun happened to come behind a little cloud and give a few beams of light to give this larger than life feel to this young superstar.

These where my favorite shots. Other shots from this shoot will soon be on his website at www.marcoandretti.com

Heart Gallery photo shoot

2009-03-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for a great cause. As a member of ASMP we (Anna and I) were invited to volunteer our time and service as a photographer to the Heart Gallery. Visit the Heart Gallery of Broward at www.heartgalleryofbroward.org

This is a traveling exhibit of photos of children in foster care and in need of permanent adoption. This is a great cause which has shown great results and we are very proud to now be a part of it. In 2008, members of ASMP photographed 98 children. So far, 39 of them have either been adopted or are matching with prospective families. That is pretty amazing. These images are a few from todays shoot of Juliette and Julius who are siblings currently staying with separate foster families. Sometimes doing shoots like these can be more rewarding than the biggest budget job ever.

Visit http://www.heartgalleryofamerica.org/ to find one of 80 galleries near you and for more information on donating your time to this wonderful cause.

My first multimedia project

2009-03-24T17:47:00.001-07:00

My cousin's boyfriend was playing his first Hockey game yesterday. We shot for about an hour using a D90. We used an Edirol R-09HR for audio. It took us about 2 to 3 hours of editing using iMovie 09 and Garage Band. Of course we would probably be moving to Final Cut Express in the near future, but honestly, I was able to do everything needed for a multimedia project using iMovie 09 and Garage Band.
I know there are tons of things that can be done better, but I am pretty happy considering that two days prior I didn't do video. It was easy and I took the challenge head on. Does this make me less of a passionate photographer. Absolutely not. It makes me a better communicator.

ASMP National now has a business blog!!!

2009-03-23T16:18:00.001-07:00

Hopefully you subscribe to my blog. I always try to put stuff up here that is important and has bearing on either your progression as a photographer, being creative or in the business life of photography.

More importantly though is the blog that has just been announced.

http://www.asmp.org/strictlybusiness/

I can't speak high enough about this group of people. They are a perfect example of our industry leaders. They don't just talk the talk, they walk it as well.

Too many times I have found myself having conversations with people that continue to loose their faith in themselves and their business. They compromise too much and end up selling themselves short on too many occasions. This is dangerous. It causes a chain of events that can (and many time will) lead to a photographer hating his "JOB" despising others for their success and eventually being out of business.

How many people out there

1. Have ever done work for hire?

2. Still do work for hire?

3. Even know what Work for hire means and how damaging it is?

How many know about the world's largest advertising agency holding company and their recent change to their contracts with photographers. This change is dangerous and reckless and you can be damn sure that other agencies are going to start copying this. If you aren't actively involved with knowing what is going on with your industry, then how are you going to stay afloat?

Seriously, is there any other business industry out there today that does not have to keep up with changes in the industry? A doctor has to learn new advances, a lawyer/new laws, car mechanic/ new cars, etc.

How to find the shutter count on your camera!!!

2009-03-22T15:40:00.001-07:00

I recently sold my D200 on Ebay and replaced it with a new D90. This is going to have to become an annual (or bi-annual) event. Digital cameras are not meant to last ten or more years like film cameras. Isn't it crazy, I still have my first N90 that I purchased 15 years ago, but I know my D90 is not going to be in my hands 3 years from now?

While selling my camera, I came across a difficult question someone had about my camera. "What's the shutter count?"

I have absolutely no idea how many times the number counter on the camera rotated past that 9999 count in the file name. So how can I give an honest answer?

Someone recommended a couple programs. One of them is very popular, but only works on PC ( opanda.com ). You have to buy the program too which doesn't make sense for me since I only need to know the number ONCE... When I sell it. There is a program for mac ( http://homepage.mac.com/aozer/EV/index.html )

but it only reads a jpg file and I wasn't able to get it to work.

Then I came across this website that works very nicely. You select an image, it reads it and you can see your shutter count right then and there.

http://regex.info/exif.cgi

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE!!!

If you are a good metadata person and keep all your info in the image and someone wants to find who took the shot online, they can paste the html link and this program will gather all the available info from the image. Very cool.

If you aren't concerned with this crap, you better be. Orphan works bill is coming and the last thing you need is someone doing a 'resonable search' for who took your shot, not finding your info and calling it an orphan and therefore theirs.

Read more about this stuff at www.asmp.org.

Be prepared and know the weather, but it's never a guarantee the model will show up

2009-03-22T11:07:00.001-07:00

First I have to give pops to a few websites.

Accuweather.com , Weather Underground and Time and Date.com

I always check these and other sites days and hours before a shoot. Not like it ever makes a difference. You sometimes never know.

Especially in South Florida. It always amazes me when I can see it poring rain on one side of the street, but be bright and sunny on the other side.

I typically don't do model's portfolios, but this couple approached us and wanted to hire us to shoot their portfolio and we agreed. Our plan was to begin the day at 630AM on Ft Lauderdale beach shooting through the morning and then on to studio work. We had very cool shots in mind and it was going to be super fun to be creative with two beautiful models.

Unfortunately the models heard on the news there was to be a slight chance in rain and wanted to cancel. My first response was, "Bad weather is good weather."

When it comes to dynamic photography everybody knows about the Golden Hours. The hour in the morning and in the evening when the sun is at the horizon and the light is Golden and beautiful. I go a bit further and ask for the clouds to look cool and dramatic. This morning couldn't have been any better.

Of course we would never know if we didn't get up and go. On a Sunday nonetheless. And trust me, I like my sleep.

Of course this is always a chance and you have to be prepared. I always carry in my camera bag a set of OP/Tech rainsleeves. These are disposable and do the job just nicely to keep the rain from getting in the cracks and frying your camera.

For my SB-800s I use regular 1 gallon ziploc freezer bags which work just fine. For my Elinchrom kit I use some more durable rain gear. Most of which from my Navy days, but trying to work with a company to design more specific cases for the elinchrom ranger kit.

No matter what, RAIN SHOULD NEVER STOP YOU!!! As long as you are safe and secure with protecting your gear, your models and yourself, the images will never let you down. If they do, the experience won't.

Hopefully when we reshoot the models in a few weeks, the clouds will be as cool as they where today.