Don’t be Afraid

I have mentioned before that before I get to the photo studio – I spend my mornings doing a morning radio show here on a local station in Southwest Indiana. It’s my ‘day job.’
Here’s some of what we do every day (I’m the voice of reason in this four minute clip).
CLICK HERE to listen to me on the radio.

My role on the show is to be the ‘straight man,’ if you will. The person who calls out the other guy for doing dumb stuff. To laugh when it’s funny. To not laugh when it isn’t. It’s a very easy job, and yes – it’s like working in the playground for four hours every day. The reason it’s that way is because my partner – is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. And one of the most studious. He’s put more effort into learning the fine art of creating compelling radio entertainment than I thought possible.

Including one very interesting trip to meet a radio great.

Gerry House is now retired but was a long-time ratings-getter and truly loved by the people of Nashville Tennessee. He had the governor’s private cell phone number there – and Dolly Parton, Vince Gill or Kellie Pickler might call in reaction to something he said.

My partner got to go watch him produce about half of his morning show in Nashville one day, and then talk to him a bit afterwards. Gerry told my friend, when asked for one secret to success, is to, “Not be afraid of the silence.”

In broadcasting school they teach you that silence on the air is BAD. Very BAD. And yes Mr. House is now telling my partner to not worry so much about that – a moment of silence can make hundreds of thousands of listeners stop what they are doing and wait. Wait for the punch line, perhaps. Or for at least – a payoff.

There’s several similarities in photography as well.

Primarily in shadows.

We see our photographs critiqued to say that shadows should be removed. Should be lessened. Should be avoided.And yet, as I was reminded by some online photography friends this week – in the work of the greats like George Hurrell or Herb Ritts much of the essence of the image, it’s mood comes from not what is seen, but from what is not seen. The shadows.

Don’t be afraid of the silence.
Don’t be afraid of the shadows.

As always, thanks for reading.

Cliff

Ingram Images
Woman as Art

A New Start/Challenge

A New Start to Creativity

With 2015 finally upon, many of us find ourselves starting things over again. Whether it is the workout regimen we started in January 2014 or even doing more photographic work. Well, this year will probably be no different. Let’s start off the year with plunging camera first into our photography. Here are some ideas. Most we have all heard some of these you may not have heard off, but either way, let’s do them all together and build a community here at Ask the Blogtogs that will strike envy in the hearts of other groups. We can even work on some challenges also.

Ask the Blogtogs Creative Challenge #1: 100 Strangers

This takes a lot of nerve for some of us. Let’s face it. Some of us are introverted at best and the idea of asking a total stranger to pose for us out of the blue is crazy. Crazy is fun. Plus, working with a stranger spontaneously may break some of us out of the ruts we may be in. Don’t forget to talk to this person. Build a relationship. I am talking an affair to last all eternity, but get to know them a bit, just to let them know they aren’t just a body in front of the camera. Use hashtag #atb100people if you post these strangers on Facebook. One more thing…model release!

Ask the Blogtogs Creative Challenge #2: Go Mono

I don’t mean the illness. Take some images in black and white. You will start to see things differently than you have before. Practice editing your images in black and white. Try to recreate old Hollywood noir. Use Hashtag #atbmono if you post these on Facebook.

Ask the Blogtogs Creative Challenge #3: Self-Portraits

As much as we love taking photographs of others, many photographers shy away from their own camera. The time to be shy is over!!! Once a week; set up that tripod, set the timer, and make love to your own camera! Theme your shoots or just stand there staring provocatively into the camera, either way, show people who you are through your self-portraits. Use hashtag #atbselfportrait if you post these on Facebook.
There are many more that have been done, over-done, never done, copied, ignored, etc. Get out there in the great big world and photograph things. You never know what kind of images you can get. An unused camera is a sad camera. A photographer not shooting isn’t learning.
Post these images with hashtags on the Ask the Blogtogs Facebook page. Let’s do this!!!

Matthew Angelo
Photographer/Master of Awesome
www.matthewangelocreative.com
Follow me on Facebook

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 57,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 21 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Christmas Makes Me Nolstalgic

I usually remember, right about this time of year, about the Christmas gift that changed my world.

It was supposed to be a gift for the whole family, but as it turns out it would be in my hands more than anyone else. Christmas 1978, I was 15 and a sophomore in high school. It’s quite possible my parents knew what was going to happen, but they really haven’t let on – even after 36 years.

Christmas morning – the package was opened – and there it was. Direct from the Sears store down at the mall. A Canon AE-1. Also in the package: A Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 lens, and a 135 f/2.8 that actually had ‘Sears’ around the ring. Seemed to work OK at the time, and I quickly got involved in the journalism class in school and with 8 months the local paper was buying my film and paying me stringer fees to shoot.

It’s still around. Sits on a shelf here at the studio – among my collection of other ‘antique cameras.’

So to Mom and Dad, thanks for getting me into all this.

And to you – let’s see your first camera. What got you started?

As always, thanks for reading.

Cliff

Ingram Images
Woman as Art

We should Always Be Shooting

We should always be shooting something. Sounds like a lot of work, but just think about the progress we can make. It is way too easy to sit back and wait, hope, or pray that a business opportunity comes out way. I hate to say it, but photography is not the Field of Dreams. If we build it, it probably won’t come. We need to be out there shooting. We need to be seen shooting. We need to show the world what we are shooting.
You see, as we shoot, we become better. It’s called progress. No one is a master photographer over-night. All though it seems we are master procrastinators at times. Progress is what we need to aim for. Having our images peer critiqued (scary at times) is important also. It will let us know where we are at in our craft. Plus, how can we be great at portraits if we can’t even expose a landscape? What good is a perfectly composed landscape when our portrait work reminds people of a $9.99 special from Walmart? There is so much for us to learn and master in our field. Shooting even when there isn’t a paying job will help prevent us from falling into a rut.
Progress is the key. Progress is happiness. Say it out-loud. Go for it. I won’t judge you (snickers mischievously…mmmm snickers). When someone tells you they see improvement in your work, how does it make you feel? Makes you feel great doesn’t it? Makes you happy.
To progress as photographers, we need to keep shooting. Stagnation will be a roadblock that can kill us creatively and also professionally. One of our greatest tragedies as photographers is when we stop shooting (also white vignettes and selective coloring…blog post for another time hehe). I know life gets in the way, but we need to make time to grow.
Look at photography like a muscle. If you don’t use a muscle it will atrophy and eventually die. We need to work this muscle out. It needs exercise. Our creativity needs to soar amongst the stars or else it will die. We have this need as creative types to fulfill this inner primal part of us that screams for excitement and that perfect exposure. I know we need inspiration at times. You know what, inspiration has never left us. We never lost inspiration, we lost our curiosity. So to prevent our creative death (I can be so dramatic), is to keep shooting. We need to constantly be curious. Let curiosity lead us on new adventures. What are you afraid of?
Finally, (Will this post ever end…), don’t let your creativity die. Keep moving forward. Follow your curiosity. Don’t let excuses hold you back. Don’t stop shooting. Don’t lose your curiosity. Be true to yourself and keep shooting.

Matthew Angelo
Photographer/Master of Awesome
www.matthewangelocreative.com
Follow me on Facebook

Keep Your Feet Moving

Had the occasion this weekend to travel a bit for some wedding photography.
Two lovely brides became a couple in Carbondale Il and one is an old friend of mine and asked me to come down. The lighting proved to be a bit difficult (a bunch of fluorescent bulbs overhead and in just the wrong spots) and the minister kindly suggested to me that I ‘not move during the ceremony, lest I become a distraction from the event, as it is rightly focused on the couple.

It’s a good thing I don’t listen all that much.
I’ve worn rubber-soled shoes at every wedding I’ve shot in the past 10 years or so – and even though they’re old and squeak a bit – they’re still pretty stealthy compared to some of the guests. (Oh like say – people shooting video with an iPad.)
So in defiance of the minister I was exactly where I needed to be when the emotion of the moment got to be too much the daughter of one of the brides:

Every minister has rules about how they’d like to have their ceremonies treated – and in this particular case it was out of my local area – so we were both unknown to one another beforehand, and I’d like to think I left a positive impression on her. One bad experience can give photographers a bad name for a minister.
Locally I have worked with several different ministers – and they seem to know how I work so they let me do what I need to do. One of the priests at the Catholic churches here said that I could do whatever I wanted, “as long as I didn’t stand in the pews.” Clearly he’s had a bad experience with that in the past.

If you’re a wedding shooter already – you have undoubtedly ran into a minister or two who wanted to ‘lock you down’ once the bride came down the aisle. But if you’re thinking about getting some experience in wedding photography, managing expectations and the relationship you have with the officiants will not only help you, but it will also go a long way to helping all of your brethren.

If you are locked down – you have to do the best you can. This is where equipment can make or break what you’re trying to capture.

10 Words That Have Different Meanings To A Photographer

1. Work Day

What it means to most people: The 8 hours per day that starts usually in the morning, and ends around 4pm
What it means to a photographer: From the second you wake up, until the time you go to sleep. Even if you decide to take some time to yourself, your clients won’t let you. You’re either going to get a phone call, or someone texting you at 10PM asking where their photos are. I guess people forget that photographers are people too.

2. Weekend

What it means to most people: That two day period at the end of the week meant for relaxing and recuperating from your hectic work week. The time it takes for you to feel refreshed to tackle your work week on Monday.
What it means to a photographer: Crunch time, as if the week wasn’t hectic enough, we now have to put our stress caps on, because our work period is about to go into overdrive.

3. Days Off

What it means to most people: That day you get to take and do whatever floats your boat. If you just want to sit out the couch all day and watch TV, you can oblige yourself to do so.
What it means to photographer: What the hell is a day off? I’ve still got 6 sessions to edit.

4. Vacation

What it means to most people: A specified period of time where you go out to restaurants all week and enjoy a technology free experience at the beach, on a ship to an exotic island, or in the woods.
What it means to a photographer: A quiet place your clients get to badger you about the photos you haven’t sent them yet, 3 days after you told them it would be another 2 weeks.

5. Paycheck

What it means to most people: That thing you receive every couple of weeks as compensation for just showing up at your job and pretending to do something productive
What it means to a photographer: We have forgotten the meaning if the word paycheck. We are just praying that after a day of shooting, many hours editing, preparing galleries, and delivering product, that we aren’t going to be asked to give everything away for no charge.

6. Cheap

What it means to most people: Receiving a product or service on the low-low, or even free to minimize monetary loss and increase value of what the receive.
What it means to a photographer: The idea that, because bad photographers charge little or nothing for their work, that we are expected to do the same. I’m on a budget too, would you like to buy my groceries this week with that exposure you’re promising to give me?

7. Expensive Camera

What it means to most people: Sony Cybershot Point and Shoot
What it means to a photographer: Anything that costs more than $15,000. Anything below that are necessary investments and tools for what we do.

8. Exposure

What it means to most people: What you promise to give us in exchange for free photos
What it means to a photographer: The thing we spend years learning to master so that your photos come out looking like something we hope you want to pay for, at a rate it’s actually worth.

9. Taxes

What it means to most people: That check for a large sum of cash you get back at the beginning of each year.
What it means to a photographer: “Honey, can we sell our cars to pay our taxes? We can always just walk everywhere we need to go.”

10. Insurance

What it means to most people: That thing you pay for at your job so that your family can go to the doctor a few times a year on a low co-pay and get free medications
What it means to photographers: Please don’t get sick. Pleaaaaaase don’t get sick…

***This post is written to be satirical, based off of stereotypes imposed by the trade of professional photography as a whole. These memes or statements do not reflect the personal beliefs of the author of the article, nor any other author here at blogtogs.com. It is only intended to be taken in a humorous nature***

Thanks for reading!

Aaron Lockhart
lifelikephoto.net
chattanoogaphotographers.com

Confession of a Male Boudoir Photographer

Whenever someone asks me what kind of photography I do, and I tell them, they get that surprised, “oh you are one of those photographers,” looks on their face. I am honestly never surprised by this. One woman called me a pervert. It was my mom…awkward right?
When it comes to Boudoir photography, there seems to be a gender line. This makes no sense to me. I admit there are some pervy guys with cameras out there, but why is there a line? I understand there are comfort levels. When I did my first Dudeoir shoot, the photographer was a man, the second time, the photographer was a woman. I preferred lounging provocatively in my underwear for the woman photographer. For a guy to be a Boudoir photographer these days seems taboo at best.
As a photographer, I love helping people feel good about themselves. People want great images to show off. Boudoir is the same; even it is more on a personal level. I love seeing a client that is confident. I love seeing them as they their self-esteem is boosted to another level when they see their images. This is a very empowering niche in photography for both the photographer and especially for the client.
Boudoir photography is very intimate. How can it not be? Due to this, having my client feel comfortable is very important. If she is uneasy, then it shows. The poses come off awkward, facial expressions are lacking, and overall quality suffers. I always have my photography assistant present to help me. She is amazing. She is able to do or say the things I can’t or shouldn’t. There is always a high level of respect at a shoot. I can’t always say, “boobs up and out,” because well, that sounds pervy.
Is there room for a male boudoir photographer in this industry? Yes. Will every woman want to hire me? Probably not. I admit that I am awesome, but not everyone will be comfortable enough with the prospect of me photographing them. I can’t and won’t try to change their minds. I will just refer them to another photographer. This niche does have its challenges. Do I get labeled incorrectly? Yep. It comes with the territory. Do I care? No. It all comes down to this; you are beautiful and should feel beautiful. Your body is yours and no one else’s. Don’t ever let them put you down for any reason. You deserve an amazing shoot. Think outside the gender lines of Boudoir Photographers.
You are crazy, you are sexy, you are beautiful, you are you!

Matthew Angelo
Photographer/Master of Awesome
www.matthewangelocreative.com
Follow me on Facebook

Pushing the Envelope

Those who have read my column in the past may remember that in addition to my photography studio, I also have a ‘day job’ co-hosting a morning show on a radio station in my home town.

Part of the ‘upkeep’ on staying ready to do that is to read the blogs of several other morning show hosts, as well as several radio consultants – experts in the various fields of running a radio station and drawing listeners to your show.

I’ve found more than a few times that what they say – apply a LOT to the photography industry. Read these quotes about radio and see how they apply to what we do with our cameras:

“Radio is the easiest thing in the world to do badly. That’s why there’s so much of it.”

“Clarity is the new creativity.”

“If you disappeared from the radio forever, would anyone notice? Would they care? Would there be a void in their life? In other words, is there a purpose?”

“Have a point of view. Have an opinion. Make a difference. Don’’t be mediocre.”

“THOU SHALT NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH THY SHOW” (From the Air Personality’s 10 Commandmants by Dan O’Day).

” If you’’re not doing something on your station right now that scares you, you aren’t pushing the envelope.”

Most of those quotes came from a consultant and on-air talent coach named Tracy Johnson.

No doubt if you took out the radio reference in each one of those and plugged in the word camera, or photography it would ring true.

Or they should, anyway.

And for me – it’s the last one.

Last week this photographer in a small town, full of upstanding, conservative citizens (me) persuaded a 57 year old woman to shed much of her clothing for a boudoir session. And it changed her life.

Here’s what she wrote to me afterwards, “I feel so uplifted. You do not really know how much differently I look at myself now.”

Push the envelope. Scare yourself. Scare other people.

My client has requested that her images stay private, but here’s another friend, Shana. She frequently laments over the loss of her ‘college body’ and so I hope that I have shown her in the images we’ve made together that she’s a beautiful woman.

As always, thanks for reading.

Cliff

Ingram Images
Woman as Art

Photography Is An Anti-Depressant.

I’m going to get into my personal life a bit with this post. I suffer from extreme and chronic depression. Clinically, and on paper, they call it ‘Emotional Dysthymia,’ or ‘Emotional Dysthymic Disorder.’ It sounds a lot less severe when we call it depression, so let’s just stick with that version of the word. How bad is chronic? Chronic means its a common trait of being me. It’s part of my every day life. I battle it every single day, and whip its ass.

I saw a series the other day of a woman who was doing an artistic series of photography on the subject or theme of depression. It was a shot of a pretty young woman walking around in a yellow rain jacket with a cloud constantly above her head. I mentioned it to her, and I will also say it here. I told her that is not what depression looks like. What she was presenting was the socialistic interpretation of what depression looks like. However, depression is a completely different ball game. Depression looks something more like a cage around your bed with you trapped inside, and everyone you’ve ever loved looking at you as if you are an extreme disappointment. Not so much that people really feel that way about you, but your mind tricks you into believing they do.

Clouds over your head constantly and a gloomy mood looks more along the lines of a representation for symptoms of the common cold. Depression isn’t a mood, and it doesn’t go away. It haunts you; forever. It doesn’t come and go as things go good or bad in your life, it’s there even when things are PERFECT.

Anyway, I didn’t start writing this to be a pity party, so lets not let me get to a point where I turn it into one. Dysthymia is something that many artists suffer from, and I thought I would share how I use my depression to better my position as a photographer, and why photography is the best anti-depressant I’ve ever found.

1. Photography absorbs your mind. When you are doing photography, you constantly have to be thinking about your next move or what you will do to separate this shot from the next one, or even from the rest of the crowd. You think of how you can make it your own, how you can be innovative and create something new. Once you’ve got the idea, you then have to focus your brain on the settings to make sure they are right, and once that’s complete you can move forward to composition. See, so doing photography completely engulfs your entire thought process while you are doing it, because it requires so much thought just to be able to do correctly. The result? Moving your mind away from the things that cause the depressive state for you. Meaning, while you’re doing photography, you aren’t depressed, because you have no reason to be. Even if you did have a reason to be, your brain is so busy worrying about everything else, it doesn’t have time to be depressed.

2. It makes you slow down. Life is fast. No, I mean, life is REALLY FREAKING FAST. Just when you think you are going to catch a break, something else slams into you. When you have depression, this becomes extremely overwhelming, and really just makes you want to give up. Photography pulls you away from that. It allows you to slow down for once and take your time to perform. For once in your day, you get to peacefully do something you enjoy. This is EXTREMELY therapeutic.

3. It makes you see the beautiful world around you. It doesn’t matter what mode of photography you choose to partake in. Macro, family, children, maternity, babies, automotive, landscape, wildlife, couples, weddings, seniors, or anything else. It really doesn’t matter. Doing photography forces you to look at the beautiful side of life. It teaches you to focus on the positive things in not only the world, but people. There is no replacement for this kind of therapy. The more positive you can stay, the less you will feel depressed.

4. It allows you to solve problems. This is single handedly the most important aspect to me. When I feel like I’ve messed up, or feel like a failure, I like to problem solve. So much that usually when something overwhelms me, I literally start looking for a problem to solve. Word puzzles, math equations, business issues, or anything else for that matter. As long as it’s solvable, I will find a way to solve it, and that is great to me. Problem solving is probably my favorite aspect of photography. Not only in solving them for myself as a photographer, but solving other people’s photography problems as well. Helping others is a strong coping mechanism for me to use against my depression. It’s my strongest weapon.

When I get into a deeply depressive episode, I actually shoot my best. It’s usually equipment hindered, but for some reason, I usually always find a way to pull it through. I shoot a lot of inanimate objects when I get in these modes of thinking. However, it really doesn’t matter what the subject is, so long as I get the opportunity to shoot.

The other night I went into an insomniac episode and decided to shoot my wife’s wrist watch. It was pitch black in our kitchen and I used the granite countertop as my ‘backdrop’ per se. I didn’t want to wake anyone in the home, so the only light I had was available light and it was from the wash room about 30 feet away. So, I didn’t have a macro lens. So, I flipped a 50mm f/1.8D around backwards and held it up against the body and actuated the aperture with my index finger. Solving all of these minor technical difficulties caused me to feel better. This was the result:

I’m actually new to shooting watches, but I love the feel of these images, all shot while I was in a deep state of depressed thinking…

Photography is my ultimate therapy. I hope that after reading this, that someone else who might suffer from similar circumstances might be able to find similar refuge in this trade.

Thanks for reading!

Aaron Lockhart
lifelikephoto.net
chattanoogaphotographers.com