Posts Tagged ‘learning photography’
© Tim Pannell
My niece is now 24 years old. I remember like it was just yesterday, her performing on the fireplace hearth and bowing to our thunderous applause and shouting “Thank you – Gentlemen!” as she jumped into what she believed to be a mosh pit on the carpet. She was 2 1/2 years old at the time and living in Long Beach…….cuter than crap!
These little kids that we love, nurture, protect, bandage and teach eventually do grow up and leave the nest to start their own life’s journey and adventure…….really cool ride, but it always puts a lump in my throat
© Tim Pannell
She just got married a couple of weeks ago and I took the opportunity to take her and her, then, fiancee out to the Salt Flats to shoot them in their tux and gown.
What a blast we had! I left the house at about 2:30 in the morning to be able to pick them up in Salt Lake and whisk them off to the Salt Flats before sunrise.
© Tim Pannell
We lucked out and had a beautiful day…….temperatures were in the 60′s and no wind. I would have preferred having a few more clouds than we did have, but after living in Utah for almost 7 months now, I’m grateful for any day that isn’t raining or snowing.
They’re a great looking couple and we got a bunch of great shots….they were troopers to get up so early in the morning, but I think they were more than happy with the results we got.
As parents, sometimes we’re guilty of not shooting as many pics of our kids as they get older. Their not quite as cute as they were when they were 2 and 3 so we don’t look for as many opportunities to shoot pictures with them.
© Tim Pannell
The lesson today is to recognize that they’re ALWAYS cute and to shoot them even past their teen years. At least until they start cranking out their own kids and then they’ll have to take a back seat to their own kids as we shoot image after image of the next generation of “little ones”.
Have fun and enjoy the ride…..it’s the best one there is!
Just a side note – If any of you have older kids that are getting married up here in Utah…..one of the gazillion weddings up here every year…..and want great shots of them in their tux and gown just contact me and I’d be happy to set something up. I don’t shoot weddings at all, but I will spend time with couples that want one of a kind gorgeous images….just not on their wedding day. Trust me…it’s worth it. I hope to hear from you soon.
Have a great day!
© Tim Pannell Photography
I’ve been looking around at some of the “photo blogs” that are out on the internet lately and there is one thing that has really surprised me. Why do so many of the blogs use the exact same template with almost identical images to other “photo blogs?” Heck…..even some of the verbage is word for word the same as other blogs. The images almost always look like they were shot by the same person as well.
I’m disappointed that so many just go out and copy the work of someone that is basically already copying the work of Anne Geddes. Not only is that plagiarism, but it is as far as one can get from true creativity.
© Tim Pannell Photography
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with getting inspiration from someone’s work or vision and using that as a starting point or jumping off point…….but to do the same shot and then call it your own…..that’s not what photography should be about.
My advice……try harder. If you want to recreate someone else’s work as an assignment to learn a technique…..that’s great…..just don’t promote it as your own work. Any self respecting professional photographer knows there are laws in place to protect against that and would never do this.
There is a big difference between owning a professional digital camera and being a professional photographer. I’m a little taken aback by all of the misrepresentation going on of late. My niece is getting married in August and gave me a list of several “wedding” photographers’ websites to look at.
To my surprise….they were all just bloggers. All of them did something else for a living and did photography because it was their “passion.” Each of these blogs featured ” fully retouched or “edited” images” awash in posteriziation, clipped highlights and clipped shadows. Many of the images were very beautiful. Interesting crops, interesting use of available light (only available light) very limited scenarios because of their inability to do anything other than just point their camera and shoot.
This is a recipe for a wedding disaster. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer….don’t hire a blogger……get a professional that knows what they’re doing….it’s worth the extra money.
They initially wanted me to shoot their wedding, but I declined because even though I’m a professional in the biz for over 25 years….I don’t shoot weddings. It’s not what I’m good at and it wouldn’t be fair to them to misrepresent myself.
If you’re learning photography……admit it. If you’re still struggling with Photoshop……admit it. Don’t promote yourself as a professional baby, teenager, wedding photographer when you are consistently posterizing every one of your images that happens to have red in it. It’s not honest.
That being said……we all start somewhere….just be yourself…..not Anne Geddes, not your next door neighbor, not me.
© Tim Pannell Photography
Learn your craft so that you can try new things and experiment. It’s when you experiment that you come up with images that can look unique. Unique is a lofty goal to aim at since seemingly almost anything worth doing has already been done, but I think you get the point.
I spent a couple of days last week shooting with an art director friend of mine from New York. It was a blast to be working together again. It’s kind of like this intricately intertwined photography dance we have going. She knows me well and I know her well and consequently its a joy to shoot together….she brings out my best.
We spent several hours on a neighbors porch. She had so many wonderful knick knacks all over the place that made for wonderful props for my kids and families to use.
It felt a lot like play time for me as well as the models. We wanted the images to have kind of dreamy whimsical quality to them. We chose specific colors in the wardrobe and props to achieve that.
My personal opinion is…..it worked.
In any case…..don’t copy other people’s work or websites or text……it’s not ethical.
Sorry I got off on a rant there…..ooops…..I’ve just plagiarized Dennis Miller……ahhhh crap!
Just go out and play, have fun……..try something new and different………and most importantly…….be yourself!
