my new photo obsession

Well in the scheme of things I have decided to act out on my photo obsessions..in the last post it was new Norelco shaver, which I adore. Now it is the Roomba by IRobot. I was over my neighbors house, picking up my kids, when I spotted this round metallic device resting on the floor. I have never seen it, just haven't looked at the Sharper Image catalog in while. It intrigued me so I asked my neighbor, who was going out of town for week, if I could borrow it while she was gone to photograph. Being a product photographer, I have to try the products out to understand the essence of the object. So I turned on the Roomba and watched it mover around my room and vacuum the carpet. That is what this product does, it vacuums in a Jetson like fashion while you watch. I know I can vacuum much faster and more efficiently the the Roomba but a funny thing to watch. Like a TV remote, you only have to push a button the Roomba does the rest. It is quite funny to watch. Of course of I stood watching it the whole time that would defeat the purpose of owning one, it allows you to do other chores while it does it thing. But as a visual artist I needed to watch it to figure out how I was going to light it and photograph it in my style. That is my mission this week. Besides shooting some commercial portraits for a client, doing my taxes, organizing my files, working on my portfolio, talking to my landlord ( who is not returning my calls) and adding more images to my stock site and so on and so on...a light snow is falling in Missoula and I also need to read some poetry by Rimbaud who I believed influenced the Ramones... the founder of Punk music...ok there was also the Stooges, Iggy Pop and MC5 ....Rock on

Montana Photography squeezing the economy

The last two days in January and off and running in 2010. Although I never want to wish a day away, I am glad, economically, to say goodbye to 2009. This year, economically, seems more promising but I am having to shed some photo business acquisitions to make my overhead leaner to cover my monthly expenses. The question as a photographer is where do I shed the financial burden. The studio is great to have, and ordinary times would pay for itself but these are no ordinary times in the professional photography world, the game has changed. Almost everyone I know in Missoula is hurting financially and discretionary income is becoming less discretionary therefor the retail side of photography assignments ( Weddings and Portraits) are becoming more scarce and consumers want more for less. So, the question is do I reduce my prices to try and pick up the volume of assignments and risk more loss of initial income or perhaps by doing so I would pick up the additional work to make up for some short falls? Do I find a smaller studio for less rent and away from the downtown area to reduce my monthly overhead and risk loosing the visibility I know enjoy? Or do I wait it out another year and build a local reputation of being steady, reliable and there? Or does it even matter. I say January was a good month for my photo studio in downtown Missoula because all the assignments were in studio and therefor paid for the space and a little more. That has been my goal since I envisioned have a studio. The downside is that all the assignments in the studio had to be priced lower than I would have charged a year ago in order to work within my clients budget. So if this pattern continues I will have to modify my business plan to accommodate the "new economy". I am beginning to sound like a bad economist. The other plus side of having my studio is I feel I am producing and creating really good photography and if I were in a bigger city feel my business would grow faster. Missoula is a great small town to raise a family and that is why I moved here, it is not a town to move to advance your career, at least as a photographer. Everyone seems to undervalue their worth and skills but the real estate and cost of living is comparative to a big city. There lies the rub. This conflict is becoming more magnified in these tough economic times. In the last two months Missoula has shed over 600 jobs which will effect thousands of other businesses...so why spend money on a portrait? Afterall you can take a picture with your cell phone...these are challenging times. It is not all that grim, being the eternal optimist I am beginning to see some recovery. I am meeting with an interior designer on Monday to discuss a project of photographing some commercial interior spaces at a new building in downtown Missoula...I hope it works out...that is a good sign since a percentage of income was from Architectural photography which dried up in 2009, everyone putting off jobs till 2010...well 2010 is here and we shall see. I have also really gotten into Maternity Photography and love photographing pregnant women, and the father of the baby...I find them really beautiful and light them accordingly...actually creating a style, a look that is distinctively my look. So throughout all these hard times I am creating a distinctive stlye of photography that I like and apply to all my subjects animate and inanimate. My latest obsession was the Norelco shaver that my wife bought me for Christmas...sounds weird but I found it very sexy visually...and looks a little like E.T... Ok I can see that I am rambling but afterall isn't that what blogs are for? I am not even sure if anyone really reads them except google and the FBI. One other note I need to mention is the Montana Wedding Photography market. I seem to be getting calls and interest but like everyone else brides and grooms are looking for deals. I had one groom, after I told him how we could trim costs, tell me that they invited 200 guests and if they only get 120 responses then they would be able to afford my reasonable photography rates. This was an odd statement and I am thinking you are spending perhaps $20 per person ( low end) about $400o on food something they will not remember and are wondering if you want to spend an additional $300 ( difference in their budget) to pay for professional photographers, a DVD of all the images, proof book and great images that will last life time. It seems the going rate for photography in Missoula and surrounding areas is a about $1,000 or less...so do I lower my prices? work alone?give the client less? to get more work? we shall see... stay tuned

ho ho ho

Closing up the photography studio before the end of the year is not much fun. I am exciting about expanding my photography archive into PhotoShelter . It forces me to organize my images and categorize them and with some directed luck sell them. I hope to really have a robust site my the middle of 2010...hard to believe it is almost 2010....short blog tonight but I will be back sooon

TV Fame and back to work

TV Spot get through the commercial and enjoy the show...

Bill Boards and the new Advertising

Times have changed in the Advertising world of photography. I got a call from a client who was trying to buy stock photos for a billboard but it was too expensive. Then the client said we can take a still from the TV commercial since they are shooting HD and we can get a pretty good image...No go...could not coordinate it so that is when I get the call. " We want you to shoot two images for this ad campaign her is the layout" Ok what is your budget? well the client didn't want to pay for stock and is limited usage for a billboard in the Northwest for limited time...etc...we a agree on a fee..." Who are the model?" we don't have any, any ideas? How much can you pay them? $75 each for a an hour session..." ok....this is Missoula afterall....No casting calls no hair and make up no stylist no models until the day of the shoot. I call my favorite high school senior ( Ms. Teen Montana 2010) she can do it but has to finished by 10 am so she can head off to Idaho...but still no male model for the other shot...Dakotal comes in for the shoot, I happen to have some Everest hats left over from a catalog photo shoot I did for them, perfect..she is perfect for the shot..I tweak my photographic lighting and start shooting showing the image to the Art Director via my small LCD on the back of the camera...30 minutes later we have the shot...give a hug to Dakota and than her. The Art Director goes to my office and I download the images into Lightroom and we begin to edit while the client go walking around Missoula looking for a male model...while we are editing the client calls and sends a pic from his phone to my e-mail...he found the male model working at Butterfly Herbs...he is almost perfect for the shot ( would have been perfect if he played guitar) he has the right look...He arrives at my studio, I tweek the lights and start shooting and within a 30 minutes we have the shot...he leaves and the AD and I go through the selects and I burn her a CD so she can make comps for the client..the next day she sends the comps and the client loves them.....and within a week the images are being prepared for the bill boards....The client calls me a "hero" and well he is right we pulled it off...

First Friday at Begleiter.com Photography Studio

Wow, what a great turn out for FauxPink First Friday at the studio...a constant flow of people at times wall to wall...All the bubbly disappeared before the end of the night and more new people to add to my mailing list. At the end Jill, Shelly and I were all interviewed for TV on KPAX which will run Saturday night. I will place a link to interview when I find it. OK it is late and I have been up since 5 am so I am going to crash. What a fun night signing out Begleiter.com photography in the heart of historic downtown Missoula...

Breasts and Cancer prevention and Photography

About three years ago I was commissioned to photograph Architectural detail of an interior of home in Hamilton Montana. The artist was Jill Meyer of Meyer Design. She had done beautiful work, very classic faux application to a multi-million dollar Italian design home in the middle of the mountains. It was a fun photo assignment, as all architectural photo assignment are for me. I enjoy the lighting challenges, seeing how how other people live and creating visual arresting images of inanimate objects. So how does this connection relate to breast and cancer prevention? Well, as fate would have it, I received an e-mail from Jill about 5 months about entitled " breasts", my wife thought it was another porn solicitor spamming our e-mail. I saw the name Jill Meyer in the subject line and opened it. Since I last met Jill, she had, like many Americans was negatively effected by the economic downturn, her business was on the verge of bankruptcy, she had gone through a divorce, given birth and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. As I had found out Jill is an unsinkable person and an inspirational artist. She took it all in stride and decided to make the most of her financial misfortune and new fortunes, her beautiful son birth had detected early onset of cervical cancer and she was able to fight it because of early detection...Being and altruistic person Jill decided to use her gift as an artist and go on a visual campaign to bring awareness to early testing and detection of breast cancer by painting. Her idea was simple; find breast cancer survivors ask them to dip their breasts into paint, press there breast onto the canvas and paint incorporating the breasts imprints. She and her partner Shelley Bickel joined forces and created their company FauxPink. Since the have exhibited and sold and raised money for their cause. Back to my connection, the e-mail asked if she could barter her services, paint my studio in exchange for photographing her paintings...of course. And now Friday November 6 2009 I will have an opening at my photography studio in downtown Missoula, Montana of her work. To promote the event in a provocative but aesthetic way we gather 8 women who either had breast augmentation or reconstruction due to breast cancer at my studio. I wasn't sure how it would go since I would be the only male photographing 8 women at once naked from the waste up. I set up up my lights, a simple lighting set-up with two Profoto strip lights from about and a white seamless behind. The ladies arrived and I introduced myself to them to make some personal contact. Jill made the announcement of what we were trying to do. I assured them that their face would never be revealed and they could sue me if they were since they did not sign model releases. It was a festive atmosphere, Jill had brought some chocolate and wine and everyone was drinking a glass to ease the tension. Once we all felt comfortable, I was a bit nervous we asked them to take off there tops while Shelly and Jill place paint on their breasts. I went to my office so I didn't appear like a voyeur but when I came out they were all laughing and having fun and my presence was not big deal. In truth I went into artist mode and was really into the creative process of constructing a strong compositional image. I had all the women raise there hands and chins to lift their breasts and shape their torsos and began shooting. They were all in a lineup and my objective was to make sure there breast were all on the same height since we were doing a tight crop and very panoramic image for the poster. The whole session took about 20 minutes to arrange and that was it. I saw that I got the shot and the women were great. They hung around drinking more wine, wiping off the paint and getting dressed while I downloaded the images into Adobe Lightroom began editing and cropping. When I found the shot and cropped I brought them into my office and showed them the results...they were ecstatic. Many of the women told me that it was an empowering experience and thanked me for such a great job. The one women who had the bilateral mastectomy was especially pleased with her willingness to reveal herself, scars and all to strangers. It was a great night and the results were all positive. Tonight is the opening and we will see what the public thinks. The paintings are beautiful and I anticipate a fun party, Jill, Shelly and her mother were all working to transform my studio into a party atmosphere and I am looking forward to seeing what they did...What a great profession I chose....