This is not an entry on NW Indiana, rather my photography which does apply. This entry is about a Canon workshop that I went to in Atlanta to study lighting. I didn't go to capture the perfect photo, though in some of these photos I feel like I was coming close. I went to make mistakes, which I made plenty of because I did not know any better. Now I see I needed a lot of fill light, and different poses from the models.
I wanted something to bring back home in order to critique. Thanks to Parish Kohanim I now know enough to now go to that next level. Bounce light, reflective light, fill light, natural light . . . it was all there for the taking, if you saw it. So, when you look at these photos, please remember I am showing you the good ones out of the hundreds that I took, knowing even these can be improved.
I was really pumped up for the last couple weeks knowing I was going to this workshop. My first deep dive into photography lighting, let alone the general experience. Another reason for being pumped up, I have not had a vacation in over 18 years, and this would be the first time I have flown for fun rather than for business. All that single adrenalin was blown away and replaced with some triple adrenalin once I stepped in Parish’s studio.
My purpose of this weekend was to learn about what I did not know - photography lighting. Most all of my photography up to this point has been non-flash, and using available lighting in a plain way. The problem was, I did not know enough to ask questions. Gets back to my quote, “I know all there is to know, because what I do not know does not exist.” Very true in this case, so I spent most of my time observing to understand cause-and-effect, the techniques Parish and Canon were giving us, and techniques being used by my fellow classmates. Now I feel I can ask questions. Okay, a bit late, however this gives me the basis to grow from, study, experiment, to replace my prior unknown and fear with learning.
Before I get to far ahead of myself, here are the people I want to give credit to, that greatly inspired me and for whom I will always be indebted to . . .
The photos I am going to show I arranged and took myself. They have not been edited. I do have to credit the people above for helping where I lacked knowledge. The purpose was to study lighting, not to make a good photograph. This next photo was the first, with Kimberly. After taking it, I thought it would be all downhill from there. I did not know if it would get any better than this. You can be the judge . . .
(Note: Click on the photo to enlarge, and click again to index through.)
Each model was great in their own way; moves, look, eyes, smile. Mary Margaret and Kimberly were great sports allowing all of us to photograph them. It was a craze at times, like a swarm of worker bees around the queen bee. When we were outside, I think the public either thought we were all nuts, or these ladies were very special. I prefer the latter as the thought.
Parish’s studio is great. He allowed me to view his equipment room. I was like a kid in a photo studio candy store. Almost everything one would need, well used, well organized, as if he studied 5S from the automotive industry. Parish has built his understanding of his photographic art for over 30 years, along with putting together his studio that helps him create. The above are some photos of the studio . . .
As I was shooting Kimberly I noticed she was reacting to my style of photography, in a good way. As I saw her respond, I responded back, and the perpetual communication began and ended through a series of photos with different poses. It felt as if she and the camera were becoming intimate, subtly changing positions, a look and a click, making the camera orgasmic. Yes, my camera! Though I will be the first in line to say Kimberly is extremely attractive. When shooting photography my drive is to capture the moment, to have the photo tell the story of what I see, wanting the photo to be what the subject (person or object) wants to be. That is where my mind is at. So here you go with some of the series photos of Kimberly. Enjoy . . .
We did not stay in one spot. Parish chose the most unlikely places, where something could be made of nothing. You would not know it, that these next couple of photos were near the dumpster with some pallets sitting around . . .
At the back of the next photo was where we were. We decided to move street side . . . however we were shuffled off later by the Hotel we were in front of . . .
And, once again a new location . . .
That was end of day 1. Parish asked us to pick 1 of each photo shoot to show the next morning (maximum of six). I shot a lot of photos. I spent the entire night studying the photos, trashing what was definetely no good, and before I knew it there were only 3 hours left to sleep before I had to be there again Sunday morning. So I quickly picked my six, and got about 1 hour sleep. But you know what, I loved it, and would not have done it any different.
Sunday morning was spent looking at our photos and how we used the lighting. There were quite a few good photos. I felt a bit of the underdog.
To me, an obvious thanks not only to everyone who facilitated the workshop, but also to the attendees. This was a great bunch of people to be around, to watch have fun, and to learn from. The last evening for those who stayed, we went out to Sufi’s for dinner, which is a Persian restaurant. A great time, around great people, eating great food, and listening to great music. I felt heart broken to end it all. (The next blog post will be a short entry on Sufie's.)
Sitting at the airport Monday morning the emotions of the weekend hit. I was so pumped with passion for photography, from learning and doing photography with Parish and Canon. I wanted, needed, to ride that high again. I remembered when Parish spoke up at dinner about what he was thinking of at the time, which was how beautiful the lighting was hitting everyone. Such an opportunity for photographing the people around. That evening, after dinner, I began seeing lighting effects in every scene on television. It was all clicking now. I walked through the Atlanta airport, seeing lighting opportunities everywhere. It was all clicking now. I remembered Mary Margaret and Kimberly, being so gracious and accommodating, allowing us to put them into the lighting and posing them to capture "Our" photo. It was all clicking now. The heart felt joy, the passion, overcame me. I did not want to leave. But I had too. So I cut the feelings off so I could get onto the plane. Out of darkness the decision was made . . . photography is where I want to be (but I still had to get onto the plane, to Baltimore then to Gettysburg, then after another week, home.)
A special thanks to Perish. For me I saw and had a taste of his passion, his philosophy of life, which I do share and will always remember. Parish could be my story, the person who impacted my change, allowing me to “see”, study the unknown in my photography, to continue going forward without rules. Now, Parish did ask that we break the rules. For me, I do not know what the rules were. Perhaps this is a very good thing for me. So I do not intend to research the rules, listen to rules, obey the rules. I will be rule-less in my photography, though admittedly I am at the infant stage of it. Hmm, guess infants do not know the rules either. We create rules for them to protect them. I don’t need no stink’n protection! (Okay, getting a bit goofy here.)
The cool thing about the Canon Live Learning workshops is they bring equipment for you to experiment with. I did not partake this weekend because I still needed to learn my own equipment, before I could even think about using something else. Thank you Canon for bringing this opportunity to me.
For more information on Canon Live Learning, click here.
And, thank you again Perish. I will need to hire more of your service to help me improve.
For more information on Perish Kohanim, click here.
I wanted something to bring back home in order to critique. Thanks to Parish Kohanim I now know enough to now go to that next level. Bounce light, reflective light, fill light, natural light . . . it was all there for the taking, if you saw it. So, when you look at these photos, please remember I am showing you the good ones out of the hundreds that I took, knowing even these can be improved.
I was really pumped up for the last couple weeks knowing I was going to this workshop. My first deep dive into photography lighting, let alone the general experience. Another reason for being pumped up, I have not had a vacation in over 18 years, and this would be the first time I have flown for fun rather than for business. All that single adrenalin was blown away and replaced with some triple adrenalin once I stepped in Parish’s studio.
My purpose of this weekend was to learn about what I did not know - photography lighting. Most all of my photography up to this point has been non-flash, and using available lighting in a plain way. The problem was, I did not know enough to ask questions. Gets back to my quote, “I know all there is to know, because what I do not know does not exist.” Very true in this case, so I spent most of my time observing to understand cause-and-effect, the techniques Parish and Canon were giving us, and techniques being used by my fellow classmates. Now I feel I can ask questions. Okay, a bit late, however this gives me the basis to grow from, study, experiment, to replace my prior unknown and fear with learning.
Before I get to far ahead of myself, here are the people I want to give credit to, that greatly inspired me and for whom I will always be indebted to . . .
Parish Kohanim – our photography guru
Parish’s Wife, Rosanne – who was the greatest host
Kristen Diane Cunningham – Canon Host
(Manager, Education and Training at Canon)
Drew McCullum – Canon Product Educator
Mary Margaret – model
Kimberly – model
And a host of other learners like me . . .
The photos I am going to show I arranged and took myself. They have not been edited. I do have to credit the people above for helping where I lacked knowledge. The purpose was to study lighting, not to make a good photograph. This next photo was the first, with Kimberly. After taking it, I thought it would be all downhill from there. I did not know if it would get any better than this. You can be the judge . . .
(Note: Click on the photo to enlarge, and click again to index through.)
Kimberly
Each model was great in their own way; moves, look, eyes, smile. Mary Margaret and Kimberly were great sports allowing all of us to photograph them. It was a craze at times, like a swarm of worker bees around the queen bee. When we were outside, I think the public either thought we were all nuts, or these ladies were very special. I prefer the latter as the thought.
Mary Margaret
And, as photographers, everything was considered a photo opportunity . . .
Not only was this a nice studio inside. The outside was very comfortable. Perfect weather for a perfect weekend.
The fellow paparazzi photographers . . .
Studio change over . . .
And, the next photo shoot was outdoors . . .
Mary Margaret has great eyes. I told her that if I could, I would marry them . . .
Parish then finds another unlikely spot, at the bottom of a grade into a loading dock . . .
At the back of the next photo was where we were. We decided to move street side . . . however we were shuffled off later by the Hotel we were in front of . . .
Exercise time . . . Parish had the girls running and jumping with the balloon, and yet another location. The trick for me was to take shot that did not make the girls look like they were running a marathon, gritting to cross the finish line . . .
A nice day at the beach. NOT . . . you could almost misconstrue the background as water. This is actually a busy road. I had to shoot apature wide open and wait for no cars to get this shot.
And, I have to apologize to Kimberly. I did not notice that when she got up from laying on the grass, that she still had imprints on her elbows and knees. If I had noticed, I would have volunteered to rub them off for her! lol . . . okay, I can dream can't I . . . now I have to buy Photoshop . . .
Sunday morning was spent looking at our photos and how we used the lighting. There were quite a few good photos. I felt a bit of the underdog.
Day 2
Our assignment this day was to use fill flash, as in the above photo. It took me a while to understand what I was suppose to set the camera to, so I was off to a slow start. This was the only photo that turned out at this location. I tried it at the other locations and failed, so I want back to no flash. I NEED TO PRACTICE!
Sitting at the airport Monday morning the emotions of the weekend hit. I was so pumped with passion for photography, from learning and doing photography with Parish and Canon. I wanted, needed, to ride that high again. I remembered when Parish spoke up at dinner about what he was thinking of at the time, which was how beautiful the lighting was hitting everyone. Such an opportunity for photographing the people around. That evening, after dinner, I began seeing lighting effects in every scene on television. It was all clicking now. I walked through the Atlanta airport, seeing lighting opportunities everywhere. It was all clicking now. I remembered Mary Margaret and Kimberly, being so gracious and accommodating, allowing us to put them into the lighting and posing them to capture "Our" photo. It was all clicking now. The heart felt joy, the passion, overcame me. I did not want to leave. But I had too. So I cut the feelings off so I could get onto the plane. Out of darkness the decision was made . . . photography is where I want to be (but I still had to get onto the plane, to Baltimore then to Gettysburg, then after another week, home.)
A special thanks to Perish. For me I saw and had a taste of his passion, his philosophy of life, which I do share and will always remember. Parish could be my story, the person who impacted my change, allowing me to “see”, study the unknown in my photography, to continue going forward without rules. Now, Parish did ask that we break the rules. For me, I do not know what the rules were. Perhaps this is a very good thing for me. So I do not intend to research the rules, listen to rules, obey the rules. I will be rule-less in my photography, though admittedly I am at the infant stage of it. Hmm, guess infants do not know the rules either. We create rules for them to protect them. I don’t need no stink’n protection! (Okay, getting a bit goofy here.)
The cool thing about the Canon Live Learning workshops is they bring equipment for you to experiment with. I did not partake this weekend because I still needed to learn my own equipment, before I could even think about using something else. Thank you Canon for bringing this opportunity to me.
For more information on Canon Live Learning, click here.
And, thank you again Perish. I will need to hire more of your service to help me improve.
For more information on Perish Kohanim, click here.
Very cool Wes. Looks like you had a great time. The trick is to make The Robots look that good. lol
ReplyDeleteIt was great! Had a lot of fun with my fellow learners and especially the models. I hope Kimberly and Mary Margaret like what I shot.
DeleteNow, if you guys want your band to look good, put on makeup and show some leg . . . otherwise just stick to playing most excellent as you have, and they will come . . .