Category Archives: San Diego

career, Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, San Diego

Learn to Communicate (Ask the right Questions)

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  (Above)  My client specifically  asked that I get images of the water feature between the two building.  Much to my chagrine there were white strips at the bottom the the pools.  If I was shooting this on an editorial job I would have to shoot it the way it was.  Being that this was for a commercial client I did a quick sample and emailed it to them.  They opted for the retouched version and the additional expense.  Communication with the client got them what they wanted and a more profitable day for me.

Fortunately most of my clients and I have some history.  Although most of my assignments come in by email we generally know what each other needs.  If you’re working with a new client, don’t assume.  You know the old saying.  Not only is it true but it can cause you more time on the project and even grief.  Ask what the final product is so you know how to shoot, are you going to have time to do it right, light it right or have to shoot ambient and minimize the impact on the tenant/subject?  In other words, get in, make great images and get out quick.  Here’s a short list to get you started.

  1. Make sure you have a contact # while on site.
  2. know in advance if this is the only day/time you can shoot if the weather is bad.
  3. Security.  Make sure they know you’re there.
  4. Shot list.  Make sure you know exactly what they need.  Anything else is cake, i.e. additional income.
  5. Be prepared.  Scout the location to know what you’re getting into.
  6. Deadline.  Know when the need it and get it to them early.
  7. Communicate.  To be successful you have to learn to talk their language.
  8. Make your own list.  But do it and constantly review it so you will do it right and enjoy the process.

More of my work:  www.zwink.com

Techy stuff:  Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop 6, Nikon D800

career, family, location shoot, photography, San Diego, Sports

It just won’t go Away

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THE AZTEC WARRIOR

     Sometimes, if you’re lucky, during your career you’ll make images that will stay with you the rest of your life.  Images you enjoy, images that strangers will know.  You know, the image you may see on a poster or a wall print that someone comments “that’s nice…..”  Then you get to proudly say, yes I took it.

     I’ve been lucky to take a few of these during my shooting career.  The above image was taken for the Aztec Warrior Foundation after SDSU decided their mascot Monty Montezuma was not politically correct anymore in the eyes of the school administration.  After a fallout of public outrage and the efforts of the Aztec Warrior Foundation, Monty was reintroduced to the school and fans.

     But, I digress some.  What I also wanted to point out is that these situations can often profoundly affect your life.  I met Monty, aka Carlos Gutierrez, while we were both on the sidelines during the Aztec games.  We became (and still are) close friends, had a few excellent adventures and I became his unofficial photographer.  His passion to promote and support SDSU and it’s athletic program genuinely rubbed off on me.  I have friends that cover baseball and other sports that have also developed lasting friendships from their photography exploits so I’m not the exception.  It’s a reality, embrace your passion and your subjects.  It will affect your life.

More of my work can be seen at:  www.zwink.com  My archived work which includes Monty is at www.bigstudioz.com

career, Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, San Diego

Do you Shoot Food?

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I market myself primarily as an architectural photographer.  It’s hard.  Experts say to have people take you serious and pay decent money you have to be a specialist.  So do you?  I was trained and worked my early career as a photojournalist.  A good photojournalist is good at shooting a lot of subjects and an expert generally at none.  So what do you do?  I don’t want to be tied into just one thing so I do niche marketing.  Most of my work is photographing properties, new construction and aerials of those projects.  To those clients I market myself for my architectural work.  To a few others I’m known for my environmental portraiture.  I market them differently.  You get the picture.  In this economy you need to diversify within your business and marketing.  But to each your a specialist they need.  btw, yes I do shoot food……

The image:  Taken with a Nikon D3 and a 80-200.  Processed in Adobe Lightroom.

The Food:  Bully’s East, Mission Valley, San Diego, Ca.  Great place.  Yes, we enjoyed some of it when we were done .  The benefit of being a food photographer.

My Marketing:  www.zwink.com , my other diversified work, www.bigstudioz.com

HDR, Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, Photoshop, San Diego

Not so quick Fix

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  Being a smart shooter is knowing when to ask for help.  I was recently asked to photograph this interior at UCSD for the builder.  The primary use was to enter in a competition.  The big problem was that the location was not going to be finished until the following Thursday, with the deadline that Monday.  Thursday would be too late.  So after a fair amount of negotiating my assistant Abbey and I decided to remove the cardboard off the desktops in the whole auditorium.  After a quick call to my retoucher, Holly of Spitting Images we decided to remove temporarily the plastic off three rows of the chairs.  That would give Holly enough of a sample to clean up the image.  Additionally we shot a section of paneling which she also layered on top of the black wood to complete the retouch portion of the project.  I then lightened the top projection screen and wal la……. image done, ready to send to the client.

As a pro you need to be a problem solver.  When someone say no as the project manager answered when we asked to clear all the plastic we came up with another solution.  Develop and utilize your resources.

Techy stuff:  camera: Nikon D3, lens 14-24, image processing in Lightroom 3, Photomatrix and Photoshop 5.  Additional retouching by the wonderful Holly Nelson-Kramer.

More of my work…… www.zwink.com

Fishing, GMR Works, Lightroom 3, location shoot, music, San Diego, Travel

THE MORE YOU KNOW……….

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………. THE MORE YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH MORE THERE IS TO KNOW

  Striving for a high level of success in any profession is a quest of all passionate driven people.  As you get better you start to separate yourself from the pack and the growth becomes part of the process.  It becomes easier to learn as your experience and education builds.  Knowledge becomes gold.  The more you have, the richer you are.

  BUT…. you eventually realize that even as you get better  there is so much more to know.  You may be good at what you do but you can get better.  Once you accept this premise your growth will continue.  No matter how good you are you will always be learning.

  I’m pretty good at what I do.  I feel I can compete with about 90% of the other architectural shooters out there.  I want to be part of that other 10%.  It will be hard as they are constantly improvising and improving, growing in their craft to make their work more amazing.

ABOUT THE PHOTOS:  taken at an Asmp-SD underwater photography workshop in San Diego.  Taught by local master diver and underwater photography expert Al Bruton.  All images shot with a Nikon D70 camera in a Nexus underwater housing.  Model:  Rachel

More of my images are on:  http://www.zwink.com

Cycling, Lightroom 3, photography, San Diego, Sports

When building your Brand do it Right

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I was recently hired to help create new images for Holland Cycles of Alpine, Ca.   For Bill Holland, a master cycle builder, this was a big investment to make his mark on the cycling world with a new website presence.  These titanium and carbon fiber bikes are not cheap.  They are custom hand built to the specs of their future owner/rider at a cost of about $10 – 20K.  My job was to show the beauty of the process and help create the perception of the artistry in the detail.  The challenge became a great project to achieve our goals and enjoy the process of the studio shoot.  Robert Bingham who made his impact on the internet, a former creative director and avid cycle rider himself was chosen to head the project.    The decision was made to do most of the shooting in the studio showing the elegance of the craftsmanship, design and the quality of the materials artistically through the use of our lighting featuring multiple softboxes, grids on one “detail” light and reflectors to kick light back into the shadows.

Normally I do all my post production work but this time we brought in digital artist Holly Nelson-Kramer of Spitting Images to refine our main “beauty shots”.  When you want it right, go to the experts.  Bob and Bill were both pleased with the results and now Bill has a strong website presence to showcase the work they do.   An investment in the photography will now benefit his business image.

Techy stuff:  primarily shot with a Nikon D3 & D700 using a combination of 60 2.8 macro, 24 – 70 and 70 – 200 lenses.  We use a mix of Profoto and Q flashes in the various softboxes.  Images were initially processed through Adobe Lightroom 3 and then the beauty selects were enhanced by Holly.  Holland’s Cycle website:  http://www.hollandcycles.com/  For more or my work check out http://www.zwink.com

 

black and white, photography, Photoshop, San Diego, Sports

GOALS………

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Are you still scoring?

Well…… the first quarter of the year is over and it’s time.  Time to do spring cleaning, pay quarterly taxes and review and finishing your yearly taxes.  Missing anything?  How about your NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS????

Did you make any resolutions for 2011?  Do you remember them?  Seriously.  For once I actually decided to follow through on them.  My office is getting cleaner, my marketing is exploding and I’ve made some great images for my current and new clients.  All were part of my new goals for the year.  Experts will tell you to write them down so you can refer to them and have a statement to be accountable for.  Sort of like a yearly business plan.  But it has to be fluid for those new opportunities.

Now if only I can loose weight……

Techy stuff:  Archived images of the San Diego Sockers originally shot on 35mm film and scanned on an Epson flatbed scanner and adjusted in Photoshop5.  More of my work can be seen at:  www.zwink.com

location shoot, photography, San Diego, Sports

It’s good to be an Aztec for Life

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SDSU Aztecs celebrate winning a share of the Mtn. West basketball league title.

Saturday night was a great night to be:

  1. a SDSU student
  2. a SDSU alumni
  3. a long suffering Aztec fan
  4. a member of the SDSU’s 29-2 basketball team
  5. SDSU President Stephen Weber

More game and celebration photos can be seen at:  http://zwinkftp.com/csusdsuhtml/ My website is:  http://zwink.com

location shoot, music, photography, Photoshop, San Diego, Uncategorized

Mozart is still Alive

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SDSU Cast of “A Walk in the Clouds”

 

When I was working part time at the San Diego edition of the L.A. Times I was introduced to the world of theater photography.  I got to cover the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe to name a few.  What a great time.  I got to see world class performances by known and unknown actors while getting paid to cover their shows.  Most shoots were done during dress rehearsals meaning I was allowed to move around the theater with silent impunity.

Nowadays I still get to work with the SDSU Theatre department and Stone Soup Theater.  At SDSU it is a wonderful experience as I not only get to hone my low light craft but I get to watch the development of the future professional actors.  It not only is a time to watch the character development but it allows  you a chance to study the body language and emotional interactions that can be transferred to shooting portraiture and getting that little special extra into your work.  After all good photography is just capturing the day to day live theater we live in.

techy stuff:  D700 with a 28-70 lens.  Shot ISO 1600 at f4.0.  Postproduction in Photoshop 5.

location shoot, NFL, photography, San Diego, Sports, Uncategorized

Tomlinson Over the Top?

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So, can LT finally get over the top? LaDanian Tomlinson record setting running back for the San Diego Chargers and now the New York Jets had his playoffs dream cut short once again.  L.T and the Chargers parted ways almost a year ago, the Chargers unwilling to resign him at this stage of his career.  Looking for that one missing goal, The Super Bowl, L.T. signed with the Jets stating they were the best opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl.  One game short of the Super Bowl and one yard short, Tomlinson was unable to get that one last yard to score a TD late in the game against the Steelers.  The Steel Curtain held and Tomlinson’s dream once again was shattered.  So, the big question is will he have enough for one more try next year.

Photo: shot with a Nikon D3 and 70-200 2.8 lens in a playoff game in San Diego vs. the Tennessee Titans Dec. 25,2009.

My other site is:  www.zwink.com