New Photography Website Soon, But Same Blog Here

I recently received a notice from my website host that after March 15, 2014 that anything on my website will not be able to be changed (i.e. - no updates), and after September 30, 2014, it will be gone.  It has been temporarily relocated at tonybelmontphotography.com while I find a new host and start work on updating it.  Meanwhile, tony-belmont-photography.com will still take you to the old site.

I had planned on a major update of the site anyway, so this works out OK.

One of the changes I want to make is to redefine what to look for when looking for a photographer.  On the current site I had a lot of the technical things (lighting, composition, posing, etc.), but the most important thing is the final product.  Do you love the photographers past work?  Are you and the photographer compatible (is he or she easy to work with)?  Could you see yourself as friends (which is why you should always meet before agreeing to a session)?  Does the photographer offer a total money back and/or reshoot for free guarantee if you don't totally love the results?

Once a photographer has the technical aspects down, the next thing, and perhaps the most important, is capturing that fleeting expression, the one that will only be there for an instant, the one that makes or breaks the perfect photo.

Many years ago I was shooting polaroid film ($1.00/shot) of tourists.  I had to catch the best expression on the first try, or it would get to be an expensive hobby.  That was good practice and instant feedback.  Very seldom did I have to shoot more than one exposure of the same people.

The following photos have nothing to do with this article, although the photo of the person at the stand was a one shot photo.

This one was shot on Dec 27, 2013 adjacent to the paddle tennis courts.  She is a paddle tennis player.  And a very good one.

Both of the above photos were shot with a Panasonic FZ30, Venice Beach, Dec 27, 2013.

Photography Portraits - Hidden Faces

First, I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  It was like Summer at Venice Beach, California, and is continuing that way for now.  Here's one of my Christmas photos taken by a friend at the paddle tennis courts.

Now, on with the headline:  I Read an interesting article that I wanted to share with you.  If you take a lot of photos of people, especially close-up, you may be photographing more than just the person you are photographing.  including yourself.  Here is the link to the article:
http://www.kurzweilai.net/reflected-hidden-faces-in-photographs-revealed-in-pupil

Now to look through some of my photos....

Well, didn't find any faces in the eyes, but did see a reflector or two, and perhaps a figure in the pupil of one.  With the sunglasses, I did see part of myself reflected.  The cameras I used in the past were probably not high enough resolution to make out reflected facial features.

You can see the window in the reflection in her eye.  Not sure if I'm visible.

Same as above, but I think my silhouette is visible - blocking part of the window reflection.

With the sun glasses a lot more is visible, even at lower resolutions.  Had her face been turned a little, I would have had a portrait of myself in her glasses.

In the Words of John Lennon, You May Say I'm a Dreamer

But Imagine the holiday spirit
Lasting all the year
Imagine everyone enjoying life
Without arguments and fights
Being kind to one another

To paraphrase what John F. Kennedy said,

“We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

Well, this is my holiday wish for everyone - to enjoy life more.  Life isn't always easy, but it can be a lot more enjoyable.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Wow, another Christmas is almost here.  Want to wish everyone a safe and joyful holiday season and a Merry Christmas.

This photo was taken looking towards Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, shot with a Nikon FTn with film (don't remember which film, but most likely Kadachrome, as I shot mostly with that).

The following photo is one I did not shoot of Miss Santa.  I'll have to some holiday photos on my list to shoot for next year.  Maybe this year if I can find a willing subject.

  And that is what a healthy diet can do for you.  Speaking of a healthy diet, some doctors tell you that you don't need vitamins if you eat a healthy well balanced diet, but never mention your diet when they advertise or talk about the drugs you should take.  This is just about opposite of what it should be.  If you eat healthy, you probably still need vitamins to fill in any gaps in your diet (most diets are lacking in the amounts of some nutrients that we need), and you probably won't need the drugs.

Follow-Up to the Vitamin Posts

If you've read, or heard the news, that multivitamins don't work, here's why.  They used Centrum Silver 50 Plus.  After reading the ingredients list, as well as the dosages of vitamins and minerals, I wouldn't take this multivitamin if you paid me to take it.  It has the very things you should avoid - artificial coloring (which contains aluminum), preservatives, talc, hydrogenated oil, synthetic vitamin E, etc.  Many of the minerals are in forms I would not prefer to take.

Here is a link to their page:  http://www.centrum.com/centrum-silver-adults-50-plus#tablets
Once on the page, click on:  ">Porduct Labeling" (just below the blue label).  Finally, here is a link to Orthomolecular News about the study with a few more reasons to take it seriously, and why not to take Centrum:  http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v09n31.shtml .

There are many choices for good vitamins.  Depending on your diet, age, health condition, other individual supplements you might take, if you take medications, and lifestyle, will determine the best one for you.  Always check with a healthcare provider (preferably someone who knows and understands supplements and diet, and possible interactions with drugs) before taking supplements.

I personally take a 6 a day multivitamin, but only take 2 instead of 6 because I take other supplements that would add to some of it's ingredients.

One last word about studies - when they want to discredit something, they'll do the study with a product that is most likely to show what they want, then generalize to all products in the same category, although the products are, in fact, very different.  If the news media had been honest in their reporting, they would have reported that Centrum Silver 50+ showed no cognitive benefits (but that would not have gotten the audience results the media want).

Whenever you read about a study (especially one that disagrees with the majority of previous studies), you need to dig in to the reasons - who did the study and who paid for it, was it flawed and in what way, who would benefit from it (money), etc.

With vitamins, supplements, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, etc., remember it's your health that's at stake, and your health determines your happiness - so please do your research and stay healthy.

I think this will be the last word on this subject for a while.

More News on Vitamins

Some more links on why to take vitamins:

http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v09n30.shtml

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/ru-articles/nutrition/outlandish-editorial-sparks-controversy.html?SourceCode=INTHIR557&mobile=off&emv_mid=2200491&emv_rid=15059072190

Of course, you can always Google "benefits of vitamins" to find many more reasons to take them.  The difficult part, once you decide to take vitamins, is which ones to take, and how much to take.  Beware of fillers, artificial coloring (FD&C this or that), talc, etc.  Remember that RDA's are the minimum needed to avoid deficiencies, but may be far from optimum for good health.  It's also important to make sure the ingredients are not synthetic, and are in a form you can absorb.  Also important to remember is to not take some supplements by themselves, such as only calcium.

In a future post I will list what I take, and why I take it.  It may not do the same for you because everyone is different.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy Holiday Season and the best of health and happiness in the new year.

Another Reason to Always Carry a Camera

I think these two photos say it better than I could, so a verrrrry short post today.  Two women from Rhode Island visiting Venice Beach, CA.  Taken about an hour before sunset.

Not only did I capture these photos, but I met two wonderful people.

Do Vitamins Work?

Not if you believe the latest media reports.  They'll tell you the latest study or studies show no benefits to taking vitamins.  What do they not tell you about the study?  Who funded it, who did the study, that the vitamins in the study were synthetic, cheap, had fillers that shouldn't be in a vitamin, perhaps used artificial colors, were low dosage, etc.  Were the vitamins taken on an empty stomach or with food?  In short, any study can be made to show any result.  Sometimes they'll do this by eliminating people who did show benefits from taking something.

Yes, there are multivitamins and other supplements available that won't do anything and should be avoided.  Why would they use these, and why would the media report only the negative studies?  Maybe because the drug/pharmaceutical companies pay big advertising money to the media.  And if you took the vitamins that keep you healthy, they wouldn't sell as many drugs.

The media and drug companies can be pretty convincing.  If I didn't eliminate many health problems after starting on supplements, and if I didn't educate myself about supplements, nutrition, and health, I might be inclined to believe them.  And that is my advice to you - educate yourself about health, supplements, nutrition, and proper exercise.  It is as important, if not more so, than anything else you do.  I personally have spent almost as much time on this (about 25 years) as I have on photography (over 30 years).

Addendum:  After posting the above, I received an email confirming benefits of multivitamins - here is a link.  Check the Dec 17th article:  http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml

Of course, there are a lot more than just multivitamins.  I take supplements for my heart, joints, bones, immune system, sports, etc.  Can you get what you need from your diet?  Most likely not unless you have your own farm with perfect growing conditions, and eat what you grow as soon as you pick it, and get the variety you need.

Photography - How Many Megapixels Do You Need?

My first "Professional" digital camera was a Canon EOS 10D, a 6 megapixel camera.  I put professional in quotes because now it is probably considered a prosumer camera, or worse, LOL.  And yet, I was able to get the results below, and make a 24x30 enlargement that looks great, even close-up.  I have since upgraded to a much larger sensor, but still have my EOS 10D.

To answer the question above, it depends on what you are shooting and the results you might need.  More important is the lens you are using.  The photo in this example was taken with Canon's 50mm (equal to about 80mm on a full frame sensor) f1.8 lens.

The first photo below is cropped about 30%, and the close up, if it was of the full frame, would have been a little larger than the 24x30 (and with Perfect Resize, would be even better).  Note, too, the photos here have been reduced in size for this blog.

Click on the photos to see the larger size.

In a coming post, I will shot some much larger megapixel images.

Happy Holidays to all.

Some Old Snapshots on this Friday the 13th

Are you feeling lucky - the Lotto is up to $425 million for the Friday the 13th drawing.

In a post a few days ago, I talked about snapshots, and how much they mean to me, and I'm sure to many others, too.  Notice the paper these old photos were printed on - specifically the edges.  I think that was pretty cool.  The photos are of me when I was a whole lot younger, somewhere between age 2 - 7.

                 After a day of snapper fishing in Port Washington, NY, with the bamboo pole.

                                          I'm on the right in this one.

                                                            Me, with my older brother.

In Jamaica Estates, NY, near where I used to set up a lemonade stand (a few years later - in this photo, I was a bit too young for running a lemonade stand).

Before I forget, my main website will be closing next year - it was hosted by Verizon, which just notified me they will discontinue hosting.  After March, I will not be able to update the site, and after September 2014, it will no longer exist.

I wish you all a great weekend and a happy Friday, Dec 13.

Playing with Fire?

I took this photo a while back, and it lent itself to the title very nicely; actually, it was why I chose this title, LOL.

Let's start with the "playing with fire."   When you make uninformed decisions with anything in life, whether choosing a photographer, and especially what you to do to stay healthy, you are playing with fire (better to choose the method in the photo to do that, no?).  Regarding your health  - if you watch TV or listen to the news, there are constant ads suggesting you get this shot or take that drug.  Before doing anything, do your research, find out possible side effects, how well a product works, what are the long term benefits or problems.  What are your other options (diet, supplements, lifestyle, etc.) and have you tried them?  Besides the internet (mercola.com is a very good site), there are numerous books (Prescription for Nutritional Healing and Healthy Healing are two excellent books).

Now, back to photography.  If you are a photographer, there are almost limitless choices on what to photograph.  Babies, children, families, seniors (high school or college), weddings, engagements, sports, street photography, dating photos, landscape photography, architectural and astrological photography, aerial photography, war photography, celebrity photos, headshot and composite photography for acting and modeling, and on and on.

In the past, I have photographed weddings, actors and models, family portraits, sports, street photography (mostly in Venice  CA for over 20 years), and more.  Whenever I've taken a bit of a break from photography (last time to run a health food store), I've learned more and come back better.  I hope this time will be no different.  Even when taking breaks, I've studied other photographers whose work I love, and have taken webinars from them on CreativeLIVE and other sources.  Some of my favorites have been Tamara Lackey, Jasmine Star, Sue Bryce (from Australia)(http://suebryce.com/home.php), Christa Meola who is in NYC (http://christameola.com/), and many others.  I also look at many photographers websites to get ideas.  Two sites I came across today that are worth a look:  http://www.simoneportrait.com/signature-environmental.html
http://www.martinphotography.ca/galleries/index.html
Hope you enjoy them - their image ideas, as well as the other photographers mentioned, are similar to what I plan on doing in the future.

Eating Healthy and Supplementing, and Why It's Good to Always Carry Your Camera

I've mentioned in prior posts that you have to eat healthy, have a good diet, etc.  But what does that mean?  Well, just very briefly - it means staying away from the following - processed foods, fast foods, foods that contain chemicals, anything artificial (sweeteners, coloring, flavors, etc.), GMO foods, sugar, fructose (aka corn syrup, HFCS, high fructose corn syrup), trans and hydrogenated fats, and more (meat, fish, eggs, and milk that contain growth hormone, antibiotics, GMOs from the feed they eat, etc.).

It means eating fresh whole foods and a balanced diet.

Because you may not eat a balanced diet and one that hasn't lost nutrients on store shelves, and because you are probably exposed to environmental toxins that may further cause problems, supplementing (with vitamins, herbs, etc.) can help you get what you need for optimum health.

Anyway, I just wanted to clarify what I meant by a healthy diet.  By doing this, I have eliminated many health problems I've had in the past, as well as preventing possible future problems.  I hope you will, too.

Now back to photography - I almost always carry a camera wherever I go.  But yesterday I didn't, because I was going to play paddle tennis at Venice Beach and didn't think anything special was going to happen.  Well, I was wrong, darn!  They had the Muscle Beach toy drive, with Santa arriving and a bunch of beautiful elves.  Some wonderful pictures were to be had which would have been posted here.  Lesson learned.  There will be photos on my next post.

Photography, Health, and Your Life

As you know if you've been following me here, my two main interests are photography and improving health or maintaining good health (through diet, exercise, and supplements - not to mention proper sleep, minimizing stress, etc.).  Some may wonder why I talk about health on a photography blog.  Well, it is my belief that if your health is suffering, and you have a photo session, your images will suffer, too.

Why did I go to health?  When I was in my teens and early twenties, I used to think that what I ate might take a couple of years off the end of my life - you know, live happy until I'm 78 instead of an unhappy diet and make it to 80, or whatever age it might be.  What I didn't think about was that a poor diet would lead to poor health, resulting in unhappiness and a shorter life, too.  My first wake-up call came at 24 when I had constant stomach aches and found out I had an ulcer.  Had to quit soft drinks, bacon and greasy foods, and take Mylanta every day.  And the ulcer went away.  Then at 30, I started having stomach problems again (frequent nausea, cramps, etc.).  No ulcer, but diagnosed with nervous stomach.  After some research (the doctors didn't have an answer for it), I cut out all sugar, artificial ingredients, etc.  Over a period of about 6 months, the nervous stomach went away, for good.  But that's not all - my frequent colds got less severe, and other problems also started disappearing.  My next step was to add supplements, and now I seldom get sick, almost never get headaches, and many other problems went away.  The only time I see a doctor (for the past 25 years or so) is for a sports injury.

I see many photographers posting on FB on photographers I follow, and have seen some photos of themselves.  And when the mention of favorite food or snacks is mentioned, many of them have really terrible diet choices.  If that is you, and you want to enjoy a healthy life, it is my hope that you will make the appropriate changes.  I can't guarantee you'll have perfect health, but I think I can guarantee it will be better than it would have been had you not made those changes.  And I can also pretty much guarantee that as a result, your photography will also be better.

Think about it - if you're shooting a wedding, and you have a headache, nausea, cramps, etc., how are you going to give your best?  But more than that, it's your life and you want to enjoy every minute of it, don't you?

One of the best sites I've found, which explains why and how diet works, is http://www.mercola.com/.  You can sign up and get his daily newsletter, which shares a lot of excellent information.  He sells products, but there is no obligation to buy them.  Another excellent site is "Orthomolecular Medicine News Service," and you can sign up for free here:  http://www.orthomolecular.org/forms/omns_subscribe.shtml  I get a newsletter from them about once a month or less, but they are good.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.  And I hope, too, for your New Years resolution, you decide to go to health and improve your diet.

Oops - I guess I better add a few photos as this is a photo blog, LOL.  The following photos were taken last night on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, CA.  With my new camera, as a test.  All were shot at ISO 1600.

The bottom photo was taken without flash, hand held.  Unfortunately, because it was dark out, I did not see the figure running across the frame until I got home.

Snapshots vs Professional Photography

These days, almost everyone has a digital camera, whether as part of a cell phone, a point and shoot, what is called a prosumer camera (although some of these are quite capable of professional results), or what is considered a professional DSLR.  Does that mean everyone can get professional results?  No, no more than if everyone had paint, brushes, and canvass, they would not suddenly be making paintings like a Rembrandt or Picasso.  Can people with these cameras take nice snapshots and capture images of things that are happening in their lives?  Of course, although even these are sometimes poor quality.  Check professional photographers on Facebook, and then look at the photos of every day people.

I've seen many out of focus images, ones that looked hazy (even though there was no haze when the photo was taken), images that were underexposed or overexposed, etc.  Of course, there are many nice photos, too.  But the best, most artistic, most beautiful images will generally be shot by those who have studied and practiced photography for many years.

Day to day snapshots are still important - I am so glad I have them of my family.  Below are some of the reasons why:

My father in our backyard - shot with a small metal box camera.

My father and me, shot a Jones Beach, NY.

 My mother, me, and my older brother on the front steps, in Jamaica, NY.

My mother in our backyard.

Me when I was around 3 y.o. or so.

My brother and me at Jones Beach, NY.

These photos, and many more, are in our family album.  But the large ones displayed in frames and on the wall are the ones that were taken professionally, as below.

My younger brother Scott.

Me, around age 4 (I still remember that suit - it was wool and itched way too much, LOL).

                                                                      My father.

My younger brother, Harold.

My mother - this photo has faded a bit over time.

If you want the best images possible, use a professional photographer (more on how to choose one and what a professional photographer is, in my opinion, in a later post), and also use a professional make-up artist to highlight your best features.

Thanksgiving 2013 (and some people to be thankful for)

Hope you had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.  I was riding my bicycle down (not sure I say down, but anyway...well, I guess the elevation is a tiny bit lower at the beach, LOL) to Venice Beach on Thanksgiving to play paddle tennis, and as I just crossed Pacific Avenue, a friend/paddle tennis player called me over to Bellissimo Venice , where they were giving out free turkey sandwiches, coffee, and other food.  I had a sandwich (not a coffee drinker), and after thanking them and about to leave, they gave me about a dozen sandwiches to give out at the paddle tennis courts.  The courts were pretty empty, but was able to find enough people to give them all out - which I enjoyed doing, and they enjoyed receiving.

Here is a photo of me with the free sandwich organizer.

Then, on the bleachers by the paddle tennis courts, was a family that each year gives out free pie (apple and pumpkin).  It's nice to see these very nice people.  Speaking of people like this, I have to mention two of my favorite photographers, who give back so much to the photography community, and more.

The first one is Tamara Lackey - here is a link to her blog:  http://tamaralackeyblog.com/finding-joy-whenever-wherever/ - she had a contest about finding joy, and the winner would receive a coupon for a free cup of coffee.  I was one of the winners, but don't drink coffee, so asked her to give it to another person whose post was good.  She has also had other contests and give aways, plus always is sharing he knowledge and more.  I first saw her on CreativeLive, and she has been a favorite of mine ever since.

Equally, Jasmine Star Photography - I'm sure you'll love her blog posts and her FB page, too.  She has supplied a road map to how she built her business, so you can learn how to build yours.  Here is her blog:  http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm

As for me - if you have any questions about photography (or vitamins and supplements, my other specialty), please don't hesitate to ask.

As always, stay well and enjoy all that you do.

Photography - What's LUCK Got to do With It?

There are those who would say there is no such thing as luck.  I would disagree.  There is good and bad luck.  With proper planning bad luck can be minimized, but not eliminated.  For example, let's say you have a wedding to photograph.  You've planned everything, will arrive 2 hours early to make sure you have time to do what you need to do, but on the way you get caught in a traffic jam that is not moving, and won't move for several hours.  And you're completely boxed in, no way to turn around.  Or worse, a car ran a red light and crashed into you, destroying your car and perhaps your equipment (hopefully not you).  Bad luck is rather negative, and since I'd prefer the positive kinds of things, I'll talk about good luck.

The first thing I'll say about good luck is that when it happens, you have to be ready and willing to take advantage of it.  I was just reading about how some photographers got their start though chance encounters with those that could help them.  Perhaps they needed an assistant and you happened to run into them at a restaurant totally be chance.  Or perhaps a magazine editor just happened to see some photos you had taken, again by chance, loved what they saw, contacted you, and gave you an assignment.

One piece of luck I had happened when I wanted to get some images of the solar eclipse.  I knew the eclipse was happening, so that wasn't luck, but when I was ready to take the photos, the beach low clouds and fog had come in.  But the luck happened because the clouds thinned out and had just enough breaks in them to not only allow me to capture the eclipse, but to lower the contrast enough to get good exposures.

  Another piece of good luck happened when this rainbow appeared.  Just by chance I was in the right place at the right time.  But when both of these opportunities arose, I was ready and prepared to capture them.



Although I prefer shooting people (with my camera, LOL!!!!), I love beauty of all kinds.  And with luck, I will keep finding beauty in my photography.  And if by chance you happen by here.....

Back to Health Today

I was in Whole Foods today, and was in the mood for a healthy dessert for later on.  Well, even in a health food store, it is difficult if not impossible to find a healthy dessert, one without possible GMOs, sugar, fructose (aka high fructose corn syrup, which is most likely GMO and probably worse than sugar), or artificial ingredients or chemicals.  I gave up and just bought a loaf of their organic freshly baked bread.  I don't know if they still carry desserts by Sugar Plum Fairy, which unbelievably highlighted sugar in its name.

As I've written in the past, health care should have been about educating people about the dangers of all of the above, how to eat a healthy diet to avoid sickness and attain optimal health, as well as lowering hospital and health care costs.  Not to mention many other needed reforms.  Some interesting facts:

Fact:  The U.S. is ranked 33rd of all countries for life expectancy.
Fact:  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. is ranked 38th in health care for all countries.
Fact:  Also, according to WHO, the U.S is ranked #1 for health expenditure per capita for that in order to get that health care rank!

Remember, you are what you eat, and what you absorb.  If you want to have a chance to be healthy, you MUST eat healthy, and that means eliminating those things mentioned above.  It made all the difference in the world to my health!  The above facts are unlikely to change....unless you take responsibility for your health by making the appropriate changes.

Keep in mind that when you make changes in your diet, begin to take supplements, or begin an exercise program, you won't get or see immediate results.  Unlike drugs, results may take a month, 6 months, or a few years.  But the results are more permanent and don't have side effects.

One last word - after I gave up sugar, everything else started tasting better.  Actually, the hardest part was (and is) trying to find food that didn't have refined sugars.  So if you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you know what you need to do.

Staying healthy may not be easy, but it is sure worth it.  So, here's to your health.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder (or, in this case, the Photographer)

Just a short post about beauty - which I have always enjoyed (beauty, not a post about it, although hope you might enjoy that).  As the title suggests, beauty is subjective, although certain images will be found to be beautiful by most, if not all, who view it.  The range of subjects that contain beauty is endless.  Here are just a very few examples of things I have always found beautiful.

It might be of a sunset (shot from 1st Street in Hermosa Beach, CA) -

or Fall foliage (as in this shot taken in Fredonia, NY) -

or what I enjoy most - photographing people (shot in Palisades Park, Santa Monica, CA) -

This image was done indoors in the West LA area -

If you would like to have photos similar to these last images, please feel free to contact me after the New Year (2014).

I always try to bring a camera with me wherever I go - you never know what may happen at any given time, such as this Rainbow, shot near Solvang, CA (wish I had a wider angle lens, as this rainbow went from ground to ground) -

As always, thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful remainder of 2013.

Photography and the Pros and Cons of TFCD, TFP

For those of you who may not know what TFCD and TFP means, it is the photographer and subject sharing their Time For a CD of the images, or for some Prints, although the print option seems to be less common now with digital having taken over from film.  No money changes hands.   What are some of the possible pros and cons of doing this and why might the photographer agree to this?  Is it worth doing, or is the old saying true, "anything free is worth what you pay for it?"

As for the second question, that is really up to the subject and the photographer.  And this comes down to their reasons for doing this.

As for the cons:
1.  Because no money changes hands, it is very easy for someone to not show up, or show up late. They lose nothing by doing this, except perhaps their reputation.  Professionals always show up, and on time.  Perhaps it would be a good idea to treat this as a regular photo session and get a deposit, which would be refunded if and only if the subject shows up on time.
2.  Either or both may not try as hard as they would if they were getting paid.  Again, being professional means you will give it your best.  Many years ago I drove 20 miles to do a TFP with a model who was recommended to me.  She had visitors coming over, was smoking funny stuff, constant interruptions, and the results were no good.
3.  I have heard of some models trading their time, only to never receive their images or prints.
4.  TFCD and TFP is somewhat limited, because of the above reasons, and also because the photographer will usually only do this if the other person has a look or idea that will add to their portfolio of samples of their work.

And for the pros:
1.  If you are both professional, you can both get some great images without having to pay.
2.  If you get great images and are both professional, you'll be likely to tell others and get paying work.
3.  You should both have a great time at the session.

I used to skate at Venice Beach all the time (now I play paddle tennis instead) and saw a beautiful you lady I wanted to do TFP photography with (she was also skating all the time out there), so asked her, and she said she wasn't interested.  But as time went by, we saw each other often at Venice Beach skating, and then we discovered we lived just a few apartments from each other on the same street, so she finally agreed.  She was a professional model and actress, and we got lots of great images.  Here are a few.

All the sessions were enjoyable - some were shot at UCLA Sculpture Garden, some at Venice Beach, and some (with the bodybuilder, who lived next door to her, and wasn't originally planned) were taken just outside her apartment.

Will I still do TFCD?  With the right person and for the right images, and with a model release.

Vitamins and Supplements

I was going to write about photography today, but just heard on the news about a new study that showed vitamins aren't needed, and some may be dangerous.  Funny how one negative study makes the news, but they never talk about all the positive studies.

And you won't hear the following, most likely:
Properly prescribed prescription drugs kill over 100,000 people a year.
Vitamins and Supplements generally kill zero.  But on the news they say they can be dangerous.

What was not mentioned on the news report?  Who paid for the study, what vitamins were used (there are many cheap vitamins and supplements, as well as synthetic ones, and ones that are pretty worthless as the dosages are so low), who did the study, and what previous and other studies how shown.  Any study can show any result when the study is flawed, and probably will be if the researcher wants that result.

There are studies that have shown Vitamin C does nothing for you and may be harmful.  Yet when I started taking it a few times a day, I stopped getting colds and flu.

I could go on about all the other benefits I have gotten from taking vitamins and supplements, and there are many, but the main point is to hopefully get you to do your own research, and not to believe what you hear on the media reports.  As they say with investing, do your due diligence.

Well, that's it for today.  I wish all the veterans who may visit here a happy Veterans Day (me too, as I'm a veteran), and thanks for your service.

Your Health, and Variables that can Affect It

In my last post, I talked about variables related to photography.  One of those variables included health (yours and your subjects), because if either you or your subject is suffering from poor health, it is likely your photos will also suffer.  Below is only a partial list of things that can help you gain optimal health, or cause you to suffer from poor health.  But first, a little story about what lead me in the direction of optimal health.

When I was in my teens and twenties, my thinking was that I wanted to enjoy what I ate, and if it cost me a few years late in life, that was OK.  But I soon learned that eating unhealthy caused problems with my health, and therefore I was not happy, especially when I started having stomach aches every day.  That turned out to be an ulcer.  When I cut out hot dogs, packaged meats like bologna, salami, and other cold cuts, and soft drinks, the ulcer went away.  But a few years later I was diagnosed with nervous stomach, had lots of bloating and cramps and nausea - still no fun.  So I cut out everything that had sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or other chemicals, and my nervous stomach slowly disappeared.  And there were other benefits - I got a lot less colds and flu, and less severe when I did.  Then along the way, I added in vitamins and other supplements to fill in any gaps I was missing in my diet.  And now I almost never get sick.

What does the above have to do with dietary variables?  Pretty much everything.  By controlling the variables in the list below, there is a very good chance you can get similar results.  And there is the added benefit that when you are in good health you won't have to take prescription drugs, which have nasty side effects (including killing you).  Keep in mind one important thing - changing these variables and controlling them will NOT give you immediate results (my nervous stomach slowly faded away over a period of about 6 months, and has never come back again).  So don't give up.

Some of the variables that can affect your health:

1.  Quality of sleep
2.  Drugs (Prescription or otherwise)
3.  Your diet - what you eat as well as what you should avoid, and has its own list of variables
4.  Stress
5.  Vitamins and Supplements
6.  Lifestyle
7.  Exercise
8.  Environmental pollution
9.  Etc. (everything I've left out)

As far as dietary variables - eat healthy (whole foods, organic when possible) and take supplements.  Avoid GMO foods, sugar and artificial sweeteners, processed foods, soft drinks (including some of those masquerading as healthy), preservatives, artificial colors, and other chemicals that don't belong in your food.

Eliminate these variables, at least as many as you can, and start enjoying a healthy and happy life, which will lead to everything you do being that much better.  And if photography is one of the things you do, as you feel better and more energetic, your images will show it.

NOTE:  Please feel free to comment on anything on this blog.  If you have questions about photography or nutrition, I will do my best to answer in a future post, or point you to somewhere that can help.

Photography - The Variables

There are many variables in photography (as there are in health, and life in general).  Depending on what you can do to eliminate them will determine the outcome of your images.  By eliminating a variable, I mean turning it into something that you can keep constant, that will no longer change.  For example, with enough practice and education, and knowing how to use your camera's settings, you can always get proper, if not perfect exposure.  Then you have one less variable to think about, and one less variable that could give you poor results.

Below is a list of some variables in photography that you can control (I'm sure there are a lot more):

1.  Lighting
2.  Color balance
3.  Exposure
4.  Post processing
5.  Posing (many variables related to this, such as hand placement, standing, sitting, etc.)
6.  Hair and make-up
7.  Clothing
8.  Your personality, as well as your subject(s)
9.  Focal length of the lens
10.  Aperture and speed you use for a particular photograph
11.  If shooting outdoors, the weather
12.  Backgrounds
13.  Your subjects facial expressions
14.  Your health (which includes another whole set of variables)
15.  The camera you use
16.  Etc.  (The variables I can't think of, LOL)

Each item in the above list, if not eliminated as a variable, will lessen the quality of the final image.  The more you are able to control, the better your final image.

I've been doing photography for over 25 years, actually a lot longer if you count the small metal box camera I received as a gift when I was 7 years old.  And a lot of the above listed variables got me, or I should say, my images!  But as long as you learn from what went wrong, your results will constantly improve.  Below are some examples of variables that affected my photos negatively:

This photo was due to an incorrect camera setting.  This was a Canon digital, and I was using, Av with flash.  Well, with that combination, the camera ignored the flash in determining exposure, and exposed as though there was no flash, and exposed at 1/6 second, hand held!  Once I realized what was happening, and corrected for this, the exposures were 1/60 second, and no more problem.

The following photo was taken with Kodachrome 25 with a Nikon camera.  Unfortunately, the light meter had the wrong information about the ASA (now ISO) - I forgot to change it after shooting ASA 125 or 400 film, so the image was way underexposed.  The same can happen now if you shoot in manual with the exposure being off by as much, or even in the auto modes if your light reading is taken in the wrong area.  As mentioned in a previous post, if your exposure is off, but you shot in RAW, you might still get decent results.

This mistake was discovered long after we had both climbed the tree for these images.  Digital cameras eliminated this problem pretty much because you can check your results as you go, and make the necessary adjustments on the spot.

Photography - Should You Get the Best Equipment?

There are a lot of variables in photography leading up to the final image.  And as my photography professor said, "Eliminate the variables."  At least eliminate those you can, and adjust those you can't.  Your equipment is one of the variables you can adjust.  So although great equipment won't make you a great photographer, it will help you capture better quality images with a lower chance of equipment failure (which would give you no images).  Also keep in mind that although better equipment may cost more initially, over time it may well be less expensive.  For example, one camera that costs less may only be good for 50,000 shutter releases before failure, while another may cost twice the price, but last for 150,000 shutter releases, plus give you other added benefits such as better quality in low light situations, may be more weather proof, and give you better quality images.  It won't make you a better photographer, but all else being equal, it will give you better results.  For example, below are two photos shot with two different cameras and lenses.  The first was from the less expensive one.  The lighting was about the same - at night with on camera flash.

The top photo was taken with a less expensive camera which works great with lots of light, but the image starts to degrade under low light conditions.  The second was taken with a better camera yielding better results.  As always, clicking on the photo will show a larger size image.

This is just one example to illustrate one possible variable.  In a future post I will try to list all the variables.

Have a great day and week.

Halloween Carnaval 2013 - West Hollywood - Part IV (the Final Installment for this year)

I go to this Halloween celebration to enjoy the fun of Halloween - I'm too old to Trick or Treat anymore - that was fun when I was much younger.  Back then I didn't know how bad all those shopping bags of candy were.  Now I do, so it's good I don't do that anymore, and that I found this replacement for it.  Of course, as a photographer I go to record as many of the beautiful people and costumes as I can find.  Most of the people are there to have a great time and be photographed, so getting great expressions - when you can see the expressions - is a photographers dream come true.  As the night goes on, and it becomes extremely crowded, it gets difficult to capture images as too many people crowd around and you can't get a clear view of what you would like.  Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you miss the shot you would have liked to get.  So if you find these posts, and were in West Hollywood on Halloween, your photo may not be here.

Thanks to all the photo opportunities, and changing light conditions, it was a great way to test a new camera body, as well as experiment with the settings.  At one point, I thought the camera was starting to malfunction.  The photos that made me think this are below.  What happened was that the crowd I had gone through was so thick with people, that the mode dial on the camera got rubbed against and changed from the setting I was using to Av (aperture priority).  In this mode, the flash fired, but the exposure time was for the available light, so was around a second long.  If I hadn't been shooting in RAW (as mentioned in earlier posts), I could not have salvaged those two photos.

I hope some of my comments have been interesting and/or helpful, and the photos enjoyable.  Here are the rest of them from Halloween 2013:

The two photos above were shot when the crowd caused my mode dial, on the camera, to change.  In some ways, the photos look more like a party is going on, which it was.

This was very close to the last photo of the night.  She had tapped my back with her whip because I wasn't wearing a costume.  I forgot to tell her I was dressed as a photographer, although not sure that would have worked.  Anyway, I told her that because she whipped me, she had to let me take her photo.  Here's the result.  Verrry nice.

This one was a request - I hope they are able to find it.  I forgot to give them the link to this blog.

  With few exceptions, I shot just one photo of each different person or group, and then moved on to find the next one.  Why I shoot this way will be the subject of another blog post.

Have a wonderful day, and hope you enjoyed the last of my Halloween photos for this year.