Snowing in Louisiana. Walked from my house to the downtown area to capture the moment.
Twin boys. Toddler daughter. Hospital Tech Support. Writer. Runner. Gamer. Creating in public again.*
Photography
Dancing with the Stars
Two nights ago, I had the opportunity to work for Junior Auxiliary of Houma’s Dancing With The Stars. I had one camera filming the entire performance on a tripod, while another camera was taking the photos (Chase had another camera on a gimbal, filming as he moved around). I ended the night with over 1,500 photos that I’ll be editing this week.
Photoshoot
A few days ago, I did a shoot for my friend Matt’s new motorcycle. Was some more practice with night photography. The next day I was able to practice with my Instagram Stories. I like the way they came out.
Lightroom
I spent the week setting up Lightroom as my main photo management and editing suite. As much as I love Darkroom, it’s not built to handle thousands of photos I throw at it every week. Lightroom is built for that. It’s also synced between many devices, so my iPad, phone, and even my wife’s MacBook could be working on a photoshoot at the same time. This allows us to be very efficient.
Hard Work Pays Off
After getting back from New Orleans last week, the momentum is starting to shift for me. The photos, meetings, studying, editing, the new lens, etc. — all of this feels like I just leveled up.
It’s been a little over a month since I bought this camera. I’ve been studying it every day since opening the box. That month long process and all that hard work, started paying off last week.
A Second Lens
When I leave here, I’ll be going purchase my second lens for the Sony A7iii. The FE 50mm F1.8. After spending a month with the 28-70, I’ve learned its strengths and limitations. Adding this 50mm will be the same thing. It’ll give me another look for my work.
A Lens Blur
I have four different photoshoots to edit in the next two days. I love how much the roles flip, from when you have the camera in hand with a crowd, versus when you’re sitting down in front of the screen ready to edit. It’s two totally different jobs, each one with its own reward. I have so many great photos that were captured over the last few days.
Slide Strap
I ordered the Sage Slide strap from Peak Design a few days ago. It’s arriving today. I look forward to having a better strap on this camera. The one that comes with it hurts my neck and limits me as I’m trying to shoot. After doing research, this is the best one out there.
New Motivation
This is the start of a new chapter. A chapter that began a few weeks ago, but is in full effect now. This chapter is focused on the camera. On the editing. On the paying photo jobs I’ve been scheduling. On time management. On health. Getting faster. Getting stronger. This chapter is focused on all the new opportunities that have been popping up lately. Making sure there’s enough mental space to give each one my full attention. Being able to compartmentalize each part of my life, ensuring that each part is thriving. No area left behind. I’ll be 36 next week. It’s time to take that next leap forward.
Organizing Photos
My photos app is getting out of hand. I’m taking more pictures than ever, but I rarely get around to cleaning up the ones I don’t want. This constantly leaves me with thousands of junk photos.
I have a new two-step plan to change this:
- This is your month — My photos date back many years now, so the plan is to focus on the month at hand. In the photos app, there’s a search button: type in the current month, and every photo ever taken in that specific month will show up. That’s the focus. That way, even if I happen to not get around to it during a busy month, eventually, that month will come back around, and I’ll clean it up next time around. 12 months, 12 jobs: clean up your month.
- Favorite, delete, unfavorite — Once I search for the current month, I’ll go through every photo that was taken in the month and favorite any photo that I don’t want to disappear after this process. After favoriting everything, I’ll delete anything that doesn’t have a heart next to it. Afterwards, unfavorite everything.
This two step process seems like a good workflow that’s sustainable for the long run.
A Camera Changes Everything
I’ve always had an eye for photography. I love capturing the world around me and freezing life into a still moment. This has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. It’s probably rooted from my childhood, watching my grandma carry around a big VCR camcorder everywhere she went, filming our every move.
Last week, we made an investment. We purchased a Sony a7iii. Our first professional camera. I’ve prided myself on only using an iPhone camera for so long (I love how this little device in our pocket can create incredible images), but I knew that it was time to take it a step further. After a decade of photography being a hobby, I’m ready for it to be a job. I want this to be a family business, where my wife, daughter, and siblings can help me as I help others.
For now, I’ll humbly keep my head down with this new camera and focus on building out my portfolio, but I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to make you my next client. I’m not new to this, it’s just a new camera. Keep me in mind for the future.