My Top 10 Mistakes ~ Insanely Useful Photography Tips,

Confessions from a professional photographer ~ things that have taken me entirely too long to learn

1. How to sync multiple cameras so at the point of download all images are in sequential order.

2. Project manager application in my darkroom software.

3. To start thinking like a digital photographer instead of film-based photographer.

4. I love the 18-70mm lens, but prime lenses are better.

5. A whales tail is better left on a whale and not on my camera

6. Not to trust Google Maps or GPS

7. Pack food and drink on days of long shoot

8. Hand-held light meters are still important in a digital world.

9. NEVER delete in camera…never, do that…never.

10. Being part of a photo-community is better than being alone.

Woods, Walks & Economics

I am 40 years old and I walk in the woods everyday…my life is good.

I am convinced that the interesting connections between my walks in the woods and my personal creativity are enormous. I have been filling my journal up with all kinds of stuff after my walks.

Previously when I wrote about my new routine I had mixed feeling about giving up my quiet reading time of the day. I asked for help, suggestions and even asked to get connected with Oprah for guidance…to no avail.

What is clear to me is when art and commerce merge you live a life of economic-lifestyle. The word economics in Greek means “management of a household”. That is what being a working artist is: “management of your household”.

There is no specific dollar amount to judge success by. The questions are: are you a creative thinker and is the organization of your life a benefit to you and your family? If you can answer yes to those two questions then you are living a life of good economics

wedding channel

I have some wedding photos from Julie and Danny's wedding featured on the wedding channel. Here is the link to check them out: http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/who-got-married.aspx?cm_sp=New3PACK-_-WeddingoftheDay-_-7232009

Suzanne and Kodi - Green Bay Cathedral Wedding

Suzanne and Kodi
June 27, 2009
Green Bay Cathedral

Suzanne and Kodi are one of the most unique couples I've ever photographed. They met in Germany on World Youth Day, a Catholic youth festival. Of the 400,000 young people from over 200 countries they were able to meet and notice something special about one another. Suzanne was from Wisconsin and Kodi from Washington. They fell in love over the long distance and got engaged on their very first dinner date.

Their wedding was amazing - June 27 the day Catholics observe as Our Lady of Perpetual Hope. The high mass wedding at the Green Bay Cathedral was unlike anything I've witnessed. Everything except for the initial marriage rites were spoken and sung in Latin. The one and a half hour ceremony was filled with angelic hymns from the youth choir that Suzanne was a member of.


Their wedding party consisted of their large families and very close friends. All of the wedding party shots included everyone. It was a lot of fun despite the rain!



At the reception I was once again amazed with this couple! They, and all of their guests, were swing dancers! Every time I stepped near the dance floor I was worried about getting injured by a flying arm or leg from the guests dancing. The neatest part was not only where the adults swing dancing but even the kiddos! They had that dance floor packed the entire evening.
For Suzanne and Kodi's first dance (a waltz) they were silly-stringed by some little boys...


Shortly after their first dance all of the guests were treated to an Irish dance performance. The three Irish dancers came out in full costume and put on a great show!

Here are some of my favorites from the day...

Become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook to view bonus images from this wedding!

Dress: Blue Sky Bridal - Seattle
Cake: Alpha Delights European Bakery - De Pere
Disc Jockey: Gold Medal Sound
Floral: Sam's Club - arranged by bride
Choir: St. Joseph's Oratory Youth Choir
Reception: S.C. Grand - De Pere
Honeymoon: Whistling Swan - Door County

Moment

Current Reading: The Artist's Guide: by Jackie Battenfield.
Current Music: Red Letter Year by Ani Difranco
Mood: Energetic-bunny-like
Sounds: Rain
Smells: Oranges
Temperature: 76 degrees
Thoughts: Photographers get caught in there own perception, how they think it should be

"How to Everything" Photography Workshop: now accepting reservations

HOW TO EVERYTHING: PHOTOGRAPHY (The Basics -101)
With John & Elizabeth Craig owners of Craig Photography


In your gut you want to be a PHOTOGRAPHER. Or maybe you just want to learn how to use that expensive camera you just bought but you’re not sure who to ask. You have a great eye for composition but you just need some guidance, an advisor to help YOU fulfill your dreams. Make the jump from thinking, daydreaming and create great photographs…

Is this you?
-You take great pictures
-Everybody tells you that you take great pictures
-Your friends and family always ask you to bring your camera
-You bought an expensive new DSLR camera
-You have no idea how to use to it, except on AUTO
-The camera’s manual scares the bejesus out of you
-You love photography and want to get better

Who should take this class?
-If the list above is YOU
-You love taking photographs
-ISO, F/stop, shutter speed, and aperture are words that means nothing to you
-You have no idea what DSLR means
-If you want to able to tell your camera what to do
-If you want the mysteries of the photo universe reveled to you

What you will learn
-Understanding exposure
-How to use your camera in manual mode
-How to take a photo “correctly” in camera
-Natural light techniques
-Understanding your lens

Who should not attend this class?
-If you have an understanding of exposure and are able to use your camera in manual mode, this class is not for you.

Location: Historic North Side of Pittsburgh at Annie O’Neill Studios

Date: September 17, 2009
Address: 502 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Time: 6pm – 9pm
Cost: $55.00

Contact Elizabeth Craig at 724.355.9079 or by email at craigphotography@mac.com for more information and to register.

**All attendees receive a FREE PDF Manual: “Purposeful Blogging” (a.k.a how to kick off your career for FREE) **

Photo of the Week

Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 125 mm
ISO Speed: 1250
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV

Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

Reunion...

Last weekend the Mustang Fillies reunited for a routine at the Milwaukee Iron game. For most of the girls in the group it has been 8+ years since they were on the dance team.

I was a member of the Mustang Fillies in 2000 and had a blast performing at the games. Here is a photo of me when I danced on the team.

I'm the second from the right.

Most of you may not know this... but I have been a dancer my entire life. I danced on the NCAA ranked dance team at UW-Milwaukee for four years, I was on the professional dance team for the Mustangs and then I taught dance for about 4 years.

Here is the video of my girls... I am so very proud that after all of these years they were able to pull off a half-time routine!

How I got my PhD in the “How-To-Business” of Photography

***New series every Monday for the next 5 weeks*** Part 2 of 5
read part 1 (HERE)


(without getting into debt or going to school and how you can do it to)



The next ten years I would rise in the rank of working crazy nonstop hours. Opportunities to teach, hire and fire other photographers became my education for professional development. The repetition of working in that small and defined studio space would enthrall me to do more creatively…daily. The lack of options became a force to push my thinking and composition forward. That phrase “think outside the box” means nothing to me today. Now I tell people to cut the box in half and then do something creative. That impresses me.

I worked with advertising for this company, wrote marketing and promotional materials, got on and off planes. I attended meeting after meeting and spent days listening to excuse after excuse about the “why and whatnots” of every situation.

It was a PhD in the “how-to-business” of photography.

This story is a culmination of what I learned that I carry with me today, twenty years later.

Forgive me for generalizing here, but in my experience 80% of the photographers I met hated working with people. They hated thinking that photography is a service industry equivalent to working at The Gap (P.S. no disrespect to The Gap, I love your chinos). They hated the compositional aspect of taking a photograph. They hated the effort it took to bring a great photograph out of someone. They loved the darkroom, post production and talking about the darkroom and post-production techniques. The smell of darkroom chemicals on an interviewee was not a good sign of a job offer coming your way.

Most of the photographers that I was interviewing were talented and educated with advanced degrees. I am only now getting to the technical level that those photographers were achieving and I was a good photographer back then.

They would humbly hang their heads in the interview, knowing that their professional life has sunken to the lowest level of photography. A paycheck is a paycheck and it’s nice to earn money when you’re selling out. Not a great attitude to have when you’re trying to earn a living.

Insanely useful photography tip #2: Composition, service and being nice trump tools and experience every time. (FYI: learn to use your tools)

During those ten years I talked and worked with a lot of photographers. I talked with even more photography customers. This is what I learned…

Photography clientele want the photos they want, they expect you to capture the moment and save the memory. Do your job. Create something. All photography clientele want this. They want the job done they way they want it, with a smile.


To be continued…

If you like this article please be sure to pass it on…friend me on Facebook, connect with me on Twitter and info on private consultations can be found here on Photographer's Corner.

Part 3 of 5 next Monday…

Angela + Steve {married} reception at the Lafayette Club

Angela and Steve had a beautiful wedding! We started with some getting ready photos at Angela’s parent’s house and then we went to Bear Path where Steve saw Angela for the first time. They were married at St. Patrick’s and had a fun trolley ride to the Lafayette club. Angela’s mother, Melissa, did an amazing job making sure everything was special and so classy. Congratulations and blessings in your marriage.

Recap – Purposeful Blogging Workshop

I would like to publicly use this blog as an open letter to the participants who attended my workshop at Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh.

First let me apologize; I didn’t get the opportunity to thank you and say goodbye properly at the completion of the workshop. The workshop went late and I was talking with multiple people during all the chaos and hustle. I did not get the break to say thank you for attending, so…Thank you!!!

The questions that were being asked from both sessions were remarkable. Thank you for you interest, input and thought-provoking conversation.

I am looking forward to sitting down with each of you for a one-on-one to help answer your detailed questions that I was not able to completely answer due to time constraints.

There will be upcoming dates for new seminars & workshops that will cover a range of topics such as:

Photography basics and understanding your camera
A new way to think about your old portfolio
Whole-web thinking
Lifestyle marketing
Growing & sustaining your business

Thanks again to all. The time I spent with you was inspiring.

Peace ~ John



Be sure to pass it on…friend me on Facebook, connect with me on Twitter and info on private consultations can be found here on Photographer's Corner.

Photo of the Week

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

Moment

Current Reading: Art Form Magazine
Current Music: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Mood: Good
Sounds: Background tv
Smells: Coffee
Temperature: 98degees - feeling fine
Thoughts: Do not ask me to think...need sleep

2010 High School Senior Photograpy - sneak peak

This year's sessions rocked! This year's senior sessions sold out quickly... but those who where able to get in will have some pretty amazing photos!

I had a blast photographing these awesome kids. Stay tuned for a full blog post with a ton of photos...

colors of honey

colors of honey blogged about us! Check it out here.

Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

How I got my PhD in “How-To-Business” of Photography

***New series every Monday for the next 5 weeks*** Part 1 of 5

(without getting into debt or going to school and how you can do it to)

In fall of 1991 I became a professional photographer…sort off. This all came about because of the frustration and annoyance with my current position, which was working for a small company writing ads. I created ads & brochures for a small company that quickly placed me in the sales department after I re-wrote all three of their brochures and two newspaper ads. I was not their best employee, nor their eighth best employee. You get the point…I was bad at my job. On an afternoon that I was supposed to be making a sales call at a local mall, instead of walking into my appointment, I just kept walking.

Here I am 21 or 22, soon to lose my job and thinking how amazing it is that I haven’t been fire yet.

Earning a living doing something that I love wasn’t even an option to me. I loved (& still do) writing, playing guitar and taking pictures. These skills are not profitable in a small middle class town. This is the same small town where I was raised to believe if you’re not the child of the rich and famous then don’t bother dreaming, at all. I was the child of an electrician and a baker. Good parents, bad dreamers.

After accepting my loss of the job I so loathed (and almost getting giddy over that acceptance), I kept walking through the mall. With a soft pretzel in one hand and an Icy in the other I scribbled through an application placed outside a photography studio on a small folding table for all to apply.

I like photography. I even have taken a couple of classes in photography in college. My friends consider me the artistic one. Why not apply; life can’t get worse. They hired me. I start in two weeks. I am photographer…sort of.

This was a retail franchise photography chain. Yes, the type of photography that true-purist photographers hate, detest and bastardize all things they hold scared. No control over your lighting, no control over you camera, zooming in and out and placing the subject on the “X” were your only options. Customers came in herds and management only cared about the sales average and bottom line.
Guess what? I loved it! I was good at it!

I took photographs that people bought. What made me good at my job? I enjoyed the experience of photographing people…that’s it. People enjoyed the experience of me photographing them…that’s it. People bought photographs from me to remember their experience of being photographed. They my have come to get senior photos or that gift for their boyfriend or husband but they bought the experience.

Insanely useful photography tip #1: Photography is an experience. Make it a good one for people.

To be continued…

If you like this article please be sure to pass it on…friend me on Facebook, connect with me on Twitter and info on private consultations can be found here on Photographer's Corner.

Part 2 of 5 next Monday…

Fun Fact Friday - a real live fact for once!

Fact: In Greek culture, brides carry a lump of sugar in their wedding globe. It's supposed to bring sweetness to their married life.

There are a whole slew of crazy traditions out there. Some of my brides still put a real six pence in their shoes. Many of them still have something old, new, blue, borrowed.

What are your family's or religious wedding traditions? Do you plan on keeping the tradition, or breaking away and do something totally unique?

Family time!

I just wanted to take a break and show you some photos from our Fourth of July long-weekend in Pickerel.

Drew just loves fishing... he is only 2.5 years old and is hooked. Pardon the pun ;-) Just look at his face when he caught this whopper of a perch!



Andy, Drew and I even had a picnic on a fishing boat.

This is the cutie pie face that I love sooo much!

All images shot with a Nikon point and shoot camera... It was nice to take snapshots like a regular mommy ;-)