The 52 Project...Gone But Not Forgotten

I blame spending too much time on the beach. :p

Wow, it's been two months already, where has the time gone?!

Well, The 52 Project has just ended, and boy were there a LOT of great images to sort through. On top of that, here's what else has been going on since late April:

• I've become a much bigger part of FPP - The Film Photography Podcast
• Moving...nuff said.
• Bought the girlfriend a dog, ^__^.
• Attended Photostock 2011, pretty much the best photo-meetup EVER!
• Found out I've got a GALLERY SHOW!!

Here's the fine print on my upcoming gallery show, mark your calendars.

July 11th - August 5th 2011 8AM-8PM

The 52 Project Gallery @ The Lea Gallery

The University of Findlay

1000 N. Main Street

Findlay, OH 45840

Please be sure to check out some of my work in person, prints >>> web, all day everyday.

Here's some links to the Facebook Event, just in case you need another reminder.

Cheers and hope to see you there!

The 52 Project, Week 13: Little Miss Japan

Life really has a way of getting in the way sometimes...

A slew of incredibly cool things have been happening lately, and as soon as I've finished processing them, this blog might start to get back on track. >__>

Leaving this stagnate for over a month has been awful. A six week hiatus while in the midst of catching up an already behind project is a formula for disaster. This blog was established for BOTH the reader and for myself to reflect upon the week by week trials of shooting film. Hopefully busting my ass this month will get me back to such a point. To readers who've stuck by and checked up occasionally through this dead period (you know who you are), Thank You.

*Now back to our irregularly scheduled programming*

Back in August (<__< I know), a very long time friend, near and dear to my heart, came back from her studies in Okayama, Japan to visit friends and family. Though my time with her was short, we certainly made the best of it. There are a couple more rolls and scans waiting in the wings, but Laura's just such an expressive, wonderful girl that the four scans from this one roll should tell you everything you need to know about her.

Yeah, I can't believe this dog is 12 either. Scan 1: Laura and Nick, the Happy Mutt

Laura LOVES dogs, period. Old dogs, inbred dogs, ugly dogs, slobbery dogs, and of course, the cutest of cute puppies; they all manage to make her day. If you start to see an unusually high number of random dog photos on this blog, part of the reason was I shot them for her. ^__^ This particular dog is her old pal, Nick. And although at 12 he's not moving as well as he used to, taking a walk down the street with Laura seems to turn him into a puppy again.

Ah window light, you always go down smooth.Scan 2: Laura at Squire's Castle

Squire's castle, just outside of Cleveland's eastern suburbs, is a great place for anyone to take a photo. During the summer you've got temperate weather, boat loads of window light, and a ton of windows with which to pose pretty girls. So I decided to follow through with all the hype and give it a go.

An imcomparably genuine smile. Scan 3: Happy Laura

The following two scans were both an exercise in Laura's expressions and a testament to the dynamic range found in color negative film. Completely unlike digital, I didn't have to horribly underexpose my subject just to obtain a desirable background. I just metered my shadows, pointed, and shot. Voila! For you hardcore tech geeks, my SBR (subject brightness range) was about 10-12 stops. And considering only a little sky is blow out on this not-so-cold-stored 8 year old film, I'll take it.

Could you tell we were having fun with this?Scan 4: Laura Peace Sign

If Laura's somehow talking with somebody without smiling, it's more than likely because she's in the middle of flashing one of these. Yeah, it's definitely a Japan thing that she's picked up along the way, but we'll forgive her for that. ;)

 Something Good: This old Portra comes to life in the shadows! Just make sure to limit over-exposure of your shadows to no more than two stops; otherwise, we're talking Chernobl-esque highlights.

Something Bad: Like any old, medium to high speed film (yeah, 100 was FAST film back in the glory days of Tri-X and Tech Pan) flare is something that needs to be unscrupulously controlled. Scan 2 was acceptable to myself, but others will argue.

Something Learned: So long as this old Portra 160VC is shot in overcast to shady conditions, the skin tones and saturated landscapes it produces are magical. Try it in direct sunlight or flare, and it becomes just another color film.

Next Week: I plan on catching up, but in no particular order. These updates can be expected to occur at a rate of two to three posts per week, not necessarily all including photographs. We'll see. ^__^

Make a Real Donation, Volunteer Your Time

Earlier this week I was complaining a bit about the load of pro-bono work I'd been doing lately. Looking back, volunteering, once all the work is edited and uploaded, feels pretty darn good. And as people that enjoy photography, let's be honest, its just plain fun to be able to offer our services. Here's a quick run down of the pros and cons of volunteer work:

Pros

1. You're getting out and shooting; if you want to be at the top of your game, you should always be working!
2. You build new contacts; it never hurts to have more folks that know of you.
3. You might get new business; these relationships can be some of the strongest, and may profit for you in the end.
4. You have free promotional material (you know, for your blog *wink*).

Cons

1. You're out some time and, hopefully not, money.
2. These new found contacts may wish to get more free work from you; it happens from time to time, but being clear of your intentions from the start usually prevents this.

Personally, the risk of the pros by far outweighs the risk of the cons. In the digital age where everyone  that owns a camera is a potential photographer, we professionals need a way to stand out in our local market. Let's look at a few real-world examples, shall we?

Some kitties love strobes, some hate 'em. "Cats for Xmas" Project

Last November, on "Black Friday" when I was done fighting off other men of size 32 waist for marked down pants at Express, I entered the food court to a sea of local causes that wanted Xmas donations. "Uh oh," I thought, "I'll never make it outta here without feeling guilt-ridden into the few dollars left in my bank account." But as I was walking past a not-so-well-laid-out booth by a local cat shelter, Paws and Whiskers, an epiphany hit me. "Damn, these guys would adopt out a bunch more cats if they didn't look so red-eyed, out of focus, and unhappy." So, I did what any other empathetic, broke photographer would do, I offered to take photos of the residents at Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter.

In doing so, I learned a few important side notes about rescue shelter cats:

1. If the cat has a name like "Fluffy" or "Muffin", chances are that it's not adorable, and wants to tear into your throat until you cease living.
2. Cats don't necessarily like strobes in close proximity to them; also, Westcott umbrellas + nervous cats = umbrella fabric + scrap metal + blood.
3. Cats that look adorable, act adorable, and have an adorable name that are in a shelter probably come with a tragic story or equally tragic medical history. See "Tilts".

Meet Tilts, he looks cute, but that's b/c of a tragic accident leaving his spine permanently curved. :(So how did the shelter shoot go? After I'd successfully treated all of my and my assistant's wounds, filled up a pet hair roller, and washed up, it was decided that it was overall a fun time. The director of the shelter was elated, and soon after the site was updated, they couldn't keep those fancily photographed felines on the shelves. By the time the Toledo Area Cat Show, on Feb. 14th, was in town, they were down to only 5 of the 40+ residents I'd photographed. If you look at the Paws and Whiskers website today, you'll notice only two of said residents remain. From a shelter that was overloaded during the holiday season with a retention of rate of over a year, it's more than just a hunch that better pictures had something to do with it.

Don't think you have the time for a larger-scale project like this one? Let's try an easier one.

Nicholas Powell, proud owner of a new profile pic."Free Facebook Profiles" Project

One of my more recent volunteer efforts took place last Sunday during the University of Findlay's Fine Arts Festival. I was 1 of 20 local artists present, 5 of which were photographers. With everyone there trying to get their cut by selling prints and original works, I thought it would be cool to offer passers by something for free. Facebook using patrons who were interested were treated to complimentary profile picture to be used at their leisure on Facebook. Providing this free service offered me several benefits in return:

1. I get a few more Facebook friends. Never hurts to have more people watching you.
2. These new contacts may like /use their picture, and might even know to contact me for further photographic needs.
3. Again, I have more content to work with, instead of wasting away in the summer heat trying to sell strangers prints at prices I'm not exactly happy about.

I got all of this, for 2 min. of shooting, 5 min. processing, and 2 min. uploading. Now if you consider this a lot of work, maybe you should be a little more worried about your overall work ethic than volunteering. :p

Volunteer work not only gives you more chances to get out there shooting, it also provides you more free promotion than simply leaving a stack of business cards at a coffee shop. Haven't tried volunteering? Go out, give it a try; it only takes a few minutes of internet searching and maybe a few phone calls to get started. And hey, you might even have *gasp* fun!

For those already interested in doing some volunteer work, here's some great resources:

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

http://www.serve.gov/

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.humanesociety.org/