I am not a huge fan of most social networking sites and will never be on Facebook. Thought I would never be on Twitter either. That changed last night when I decided I needed to join so I could better follow some photographers and photography groups that I am a member of. So, with some unease, I pulled the trigger and set up an account on Twitter. Not anything Earth shattering in my announcement.

I guess all those that follow my blog can now get updates from me in 140 characters or less. I may include a picture or two every now and then also. For those that are interested, catch me on Twitter at:

www.twitter.com/marksiek

Until next time,

Mark

You want a discount code to save $15 on the PhotoFusion Revolution Tour 2010 featuring Clay Blackmore, please keep reading or just jump to the end to get it now if you can’t wait. This code works for any of the stops on the tour.

If you are like me, you enjoy saving a few dollars from time to time. I am constantly searching for reference materials pertaining to almost any and all facets of photography. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, I only possess a small percentage of available knowledge on any given subject. There is an infinite, and ever expanding, sum of documentation per topic in our universe.

On the surface, photography appears as easy to master as golf. In golf, you put a little ball on a small piece of wood that is embedded in the ground and hit it with several different sticks that you swing mightily. Eventually, you reach an area of extremely short grass called “the green”. You then sorta push the little ball with another type of stick into a small hole in the ground. Do this anywhere from maybe 60 or so times to, more realistically for most people, 100+ times and you are golfing. In theory, so simple to do it well… In practice, extremely frustrating to do it well.

Photography is the same. Pick up a small box, put your eye up to the back of it, press a button and Voila!, you have made Cartier-Bresson, Avedon, Ansel, and Monte Z look like rookies. Yeah right. Time to awake from your hallucination and face reality. You want to capture a few pics for posterity? Point and shoot works just fine. Want to create a personal masterpiece or one for a client and it just isn’t so easy. Infuriating comes to mind. To achieve greatness or even to be really good takes a whole lot of time and effort. You have a tremendous amount to learn.

Trial and error works, but for only so long. You need to pick the brain of someone who has gone before you. You can purchase books, CD’s, DVD’s, magazines, do some online training, or if you are lucky, find a master and become their assistant or work with them. A master that I have spent a great deal of time studying is Monte Zucker. It would have been great to be Monte’s assistant and learn from him on a day to day basis. Unfortunately, Monte passed away in 2007. So how does one go about learning from someone like Monte who isn’t with us any longer? Luckily, Monte mentored and taught his techniques to many others. These people have often shared Monte’s knowledge, and their own, via the above detailed methods.

I was searching for yet one more Book, DVD or maybe a pamphlet from Monte when I ventured to his website (www.montezucker.com).  I found a series of items I didn’t possess and ordered them up. Unfortunately, the items I ordered were not available on CD at the time and I received an email from a gentleman named Jeff Medford. Jeff apologized and provided me links to download the items I had ordered. He sent me a copy of one of Monte’s books as compensation and a discount code for the PhotoFusion Revolution Tour 2010 and asked me to attend the event when it was in Kansas City.

I already had the book and wrote him back thanking him but letting him know I didn’t need the book. He offered to send me a DVD… I already had it and responded as such. He replied with an LOL and asked me to call him. I did, we talked, and he offered yet something else. It was something I didn’t have. Jeff was most kind and went way above and beyond in attempting to make things right. Fact is, he really didn’t need to. I bet Jeff is someone that people are honored to have as a friend. Jeff had mentioned that at one point, he was Monte Zucker’s assistant. I thought I might recognize his name, but wasn’t sure. After Googling him, I discovered that after Monte died, Jeff edited and had Monte’s last book, Monte Zucker’s Portrait Photography Handbook published. This was the book he sent and was the book I already had 3 copies of.

During our discussion, we talked about photo tours and why some people come to lesser populated cities like Omaha, while others do not stop by, but do go to larger cities like KC. Also during our conversation, I told him I would donate the book he sent to a local camera club. He suggested and gave me the OK to share with anyone the discount code he gave me for the PhotoFusion Revolution Tour.

The tour starts on Sept. 19 in Irvine, CA and ends Nov. 18 in Toronto. As mentioned previously, Clay Blackmore is the headliner. Clay is a world class wedding and portrait photographer. He spent 25 or so years working with Monte and was his business partner. Clay is also one of Canon’s Explorers of Light.

I am a Nikon shooter and even though Clay shoots for the enemy :>), I am hoping that I can free up my schedule and make the tour stop in Kansas City. It is sure to be an evening full of education from one of the best current shooters out there.

Check out the tour’s website at: www.photofusionrevolution.com

To save $15, the discount code you should use is: MSNECC

Until next time,

Mark

Sometimes, the best things in life are those that are right under your nose. It’s a lot like falling in love. I know I am not a handsome man. Probably not the most hideous creature walking the streets, but certainly not someone who makes women stop in their tracks and think to themselves, “Wow, he is a very attractive man!”. I also don’t have the type of body that makes people think when they see me, “Wow, that guy is in great shape!”. I have other attributes that make me attractive to at last one women in this great big world of ours. I also was somewhat attractive to a fair number of young ladies in my younger days. You are probably asking yourself, “OK…What do attractiveness, being in shape, dating and falling in love have to do with photography?”.

I will tell you. Eventually. Please stay with me.

I was an assistant coach on my daughter’s softball team the past few years. I always take a team picture of the teams she has played on and given said pic to each member. I do it for several reasons. It allows me to take pics and work on refining my techniques. It also is a form of advertising. Maybe someday, one of the families I gave a free team photo to will remember me and give me a call when they need some family or individual portraits.

Please bear with me, I am getting to my point.

The family of one of the girls on my team told me they wanted to speak with me about taking some portraits of them and their extended family members. The family in question is completely cool, and they are down to Earth people. Not pretentious. Not highfalutin. Not pretending to be American royalty. Just simply good, solid folks. The previous is high praise from me, not an attempt to put them down or insinuate that I am in any way better than them. I will take an honest straightforward person any day of the week. I’m not a fan of fake people.

I try to imagine the type of photo-sets, backdrops, and outdoor locations I would choose if I actually were doing a photo-shoot with people when I meet them or talk to them. I imagined an outdoor photo-shoot with a barn as a backdrop when I initially spoke with the mom/wife of the above referenced family. I mentioned it to her and she lit up when hearing my idea. I met with her, her husband, and two of their daughters this past Saturday. I don’t assume that I am going to get her business simply because I coached her daughter. I presented my credentials, ideas and pricing. I also needed to clarify a few things and get a feel for what she was looking for. I thought meeting went well.

Still hanging in there…Waiting for the payoff?

After initially speaking with her about portrait session, I went about trying to find a barn to do the shoot. I live in Nebraska, for Pete’s sake. Corn is grown on farms…Cattle are raised on farms…Many barns on these farms. Should be no problem finding a barn to use. Or so I thought. I tried to contact every barn owner in Nebraska and all barn owners in Iowa whose last name starts in the last half of the alphabet. No luck. Felt like I had gotten hopes up and now I wasn’t gonna deliver. You never want a disappointed client.

I looked at every barn I came across. Many beautiful, shiny, freshly painted barns. Many old, weathered, unattractive barns. Getting a barn was not going to happen. I was out looking for a girl to fall in love with. Not one of these ladies wanted me near them. I am referring to barns here, not real women. I am being metaphorical. I found the ideal location this past Saturday, a short time after my consultation with the family I keep referencing.

It happened just the same way as it did when I met and fell in love with my wife. I found the love of my life at Time-Life in Richmond, VA. The old cliched story: Boy searches for love, doesn’t find it, gives up looking, and BAM! The girl of his dreams is right there playing the role of friend. I fell head over heels for this girl. The one that was right under my nose.

I had passed the ideal photo-shoot locale dozens and dozens of times but never stopped and gave her a chance. I was too busy looking for love, instead of waiting for love to find me. I am in love with this place I got to know. Long story short: Stopped in on Saturday, spoke with owner, asked about using for photo-shoot, given carte blanche to shoot there whenever I want.

Took a few quick pics. Love this one:

Sent a few images to see if location is appealing to potential client. Hope to receive a confirmation soon.

Often times, the one that is perfect for you is the one you don’t initially think of. Relax, slow down, open your eyes and you will fall in love.

Until next time,

Mark