Get the Job Done: Second shooting for a photography instructor

This evening I will be second shooting an event with Efrain Cruz, director of Illuminate Photography Workshops in Denver. My readers know that Efrain Cruz was the instructor of my first digital photography class three years. His encouragement and support during those first crucial weeks is what I credit as the reason I'm a photographer now. I was all set to drop that photography class thinking everything was way over my head. Back then, I was too afraid to take my camera out of the box. All the dials and modes scared the crap outta me. And words that other students used fluently such as "aperture" and "depth of field" flew through one ear and out the other. I was lost and confused - a place no self respecting control freak likes to be.

It was Efrain who told me that he recognized I had "an eye" (even if I didn't know that what meant just yet) and that if I stuck it out in his class, he would make sure I learned something and became comfortable with my camera and the new language of digital photography.

And the rest, as they say, is history!!!

Tonight, I finally get to begin the process of thanking Efrain by being his second shooter! We will be covering the unveiling of a new alcoholic beverage, and the event includes a tasting and a cocktail party hour. Efrain has a quick turnaround in that he has to have images ready for his client within 72 hours I believe. So he said it was important for him to work with a second shooter who knew how to cover an event like this and understood their equipment because he doesn't have the time for complicated post processing. We have to get as much of it right as we can in camera from the get go. Efrain will take all of my images and edit them quickly himself, most likely using presets in Lightroom.

To think that Efrain has that kind of faith in my abilities has really helped me recognize just how far I've come since the first time he and I met. Thanks Efrain for your support and I can't wait to shoot with you tonight as a true photographic colleague! Let's rock it!

Get the Job Done: Colorado Dragon Boat Festival Pics Finished!

Today, I uploaded the edited versions of my Colorado Dragon Boat Festival coverage for event photo coordinator Kit Williams. I fulfilled Kit's request for me to concentrate on storytelling shots featuring the sponsor booths and families enjoying quality time together at the annual event. See my gallery of images here.



Overall I am pleased with my coverage. This was the first time I had ever shot an outdoor festival and the first time attending the Dragon Boat Festival. It was a great chance to have a more intimate peek in the state's vibrant Asian community. The photo above shows a woman holding both an American and Philippine flag, showcasing her dual heritage. It's one of my favorite images of the day.







Plus, I will never forget how sick I felt from heat exhaustion when my four hours of volunteer service were done. It was well over 100 degrees that day, with very few trees to hide under for shade. So I definite spent a lot of time with families trying to keep cool. Some of my favorite shots include the crowd hanging out in the Misting Station where sheets of moisture fell like soft rain an anyone huddled under the tent. Even dogs were brought to the Misting Station to get some creature comfort from the sweltering temperatures.





The above shot is my most favorite from the day. There is something about being able to capture this wonderful loving moment that is a part of my signature photographic style. And I like the action shot above too, with the guy in the lower right hand corner adding depth to the image as your eye moves across the frame. I was serving as a volunteer photographer from the Denver Darkroom, but there were plenty of opportunities for me to pass out business cards for future shoots. One of the festival moms emailed me today looking for a specific picture I took of her children. I am hoping my generosity of giving her one of five images I took of her youngsters for free will keep me in her mind's eye should she ever need a photographer again, plus she can order the other four shots from my website. And I'm still hoping the young mother I met who needs a photographer to shoot her daughter's quincenera will hire me!



Shooting the festival let me know I still have a lot of work to do in bettering my photography skills when shooting in broad daylight. Many of the photos were overexposed, even though I had my Gary Fong Cloud diffuser. Some of the overexposure just couldn't seem to be helped as nearly everything - people and events - were in direct sunlight, as seen in the shot above. I figured I would be battling this particular photographer's nightmare shooting situation, so I shot everything in RAW so I would have a better chance of rescuing overexposed images. The best shots were those where I captured people under the shade of trees or tents and used a touch of fill flash to light up shadowed areas.

Got any tips on shooting in direct sunlight? Please share with me! Until then, hopefully this link might help us both out if you have trouble shooting in this kind of situation too.

My friend and photography colleague Tiffany Trott of 2*3 Photos offered this "Sunny 16" rule:

here's a brief explanation of the "sunny 16" rule..it's geared mostly to film but you can apply it to digital if you're shooting in manual mode.. hope it's helpful...


In photography, the sunny 16 rule (or, less often, the "sunny f/16 rule") is a method to estimate correct daylight exposures without using a light meter.

The basic sunny 16 rule, applicable on a sunny day, is this:

Set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed (reciprocal seconds) to ISO film speed.
For example, for ISO 100 film, choose shutter speed of 1/100 second (or 1/125 second)

The elaborated form of the sunny 16 rule for more general situations is:

Set the shutter speed to the setting nearest to the ISO film speed
Set the f-number according to the table below:
Aperture Lighting Conditions Shadow Detail
f/16 Sunny Distinct
f/11 Slight Overcast Soft around edges
f/8 Overcast Barely visible
f/5.6 Heavy Overcast No shadows
f/4 Sunset

Breaking News: Foto3 Conference and Contest

The annual foto3 conference and trade show will be accepting entries for its photography competition from April 1 through May 1. The contest is open to all photographers. Prize winners and honorable mentions will be exhibited during the Foto3 Conference being held the first week of June, 2008, in Fort Collins, CO. Download the entry form here.

There are two categories, Student and Master Photographer, with one Grand Prize and several division prizes: Overall Grand Prize: $2,500 Yee haw, that would definitely help me pay off some of the equipment gone into debt for! Good luck everyone! If you enter something, feel free to post up your images here and tell us about it. I may have a little sumthin' sumthin' I plan to enter as well! ;)

Student Competition
First Prize: $1,000
Second Prize Black & White: $500
Second Prize Color: $500
10 Honorable Mention Awards

Master Photographer Competition
First Prize: $1,500 (PLUS a Workshop session)
Second Prize Black & White: $750
Second Prize Color: $750
10 Honorable Mention Awards

Please note any technical details you care to share with the judges with each image submitted. Selected images will be published in an upcoming issue of View Camera and other magazines. See submission requirements here.

Entry Fees

$35 for three images (additional images may be submitted at $10 per image).

Students may enter three images for $15 ($5 each per additional image). Copy of student I.D. required with entry.

In all instances, the fees must include return postage or other prepaid return shipping for all entries (e.g., a FedEx label with your account number or credit card number). Any entry that does not include the necessary return shipping labels or postage will not be judged and will be destroyed on receipt.

The annual Foto3 conference and trade show is based on a simple concept: photographers dedicated to the art and craft of photography. Bringing together the ideas and resources of two conferences that had been held separately by View Camera and Calumet, Foto3 provides a venue for photographers to display their work, share experiences and advance their skills.

Sponsors at Foto3 2008 will include industry leaders such as Canon, HP, Fujifilm, Epson, Ilford, Adobe and Calumet Photographic. Events will range from informative seminars and hands-on workshops to a variety of special exhibitions. Learn traditional darkroom workflow or digital color management, ambient portrait lighting or painting with light, plus many more creative, technical and business techniques. And Foto3 will host its first photography competition, open to all photographers in all formats. Register for the conference here.