Notwithstanding the shooter’s behaviour in court (which definitely counts as “unprofessional” in my book), keep in mind we are talking about $US 1300 – what can the bride possibly expect for so little cash?? This is why I don’t shoot weddings (or, more specifically, why I charge a seriously large amount of money to be sure I can get the job done properly!!)

The trick is not to over-deliver for the price – and I know shooters who think they can do weddings for a few hundred dollars! Maybe you can, but I personally would be making a loss on every gig if I tried that approach!!

Cheap Wedding Photographer – YouTube

So it was with great amusement that I read this post pointed out to me by another photographer friend!! Give it a read, the opening line alone should be enough to spark you interest:

WE NEED AN AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER FOR OUR UPSCALE EVENT!!! IT COSTS A LOT OF MONEY TO RUN THIS 6 HOUR EVENT, SO WE DON’T HAVE A BUDGET FOR PHOTOGRAPHER. BUT THIS IS AN AWESOME OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY TRUE PROFESSIONAL FOR NETWORKING AND PORTFOLIO, AND YOU CAN ALSO BUY OUR
PRODUCTS.

– Yes, the ALL CAPS is how it was posted….

Without spoiling the detail, I can (with a mostly straight face) advise everyone to look into Browncolour lighting, all the pros use it!! OMG….

My kind of people – extreme photo geeks! So, you mix some winter olympics with the best sports shooters from around the world, and you get gold!! (Haw haw, a pun!!). I really admire sports shooters – hitting that EXACT moment, the tiny wafer thin edge of AWESOME, catching those moments that are soooo fleeting you’re not sure even existed, that’s brilliance.

So take a look at this article, you won’t be disappointed!!

Of course, it helps to have a stack of patience, and some tricks to make the process much easier. I’d like to have posted a teaser image, but apparently others who have referred to the images before me got in trouble over copyright (a different discussion for another day in my view!). So, all you get is a link to the article this time!

Shooting fish in a barrel

As a side note, Adrian Groves is clearly an excellent and creative shooter, so kudos to him for a great result!

I find this article interesting because it seems to show that even the medium format brands are starting to realise that digital has put photography within reach of far more people than ever before. Of course, statistically that means being able to reach more people with more money – but the gap between the high-end DSLRs and the entry level digital medium formats was huge, until now.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but I do wonder if Hasselblad is also concerned about the uptake of cheap HD video, and the flip side being produced by Red with the rumours surrounding the 24MP Scarlet FF35 that shoots high frame rate video and will allow amazing stills to be lifted (DSMC is the new term, the Digital Still and Motion Camera) – while the FF35 is expected to be closer to $US 30k (for the complete kit), the fact that you can upgrade sensors or other body parts without having to dispose of the whole is a pretty compelling argument for many pro shooters tired of the aggressive upgrade cycle presented by DSLRs.

Check out the Hasselblad site for the full story and a hint at some specs.

Anyway, in this post Chase talks about how we’ve all got plenty of reasons not to shoot, and none of them are really stopping you from getting out there and just shooting something!! I’m the same way – I have my share of excuses, but all I really have to do is make a little time to pick up the camera and point it somewhere – I don’t need to try and create the next piece of award winning art, I just need to be practising my craft!! Simple as that…

Take a look at the article, I seriously encourage you to click here and check it out. And watch the video he’s posted – it’s yet another perspective, a film of sorts made from stills (and a very cool one at that!!).

You know, I like photography (errr, duh…) – but I have to admit that some of the new film work coming out of these consumer HD film toys like the GoPro and other similar action sports video gear is really impressive!! They are shooting some amazing stuff from perspectives I would never have considered useful (or even safe for my gear!!).

Can you image shooting the video above with your Canon 7D? It’s not that complex really – stick your camera on the end of a stick, splash around in the surf, and throw it to your mate occasionally… oh, and crashes are mandatory!!

I’m not suggesting for a moment that these types of cameras are going to replace DSLRs, that’s not their intention – but you can get some very cool ideas just from watching what people are doing with the other available technologies!!

This is one amazing camera – manufactured in 1839 by Alphonse Giroux, Louis D’s brother-in-law (Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, JD or Louis D to his friends) – it is in amazing condition and even comes complete with the original manual!!

I’m not going to explain how the first commercially produced camera actually works, and it goes without saying that if you decide you want to buy into one of these you’ll also need to be comfortable handling dangerous chemicals and try not to sniff the toxic fumes that went into making every image!! The articles say nothing about the camera coming with a tripod, so be prepared to cough up for one of them as well – with exposure times anywhere between 3 & 30 minutes, this beasty is not gonna work hand-held!!

For the expected selling price of €500,000-700,000 (Euros), approx $AUD 780k – 1.1 million (yes, million!!), the camera does produce some of the finest images possible, with no noticeable grain even under a magnifying glass!! You need to be fit to own one – the whole kit weighs in at around 50kg!! Oh, and you might want to know that Louis D signed this one himself, so at least you get a famous autograph in the deal as well!!

Oh yeah, this supremely expensive and historically important camera is basically a couple of boxes made of wood – and we worry about whether we have enough tech to get great images in today’s conditions!! I strongly encourage you to read the history behind Daguerreotype’s, it’s fascinating and every photographer should be familiar with it!! Some links below to help you out:

The Auction – WestLicht Photographica Auction
Daguerreotype’s – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype
Louis Daguerre – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Daguerre
The first photograph – Heliography

Interesting bit of side trivia – Louis D also invented the Diorama!!

Freezelight Magic Forest from FREEZELIGHT.RU on Vimeo.

I’ve always been fascinated by long exposure photography, there are some amazing artists out there but I think this team from Russia are onto something special – they combined stop motion, long exposure, fashion models, and a (somewhat hard to follow) simple story!

Watch all 3 videos (including the behind the scenes), it’s definitely worth the time!!

http://vimeo.com/reezelightru

It has 74 CCDs – if there is something interesting (ie living!) in the universe, surely this bad boy will see it!!

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/01/570-megapixel-camera-is-the-mother-and-father-of-all-cameras/