A few thoughts....

Sitting at the home-office (AKA..Living Room, Man Cave, Lair of Doom....) working right now and had a few quick thoughts I felt like posting.  Few means 3 in case you didn't know!

#1:Working from home as a photographer can be both a blessing and a curse.... if you find yourself working too much...curse.  Slacking and playing video games.... curse.  Balancing life perfectly? Blessing.  Most people fall into the curse genre...

#2:You can never have too many images.  Shoot every opportunity you get, and don't pass up on a chance shoot just because you're doubtful of the outcome.  The more images you shoot, the higher the chance of landing great images.  It's simple math.  Even a monkey could land a great shot if he fired enough! Not that you are monkeys... just more food for thought...

#3: No matter how badly you wish for it, that random unexpected million dollar check is not going to show up in the mail (my fingers are still crossed!)  You actually will have to spend time marketing your work, or at least landing an agent to do that part for you.  With the right marketing approach, even photographer's that aren't very good can make a living.  Be a great photographer, and make a living with great marketing!

That's it for now... more thoughts to come.

Action Photo School

The rumors are true, if there were any rumors...  dang.... should have started some rumors first!!  I've started a website with action photographer extraordinaire, Daniel Milchev.  The website is called Action Photo School and is located here: www.actionphotoschool.com It embodies everything action (skate, surf, ski, board, bike, etc..) and includes ton's of techniques for capturing, editing, and marketing action images.  It's even got a forum at www.actionphotoschool.com/forum/ for you to discuss action photography technique with me, Daniel, and everyone else who is joining!  There's a TON of articles already on the site to keep you entertained.

We can't wait to hear feedback from everyone regarding the site and are very excited about this, thanks for following All Photo Buzz, which WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST, but with less frequent posts (though more frequent than the last 2 months...) and we hope you will follow Action Photo School too!  If you like it, please click the like link on specific articles that you enjoy, or on the homepage.  We have a facebook page too that you'll find in the top bar, along with our twitter.  Enjoy!

Grade "A" Skiing or/ Gray Day Skiing?! How about both!

I've been shooting a lot of "gray bird" powder shots the last two days, and have realized a few things that are quite helpful.  First off, it can be pretty tough to bring the camera out on a gray day!  Especially when there's 18" of new snow overnight.  Secondly, there are few techniques that really work on gray days, that you must rely on.  More on that below.

Call for entries, win $10,000

Do you have  a lot of great action and lifestyle images in your portfolio?  Why not enter the Whistler Pro Photo Showdown.  I'm putting together my submittal all week.  They are looking for a 3-minute quicktime video slideshow, no special effects, just slides and music.  And if you compete in it you'll be competing with me! It only costs the price of shipping a DVD to Canada!

Here's a link to the competition along with all the rules and where to send your slideshow: http://www.wssf.com/event/olympus-pro-photographer-showdown

Good luck and I hope to see you in the Finals (and me too!)

Don't Give Up!

[ If your looking for more photographic inspiration, or action photography tips, follow my twitter account @APhotoSchool  ] 

Becoming a professional photographer is not as easy as you may think.  It seems like all you would have to do to make money would be producing great images.  This is far from the truth.  As I've said before, and I quote myself, "The most talented photographer in the world may remain largely unnoticed and never make a sale, while a sub-par photographer may be known for his work and make a great deal of sales."  It's the way it works and it doesn't seem quite fair, but it is!

Most photographers are the artsy type of person with no business background, and no real interest in learning business.  They can produce great images but are only barely scraping by month to month on small paychecks, and maybe working additional jobs.  Sound like you?  Don't let this be you!  If you have skill (and even if you don't)  you should be able to make sales.  90% of a sale is you approaching the client and sharing your winning personality.  Your work should seal the deal but if the client really likes you, they may hire you without hardly seeing your imagery.

AlienBees VagaBond Mini In House!

Just received the brand new AlienBees Vagabond Mini Lithium Power Pack.  WOW!!  For a few years now I've been lugging around the beast (Vagabond II) which weighs in at a whopping 18.6 lbs.  The new mini is just 3.5lbs!

My back say's, "thank you", my chiropractor say's "NOOO!!"  The crazy thing? This power pack shoots almost as many shots per charge as the huge Vagabond II, and is about 1/4 of the size and weighs about 75% less.  I'll have a more in depth review coming soon, but I can tell you now that this is a HUGE change for the better for me.  Now I won't have an excuse to leave my Bee's at home.  Also, it makes NO SOUND when it charges.  For users of the older II, the annoying whine is gone with this.  It also generally does not make a sound when shooting until it's been fired a lot or if it's hot outside.  SWEET!  And no, alienbees has not paid me for this, I only blog about what I truly believe in.

BTW... It's backordered, and if history repeats itself, will probably be backordered for several months.  I'd still say to get on the order list on the off chance that they were more prepared for this unit than the Einstein flash heads......

Frostbite, gray skies, and photography

The other day was one of those days where I questioned my choice to become a skiing photographer. Why couldn't I have chosen to shoot in a studio? Or maybe work as a skateboarding and mountain biking photographer year round? Days like this are part of my love/hate relationship as a skiing photographer.

It was a miserably cold day. One run, warming hut, one run, warming hut.... The endless cycle of trying to find warmth and then the determination to head out and ski regardless of the freezing -40 degree wind chill.

Win FREE LumiQuest Product on Twitter!

Here's a cool (and easy...no skill required) competition to win some free gear.  I've copied the rules and info. from the LumiQuest website for you to sign up if your on Twitter and like free stuff.  Should be a no-brainer!

LumiQuest and Action Photo School
are giving away a FREE LumiQuest SoftBox LTp and UltraStrap on Twitter!

Just follow these three simple steps for automatic entry.

1. Follow @LumiQuest on Twitter.
2. Follow @APhotoSchool on Twitter.
3. Re-tweet this message on your Twitter account:

"Win a free LumiQuest SoftBox LTp and UltraStrap! For automatic entry, follow @APhotoSchool and @Lumiquest and re-tweet this message!"

That's it! Make sure you complete all three steps and you are automatically entered to win. One winner will be randomly selected on January 31st and notified within three days, we will then request their mailing address to ship the SoftBox LTp and UltraStrap.

Good Luck!

Yet another Apple IPad photography post for the net.....

I'm not going to bore you by repeating the specs of the IPad and how amazing it is in this post.  Instead, I thought I'd offer a short and sweet list of why I already love the IPad I just got for Christmas, and how I see it being helpful to any photographer.

#1:  It seems like it will be a great way to show a little portfolio to new/potential clients, and will always be current unlike my print portfolios.... which are easy to go WAYY too long without adding new and better images.  Just make sure and keep your galleries concise with your 10-20 BEST EVER images.

#2:  I downloaded a sweet task manager program called To Do.  It was $1 and is replacing my planner and multiple task lists on my desktop.  Gone are the day's of notes all over the place.  I set my due date and time and every morning I will check it to see what MUST get done that day.  Organization at it's finest, and it's easy to bring with me wherever I go.

#3:  Tethered shooting!  I have yet to try this as I don't have a cord, but can't wait to test it out.  Should be a great option for on-location. ( I will post about this once I receive the cord.)

#4:  There is model release software.  This also works on the IPhone and the camera on the phone will take a picture for the release as well.  Soo much better then carrying around a stack of model releases.  The program is called EasyRelease and is accepted by Getty!

#5:  E-mail management anytime, anywhere.  Replying to e-mails on my phone is too much of a pain most of the time due to the small screen for typing.  The IPad is easy to type on, and was very simple to setup with all my e-mail accounts.

#6:  Movies and games.  Ok, so this one is very indirect... But when your on planes traveling to shoots, the entertainment is awesome!

#7:  Battery Life.  It lasts for hours and hours, unlike most laptops (pc's especially...hmm hmm.)



Those are the features I see being most useful to photographers.  As I find more I will update this list.  Now go buy one.  End sales pitch......

Real Estate Shoot -- Main house, carriage house, hot tub: all in one shot!

Real estate photography is all about showcasing all the features, the size, and quality of the property.  To do it correctly takes serious technical work and a lot of trial and error.  I was approached to shoot this 7000 sq. ft. home near Beaver Creek, CO last week and was thrilled with the opportunity.  But when I arrived at the house, I immediately realized how hard it would be to capture it in a great way.  The house sits in tight trees, and there are no real vantage points that are further than 45 feet away to shoot the house from.  (One note:  Next time I will bring a ladder which will help a lot with a more direct and higher angle)