Branding

Branding and taking pictures was one of the most enjoyable times that I have had. My grandpa wanted had me as a helper and not just the photographer so I had to sneak the camera in when we had a few minutes of down time every once in a while. I wouldn't say I have come away with any monumental shots, but I did enjoy taking the ones that I did. 

During the branding there were a couple of minor operations that needed to take place. Above is a picture of an operation in progress. The men had to discuss how it was going to be handled. 

This calf was the next subject. Right away I saw that he had swollen cheeks. I asked my grandpa what it was and he said it was probably an infection of some sort. After we had gotten through with branding grandpa had us take this calf through the shoot again in order to check out his cheeks. It turned out that they were swollen with puss. Which to some is very gross but I really enjoyed watching my grandpa take care of his animals. Farming and ranching is an art that many people don't get to experience on a regular basis. There is an awareness that one needs to have for each and every one of his animals in order to be a rancher. Then they also need to know how to care for the problems that arise. My grandpa showed his knowledge in the below picture when we drained the infection from the calf. I enjoyed taking this picture because I think you can see the relief in the calf's eyes. I would definitely be relieved if two giant pockets of puss were drained from my cheeks. 

All in all it was a good experience. The lighting was not the best but I will know what to look out for the next time I take part in a branding and want to document it. 

Cattle Photography

This week I decided to do a little bit of research on the photography of cattle since I am taking a weekend trip to a branding. Here are a few links that I found...

http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/cattle.html

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynogall2.asp?catID=476

http://www.butlertexaslonghorns.com/history/cattlephotography.html

It turns out that there are nearly as many cattle and livestock photographers as there are any other photographer and most of them claim to be professional. Many of the shots that I found were of the cow in the center of the frame staring out of the frame and it was far from aesthetically pleasing. 

I did get a few ideas that I never thought about for taking pictures at a branding...

1. The branding iron. (Especially in Montana and Wyoming the branding irons have long histories as to who owned them when and who's ranch is whose.)

2. Shots of the cows not eating but just hanging out.

3. The cattle after they have been branded and tagged. 

4. The people that are making it all come together and taking part. 

Overall I think I have a good basis of what I would like to take pictures of this weekend. Hopefully I come back with some good images. 

Photography as a Business

It's difficult to pursue your passions in life, let alone sharing them with people and believing that you can actually make your living doing what you love. A few semesters ago I went through the book 'The Artist's Way' for a class. It was a wonderful book and helps to gain insight into your passions. In that class I started seriously thinking about photography. Now a few years later I have begun to pursue that passion. One of the points made in the book is that there is a time and place to share your passion. If you share it too early you might not get the response you want and you may severely injure your attitude towards your passion. Recently I have started to take the next steps with photography. It is one of the scariest things I have ever done. It is frightening to put your work out there and hope that people will accept it and like it. There is also a considerable amount of work that you must do to help push your dreams forward. 

The website below has some really good tips for a photographer wanting to take better pictures and hoping to pursue photography as a business. Check it out and follow some of the links around the site to find out more. 

My favorite points made were:

Find what you are passionate about.

Do not stop learning, the moment you stop learning is the day you start to die.

"The successful business person is the one who makes a choice, sets some goals and then gets on with it; working at it until they are successful."

These are some good points for anyone. 

http://www.photosecrets.com/sell-photos-10-tips-for-the-professional-photographer-in-you.html

Shooting Portraits

Shooting portraits can be quite difficult especially if you are asked these questions:

1. How should I pose? 

2. Where do you want to go? 

What I have found after doing a few portrait shoots is this: 

You can go into a shoot thinking of some poses that you might think would work, but most importantly you need to let your model show their personality. These pictures here are of my brother. I was taking head shots of him and he kept asking what he should do. We ended up just doing things that my brother normally does, working on projects, playing guitar, and just hanging out. I have also found that while taking portraits you should set up your tripod, focus on your subject then talk to your subject. Then while you are talking you can snap shots while they smile from conversation or are in thought. 

As for settings, it is good to scope them out before you need to start shooting. I prefer older buildings that don't have a lot of distractions. My brother's shots were taken at the house where he resides. They have an awesome roof and some great brick walls throughout. I recommend having a small note book on you at all times in order to write down good locations that you see. You never know when you'll need to take shots at the drop of a hat and need some good locations. 

Easter Break

My Easter break was filled with family and pets. It wasn't a very climactic break if you eliminate the strep-throat from the equation but it was what a break is all about. In college I believe any vacation that you can go home and see your family is one that should be spent just living life with your family. There is no need for frills or huge events. So for my break that is what I did, I went home and spent time with my family. Above is a picture of my brother and our dog. All of these shots were taken with my Canon Rebel set at ISO 100. The above picture used a flash since there wasn't much natural light on the cloudy day. To edit this I darkened the exposure of the distracting elements in the back ground and sharpened a bit. My break was about God's gift of family and creation. Indiana offers a completely different setting than Montana and they are both beautiful in their own ways. 

The above picture was taken while we were driving into Chicago. I did not use a flash on this shot. The clouds were making awesome formations and colors which was really fun to capture. 

The above picture was taken on the drive as well. I liked the effect of the blurred trees and then ominous clouds. I sharpened this a bit and used a gradient tool on the sky but that was all the editing. 

This was a fun picture. Again my brother was my model and I was going for an angle that made him look like a little kid again. I used the flash on this one as well because of the limited light sources of the apartment. It was fun just to mess around with various angles. I wish the couch was out of the way but I didn't have too much room to work with. 

Night Photography and Painting with Light

After spending the weekend in Indiana and being reminded of the wonderful cloud cover I was unable to use the moon in my pictures of Indiana. When I got back to Montana I headed out to take some shots with moonlight but alas the moon had not risen by 11pm when I went out. Thankfully I used the city glow around this subject of the tree and I think it turned out really nicely. I loved how the only part of the tree picking up the light was the smaller branches because they were the only things tall enough. To focus I had someone shine a maglight on the tree and I used live view. My ISO was set at 100 on my Canon Rebel and I held down the shutter on bulb mode for a minute to get this shot. There is some movement among the stars but it was a toss up between clear stars or a visible tree. 

The next series of shots were taken at the park where I used the maglight to paint the subject. The swing shot didn't really turn out the way I would have hoped but it still looked pretty cool. I will have to go out and try again maybe when the moon is actually up. 

For this swing shot I used the Canon Rebel at ISO 100 and a 30s. shutter. In Photoshop I turned the shot black and white then adjusted the opacity of that layer. Before it was far too saturated for my liking of a night shot. 

This shot was taken with the same camera and settings as the swing set. Here I used the maglight to light up my subject again. To edit I cropped in and sharpened but that was all. I was disappointed that I didn't light up my subjects face fast enough at the bottom of the slide to be able to have it clear. Yet another thing that I need to keep in mind when I shoot night shots again. It takes a lot of practice!