A preview from the new book!

    Ok, free download week for How to Shoot Your Child's Show Like a Pro is over. If you downloaded it, thanks for supporting me, if you enjoy it please follow up with a good review on Amazon! (If you didn't enjoy it I guess you could post a bad review, but I would rather you contact me privately at bookfeedback@happydragonphoto.com and let me know so I can address whatever issues you found with the book).

    Now it's sales time for real and I get to see if it is going to go anywhere. I have been talking about the book in several online forums and looking around for marketing opportunities (speaking of which, if any of you out there are on a PTA or something with a mailing list, feel free to let me know or to plug me to any parents you think might be interested). A fellow Professional Photographers of America member and amazing photographer, Don Nealious, of DNI Photography, made the suggestion that I post a teaser from the book on here, so here it is. Thanks Don for being an awesome mentor! Without further adieu, here's a quick taste of what you will get in the book:

HELP- THE SHOW IS TONIGHT!!!! I DON’T HAVE TIME TO
READ THIS WHOLE BOOK!

If you just picked up this book because your child is in a show tonight and
you are in a panic, this chapter is for you. Stop, take a deep breath, maybe have
a quick adult beverage of your choice (assuming you aren’t the one driving to
the show) and read this chapter with your camera, the manual for your camera
(if you have it) and your computer sitting right next to you. I will tell you how to
set your camera up and how to take the pictures tonight, then you can come
back later and read the rest of the book to learn the reasons why. For now you’ll
just have to trust me.

It should be obvious why you would want your camera and the manual next
to you, but why the computer? Because I don’t know what type of camera you
have, therefore I cannot tell you how to find the settings I am describing on your
particular brand and model. I use Nikon cameras and lenses- while I will try as
much as possible to use generic terms for settings and features, the examples I
give will be Nikon specific because that is what I am familiar with. I am
assuming you have some sort of DSLR, in which case you should be able to
control all the settings I am going to mention. Don’t worry if you don’t know
what something means, that will be explained later in the book. Oh, and before
you read any further make sure you have downloaded all the images on your
memory card, then format the card in the camera so you’ll have plenty of room.
Once that is done put your battery on the charger so you’ll have a full one (and
hopefully a spare) when its’ time to shoot, then read on.

Here’s how to set up your camera.

Lens: If you only have one lens that came with your camera, it’s probably an
18-55mm. If that’s all you have, that’s what you will use. If you have a longer
zoom (probably something in the 100-300mm range) you should probably swap
out and put that one on the camera. Bring both if you don’t know how big the
theater is or where you will be sitting. For most theaters if you have the
18-55mm you’d want to sit near the front, if you have a zoom that goes up to
200mm or 300mm you should be fine in the back row. Whichever you have,
check it out when you get to the show and choose your seat accordingly. If you
have room in your bag, bring both lenses and pick when you get there and see
what you’re dealing with.

Mode: Manual

Shutter Speed: 1/200 Sec

Aperture: F3.5 (or the smallest number / largest aperture your lens has
available)

Flash: If you have an external flash, leave it off the camera. If you have a
popup flash make sure it it down and stays down. (It shouldn’t activate in
shutter priority mode unless you pop it up manually, so don’t)

ISO: Do a quick search on Google and find out what the highest useable
setting is for you particular camera and go with that, or if you want to be
safe, one setting below that. If you can’t find it quickly enough or don’t even
have time to look, use ISO 1600, that should be safe for any current generation
DSLR. If you have a mirrorless system 1600 is probably also safe. Point and
shoots aren’t as capable at higher ISOs, so I really can’t tell you what’s safe for
yours, you will have to look it up. NOTE- just because you camera has higher
settings available doesn’t mean they are useable in the sense I am talking about
here. You may get a picture with them, but it will be so noisy you won’t be
happy with it. So don’t just go to the highest setting you have.


Focus Mode: Continuous autofocus. If you have a choice of focus point
numbers, pick the option that gives you a small cluster around the point of your
choice. If you can set a focus delay, set it for normal or slightly longer. (This
means if someone walks in front of your child right as you click the shutter the
autofocus won’t try to refocus on them instead of your child)

Metering Mode: Center weighted. The icon for this will probably look like a
dot in between two parenthesis.

Noise Reduction: If your camera has a noise reduction option, turn it on and
set it to normal.

Image Quality: If you have the option and a large enough memory card, set
this to RAW + JPEG Fine, as this will give you the most options to work with
later on. If you can’t do both, either due to memory limitations or because your
camera doesn’t offer that option, stick with JPEG fine for now, especially if you
want to share you pictures tonight or tomorrow. (If you are already shooting and
working in RAW then by all means shoot RAW only)

Active Lighting: Turn it on and set it to the middle setting. (Active D for
Nikon, Active Lighting Option for Canon, not sure for others)

Image Preview: Off. This means you won’t see each image on your LCD
screen after you shoot it. Trust me, this is a good thing.

Vibration Reduction / Image Stabilization: This one varies. If you have the
standard 18-55mm lens, turn it off. If you have a longer zoom, leave it on.
Generally, if your shutter speed is less than the focal length of the lens you want
it on, if it’s faster you want it off.


Shooting Mode: Single Shot

White Balance: If you use Auto your shots will not be consistent. Which
setting to use will be dependent on the lights. If it’s an outdoor show, use either
the sun or cloudy setting. For indoors in a traditional theater, I recommend the
tungsten setting if they use incandescent stage lights or the flash setting if they
are using LED stage lights. If you don’t know the difference, ask the lighting
person if you can, if you can’t find out which it is then use the tungsten setting.

Picture Controls: Standard or Neutral.

Exposure Meter: Not a setting, per se, but if you are not familiar with this
display and how it shows up in your camera make sure you find it and have a
basic understanding of how your camera displays Zero (what camera thinks is
“proper” exposure), Overexposure (+) and Underexposure (-) values. If your
camera lets you, set this to read in 1/3 stop increments. You manual should tell
you what it looks like and where to find it on your camera display.

Ok, now your camera is set, let’s talk about how to actually shoot the
show.



   Ok, that's it for the free teaser, for the rest you'll have to buy the book! I promise there will be some actual photo based updates soon, but until my ship gets back to shore I don't have the bandwidth to upload images, so you're stuck with getting the thousand words instead of the picture.

I'm an Author!

I posted a while back about new projects, one of which was a book. It's now out, and I have to confess I am taking a certain amount of pleasure in actually seeing myself up on Amazon as an author. More later on everything going on, still suffering from limited connectivity while traveling, but check the book out, would love to get some reviews, it's free until July 25th. I expect to have good connectivity again in a week or so for another substantial update!

http://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Your-Childs-Show-Like-ebook/dp/B00LYQ8B6O

Rainbows, Magical Mysteries and a week in paradise!

    I have been incommunicado for a while, because I have been out to sea with no ability to post images or make blog posts, but I spent the last week on a port visit to Oahu. Next week I am out to sea and offline again for another month or so, figure I better knock out an update while I can, because a lot has been happening.

    Let's start with the trip out to Hawaii. Took our time because we had lots of flight ops to do for training before we got here. While I was out to sea, I got some editing catchup done. I also finished the rough draft of the text for my first book. That's right, if all goes well I will soon be the proud author of my first e-book. A while back I wrote a longer post on shooting aerial performers for another blog, which didn't wind up using it as far as I could find. I was kinda bummed, but after a bit of looking around on line and at book stores, I realized there was a niche I could fill if I adapted the post. I couldn't find anything targeted at parents who were trying to take their cameras and shoot their children's school plays, dance recitals, and the like. So I decided to re-work and expand the post into something a parent with a DSLR, but not much photography knowledge, could use to take better pictures of their kids shows. Figure if I can crack the marketing mystery there should be a good niche for it to fill, and since I have nothing but time while I am sailing circles in the water, it really doesn't cost me anything so as long as anyone buys the book, it'll be a profit. All I have left to do is edit the text, insert the images, and format it. Hopefully by the next time I get to an internet connection it will be ready for upload! 

   The second thing I did is put up a fund raising page for myself. I am pretty much at the limits of what my 5 year old computer is capable of when it comes to editing images. Even though it is maxed out RAM wise for what it is, it takes me about ten times as long as it should to edit images because I have to wait for the edits to catch up, especially when using the insanely high resolution images that come from the D800. I can't really afford to upgrade, but if I want to keep shooting for free and providing images to my friends, I can't afford not to. So I decided to try and toss it out into the universe and see if the people who I have been doing all the free shooting and editing for would maybe be willing to help me out a little in return. So far it's been a bitter disappointment. Only one person has contributed at all. I was hoping for a little bit better response, but I guess people really don't know how much time it takes away from my family working on their images. With my current setup, for example, just doing noise reduction on 200 shots from a show takes me around 5 - 6 hours. And that's before doing anything else to the images. Oh well, I am going to have to be a lot more selective in the free jobs I take on in the future I guess. I knew I would have to make that decision at some point, I just hoped to push it off as long as I could, but maybe that's now.  I've been making the argument to myself that it's been building a fan base, which it has, but it sure hasn't led to any paying gigs yet, so not sure there is much point in it anymore, even though I enjoy going and shooting the shows. There are a few people who, while not necessarily able to give back money wise, I know they do send anything my way they can and return the favor as best as they are able, if you are one of those friends, don't worry, I'll still shoot for you any day. 

     The next big thing that has happened is that I have been accepted as an apprentice by The Arcanum, which promises to be an awesome experience. Basically, it was set up as an alternative to traditional photography schools/classes by some ridiculously talented and cool people, it's sort of an online jedi academy for photographers, where a group of masters select a cohort of paduan learners who work together to learn and grow. I was selected by the incredible Jessica Lark, and have already started to meet a fabulous group of people who I will be sharing the journey with. There will be more updates on that front as I go along the path, it will take me a while to really get moving since right now I am going to be connectivitevely challenged. (yeah, I just invented my own word there, sorry)

   Now for Hawaii. Once I had my travel dates down, I got on Model Mayhem and One Model Place to try and find some local models to set up shoots with. I initially had a lot of interested responses, but as it got closer and closer, the majority of them flaked. Wound up with two relatively good prospects. One of them was interested in modeling nude, but wasn't comfortable with doing it in a potentially public place, so she asked about doing boudoir in my hotel. My first instinct was, "oh hell no, I am going to be in Hawaii, I am going to do beach and waterfall shots!" But I figured I would go with the flow, so I told her I would let her know. Then I checked into my hotel, took a look around, and decided it would work. So lesson one- go with the flow of the universe. Seems to have worked for me so far, went with it here and it paid off. Lots of good shots, but what really sold it was the cracked glass windows between the bedroom and bathroom. Lighting was a pain in the ass, should have brought some gaffers tape, wound up balancing a flash on top of a lighting fixture on the mirror and hoping it wouldn't fall, but here is the kind of images we were able to get: (censored just to keep the post PG13, you will have to wait for the full NSFW gallery later on)

   So pretty happy with how that worked out. Second model knew of some good beaches up on the North West corner of the island near Kaena Point so we planned an afternoon meet up. Traffic was lighter than I expected so I got there pretty early. The image I opened the post with was one I took while scouting around and killing time. I also found a glider port, and decided to take a glider flight to kill time. This was an excellent choice! 

   More from the glider coming later, it was challenging to shoot through the canopy, especially not knowing when the pilot was going to catch a wind gust and do something fancy to show off.  But it was cool. I know there are a lot of glider ports around San Diego, will have to investigate them when I get home and get caught up. 

    So got down from the flight and the model showed up. Not only was the beach she chose awesome, but she had been modeling for a while and knew what she was doing. The shoot was great, she gave me lots of awesome with minimal direction, which is great since I am still pretty inexperienced when it comes to posing models. She was just plain fun to work with. We timed it so the we just caught the golden hour, and the universe obviously listened when I said I wanted an epic beach shoot, because after some other great shots you will see soon, we ended with a set like this:

   All natural light, and yes, that is a freaking RAINBOW behind her head. I pulled up the saturation a little bit in photoshop, but no kidding, it was there. 

   So thus ends my epic week of Hawaiian working vacation. Tomorrow it's back to the ship and getting ready to head back out to sea. I'll be mostly off the grid for a little while again,  but I will have  a lot of time to work up all the images from the week of shooting, so when I get to civilization again there will be full galleries from my shoots in paradise, and hopefully more information on the book! 

    Until then, don't forget me, please feel free to stop by my fundraising page,  pass the link on to your friends, and finally, always remember that photography isn't about the gear.... unless it's this one from outside a coffee and chocolate factory on the North Shore.....

   Yeah, I said coffee AND chocolate factory. Told you it was an epic trip! That's all for now, back to the grind, see you again in a month or so. Aloha and Mahalo!