PHOTOS FROM LORE MAGAZINE-SHOOT IN CHICAGO

I haven't seen the magazine yet, but it is on their website. I thought I would check and there it was.. These photos are a couple they had posted along with the story. I am anxious to see the real thing, the art director always does a nice job putting it all together. If you want to take a look at the story, here is their address. www.loremagazine.com

I HAD TO SHOOT A ANTELOPE...

I had brought all my gear.. Drove to the perfect spot. Walked down the steep hill, trough the river, over some rocks, then stopped. There was a skunk nearby.. I was only hoping that i hadn't just stepped on his home.. I waited for a minute but never heard anything.. So i traveled a little farther. There was a nice grove of trees that opened up into a clearing. This might be it.. The perfect spot.. The perfect spot to shoot my photo of a mounted pronghorn wearing a red nose.. It was magical..

here are the photos from today..The photo is for an agency here in town. They are making xmas cards for one of their clients..

JUDGING A PHOTO CONTEST FOR CMYK MAGAZINE..

Recently I received a call from CMYK Magazine. They asked me to judge the photography section of their upcoming student competition. Of course I said yes. How could I turn it down. First it was really nice that someone respected my opinion to judge, and I was so interested to see what students were doing. When I got the package, i was so excited to open it up. It was a large fed-ex box, which I new was filled with tons of talent and a few people that would threaten my job. I didn't have time to judge right then, so i made some time to go down to the studio and give it a good look. I laid everything out, made sure to have comfortable clothing on, and started in on what was hoped to be a journey of inspiration. I was a little dissapointed at first. Then a little more dissapointed. Then I would be super excited about a beautiful photo. Then another Gem! Overall my critique of the work would be a C+. There were some beautiful photos. Some photos where I said to myself, "wow, I wish I had that in my book". I knew that I would have a good mix of talent, and after it was all done, it was good. Maybe I was a little hard at first, maybe I was a little to eager to see the great talent the future would hold.

One thing I have to say to anyone reading this. (especially if you are a student entering a photo contest). Please, Please, Please, make sure that anything you send out, wheather it is for a contest, a promo, or a thank you card. Be sure to have it look as nice as possible. People are judging you all the time. You may not like it, but they are. I couldn't believe that so many photos looked as if you got a coupon for some free color copies at office depot, and this was the perfect so that you didn't have to waste your paper or money on this silly student competition. This may be the only time that someone gets to look at your work or your promo. When I was looking through all of the work for the contest, I really tried to leave that behind. "oh its just a student competition, it doesn't have to be perfect." Why not? My stuff has to look good. I cant go to a client and show some crappy color copies or a bad ink jet print. My stuff has to look nice, so why can't theirs? These are the people that are just out of school, ready to take on the world. The photographers that are going after my clients. If you don't want to do anything about it, that is your decision. At least that means a little more job security for me.