Here’s some coverage of my last shoot. Never got to finish it since the police decided to stop by towards the end and no one was willing to risk getting arrested for the sake of art… besides myself haha. We tried to visit a backup location but at that point the sun was already down and without any flashlights, navigating these abandoned spots is a complete pain in the ass. I’ll have the pictures that I did manage to squeeze out of that day online later this week.

Anyone remember the first photo shoot video I threw online covering the 2009 Ballet Hispanic portfolio shots? Well that was a trial and error type thing. I honestly had no idea what I was doing when I was uploading that video. But I think I’m finally getting the hang of this. Hopefully with 2-3 more attempts I’ll finally have a decent video up here.

I’ll be videotaping photo shoots more often now that I bought a new camera. It’s nothing fancy though, just a small point-and-shoot camera (Powershot SD780). Who cares about video quality, the thing actually fits in my pocket (and that’s saying a lot when you’re used to shooting with a DSLR)!!

By the way, the video shake is Janice’s fault =P

I’ve been wanting to redo my room for awhile now. I have these hideous horizontal lines spanning across my room, and in combination with my red paint job, it reminds me of a fire hydrant. With college just around the corner however, I wasn’t sure if renovating my room would be worth the effort. But now that I’m commuting to school, it seems like a brand new look might be worth it after all.

Contrary to what the pictures may show, I usually don’t have dirty laundry lying around my room. It was a weekend… I was tired… and I needed a quick “before” shot since I knew in an hour or so my room would be completely destroyed.

I decided to paint my room black, white and gray just like… you guessed it… my website! Perhaps I’m overdoing the color scheme? I also bought a new television and tossed my bed out for a leather futon. My room isn’t big enough for a couch and a bed, so I decided to get the best of both worlds and just buy a futon instead. It’s actually a lot comfier than my old bed. Not that I care anyway, I can sleep on the floor if I have to.

The whole project took about 2 weeks and consisted of lack of sleep, some 8 hour shifts, and a couple of tears which were caused by the price tag behind the whole thing. And to think… my original goal was to finish it in 3 days.

I swear, there’s a party every weekend in Brooklyn. I recently got into the Brooklyn party scene after my friend from the School of Visual Arts came back in town and introduced me to some of his dorm friends. One thing I really enjoy is that unlike the parties in my hometown, nothing seems to go wrong. Police are never called, fights don’t break out, everyone is for the most part on friendly terms; sometimes even too friendly. It’s like one giant networking event. I think I’ve handed out more business cards in a weekend then in a typical month.

Another thing I really enjoy is that these parties attract a lot of the people from the art crowd. But what do you expect from the School of Visual Arts? I meet a new photographer at every party. And that’s a pretty big thing considering I’ve only met at most 2 photographers in my entire lifetime in Elmont.

Here’s Paige. Paige just got a Nikon D40 for her birthday. From who you ask? Well… we’re not too sure. Someone from a previous party shipped it over to her. Like I said… some people are just “too” friendly haha.

Here’s a couple of shots from Nicole’s Sweet 16. It was a great party and it gave me the chance to test out the Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash. I rented the flash for the day for two events I was covering (the sweet 16 and a community basketball game sponsored by the NYS Assembly). I’ve never been a fan of Canon Speedlites. They’re heavy, clumsy, and unnecessarily expensive. If I’m not shooting with natural light, I prefer to shoot with two wireless Vivitar flashes. They give you so much more creative freedom at a fraction of the price. But as much as they bother me, I have to admit, those bulky Speedlites are a necessity in event photography.

It’s been some time since I’ve gotten to hang out with all of my friends together. Usually it’s just one or two of us or maybe half of the group together while the rest of the guys are off engaging in other priorities.

Jessica’s sporting a new piercing. Tatiana’s driving a new car. A couple of friends even quit smoking, and I haven’t heard a word about any of this. It’s amazing how far we can drift apart over a single summer. And now I’m hearing news that a few kids are heading off to college earlier than expected. Looks like I might be the last person in town since I don’t start until September.

By the way, I’ve finally started shooting with the 5D. One of the main reasons I bought the 5D was for the ability to shoot in low light situations without a flash. A quality fast lens is usually the first answer for low light photography, but in some instances, not even a good lens is enough to get enough light into the picture. Now don’t get me wrong; I love flash photography, especially in studio settings, but for candid photos, I prefer to keep the lighting as natural as possible.

I’ve had my eye on this for a while now. The Canon EOS 5D. It’s a classic little camera used primarily by wedding and portrait photographers and as nice as it is, I could never justify the $2000 price tag behind it. Canon recently threw their newest monster into the field however, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and prices for the original 5D finally began to drop. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get one of these cameras. I like to think of it as a little graduation present to myself. At least with that in mind, the dent in my wallet seems a lot less disastrous.

I purchased the camera from Andree Khen, a wedding photographer from Maine. You can find him at http://andreekhen.com. I’d love to write more, but with my schedule the way it is I still haven’t found any free time to go and shoot some pics.

In addition to the 5D, I got a hold of the 17-40 F4L lens. Its a replacement wide angle for my 10-22 EFS. Didn’t pay anything for this. I found photographer Mark Roaquin from Queens, NY who was willing to trade me his copy of the 17-40 for my 10-22. Both lenses are the same price so it was an equivalent trade. No money involved.

Being a photographer involves a lot of networking and communication between people. So much so, that I’ve sometimes wondered just how close I should let myself get to my clients. For the past few months, I’ve contemplated adding a section to my photography blog to showcase random events in my life through the use of photos. From what I’ve seen, there are two types of photography blogs. The ones that showcase strictly professional shots (this is the route I’ve been following as of now) and the ones that showcase a plethora of random photos from professional shots to daily events and even life anecdotes.

While the former option allows me to maintain a completely professional image, the second option paves the way to a more personal relationship between myself and potential clients. While this increases the possibilities of referrals and returning clients, it also treads a dangerous line and puts me at risk for controversy resulting from whatever randomness I may be compelled to post online.

One thing I’ve noticed from the past year of shooting are the two types of client’s I’ve encountered. The clients that I’ve maintained lasting relationships with and still keep in contact with even months after their photo session, and the clients that come and go so quickly that I wouldn’t be able to identify them in a crowd. I’m glad for the client’s that I’ve been able to keep in contact with, whether they continue to bring business or whether they just stick around as friends, I appreciate the longevity of the relationship. For this reason alone I’ve finally decided how I want to handle my business and what I want to do with this blog.

I don’t want to go big. I don’t even think I want photography to be my primary source of income in the future. I want to be that small town family photographer that everyone seems to know, whether they’ve done business with him or not.