Second Sight Studio

30 Day Blogathon // Day 16 // Ideas

Jan 24th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

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Trees

So my roomate, Richard Holland, crashed my editing session last night laughing like a mad man! The reason for his mirth was he had spent some time watching videos of Hannah Hart who has been doing a You Tube video series called My Drunk Kitchen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7G-Q9ZwC0). Sure, maybe it’s not a positive thing by potentially promoting alcoholism, sure, there’s some profanity, but as long as you’re a sane and responsible human being she is funny as funny can be! And if you go and watch her music video (http://youtu.be/nIvOqHfia2s) you soon learn that this woman has some skills!

From watching her videos I took away three very important lessons; 1) Don’t be afraid to be rediculous. 2) Run with as many ideas you have as possible. 3) Dancing is a very important aspect of drinking.

Allow me to expand on these.

1) Don’t be afraid to be rediculous. – Let’s face it, you’ve got one chance in life. And life is too short to spend it living with a stick up your butt. I don’t know about you but I want to have fun with my life. I want to spend as much time as possible being happy and enjoying the things life has to offer. I’m really thinking that the best way to enjoy life is to just let yourself go. Be as goofy and insane as you’re willing to be plus 10%!

2) Run with as many ideas you have as possible. – Most creative sapiens suffer from varying degrees of ADHD and therefore can’t survive on one project alone. Hannah is no different in that she does a few different things. She has her Drunk Kitchen series, behind the scenes videos, her music video, a video blogging series, an advice column video series, and possibly more that I haven’t yet seen. And that’s the point I’m getting at here. I’ve had a few ideas for several projects I’d like to do but I haven’t done anything with these ideas for years! Some ideas I’ve had for over 5 years and I haven’t touched them at all yet. I keep telling myself that I need more “stuff” before I can even think of doing things properly. You really can’t live like that. You need to get your ideas done to the best of the ability you have now and you NEED to get your ideas out there! Get them out there, and you never know what can happen!

3) Dancing is a very important aspect of drinking. – You know what, I think dancing is a very important part of life. I don’t feel I dance very well, but really, even if we don’t think we can dance, we all love to do it! So just do it. Where ever you are. When ever you are.

Take blogging, I spent a lot of time stressing over blogging because I didn’t think I had anything good to say about anything. But then I read about a guy who did a 30 day blogging challenge and I got thinking, hey, I can try that. So what if I don’t fail. It’s only 30 entries, surely I can do that. Well, I’ve missed a couple days due to being busy or for whatever reason. But I’m not doing too bad. And now I’m at a point where I’m feeling pretty good about it and come february 1st I may actually just cancel the 30 day challenge and go with a semi daily format where I will blog about whatever I have to yap about every day or every couple of days. I’ll try go no more than 2 or 3 days without a post.

As well, watch for more of ideas to crop up into reality over the coming months. I currently have this blog, my 365 photo blog over at http://asthingschange.wordpress.com and I have my Dave a Day on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/durghan. I’m also looking at doing two different book projects, a video series on photo editing, another video series on photo training, and who knows what else!

And this all applies to you and things you might be wanting to do! Don’t hold off for a better day, do it all NOW! hehehe

So with that, I’d really like to know what you think about the things I’m doing and if you have any ideas for things you like to see me do. I encourage you to post a comment here or on my facebook which will in turn encourage me to actually do the things I’m yapping about!

Education, Inspiration
30 Day Blogathon // Days 13 – 15 // Education

Jan 22nd 2012

By: Dave Wilson

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Paul Byrne

There comes a point in all our lives where we need to choose a path for our future. For various reasons some of us leave school early to go work but a lot of us decide to continue schooling in a specialized field. Some become doctors, laywers, fire-persons, taxidermists, and so on. Others enter into painting, graphic design, film, and photography. At one time you could attend schools that offered great training opportunities. These schools still exist and many are very reputable. However these days we also have the internet and a low cost of entry in many areas that were once reserved only for the elite.

I remember when I was looking at going to college back in the early 1990′s. I wanted to get into 3D animation but the only schools offering training were in Vancouver and Toronto. I even called up and actually spoke with the guy at Instustrial Light and Magic who headed up the T-Rex animations in the original Jurassic park. He suggested I go to Sheridan College in Toronto. Well, after investigating I found that the cost of the program was quite high. So I applied to the Audio Visual Communications Program at Grant Macewan with the hope that it would lead me where I wanted to go even though they didn’t offer what I wanted.

Now, this was 1993. The internet was brand new! In fact, I think at that time I was still connecting to Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) with a 14.4 modem! Once I got into the program at MacEwan I was very unimpressed to find that the computers in use there were behind technology I was using at home! My only hopes for learning things was with the photography, audio and video portions of the program. Even though I was being taught some things that were very labour intensive, I knew then that all this stuff was going to be done on computers very soon. It was at this time that we were shown one of the first ever digital cameras! I don’t recall the details of the camera but it was a digital back and was pretty good resolution.

At any rate, the program was a big let down because I knew that everything I was being taught there had ALREADY progressed beyond what they were teaching. I found it extremely frustrating. And this was at a time when progress was still taking a couple of years to happen. I mean, we weren’t even at Windows 95 yet!!!!

Now, progress happens so quick at times that there is NO WAY an educational system can keep up. There are many reasons for this. Financially it’s a huge challenge but it’s also technologically challenging. I now work at MacEwan in the IT department and we are only NOW ordering administrative computers with Windows 7 on them. Starting in about a month the first systems will arrive. The operating system is already 2 years old! But we needed to wait to ensure it was stable, that all our software applications would work on them, and that we had the right tools in place to be able to support these systems.

Student systems have been getting Windows 7 for about a year now but that is STILL a year after it’s release. That meant students were buying laptops with Windows 7 on them but were forced to use Windows XP at school. Other applications that cost far more money may not be as up to date. So it’s a tough call. Do you go to school knowing that you may be getting taught outdated material? Or do you just try to break into the industry by learning what you can of the internet?

Well, as far as photography goes, I did get some schooling, but I’ve also learned a lot off the internet and by doing things hands on. There are things I never learned. Proper light ratios by the numbers. How to calculate the inverse square of light falloff. How to use Guide Numbers on flash units. And yet, when comparing my work to other professionals who likely know these things, I find I often have images that are very comparable in quality. Would I be a better photographer if I really understood these things? Maybe. But for me, the whole act of photography is to create an image that evokes an emotional response from a viewer. Even if that response is simply “Wow, that’s beautiful/cool/funky/weird/creepy” or some other derivative.

However, while I may be largely self taught, I would strongly recommend that if you are considering schooling, you go for it! The best part of schooling is that you are surrounded by like minded individuals and working on projects with them can help inspire your creativity as well as boost your learning potential! Sure, you can join local groups, make friends in the field, but without a training environment to challenge you, learning some things just might never happen due to not being exposed to them. I personally feel that learning never ends. Every learning opportunity should be viewed as a great opportunity because you never know when you’ll learn something that will help you finally understand a long troubling concept, or that can enlighten you into working in new ways more efficiently allowing you to acheive more enjoyment from the craft.

So regardless of which path you choose, get out there and learn. And never stop learning.

Inspiration, Portrait Photography, Uncategorized

Edmonton Photographers, Edmonton Portrait Photographers
30 Day Blogathon // Day 11 // Personal Projects

Jan 18th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

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Big Dave

As a creative sort, I believe a large percentage of us start following our passions by working on personal projects that help us learn our crafts. Sure, musicians may spend years learning technique by playing the works of masters from years gone by. Painters will study the work of great artists from their favorite periods in the past. Graphic designers and photographers will often work to imitate current trends in their fields in order to understand how to achieve various results. But even mimicing other artists, the creative-in-training will inevitably infuse the work with something of their own being. And eventually, almost every creative will begin doing their own thing.

Down the road, these educational personal projects begin getting the artist jobs. Sadly, too many people then start focusing completely on their work and their personal projects die. After a number of years of working on only work many talented individuals burn out, quit their passions and go to work as janitors or carpenters, or oil rig works, or something that is nothing like what they were doing because they lost the passion.

There are many ways to help stave off the loss of your passion. The simplest is to continue doing personal projects. For photographers, a couple of ideas are to do a 365 project where you do a single photo every day for a year. You can to this to learn a different feature of your camera every day, or to do a self portrait every day (forcing you to get more and more creative as time goes on!). Or you could focus on one specific photographic discipline, such as macro photography, or really, any type of photography that interests you but is not part of your main focus for work. You can also join up with various photography groups in your area to gain inspiration and knowledge from your peers.

Peers!? Oh my no. What if they judge me as a fraud, or inferior? Oh hush! There was a time when even the most brilliant artist you’ll ever meet knew nothing of their craft! That’s one of the greatest things about the creative fields, you get to do WHATEVER you want! You may be able accurately duplicate the work of another artist, but the greater strength is to do your own thing! And you can only discover your own thing by doing. Working on personal projects will help you develop your own style/look and will give you new insights on how to handle various jobs you may encounter as well.

And, it will keep you passionate about what you love. When is the best time to start personal project? Well, yesterday of course! So get on it! You’re already a day behind.

Education, Inspiration

Edmonton Boudoir Photographers, Edmonton Photographers, Edmonton Portrait Photographers, Edmonton Wedding Photographers
30 Day Blogathon // Days 9 – 10 // Backups

Jan 17th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

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Snow Cover

Okay, I’m at home with a flu or something. Was up all night with a crazy headache that sat around my eyeballs and eventually exploded into an annoying migraine. About 5 hours later the migraine is now just a tolerable throb (I can hear my own heartbeat) but my head feels like it’s contents have been replaced with concrete replicas. So, I’ve got a lot to say in this post, I just hope I can find clarity enough while writing to have it make sense.

This past weekend was a prime example of why photographers need to charge what they charge (and why we’re still charging too little!). It’s all about redundancy.

We booked a photobooth job for Saturday night. Earlier Saturday I was going to test out our gear and make sure things were good to go. I SHOULD have done this earlier in the week, but I didn’t. A known problem we’d worked around on my laptop led me to install the booth software on another laptop I had access to. Things worked perfectly on this other laptop but did reauire me to edit 7 graphics screens that get used during the booth operations. I was quite excited to see how the system would work in the real world.

We were scheduled to be at the venue for 5:00pm. Shortly after 4:00 we left my place, made two stops nearby and had plenty of time to get to the Italian Cultural Centre 3/4 of the way across town. Except that since leaving the sky had started falling. It took at least half an hour to go from about 76 Ave to downtown. That’s roughly a 5 minute drive if you don’t hit any red lights. Needless to say we didn’t actually arrive until 5:30. Fortunately, most others were delayed as well.

So, we got set up. It took us a bit to figure out just how to set up because there was one power outlet, 3 feet up the wall, right between stairs onto the stage and a major exit. Our extension cord was too short to decently run around out of the way to prevent tripping, so we ran it across the floor and taped it down and hoped for the best.

Now, it was after 6:30 and we were ready to go! But, no one wanted to go. Naturally. No one had eaten yet. No one had drank enough to willing to act goofy in front of a camera yet. Of course we hadn’t approached many people either before it was time to annouce the bridal party. And then it was dinner. Well, we didn’t want to annoy people with the bright flash while they were eating so we shut the light off. Incidentally, our flash had also started having siezures and was randomly flashing quite frequently.

We were scheduled from 5:00pm to 11:00pm. Dinner went until 10:30! So we figured no worries, we’ll just hang out longer! So as soon as I’d finished my final bite of dessert, I jumped up and switched everything on and got ready to shoot people! Except, um, my camera wouldn’t turn on. At all. I had charged the batteries. I’m sure they were fine. But the camera was no go. I was petrified! Mel had her camera, but I knew that it hadn’t worked on the other laptop so why would it work on this one? But she tried it anyways and it worked!!! Mostly. People were coming. It was quite working. So we just started shooting from the camera. Did three or four groups when I realized, OMG, I don’t think the photos are being saved!!! A) Luckily I checked early on. B) Luckily the photos were saving!

Dave and Mel

Well, we were saved! Everything was going great! People were having a blast! And then, about half an hour in, everything stopped. Our flash wasn’t going. Looks like we’d thrown a breaker! Got someone on it. They brought it back. And it went away again. Except the breaker wasn’t thrown. Our power bar was having a fit! So we just plugged in to the extension cord which JUST reached. And everything was great again!

Until the light stopped flashing again shortly after midnight (and with a group of about 17 people in the booth!). So we’re fidgeting, tryingto get it working again. No go. Seems as though the blub is fried! Luckily we have another light handy. Set that up in a few seconds, plug it all in. And away we go! Back in Action!

And so it goes until 1:30 when we decide to close up shop and head home. YAY!

Now, this could have failed so many times. First, the laptop issue. It worked, but not properly. Although, if the other laptop had failed at any point, the booth would be done, we’d have to go home, and we’d potentially have to refund some money.

Second, the camera failure was the worst. When it died, we hadn’t shot a SINGLE photo yet. We would have definitely had to refund all their money and we would have looked shameful.

Third, the light failure, less critical because Mel’s camera does a good High ISO so we could have bumped that up and worked with it maybe, but that would definitely be less than ideal. A spare light is essential for relative consistency.

Fourth, we need more extension cords! I swear I have three that are MIA but you can’t rely on being able to set up near a power outlet so more extension cords are vital!

Now imagine we were the MAIN photographers for this (or any) wedding. If our camera died during the bride getting ready her whole day would be missed. If the camera had died during the formals, her first dance and dance with dad would have been missed. Wedding photographers NEED backups. You can’t just say “Oh well, my gear died, come back on Thursday”. You’d be sued!

So next time you hear a bride say “oh they’re so expensive” tell her why!

Cheers!

Education, General, Wedding Photography

Edmonton Photographers, Edmonton Portrait Photographers, Edmonton Wedding Photographers
30 Day Blogathon // Day 8 // Dreams

Jan 13th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

Mount Robson

Okay, okay, so I’ve missed 3 days! Go back and read the article on failure. Yes, I failed. But I’ve learned something along the way. I have learned of some distractions that, while I enjoyed them, really impaired my motivation and productivity. I’ve learned what I need to avoid in order to provide myself with more focus on the things I really want out of life.

Which brings me to today’s article. I don’t know, maybe something is wrong with me. I’ve often referred to a “Problem” I have. In some ways it is a problem, but yet, I really don’t think it should be.

My “Problem”, I think, is Over-Aspiration. I dream big. The reason it’s a problem is because I can’t do all the “parts” that would allow me to realize some of these dreams. Either because of funding, or skillset, or time. For example, I’d love to make a full length feature film in the Sci-Fi genre. The problem is, I can’t do the writing, the filming, acting out all the parts, scoring the music, editing the filming, funding the production, and whatever else might need to be done. Okay, with enough time and money, maybe I could. But I have neither. And so, the dream rots in the back of my mind.

Now, a smart person would realize these limitations and would seek out the people who could help make things happen. People who also dream big and are willing, able, and ready to invest the time and energy into getting things done. In the past I have been at fault for being on both the ambitious side, and the side that sits back hoping it will all drop into my lap. I have worked with people who I thought had big dreams only to learn too late that they really just wanted to do as little as possible yet still reap big rewards. Sadly, most things don’t work that way.

“You get what you give”.

This simple phrase is so true. It says that, if you put in a big effort, you will get big results. So, while I keep hitting obstacles that prevent me from achieving my big dreams, usually the financial obstacle, I’m still going to try and put in a lot of effort becase I want my big dreams to come true. Planning my future around lottery winnings won’t get me anywhere. I’ve been living in the same box for too long. Chances are you have been too. Because it’s warm and cozy. You know what to expect from day to day. Well I think it’s time to break out, dream big and change the planet!

Education, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Edmonton Boudoir Photographers, Edmonton Glamour Photographers, Edmonton Photographers, Edmonton Portrait Photographers, Edmonton Wedding Photographers, Landscape
30 Day Blogathon // Day 5 // Failure // Edmonton Photographers

Jan 11th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

Today I’d like to draw your attention to the subject of failure. If you take a look at my 365 project page at http://asthingschange.wordpress.com you’ll see I consider todays image a failure. Well, I had taken two photos, slightly different exposures. I had taken ONLY the two photos. I thought I had the shot I wanted. Well, the story is told there.

You will often here people say “oh you’re such a talented photographer”. Or maybe you’re the one saying it about someone else. But what a lot of people don’t realize is, that while I may have taken two photos and only chosen one, this is NOT the norm. When a photographer does a session they might do dozens or even hundreds of photos of his/her subject, only to choose one final image. All those other photos are, technically, failures. They didn’t make the cut. They were not good enough.

Except, photographers don’t really look at all those images as failures. They’ll look at one and say “that didn’t work”. Then they’ll look at another and say “that didn’t work, but I do like how your arms are”. Then they’ll look at another and say “that one really didn’t work, your facial expression is all wrong!”. They will eventually fine tune things until they get what they want. And then what do they do? They start all over again with a new pose, maybe a new location, possibly even new clothes or a whole new person. And they start to fail all over again. On purpose! Only next time they might start off a bit better and need to take fewer photos to get what they want. Maybe.

Why don’t photographers see these as failures? Because they love what they do and they know that eventually, they will succeed.

So the next time you find yourself looking at something you did and you catch yourself referring to it as a failure, stop. Look at it and say “well, that didn’t work” and try again.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

I’ve had a couple talk to me about submitting photos for my editing video series but so far no one has actually sent anything. So, I’ll keep posting a call for images until someone sends one. So, if you have an image you’d like to see edited, send it to dwilson@secondsightstudio.com

How did you like today’s post? If you found it informative or helpful, please leave a comment.

Side note: For some odd reason the sidebar menu is now working. Most odd.

Education, General
30 Day Blogathon // Day 4 // Edmonton Photographers // A Bit Late

Jan 10th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

Okay, so I’m writing this one the morning after I should have done it. But I was in a lot of pain due to some sort of shoulder injury so wasn’t really interested in spending time hunched over my keyboard typing.

It’s better today so I’m just going to fire off a short post to let you all know that a couple of the new features coming to the web site is a sort of Tips and Tricks section for photographers and an ideas and thoughts section for clients and brides and grooms to be.

Tips and Tricks – This section is generally for photograpgers or photo enthusiasts. I’m not sure well this section will go over but I know there are fair number of new photographers who could benefit from some of the information I might post here. Mainly it will be a place to link to the educational videos I’m looking to produce. This section will be found under the Extras menu.

Thoughts and Ideas – This section will cover things that clients might need to consider when preparing for their portrait sessions or for brides and grooms to learn about what they can do make their wedding result in the most beautiful photos and memories possible. This section will be found under the weddings and portrait menus.

If anyone has any ideas on what to put in these sections, please let us know. Your insights make us better!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!!!!

I’m still looking for submissions to my photo editing video series. If you want to see your photo edited by me, please send it to dwilson@secondsightstudio.com

Education, General, Portrait Photography, Wedding Photography
30 Day Blogathon // Day 3 // Edmonton Photographers // Progress

Jan 9th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

You may have noticed that a bunch of links in the menu have moved around and a couple might not be working yet. We are just finalizing our pricing structure and I’m working to get the web site a bit more streamlined so that all the info is as readily available as possible. I’m still at a loss for why our right hand sidebar menu isn’t where it should be.

So anyway, we hung out in the studio and got many things finalized. Mel is now revamping our documentation and I’m breaking the website. We expect to have everything done in the next day or two.

Since we were in the studio, we also did a few fun photos that you can see on our Facebook page! They’re nothing super special, we were just goofing around.

That’s all for tonight! See you tomorrow!

CALL FOR SUBMISSION!

I’ve had an idea that I want to gauge interest in. I’m thinking of doing photo editing videos but I want to edit YOUR photos and show you want I would do to edit them. If anyone thinks this is a grand idea, comment below and then send me a photo you want me to edit to dwilson@secondsightstudio.com. Whenever possible, send me your RAW file. If you don’t shoot RAW (you really should) then send me your largest .jpg file. If there are any problems sending me your photo, let me know and I’ll set up a drop box folder for you!

Education, General, Tips
30 day blogathon Day 2 // The Power of the Positive

Jan 8th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

Drowning in Life

I am here today to announce that of the many things I’m working on this year, an increase in positive thinking is probably the biggest of them all. And so far it’s working pretty good!

We now have access to a studio for pretty much anything we might need it for. I am experiencing less back pain (though not totally gone). And as I stated yesterday, I’ve been inspire by two creative guys, Richard Radstone and Jeff Harris (www.richardradstoneblog.com and http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/03/jeff-harris-self-portraits/ respectively).

Tonight I rewatched The Secret and am still amazed at how much it inspires me to change my thinking for the better! It’s possible some readers might think that such a thing is foolish to believe, but I say, what’s the harm in trying? If it works, GREAT!!! If not, well, at least I won’t be such a negative nitwit anymore! That alone is worth the effort!!! And yes, I do use a lot of these!!!!!!!!! Deal with it! I like them!

So I challenge anyone reading this, try hard to have only positive thoughts about everything in your life. If it’s something you don’t particularly like but you currently need right now (such as you job), at least be grateful you have it!

I also challenge all of you to please leave me a comment and tell me what your dream is. What do you want to be when you grow up!? Click the spot above that indicates how many comments there are!

asides

Edmonton Photographers, portrait photography Edmonton Second Sight Studio, Self portrait
January 6th // Progress updates // Edmonton Photographers

Jan 6th 2012

By: Dave Wilson

No comments

Stuffed Iguana

Wow…Doing so much these days. You would think that getting rid of our greeting page would be a simple matter. Sadly, not so much. If all I did was get rid of it, the internets wouldn’t know what to do from there and so you would end up with a page not found error. With the old way of doing things I would have simply moved the pile of files and folders that make up the web site to a new location and it would have all worked. These days though, the blog is all database managed and is very particular about where things are located. So, while I have most things moved alright, for some reason, all the individual image postings have failed to bring over the proper thumbnails. Not sure why, but clicking the image does bring up the image! If I can figure out how to fix that I will, but it’s moving to a lower priority at the moment.

I would also like to promote a couple new changes/features/things-we’re-doing.

1) We ARE still doing boudoir photography but we’ve taken that away from the main site as some people can be sensetive about such things. I’ve worked out with WordPress.com to open a mature blog at http://beautyandform.wordpress.com which I’ll be working on over the next few weeks. Also, in cooperation with Studio Four Twelve, we are holding a Valentine’s Day Boudoir Marathon on february 4th! Check out the info at https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/247249702010300/

2) I have once again undertaken a 365 photo project. You can see it at asthingschange.wordpress.com and I truly hope this will grow throughout the year and will reflect my growth as it does.

3) I am going to attempt a blog post a day, right here, for 30 days. So roughly from now until February 6th I will make one blog entry every day. The goal is to get more fibre in the process. To be more regular. I’d ask that if you like what you’re reading, please support me by commenting!

4) I was also inspired by a video I saw (http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/03/jeff-harris-self-portraits/) to do a self portrait every day. I’m not putting any limits or restrictions on this, and I’m also not limiting it to self portraits but instead , just photos of me. If I miss a day, so what. If someone else takes the picture, so what. You can view these on my facebook page at www.facebook.com/Durghan

5) I am still determined to make my One Edmonton Summer Project happen (www.oneedmontonsummer.com and www.facebook.com/oneedmontonsummer). And now that I’ve found Richard Radstone’s blog (http://richardradstoneblog.com/365-2/) I have an example of what I want at least some of the content to be like.

So yes, have a lot of things on the go but none are more important than the work we do for our lovely clients! While our focus is on portraits and weddings, we are all about great photos in general and are always open to photographing anything you need! Just give us a holler or e-mail us from our Contact page!

Much peace and love! Cheers!

General
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