A Great Photographer: Dan Winters

I stumbled across Dan Winters through David Hobby's blog (a blog more than worthy to follow). I watched this video and one other and decided to go check his stuff out. I viewed his work online and then decided to see if he had any books out. Sure enough I found a book of his work titled "Periodical Photographs." I have since then fallen in love with his creations. As you can see in the video he shoots a lot of big names. However, his work is much different than the run of the mill celeb portraits. These are "hollywood portraits" that are very much deserving of thoughtful consideration and respect. He has done a great job at creating beautiful works which are incredibly deep. I can flip through portraits (even great ones) all day long but as I was flipping through this book I would get sucked into an image and not be able to pull my eyes off the page. It wasn't just one or two photographs that did this to me, it was just about every one in the book with a few exceptions. His pictures aren't 'glam' or 'sex appeal' shots, they are human and sincere. By human, I mean that they don't seem like shiny plastic toys (as they do in most of the magazine shots) but like real people. By sincere, I mean that it seems that you can seemingly catch a glimpse of what this person might actually be like (like them or not). I don't know that I would have been able to say that I had a favorite photographer up to this point but I'm really close to saying Mr. Winters might be it.
Anyhow, enough of my rambling. Go check Dan Winters our yourself and let me know what you think.

On the Look Out

This is an image I captured on the Scott Kelby's 2nd annual Worldwide Photo Walk that went on this summer. I have just dove back into the images to take a second look. This was taken down at Jordan Valley Park in Springfield. I might be posting some more here soon as there were a few that I was pleased with.

Boots (texture)

This is a technique I have been seeing in a lot of places. I was curious about it so I started trying to figure it out. It is not that hard but this is my first attempt. The final image you see here is actually a composite of 4 different images- Eleanor's waist down and then three textures. I am not sure how often I will be using this technique but it was sure fun to play with. I may try it with some portrait or wedding stuff later. Let me know what you think.

The Work after the Work

Before:




After:




This image was created or a friend of mine who wanted to use it on a business card. It is actually the same guy who captured my profile shot. Anyhow, I thought I would use this post to justify the "high" prices of professional photographers by giving a short blurb about the behind the scenes work. I also wanted to "show" what a difference the behind the scenes element makes on the final image with the example above.
A lot of people see the prices of photographers out there and are astounded by them. But, in their defense (and mine of course), there is a lot more going on than the click of a button. When you hire a photographer you are paying for much more than the hours spent with you on that particular day. His work is not done when he hops into his car and drives away. In fact I would say that it has just begun. He will take those 50, 100, or 700 shots back home and then get to work. He will load those images onto the screen and pore over them selecting the best of the best. Obviously the longer the time spent with you, the more images, the more time it will take to weed them down, thus the higher the price. Once he finally narrows the selection (which is for me the hardest part) he will begin the work of post processing. I do love this part of the process almost as much as the time with the camera but it is still work and time spent. Many hours are spent with a glaring screen full of images. Every image has to be dealt with. To be fair there are tools to make this work flow quicker than it use to be. However, like any trade, tools may make things easier but they don't make the work disappear. Finally, after the adjustments/corrections both large and small the photographer achieves a final product which is then put in your hands. Now, many pages can and have been filled with the details of what goes on in these few steps so if you're curious I can point you to some of those books. But, I just wanted to give you a super oversimplified look at how your money is being spent on a lot more than the time you are with the photographer.
I hope that helps. And though you can find cheaper photographers you will many times get what you paid for.

A Little More Foflygen

My Wife's New Blog

My wife just started a new blog. It will be much more than a photo blog but will allow me to make this blog more of a spot for my work photos. Go check it out and make sure to leave some great comments.
Of Pigtails And Dinosaurs