Living a Stoked Life

Posted on by
Reply

On January 1st, I got to take my board out for a little stroll.  Bring in the new year right.  I had not been on my board but a couple of times since the Adrenalina marathon back in November.  While competing in Adrenalina, I pulled a calf muscle in my push leg, and it just took way too long for it to heal.  After my two-month lull in riding, I had a good day, made some shots, and even shared my board with a cool Snoopy (see photo at bottom, click any image to enlarge).

Now that my leg has healed up, it’s time to get stoked about riding.  Last weekend I attended an event called King of Clermont.  This was a two-day event that featured a gnarl, slide, biggest air, and downhill racing competition.  This was the perfect way to get excited about riding again.

Being that I am a noobie to the sport, I just sat back, observed, checked out the vendors, and took lots of shots.  I am amazed at what these guys can do on a longboard.  I’m doing good just going straight and keeping my balance. One of the vendors showing off their products was  Earth Longboards.  It’s a new company out of Charlotte that use bamboo to make the boards that was oh, so  nice!  I did get a chance to take one for a spin and really liked the feel under my feet.  *Just a note to Earth Longboards.  I’m a commercial photographer, so feel free to look me up.  I’ll work with you for your product shots.  Here was a blog I did on how I got into longboarding and used my photography with the sport ~ Push Culture.

This is one of the vendors that would clean your bearings and tighten up your loose nuts.

The event started off with the gnarl event, which I don’t even know what that is, but it was cool seeing these guys show off their skills.  As a spectator, you want to see the skaters pull off the coolest tricks.

On the other side of that, you also get the bonus of watching the crash-n-burns.

When you eat the asphalt, it’s a good thing when you can get up, brush yourself off, and walk away with a smile (while the crowd claps and cheers in the background).  This is a good time to say, wear your helmet and pads!!!!  Protective gear is your friend.

After all the gnarly stuff, it was time for the biggest air.  That’s when you launch off the ramp (kicker) and just see how far you go.

One of the guys that got the biggest air is Brian Bishop–he skates for Original Skateboards.   Brian is a kick-ass, cool guy that has been featured in Concrete Wave magazine and is posted all over the web.  If you get a chance, look him up on YouTube.

After the big air comp came time for the slide jam.  They called it kick-the-can.  Not only would you try to slide the furthest, but with control.  It was apparent that controlling a board while sliding was difficult.  The object of kick-the-can was to slide into a small cone.  Each time the cone was hit, it was moved about 5 more feet.  This was really cool to watch.  Since I am a noobie, I tried to really observe the skaters’ techniques.  Sliding is one of the things I’m working on.  For me, sliding is harder than it looks.    These guys make it look to easy.  The winner of Kick-the-Can was Jonas Richter.  Jonas was all the way here from Curitiba, Brazil.  That concluded day one of festivities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Day 2 ~ Race Day!

Speed and wipe outs!  The thrill for speed, the thirst for victory.  There were close to 200 participants in several different categories and age ranges.  It was great to see this stuff up close and personal.  Hay bales line the “danger zones” for those who did happen to wipe out.  Grass in the air was always a crowd-pleaser.  Since I am a photographer, I’m always trying to shoot in artistic ways.  One way that I shoot for action sports is that I drag the shutter on my camera.  This means that a slow shutter speed, while panning the camera with the action, would blur the background and keep the action in focus.  After capture, in some of the images, I would just use color as my main focus and drop the background to black and white.  I am primarily a portrait photographer, so I tend to focus more on people in an environment.

To get to the top of the hill, the race coordinators had a U-haul.  The skaters would pack into this truck like sardines and be hauled up to the top.  Let the adrenalin start pumping.  It was fun watching the riders’ techniques.  While coming around the “danger zone,” you would see them get loose.  Some would recover, and some would, yup, wipe out.

It was awesome to see so many people with still cameras and video cameras.  I am really digging the footage from the GoPro cameras.  I can see many uses for one.

Now for some wipe outs.  This one guy just got all tripped up, literally.  If you notice the guy with the blue broom sweeping the hay out of the road, the skater coming in at high speeds never knew what was hidden in the hay until it was too late.  The skater hit the broom and was all tripped up and slammed hard.  If you see between his arm and body, you can still see the blue broom still in place. Ouch.

Look at the face of the guy with the broom.  That is a oh, s***t what did I do look.

There were people from all over North America and a handful from South America.  This addictive sport is growing very fast.  I had an awesome time and everyone was nice and friendly.  Thanks for the stoke!

I now see how the longboarder is living a stoked life.

A cool Snoopy.

Moab

Posted on by
Reply

chinle portfolio

Featuring the Ice Nine Portfolio by Case Envy

I was thinking about a new way to showcase my work.  I am tired of the boring, old fashion portfolios with the acetate pages that glare.  I also wanted to be in more control of the look of my images.  Since I love to print with my Epson printer and have read good reviews about the Moab chinle portfolio, I thought I would give it a try.

The Moab chinle portfolio kits come in two sizes, 8×9 inches and 12×13 inches.  Since I wanted to try the portfolio kit, I ordered the small kit with an extra box of paper.  The kits come complete with the Ice Nine Portfolio by Case Envy, 10 sheets of Moab lasal photo matte 235gsm double sided ink jet paper (scored and drilled) and all the hardware for assembly.

Some of the features of the chinle portfolio are

  • Award winning design by Case envy
  • Stylish, translucent flexible grey cover
  • Simple, expandable screwpost assembly
  • Lightweight yet durable
  • Available with your favorite Moab papers

I had never seen one of the portfolios in person, but I have used the Moab paper before and really liked it.  Because of Moab and Case Envy‘s quality, I had high expectations about the products.  When I received them in the mail, my expectations were met.  The portfolio cover is a nice translucent shade of grey.  The binding is rubber and plastic and assembles with aluminum screws and posts, which are expandable if needed.   The paper is Moab‘s lasal photo matte, which is also a really nice rag paper.  If you need extra paper, don’t worry, because you can get a box of paper with 25 sheets already scored and drilled.

Now I’m ready to print!  I have used Moab‘s Entrada paper before, but now I want to really get to know the lasal paper.  I still use an older Epson 2200 printer, but I have updated the printer with Jon Cone’s Edition K3 inks.

I have all my images that I will use ready to go.  I turned on my printer and did a head cleaning.  I usually clean the heads when the printer sits up for longer than 2 weeks without use, especially with third party inks.  I opened my first image in Photoshop.  The lasal paper is 8×9, but the printing area is only 8×8, so I size my image accordingly.  I went to print and opened the print diver.  The driver did not offer the size paper I needed, so I made a custom size.  Here is where I ran into a little problem.  When I tried to print with the custom size, it would only pull the paper in from the roll feeder.  I needed the paper to be pulled from the sheet feeder.  After about an hour of frustration with the driver, I decided to fool the printer.  I just set it up as a 8.5×11 page and used margins to center the image onto the paper.  This worked!  But, here is a shot of my first print.

The print heads needed to be cleaned again.  Plus, the image was not lined up correctly.  I cleaned my head a few more times, and then played around with lining up my image.  I am so glad I got an extra box of paper.  Here is a shot of my notes.  I would write down my measurements on the prints.  It took several, but I finally got it right.  As you can see my print heads were still clogged at this point.

Now that I have everything working, I printed out all my images.  I let them set overnight before I put the portfolio together (as recommended by manufacturer).  I have 10 pages with 19 images and my logo printed on the front page.

 

Once you have all your pages in order, just sandwich them together with the portfolio covers and use the post and screws to put them together.  The assembly is very simple and quick.  When all assembled, you end up with a modern-looking portfolio that’s elegant to present.

 

Here is my final outcome.  A very pleasing portfolio to present.  The prints on the Moab lasal paper are sharp, vivid, and just stunning.

 

 

 

Here you can see how the portfolio is bound and also how the paper is scored.  At first, the pages with the scored area are a little stiff, but with some use the pages turn more easily.

 

 

Here is just another angle of the binding.

 

 

 

I really like the look and feel of the Moab lasal paper.  It has a good thickness and is double-sided.  I think if I print another portfolio, I will end with a blank back page or place my information small at the bottom.

 

 

As you can see the binding covers some of the image.  That’s why I think a blank page will work best.  Or, maybe get creative and add a velum or some sort of Japanese molded paper.

 

 

The finished portfolio is very nice and lightweight.  At only 8×9 inches, it is very easy to carry with you when you meet clients or socialize at a networking event.  I highly recommend the Moab chinle portfilio or any of the Case Envy products, which are designed by Lost Luggage.

For more information on the products, check out their websites

 

Push Culture

Posted on by
1

Click on any image to see an enlargement.

One day I was out on the front porch and saw a guy on a longboard being pulled by his black lab.  I thought, “How cool is that, I would like to do that.”  As time passed, I would see the speeding duo rolling around the neighborhood, and I would tell myself I need to look into longboarding.

I have been into mountain biking and whitewater kayaking for about 15 years.  Since my move to Florida, I stopped those activities for lack of mountains and whitewater.  I finally decided I wanted to get a longboard and start skating around the neighborhood, as this would be good exercise since I was not doing biking or paddling.  I started to do research on boards and found out they are made of many different materials.  Bamboo really jumped out at me, and I liked what I was reading about boards made from bamboo.  Since my girlfriend is a environmentally conscious person, I decided this was a good choice to look into further.  After more research and a few e-mails from board manufacturers, I found out that bamboo boards have a very large carbon footprint, since almost all bamboo comes from China.  This would really offset the production of being sustainable, since the two major materials used, maple and bamboo, would generally come out with the same carbon footprint for a finished product made overseas.

I then decided to reduce the footprint by going with North American maple and not a mass produced board from overseas.  I narrowed my choices down to a few large companies and one small company.  All the big companies had really fancy websites with very good photography.  Since I am a photographer, I thought I would go with the small company and offer my photographic services.  I emailed www.jatiboards.com and was able to get a custom-made board from them.  I told Jati I would photograph the board when I received it and would share the photos.  I got my board in the mail about 3 weeks after I ordered it.

I wanted to keep my money here in the States as much as possible.  I researched the parts for the board and came up with almost all USA-made parts.  The trucks and wheels are made in America.  The ball bearings and the housings are made here.  The Oust retainer ring with assemble is made somewhere else.  I emailed Oust with the question: Where are they assembled?  I received a personal call from the owner of the company, he was pretty cool, and we talked for about a half an hour.  He told me they have proprietary bearing covers and assembly, so he could not tell me where the assembly takes place.  He did assure me that it was not overseas (Asian market).  After the conversation, my conclusion is that the bearings are not assembled in Asia, but I’m going out on a limb to say maybe it’s a neighbor to the south or north, just an assumption.  After the long talk, Oust will be coming out with some new products.  I was told these items will be longboards, trucks, and bushings.  I can’t wait to see them.  I highly recommend the Oust bearings.

So now, on with the photography.  I sketched out my ideas and lighting diagrams.  I decided I would just keep it simple and use a black background.  My board is custom made and does not have an actual production name.  Jati’s boards all have a Japanese-style name.  When I asked Jati what my board name would be he said maybe “Mumei,” which means nameless, unknown,  and obscure, or “Tokumei,” which means anonymous.  I like the thought of being anonymous, so I stuck with Tokumei.

I set up a simple, black background with one light, then two lights, then three lights.  I had the board in a vise attached to a coffee table.  I played around with the lighting and board angles.  I photographed the images that I had sketched out and had some extra fun playing around with other ideas that came to mind during the photo shoot.  Now to download all my images, bring them into Lightroom, organize, and start putting an ad together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to show my creative side, so after working on the board shots, I wanted to photograph the other parts and do something creative with them.

 

 

I shot the other skate parts on a white background to keep them clean and be able to see the detail in the product.  I then extracted the product from the white background and dropped it into a new background.  See images below.

 

 

The parts are Randal RII 180′s, Bustin Swift Freeride 77mm 82a wheels, and Oust Moc 9 AIRR... bearings.  I have links to the manufacturers below.

 

 

I recently photographed a graffiti event in Ft. Lauderdale.  I thought  those images would be great as backgrounds for my skate products.

These are the final, self-promotional pieces that I came up with.  The one on the left shows the full product in an ad.  The one on the right shows the mystery of what’s to come with little visual access to the product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on any image to see an enlargement. 

I have had so much fun photographing the products.  Jati Boards really liked the images and self-promotional pieces I presented. Jati said he wants to work with me in the near future.

I have a personal goal now.  To finish a 26.2 mile skateboard marathon.  November 5th is the Adrenalina skateboard marathon in Hallandale Beach, Florida.  I am in training and have all the confidence that I can complete the race. While training, I met a guy that has much experience with these types of races.  He liked my board set up, but advised me on some new bushings for my trucks.  His picks were Venom Bushings or Orangatang Nipples.  I went with the Orangatangs, because they use some of the best urethane on the market.  Here are some shots with the stock bushings,  the Orangatang Nipples bushings, and then with the new bushings installed.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to share my first longboarding video with you.  It’s action-packed, full of drama and wildlife spottings, and, of course, a crash-n-burn.  Enjoy!

Parts list

Here are some more images to leave you with.


Olympus VR-320

Posted on by
Reply

I recently went to South America for an international biodiversity conference.  Before the trip I decided that I wanted a small point and shoot camera that also recorded video.  I am a solid Canon shooter, but really liked the specs and reviews I read on the Olympus VR-320.  So, I decided to jump outside the box and take a chance with another manufacturer.  My main purpose for a small P&S camera was to always be ready with a camera, especially when my DSLR’s were in the backpack.  I also thought it would be good after the trip so that I could always have a camera with me when I didn’t need the bulk of my DSLR’s.

At first sight, I noticed the Olympus VR-320 had a more attractive design style than the competition.  The front of the body has a nice elegant contour with a raised, molded grip for better handling, while the back is clean with just a few buttons for easy access to the main functions.  There is a large, 3″ LCD for composing and viewing your images.  The screen display is only 230K dots, which is low for a 2011 model camera and makes it hard to see out in the bright sunlight.  But, the quality of the image is a little more important than the LCD screen.  Another notable point about the camera is that it has an all metal body, which makes it very durable.

When I unpacked this camera I had to go straight outside to test it.  I really like the way it feels in my hand.  It’s very easy to hold, you don’t have to squeeze it, and it does not feel like your going to drop it.  I set the camera up with all the top quality functions (large resolution, low ISO, image stabilizer on) and started to shoot.  All of my shots were a little dark and blurry.  I also had no creative control over the camera settings.  My first thought was to step back and think.  When I have my DSLR camera in hand, I have to be in control.  I shoot most of the time in M (manual mode) and sometimes shoot in A (aperture priority).  I know my equipment and know how to compensate for different lighting situations based on my meter.  With the new camera I felt like I totally lost control, and I did.  So now I have to figure out this new tool.  I asked myself a question:  How can I make my vision work with this equipment when I have no control?

Now to answer my own question.  I have a little control when the camera is set in P mode.  I can change the ISO, turn the flash on or off, set the macro mode, frame rate, white balance, and exposure compensation.  The first thing I tried was to changed the ISO and that helped out a lot.  Then I noticed it was over exposing in bright areas.  I changed the exposure compensation to -.07.  After playing with settings and shooting, I noticed the camera does tend to overexpose.  To solve that, I left the exposure compensation under -.07 all the time.

I really like the 24mm wide angle this compact offers.  The zoom feature is 12.5x, which in 35mm equivalent is 24-300mm.  In theory, it’s nice to have that in the palm of your hand.  In reality, when the camera is set to P mode, anything past about 125mm gets a little soft, anything around 150 and beyond gets a little blurry.  Olympus claims dual stabilization for this camera.  How that works is when you are shooting on scene mode or iAuto mode, the camera uses the sensor shift with a combination of a higher ISO to  achieve a sharp image.  When shooting video with the stabilization off, the video has a quality that might make a person motion sick, but offers a little more stability when turned on.  For me, the image stabilization is one of the weakest points for this camera.

For the solution of soft or blurry images, I purchased a modopocket by Manfrotto.  This little table top camera stand is pretty cool.  I like to shoot from different angles, and this table top camera stand helps me do just that.  When I walk around, I can find just about anything to set it on.  Here in this picture, you can see that I have it on a rock.  I was shooting some waterfall landscapes with a little video.  The modopocket attaches nicely to the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera and folds up flat out of the way.  I also found that when I keep it open I can hold the camera more steady.  I highly recommend this little accessory for the photo enthusiast.

Here are a couple of examples of the zoom capability.  The first is the 24mm wide angle.  The second is using the 12.5x zoomed to the full 300mm.  You can see how powerful the zoom capability is by looking at the florescent green shack in the center of the picture.  It’s really nice and handy to have this much flexibility for the zoom range.  And yes, I was using the modopocket set on a handrail.

A little quirk about this camera is that the white balance seems to be inconsistent for me.  In my example of the owl, you can see the first image is a little blue.  The white feathers of the owl and the gray rocks in the background have that bluish tint.  I used Lightroom to warm up the second image of the owl.  You can see the white feathers are white and the gray wall is gray.

I have noticed that you can take 4 shots in a row, and each one will be a different hue.  This is easily fixable in Photoshop or Lightroom.  If you get your images printed, the lab will color correct the images for you.  BUT, I have to say that probably 99% of the consumers who buy these types of cameras will never notice the difference.

I have to confess.  I am a control freak.  With my DSLR’s I shoot RAW format.  With this camera the only option is JPEG.  Shooting in RAW, you have more control over the entire image than with JPEG.  In these examples below I did tweek the files, but I can only tweek a little, because overworking an image will give you a bad-looking image that looks, well, overworked.  In the graffiti wall below, I added a little saturation, contrast, and changed the color balance.  The original looked plain, but with these minor changes, the picture really pops with the texture and cracks in the wall.

In this example of the basilica, I added a little blue in the sky and opened up the shadows so you could see the green in the trees.  I like to be in control of my images, and the JPEG format leaves just a narrow path to work in since the file is already compressed.

Here is a front of a cathedral.  You can see how detailed the architecture is and how well the camera captured it.  The sensor used in this compact is a 14 mega pixel CCD.  I think the detail is pretty good in well exposed images.  Usually in these small cameras the less pixels crammed onto a little sensor like this one will often have better image quality for higher ISO images.  It’s almost like a trade off, more detail or higher ISO performance.  I do like the detail though.

I took this image and converted it to B&W and added a little contrast.

I have spoken to groups about photography and led photo tours.  I give private photography lessons.  The number one question I get is, “How do I get my stuff to look like that, I don’t have a expensive camera.”  My answer is always the same, “Know your tools.”  If you know the limitations of your gear, then you know how to make it work for your vision.  Practice this vision and practice with your tools.  You will only get better with your craft.  I pushed the limits of this point and shoot camera to get my vision without having an expensive camera, just to prove that it can be done.

The strongest feature of this camera is the macro capability.  There are two settings for this, macro and super macro.  The distance from the subject with macro setting is .2 meters.  The super macro setting is 1 centimeter.  This is amazing and opens up many new possibilities.  This camera has one of the closest focusing macro settings for  compact point and shoot cameras.  Flowering in the rain forrest of Ecuador are these beautiful orchids.  The size of the orchid in this example is about 1/2 inch in length.  As you can see, there is plenty of magnification to see the finest detail of the flower.  I was about 2 inches away when I took the picture.

I wanted to get even closer.  In this next example, I am about a half an inch from the center of the flower.  This photo is very sharp with plenty of detail in the petals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the super macro setting gets as close as 1 centimeter, I wanted to see how close that actually is.  In this example, the rare orchid is smaller than a pencil eraser.  Since it was so small, I could not get as close as I wanted, but it still did a very good job of magnifying the orchid.  With the way the light was shining with the super macro setting, you can see distortion around the edges.  The distortion is really noticeable in the highlights and water droplets.  Overall, the macro setting is by far the best feature of this camera.

Here is the inside of another flower.

I wanted a little camera that also records video.  This Olympus offers 720p HD.  I thought now would be a good time to learn a little video, since it is getting more popular.  My short video example is of two clips merged together.  I am a MAC user, so I edited the video with iDVD.  This short clip took me about three hours to figure out.  Now that I know how to use the software, maybe my next video will go much smoother.  I shot about 30 clips, and I have to say it was a challenge.  After opening them up on the computer I was not very happy with them.  When recording video in macro mode the focus keep going in and out.  I need much more practice learning the video side of photography.

After you learn what all the settings do, this camera is easy to use.  It’s small, lightweight, cool looking, and does a fine job at recording the light.  After all, that’s what we photographers are chasing–light.  I highly recommend this camera.  Retail is $199, but I have seen it with online sales for as low as $149.  So if your in the market for a point and shoot, consider the Olympus VR-320.

CG Jewelry Shoot

Posted on by
Reply

CG Jewelry shoot July 26, 2010

My blog and photos look best if viewed using the Firefox browser.

From time to time I will check out Craigslist.org to see what is available in my area for photo gigs or events.  Sometimes I can find a good job to check out.  I recently responded to a post for a fashion intern.  I like to respond to posts that are not directly photography related, but could use photography at some point.  I respond to these type of posts because most of the photography jobs listed are for trade of pictures and are not actual paying jobs.  The post I replied to turned out to be a jewelry maker from Coconut Grove (Miami), WWW.CECILIAGONZALES.COM.  She replied back excited about a collaboration project for her jewelry.  After a couple of e-mails, we set up a date for a photo shoot.  (You can click on any image to enlarge)

After arriving at her location, I got a tour of the studio.  From there, I decided upon what equipment to use.   Cecilia had a large, white, vinyl window shade that was perfect for the background.  I thought that a high-key style lighting set-up would be great for the look that Cecilia wanted to show.

The space I was working in was about twelve foot by ten foot.  I wanted to light the background with my umbrellas, but because of the space limitations, I used my Creative Light softbox strips.  I used two strips for the background, one on each side of the subject.  For my main light I used the Creative Light softbox 3′ Octa just above the camera position with a 42″ silver reflector under the camera position.  My power came from two Profoto power packs.  The background was lit with a Profoto Acute1200 with two D4 heads and the main was run with the Profoto Acute600B with the AcuteB head.

You can see my Creative Light softboxes. Strips in the back, the Octa in the front.

You can see my Creative Light softboxes. Strips in the back, the Octa in the front.

I always meter my lights.  I use an old Sekonic508L light meter.  My target range for my subject that I decided on would be around F/8.  I set up the meter for ISO 100 and started checking my exposure.  I got the background exposed for F/11, and I got my subject metered for F/9, close to my target range of F/8.  I overexposed the background a little so I would have a nice, clean, white background.  To trigger my lights, I used all pocket wizard radio slaves.  I used the Mini TT1 on camera, the Plus II Transceiver on the Profoto Acute1200, and the built in PW receiver on the Profoto Acute600B.

Now it’s time to start shoot’n.  The first frame that I shot included my X-Rite Color Checker Passport.  The Passport helps with the white balance of the photo.  You can color correct the photo by using the eyedropper tool in Photoshop or Lightroom and clicking on the neutral grey color patch on the Passport. One of the more useful tools of the Color Checker Passport is the software that it comes with.  The software is a plug-in for Lightroom.  I will download all my images into Lightroom, then pick the frame that has the Color Checker Passport included.  Then I export this file with the Passport plug-in, because it automatically builds a camera profile for the camera and lens combination, and stores the profile under the Camera Calibration category in Lightroom.  This helps use the full tonal range of the camera, plus syncs up all the photos in one easy click.  This really streamlines the workflow.

Before and After calibration

Before and After calibration

You can see the difference in the before and after image with the Color Checker Passport.  Notice the difference in the tonal range and clarity.  The one on the left is straight out of the camera.  The one on the right has had the camera calibration added.  You see the eyes are brighter, the skin is warmer, and the Passport’s color targets have more contrast and tonal range.  The Passport is a very useful tool.

Before and After Calibration

Before and After Calibration

These two images are a before and after calibration.  The one on the left is straight out of the camera.  The one on the right has had the calibration added.  Plus, I did just a very basic clean up with the background, so it looks really white.  I also removed some blemishes, brightened the eyes, softened the skin, and sharpened the jewelry.  I did this to all the photos you see in this post and on my website.  You can see different images from this shoot on my site, WWW.TIMBREASEALE.COM.  Remember you can click on any image to enlarge.

The photo shoot didn’t last very long.  I was there for about four hours.  I set up the equipment the first hour, shot for about two hours, then broke down the equipment the last hour.  I shot close to two hours and rolled out 1003 images.  I had a great time and wonderful hospitality.

I wanted to share the steps that I took for basic lighting set-up and the equipment that I used to capture these images.  I also wanted to share my experience of the photo shoot and pass along some basic information for aspiring photographers.

I created some wonderful images for Cecilia to use for her comp cards and website.  Please check out her work at WWW.CECILIAGONZALES.COM.  She is a very talented artist.  Her jewelry has a very organic and natural feel and can complement any occasion.

I would like to thank Cecilia for an excellent opportunity to photograph her jewelry.  I would also like to thank our models, Ashlee and Madelyn, for doing an excellent job working the looks.  Thanks again for a successful photo shoot.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you enjoyed!

Environmental Impact

Posted on by
Reply

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

I have been working with an individual who is trying to make people aware of their environment and conservation through visual impact.  Do you know what happens to your garbage?  Do you know what happens to your paper once you place it in the trash can?  Do you know what happens to your plastic that you recycle? Do you know what happens to Styrofoam after you bring home take-out food and throw it away?  Do you know what happens to your CRT television once you get that new plasma, and you leave your old TV out for the trash pick-up?  Do you know what happens to household chemicals that don’t get placed in recycling?  All these are questions that most people don’t think about, but are important to understand.

The organization that I have donated my time to is aLEAFproject.com which stands for Living with Ecological Awareness in Florida.  Kimberly (the director, creator and also my partner) is out on a mission to educate South Florida about healthier living in a cleaner, sustainable environment while using visual impact.  We have worked together at several locations gathering pictorial information, as well as information on the processes that waste and recycled materials go through.  This will be an ongoing project starting in South Florida and expanding throughout the state.  We have been to 4 facilities, lectures, and events over the past few months to gather information to be able to launch aLEAFproject.com.  The website is still in its infancy stage, but is growing rapidly.

One of the first events we attended was for household hazardous waste and electronics recycling.  As a participant, you had to check in to show that you were a resident, then drive to the designated drop-off area.  These areas were divided into specific zones.  These zones contained materials like used motor oil, household chemicals, paint, tires, vehicle batteries, pressurized gas bottles, and electronics.  It’s set up where you don’t even have to get out of your car.  All of these items would then be recycled properly.  The electronics were recycled in a way that volunteers would take the computers and television sets, refurbish them, then donate the items to special needs children and the elderly.  Recycling like this is good because if you leave these items out on the curb for regular trash the hazardous materials seeps into the ground and get washed away into the water system.  You also help out others that might not be able to afford a computer or TV.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

The first event was a special community drive, and they hold events like these at various locations throughout Broward County.  The second destination we attended was the county drop-off location.  They except all of the same items but on a larger scale.  The house paint that is recycled goes to a processing plant that is remixed into specific colors.  These colors are home owner association-specific and free to anyone that wants to paint their house to the HOA codes.  They told us that something like only 5% of the county population recycle thier electronics and hazardous waste.  That makes you think, where does it all go then?  That’s a really good question that I don’t have an answer to.  I’m sure the answer to that question would not end on a positive note.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

The third destination was the Wheelabrator waste-to-energy facility.  Wheelabrator is operated by the Waste Management company.  This place was really cool, because it was a giant incinerator.  Seeing the boiler and the grates reminded me of where my dad worked at the saw mill, but on a much larger scale.  Wheelabrator incinerates the trash into energy.  The energy created is sold to Florida Power and Light and feeds into the state’s electrical grid.  This helps keep the cost of kilowatts down for the consumer, which means a lower power bill.  This process takes waste that would normally sit in a landfill for years and years, and gives the waste a new life.  The ash is then taken to a fill.  Many of the “hills” you see in South Florida are ash piles or garbage landfills, some from Waste Management.  That’s what they call mountains down here.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

The vulture is a migratory bird.  They are scavengers that help clean the environment by eating dead animals.  They are often spotted flying in what looks like a figure eight pattern called a kettle.  This is how they search for food and is part of their play time.  You might find them around the landfills, like the vulture in the picture above.  The vulture plays an important role in nature’s waste management–so when you see one, be thankful for the job they do.

The fourth place we visited was the Reuter Disposal and Processing Center.  What they do is to separate the paper, aluminum, plastic, and glass that is collected for recycling.  After they separate the materials, they are bundled, then sold to another recycling company.  These other companies take the bundled materials and make new products with them.  These new products find their way back to the stores then back to your home.  It’s good to practice the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

We toured these facilities, took plenty of photographs, and interviewed some of the workers in hope to better understand the behind-the-scenes of everyday trash.  aLEAFproject.com is committed to bringing environmental information to the average person.  There are also more topics that will be added to the project like healthier living, finding fresh veggies from local farmers, and reducing your paw print.

My role working with aLEAFproject.com as the photographer is to help educate the public through interesting and engaging photos.  I try to show things in a different way or with a new perspective whenever possible.  To read more in depth about the facilities and Living with Ecological Awareness in Florida please check out aLEAFproject.com.  Thank you.

If we all work together we can make a change in our environment.

July 2, 2010

Posted on by
Reply

Hollywood, Florida

From time to time, I get all caught up with work for others, and I don’t spend time on my own photography.  Back on July 2nd, I took a walk on the Hollywood Beach boardwalk to just enjoy the sun, take my own pictures, enjoy a day off from work, and clear my head.  I am primarily a portrait photographer, but I have deep roots for black & white and artistic photos.  This was the purpose of the walk–to feel free, to create my own imagery.

While in college, all I shot with was black & white film.  I would buy bulk rolls of 100′ 35mm film with ISO specific canisters and roll my own rolls of film.   I always had plenty of film with me.  I had access to the darkroom and enlargers at the University, plus I had a make-shift darkroom in my closet at my apartment where I lived.  I loved being in the darkroom and processing my film, then printing the photos.  I shot black & white for a good 4 years (1994-1998) until I graduated.  After graduation, I got a job photographing high school seniors.  That was where I started shooting in color, which was medium format film.

I continued after graduation to shoot and develop B&W myself up until 2003.  In 2000, I got my first point-and-shoot digital.  In 2001, I got access to my first digital SLR.  My darkroom days started fading between 2001 and 2003.  The “digital darkroom” started to consume my taste buds.

Being able to sit down and print in color or B&W with one printer is really nice.  The quality of the color prints from my inkjet printer look better than what I could get from a professional lab.  Up until 2003 or so, the B&W prints (printed with an inkjet printer) still had a slight purple tint to them, but were still very good.  To date, the inkjet printers for B&W are up to par or surpass that of traditional silver halide printing.  You can acquire a dedicated set of black inks for archival printing that will last well past a hundred years.  I still miss the traditional analog darkroom, but the digital darkroom is here to stay with me now.  It’s better for the environment and safer for us humans too.

Printing with an inkjet printer is called giclée printing.  Giclée is derived from the French word “le gicleur” meaning “nozzle,” or more specifically, “gicler” meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray.”  In other words, to spray an ink or dye on to a substrate (printing media).  This form of printing can be safer for the environment, because you have an ink that is water soluble and paper that is from a sustainable material like cotton or bamboo.

Now to get back on track.  I went out that day just to relax and to photograph whatever grabbed my attention.  I used to see or think in B&W, and it was all coming back to me.  These pictures inserted through this blog are from my walk.  I had a variety of subject matter all around.  There were not that many people out, so it was nice to just stop in the middle of the path and not be in anyone’s way or have someone else trip over me.  I had a chance to shoot with my creative side, which is when I  think of the final print in B&W or color before I press the shutter button.  I think about my final output when I shoot the scene or subject matter.  It was a nice, bright day with strong, blue skies and puffy, white clouds.  That is the making of a spectacular B&W photo.

I stayed away from my portraiture photography and just focused on my surroundings.  I shot landscapes, details, characters passing by, objects, trees, clouds, and colors, all while I was relaxing.  I had a very enjoyable time walking hand-in-hand with my passion.  My photographs are an extension of my vision, thoughts, and feelings-I am sharing my passion of photography with you, the viewer.  I hope that you can feel what I felt through my photographs.

As anyone knows me, I am from the fire hydrant capital of the world.  It’s hard for me not to notice a Mueller hydrant that is from Albertville, Al.  I just had to end this blog post with a world famous Mueller fire hydrant on Hollywood Beach.  If you would like to see the rest of my shots from my walk click this link–Hollywood, FL.  To look at more of my work check out my portfolio site, timbreaseale.com.

Golf and Photography

Posted on by
Reply

The Masters start today in Augusta, GA (4/8/2010).  All the media attention is on the come back of Tiger Woods.  I thought it would be a nice change to see a short video clip featuring the ladies of the LPGA that was taken last year by Chase Jarvis.  Enjoy!