Octopus Ink

Meandering Thoughts on Why I Give Families Hi-Res Digital Files of Their Photos

2009-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

Shortly after this photo, her pearl earring fell into the stream below the bridge, but it wasn't a big deal. This wedding was at the Botanical Gardens in Tilden Park, in East Bay. Many habitats to choose from, and many paths.

November is turning out to be as busy as October. Twenty-Eight (28!!) scheduled sessions, with another pending. A decent chunk of them are referrals. Today I learned a bit more about the mother's club recommendation. Apparently, a mom had posted a question to her mother's club: Does anyone know of a photographer that lets you keep the digital images? And a handful of moms wrote back and recommended me.

I also learned recently, from my sister-in-law who is a new mom, that hospital baby photographers (who work for hospital baby photography companies) run in post-birth, take photos and offer prints only - and then come to your home again to do a session, again to offer prints only. And that you can only order prints then and there - no pondering about it - because they will delete the images right after the session! I am so aghast by this photography practice - the lack of photographer generosity with hi-res digital files. It's one thing for a photographer to protect his/her artistic rights (and even then, I think clients should have affordable access to hi-res images, when they are personal pictures) but a whole different level of unreasonableness when the pictures are apparently meaningless enough to be deleted and Still not given to clients. As if moms with newborns don't have enough on their brains/hands that they have to stress out about spending $100 on whether or not to buy photos.

It's different if say, the photo was of a sperm whale wrestling a giant squid. If I had a hi-res pic of that and just let the hi-res version go to my client (oh say, National Geographic sponsored me) then NG could go and sell that awesome image on posters and mugs and make loads of $$ that I would never see. So, I would want to retain control over where my squid/sperm whale pic goes. But family photos - they aren't going anywhere; they're only valuable to clients. I highly doubt any of my clients will post their photos on stock photo sites to sell, or pitch them to parenting magazines.

Some photographers may argue that photos are the photographer's art work, and that they shouldn't be let go so easily. My pen and ink illustrations I hang on to tightly. Those are very personal To Me, and I feel, took a much more intimate relationship between me, pen and paper to achieve, even when the illustration is for someone else's book. And, the channeling of artistic energies are much more raw - the blood sweat and tears much more palpable, when all there is between me and product is pen and ink; very different from camera, lens and computer. My photos of people are more of a collaboration - the photo would not exist without people subjects. Also, you can make multitudes of copies (digital or paper) of photos as opposed to one original drawing. For these reasons, it's easy for me to let go of photos. Perhaps if I were doing this in darkroom ages, I would think differently.

Family Life in Black and White

2009-11-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

Gray days can make for gloomy colored photos. But they make for fantastic Black and Whites. The cloud-diffused light means no shadows that will obscure details when converted to B&W. The gray sky can be lightened to white, providing a stark backdrop against which stuff really stands out. B&W works best when subjects are wearing black or white, for maximum contrast. Other shades will disappear into gray tones, like the grass.

Why the black border? Hmm. While I like the expanse of white sky, I didn't want the white-ness to overwhelm. The black border only works because there is heavy black within the picture too; otherwise it would be overwhelming. Also, I thought the contrast between the clean, graphic, black frame and the messiness of the family candids balanced each other out. And, it draws attention to the white negative space created by the black shapes.

Why such a thick border? It makes me think of postcards, or posters (strange that I think of both, since the scale is so different). Actually, none of this reasoning happened when I added the border. I just thought it looked interesting, and came up with reasons for this blog post.

'Tis the Season for Family Photos

2009-11-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

A patterned bedspread makes a fun backdrop - using shallow depth of field, the pattern nicely fuzzes away from and towards the camera. Really highlights the baby face.

I don't have enough weekends. Back to back shoots. A huge demand for family holiday photos, and I've gotten to a point where I've stopped advertising on Craigslist. Just a few days ago, a pleased mom recommended me to her local mother's club. The response has been overwhelming. Which is wonderful! I wish I could accommodate everyone, but weekends are finite, and most people don't have time on weekdays. Also, days are so short, shooting time on any day is extremely limited.

I did four shoots today. I think that should be my max. It's a lot of driving and name remembering. I try to cluster shoots, so that I can stay in e.g. Stern Grove for two shoots, and then head down to South Bay for two shoots. I use locations I'm familiar with - less taxing on the brain, when I already know the spots with good lighting.

Things should calm down after Thanksgivings. People tend to send their holiday cards right after then, so the demand for photos will lessen. I can't help but hope so. Scheduling shoots is one thing. Editing the photos takes a whole other massive chunk of time.

Backdrops can be fun

2009-11-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

Once again, Fake Studio Set Up in the living room of this couple's home. We tacked (OK, the husband tacked) up my black backdrop, and it hung from the ceiling. To the immediate left, a large window over which the white back drop was tacked, to provide a soft light source. Pushed dining room table to the side, so that I have space to back up. My backdrop wasn't long enough to cover floor for sitting on the floor shots. Just so happened that one of them had a large black sweatshirt - we spreadeagled that across the floor.

My black backdrop was actually quite wrinkled, so in photoshop, in a separate layer over the image I painted over the wrinkles using a large, soft black paintbrush. I keep the opacity around 50%, and build layers of blackness, rather than to use a 100% opacity brush. Then went back and used a hard eraser to remove black from where I'd overlapped with the image.

Sometimes I am temped to buy a proper backdrop set up, the scroll of non-wrinkly matte plastic, with a stand (like a projector screen). I would save much time in photoshopping. There are cheap ones, for approximately $100. While I do prefer natural background photography, it is fun to do dramatic shots with backdrops.

Wine Country Time

2009-11-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Keller Estate Winery! I drove up to Napa for the first time ever to photograph the staff of Keller Estate. Just 45 minutes from San Francisco, it was a different world, of gently rolling slopes of vineyards, or fields with frolicking lambs and Shetland (those little midget horses) ponies! I thought I would stop by that ranch on the way back, the ponies were so cute, but as it turned out I was too exhausted.

These photos are for the website. Not so much a head shot, said owner MK (above), but more like a profile of a person. People in their work habitat, to show off the functionings of the winery. I had tour of the various machines, and the cave dug into the hillside where wine is aged in barrels. I know nothing about wine making, and today I realized that one can get very geeky about wine making. It's not something I've ever before associated with geekiness - and I'm talking wine Making, not wine Tasting - but wine talk can be as geeky as say, guitar amp talk, biofuels talk, computer programing talk, classic English novels talk, camera lens talk. Well anywhere there's a passion, there are geeks.

The floor of the main room is a lovely brick red. This way, it's harder to notice any spilled wine. But I really like that color in the photos. Don't ask me what these machines are. I just climbed up on the catwalk and took photos.

This is the underside of the squishing machine. In olden days, I imagine a similar stream would squirt out from beneath a giant vat containing grapes and barefooted people stomping on them. No stomping people here - a large, metal, cylindrical press, squeezing the last out of... um. I forget what grape. Petite Sirah? Actually, they called it a berry, rather than a grape.

Chinese American Comfort Food

2009-11-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

It's Chinese Food. Or rather, it's Chinese American food. When Chinese Restaurant News assigned me to photograph VIP restaurant, I assumed I'd be photographing chow fun, fried rice, steamed fish. But I was surprised. The first thing the owner/ head chef plated was french fries served in a bowl made of baked noodle, with fried chicken.

Then I realized what was going on. This was Chinese fusion. Different from Chinese American dishes like Kung Pao Chicken, Orange Chicken, Fortune Cookies. But also not fancy-schmancy-tiny-portioned-over-priced-catering-to-non-Asian-tastes Asian Fusion a la PF Chang. Rather, this was a fusion of Comfort foods. Or perhaps, Western-food-catering-to-Chinese-tastes food. While much of Hong Kong western food is Chinesified, I'd not been to a restaurant in the US that specialized in this genre. Fascinating!

A customer favorite, and a good example of fusion, was Baked Pork Chop with Fried Rice with Tomato Sauce. The whole thing was baked, with a sprinkle of cheese. It looked like a baked bolognaise, except Chinese pork chop and fried rice lay beneath the generous blanket of sauce.

The owner was eager to share his noodle baskets with me. We went downstairs to the bakery, where he pulled out a tray of various noodle and pastry baskets out of the oven. The noodles were molded over metal bowls, and baked to a crisp. These baskets can hold all sorts of things. The owner seemed really happy to be plating (the art of arranging food, decorating). The curry dish above is comprised of 3 noodle baskets, held in a clam shell shape by strategically placed tomato slices.

I claimed a booth in the back of the restaurant to do food portraits. And then the servers brought out more food. And more food. I had two booth tables worth of food to photograph.

The owner was extremely proud of his cakes. The decorations are entirely fresh cream, he emphasized several times - none of that fondant, or marzipan. Other cake stores send their decorators to him for lessons on fresh cream coloring and application techniques. The hard part he says, is in getting the gradient of colors just right. He decorated this dragon cake himself; took him 1.5 hours. Western style cakes have been appropriated into Chinese cuisine. Chinese food is rarely baked, and usually it's buns. But here we have a sponge cake, with cream - Chinese don't traditionally use cream or milk in anything. But atop this otherwise western cake is an unmistakable Chinese dragon. Often such cakes have Asian-appealing flavors too, such as taro, ube, green tea or mango.

The staff were very welcoming and excited about having a photographer around. They were all ethnically Chinese, all spoke Cantonese more comfortably than English, and all their customers were Chinese too - there was no doubt everyone considered this a Chinese restaurant.

They worked around me and my camera bags without complaint, offered lunch and drinks, warmly insisted that I come back for a visit. They sent me off with 2 large boxes packed with Chinese pastries and egg tarts.

VIP Coffee & Cakes Shop, 671 Broadway in Chinatown, San Francisco. Definitely one of my funner shoots - I miss photographing food. Hopefully I can keep this gig with Chinese Restaurant News.

Pouty.

2009-11-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

A fantastic pout. Usually we want smiling baby pictures, but sometimes less-than-pleased baby pictures are just as cute.

When taking baby photos, I like to get up really close. Crop out the top of the head. Make sure focus is on the eyes.

And here are some candids. Why is it that babies like being upside down? As an adult, if someone swung me around upside down I'd demand that they stop immediately. Being upside down makes babies and little kids smile 9 out of 10 times.

I was a wedding photographer for Halloween. It was not a Halloween themed wedding, but it did have some Fall inspired decorations. But more on that later. Then Sunday, I photographed four families, almost one after another. I scarfed energy sustaining snacks in between shoots (vegan chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joes - they're excellent!) I do give up having any weekend fun with friends to do all this photography, but I do really enjoy taking photos.

Big Monkey and Little Monkey

2009-10-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

The unlikeliest of dog friends, Charlotte and Tippy. They get along brilliantly. Charlotte is a girly girl, and shies away from dogs that are too rough. Tippy is a feisty little guy. They are Yin and Yang. Ebony and Ivory. They both know it's all in good fun, no one gets hurt, no one gets mad, no egos get bruised.

They both have a play move that involves flipping over on their backs, and thrashing legs around happily. For those of you that know dogs, you know dogs don't flip on their back for just anyone, especially other dogs.

I used my 50mm f/1.4 on sports mode. Used the 50mm lens because it's my "fastest" lens in non-flash conditions, but the trade off is that it has a shallow depth of field; ie, focus happens at a specific distance from the lens, and all else will be out of focus. Some of the fuzziness is due to movement as well. I could use a wide angle lens, with greater depth of field (everything in focus), but out of direct sun and without flash (flash would distract pups from play, I assume, but maybe not?) there would be a lot more motion blur.

Little Monkey

2009-10-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

This little man was So Cute, I couldn't decide which photos to include, so I just posted a bunch.

At first, he was very very serious. I noticed that he often fixed his eyes on his blue fish-shaped teething toy. So with my left hand, I swooped the fish around, while saying "WHOOOOSH!" in a really theatrical way.

This was very effective. He burst into delighted giggles, and didn't tire of my repeated Whooshings. Meanwhile, I photographed with my right hand. What I really wanted, besides smiles, was for him to look up so that his eyes would be large and lit nicely, and looking at the camera. In general, for humans of all ages, it is more flattering when eyes are looking up. Not that this baby has to worry about it, but it helps to remove any eye bags. And eyes just look bigger, and the light brings out the iris colors.

Simple white onesies are great for baby shoots. Flattering on all babies. Also good for natural light photography, because light reflects off it, and helps to light places like under the chin, nose and brows. I also like to photograph knit items on babies. The textured yarn emphasizes the smoothness of baby skin.

These were taken at 1:30pm, which is in my least favorite window of time to photograph. The diffuse lighting in the shade was wonderful however!

Say It With Your T-Shirt

2009-10-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

"SOMEONE NOT SOMETHING" [plus illustration of cow]. "THE GREATNESS OF A NATION CAN BE JUDGED BY THE WAY ITS ANIMALS ARE TREATED" [plus illustration of cartoon protesting animals with signs]. "BEEF CUTS 101" [with cow silhouette with parts labeled "EXPLOITATION, HEART DISEASE, DEFORESTATION, CRUELTY, GROWTH HORMONES, FEAR, MUTILATION, PAIN and GLOBAL WARMING". And finally "EAT LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN".

I wonder if these women wear these t-shirts normally, or if they are only brought out for events like Walk For Animals. I wonder if they have several t-shirts with similar messages, and had to decide which one to wear on this day.

"For Life Go Vegan" and "If you love animals called pets... Why do you eat animals called dinner?" It's great that people wear t-shirts that support a cause they believe in. But personally, especially with an issue as potentially polarizing as vegetarianism and especially veganism, I myself wouldn't wear such a t-shirt. I worry that it may be as big a turn-off to omnivores as say, a t-shirt proclaiming religious beliefs might be to me. Vocabulary makes a big difference. When "YOU" is used on a t-shirt, I can't help but feel intrusion on my personal space, even though it's dumb to feel intruded upon by a t-shirt.

Well so far, this post has had nothing to do with photography. When I was covering this event, I devised a little project for myself - to photograph all the message-giving t-shirts. Just to set a little goal, to practice observation skills, and out of curiosity of what people's t-shirts had to say.

Vegan Pup Kibble

2009-10-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Walk for Farm Animals! It's Farm Sanctuary's annual outreach and fund raising event. The sponsors are vegan or vegetarian, but the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle I think, is not the main point of the event. Rather, it's to encourage people to have compassion for all animals. The event consisted of a Silent Auction, Speakers, Awards (for fund raising) and then a walk around downtown with posters with lovely Farm Animals and the "A Compassionate World Begins With You". Going around with signs that say Stop Eating Meat would be ineffective and annoying, so this is a better approach.

Home base was by the Embarcadero, near to the Saturday Farmer's market. About a hundred people and maybe a dozen dogs gathered with their pledges, and received fun gift bags and freebies. Such as these vegan dog kibble samples. When I brought these home, Charlotte knew there was something in my bag for her before I even settled down. She nosed around, and then sat eagerly for a sample of V-Dog kibble. She loved her sample. I am considering getting a small bag to serve as training treats. More Walk For Farm Animals photos and details to come.

The Obvious Question

2009-10-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

This was the funnest gardening store I'd ever been to. They'd incorporated interior deign ideas into the layout of their plants, so that every corner was a lovely nook with a different artsy feel. Succulents, planted in a wall display, never looked so inviting! Great use of color and textures everywhere. It was the perfect place for a photoshoot. So I asked the guy at the cash register about using Flora Grubb Gardens for photography.

In the past, they welcomed photographers, and said Sure, Come On Over and Do Photoshoots! But then. The photographers started bickering. I imagine they were getting in each other's backgrounds. Perhaps ceramic flower pots or exotic gourds were hurled. Photographer assistants pushed into cacti. In any case, FGG had to put a stop to this nonsense. "We have a small fee for photography", he said. I uttered the obvious next question. He replied "$100".

I tried not to look absolutely shocked. Apparently, they get such high-end photographers that can afford such an entrance fee! Me however, $100 is more than I make in one session. As enamored by the place as I was, I knew that photographing there was an impossibility. What a complete disappointment, that some drama queen photographers who couldn't Share have ruined it for everyone. Sigh! But taking photos Not for photo session are free. So here you go.

Speaking of being shocked by prices. Remember that the Yelp person was to give me a call today? Yelp can do all these wonderful things to make my Yelp profile stand out. I can be a "Sponsored Search Result" so that my page pops up first when ever anyone types in Photographer San Francisco. My ad will even pop up on competitors' pages. I'll have a huge slide show on my page. Sounds fantastic. Once again I ask the obvious question. $300 a Month for the cheapest package?? And $1000 for the most expensive. If you've ever wondered how Yelp makes money, well now you know. I said that my business is not at the stage where I can afford that kind of advertising. Especially given that Craigslist is working well for me at the moment. And Yelp keeps pulling my reviews.

As for Review Pulling, there's nothing they can do about that. I made a verbal suggestion for their Suggestion Box - at the very least, please Notify the reviewer and reviewee when the review is pulled. She said she'd bring it up with the relevant peoples.

Mini-Wedding

2009-10-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

It was a really really cold October day when close friends and family gathered for this little wedding at the Legion of Honor. They'd come all the way out from the midwest - I guess the idea Let's Get Married in San Francisco! simply came upon them one day, and they did it.

The Legion of Honor is actually an art museum, though I'd never thought of it as more than a good background for engagements and wedding photography. There's actually some famous artwork behind those marble walls. It's a great background because it's monotone, but not boring because of the architecture. It thus provides an interesting but not distracting background.

Have you been to a small wedding? Where there is no aisle? But rather, just a gathering of people, a small crescent shaped standing crowd facing the bride and groom. This makes taking photos incredibly difficult. I can't shoot straight on - I am edged to the flanks of either side of the crescent, and can't get a photo of both bride and groom faces at once. This is where it would be useful to be really tall, or really impudent (is that the right word here?) - and stand in front of the crowd of people for the Best view. I am neither, so I just did what I could.

I was given ample time to take couple photos after the very very quick ceremony, so that made me happy.

How Can One Not Smile

2009-10-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

When presented with pictures of a dachshund? Impossible! Since it rarely hurts to smile more, I am posting More photos of Wally the dachshund, but naked this time.

Look at those little legs! And would you have guessed, that he can fit a tennis ball in his mouth? And there he is, mid-shake. I consider dog shakes Not Involving Water to be a Mode Change. Change from playful to finding a good pee spot. From sleepy to awake. From itchy to not itchy. From entertained by you to Bored by you. Ever notice that? Anyways. Another photography dream of mine (besides kids in pumpkin patches, and kids DJ-ing) is to photograph dogs on a trampoline. The dogs being on the trampoline, me on solid ground. The ears would be caught in flight, cheeks and tongue in mid-flap, jowls defying gravity, long fur in the wind.

Wally and his parents. He has a little carpeted stairway that leads up to the bed, a most endearing piece of furniture. And he even has a cute little behind.

*Mode Change*
So. I got a call from a Yelp Account Executive today, who wanted to set up a phone appt with me so that she could explain ways in that Yelp could help with my advertising, and drive more visitors to my site. I went ahead and agreed, because this is my opportunity to give them grief (and perhaps find a solution) about my reviews being "removed" automatically by Yelp. Why would I want to bring more traffic (by spending money, no doubt) to my Yelp page which is devoid of reviews, when all people come to Yelp for is precisely to find reviews?

Ah so bittersweet, as another client just left a review for me on Yelp. Alas, she too is a one-time user. That my photography service is so satisfactory that I inspire people to write a Yelp review for the first time, that should mean something! It may or may not still be up:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ginkgophoto-san-francisco

Dress Your Kids in Stripey Tights

2009-10-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

The original photo was way under exposed. The camera metered (figured out how much light was available) for the background (ie, the very bright sky) and decided on a short shutter speed. She was pretty much a silhouette on the hillside. There wasn't much texture in the sky (solidly cloudy) so I didn't lose much by digitally exposing the entire photo more, and then further lightened the face. And added this post-apocalyptic color scheme.

Pumpkin Patch Dream

2009-10-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

I finally did a photo shoot at a pumpkin patch! This has been my dream for a while. Well, since the Fall started. Partly because the dreary weather makes me crave splashes of bright color in my photos. My kids pics are not ready for posting, so all you get now is very gloriously orange, photo of many pumpkins. This is the Clancy Pumpkin Patch, at 7th and Lawton in Inner Sunset.

This pumpkin patch was very well set up. There were many scarecrows, none of them truly scary. Hay stacks, and hay rides, and small children underfoot. I guess pumpkins are very tempting to sit on, if you are a wee person. I overheard many a child not to sit on the pumpkins, as the pumpkins bruise.

(Oct 27) I see that many of you are finding my blog as a result of googling the Clancy Pumpkin Patch. I just thought I'd add that I was impressed by the pumpkin patch - lots of decorations, bales of hay, including a hay fort that kids will love, and many photo ops. All different pumpkins to choose from, different sizes, shapes, colors, varieties. Parking immediately outside the patch is limited, so be prepared to look for street parking. No food/refreshments.

Electric Youth & Tangents

2009-10-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

If you can place the post title to a decade and musician, and possibly recall a classic slow dance song from that album, well done. We have something in common.

This green vehicle is an electric car in Seattle. It is quite small, perhaps the size of a Smart Car, but it is not a Smart Car, but a different breed. Good for intra-city travel. Not for inter-city travel.

Isn't he cute? Looks good in a preppy sweater. Like all little tykes, he is not always this chipper. I had a few days to get to know him before the photo session, and I do think that helped with the bashfulness.

But let me change subjects. I did a set of photos for a tutoring company a few months ago. They're finally up on their website in a short slideshow:
http://cardinaleducation.com/

Most of the photos are mine. You can figure out which one isn't. See the thing was, CE didn't want to use stock images for their website - it would look too generic, like every other tutoring company website - apparently there aren't many options when it comes to tutor/student stock photos*. So they hired me to take photos of real tutors and students. I did a lot of editing. The student, with the flowery top? She had just returned from a sunny vacation, and was quite sun burnt. I had to give her a healthy complexion. The kitchen scene? The large turkey on the fridge? The brown was originally quite dark and attracted attention unnecessarily. I had to tone down the turkey.

* It occurs to me that you might now know what stock photography is. Well say you're putting together a brochure about Whale Watching. What is a brochure without photos? Boring! But! You have no whale photos of your very own! What can you do? Can't just pull one off the internet, you'd get sued for copyright infringement. Instead, you go to a stock photo site, where there are loads of photos up for sale. You pick out a nice pic of a breaching humpback and pay to have rights to use it on your brochure. There are stock photos for everything. Kid wearing goggles in a bath? Crying clown gazing out of window? Fruit salad tossed in mid air? A dozen meerkats? You got it.

There are photographers that do stock photography. They think of everything that anyone could ever want a photo of, and take that photo, post it. When it's bought, the photographer gets a cut. Apparently, stock photo sites have more than enough pictures of flowers and dogs from photographers. One site actually said Please do not submit photos of flowers or dogs. They need more people shots. Of course the difficulty in that is that to sell a people shot, you need a model release form from the people subjects, and not many people are keen on having their image for sale. Usually aspiring models are the ones happy to sign model release forms. I briefly considered trying stock photography, but then decided it's not my thing. Gotta focus.

Bugs, Veggies and Hot Dogs

2009-10-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Meet the Giant African Millipede! Two pair of legs per segment (you might be able to see that in the pic, even) as opposed to one pair, like the Centipede. Feels like a walking toothbrush, we say.

Organic, Veggie and Vegan hot dogs for sale by Underdog, SF's environmentally responsible hot dog mini-restaurant! They've got a place in Inner Sunset, between 18th and 17th on Irving. The best non-meat dogs I've had. I chatted with the owner. He had a vision for eco-friendly food, yet the kind of food he wanted to eat. He has several adopted cats and dogs. Go to Underdog for a great hot dog!

It took some coaxing to get kids to get kids to partake in produce sculpture, but once seated and presented with the possibilities, the kids loved it.

Hmm, maybe I should back up. This is the Children's Harvest Festival, hosted by savenature.org. It happened on Saturday, the same day that the Blue Angels were burning up piles of fuel. CHF was tucked up some uninviting looking stairs. Our signage was lacking, so we sent some savenature people down to the street to recruit families. You know how when people try to advertise to you on the street, you're likely to (a) avoid eye contact and act like the advertiser has a contagious disease (b) politely say no-thanks - well. that could have been us, with the contagious disease. However, armed with LIVE BUGS, people FLOCKED to our reps on the sidewalk. We didn't let them touch the bugs on the street, but lured by the promise of touchable bugs upstairs, people actually attended our event!

I really think very few people would have come otherwise. The people that did looked like they were really enjoying themselves.

Remember when I said I was going to advertise with postcards offering a donation to savenature for every session booked thru my CHF ad? Didn't work. My little postcard display was right next to the bug table and quite frankly, anything that wasn't a live bug on the bug table vicinity was Not Noticed in the Least! Oh well.

Farm Fresh To You, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) org, had a table at CHF, and I signed up. Just received our first box of locally grown, seasonal produce today! Very pleased.

Supergirl

2009-10-12T00:10:00.001-07:00

Her parents have no idea where she picked up a knack for posing, but I'm glad she did. "What pose are you going to do now?" I'd ask, and she'd think for a minute, and then her eyes would light up and she would strike a pose. Many of them were Tough Grrl poses. No princess here!

This is a softer, less posey pose. I think she was tired, after almost an hour of running around, and her perch on the ladder limited the types of poses she could create.

The fighting poses were fantastic. Her first expression was a happy friendly face, but then we told her to make a mean face.

I was very impressed by the variety of poses in her repertoire. Most of us have been leafing through magazines most of our lives, but cannot necessarily come up with one pose after another. Between camera clicks she would adjust slightly; small changes in angle or stance. I've found that only grown-ups with modeling experience know to do this at photo shoots. She's not done any modeling. She's just at one with the camera!

The Pug Is Bigger

2009-10-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I think that it's great, that the pug and baby are the same size, both have some chubbiness to them, they're held in the same manner and have a similar pose and expression. Actually, the pug is bigger. Hee hee!

Before I retire for the evening, I have to throw together a small ad. Tomorrow is the Children's Harvest Festival hosted by SaveNature.Org and I'm taking the opportunity to advertise my photography services there, in exchange for making a small donation to SNO every time a booking a made through my advertising at CHF. Essentially, GinkgoPhoto is now a "Conservation Partner" for doing this. I don't know how successful it will be, since (a) people don't go to Harvest Festivals looking to hire a photographer, so the mindset isn't there and (b) CHF is in Fisherman's Wharf, packed mainly with tourists. Obviously I serve locals.

Anyways, I'm going to give it a go. My printer is down, however, which means I need to hand letter a sign. Sigh! And, add little hand written stickers to my postcards with a note to mention the codeword SaveNature.Org when booking a session in order for the special donation to happen. Then I need to hunt down a little stand for my sign, and a holder for my postcards. Fun things to do especially immediately after a move.

It's fantastic when parents paint their nursery walls. This nursery was all about bright colors, including those orange curtains.

Filters and Numbers

2009-10-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Finally got this set of wedding photos done! The funnest editing comes with portraits. That's when I can throw on fun digital filters and see what happens. The banks of the stream in this pic were actually kind of mucky, and not that attractive in color. Which made it a great candidate for a limited color palette. What do you think, brown or green?

I've set a record for myself. This month, October, I have 20 (TWENTY!) scheduled photo shoots. That's more per month than ever before. That's more than one every other day. 12 on weekends, 8 on weekdays, in case you're wondering. 12 baby/family, 2 engagements, 1 business event, 2 head shots, 1 maternity and 3 weddings (2 of those are short and sweet casual weddings, one full blown wedding). And all that's not counting at least 2 volunteer photography (non-profit events) services. Wow.

Directions for Atomic Ice Cream

2009-10-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

You'll need the basics. Some sort of heavy cream, and a lot of sugar. And then some flavorings. Sugar soaked strawberries for example, or chocolate syrup.

Some recommended tools: whisks and stirring type spatulas. And don't forget the goggles. And industrial grade gloves. Or, oven mitts will do.

Then add liquid nitrogen. Two cooks required; one to add the nitrogen, the other to stir vigorously. Add enough to make the concoction a ice cream consistency.

The whole process should take 1 minute. 2 tops. The result is quite delicious!

Atomic Ice Cream will be taking place at the Children's Harvest Festival this weekend, hosted by SaveNature.org, which is my other job. I won't be making AIC, as I've been assigned to the food sculpture table. Apparently I am the only one with food sculpture experience.

Dr Emmylou Harris

2009-10-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

Third and last day of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. I had an afternoon baby shoot, so I showed up for the evening shows, including Emmylou Harris, the evening grand finale of the Banjo Stage. Even my super duper lens wavered, challenged by very low light and great distance from the stage.

Emmylou received a honorary doctorate from Berkeley for a lifetime of musical achievement. This doctorate has been given to musicians such as Gillespie, Armstrong, Estefan, Fitzgerald, to name a few. To be honest, I'd heard of Emmylou, but had never heard her music, at least not knowingly, before. But I must say she seems like a wonderful person. She runs her own animal shelter after all, rescuing dogs from euthanasia from over populated shelters for another chance. Anyways, a heartwarming, feel-good way to end the three day fest.

Actually the whole festival was very feel-good. Lots of messages of love and peace and being good to your neighbor and earth etc. Given that at points the festival was so crowded, it was amazing that I did not see or detect even the tiniest bit of impatience or negativeness. Alcohol was consumed responsibly. I'm sure it was much to do with the music genre and it's appeal to more mature generations, happy to settle back in portable lawn chairs or sway gently to the music. Maybe it was the wafts of pot smoke emanating from unseen sources. No crowds of frat boys here (not that frat boys are impatient or negative or non-pot-smoking).

5 Inch Platforms Please

2009-10-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

I didn't take as many band pictures today. It was SO crowded, it took 10 minutes to progress 100 yards. I spent most of my time staying put, at our blanket home base.

Yesterday I spoke of the advantages of being small. The obvious disadvantage of being small of course, is that it is hard not to get tops of heads in my stage photos. You can see the blurs of heads on either bottom corner of this pic. Sigh. When I walk past tall standing audience members, I can't help but think of what a clear view they must have. I see mostly backs and shoulders, and must find gaps in the swaying crowd, and then time my shutter click for when two dancing/ rhythm bopping persons sway towards the outer sides of my viewfinder. I don't often wish I were taller, but concerts is the one occasion where I by far more than others, wish I were way taller. Not only for better views, but also to avoid being elbowed in the head.

This is a member of Okkervil River. I like the Golden Gate Bridge backdrop, with the hint of trees coming in from behind. The bridge and the shadow are worked into the composition. A shame about those heads. I couldn't crop any more out without losing the guitar.

Massive Music Fest

2009-10-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

I started out this far back from the stage. I had my rented 70-200mm IS lens, but even that wasn't enough reach to render the musicians discernible. Thus, I meandered my way through the crowds in socked feet (so that I might step on the many blankets spread over the grass - though by this time my socks were probably as dirty as shoes, I felt it was more respectful than imprinting my shoes on personal blankets... maybe it's an Asian thing). Making one's way to the front of a stage is made easier, I believe, by being a small female, and looking young doesn't hurt either. Walking amongst tall people, I didn't block any views, nor take up much space, so there was no protest. Lots of smiling and sweet "Excuse Me"s got me within 15 people thick of the stage. Also, this was a mellow, friendly crowd. It's bluegrass, after all. People even allowed me to momentarily crouch on their blanket space to take photos.

Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, has a gentler side to his music. Still full of socio/political message of course.

The back of the stage was a backdrop of heavy mesh. It did a great job of preventing back lighting, but also sucked in the tree surroundings, as if a forest scene had been printed on the mesh. Most interesting effect.

The amazing thing about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is that it's a FREE event, sponsored by a local investment banker that happens to love bluegrass music. The event costs millions to host - flying in musicians from around the country, to a five-stage, 2 and a half day event.

Dogs are welcome. Every 20 ft or so there is a dog. As we walked past the food stalls Charlotte vacuumed up kettle corn and other snack droppings. There are a lot of LL-Bean-esque folks in their sensible walking shoes, fleece vests and light, foldable chairs. There are plenty of artsy Stuck-In-Another-Decade-Haight-Ashbury types, with home-embellished skirts, bellbottoms, fairy wings or hats, bearing hand made percussion instruments. And everyone in between. We did notice an extreme paucity of people of Asian ethnic heritage. It seemed there were more of such people taking advantage of the abundance of discarded aluminum cans than as audience members. Making rounds, completely uninterested in music yet with a keen eye for any recyclables peeking from under a backpack, they made a killing with their many garbage bags full of crushed cans.

Lyle Lovett and his Large Band was a fun mix of funkier songs as well as folksy ones. His band played until past dark, and then, exhausted, we trudged a kilometer to our parked car.