I don’t know what you are thinking, but I can guess it’s not, “This guy should be in art school!”.

My line drawing form is out of practice, but the point of my scribbles is that I drew this on printer paper the day before I went on to shoot this:

This is my favorite shot of the day, and it is one of three images that I knew I wanted before I left my house.

For those of you just starting out, or wondering how good or great images are produced, I think the notion of pre-visualization can be a deciding factor.

The second factor is the guts and determination to not leave the set until you get what you wanted.

In my younger, more dreamy years, I thought the idea of a photographer was to be on-the-spot, in-the-moment, take what you can get. And while I still believe that concept has its place, I realize now that the decision of which spot, in what moments and how to take what you can is just as crucial to the overall impact.

The photographers role is decisions, decisions, decisions. Just don’t wait until you get to the set to begin making yours.

Keep on clicking,
–JB

Talking with a friend and fellow photographer this morning got me to thinking that some other people might benefit from the photo workflow that I use. A little about my shooting style first. I click the shutter a lot. I do my best to keep the camera to my eye and tell myself to be like a boxer, stick and move, use angles and don’t forget to jab(ber).

List Style, In Chronological Order, from the top.

1. Take the pictures, make them as good in camera as you can, makes chimping more fun.
2. Hook up USB Cable to the Camera to download all of the images.
3. All of my Images (usually RAW), go into a folder of the Date they were shot on my desktop. TopLevel Photo Folder -> 03_22_2010 -> All images.
4. Back up the 03_22_2010 Folder to the External Drives. Don’t Delete Memory Cards until all of the images reside in two separate locations.
5. Import All Files from a photoshoot into LightRoom. Create a new Catalog for each shoot. (I know this is standard practice, but it works for me)
5. Apply my copyright settings on import.
6. Edit in the Develop Module of Lightroom. I extensively use presets and the Sync button.
7. Create a preset folder for each catalog. Build off of previous presets for cross-processing, split-toning, desaturation, white balance issues.
8. Assign a One Star to decent but not great files, Assign a 5 Star to great images. Edit all of these
9. Delete Blinkies, Mis-focuses, awkward expressions, etc. By Delete, I mean remove from LightRoom, don’t actually delete any RAW’s.
10. Export 1 Star JPGS into Sub-Folder of date folder, usually called “The Rest”
11. Export 5 Star JPGS into Sub-Folder of date folder, usually called “The Best”
12. “The Rest” typically get no further editing.
13. Fire up PhotoShop to fine-tune “The Best”
14. Upload to Zenfolio all the JPGS, to create an online backup, and store-front for Prints
15. Burn DVD of all the JPGS.
16. Create Custom Client Products.
17. Rinse Repeat.

I realize this workflow doesn’t work for everyone, but I thought it might shed a little light on how to get through 800 photos for one shoot.

Is yours better? Leave answers in the comments.

–JB
9.

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick reminder to catch Me and My compadre Geoff Hammond on a twice monthly podcast. We are the Photography talk from Central Texas.

And for the record, we haven’t even delved into gear talk yet, which is dang near impossible for 2 photographers to avoid for this long.

We have talked models, social media, and cedar fever among other topics. Next week we will discuss the client-photographer relationship, so hit up the comments if you got any funny stories.

Thanks for listening

–JB

Just a quick note.

Sometimes in life we are lucky.

We see something spectacular in a place we have never been, and might not be again.

Camera in hand, let the world breathe around you, fire off a few frames. Exhale.

Take a few seconds today to remember something you are thankful for, let the world exhale a little around you.

Geoff “Ham” Hammond and I are now podcasting a 2x monthly show about photography in Austin. Our first episode is up at oxandham.com. In it, we talk about Cedar Allergies, When is the right time to hire a pro photographer?, and the World’s Greatest Dad T-shirts.

I would tell you more, but then you wouldn’t listen, so give it a spin and let me know what you think.

We are still figuring out all the niceties of producing a podcast, so if you have any experience in it, let us know in the comments.

–JB

The New Year has been an exciting time in the AzulOx Photography workshops. We have some new projects and packages that are receiving finishing touches as we speak. One of the projects that I am most excited about is the jump into Wedding Photography. I have been refining my skills over the last year or so, getting used to new sets of gear, really directing the photo shoot, and becoming comfortable with my worth to the picture marketplace. Beginning in February, I will be photographing Brides and Grooms as they walk down the aisle. I am super excited!

(The photo above was taken at Bloomer’s Bridal Shop in Seguin, Texas. Go see Colinda for your Wedding and Formal needs.)

The other new market that we are entering is the High School Senior Market. I know that when I got my Senior Photos done, I wish that I had known about the possibility to get custom Images done by a professional. If I can find my old ones, I will post them, but believe me, they are nothing that spoke to my personality. That’s what we try to capture – the essence of change, potential, and accomplishment of the next generation. I love to work with this age group because I am reminded of the excitement, anxiety and hope that were stirring inside of me at this age. AzulOx Photography goes to where your memories are made – on the farm, on the field, out with friends, downtown. We are on location specialists, but you know that already, don’t you?

Old with the Old… is the old design of this blog, In with the New…. is the excitement and direction that we headed.

Come be a part of the excitement of AzulOx Photography
–
JB

I had a great time in Georgetown on Saturday for Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk. 50 photographers met up on the square in G’town at Cianfrani’s coffee shop. We proceeded to take in the town square, the old palace theater, the library and then back to the square. We walked from about 8am to about 11am.

I changed things up this year by trying out a flash on a stick. Basically I was walking around with a bare flash on a lightstand with another flash and trigger in my backpack in case I wanted to go with a two light setup. I also went about getting different subjects that most, mainly because mine were subjects and not objects. Apparently I like people.

Paul Riley, Peter Shugarts, Carlos Austin and Amresh were the guys I walked with most, but we ebbed and flowed into a group and out on our own again. Also got to see Bill Lawrence, Geoff Hammond (the photo walk leader), and Bill Meier. We sat around the lunch table and chimped like no tommorow. But we were the only ones in the room doing it, so we felt even more like zoo animals.

Great to see everyone, and the diversity of images we obtained. Already looking forward to next year.

Here is a link to my images
and the Flickr Group for all the photos link

also check out
www.hammondovi.com
www.austinphotography.com
www.plriley.com
www.smLawrencePhotography.com

Figured I should be moving on to something a little more robust for my blogging. When I moved everything to the new server, I had the option of using a word press blog.

Still working on configuring everything. For the time being, this be like google beta – never really finished.