Reformation Day ...at last!

It's taken me a while to get these ready for viewing by the world. But I have at last completed the collection. This, of course, means I'll be mailing out the CDs to everybody who ordered very shortly (waiting on a couple of prints). If you're interested in purchasing a Photo CD please send me an email via the contact page on my site. The CD's are $10 That would be the most convenient.

In Christ,
David Price

Steve McCurry

So I recently came across this photographer, which I have to say, I'm impressed with his artistic ability to capture a emotion in its natural environment. This is an art form that I have been facinated with recently. Please take some time to really look through his galleries.

Great Stuff!

Steve McCurry

In Christ,
D.Price

www.blackolivestudios.com/blog

So I have attached a photo blog to my studio site. The purpose of this site is to notify people of new photo additions to my site. Since it has RSS capability you can subscribe and keep tabs on new stuff that I put up.

Anyway I posted a while back linking to a wordpress site (which I will probably be closing). That site was too hard to work and configure to match the overall style of my site. ...So I decided on going with something a little different. Anyway I would love to hear what you think so give a shout out!

DP

Breaking the trend.

So I went shooting with a brunch of buds like I've done on several occasions. However, the main difference this time was the 4:1 ratio of photographers to models. Not only was there not a whole lot of elbow room to squeeze in and shoot with my wideangle, but the model was getting exponentially more uncomfortable by the minute.

I decided to grab my telephoto and step back a bit and squeeze my shots in between everyone. I have posted a gallery with the photos I got. Let me know what you think.

DP

Behind...

Well I have been doing things these past couple days... weeks. Anyway here are a couple of shoots I've done.

Small Town



Rain


Parking Garage

Some changes

I am planning on making a move to a new blog location. While I make my plans I intend to try some designs and see how they are recieved. To see what I am currently considering please visit the new location.

In some ways this is like an open house, but please let me know what you think. I am not completely set on this new look, but a couple of reason I like is its big picture. The purpose of the blog will be changing and has been changing slowly. I will be using it to keep my friends notified and up-to-date on projects. Basically I am connecting my blog with my studio - Black Olive Photographic and all the cool things that I have been learning in the world of photography. Basically it will be a means for you too keep informed on what I'm working on.

So now that you have the background for the moving... let me know what you think!

Link to "New Location"

the trip to Decatur, IL...

... was awesome!



I think I got pictures of everyone in my gallery so you can see who all came. We spent the first part of the day at an old gas station and then moved to an awesome vine covered wall nearby. We then moved to downtown area and shot some more! Great day. I was happy with my catch.

Decatur, IL gallery

Enjoy!
DP

The best way to learn something...

...is to teach someone else. Kinda interesting how that all works.

With this I would like to encourage all those who are interested in photography to ask questions and insist on feedback. I draw my inspiration from other photographers. One cool thing about photography is that it is an art form which means "we" the photographers have the final say in how the photograph should look. We don't have to listen to others, but it is always good to know what your photos are saying to people. Get feedback!

Photography is like writing. You can always improve your technique and expand your knowledge base from which to draw ideas from. Like writing, photography communicates. Just like writing you can communicate something very simply or spend a lot of time and be complex. Both are great, but there needs to be variety. Sometimes there is a need for a simple statement, but often times is after something vary complex. Elaborate sentances mixed in with the simple, straight-forward statements. The same is true for photography. Simple is nice and pleasing, but having variety is better. Mix it up!


Now I wouldn't suggest something without offering a easy solution. If you haven't heard yet MovingTruth.com, a ministry with the purpose to bring Christians artist together to share ideas works really well for this kind of thing. Registration is free which means there is NO excuse.


If I haven't made it blantently obvious already I'll just come out and say it. If you have question concerning photography, photoshop, or anything else relating to images I would love to help if I can. While I'm by no means the all-knowing photography genius. I would like to help if I can.

A couple of photography resources which have help and inspired me are...

www.movingtruth.com
www.strobist.com
www.cutframetv.net
www.jeremycowart.com (careful)
www.joeyl.com (careful)
www.kyleplattner.com
www.greenephotographs.com
www.danesanders.com

In Christ,
DP

p.s. if you found this post hard, down right painful, or boring to read then I have made my point - "photography techique like writing can always be improved. However if NOT improved then others suffer!"

Going soft

So... this coming Monday I have an opportunity to expand my 'commercial' portfolio. I will be taking an insane amount of pictures. In preparation I have manufactured some softboxes. Using large cardboard boxes, foil, tape, and white trashbags, I was able to create a couple of different styles of softboxes. Here is my final box which was designed to fit my studio strobe unit.




If you're not aware... the objective behind softboxes is to make the light source large. This 'softens' the light meaning it 'softens' the shadows. Here are a couple samples.







Here are two similar shots to demonstrate the benefits of soft "off camera" lighting compared to "on camera".

On Camera

Off Camera

Johnny's Coffee House Concert

Last evening I had an opportunity to attend a Johnny's Coffee House concert. I'v had previous intentions to attend one of these, but never could get it to work with my schedule. For those unfamiliar... Johnny's Coffee House is located in Metamora, IL and hosts, on a regular occasion, indy bands both local and from neighboring towns. While I generally don't have a interest for this style of music... the performances do offer great photo opps.

I have posted a gallery on my site if you're interested in taking a look.

Johnny's Coffee House Gallery

To provide some insight into how I set up these shots. I placed a single flash behind my subjects and moved it from either side of the stage depending on who I was trying to get a picture of. I used this like to make my subjects pop or to add color to the photos. I used the house's stage lights as my primary light source. This is the light that exposes the faces of the musicians.

DP

Practice makes perfect...

...or at least you get really good at doing something wrong. Thankfully with photography there isn't really a way to it "wrong". Photography, like any art forms is successful when the artist is happy. However, as a photography I always consider there to be room for improvement whether it be generaly technical knowledge or broader creativity.

At the beginning of this year I have started to regularly make time for personal experimentation. While shooting jobs is fun, there is a lot of freedom in doing your own stuff. Here are some galleries from past excursions.

Chicago, IL January 8th, 2008

Pottstown, IL February 15th, 2008

Glasford/Kingston Mines, IL June 7th, 2008

Downtown Peoria, IL June 28th, 2008

Main St. Peoria, IL June 30th, 2008

Fireworks July 3rd, 2008

Grandview Dr. Peoria, IL July 12th, 2008

Future Shoots:

Decatur, IL August 9th, 2008

Nashville, TN and surrounding area August 16th, 2008 (tenative)

If you're a photographer of any level and have an interest in joining me leave me a comment. Also, photographers like myself like to have people to photograph. While I am unable to pay models I am willing to offer pictures as payment.

New Look

Recently Black Olive Photographic, the photography studio I work under, has received a face lift. Along with the much needed update... new photos have also been added and will be continued to be added. Take a look!

Black Olive Photographic

Independence Day

Happy 4th!

Bag Light

Ultimate cheap fashion I have started using a grocery sack for light diffusion and have had a lot of fun doing so... You can check out my article le concerning how my setup is configured... It's real complicated! Here are some pictures I took over the weekend! Enjoy! and let me know what you think.















DP

A Liberating Day

Hey everyone This past weekend I was attended a particular celebration that has annually for a few years now. I wasn't paying attention during that part of the talking. Anyway, I spent a large portion of the time behind by camera and activity which surprisingly has become rare. I guess that says a lot about the type of people I was around :P Just kidding!

Here are some the pictures from that experience...














BTW if you didn't notice I got a new wide angle lens.