Green and Gold

Ken Wallace is a nice guy, a very nice guy. In fact if I had to as some people say tried to "capture" Ken's persona in a photo, it would probably include a sunset, a flower and little fluffy baby mittens.
Along with what makes Ken a cool down to earth guy is a hardened steely resolve that is paramount to elite athletes.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic games Ken Wallace came from behind to win gold in the Men's K1 500m final, after winning a bronze medal earlier in the Men's K1 1000m. Since then he's gone on to win a number of awards including Australian Institute of Sport Sportsman of the Year and an Order of Australia Medal.
I caught up with Ken at the Australian Institue of Sport Kayak and Canoe Facility to shoot a series of portraits of him.
You can view the rest of the series here. There is a behind the scenes shot here.
My thanks has to go to the Australian Institue of Sport for the oppurtunity and my assistant for the shoot Jovanka Pyman.

The Cool Calm Collective

Well I finally get to blog about an actual photoshoot! I've been finding with a lot of my recent work that due to confidentiality clauses for one reason or another, I'm not able to release images via my blog or Facebook page until they are released. I promise to get them out to you as soon as I get the go ahead though.
Had a great shoot not long ago with reggae band The Cool Calm Collective. I came up with this pretty cool concept for them and pitched it, and it got knocked on the head, Ha! OK not exactly, but the powers that be decided to reserve that concept for a later date.
Instead, bassist and manager Jai Mitchell said, "let's just hang out and see what happens". We decided to all meet at his house, sit in his living room, then go out for lunch. The idea was to get real candid shots, almost like a bunch of housemates.
When I arrived in the living room, there was an old keyboard in the corner, and so much cool stuff that we just took a bit of time building a "set". I keep a ladder in my car, brought that in, and decided to shoot from overhead. You can view the setup shot here.
Next, I evaluated the lighting. Since all the shots were meant to look candid, I needed a way to light the room so that it didn't look "lit". To do that I had to make my light source as big as possible, so I fired a speedlight through a shoot-through umbrella pointed directly at the ceiling, essentially turning the ceiling into a giant softbox.
The final challenge was getting all the band members to show their faces without making them look like they were looking at the camera. I saw all of these Polaroids on the wall and we made a stack and got them to throw them at me. That way everyone would be looking up at the time I took the shot.
The final image is a composite of 3 shots to make it look like there were more Polaroids then there actually were.
After that we went to the 25 Hour Shop, this burger joint that has a old fashioned diner feel to it. The boss very kindly agreed to let us shoot in there, and we ordered a heap of food and, well just ate.
I got to use my new Canon 1Ds MkIII too, and am really happy with it. I don't normally like to get too into camera bodies but wow, I'm blown away. No one needs me to tell them how great of a camera it is, as there is a reason why it's the flagship Canon camera. But let's just say I'm glad I got it.
You can view the rest of the photos from this shoot here.

Stock Photography - Play the game don't let the game play you

I took this photo with my iPhone while I attended the first birthday of the gallery 19Karen, if you can't make it out, it's a toilet paper dispenser in a toilet with the words "Fine Art Degrees" scribbled. I thought it would be ironic to put up while talked about stock or microstock photography, as it's hardly representitive of the techinical standard that stock sites are known for.
A lot has been said about the way that microstock has changed photography. No matter where you sit on the issue of photos being sold repeatedly for only a fraction of the cost of commisioned works to different buyers all over the world, there is one positive attribute that it provides for emerging photographers: A resource tool for gaining feedback
By signing up and submitting your work to a microstock agency, you get feedback on how your work fares in a technical context. Showing work to friends and people who like you anyway is great, but not exactly outside of your comfort zone. During the submission process through a microstock agency you are dealing with an actual human being who knows nothing about you, didnt got to school with your brother and doesn't care whether or not your photo gets accepted. Before the days of stock photography you had to get your work in front of a publications editor in order to have your work curated, often involving a lot of footwork and a great deal of luck.
Nowadays a stock agency will tell you how our work is on a technical level. You'll learn what you need to nail in a shot in order to get them over the line technically as far as focus, lighting, processing, composition etc.
What you'll learn is one half of the spectrum, of which there are 2 parts, the other being the creative and artistic element that makes a photo suitable for commercial application.
Even if you never make a cent selling microstock, when you're getting started you can't pay enough for honest feedback from a knowledgable source.

Position Available

Kenny Smith Photography is seeking a talented individual to play a key support role in digital photo retouching.
The role is available on a per contract basis and is designed to facilitate meeting ongoing business deadlines.

Description of Services:
To provide advanced photo retouching and some design and creative support to Kenny Smith Photography. This position reports directly to Kenny.

The successful applicant will demonstrate all of the minimum requirements marked in bold, with preference given to those who also display the additional qualities.

Requirements:
- Advanced Photoshop skills (advanced composite creating, complex retouching, adjustment layers, actions, color balance, curves, RAW, batch processing)
- 2-3 years rigorous background in art and design on a professional level
- Background in basic website design and maintenance, HTML, Flash, email newsletters, web publishing and Internet procedures, terms, and issues
- Excellent sense of color, color management
- Strong understanding and diligent maintenance of digital workflow
- Basic knowledge of digital asset management
- Basic knowledge of photography and lighting is necessary; knowledge of commercial and stock photography is a plus
- Proven ability to add value through collaborating with creative people and satisfy business requirements
- Strong organizational skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to manage change
- Self-motivated and self-directed team player
- Strong, proven sense of initiative
- Experienced in meeting strict deadlines, juggling multiple priorities, and working in a team environment
- Detail-oriented; strong problem-solving skills
- Excellent time-management and project-management skills
- Must be willing to work non-traditional hours depending on work needs
-Ability to sign and adhere to industry standard confidentiality agreements
-Must currently operate a registered business

Please do not call. Email resume/questions/pertinent information to
info@kennysmithphotography.com

Applications must submit a sample of current work with an online portfolio showing before and after samples

Is It Any of My Business?

A couple days ago I broadcast via Facebook and Twitter the following: "working with some creative individuals to take over the world".
After my initial post I thought I should spend some time clarifying what I meant by defining some of those terms.
For a while now I have been focusing on the business part of my own photography service. After operating with limited success through word of mouth and social media as my only source of advertising, I underwent a branding exercise and enlisted someone to help me design my website and stationary, all this to refine my brand and help me take my business to the next level.
Once this was complete, I began focusing on the next step, taking my product and brand to the people that I want to see my work. I made the business decision of enlisting a third party to do this for me. I made this decision after considering the target audience that I wanted to see my work, type of work I wanted to do, and my ability to represent myself in communicating with clients and making business decisions.
After meeting with a number of prospective agents and representatives, all with their own abilities and limitations, I decided to engage Luke Boman who directs and runs InRealmMarketing to take on the task of representing me and my brand.
Working with Luke and his team so far has been unreal. His innovative and fresh approaches to putting my work directly under the noses of prospective clients in my field using conventional methods such as telephone calls and physical presentations, as well as the modern approaches such as email newsletters and social media is exactly what I envisioned would be the approach I would like for someone in his capacity to achieve for me.
Working with InRealm has put me in a position where I have very little to lose, after the initial capital outlay and ongoing costs, I can concentrate on my product and continuing with my existing client base, all the while assured that I have someone working with me to reach exactly the type of client I am looking for.
So, that is the long way round to what I broadcast a couple days ago. I guess what I meant by creative individuals was the approach that Luke and his staff have taken to representing me, and by taking over the world I was referring to our playing field, through the internet and the modern economy, the sky really is the limit.

The Rocket 3

I was commissioned by a collector to shoot a, now rare, 1969 motorcycle made by BSA ( Birmingham Small Arms Motorcycles Ltd ). The client, an avid motorcycle history buff, wrote a bit of background on the motorcycle: "The model was named the Rocket 3, due to the fact that it has a three cylinder engine of 750cc and was the quickest production motorcycle of its day. BSA owned Triumph, Ariel and Sunbeam motorcycle companies, amongst many other assets, at the time. Originally BSA had been Arms"
manufacturers and had turned to manufacturing bicycles in the late 1800's (due to a lack of military action, I assume) which eventually led to motorcycle manufacture in 1903. Many models were made over the following years culminating in BSA becoming the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. "Unfortunately the BSA group of companies came to an abrupt end in 1972 with the onslaught of Japanese motorcycle manufactures taking market possession and the group was unable to adapt quickly to the changing situation."

The client's garage was so messy it was cool, so I turned off all the lights and used a little flashlight to paint the bike with light.......shots ranged between 75 seconds to 4 minute exposures.

www.kennysmithphotography.com

Follow me on Twitter

Big Chopper vs Small Flashes

I got an opportunity last week to hang out with the boys at Emergency Management Queensland, the helicopter rescue team that attends to emergencies around the state

I knew that I was gonna just have to go with the flow, as I was shooting a real life team on a normal shift, at any point they could get a callout and have to literally take off.

I packed light, digital SLR, a few lenses, 3 speedlights and a couple stands. Instead of softboxes or umbrellas, I packed Stofen diffusers to soften the light if I needed to. (I could have used tissue paper and rubber bands in a pinch…try it).

Arrived at the hangar around 7.30am and met the boys, nice group of guys. First thing I did was ask where I should retreat to if they got a callout, last thing I wanted was to get in the way as they were scrambling to take off.

I walked around inside and outside and checked out the ambient light, the sun was fairly low and made for a really good key light…perfect.

Outside was a smaller chopper on a flat trailer. It was explained to me that as this particular chopper didn’t have wheels, they took off and landed back on this trailer. I was impressed, landing back on top of something not much bigger than 2 ping pong tables must have taken some skill.

Inside were 2 much larger shiny helicopters. “Brand new from Italy” said one of the crew, “yep, real beauties, only 16 million each” I took a step back to make sure I didn’t pass out along side of it and put a dent in the panel with my head.

The shoot went real good, I had a particular style of processing in my head that I wanted to use, so knew what I wanted as far as lighting goes. To that end I didn’t wind up using the Stofen diffusers, the hard light typically given by a speedlight provided the harsh lighting I would need to achieve that look in post.

Once I had shot inside and outside, the crew fired up one of the large ones and we did some shots on the tarmac. The intention was they were going to take it a ways up in the air and I could shoot them doing some drills. As the rotors intensified for lift off I scrambled over to my camera bag, I had thrown the lid closed but hadn’t zipped it, and the wind from the chopper had blown it open exposing all my lenses to the flying dust….thank Christ for weather sealing. I had time to tweet that experience on Twitter, thanks for all of your amused responses

Just before the chopper took off someone came running out of the hanger, the phone had rung and the unit’s services were needed. The shoot was over and they took off for real. This was not a drill.

I got back in my car; pretty happy with the shots I managed to get…it was time for a coffee.

As a special treat for you the reader I’ve chosen to put up a shot before processing in photoshop. I’ve processed the RAW into JPEG via lightroom and desaturated it at that time. When I was taking the shot I was having the crewman step out of the cockpit in order to add a bit of life to the shot. I had a flash pointed to crosslight with the direction of the sunlight. Although the one flash was fine as far as light went, the shot still looked a little lifeless. To change that, I took a second speedlight off the stand and threw it into the cockpit on the pilot’s seat. The result I feel gives life to the helicopter and indicates that the controls are on, plus provides a nice rimlight on the crewman. You can see the final edit and the rest of the series here.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Follow me on Twitter

To see exclusive content, connect on Facebook

www.kennysmithphotography.com