Photography Wordle

My thoughts about my photography

Old Farm Tractor

Oct 10, 2010

This Old Tractor

I accompanied my wife Ashara on a 4-hour journey to her driving lesson at Happs, Inc. in Ethel, WA. Now this is a different type of driving lesson; it involves a horse and a driver. The goal is to teach the horse and driver to work in tandem on the ground, which ultimately leads to horse, driver and a cart!

While Ashara and her horse Wilma were taking their lesson I sat in our truck with our two dogs Rosie and Baby reading the Oct issue of Rangefinder magazine.

Whenever I’m feeling low ebb in creativity pouring through Rangefinder helps me to get my creative juices flowing again. Featured articles about Harald Mante, Dominic Mondy, Jennifer Hudson and Rob Lindsay got me to thinking about my own style of photography, which I’m always refining.

At this point I looked out of the window and noticed a wonderfully rusted tractor, which in the words of the manager at Happs, “it still works.” I grabbed my camera and set out to create some fine art images. The more photos I took, the more I saw this old farm tractor as something more than the obvious.

The design, engineering and craftsmanship that went into this tractor was for a singular purpose: to pull other farm tools behind it.

I mused for a few moments:

“How many hours does the engine have on it?”

“How many bums have sat in this seat?”

“How many miles have these wheels rolled?”

The tractor remained silent, not giving away any of its secrets.

Still, I was certain the answers were right there waiting for me to tell the story.

I boosted the ISO to 1600 to give the images a nice grainy feel that I hope brings out the age of the tractor. I mostly shot with a shallow depth of field f/2.8 – f/4 to focus on those parts that inspired me the most.

A tractor is a composite of its component parts, each working with the other to create the total machine. While the tractor itself [the macro level] is interesting, the parts [the micro level] really intrigued me.

All photos were taken with a Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-70L lens, and edited using Apple Aperture and Nik Software Color Efex Pro.

Take a look at these photos and tell me what they invoke in you. What speaks to you: the macro or the micro, and why?

Click here to see more photos.

Reflections From A Warrior

Wow, it’s almost the end of September and I have been remiss in updating everyone since July - argggghhhh!

So, without further ado:

The title of this entry has a variety of meanings. Reflections can mean an image displayed or reflected in a body of water or mirror/glass, or a car fender like the image below, etc.

For last couple of weeks the title had another meaning for me: re-evaluating [reflecting on] my photography business: Warrior’s Heart Photography.

You see one measure of success is by increasing the number of active clients and that has been slow for me this year.

Ok, well that happens to all businesses at some point. However, since I currently fulfill all roles for the business I had to ask myself: “Am I doing everything possible to increase my business?”

So, I took inventory of the necessary items every business should have:

A service or a product – check and check [I have both: photography is the service; prints and books are the products]

Talent and skills – double check [I continually improve both of these by taking workshops and applying what I learn]

A website – check [BTW take a peek at the NEW and improved website hosted by Pictage!]

A blog – check [this blog site]

Marketing of products and services – check [this blog post, email via Constant Contact, website marketing, word of mouth]

A growing list of potential clients who may want what I have to offer – check [Constant Contact]

So, “what’s missing?” I asked myself one morning while shaving and looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Then it struck me: “Not what, Glenn”; the question is “who is missing?”

Well, “You are”, I said [no, not you the reader], really the answer is “Me”. I was missing from my business– of course!

Side note: One of my business mentors Jim Rohn always said: “Of course, OF COURSE!” when an answer was so crystal clear to him.

Another mentor Jerry Clark always said, "you have to have a burning desire to succeed". This is so true in business, especially in the world of photography because there are so many photographers to choose from.

I was missing that burning desire that first fueled my business and me!

Where did it go? How did I lose it? Was it gone forever? What happened and when?

I reflected on those questions a couple of weeks ago while on vacation from my day job.

You know what? The answers to those questions were also inside me. Yep, that’s right. I looked no further than inside me.

I am responsible and accountable for everything that is reflected in my world. Guess I forgot that for a while and expected my business to grow independent of me. “Yeah, lots of luck with that one pal!”

How many times have I heard and said the following to my friends, family, and associates:

“The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”

This is another tidbit of wisdom that keeps me moving forward despite my efforts to derail my own success at times.

Do you know why I named my business Warrior’s Heart Photography?

"Being a warrior means never quitting no matter what. Staying on the warrior’s path is a lifelong journey and having the heart of a warrior is what keeps me moving forward everyday."

That’s right: I DO NOT QUIT!

I move forward one step at a time, and sometimes I even take a leap of faith to keep going.

Reflecting back on this post I realized many sentences begin with ‘I’. Well, this is all about me, right?

Wrong…it’s all about how I serve YOU: with a clear vision and an open [warrior’s] heart in my photography business.

I’d love to hear back from you – please post a response right now and tell me what you think.

As a way of saying thank you for readers in the Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia region:

I am offering a 2-for-1 print special combined with your first photo session!
Visit my new website for more info.

And as always, thank you for everything!
Glenn

Doug Gordon Workshop

Just returned from a Doug Gordon workshop in Seattle and it was FANTASTIC!!

Doug conducted a live and hands-on wedding 'flow posing' workshop using a young bride and groom couple [models]. He took us through 100+ poses in a short period of time - AMAZING!

We watched, listened, photographed and learned throughout the afternoon.

I edited some recent photos of friends Deb and Tony Arends using the techniques I learned.

Hope you enjoy them!


"Belief fuels passion, and passion rarely fails"
Mac Anderson

Countdown to Baby!

Our friends Deb and Tony Arends ventured to the McKenna Forest for a portrait session yesterday. Their baby will be joining the family soon! We had lots of fun creating mood for the indoor and outdoor photos.

Thanks to our mutual friend Laurel who also traveled for a photo session.
She assisted me, helped Deb, and had a fine eye for the details that made the session memorable!


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