Cruising Ensenada

Just got back from a short cruise to Ensenada for my sister-in-law's birthday. The food was good and we had calm seas. I got a few shots from town that I thought helped capture a feel for the area. Enjoy!

A Weekend in Big Bear

So this weekend my wife and I escaped off to Big Bear. I did some research and found a cute little Bed & Breakfast called the Knickerbocker Mansion. Not only is it a B&B, but it also has its own bistro that serves quite the wonderful upscale dinners on Saturday nights (Friday nights is casual dining). You can read more about it at their website, but I highly recommend it. Two cute little details - they had two home-made mint truffles for us waiting on our bed when we arrived (which were delicious), and there was a cute rubber ducky waiting on the edge of our shower/tub.

While we were there, we went on an off-roading tour which made any ride at a theme park feel like childs play. We were told it was an "educational tour" and not an "e-ticket ride." Well it was more like a Z-ticket ride, but we spoke with the owner of the company and he made things right, so we will try them again, albeit with a different driver.

We also went to our first Ocktober Fest. While we did not ourselves participate in the Chicken Dance, or any of the other traditional dances the event is known for, both my wife and I did have one German beer a piece and that was plenty. It was actually a lot of fun and everybody was having a good time even before they got intoxicated.

Two other places we ate that I highly recommend if you want good food in Big Bear are Get the Burger and The Mandoline. Fantastic! If you are a fan of In & Out, you will LOVE Get the Burger. Just be sure to order it "Raccoon Style," which means they put a special spicy sauce in the beef patty and they carmelize the onions. The other place we went - where we actually had dinner one day and lunch a couple days later was The Mandoline. Fantastic food. Fantastic desserts. I wish this place was in Orange County and not all the way in Big Bear. You can see the menu for both Get the Burger and The Mandoline here.

All-in-all, a wonderful trip. Now we need to go back after the snow has fallen and we can do some serious snowboarding and skiing!

Walker Mashup

I found a cool new way to mashup photographs and put them together to music. I've been experimenting with it and created one based on photographs I did of Walker, who you can see on my website. Take a look for yourself:

Success with iStockphoto.com

Well it's been a few months since I uploaded some photos of mine to iStockphoto.com. So far the results have been good overall. I have two images that are somewhat popular. The one you see above has had 40 downloads already, and has been consistently downloaded since I first uploaded it.

While I don't think I'll be able to quit my day job based on royalties from iStockphoto, it's a nice affirmation that I've taken pictures that people find value in.

Samy's Photo Seminar - Sept. 29th

On Saturday, September 29th, I went to an event at the Orange County Fairgrounds hosted by Samy's Camera. Naturally they had vendors of all sorts there, but that was not the main attraction for me. What I was interested in was listening to professional wedding photographer Mike Colon talk about how he does photography.

I'd seen Mike's name in all sorts of photography magazines at the back where they have all the seminars and workshops and list the photographers who will be speaking. Seeing as Samy's put this seminar on for free (although technically I think Mike was sponsored by Apple for their product Aperature), I thought I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him.

As I had hoped, the seminar was great! I was thrilled to learn that Mr. Colon has the same philosophy regarding philosophy that I do. The most important component of a photograph is that the "moment" is caught. The photo doesn't have to be technically perfect. What makes it a great picture is the moment it captures. That doesn't mean you don't do due dilligence to get a sound photo, but I think if you were to ask him, a technically wonderful picture with no emotion or feeling within it is soulless. Better a picture of a magic moment that isn't technically perfect than a perfectly technical photo with no magic in it.

Mr. Colon is also a big fan of using natural light whenever possible. He will even crank up the ISO to get the shot because he likes the grainy photo-journalistic look. I've always been taught that noise is not your friend, but he reminded us all that it used to be that film used to have that grainy look that was once considered "classic." If he does use flash, he tries to set it up so the light looks like it is naturally coming from somewhere, rather than an obvious use of flash. Hey - the guy makes a great living taking photos of celebrity weddings and shooting for major magazines and advertisers, clearly he's doing something right.

It was a great seminar, and I picked up yet more nuggets of knowledge I can apply to my own photography. In my opinion you can never learn enough...

Trip to Paso Robles

I know, it's been a while since I've updated this thing. Shame on me! Well here's a quick look at my trip to Paso Robles, CA for some good food and wine.

Went to Paso Robles, CA for the first time with my wife. I guess you could say it's the "lesser Napa" of California. We ended up going the hottest weekend of the entire year, where temperatures were between 104 and 108 degrees, but we still had a fantastic time. We found lots of great wineries there that I highly recommend you check out if you're in the area.

First of all, we tried a service called Grapeline that picks you up from your hotel and takes you to a bunch of different wineries. The cool thing is they have lines all over the state of California, so check them out and book your tour today!

So during the time we were in Paso Robles there were four wineries that really stood out from the crowd for different reasons; Four Vines, Tablas Creek, Tobin James, and Justin.

Really quick, here's why:

Four Vines has a great branding campaign. Not only are their wines consistently good, but they are a wine with attitude. Go in and you'll get your own "custom" glass you can choose, each with aggressive looking logos or racy statements. A young, aggressive kind of feel with attitude - sort of like if a custom chopper shop or tattoo parlor sold wines. It's refined wine for the unrefined masses.

Tablas Creek does not have an aggressive marketing campaign, but they have great wine and they let you do wine tours there. They were really helpful and nice, and I recommend you check them out if you get the chance.

Nearby is Justin, who is known as being a very upscale wine, and they've got the winery to go with it. We ate at the restaurant they have there, which was delicious. They are famous for a brand called Isosceles, which they were unfortunately out of at the time because it's so popular. However we tried it at a fantastic restaurant named Artisan later during the weekend and it was FANTASTIC. But it's got the price to go along with its amazing flavor.

The surprise of the trip was Tobin James. It's a larger winery, off the main highway 46, and I thought it would be a bit touristy. Our Grapeline tour took us there and I was very pleasantly surprised. The inside looks like an old saloon, and apparently the main bar really is an old saloon that they renovated for the place. It's kind of kitchy, kind of fun, but the wines are surprisingly good and very reasonable. I particularly recommend their Chateu le Cacheflo blend.

Three great restaurants to try if you are in Paso Robles: Bistro Laurent, Villa Creek, and Artisan. All have great food and great service and we will be going back to them the next time we are in Paso Robles.

As for pictures, the grapes were not particularly plump at the time we went, but I got some wine barrels and an interesting shot of an oil field that is off highway 46 on the way to Paso Robles. You can see it under Fine Art about halfway through the photo series.

PPOC Meeting - September

I attended a wonderful meeting of the Professional Photographers of Orange County (PPOC) on September 20th that was really informative.

It was a panel of professional and successful photographers: Rick Rosen, Kathleen Clark, Frank Salas, Karen French, and Lia Segerblom.

Topics discussed were the future of photography, how to deal with clients, adjusting to the changes in the field and competition of photography, and even a debate on giving clients proofs or not. It's clear all these photographers have a passion for what they do and put the client first, which is absolutely essential to make it in the business. I hope to join their illustrious ranks one day.

A Touch of Tablet

There is nothing better in the world than a supportive family.

My family has always been supportive of my endeavor to become a professional photographer particularly my wife and my in-laws. My mother-in-law believed in me so much, she got me an Epson Stylus Photo R1800 professional-quality printer a few years ago and I've created many wonderful prints with it - including two that were accepted into the Orange County Fair.

My wife has no problem whenever I say I'm interested in buying books, joining professional organizations, or taking classes on photography. She believes in me 100% and wants me to really go for it. Now that is a great woman.

Continuing this trend, my in-laws got me another wonderful gift for my birthday this year to help support my photography dream - a Wacom Intuos 3 tablet.

For any of you who are not familiar with this device, it's like a raised pressure sensitive mouse pad. With the pad you use a pen - not a pen with ink, but a pen with a plastic nub - kind of like a large stylus that you would use for a PDA.

When you press this pen to the pressure-sensitive mousepad, it lets you make very fine selections in Photoshop or create effects that look like paintings or drawings because anything you can draw with a pen or pencil, you can draw using this device.

Tablets are used by virtually all professional graphic designers and photographers because it gives you much more control over what you're doing on the screen than a regular mouse. And now I have one thanks to my in-laws (who were told by my wife what I wanted).

It's kind of weird to use at first because I've used a mouse all my life. I'm starting to get used to it, however, and I can already tell I'm going to be able to further improve my photography with it. Yet another small step forward on my way to the top!

Stock Photography

I've been working on a deal with Photospin.com to purchase some of my photos for a little while now. Unlike other stock photo agencies, they pay you in advance for your photos, regardless of how many times they are downloaded. The good news is I can submit the same images to any other agency I want. I signed the contract and uploaded the pictures to the Photospin server, but I didn't know if they were accepted. Well after finding this check in the mail (I only found it the other day trapped in some junk mail) - I guess that means they accepted what I uploaded.

For the record, I do have some photos up on iStockphoto.com as well, but, as mentioned before, they give you a percentage of what people pay for your photos when they download them. So far nobody has downloaded any of the images I've submitted to them. So the honor of making me a true professional photographer beyond any doubt goes to Photospin.com.

Yes, it's another minor victory, but it keeps the momentum going. I'm also submitting more photos to iStockphoto.com (they are in review) so I'm hoping people will start downloading my work from there as well.

On another note, I picked up the photographs I submitted to the Orange County Fair yesterday. The woman who helped me get them from the "gallery" congratulated me for getting in - apparently a lot of people who submit photos get rejected. That felt kind of nice. I also got a nifty ribbon for being accepted.

She asked if I was getting ready for next year, and of course I told her I was. I've already got a couple of images in mind...

A Fair to Remember

So my family and I went to the Orange County Fair yesterday evening. For many years I promised myself I would one day enter some photographs into the competition - and this was my first year. I entered three photographs - one of the San Clemente Pier at sunset, one of the World War II monument in Washington DC, and one of Manhattan after sunset as seen from Brooklyn.

I didn't win anything, but I wasn't terribly surprised. It is my first year, and I just wanted to get the feel of entering into the contest. I was, however, hoping to get a little bit of exposure and perhaps make a sale. I entered the Professional division because you are allowed to sell your prints. I also consider myself a professional, and it would be silly to enter the amature division and then want people to hire you or buy your stuff.

The good news is this is a juried competition, and if your material isn't any good at all, they won't accept it. So at least I know I have a certain level of quality to get in. Some of the winners I saw yesterday I could understand why they won awards. Others, I wasn't so sure about. Perhaps the judges see things that I can't? I do think that my images could have used some more pop to make them really stand out, and thanks to a book I picked up by Scott Kelby I have discovered some techniques to do just that.

While I was at the fair I also took some new pictures. I focused primarily on the Zipper contraption, which I found interesting because of a photo Scott Kelby did on the cover of the book I bought from him (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery). The image I captured isn't as strong as his, but if I can make it look somewhat similar to what he did, I'll be pleased. I also got some shots of the ferris wheel. Usually I wait until dark and do long exposures, but I thought I would try doing some daytime things just to be different for me. I also saw some interesting things that make me want to go back and try getting pictures of when I have some more light to work with. We'll see what happens.

Entering the fair was a good experience and met one of my personal goals. Next year I'll be back, and this time I'm shooting for a ribbon.

The One Day Seminar

What a difference a day makes.

A wise man once said (and if he didn't, I'm saying it now!), "You don't realize what you don't know until you meet someone who does know." Well I have met that someone, and he is Marc Weisberg.

I took a one-day seminar with Marc and my head is still swimming. Not only does he do amazing images, but he also has a system for his workflow, for running the back-end of the business, and dealing with customers from the very first phone call. Basically everything you've wanted to know about how to run your own photography company, he has the answers. And you know his answers are right because he's very successful at it already. In fact, I predict he will one day soon be one of the premiere wedding photographers in the country.

I learned a LOT. So much I'm still trying to digest everything.

Back from San Jose

Well here I am, back from San Jose. I must confess, I didn't get all the shots I was hoping for, but I did learn alot. And since the whole purpose of this blog is to share my knowledge, let's get to it.

The first thing I learned is that it is extremely difficult mixing business with pleasure trips. My wife and I were meeting friends up there so we had no car and it wasn't really our itinerary. Our friends were extremely generous, and drove us around to the wineries and were even kind enough to take me to a place where I could shoot the Golden Gate bridge. The difficulty is that it's best to shoot early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is lower in the horizon. That way you get that beautiful golden light and no harsh shadows. When we were at the wineries it was usually around noon-time so the light was very harsh, and when we went to the Golden Gate it was a little too late so the images were much darker than I had hoped. I also took much longer than they all thought and were worried about me as they waited in the car and I was gone for nearly an hour. That wasn't really fair to them. I think in the future, I'll either take trips specifically to get shots, or I'll make plans to go out and take shots during certain blocks of time or on specific days. That way I can get where I need to be when I need to be there and not convenience everybody else. If you want to be serious about photography, make it a priority.

The second thing I learned is that it's really good to know your equipment by feel. When I finally got to where I wanted to be to get the Golden Gate shots, it was fairly dark. There were no lights at the beach/park, and I didn't have a flashlight on me. When I use my camera for shots like this, I always do the auto-feature that snaps 3 shots at 3 different exposures - one step below the "ideal" exposure as indicated by my built-in light meter, a shot at normal exposure, and a step above "ideal" exposure. To do this I have to go into the menu on my camera and set it up. I couldn't see the buttons at all on my camera, but from memory and by touch I was able to find the menu button and advance to the correct screen, which I could see on the LCD. As I said before, the shots didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped, but I was still able to attempt to get the shot under less-than-ideal circumstances. Know your equipment.

The third thing I learned is I still wasn't as well-prepared as I should have been. Before leaving on the trip, I had removed the ring from my 70-200mm lens that is used to attach the lens to a tripod because it weighs much more than the camera. This would have been an ideal lens to use for the Golden Gate shot, but in the dark with what little light there was quickly fading away, it was impossible for me to try to re-connect the ring to the lens and use it in time. Had I attached it earlier, I could have pulled the lens out and used it. Who knows? That might have got me a much better shot than what I took. Or I should just put a flashlight in my backpack so I can work in low-light situations (I think I'll buy a Microlight). Either way, preparation is critical.

In the end, the trip was wonderful. We did lots of wine tasting, had a lot of great food, and had a fantastic time with our friends. I did get some vineyard shots and pictures of wine barrels that may be usable for stock photography - I'll try submitting them and see what happens. But one thing is for sure - I will be better prepared for my next outing.

I Left My Heart in San Jose...

Flying up to San Jose, CA for the next 4 days. We're visiting some married friends, but I'm really hoping to get out there and get some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, the lighthouse at Pigeon Point in Pescadero, and shots in Napa Valley. That's my goal anyway. If I get even half of that done I'll be pleased.

Pictures of what I get will follow...

Starting the Business...

I kind of romanticized having my own business. Being in charge. Working for yourself. Take as long a lunch as you want. Well, I'm not quite there yet. I've actually taken the conservative route and I'm doing this photography thing as a side business while I work at a real 40-hour per week corporate job. I think for the photography business it's the wisest choice. There are a lot of people doing photography here in Orange County, let alone California, and I know I could not make enough doing it to live the life I can afford with my regular job. My advise is unless you have a ton of money in savings that you can afford to do your business full-time, or your idea has a niche market that will rabidly go after your product and/or service, you might do the same thing.

Still, there are certain steps you need to take when starting your own business. In a nutshell that's as follows:

1. Pick a company name or use your own name. If you choose a company name (like "ACME Photography"), you need to fill out a "doing business as" or DBA with the state and city where your business will take place. If you use your own name, you usually don't. When you do a DBA, you go to city hall and they will check to see if the name is already in use. If it isn't, it's yours! But to be sure, some places require you file your new business name in some sort of periodical just to inform everyone you exist and make sure nobody else has the name. This can vary, so check with your local city.

2. If required - get a business license. Some cities require you apply for one, some don't. My city didn't. Check with your city and find out. Lots of times you can find out on the web if you do or don't.

3. Get a Federal Tax ID Number. This identifies you to the federal government as a legitimate business. This means you have to pay taxes as a business (if you make a profit), but it also allows you to do write-offs for business expenses. I got to write off my new camera, lenses, and trips to Washington DC, Seattle, and New York because I have this ID# (my father-in-law is an accountant so he figured it all out for me - check with an accountant to see how it works). Without this ID#, the feds don't know you have a business, and if you start writing things off without it, you can get into trouble. This also lets you get things like a resellers permit (which I'll explain next) and business accounts at banks. Some vendors you work with may require to see it too.

4. Resellers Permit. You need this if you are selling a product. Since I'm doing photography, I can use this to sell prints of my photographs, or even framed prints of my photographs, and charge whatever I want to charge. Now if you aren't selling anything physical yourself, you don't necessarily need this. You can upload your photographs to Websites like Shutterfly and sell your photographs through them if you purchase a business account. Stock photography sites like iStockphoto or Photospin will sell your photographs for stock. Since they are the ones actually selling your photographs, you don't need the resellers permit - they do. And because they do, they are required to charge people sales tax, as are you if you get a resellers permit - as long as you are selling something physical like a print or even a CD with images on it. Interestingly enough, if you provide a customer with an image via e-mail or a non-physical way, you don't have to charge them sales tax. That may change in the future, but right now it's the rule - at least in California. With a resellers permit you can also get discounts at certain places. For example, you can buy frames wholesale and get a discount through them if you provide a resellers permit proving you are a legitimate business and you'll be reselling what you're purchasing.

Now this is what I did to start my business. Check with your local and state governments to make sure of your rules so you don't get in trouble. And as I mentioned before, if you use other vendors like Shutterfly or iStockphoto, you don't even need the resellers permit - but technically you can't sell your physical prints or CDs to other people.

How did I learn all this? Talking to small business owners and doing research on the web. That's all part of having a plan as mentioned in the previous post. Your results may vary, so do the research and find out what you need.

So You Want to Start a Business?

I haven't really read any books on starting a business. Actually, I have some books on the subjet, but I haven't read them yet (I find myself reading books on photography first). However, I think there are some characteristics an individual needs if he or she wants to start a business. These aren't anything new or revolutionary and you probably already know them, but here they are:

1. Drive - once a goal is set, moving towards it constantly
2. Persistance - not giving up despite setbacks, always working on improving
3. A plan - setting goals, figuring out what needs to be done to get things done

Now there are lots of other things I could have put on this list. Maybe I should have. But for me these are the core values you need. I think they are all pretty self-explanatory, although I should point out that having a plan is not necessarily the same as being organized. There are plenty of small business owners who are disorganized, but to get their business started, they had to have a plan. I would submit if you want to increase the chance of your business surviving, it's best to be organized. But to start one up from scratch, you definitely need a plan as to how you'll get there.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you ask), I've tended to have these traits for most of my life. Can people who don't have these traits start a small business? I suppose it's possible, but I have never met that person. Perhaps you have. All the small business owners I've been in contact with definitely do possess these traits.

And while they sound like very positive characteristics at first, they can be negative too. From what I've read and what I've seen, small business owners who possess these traits can be a bit obsessive when it comes to their business. This can have a negative affect on friends and family if it's not controlled. I know I have to balance my need of wanting to take pictures, work on pictures, and grow my business with married life. There are always things that need to be done, but I still need to make my personal life a priority or else it will start to suffer. I'm sure many people have not done this and have suffered a lot because of it. This is something to keep in mind when starting any business.

If you already possess these characteristics and you're thinking about starting a business, photography or otherwise, you have what it takes to get it going. If you feel like you don't have these traits, you might either want to re-evaluate your goal, or partner up with someone who does possess them. Not all creative-types have the business personality, and there is nothing wrong with that, but somebody on the team should or you'll have a difficult time.

How Did I Start?

So let's start at the beginning - how did I get interested in photography? I think for some, it begins with one picture. I realized this when I checked out Jim Janaard's photo website. In case you don't know who he is, he is the founder of Oakley - a company that makes high-end sunglasses and other apparel, and he is currently working on the RED Digital Cinema Camera Company.

If you look at the History portion of his website, he shows you the first picture he took that made him want to do photography (it's a nice one). I hope to post my first picture that gave me hope - first I have to find it, then I have to scan it! But I'll try to explain it to you.

I was 18 years old and at Sea World with my parents. My dad had a decent SLR (that's single lense reflex - a camera that is larger in size than instant cameras and usually has interchangable lenses) and let me borrow it when I went to the top of what was known then as the PSA Skytower. It's this ride that holds a ton of people and slowly rotates as it rises up and gives you a great view of the area. At the top of the ride, I shot a picture of a pier off in the distance that had what looked like a rollercoaster on it. I didn't think much of it until I had the film developed, and although I was using color film, the image actually turned out looking black and white because of the tinting on the windows of the Skytower, and because it was overcast that day. The silohuette of the rollercoaster could be seen, as well as patches of sunlight that was coming through the clouds. I had the image blown up and hung it in my room. The blown-up image is long gone, but I still remember the shot, and remember it made me think I might have a decent eye for photography. Up until then, I felt like all the other pictures I'd taken while growing up were just snapshots. THAT was a photograph.

So I started reading books on the subject, from the very simple to the more complex. Books on basic camera operation, books on composition and technique, and later, as digital became more popular, books on Photoshop. I went all out to learn as much as I possibly could. I learned about aperture and shutter speed and how the two work together. I learned about ISO settings and which ones work best for what kinds of photos. I learned that slide film is better quality than regular film, so I shot with that even though it was more expensive to develop.

After a while I felt like I needed some feedback on what I was doing, so I decided to look for classes. Fortunately, the classes found me in a way, when I was shooting pictures at the San Juan Capistrano Mission, and met Robert Hansen, who was teaching some students there. They say, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear..." and sure enough he did.

So for a while I took classes from him on different aspects of photography. I even worked as a photo assistant for him a couple of times. All these were great experiences, and he gave me a lot of encouragement and the belief that I might be able to do something with my photography.

So that's how I started out - with a passion for knowledge. The next step was to try to make a business out of it.

My First Entry

So here I am, going after my dream. I admit it might be a longshot, but I want to do it. I want to be a professional photographer.

Well, I sort of am. I'm at least a part-time professional photographer. Part-time in that I already have a full-time job designing e-learning at an insurance company (name withheld to protect the innocent). Professional in that I've had two people pay me to take pictures of their kids and I have 3 pictures accepted at iStockphoto.com. They haven't sold yet, but they were accepted.

So this blog is about me trying to "make it" in the world of photography. I'm going to tell you how I started, what I'm doing, and how I plan to get there. And although this focuses on photography, this really applies to anyone trying to start a small business of their own, or trying to get into a career they know they'd love to do for a living. I have a friend who is trying to live his dream of being a professional writer. You can see his blog at www.imminentfiction.com.

If you've stumbled across this blog and you want to see my photos and what I'm trying to sell, you can check out my webpage at www.stevenmjohnson.com.

I hope you find this blog helpful and informative. For me, I think it will be an interesting way to chronicle my journey.