Fast forward to 2021. I’ve had two major back surgeries, lost my clientele to Covid and made a major life change to Oregon to a small beach town with one of the famous Haystack Rocks offshore. With my change in lifestyle I will be blogging more to catch up on life in general. My approach will be helter skelter but at some point will make sense. The bottom line will be about the images and the art.
Equipment: Nikon Z6II, 14mm, 28-300 and an Apple iPhone 11
According to the UT San Diego is ranked #2 in the nation for solar. We put solar on our home a few years ago and our electric bill for last year was $176. Protecting the environment, saving our budget.
San Diego County ranks No. 2 in the nation for solar
trailing only Honolulu for installed solar power, per capita
Solar installations which add to job growth are a key part of the city of San Diego’s climate action plan that aims to achieve 100 percent renewable energy use citywide by 2035.
Details: Photos are from commissioned projects. Camera, Nikon D600 and D810 and a Phantom 4 drone.
Just prior to the virus outbreak and shutdown Patti and I took a 9 day trip to Kona, our trip to the final Hawaiian island on our wishlist. Just a short drive from our studio was a black sand beach. Once in the water though the clarity was one of the best from our many trips to Hawaii.
This video was my first effort with a GoPro8. Still learning how to edit and color manage it but the stabilization was very good.
#Kona #Hawaii #BigIsland #Snorkeling #turtle #GoPro8
Havana, Cuba is not New York City yet, but it’s streets are busy during the days. Predominately carefully maintained l1950s style cars, many with original motors and others that have been converted to Russian diesel motors with the telltale sounding diesel noise. We rode to a jazz club in a 1956 Chevy Impala with the owner styled and groomed to match his cherry red Chevy.
Delivery trucks, freight trucks, buses and horse drawn carriages are interspersed by the rare modern Mercedes and Toyotas. Road rage a rarity. It will come.
Personally, I would not mind if there was a basic certification to regulate the industry. The fact is there has been an increased interest from photographers, hobbyists and business owners to integrate into their offering. With the advent of gps in the “drones” it has become easier to fly. But stuff happens, how many pilots will know how to safely react and land without injuring anyone or damaging property? And if you’re flying without FAA knowledge or permission will your insurance still cover you?
I just wish the FAA would do their job and let us get back to ours.
Need something to do but want to be productive? Revisit your old files and take a fresh look at them. Perhaps you missed an interesting image or, it just wasn’t edited right. Here are three images that I shot in 2012 back in Kansas, where I grew up. 
This one I particularly like. I missed originally that it was sitting in a pocket of light shining through the trees. Once I started working on the file I also saw the subtle pink and magenta tone sitting in the low laying clouds. 
I was stoked. I’ve shot thousands of images from Kansas over the years and many views get a repeated look. Different times of the year, different times of the day. You never know where that special light will occur, or if it’s already in your images. Revisit….
My website: www.zwink.com Techy stuff: post production in Adobe Lightroom 5.
I have done a lot of aerials for clients the last several years. But as clients tightened their budgets the number of aerial assignments drastically decreased. As an alternative we invested in a DJI Phantom Vision + and are in the early stages of testing. They are several potential issue ranging from the paranoid uninformed public, insurance and future FAA regulations. The plus side is being able to achieve lower level views than from a $650 per hour helicopter, work within tighter budgets and product creative imagery. The times are changing but change can be fun.
More of my work is at: www.zwink.com
“Get yourself in the picture. Nothing is worse than a vacation with no shots of the family photographer. Get in the picture by using a tripod (or a steady surface such as a wall or a car hood) and the camera’s self-timer to make sure you’re included in the family memories.”
Borrowed quote from a Nikon site…..good advise.
More of my work at: WWW.Zwink.com
I used to have the contract for San Diego State Athletics. I provided all the photography for them including game coverage. Being a state university the contract was on a bid basis. Although I was awarded the contract I was told by the then SID (sports information director) it would be in my best interest to find a working relationship with the previous photographer. After a couple strenuous, stressful years in that arrangement I finally had my golden parachute. The San Diego Padres were looking for a change. My new partner, former SI photographer Andy Hayt and myself were chosen to run their new photo operation. For six years it was a well run operation. We were well paid, made strong imagery and operated with sound business principals. Our images had value to our client.
Often I’m told by younger, inexperienced photographers that they are working for free in exchange for the exposure. How is exposure going to pay your rent, to pay for your cameras and computers? Listen hard, this practice has been going on for a long time. Ask yourself if the people asking for free imagery are working for free? I don’t think so. Their skills have value and they get paid for it. If you have the skills, your work has value. Get paid. You can only work for free so long before your credit card payment for the camera you bought is due.
Btw, another talented photographer later temporarily got the SDSU contract. The other photographer I had worked with previously went back and offered to work for free as a volunteer. He didn’t offer to work with their current paid photographer, his approach was to replace him. They jumped at the free offer and my friend lost out. He lost income and State is accepting a lesser quality product. Don’t condone photographers that lowball, that work for free, even if they are “giving back to the university”. They diminish the value of our work and create one more potential client that views photography as a low priced commodity. These are not your friends.
“IF YOU LOSE A POTENTIAL JOB, HOPE IT’S BECAUSE THEY PREFERRED THEIR WORK OVER YOURS, NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE CHEAPER”
My work is featured at: www.zwink.com and www.bigstudioz.com
