No simple way about it. My wife and I love to travel. We worked hard over the years, saved and looked for great deals to explore places we’d only dreamed of. One of the best solutions was to cruise. But the coronavirus has changed the industry. Details are still to come but they’ll need a lot of solutions before they can sail again. How are cruise lines going to convince 250 – 4,000 guests they will be safe. And what about the buffets, the big draw… Stay tuned.
Details: All images are from our cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. I used a Nikon mirrorless Z6 camera with both a 16-35 and 28-300 lens.
I’m not a real descriptive writer. That’s why I’m a photographer, a visual artist. I let my images tell the story. Cubans were very friendly, interested and loved to interact. Tour guides loved to tell the stories of the Revolution and the strength of the culture. Owners of paladores wanted to not only share their tasty cuisine but the stories of their families. Street vendors along with the hustlers were happy to share their smiles. Others just wanted to enjoy their siesta.
This is the good and bad of being stuck on a tour bus. Patti Zwink and I went to Cuba. We decided we wanted to see Cuba before it was “Americanized” and for a first trip a tour would be the best way to see the country. Over the next few day’s I’ll share what we saw, a mere glimpse. This is from the first day of being in country.
Images shot with an iPhone 6+ and a Nikon D810 with a 24-70 lens.
I wrote this post a little over a year ago on a different site. I have spent a lot of time since then thinking about the topic and then expanding it to what is photography? I’ll let you savor on the post for a couple days and then I’ll share some thoughts.
I was in SF last week on an extensive corporate photo shoot for Swinerton. When I was leaving I decided to take the Treasure Island exit on the way back to the airport. The last time I was on TI was in 1975 when it was a Navy Base and I was a naive young seaman in Electronic Warfare school. So many memories…… I first decided to do a quick photo shoot of the skyline which was etched in my memory. I first shot it with my Nikon D3 and then decided to try my iPhone on Hipstamatic mode. Ugh…… it looked as flat and hazy as the skyline. So then I opened my new favorite app. Snapseed. With a few adjustments and then a frame adjustment the above photo is what I ended up with. I know, it looks grainy and it does. But, the end result is that I’m going to print it on watercolor on my Epson inkjet printer. A few years ago I did a similar series that I printed on the watercolor paper and it looked great. Now, we’ll find out how IPhone photos hold up.
The techy stuff: camera: iPhone 4 (the 5 is on order)
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.
I have a phobia of losing clients by going on vacation. So I try and be the good communicator and notify my clients of upcoming trips and vacations so they don’t (hopefully) schedule or plan anything during that time frame. This way clients know and I have a few days to pack or relax before heading to the airport.
WRONG…. I don’t know if it’s the law of attraction but 90% of the time I end up shooting during the week and finishing the post production just before the early morning trip to the airport. I end up catching up on my sleep on the flight to our destination.
The last time I failed to send out my obligatory email was when my father died and I flew back to Kansas. My primary client at the time called me the day of the funeral and asked if I could do a major rebranding shoot in two days. No, I replied my father just passed away, can we reschedule the shoot for a week later. No they replied. That week I lost two very important parts of my life. One can’t be replaced.
btw, I’m going on vacation next Sat. and I sent “the email”. I’m shooting for four days, doing one day of post production and then off to New Orleans. I hope your thoughts of vacation are as productive.
Portrait of Ken Caminiti. Concept was to show his toughness and grit.
I used to be a sports photographer. Then reality set in….. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I grew up in a small Kansas farm town, Macksville, and I loved sports. I don’t ever remember sports not being a part of my life. My two oldest brothers excelled in whatever they did. My next oldest brother Mark was a pretty good pitcher, my sister, Debbie, was just as talented as my older siblings and my youngest brother was probably the best of us all. The only problem was he was ten years younger than me. I only learned his exploits from Mark’s writings in the local newspaper. But what about me? I was short changed in the talent department. As hard as I worked and studied sports, the reality was I didn’t “have” it. But boy it sure took me a long time to accept it.
I played on the high school team and then was the backup place kicker on the Mesa College football team. Looking back I think it was only because Coach Smorin didn’t cut those that wanted to be there. I wanted it bad. So I stayed. During the offseason I was in the first car accident of my life and as a result had to quit playing. That was one of the best events that ever happened.
During the offseason I had gotten married and my sister-in-law, Carole had loaned me her 35mm Yashica to play with. I was quickly hooked and soon photographing sports for the school paper at Mesa College which allow me to stay in touch with my team mates. An obsession to learn followed and within four years I was working in the newspaper realm, covering news and the sports I loved.
After eight years as a staff photographer at the San Diego Union Tribune I started my own business and became immersed in the sports photography profession. I worked for the wire services, trading card companies, San Diego State University and then got my dream job. Along with a former Sports Illustrated photographer we started an in-house full service photography department for the owner of the San Diego Padres. It was a sports photographer’s ideal job. We were on the inside documenting the team and the franchise, the players and the owners. We were given access that few photographer ever are given.
During the six year stint we lived a great life. I photographed hundreds of games and saw a rare insight into what some people call the Greatest Game. The Padres had a good team and even better marketing. Their quest to expand their brand took us to Mexico several times, once to play the Mets, to Hawaii to play the St. Louis Cardinals and then the winning began. We went to the playoff and then the World Series. I saw Tony Gwynn at his prime, I saw him injured and I saw him retire. On his final game he personally gave me an autographed bat which I have to this day.
But times change. Due to internal politics I was not renewed. And to add insult to injury I was replaced by the mailroom clerk…. the timing was terrible. They waited until ten days prior to spring training which precluded me from working with another company.
Losing that contract was the best event that happened. I’m now an architectural photographer. I miss sports but I love my new challenge. But that’s another story. Check out my website, www.zwink.com
About the photo: This was a portrait of Ken Caminiti done for the Padres Magazine. Camy was one of the most intense, dedicated hard working people I ever met. He loved baseball. Padre fans loved him.
This past year was a big one for me. I’ve made a concerted effort to improve my work and to understand the market and potential competition. What I’ve learned are there are some extremely talented artists in this speciality. I’ve been very fortunate to talk with several photographers and as a result have expanded myknowledge and passion for my photography. Jeffrey Jacobs, http://www.jeffreyjacobsphoto.com, has become a mentor to me, tirelessly talking sharing his views about the profession, art and business we share.
Recently at a workshop he looked at my work and was very honest. All he said
was “slow down, shoot less and shoot better.” I have, and I am improving. May
you all either have or find the right person that can tell you to slow down.
