Category Archives: photography

black and white, photography, Photoshop, San Diego, Sports

GOALS………

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Are you still scoring?

Well…… the first quarter of the year is over and it’s time.  Time to do spring cleaning, pay quarterly taxes and review and finishing your yearly taxes.  Missing anything?  How about your NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS????

Did you make any resolutions for 2011?  Do you remember them?  Seriously.  For once I actually decided to follow through on them.  My office is getting cleaner, my marketing is exploding and I’ve made some great images for my current and new clients.  All were part of my new goals for the year.  Experts will tell you to write them down so you can refer to them and have a statement to be accountable for.  Sort of like a yearly business plan.  But it has to be fluid for those new opportunities.

Now if only I can loose weight……

Techy stuff:  Archived images of the San Diego Sockers originally shot on 35mm film and scanned on an Epson flatbed scanner and adjusted in Photoshop5.  More of my work can be seen at:  www.zwink.com

location shoot, photography, San Diego, Sports

It’s good to be an Aztec for Life

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SDSU Aztecs celebrate winning a share of the Mtn. West basketball league title.

Saturday night was a great night to be:

  1. a SDSU student
  2. a SDSU alumni
  3. a long suffering Aztec fan
  4. a member of the SDSU’s 29-2 basketball team
  5. SDSU President Stephen Weber

More game and celebration photos can be seen at:  http://zwinkftp.com/csusdsuhtml/ My website is:  http://zwink.com

Apple, camera phone, location shoot, photography

Take 5 and be Alive

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Take a five minute break each day and renew your vision and creativity.  The only way you’ll get better is if you shoot.  The more you shoot, the better you will get.  The more you shoot the more your vision and creativity will evolve.  Five minutes a day, that’s all you need.  So you don’t carry your dslr everywhere everyday with you?  Good.

Pull out your Iphone (At&t or Verizion, it doesn’t matter) and start searching.  It doesn’t matter if your subject is a landscape, saturated color or a detail item,  the important thing is you do the exercise.  You can do it at home, on a walk or in the office.  The beauty of the Iphone, or Blackberry, is that it’s basically a limited camera with minimal control.  The main control becomes your eye.  Learn to see with limited resources and watch your vision grow.  Learn how to be good with this camera and then watch what happens when you pick up your “real” camera.  Watch how you start looking at things different.  You will change.  Change is good.  Have fun, turn your snapshots into art.

More of my work can be seen at www.zwink.com although there aren’t any Iphone photos on it.  They will be on a Iphone gallery soon which I will share.

location shoot, music, photography, Photoshop, San Diego, Uncategorized

Mozart is still Alive

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SDSU Cast of “A Walk in the Clouds”

 

When I was working part time at the San Diego edition of the L.A. Times I was introduced to the world of theater photography.  I got to cover the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe to name a few.  What a great time.  I got to see world class performances by known and unknown actors while getting paid to cover their shows.  Most shoots were done during dress rehearsals meaning I was allowed to move around the theater with silent impunity.

Nowadays I still get to work with the SDSU Theatre department and Stone Soup Theater.  At SDSU it is a wonderful experience as I not only get to hone my low light craft but I get to watch the development of the future professional actors.  It not only is a time to watch the character development but it allows  you a chance to study the body language and emotional interactions that can be transferred to shooting portraiture and getting that little special extra into your work.  After all good photography is just capturing the day to day live theater we live in.

techy stuff:  D700 with a 28-70 lens.  Shot ISO 1600 at f4.0.  Postproduction in Photoshop 5.

art exhitibion, black and white, career, photography

5 Things to do with old photos in your Garage

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So…… you have some extra time and you decide to go through old images.  You go into the garage and there is a stack of boxes that you swore you’d edit, file or throw away.  This can also apply to you art directors, pr people or ad agencies with a lot of  prints from old projects.  Now before anyone yells at me you non photogs make sure you have permission or the right to use them.  So make some time and take another look at what was once some great work.  Here’s my list of 5 things to do with the photos.  I hope you’ll add to the list as I need some other great ideas to repurpose these images.

  1. Send a copy of the print to the subject, even if a lot of time has passed.  At the least you’ll make someone’s day, at best you may make a new client.
  2. Scan and archive your better images.  It’s good to see where you’ve been, how you’ve progressed.  You may even end up with a new portfolio or gallery you can share.
  3. Make Art….. be creative.  Create collages, decoupage an old table top , put old slides inside a clear lamp to remind your self of the “old days”.  Wallpaper your garage with old prints.
  4. Maybe you have enough prints for an exhibit in a coffee bar, hair salon or bar.  Might be great tradeout potential if they don’t have a budget for art.
  5. Scan your best archives, categorize them and see if you may have a body of work for a historical archive.  Wouldn’t that be cool if future generations could see your work?
  6. Take old proofs or small prints, jazz them up in small frames or matteboard and give them to friends or clients.  Let them know you appreciate them.  DARN….. I went past five.  Ok, your turn.  Share your ideas.  I have a lot of files to go through…..

 

The photos above are two of a series of 16×20 prints from my old studio, now in my garage.

More of my work can be seen at: www.zwink.com or go check out some of my cool editorial work at: www.bigstudioz.com

location shoot, NFL, photography, San Diego, Sports, Uncategorized

Tomlinson Over the Top?

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So, can LT finally get over the top? LaDanian Tomlinson record setting running back for the San Diego Chargers and now the New York Jets had his playoffs dream cut short once again.  L.T and the Chargers parted ways almost a year ago, the Chargers unwilling to resign him at this stage of his career.  Looking for that one missing goal, The Super Bowl, L.T. signed with the Jets stating they were the best opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl.  One game short of the Super Bowl and one yard short, Tomlinson was unable to get that one last yard to score a TD late in the game against the Steelers.  The Steel Curtain held and Tomlinson’s dream once again was shattered.  So, the big question is will he have enough for one more try next year.

Photo: shot with a Nikon D3 and 70-200 2.8 lens in a playoff game in San Diego vs. the Tennessee Titans Dec. 25,2009.

My other site is:  www.zwink.com

NFL, photography, San Diego, Sports

Giving Back

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I believe in charity, I believe in getting paid. The one thing about a lot of charities is that they believe photography should either be free, donated or minimal cost. A lot of times the requester will mention the great marketing potential and visibility and best of all it’s for charity. Generally the staffer from the charity is paid, the venue is paid, the catering either paid or discounted, the photographer……. free? See why I rarely do charity events?

So, I found a way to give, feel good and not abused. I went to San Diego State University, fell in love with the campus and after leaving for a job continued to actively support them. I eventually was awarded the sports department photography contract and met two young men that both personified the love of sports, friendship and life. Carlos Gutierrez, then Monty Montezuma, and I became great friends while on the sidelines at the Aztecs sporting events. I also met a freshman running back that would put SDSU on the map. Marshall Faulk went on to become an All American, runner up for the Heisman Trophy (he got robbed), first round NFL draft pick and now a future Hall of Famer.

Faulk now a NFL Network analyst is still loyal to SDSU. The last couple years he has been involved in a marketing program to get more alumni involved. It’s called “Aztec for Life”. In the photo above at a event promoting that is (left-right) Carlos Gutierrez, Marshall Faulk and SDSU President Stephen Weber.

Faulk also has his own charity called the Marshall Faulk Foundation. The mission is to improve the quality of life for San Diego youth by increasing opportunities for them. So Carlos G. and I came up with the perfect solution. I donated the image of Faulk (top left) from a game against USC and Carlos had a friend donate the printing of the image. The image was printed on canvas and then stretched on a frame, ready for Marshall’s autograph and the auction. So far copies of the image have garnered nearly $3,000 for the charity. This was a win for me and for the foundation. My old archived images had created the means to help the children of San Diego. What’s in your archives and who can you help? Happy Holidays.

My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com

photography, Sports, Uncategorized

An Island Mourns

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Andy Irons Memorial

Three times surfing world champion Andy Irons died on November 2, 2010.  We arrived on Kauai Nov. 12 to a community in mourning preparing for a memorial service and a paddle out by fellow surfers, friends and family.  It was an overwhelming experience.  Driving up to Hanalei Bay we passed numerous signs and painted surfboards  along side of the the road that expressed the love, sorrow and loss of their homegrown son.

Over 5,000 people of all ages converged onto Pines Beach for the memorial that was open to the public.  All the flights to the island were sold out as people came to say their final goodbye.  Following a traditional Hawaiian service on the beach attended by the family and friends of the Iron’s family it was finally time.  There was already a large group of surfers circling about a 100 yards off the beach.  The rest of the surfers from the inner circle made their way out through the surf to the final celebration of life.  Once they arrived and the circle was reformed the group started cheering and splashing the water.  Iron’s family then arrived aboard a Polynesian boat and dispersed Andy’s ashes into the ocean where he had lived his life.  As the ashes were being spread a helicopter circling over the surfers dropping flowers and petals onto the ocean and the surfers below as thousands others watched and cheered from the beach.  Once the copter left the circle slowly broke and the surfers and the paddle boarders came back to the beach through an ever increasing surf one set at a time.

Originally, I was just going to take a few photos of the scene but the emotional outpouring changed my mind.  I’ve done a lot of documentary work before so my instincts took over.  I wanted to show the environment, the diversity of the people and the the sense of loss that the surfing community suffered.

A collection of the images can be found at: http://zwinkftp.com/aimemorialhtml/

ANDY IRONS, RIP…….

Apple, camera phone, HDR, photography, Photoshop

IPHONE 4.0 revisited

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Well, I’ve finally had the new Iphone long enough to do a review on the camera portion of the phone.  Frankly I love the phone.  By no way am I an expert on the phone but I’m a semi-power user.  I use it everyday and even in the evenings.  I use the text and email functions religiously.  I’ve even started playing an app called Flick Fishing since I don’t have time to do the real thing.    Right now I’m listening to the Aztec postgame show while writing this post.  But I digress.

When I did my first review I was excited about the new camera in 4.0.  I’ve definitely used it to come away with a mixed review.  One of the exciting new features was the new led flash.  Although it’s a great improvement over the previous non-flash version there are mixed results.  Red eye is a major problem.  If your subject looks straight at you there will be this effect every time.  The problem is because of the flash being so close to the lens.  So, you either need to run it through a red eye reduction program or have the subject look slightly away so the flash doesn’t hit the back of the retina in the eye.

The image and lens quality are greatly improved.  All the images above were made with the new Iphone.  There is improved sharpness, image detail and color capture.  The color capture is fairly accurate until you use the flash.  My images turn to turn warm (slightly yellow) which can be easily adjusted in Photoshop or any other editing software.

The video on the camera is excellent.  It give a good capture and the sound quality is excellent.  On top of that you can upload your video to your MobileMe account and share with family and friends or….. even a client.

The original Iphone camera was a piece of junk, especially for the price you had to play.  The 4.0 is much improved and hopefully Apple won’t be satisfied with it.  With a little practice you can make some fun, even creative images.  You can share, print and publish them with good results, provided used small.  There is even a hdr capability I’ll expand on later.  Thank you Apple for the improvement but you have a long way to go.  (btw Apple, how about a photo contest to show the awesome Iphone images being created and show your support for photographers by not doing a right grab in the process.)

Tech info:  I’m providing very little.  the exposures varied but the ISO ranged from 80 – 800 for the night images.  The still camera function is aperture priority with a fixed 2.8 lens.  I may provide more in my next review but I’m more inclined to show and discuss creative possibilities with this fun phone.

Subjects:  l-r  Halloween decorations at our home, Lake Wohlford mailboxes, California Screaming at Disneyland,  graffiti at Cal Tech, Lake Wohlford Cafe restroom and Casa Bandini entry design.

My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com

black and white, location shoot, music, photography, San Diego, Uncategorized

The King and Lucille

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The King and Lucille

I love looking at old shoots I have done.  My career so far has been in the newspaper industry, the sports world and now in the corporate and architectural realm.  I, like so many of my counterparts, have covered a myriad of events that have helped shaped my career and myself as a person.

Music is one of  the sources of enjoyment, enrichment and creativity that is part of our daily lives.  It is the stories real or unreal of our daily live that the musicians have created to share  with  us.  It evokes emotion.

One of the finest bluesmen ever is B.B. King.  I had the honor of photographing him when he was 79 years old during a concert and meet and great afterward.  What a treat.  The music was great.  In fact, I left there wondering as good as the show was how good he must have been  30, 40 or 50 years ago when he was in much better health.  Or……. is music, like photography, like good wine, better with age?  Nothing beats experience and passion, they just enrich  our lives.

After the show I had to take meet and greet photos of the VIPs with The King and Lucille.  After finishing B.B. looked over at me and smiled and asked “Would you like a picture with The King and Lucille?”  I’ll never forget that.

*** the techy stuff.  Shot with a Nikon D2X, iso 1600.  Image processed in Lightroom with personal presets ***

My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com