Winter Camping... Brrrrrr....

Ok, so this week, I have taken some time for myself. Finally I have had time to get work done, and have fun at the same time. As crazy as we might have been, Charlie and I had tried a night of winter camping. We started our jaunt with about a mile X-Country Ski/snowshoe trek up into the woods. We figured we would stay close to home, on our first experimental trip.

We enjoyed the afternoon, the weather was nice, cold, but nice. We set up camp, dug the snow away to set the tent up, rolled out our bags and pads, and then began collecting some firewood. It was a good venture, but we did not realize how much wood we needed to keep our fire going for a few hours. So about ever hour we re-assessed the situation and ventured into the dark to find whatever dead wood we could.

We certainly were not having a leave no trace fire. As the night grew darker, we grew colder, and got the fire toasty warm. So warm that I was able to strip to my long johns to dry out my pants. Of course, I was the moron, that left the pants over the hot coals for way too long, and caught them on fire... Anyway, we learned a lot from this trip.

Around 9PM we headed to bed. We did not realize that it would be a good idea to warm our bags first, so we crawled into COLD sleeping bags, and began to chill down. NOT GOOD... We managed to get warm enough to be okay, and make it through the night. I managed to sleep for most of the night, but Charlie was too cold to get any sleep.

Around 6:30am, I crawled out of the tent, and rekindled the fire, to get some warmth and to "thaw out". Charlie and I both enjoyed the fire for about an hour before we packed camp and headed for warmth and nap time.
In all, the lessons we learned were to not be so dumb, bring more water, warm our sleeping gear before crawling into them, DO NOT forget that the fire will burn wet pants if you leave them over hot coals too long, and to plan better next time.

For those of you who care, my wish list extends out to anyone willing to buy the following items for my winter survival. I would like a vapor barrier liner as well as a fleece liner for my sleeping bag, 2 or 3 quart sized stainless steel water bottles, and anything else you think I might need on my next trip in the wintery woods.

Pricing

So, a topic that always seems to be an issue is figuring out how to effectively price to meet the market, and your client's needs. I am always trying to figure out how to increase my rates without feeling like I am losing business. Currently, I make enough to call photography a full time business, but not enough to feel comfortable with my income.

I know that this is something that most photographers struggle with. So I thought I would add a little on how approach the topic and add any useful information on how others do.

Currently, I assess an event based on an hourly rate. A wedding for instance, I have figured out that for ever hour of photography, I typically have 2 - 4 of post processing, this includes printing and album work. So I base my rates on 6-8 hours of service, and include post processing in that equation. In the days of film, wedding photographers had it easy, they could just drop off their film at the nearest pro-lab, and ask for doubles. Easy enough, but now with digital, and the quantity you can acheive with digital, that would be over tedious. How many images should you allow to have printed, or more, should you even offer printed proofs. I don't, there is no need to have that kind of waste. If most people use their images on facebook, myspace, flickr, or any one of the many photo sharing sites out there, what is the need for printed matter, when only 10 or so images will get framed and placed on display. Let's price and assess our packages based on our modern typical use. Most of us no longer carry boxes of prints in our attics, but have folders upon folders of images on our hard drives. So, let's placate to the modern bride. Maybe an option we should consider is a digital photo frame, or a special wedding gallery site.

With all of my weddings, I offer free of charge a wedding gallery, but this also allows me to increase my income, when guests purchase photos from the wedding. This is helpful to pay for the fees associated with the online gallery, and to help purchase new equipment. Hmmm...

With the options of online self publishing out there, what do we look for within the companies? I look for quality of the printing, and cost. I want to offer a high quality album, but with the cost being $500 for the album, and the quality not that much better than LULU, MyPublisher, or Blurb, why should I go for the gold? Are my customers going to know the difference? How much is a wedding album worth to a client, $100, $200, $500 or $1000? If my cost is $500, then my price has to cover time and intellectual property. However, doesn't $1000 for a 50 page album seem a little ridiculous? Would it be worth it to the client? Maybe.

Anyway, these are all serious thoughts, and we all must consider what we are worth when working in any of the professional services fields. So, consider what your competetors charge, what the "people that think they are professionals, because they bought a consumer grade DSLR and downloaded photoshop or lightroom illegally" charge, and where you feel comfortable starting.

Anyway, I hope someone finds this interesting. An article worth the read is;
http://photo.net/learn/photography-business/freelance-photography-advice/estimating-fees/

Finally I Made another Entry...

Ok, So now I am finally able to make an entry. I have been busy either working, or sick in bed wondering how to go about getting better...

I am glad to be feeling better, and ready to get back on track with the projects I have been meaning to work on. First off, about two weeks ago, I went fishing in the dark with Charlie, and we did not catch a damn thing. The next morning, we went on a hike on some trails at Niquette Bay State Park. A great walk, and we took our time to photograph eachother, and the park scenery as we wandered. So, here is a pic of Charlie showing us the aged limestone at the park. There is one of me here at this spot as well, but I don't nearly look as stoic here as charlie did... We took turns with the camera, trying to get some images of me and him.

Anyway, I also had to play with the camera from time to time, and here is one of my results. A dead tree with snow. This came out very beautiful, I think so anyway, and I think this may make it to some of my alternative methods studies. I want to print this in Talbot's Salt methods, and see how it looks. Maybe I will also continue to print it with kallitype as well... Not sure, but I like the image. Anyway, check back soon, I will post it when I get a decent result worthy of posting.

Along the path we had also come to the point of a bridge crossing a small wet land. This bridge looked like it would be treacherous on x-c skis, but it looked as though many had take it. hmmm... I also noticed that the conditions were perfect to see thousands of Snow Fleas in this area, I guess the reason you're not supposed to eat snow. If you have never seen them before, take a peek at how many are in the photo at the left. They tend to gather in the shady areas of snow on warm sunny winter days. There are literally hundreds of thousands of them that blanket the snow on a regular day. What fun, a walk in the woods... err... fleas...

So, I would recommend to any of you a walk at Niquette Bay State park. It is a dog friendly place this time of year, and probably a good place to deer hunt in the fall. Who knows. I will have to check back there this fall. As usual, we expected Charlie to find some place where the ice was weak, and as we approached this little open water area, we thought for sure Charlie would once again fall through. However surprising it might be, Charlie did not manage to fall through. WOW!!! Anyway, regardless, this was a beautiful area, and a great place to wander on the ice...

A Few Days Later

So, this week I managed to land a gig photographing some ceramics. This was part of the reason I did not have time to enter any postings, as I was busy editing these photos. Part of the reason it took so long was that my damn MAcro lens needs a f#$%$#$%ing cleaning. Damn lens, how did you become so dirty on the inside??? You can see pieces of dust in ever damn photo. Anyway, now I have two lenses in need of a cleaning. Fun fun fun...

Besides that, Dan Siegel has a great hand for pottery. I enjoyed working with him, and all of his work. You can see more at www.danmade.etsy.com. Be sure to check out his stuff. It is surely worth it. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot. The coolest thing about this shoot is that my photos may show up in Ceramics Monthly, or a photo book about 1000 vases. Exciting... Let's wish Dan some luck, I would really like to see these photos show up there, not to mention, his work could wind up some place like that.


Another artist that does great work, that I admire is Lucy's uncle Mike and aunt Janet. Below is a painting that Mike had created. What a beautiful landscape. I love the colors, and the fact that it rings so true for me and many other Duck Hunters. I can remember countless days sitting, standing and walking in iceflows like that to retrieve ducks. It can sometimes be a scary place, as these ice chunks seem to have a lot of weight to them when you push them away to get by. This piece definately captures the feeling of the cold, and reminds me of a good time in the Duck Blind. Not to mention, Mike told me the mound in the middle is a duck blind for Ducks Unlimited. What a great place. You have got to love it.

A few days out...

Ok, so it has been almost a week since my last post, and I do have a lot to add, but I have been busy with work first, then sick in bed since thursday. So, I haven't had much time to add another post. So, I would like to add that I am feeling better, and will soon be posting more. I have lots to talk about, so be ready for some very long posts in the next few days.

In the dark, no tripod, no flash...

Last night I had an enjoyable time fishing out at the cowbanks. However, we once again did not catch a single fish. I found it fun, after dark, to take the camera out and begin taking photographs without a flash or tripod. I was rather intrigued at how well they came out, and was even more impressed that the photos in the shanty came out. I enjoyed playing with my mag-light as a candle, and used it as a primary light source for most of the photos. I was fascinated with it enough, that I had the urge to actually show up in a photo, well, my hand at least.

Certainly it was not daylight outside, but the progression of the evening left a clear delineation as to what the light inside the shanty vs outside was like. There were lights in the distance that shone out our way. They seemed to provide an interesting light as it hit the window of the shack. It provided for some nice silhouettes. Charlie was nice enough to pose for me here. Not sure if you would call it posing, maybe more like allowing me to take the photo without moving too quickly.

As the night progressed, I noticed my photos took a more and more abstract feel. It was well worth the 5 hours we spent on the ice. It was a good evening.

Window Light

Photo.net's current weekly project is window light. I don't think I will submit anything, but saw some nice light this morning coming in the windows in the basement. I found that it was very beautiful, so I grabbed my camera and hit it hard. It was a wonderful way to wake up in the morning. I played with it a bit, grabbed the tripod and a reflector and added to the photos a bit.


I then used a few of the images to create some digital negatives, and brought them along with me to the firehouse darkroom today. They printed well. I tried a few variations of digital negatives, and found a few results worthy of trying again. Certainly, the negatives produced images that were more than worth the effort... I hope this doesn't mean the end of film for me now. Hmmm...





Well, I hope you all enjoy the photos.



Let's see if you can tell which image is digital and which was scanned from a silver gelatin print.

Right or Left

Hole in the Ice

Last night I went on a 3.13 mile snowshoe trek. I carried my camera and other equipment, but never managed to pull it from my bag. Go figure. Anyway, I enjoyed a nice long trek, which took place, half in day light, half under moonlight. It was great. One of the highlights of the walk was when Charlie managed to find a weak area on the beaver pond we crossed. Charlie, has now managed to fall into water on two out of two snowshoeing trips we have taken. From now on, maybe I should lead. Anyway, it was cold enough that there was no time for Charlie to get wet, it just sort of froze. Charlie is fine, and we managed to get back around 6:30 last night. It was a great hike.

There are many great potential camp sites up there, and some possible fishing holes. I am anxious to explore as soon as the snow starts to disappear. I know all of that area will be amazing for wood ducks and mallards, come October. Hell, it may even be a decent area for snow geese, this spring. Well, take a peek for yourself, and tell me what you think about the possibility of snow geese up there.

Above is a rough idea of our hike with miles according to Google Earth. Also note the large marshy areas, and wet areas. There are several ponds up there, that would be more than worthy of a good waterfowl hunt. It was a great day.

Digital Negative Curves

Yesterday I was working diligently on creating my digital negatives. While I waited for them to print, I cleaned an area in the basement for me to start my work. I made a table space large enough to coat and dry close to 20 or 30 sheets of paper at a time. My next goal is to create a drying rack, or find something suitable for the job, so that I can dry the papers without any worry of fogging. I am enjoying the experimentation and would like to get to a point where I feel comfortable with the processes again. It has been at least two years, maybe three since I worked with kallitype, and know I will probably be looking at a few dead prints before I get anything of any value. However, my first attempt at creating a digital negative was not so good, but my attempts last night were more than satisfactory. I am yielding something that looks like it should print very well. I am growing very anxious to get out and start printing, but I have a lot of needs to meet before I get to a point to start with the chemical process. I may start printing some of these on traditional silver gelatin paper as a test, and see what they produce for results. Regardless, I am very intrigued to see what gets produced.

On another note, today I broke from the lesson plans provided to me by the teacher I am subbing for. I have been getting so frustrated with the book these kids are learning from, so I have now started on my own lessons in web design. I am now treading where this school has never tread before... Well, maybe not, but at least I can feel good about teaching these kids something that is a little more up to date, and I feel that I can accomplish something more than just guiding them along through the book. Maybe I am creating something that is not good for this class, but we will see what I can accomplish in a short manner of time. I have a few weeks left with these guys, so I would like to make the most of it. Anyway, Wish me luck.

The Alternative juices...

Now that I have been reading more about alternative methods for creating an enlarged negative for contact printing, I am getting more and more interested in working again with the Kallitype. I have been exploring other artists' web sites and galleries, getting some ideas on how others use their "Alternative Minds." So, one that I found very interesting was Karen Molloy, who layers images to create books and other interesting image collages. Karen even works on creative display ideas.

Projects like this one make me dream about creating a 1'x20' digital negative for printing in vandyke or kallitype. This may only be a dream now, but it certainly intrigues me. Maybe my idea might be on too large a scale, but there is always an option to go smaller, but still produce my ideas.

Anyway, we will see. Until then, I will continue my explorations and come to some greater idea.

Over the Weekend

Ok, so this weekend was nothing spectacular. Cabin fever was at an all time high, causing Lucy and I to head south earlier than expected. The tension of the house was just too great. Anyway, we enjoyed our leisure drive, we even drove out to Kingsland Bay with the thoughts of skiing or walking out, however, upon arrival, we decided it would be nicer to just continue our drive.

After playing a little Mario Kart, we began to discuss our wedding plans. It now looks like we are going to be planning a Jack and Jill party for April 18th or 25th. So if you would like to stop in for a party, stay tuned.

As for Sunday, we went for a 3 hour ski in the Green Mountain National Forest. Fun, I even took a few photos. Skiing is one of those things that you never know what you will be running into, so I was sure to bring my camera bag along, but nothing of not showed face. Better luck next time I guess. Anyway, no fishing this weekend, so maybe this week. Who knows.

I have begun my reading of Dan Burkholder's Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing. I am interested to see if this will yield a decent set of results for adding to my collection of tools. I will soon be posting results as I begin to experiment.