Archive for April, 2010
Lighting Journey: The Challenge
Reflections 
3
Sun 04.11.2010
I guess it started a while ago when I realized that for most wedding photographers, myself included, “I exclusively work with natural light” translates into “I am afraid of strobe.” For many years, I lived by this mantra understanding and celebrating pure, natural light. However, despite the ability to manipulate this light, I have to admit that my photography was ultimately being restricted by the oh so glorious Sun.
As an album judge for WPPI over the years, I watched the albums go through and noticed a trend – flat light. As technology advances with higher ISOs and cheap digital cameras, people appear to be skipping over lighting theory. In reality, wedding photographers are probably the guiltiest of this in the photography genre.
While I have my reservations, I realized I had become quite comfortable and skilled working with natural light. I also understood that to be the best possible photographer for my clients and myself I needed take advantage of all the lighting tools available. This of course, included manipulation of artificial light and thus facing my apprehension head on. It was scary but also exciting.
After all, one of the greatest attributes of being an artist and a photographer is the ability to always be challenged and the never-ending opportunity to learn and grow. Last year, I choose to push myself out of my comfort zone of natural lighting and now I would like to share my journey into the world of enhanced lighting with a blog series, “Lighting Journey.” I hope you enjoy the ride.
Dear Facebook Friends,
I have decided to streamline my connections on facebook. I value the relationship I have with each and every one of you but with the way that I am currently using facebook, I feel unable to give all of you my appropriately directed attention.
In order to remedy this situation, I have decided to de-friend many people from my personal account. Now before you gasp in disbelief, (I’m not a snob!) please know that my decision is based on improving our relationship on Facebook. In order to better manage my valuable relationships, I realize I need to distinguish between my personal account and my photography oriented Facebook Page. This way I can enhance your Facebook experience by providing relevant content.
My Approach:
In the next week I will be making the following improvements to my facebook approach:
- I will de-friend almost everyone other than family and close friends that I am in regular contact with. Everyone else will be re-directed to my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/catherinehallstudios
- I will be sending an event invite on Facebook to my followers in order to remind you to switch over to my fan page. I don’t want anyone to miss what has happened and end up de-friended with no explanation!
My Reasoning:
When I began with Facebook, it was to keep up with family and close friends. I would like to return to this on my personal account. This will avoid redundant updates and allow me to keep my photography page up to date.
I am doing this in order to be more available to you as a photographer. I want to provide you, my followers, with relevant news that is of interest to you. I won’t bog you down with my personal updates and chitchat with old friends. I want to be attentive and do not want to miss important messages from my followers, or from my family or friends. By separating the two, I will be more effectively able to view and answer people.
I look forward to staying connected with you on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/catherinehallstudios. You can also keep posted by checking my Twitter account: @Catherine_Hall which I update regularly.
I hope this helps explain what is happening with my Facebook account. I am extremely grateful for your support and look forward to connecting with you on my Facebook page soon!
This photograph I took of Jason Cleary in West Virginia won an award in the World In Focus 2010 travel photography contest. Thank you to Photo District News (PDN) and National Geographic Traveler for putting on this annual contest.
I feel that this image really captures an essence of the lifestyle I experienced and documented on a photographic exploration into everyday life in Appalachia. This particular image displays the young Jason Cleary and his friends playing in a broken down car. During my time in Appalachia, I recognized the consistent theme that when things break down there, they are usually left as they are to meld into everyday life. This car had been broken down for almost forty years, left in place, and subsequently made into a playground for the kids of the area. I’m happy to share this glimpse into life in the small town of Bramwell, West Virginia with you.
To see some more images and read all about my experience shooting in Appalachia, check out my full image story here: http://www.catherinehall.net/blog/2009/08/12/an_unseen_glimpse_of_american/
Check out the second round of my three interview series with Chris Marquardt on People Photography. In this video I share my thoughts on the power of photography to overcome language barriers and show some images from my shoot in Tasmania. Plus, I give some insightful tips such as determining the best approach to the model release.
If you missed the first video check it out here. I’ll post the third interview with Chris soon!
SF Wedding Photography | The BayList | Vote for CHS
Awards, From The Studio 0
Fri 04.02.2010
Catherine Hall Studios has been nominated as one of the Bay Area’s best local businesses on the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com’s BayList. We are excited to be included with all of the great businesses on the BayList. Plus, who doesn’t love a little competition every once in a while? Please take a minute to check out our profile and vote for Catherine Hall Studios :)
Thank you so much for all of your support!
