Thoughts
Another 100 days of Photo-A-Day. Here are some highlights.
520 - Hit a big milestone with my Fiesta.
529 - Weird and wonderful hidden spot in central Connecticut.
#531 - My fiance Heather nearly got us in a traffic accident to stop and pick up this tortoise. I guess I don't blame her. He's pretty cute.
597 - First day of this yearbook photo season. Time to get to work!
Here's to another 600!
You know the cliched interview question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Well, when I walked into the Vernon Town Clerk's office and registered my Doing Business As name, and even if they had I could not have guessed.
This picture, currently on the "About Me" page, is from October 2012. I should probably post something more... recent.
In all honesty, I started Zack Wussow Media for two reasons - first, because the only other UConn Photography grads I knew actually using their degrees were doing weddings, and because you need to register your business to pay taxes. I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted to do long term. In fact, I probably would have said I intended to work a little and then go back to school.
Before grad school, though, I wanted to follow my professor's advice and "get some life". Boy have I.
In these five years I've also acquired more camera gear then I could have imagined needing, taught myself to be a serviceable accountant, advertiser, and salesperson, learned and forgot how to use a steadicam, built three ring lights, taken a million yearbook photos, and attended several lifetimes worth of weddings.
And assisted on one rap video.
Just after ZWM's first anniversary, I met my fiance. A year and a half later we moved in together, into my first real apartment. Then, this past spring, I asked her to marry me. (No date set yet... We're procrastinators.)
I've gotten a tattoo, tried scuba and sky diving, taken at least three road trips, run in a Tough Mudder, and perhaps most incredibly of all, I've gotten Heather's cat Enzo to tolerate my existence (maybe even like me... sometimes).
So given all that, where do I see myself in another five years? My wedding, for sure. Probably owning my first home. Almost certainly still behind a camera.
But besides that? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm excited to find out, though.
This is a question I hear at least once per wedding from someone's date or Uncle Bob. Here's my answer.
It doesn't matter.
That's a somewhat controversial opinion, but as far as I can tell Canon and Nikon are like Coke and Pepsi. Different, but basically interchangeable. I'll recommend a Canon because that's what I use, a Nikon user will suggest Nikon, and both will be perfectly good.
Whichever you pick, you'll stick with forever, because you'll have bought Canon lenses, flashes, etc. and it would cost too much to switch.
Get the newest Canon Rebel. It's their entry-level camera. It was my first DSLR, and I used it for five years, including the start of my professional career. It's a great camera, light, easy to use but has all the features you'd want in a DSLR. It's an affordable way to get started.
My old Rebel, about a decade old now, was my first "real" digital camera. Still works.
Then, if you feel like you haven't spent enough, invest in better lenses. You'll get the most bang for your buck from prime lenses (ones which don't zoom). You can get very affordable primes with good quality glass and wide apertures.
The aperture is the hole that lets light in through your lens. It's described by the f-stop - the lower the number, the wider the hole. Low f-stop lenses are great - they let you shoot in darker situations, and give you the wonderful, blurry backgrounds that everyone loves.
The Canon 85mm f/1.8 prime is a great lens for portraits, for example.
No.
I mean, sure, they'll be better than your cell phone. But a better camera doesn't make you a great photographer. Practice does.
Which is why I'd suggest going a different route. Get the newest or second-newest Canon S-Series.
It's a point and shoot, small enough to fit in a pocket, which means it fits the old adage, "The best camera is the one you have with you." I carry my S110 with me every day.
It's not just portable, either. The s-series is a powerful little camera, with tons of manual controls. it also shoots in RAW, the highest quality file format.
You can learn almost everything you would on a Rebel from the s-series, but it fits in your pocket, and it's cheap enough that if it gets lost, stolen, or broken (something I know nothing about...), it's not the end of the world.
By far the best bang for your average photographers buck.
(Note: The links to specific recommendations are up-to-date as of the posting of this entry, but may be out of date in the future.)
Happy New Years!
I'm a big fan of New Years resolutions, in part because I'm actually pretty good at sticking to them.
(The secret - make them achievable, measurable, and ideally something that you can break up into a series of smaller steps. So no "Get in shape" - instead, something like "Be able to run a 5K without stopping.")
Despite that, I hesitated to write a blog post about my resolutions this year. Plenty of them have to do with Zack Wussow Media, but to be frank those aren't that interesting. Either the goals are somewhat out of my control (I can't make more people hire me, for example, only look for ways to encourage it) or else I've set up systems which should take care of the goal with no real work on my part.
Instead, the goals I am most excited about are only tangentially related to ZWM. But I am excited about them, so I thought I would share three big ones.
This one goes on top of continuing my photo-a-day project (which is nearly a year old!) and continuing to expand my Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Maternity portfolios, two areas of my business I'd like to see expand in 2016 and beyond.
This year I want to do four large, involved photo projects that push me as a photographer.
Self-assigned projects are a great way to develop any skill. In my case, the projects are partially just for the fun of it, and partially to see if there are new avenues of photography I should be exploring, or new skills I can bring back to my regular work.
I'm sure I will post about them here, and depending on the details they may make it to some permanent home on this site.
I also want to learn (to some reasonable level of fluency) four new skills. I'm not terribly picky about what they are (though I have some ideas already), just that they are useful things I don't currently know how to do.
Are they likely to change the way I photograph a wedding? Nope. Though I never rule out the possibilities of cross-pollination.
I think it's important to never stop learning, though, and I always find it amazing how once you learn to do something, you start to see opportunities to use it everywhere.
I've already dipped my toes into the first thing, and I expect I'll be sharing some news about that here around the end of January.
I know, I know, I know. I said earlier this is a terrible resolution because it's entirely un-measurable. I'm working on the details.
The fact is, my body is pretty important to my job, and my job is not really good for my body. Hefting a heavy camera and an even heavier camera bag of accessories for eight-hour days is bad for you in almost every way possible. So I need to take better care of myself than someone my age normally would, just to break even.
Two years ago I ran a Tough Mudder. Right now, I wouldn't stand a chance. A year from now, I'd like to be able to again.
I'll work on the details...
There's a few other big-ish things I have planned for this year, most of which you will probably read about here when they happen... But for now that is all I will say.
What about you? Any exciting resolutions for the year ahead? Whatever the new year brings for you, I hope you have a wonderful, exciting, successful 2016!
Whew.
For the first time since about mid-August, my schedule has room in it. A lot of room, actually. Par for the photography course - summer and fall are extremely busy, spring and especially winter not so much.
Which is not to say I'm done for the year. This week is still busy (three yearbook shoots and a wedding), and there's still editing to catch up on, contracts to sign for next year, taxes to file, updates to the website to be done.
But I can take a breath again. It's a time of year I really enjoy. I get to reflect on how the past year went (more on that to come) and plan for the pending year, and I get to pursue some personal projects that I wouldn't have time for otherwise.
It's a pretty awesome time of year.
(My girlfriend would like to remind me that a month from now I'll be suffering from severe cabin fever and hating this downtime... Well, maybe. But right now it feels great.)
Ugh.
One of the downsides of running a business which is advertised online is that periodically someone will try to take advantage of you. Which sucks, but, you know, it comes with the territory. If you pay attention and have some limits/standards, you can avoid getting burned.
But it's still disappointing.
Who wakes up and decides to impersonate a deaf person (they also claimed to be in the ICU elsewhere) just to try to rip someone off?
Anyway, two things to take from this:
I won't say something like "this ruins my faith in people", because it doesn't. Almost everyone who reaches out to me is not only who they claim to be, but wonderful people that are a pleasure to work with.
Y'all are great.
A few days ago, I had a major equipment drop, the first of my career.
It wasn't a great day.
I was photographing machines for a client (the same folks from All Hail Our Machine Overlords), with my camera on a tripod and lots of lighting gear and backdrops set up. It is, in theory, an exceptionally safe working environment. No moving people, the machines are infinitely patient, the camera is on a tripod. Despite all of that, while I was moving my tripod and adjusting the camera, the camera fell, tumbling forward off the tripod, falling about five feet, and smashed on the floor.
All told, my camera rig is worth about $4,000.
My initial assessment was really bad. The battery grip was in pieces. The body wouldn't turn on. The lens focus and telephoto were stuck. Worst of all (from a certain perspective), I hadn't brought a backup body or lens, so I had to tell my customer, "Sorry, but that's it for the day." (Disclaimer: I only left the backups at home because I thought, surely, nothing can go wrong at such a straightforward shoot. I always have backups for one-shot-only events like weddings.)
When I got home, I was able to revive my camera body. Whew. The lens and battery grip are dead, though, one an expensive paperweight and the other a pile of parts.
Some advice, for anyone who's prone to finding themselves in a similar situation, starting with the most general:
Thankfully, past me did a good job preparing for exactly such a situation. I have insurance on my equipment, and savings set aside for exactly this kind of emergency. If all of that fails, I have credit and family to fall back on. If I needed to replace the equipment immediately, I have a list of local places at which I could buy, rent, or borrow equipment.
So, business wise, I'm okay. Knowing that was a huge comfort while literally picking up pieces of my camera.
Even if you don't own a business, it's a good idea to take some time and think about where you are most vulnerable to an accident, and figure out how you can mitigate that risk.
My tripod hadn't felt right all morning. I don't use my tripod often, though, and it seemed to be working, so I carried on. I've since worked out that a key spring in the tripod head had come lose. It's an easy fix, but a critical failure.
First of all, if your tripod feels weird, you should have a hand on your camera constantly until you figure out the problem, and should not use the tripod until it is working correctly.
But more broadly, when something feels wrong, you should always stop and try to assess that feeling.
The image we did get.
Going forward, I'm in good shape. I was able to return and finish the photos a few days later, and I have a new lens on the way. I've been looking to add an additional backup body and lens to the ones I already have for a while - and while the cost of replacing this equipment makes that a little more challenging, I still think I may speed up that process. I'm going to see, as well, if Canon can fix my broken lens or not.
In short: It was bad, but it could've been worse.
On my birthday this January, I decided to do a photo-a-day project. It's not my first (I actually completed one in 2011) but it seemed like a good way to make some work through the winter doldrums and to experiment with some new things. On August 2nd, I hit 200 days!
Our cat doesn't look sinister at all... I don't know what you mean...
Some, like the above, have been taken while experimenting with my primary work camera, but not many - the 5D is big, heavy, and most importantly, expensive. So I like to leave it where it's safe most of the time.
Instead, I took the approach that the best camera is the one that is always with you, and bought a Canon S110. I've previously owned two S90s (and broke both of them), and love this one as much as I loved those. They're small, light, and extremely capable. Best of all, with a little reshuffling and a wallet downsizing, the S110 fits in my pants pocket. I literally carry it everywhere.
I'm so glad I do, because there are so many photo opportunities that I would miss out on if I had to rely on my cell phone. (It tries, admirably, but it can only do so much...)
It's been so much fun. I love breaking it out to catch sudden moments (so many sunsets, as well), and it's cheap enough that I am willing to take it places it might get damaged.
Like in a kayak.
It's also been a great motivator to experiment with new things, try out new angles or new techniques that have subsequently made it into my professional work. The project (and the surprisingly good macro system on the S110) prompted me to add a macro tube for my professional gear, which in turn provided a few days worth on photos as I systematically photographed every tiny thing in our apartment. Now I'll be adding shots like the one below to all my future weddings.
But the best part, by far, has been all the photos I love, photos of loved ones or special occasions, that I probably wouldn't have bothered to take if not for the looming daily deadline motivating me to get my camera out and just try it. See what... happens.
You can see all 200 (and counting) in my Flickr gallery. At this point, I doubt it will be a year-long project. Rather, I'm planning just to make it a part of daily life indefinitely.
I recommend it, even if you just use your cell phone. Even if you aren't the best photographer. It's like a quick, daily journal entry that will make you look more carefully at your world.