Tires and tires and tires!

So today I just reshot my tire test shoot for the 3rd time. It is so draining to shoot and reshoot the same thing 3 times. But....I am so glad I did it! As you can see each step forward in my photographic progression....the 3rd one is by far the best. I am thinking Randy will be really excited with this one. hahahahaha....lets hope!

1st shoot:

Second Shoot:

Third Shoot:

Green Ball

I recently got a job with Green Ball Tires. They are a great company with a great direction. It is kind of funny because I never saw myself shooting product but I am actually kind of liking it. All of the experimenting with light and trying different things to get the product to look its best. I have had two test shoots so far....but I think I really got it this last time. Who would have ever thought photographing tires was so hard! hahaha.....but right now I am stoked with where I am at on how the images look. I am someone who will not stop until I feel like my work is better than what has been done before. So I was looking at different off-roading magazines to compare on tire ads. I think this is a good step forward. Cheers!

5D Mark II

I have been running it through my head for the past couple days since Canon's announcement of the new 5D. This thing sounds perfect....too good to be true. Basically, it is almost exactly like the 1DS Mark III except it only shoots 3.9 frames per second. I mean....it's 21.1 megapixels, has highlight preservation and with a power grip can reach an ISO of 25,600. Then when I heard about the fact that it was going to be sold for $2,700....I just about lost it. That is the best thing to ever happen to the "up and coming" photographer. But why....why would Canon take a different version of their top camera and sell it for $5,300 cheaper than their top camera? And today, it hit me. See, Nikon has ruled the consumer market. While 90% of most professional photographers shoot with Canon, maybe 20% or less of consumers shoot with Canon. So this is where Nikon has just dominated the market. I think since canon has realized this, they are now pricing their stuff at a Consumer price. I mean, they just released the G10 (newer version of the G9) which is a point and shoot camera that shoots at 14.7 megapixels and shoots in RAW! Not to mention they are selling this camera for $500. That is insane to think that a camera with this much quality costs $500. Oh and the frickin G10 has a hot shoe and shoots in TTL! So ultimately, I believe Canon wants to take more of a cut from the "common" consumer. About frickin time. Some photographers would see this and feel threatened by it. "Great, now the average person out there can own a camera with 21 megapixels. Just another person who thinks they are a photographer ready to blackball me in a bid for a job." I have heard it all and all I have to say is this....if your work....your ideas are special then that is what they will pay you on. It is never about the quality of your gear....its about the quality of your vision. Your direction. That is what sells. Proof of that is Diane Arbus. She saw something no one else did and ran with it. Most of the time she shot with an on camera flash. So even though you can blow your image to be the size of a billboard....you need to have the right concepts and ideas to first get there. Not to mention that you can't expect to shoot on the P setting to make your images pop. You actually have to know whats going on from a technacal aspect. With all that being said, I want to buy my parents a G10 for Christmas. My parets are probably the best people in the world. I love them to death. I think its about time they got a new digital camera :)

Tanner's Birthday

I had a lot of fun going to Tanner's 40th birthday party. Here are some pix from the night...

Promos

I recently hired Jonathan Haggard to design me a business card along with promo cards and even a simple © design I can put on images that I give to people over the web. His prices are insanely reasonable:
Business card - $50
Promo Card - $20
© design - $20
Full rights to put designs on my site - $10

Additional $10 for every new mock-up.

Here is the results so far (Wood is just for presentation):






Where the orange dots are on the business card is where there will be a hole so it is kind of like a small view finder. I love it though. Check out his main website: www.jonathanhaggard.com