Take & Talk Pics

Eli Temchin

Today’s featured guest is Eli Temchin

Eli, is a fine art photographer who reached out to me for a free coaching call back on the 29th of January. Since that time Eli and I have done a segment of coaching for his business. I can fill you in on the experience but it would be better from Eli himself.

Artist Statement

My name is Eli Temchin. Welcome into the way I see the world. Nowadays, it seems like people are walking around in a haze. Or, glued to a smart phone and not paying attention to what's around them. What is all around you, no matter where you are? BEAUTY. What is beauty? Technically, beauty is the quality present in a thing or person: shape, color, sound, etc that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, behold. Here are a few images from everyday that show beauty in every way. “The more often we see things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we things so often, we see them less and less.” - Joseph B. Wirthlin

Beauty isn't always what you see, but sometimes it's what you don't see. It's the scene within the scene that I look for. It's the depth of an image and the inner beauty that I challenge you to see.

SHOWINGS AND AWARDS

Multiple First Friday Showings in the Crossroads Arts District. Various galleries in Kansas City, MO.

E-Review: The Permanence of Change: Eli Temchin. Written by Steve Brisendine March 12th, 2011.

Writer’s Journal Magazine: 3rd Place Photography Contest winner. May/June 2005 issue.

w: elitemchin.com

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Rob Krueger

Today’s featured guest is Rob Krueger

He's a business coach, educator, speaker, blogger, photographer, and host to better understanding your business - Rob Krueger with the Take & Talk Pics photography podcast! That’s right Photo World it is time to learn more about the man behind the mic and hear a bit about his photographic journey. I’m Colleen Miniuk-Sperry and I will be interviewing your favorite entrepreneur Rob Krueger.

Rob Krueger is an award winning luxury and concierge wedding photographer who services Chicago to Orlando, New York to LA, and major cities throughout the world. His passion for photography can be heard first hand on this three day a week Podcast called Take & Talk Pics. Rob found a second calling within photography to educate others. He does this through the podcast, teaching photography at College of DuPage, and speaking nationally on the subject. He conducts workshops on many areas of photography but his favorite are his live wedding workshops.

I felt a bit out of place being on the other side of the questions this time around but I am so thankful Colleen Miniuk-Sperry suggested this. I had a blast and she was so awesome!

Happy Shooting!

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1 Year of Take And Talk Pics

If I attempt to put into words everything I am feeling from 1 year of hosting Take & Talk Pics I would go on for hours describing my level of gratitude toward this blessing I have been given. This show has, and continues, to change my life every day. I urge you to listen to this brief episode. Also know that I am specifically Thanking each and every one of you! Photo World without you none of this would have been possible.

Josh Rossi, Colleen Miniuk-Sperry, Gavin John, Chad Griffith, Kareem Black, Perry Hagopian, Nancy Green, Guy Tal, Jack Graham, Ibarionex Perello, Tony Sweet, Kathleen Clemons, Lewis Kemper, Paul Audia, Bryan Peterson, Levi Sim, Chris Smith, Nick Page, Kevin Kuster, Juan Pons, Mike Boening, Jamie MacDonald, Angie McMonigal, Mike Moats, Skip Cohen, Jared Polin, Jim Harmer, Abby Grace, Natalie Probst, Lee Morris, Cris Duncan, Berit Bizjak, Dan Frievalt, Liz Banfield, Carl Caylor, John-Paul (JP) Teutonico, Michael Mowbray, Kenny Pang, Sherry Hagerman, Brian Morrison, and Andreea Radutoiu.

These are just a few names from an otherwise enormous list of amazing photographers I have interviewed and have given you a glimpse into their photography story. I wish I could thank each of you Photo World 1 on 1. If you give me a chance by signing up for the free coaching call, let me 30 minutes of free advice and guidance act as a small thanks for your support of this photography podcast.

This is a short episode today but a reminder of the abundant value throughout the Take & Talk Pics blog and podcast. The evolution over the past year is nothing short of inspiring and I expect to continue this consistent free value for a long time.

Thank you all for your continued support of this show!

Happy Shooting!

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Cutting Corners

First of all I don't have the perfect formula to success nor is it my place to define success for you Photo World. We really all have to do the best we can with our own knowledge and resources. Those resources can be financial or not like personal relationships and calling upon our network. This podcast is designed to be a free resource to with as you please. After all I'm just one Chicago Wedding Photographer doing the best I can with my many failures to help shape my future.

This problem comes up with our 2 most valuable assets when running a small business. It leaves us to really have to think about our approach or it causes us to make quick and unhelpful decisions.

We have so much to think about in this business: Education, Gear, Branding, Web presence, Marketing, Customer relationships.

Even more detailed things like: Emails and phone calls, Balancing our time, How do we delegate the finances between what we earn and what the business has? Do we need to incorporate? How and when do we add our photography to our taxes?

We are often faced with a few possibilities when it comes to running a business or even improving our skills, and we have to decide to do what is right and more expensive or time consuming or cut a few corners and save a buck and save an hour here or there. It is hard to look ahead and see true cost in both time and money based on a shortcut “now”. It could cost more of our precious resources later. Furthermore, that difference could be greater than what we would have originally needed to invest and put in the right time or money in the first place.

Embrace failure and let those lessons propel you to a more sophisticated approach at the next fork in the road.

Happy Shooting!

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Whats In My Bag

Today's episode is two fold: 1) it is the introduction to the first prime lens in my bag that I have discussed and 2) it is a specialty lens. If I were to give this particular lens one more main point, it would be that this was the first pro glass lens I ever purchased. I am talking about the Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens. Now, this lens would be considered a prime lens due to the fact that is has one fixed focal length or 105mm. The Nikon 105mm is also a true macro lens: being that it has a 1:1 reproduction ration. That would be like removing the sensor of your camera and picking a small flower from the ground. You could lay that flower on the sensor and that is the actual appearance you can get at a 1:1 reproduction ration. In this episode I go over Depth of Field and more so the 3 way you can affect it. Using a macro lens will almost always infringe upon two of the three factors for Depth of Field.

Happy Shooting!

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White Balance

Auto, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Florescent, Daylight, Flash, Underwater, Custom, and Kalvin; these are the main White Balance options you will find in most DSLR’s today. Photography is a wonderful tool but cameras are only able to operate based on algorithms and numeric values. Unlike our eyes and brain function, a camera is an unbiased interpretation to light color and how it is reflected off a given surface. Before I go off into the depths of mathematics I don’t understand or mislead those of you reading this. Know these few things about white balance: White balance is a color corrective setting with the goal of making sure white stays white, greens look green, and blues are true blues. The human eye is advanced and couple this with the brain you have a complexly engineered ability to compensate for distorted colors within a given scene. White balance is mostly designed as a corrective tool to untangle the cameras unbiased view of color temperature on the Kalvin scale. A typical mid-level or pro DSLR can run from about 2500K to 10000K. My Olympus can go as low as 2000K and as high as 14000K. What if you want to emphasis certain colors in an image? Using cloudy can warm up a scene. Using daylight or flash white balance can cool it down. I am a big proponent of getting it right in camera but sometimes we end up with happy accidents. Say you are photographing a landscape and you were to change up the white balance to see how it looks rather than holding off until the post production… you may just be surprised at what stands out to you once the colors shift. This could inspire you to recompose and begin making a whole new image. That you can’t do when you are in post.

Happy Shooting!

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“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” We have heard that one before. It may have been a co-worker, a family member, a friend, or even today on this podcast, but we hear that and often do little with it. There is a lot to be said about how people perceive you vs. what they know about you. I come from an upbringing that teaches to not pass judgement. However, and sadly, we all seem to do so. That should be an indicator that we are also being judged. It isn’t a good thing most of the time but it exists, and we should prepare to succeed because of it rather than wallow in our fear that others opinions will affect us negatively. This is where we have all of the control. Our appearance is a major reflection on our personalities and act as an indicator of our knowledge and ability as well. I would love to live in a world where this didn’t matter but I know when I have students show up in a hoodie and sweat pants I am not expecting much from them today and sure enough I spot them drifting off or hiding their phone trying to text the whole class. Carelessness is a lifestyle and we tend to have a snow ball effect from that.FIGHT this! We have the power to change and we also have the power to rise above that which we once were. If any of you follow me on twitter you will see the majority of my tweets contain #success, #perseverance, #business, and #photography. I want that reminder to be there for anyone and everyone who comes across my tweets. In the event someone decides to step up their own game as a result of it I am rising to the occasion by having tweeted that reminder.

No joke, I kind of free versed this writing here. The post hardly reflects the episode but I apparently needed to get a slew of thoughts on paper after having recorded and edited my episode today. The combination of the two makes for an interesting blogcast.

Happy Shooting!

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Whats In My Bag

Last week I went over my Backup/travel lens... the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II and this week's What"s In My Bag episode is about the final zoom lens in my bag but it is also the newest lens added to my kit. Lastly, this lens is replacing that 18-200mm. The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR Lens. I really dive into why this lens is being added to my bag and a few reasons why it is replacing the 18-200mm. I rate this lens at 5 stars for the value. The price for what you get and the many functions it can be used for are amazing. I don't consider it a pro level lens but more so a transition lens. For those of you who are ready for the heavy glass and want the faster lenses, take a look at what you are able to invest for new gear and consider the difference in cost when you are searching.  If you are on a tight budget but you are ready for a leap ahead in your lens quality something like this 24-120mm f/4 is perfect.

Check out how Vibration Reduction really works!

Happy Shooting!

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Metering Modes

Today’s Photo Talk is about metering modes. Specifically the light meter in your camera. I touch upon the different modes you probably have in your camera and the function of them. Listen carefully because this one is tough to grasp at first. I don’t believe I fully understood how metering worked during the first couple years of my own photography. I understood the idea and the process but not why the meter does what it does and how to outsmart the meter with an in-depth understanding of its function. In short I like to use the phrase “your camera meter is lying to you.” Basically your meter wants everything to be a perfect middle gray, or neutral gray. In film we referred to that tone as 18% gray. In digital we can see this as 128R, 128G, and 128B (128 RGB) dead center on each color channel but lacking all saturation. I speak quickly on this because it is second nature for me now but it wasn’t always that way. I also talk about the zone system developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer. A bit confusing stuff but very helpful to know about. I strongly suggest brushing up on your photo history and learning about the zone system. Furthermore I highlight my go to metering mode. Every photographer has one I just explain why I choose the one I do. Hint: it is based on knowing the zone system in greater detail. The mode I use most often lets me take what the camera suggests (lies), my years of practice, the previsualization to know how a scene works, as well as my gear, and capture near perfect exposure every time. Just I have said on the show before, it is about finding your systems and putting them in place to better your productivity. This is just another system for when I release the shutter. I go in detail on my specific process back in Episode 081 and you can download the free pdf on How To Meter In Ambient Light When You Don’t Know How To Meter.

Happy Shooting!

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Profit Margin

There are countless resources out there on the topic of profit margin. Just search Google and be instantly overwhelmed with 1 million great ideas to increase your profit margin. If I had to break it down into three parts I could easily do so. I am the kind of person that often only uses logic in many aspects of my life and when it comes to your profit margin I don’t change one bit. There are a lot of thing to think about within each of my three main points but definitely worth a quick read. At the very least worth a listen, maybe even twice.

Conserve your marketing budget!

                Only use what you know works for you

Increase productivity!

                You or an employee – make more of an effort to produce more from your time

Reevaluate often!

Happy Shooting!

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