Merrifield Photography

The spring dusting

2008-04-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Can you smell that? Can you smell the spring air, the wet grass, the warming days? You know what this means? Yup, it's time for me to dust of the camera gear and start prepping for a summer of weddings in the Kitchener area. My mind has far from staled over the winter though. I have been keeping up on a number of blogs to keep my gear on the up and up and my mind on new techniques.

I have been keeping my ear to the ground at both Photography Bay and Alpha Tracks to stay on top of what is going on with Sony gear (the system I have been entrenched in for more than 15 years). I am watching to see what new Sony bodies come out before I have to shoot my first wedding of the season. I don't know that I would upgrade but I am dying for a vertical grip so there is definitely a possibility.

I have also been steady checking out Leggnet Photography and Scott Kelbys Photo Insider for inspiration and the latest industry news and techniques.

I have also been happily listening to This Week In Photography with Scott Bourne, Alex Lindsay. Though it is a tad remedial for pro's, it is nice to sit and listen in on their conversations. They do, at times, have me jumping up and screaming at times, especially when they constantly insist that wedding photographers will someday shoot flashless weddings as the ISO ratings continue to climb... uhh... NO! We use flash for the quality of light, not the quantity. How I would love to shoot every wedding in the precious moments before dusk but the reality, most weddings occur when the sun is high in the sky casting deep dark shadows into the eye sockets. So no worries Alex, flashes are here to stay.

Now as you can see my winter was not a restful one. In addition to keeping abreast of the photography community my work with seyDoggy trudged on. New websites, new blogs, new articles... that is something I hope to continue here soon, writing articles. I have collected a number of topics that I think could use some clarification so look for at least a few new tidbits from me in the this coming wedding season.

Tis the season to be shooting

2007-12-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is upon us and there is always plenty of family to take pictures of. Take the a moment to play with your family photography in ways you might not have thought of. Family dynamics can be very rewarding to photograph as I have written about here.

All the best in over the holiday season and here is to a wonderful new year. Until then, take care.

New Photoshop how-to

2007-12-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

I've written a new, quick and simple Photoshop how-to that came to me while working through Scott Kelby's 7-Points book. It's not an earth shaking tip but it might have had you stumped just as I was. Read more here.

In other Merrifield Photography news, I just finished a shoot this past weekend, a family shoot, that really illustrates the importance of having fun with your clients (more in this article). It was great to get the family laughing and enjoying themselves as much with each other as they were with me. I'll post pictures soon.

Scott Kelby is making me better

2007-11-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

So the other day I got my copy of Scott Kelby's 7-Point System as you probably already knew. I waisted no time cracking the spine and jumping right it. There are features in CS3 I never knew existed and Scott was sure to make use of them. Within minutes I had a marked improvement in my images, so much so that I had to share with all of you. The left side is before and the right side is after.

Scott Kelby's 7-Point System

2007-11-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

Oh, I am so excited. I just got a package from Chapters.ca today... It's Scott Kelby's &-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3. I had heard an interview with Scott on The Digital Photography show and it all made so much sense.

I read into the book a bit today and honestly, as I expected, I come to the same conclusion about adjusting my images in post production that Scott points out here in his book but I had never identified a process or a method. I just kept farting around with my work until I got to the proverbial promised land of photo zen.

In Scott's book he lays a methodology for identifying what needs fixing and building a pattern for fixing those issues quickly and concisely. I am really looking forward to giving this book a full read and I hope it will drastically improve my work flow.

If you haven't already, listen to Scott's interview and check out his book.

And the cycle continues

2007-11-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

I am always quite amazed at how eager a couple is to book their photographers well in advance (in the Kitchener-Waterloo area at least). I no sooner finish one wedding season when I am already filling up spots for the next. I am in one of those fortunate positions that I can be selective about the number of weddings I take on and to a lessor degree, selective of the couples I choose to work with. More often then not I will be indirectly linked to the people I work with, like the friend of a friend who nows someone... that sort of connection

So as I am booking up next years slots (despite telling myself this past season was my last) it occurred to me; how many other industries can boast having their schedule determined for the next 9 to 12 months? I know I don't have this luxury in web design where work is often determined on a month by month basis. I really ought to give wedding photography more love than I do. Perhaps when my girls are older and don't care to see me on weekends and my wife grows tired of having me around the house, I'll consider booking 25 to 30 weddings a year, but until then I'll stick to my half dozen.

It would probably be much different if shooting weddings in the Kitchener-Waterloo area weren't pigeon holed into the same handful of locations; Victoria Park, Waterloo Park, Rockway Gardens, Woodside Park, West Mountrose... It's a small town with very little in the way of manicured parkland. I need to find some fresh locations that aren't overshot to spark my creativity and passion for the art.

Digital photography has no elders

2007-11-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

In traditional communities there was always that culture where elders passed their wisdom down from generation to generation. In the days of yore this was done by song and story telling, then by scrolls and tablets, then by books, then by radio, then by television... Now it's by blog. What's most troubling today is the relatively short span between one who considers himself new and one who considers himself experienced.

This is painfully true in photography. Since the digital age, unimaginable technical advancements have made fine photography more accessible to the masses. There are now more people wielding SLR's today than in any other period of time in history. SLR photography was once the territory of those who had to know what they were doing with a single lens reflex camera, but with the massive growth of the SLR's popularity an interesting phenomenon has occurred; most people behind a digital SLR today have never used a film SLR and have learned everything the know about photography from someone else who has also never used a film SLR.

So why would this matter? Because most of the marketing, product information, specifications and terminology are all derived from the film world. You see, back when Digital SLR's were first working their way into the market place there was probably this perception that the resistance would be great. Lens focal lengths were given relative to 35 mm frame formats to help the film photographers better relate, sensor sizes were compared to film formats like APS-C and "Full frame" (35mm), and "D" or "digital" was affixed every product as though these two varying lines might coexist side by side for generations to come. I don't think anyone really expected digital to take of quite as fast as it did.

This rapid expansion on the SLR industry left us with a virtual knowledge vacuum, which is not only devoid of any informed wisdom about the art and science of photography, but is continually sucking in misconceptions and inaccuracies from all over the webiverse. There just aren't enough of those old school photographers around to teach the masses that have populated this new and exciting age of digital photography. No one benefits more from this black hole of photographic know-how more than equipment manufacturers. After a few short years of digital dominance the market is ripe for the picking. It's not enough to get an SLR body in the hands of unsuspecting consumers, whether they actually need one or not. Now that they have the body they'll need lenses...

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard the words "prime lens" thrown around by people who really have no idea what it is, I could have bought a new one myself. And this is where so much of the trouble lies. Right now it's all the rage to buy a "prime lens" or a "normal lens" and the prices of these lenses is getting to be outrageous! I am here to tell you that the market for a prime lens was all but dead prior to the digital boom for all the opposite reasons that get thrown out as arguments to buy them today. The science behind zoom lenses today is incredible, making a zoom lens today comparable to any prime lens; many are equally sharp, equally fast and equally light, but best of all, zoom lenses are and always will be more versatile. These arguments are going on a quarter century by now and all the newbies are dragging them up from the dusty depths of redundant argument vaults as though zoom lens technology hasn't improved in the last few decades.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good prime lens. I have boxes of them that I dust off once every few years to remind myself that a camera bag slung over my shoulder containing two or three fast, premium zooms sure beats the days of carrying three camera bags holding 20 to 30 lbs. of glass in each. People are getting duped into buying over-priced gear just because that's what their flickr friends say they need or because Scott Bourne said "such-and-such a lens has a gorgeous bokeh". If I read one more time about some Joe Blow getting a 50 mm, f 1.4 for their Cannon Rebel because they wanted a "normal" lens I am going to SCREAM (true photographers will know why, everyone else will have to do their research). Trust me, the conversion to digital has given me an overabundance of "normal" lenses that I paid a great deal of money for (the price differential between wide and normal, again, true photographers will know what I mean) over the years and none of them say 50 mm on the barrel. On the flip side I now have a killer collection of super telephoto lenses.

The digital aspect of this new era in photography is still too young to be looking solely to other digital photographers for your knowledge. If the people you are learning from have never been in the drivers seat of a 35 mm SLR or a 6x6 or 4x6 medium format then you are possible missing out on the some of the finer details of the art and science behind photography. There are a great many exceptions to every rule but the truth of the matter is the entire digital platform is built on the wisdom of an earlier generation that understood light because they had to, gave conscious thought to composition because it was a rule, knew the science behind exposure because cameras didn't, used aperture settings for specific effects and shutter speeds for others... There is a generation of photographers who knew, more than anything else, that the camera that captures the light, but it's the photographer that takes the picture.

Gary Fong, if you're reading this...

2007-10-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

There is a pretty neat phenomenon that occurs when you start using one of Gary Fongs flash diffusers. It's not the fact that you notice how many others in your industry use them. It's not the fact that your flash images become quite amazing with greater control. And it's not the act that you are overwhelmed with the desire to buy the entire collection once you've tried just one.

No, it's not any of these. It's the fact that if you blog about Gary Fongs products you will become acutely aware of the fact that you are now being visited by a familiar and recurring ip address as a result of the same set of key words. That's right; you become a regular stop in Gary Fongs vanity search. Gary Fong himself has laid eyes on my site, which is really cool even if it is only to see what we (photographers) are saying about the whale tail or light sphere. How do I know it's him? I didn't until he wrote about it on his blog a while back (the actual post escapes me now), admitting that he does such searches to see what the views and reviews are saying. So that's when I went back and checked the ip's of all hits on my site that had to do with Gary Fong related searches, and sure enough about 99% of them were the same. Hey we all do it, right?

So what about that WhaleTale review I have been promising for so long? It's coming. It's taking a while because I shoot with it on all the time (yes, even my recent outdoor weddings) and can't bring myself to remove it for comparative studies. And now that LightSphere Universal and The Origami are due out soon I would love to get my hands on those so I can compare all three! Gary, if you are reading this, I would LOVE to get my hands on these two new products... ;)

Having fun and capturing it in your work

2007-10-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Some of the best shots in wedding photography are the ones where something silly is happening or when people are just busting a gut laughing. The trick is being able to make that happen at will, so I've written an article to help you get the most out of the people you are working with. Go and have a read.

A party who has fun together...

2007-10-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

When I shoot a wedding, I have my times when I joke around a lot and I have times when I seem doing anything but taking pictures. In the end I know the bride and groom often wonder what I am up to or if I indeed know what I am doing. I am sure many think I am goofing off or don't care enough to be there or just plain don't take my work seriously.

But it's all part of the routine... to make you laugh, relax and feel comfortable. Look for an article on how to get relaxed, fun pictures like this one above early next week.

A shooting groups "How-to"

2007-09-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

With another wedding hot on my heals I find myself going back in the catalogue to study the work I like and dislike. This helps refresh my memory of techniques that were successful for me and what I can do in my next wedding if conditions permit. In doing my research I couldn't help but write an article about something that I am very passionate about and had struggled with for years. Group shots.

Give the article a read. I think you will find it very useful. { Read the article }

Sony α700

2007-09-06T10:22:00.001-07:00

I got the joyous new from my favourite photography blog site, PHOTOGRAPHY BAY, that Sony has finally released the long rumored, heavily speculated α700. This is said to be the mid-range DSL-R with a pro version still in the making.

I won't go into all the bells and whistles here (you can read the post at PHOTOGRAPHY BAY for that) and the reality is the numbers mean very little to my kind of photography anyhow, but what excites me most about these new, higher end Sony DSL-R models is the return to the vertical grip. Having come from the Minolta lineage from where this Sony line stemmed, I got accustomed to the vertical grips found on my pro film cameras.

My dependance on the vertical grip was never so apparent as it was shooting the wedding from a few weeks back. By the end of the day I thought my wrist was going snap off. No amount of ibuprofen could dull the pain.

So in a world where names like Canon and Nikon dominate, it was nice to get a bit of news that actually effected me for a change.

Are you feelings polar about polarizing filters?

2007-08-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

I feel like the benefits of polarizing filters has been overshadowed since the massive boom in digital SLR popularity. Truth be told though, there is nothing in modern computer technology that can equal the effects of polarizing light at the moment of capture.

I have written a brief article on what polarizing filters can do for you. Take a look.

A beachin' wedding

2007-08-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

There are a few opportunities in a photographers career where it seems the gods are shining down and granting you this one chance to shine. This past weekend was just such an opportunity as my wife and I made the two hour journey to the beaches of Southampton to photograph what was arguably the best wedding I have ever been to, let alone worked at.

Here is just a sampling of the beach portion of the day...

{ Though barely audible over the crashing surf and strong winds, no one can deny that the presence of the musicians was a touch of class. }

{ To see both the bride and the father of the bride walking down the palm leaf aisle in there bare feet was warming and relaxing. }

{ Themselves beautiful, the bride and groom were fortunate to surround themselves with a beautiful bridal party, such as these two, and beautiful guests alike. }

{ The formals having been done earlier in the day at another location, I took this last opportunity to snap this informal shot while the bride and groom posed for a family member. }

The little world and weddings to be

2007-08-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

The little world

Nothing has captured my attention in the photography world quite like macro photography. Close-ups offer a glimpse into another world not normally noticed day to day. Taking good close-ups can be challenging, so to assist you, should you try, I have written an article outlining the more important points to consider in macro photography, titled: Lager than life; Macro for beginners.

Weddings to be

I know I've said this before, but I really do intend to write a review of my new Whale Tail. I thought I would do it sooner than later when it dawned on me; I am shooting a wedding at the end of August, why not wait until I've put the diffuser through it's paces there? So that's the deal. Sometime near the beginning of September you can expect to see my review of Gary Fong's Whale Tail.

HDR and barking dogs

2007-08-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

HDR

It seems like all you here about these days in photography is HDR photography so I couldn't very well pass up an opportunity to write an article about on could I? It was really a toss up between putting it in the Photography article section or the Photoshop article section, but being as it is primarily a computer function more than it is a photographic one, I decided on Photoshop. There are a plethora of applications out there designed specifically for generating HDR images but I am guessing one of the forerunners would be photoshop so that's how I slanted this particular article.

Barking dogs

As you may well know, I am the owner of a web design outfit, seyDoggy, who, in turn, owns many other sites and blogs out there... I was running a muck with such an exhausting blogging schedule and trying to find a good way to get the word out about each one that I finally bit the bullet and started a blog on seyDoggy. It only makes sense; why not shamelessly spread the work from the mother ship right? So anyhow, if you like reading the stuff I have to say and are looking for more, the blog at seyDoggy will keep you up to spread with the latest posts here there and everywhere.

The new, the horizon and the passing.

2007-07-31T04:42:00.000-07:00

The new

I've just written a quick article on composing landscape shots. If you are a fan of landscape photography but don't seem to get the shot you want, give this article a read.

The horizon

The Whale Tail I ordered showed up last week and I am spending the next few weeks putting it through it's paces. Once I have compiled enough information I plan to write a review and possibly a few tips and tutorials. It is definitely a tool that all photographers should have in their camera bags.

The passing

News travels fast except when you don't have your ear to the ground. I had to learn of the passing of one of my hero's, Monte Zucker, from the cover of a photo mag who was putting on a memorial spread in his honor. What's worse is his passing was back in March.

I can't begin to tell you how it saddens me to hear of Monte's passing. I learned a great deal about portraiture and lighting from studying from Monte's work. If you haven't had a chance to see Monte in action and are interested in the very finest portrait photography, stop by the store and pick up a video or two. There is a lifetime of work to study there so it's well worth the money.

What time is it? It's LIVE-O'CLOCK!

2007-07-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

Merrifield Photography is live (again) in yet another rendering of what I dreamt a photography site should be all about. Why did I do this, redesign Merrifield Photography again? I have more details here.

Well some galleries are more full than others but I thought to heck with it, I own the site, I can add to it as I go right? Flipping through an absolutely monstrous library of work from the last 15 years has been proving a bit exhaustive, and I am... well... exhausted!

So here it is, live for all to see, read, look at (damn sexy site isn't it?)... don't be shy, let me know what you think. Be hard on me or butter me up, either way I can take it. Anyhow, enjoy your romp around and let me know if you need anything.

New flash, next stop Gary Fong

2007-07-24T13:59:00.001-07:00

It hurts me to spend money. My wife call me cheap, I say I'm practical. She puts up with it to a certain point but enough was enough when it came to our recent flash troubles.

I have been shooting on Minolta gear for the better part of 15 years, and if it weren't for the gross investment in lenses, I would have switched to Cannon or Nikon years ago (the the cheap in me I guess). Since it's really the glass (the lens) that does the bulk of the picture taking, I have gotten by with whatever camera body Minolta would throw at me as the years went on. I started to get a tad worried when Minolta started to fold (during the Konica merger and inevitable sale to Sony), especially since it was about time I switched to digital.

Thankfully Sony is carrying that torch high and my migration to digital was a relatively painless one, save for the flash compatibility. Some years ago I had invested a considerable sum of money on a pair of, then state of the art, Minolta 5200i's. I still have them, and sadly for me, they don't talk well with the new digital platform. It wasn't a huge deal for me since I could still use them manually with the camera, but my wife... well let's just say she preferred if I get a new flash.

And that's what I did. The Sony HVL-F56AM to be exact. Now these are expensive little suckers so I wasn't about to invest in a pair of them like I had before. No, I needed a better solution and in my research, found the WhaleTail which I promptly ordered. Once that's in, I'll write a post with a few comparative shots for your review. So until then...

Pet projects and responsibility

2007-07-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

It's funny how being grown up gets in the way sometimes. Owning my own web design business, running an e-commerce store, having clients to answer to, having a family to provide for and take care of... It really doesn't leave much time for me to work on this site. What's tough is I have really been enjoying looking through my 15 years of work and have become obsessed with making this new, definitive, on-line portfolio. I am loving it's looks, it's function, the way it informally showcases everything my wife and I have shot over the past decade and a half.

So what I am getting at here is that I don't intend to rush things just to get this site out there. I want it done right. I want to be proud of every little corner of the site no matter how obscure. If that takes six weeks, six months, ten months, a year, so be it. It is going to be well worth the wait.

Coming along... and on, and on...

2007-07-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how many photographs one can accumulate over the years. To narrow it down to the very best to display on a website has always been a difficult task for me. That's why my websites have never reflected what I am really capable of because I lose focus before I have really come up with a good, well planned portfolio. Well not this time.

I am killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. Tanya (my wife) has wanted me to add all of digitized film images (from CD) to our iPhoto library for some time now, and this made for the perfect opportunity to skim through all of our previous work to add to my new online portfolio. If by some fluke chance you are reading this on blogger than you can't see how the site is coming along but I can assure you I am in love. Those of you that have been my colleagues in the web design world have only heard vague tales that I was, at one time, well immersed in the photographic world. Well now I intend to show them exactly what that meant to me.

From paid gigs to pet projects, I intend to spill it all out here to showcase the best, the quirky, the moving and the breath taking imagery that my wife and I have been involved with for so many years. So far I like what I see and I am so very glad I started down this path. It's a journey I won't soon forget.

Here we go again!

2007-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well just as I got Merrifield Photography the last time, iStockPro went and shut down on me. This left me with an essentially empty, utterly useless site. And that's how it stayed until today when I thought I had better get my act in gear and get this baby back up and running. If for no other reason, it at least serves as a feather to stick in my portfolio hat over at seyDoggy.

So what's it all about this time? I have no clue yet but here is what I would like to do:

I am still in love with photography, though I may not shoot as much as I used to, so I want to still showcase my work.
I also want to share articles and tricks and tips, etc...
Something new I want to get into is Photoshop tips and tricks. I have read so many myself but get really tired of searching for them on the intar-tubes, so I am going to write my own and collect them here.
And finally I want to share some resources that I stumble upon in my travels.

So I am not begging you to stick around and see what happens because honestly, this site has been up and down more times than an elevator. However, if I stick to my guns and keep this thing alive I know, somehow, you'll find your way back.