Hello everyone! Welcome back. This time of the year is always hectic around here. Our souvenir division is busy keeping up with bus season and of course we do have our venue with a Santa Claus setting in front of a tree. Out of respect for our Santa, I will not post any photos.
Have you caught the commercial where it shows this guy standing in front of a photo on display that he had apparently taken. He is shown taking questions from what appears to be pro photographers and one of them ask if he would disclose what aperture setting he used for taking the photo. While holding his hands in front of him indicating a distance or size he replied, "A really big one." The announcer then says that this camera make taking great pictures easy. In others word, all you need to rival the pros is this camera. WOW! I didn't catch the manufacture and I'm praying it isn't Nikon because I really don't want to switch cameras but I might seriously consider it if it was them. The things that are done to make a buck with little consideration to the potential consequences.
To shift gears a bit, I have a friend that I have the opportunity to talk to quite frequently. He's been involved with a lady for quite awhile and have plans for the future. We have talked about those plans and this lady friend of his on numerous occasions and with full disclosure these plans involve many major changes in both their lives. He's always seemed up beat and happy about the relationship until the last time or two that we've spoken. He told me that he has met another lady who has been trying to steal him away and in his words "she's doing a pretty good job of it." He told me that in just the few weeks that he's known this lady, she has made him happier than he has been over the past two years with the other lady friend. While the stress and tension that comes with the plans they are discussing explains part of the bickering going on between them, it doesn't explain the difference in the levels of happiness he's feeling. No I'm not trying to turn this blog into a soap opera and I probably would have even bothered to bring it up if I hadn't ran across a different but similar situation. There's another gentleman I know who owns a business. Now while he has made some changes in his business operation there are certain aspects of his business which he tends to hold on to like a sacred cow. The fear of losing those things or at least the fear of lessening their importance to his operation grips onto him like a leech sucking the life from this guy. His friends have tried to talk to him and he does recognize the challenges that these thing present but even though he agrees with their arguments he still holds onto the belief that continuing to worship the sacred moo moo is the lesser of the evils. That is until the past few days. It seems that a knock has come to his proverbial door of opportunity. When he checked to see what was doing the knocking he found it to be an opportunity that he had not even seen coming let alone pursued. Now while his opportunity is in it's infancy it's still has provided enough encouragement to him to allow him to question just how truly sacred those moo moos really are after all. He said something that maybe we should all hear. Fear paralyzes us so much that we become blind to other options. Because of that blinding we allow things to control us to the extent we loose our own identity and self worth. As a result we feed the fear and the vicious cycle continues. It's an observation that I think has some merit. We tend to want to stay in our comfort zones no matter how uncomfortable it is. Why? Because while it may be uncomfortable it still is familiar and we don't like the unknown. Therefore, even though it may not be in our own best interest, we pour all of our efforts into maintaining those moo moos with our blinders on and our knees knocking. The problem is that while we pursue this course of action life is slipping away and opportunities are being missed. Not just in business but in our personnel lives as well. In a way we are making investments in our future. The problem is what kind of investments are we making? Are they those which lead us to a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction or regret and remorse? These are not easy situations and many times the situations seem either so crystal clear or so trivial that we fail to see how truly important and the lone lasting effects they potentially have on our lives not only now but for years to come. Since they are not easy and the majority of the populous love easy, people will generally allow what is easiest to govern their response and many times that turns out to be a huge mistake. Generally by the time we discover how big of a mistake it truly is, we cannot do much if anything to fix it. In some cases a higher power intervenes in spite of our fears and give light so we can more clearly see our moo moos as well as other courses that offers an even better life. But we can't always count on having things dropped into our laps (unless you are our Santa Claus. That's a private joke.). Most of the time opportunities are pretty stealthy and to see them you can't have your eyes on the moo moos. Don't miss out on the lobster because you're to busy putting pickles on the burger.
Pro Pix Tips. Well we are going to quickly finish up this part of our GOBO discussion. We will continue to talk about GOBOs throughout our look at composition but for right now it is important that we introduce the more common ones and briefly describe each one. We've already talked a bit about cookie GOBOs and you can go back and read that post.
FLAG GOBOs are used to block light from spilling over into areas you don't want them ie. the background area or back onto you camera producing lens flares or light reflections on the lens. They are generally black in color and can be made of any material as long as it does not let light shine through it. Most arencommonly made of cloth, poster board, and foam core.
REFLECTOR GOBOs are used to redirect the light coming from a light source to an area of the subject which needs additional lighting but you don't want to add an additional light source. An example would be where a reflector would be used while taking a photo outside one a sunny day where the reflector would reflect some of the sunlight back onto the subject to reduce the dark shadow areas on your subjects face such as the area around the eyes to better illuminate them. Cloth, poster board, and foam core are the most common materials used to make reflectors. The colors can vary but the most common are white, which tends to give off a cool white or flash color light, silver, which tends to give off a cool white or flash color but with greater intensity, and gold, which tends to give off a warmer yellowish color. Which one you use depends of the the feeling or purpose of the photo. The difference in intensity between the light coming from the source to the subject and that coming from the reflector varies based upon the distance between the light source, reflector, and subject but a good rule of thumb is 1 to 2 f-stops.
SCRIM GOBOs are used to soften light coming from a light source by effectively changing a small light source like the sun into a much larger light source. I know, the sun is a very big thing but while it is very big and bright it still very far away and actually look more light a spot light in the sky. As a result the light from the sun (a hard light source due to it relatively small size) produces a very distinct and dark shadow. When we place a scrim gobo between the light source (in this case the sun) and the subject of our photo, the scrim actually becomes the light source because the light is passing through the whole surface area of the scrim in affect becoming a much bigger light source (depending on the size of the scrim) producing a more soft light onto our subject with much softer and less distinct shadow areas. Depending on the material the scrim is made of, a rule of thumb you can use to judge how much lower the intensity of the light will be from no scrim vs. scrim is about 2 f-stops. Cloth or silk material are mainly used with white the usual color, but don't be surprised if you see a golden colored one.
GOBOs play a very important role in our shaping of light when we use that light to capture our images. As we continue our exploring of composition we will us GOBOs a lot.
Now on a more personal note. One of my staff members and very close personal friend lost their mother late Monday evening. I have known Monty for well over 40 years. She was a good women even though we had our disagreements from time to time. She was funny, kind, and loved her children more than life its self. She cared about those around her, family or not, and was always quick to help others whenever she could. From what I know of her past, life was not always kind to her but that didn't seem to dampen her happiness and outlook on life. Over the past years she was troubled by some persistent medical issues but despite the pain and difficulties those issues produced, she never allowed them to get her down or stop her from doing what she wanted. If one was to look at all she had had happen to her, a strong case could be make that life just wasn't very fair at all with her. I personally can say I never her Monty complain about any of that. She was always quick to comfort others even when her own issues were affecting her worse. Her children were her life and she was constantly concerned about their lives, especially her grand children. But in recent years life smiled on Monty. Additions to her family came in the form of her beloved cat and a man who I believe she loved with all of her heart. Their relationship brought her the happiness and joy that I feel had been missing for most of her life. I believe in my opinion that happiest times of her life came in these last 5 or so years. It's true that I wasn't that aware of all that was going on in her life but I do know that she seamed genuinely content and happier. Life is really crazy. With all the medical issues she fought with all those years, it was a fall that took her from us. Even though her passing did not come as a surprise and one can easily make the case that she is with God, free of pain and all those issues that for so long assaulted her, our pain and sorrow of being without her presents is real and will remain with us. For us who knew her and profess our faith in Christ, we will see this wonderful women again because she knew Christ as her Saviour. And when you compare the length of eternity, our time separated from her will be short, but that doesn't lessen the sorrow and grief of our time now. I loved Monty and called her mom. My love and prayers are with her family especially for Jackie. Jackie has many of her moms wonderful traits and for that I am truly grateful to Monty. I will miss her.
Richard
