Out with the Old, In with the New

Tags

art, create, new logo, photography

If you follow me at all, you’ve probably realized that I follow my own path.  Despite social media experts’ advice, I like taking a break from posting on social media platforms, especially blogging ,for my own reasons.  I have a fear of being boring but am strangely comfortable with being boring for not posting often, then for posting boring stuff frequently.  My mind works in strange and mysterious ways! And my stupid keyboard is on the fritz so please forgive any missing punctuation and characters.  That in itself is reason for not posting this at all, but I’m muddling through.  Who needs a closed paranthesis anyway?  *I so need a closed parenthesis!

But I digress.  Tonight, I’m debuting my new logos.  My friend designed my current logo a few years ago, but I wanted to freshen up my look so I’m changing it.  Here they are:

 

I decided to go with a wordless badge because I’m edgy that way.   The tree and colors have meaning to me and I like the simplicity of it.

Here are some real world examples with the new logos, starring my cats and two concert photographs starring Braden Cameron and Miranda Lambert.

 

 

What do you think?  I’m really curious how it will be received, but ultimately if I like it then that should be the only thing that matters.  I’ll probably play around with spacing and print colors but for the most part, I’m really happy with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Finishing Touches

Tags

art, create, life, paint, project, refurnish

My dresser had been stripped, primed and painted, but needed some finishing touches before I could call it complete. After I painted the dresser purple and black, I wanted to get some Very Cool Drawer Pulls because the original ones were Very Ugly.  But first, I wanted to change the drawer contact paper.

I’m not a fan of contact paper but I really didn’t like the current contact paper that was in the drawers.  Petite rose buds just didn’t work with the cool black and purple exterior.  Even though no one would know it was there, I wanted something different, something a little classy.  I found what I was looking for at the local hardware store – white contact paper with a black swirly design.

Ugly Contact Paper

Ooohh, so pretty!

I hate contact paper and realized that I would need at least one beer to properly install it in my four drawers.  I took careful measurements but applying it was still a nightmare.  Two beers later and lots of swearing my work was complete.   The bottom drawer has a few more bubbles and wrinkles than the upper drawers, but I can live with them.  The drawers looked great, but still needed hardware.

I thought black drawer pulls would look awesome on my dresser, especially cup pulls.  However, I discovered that the Very Ugly drawer pulls had a Very Inconvenient drill hole width of 4 inches. I began a search for Cool Black Cup Pulls, but discovered that the average width of both cup pulls and drawer pulls was about 3 inches.  The  3.5 inch selection was somewhat limited and a 4 inch selection was very rare, if found at all.  I thought about plugging the existing holes and drilling new ones with a 3 inch width, but I really didn’t want to be bothered.  I don’t have a drill (yet) and the thought of going through all that trouble for cup pulls that didn’t really knock my socks off didn’t interest me.  Don’t get me wrong, in my search for the perfect cup pulls, I found some lovely ones, but nothing that I felt was right for my dresser.

In the end, I thought I would just get some ornate drawer pulls and simply ‘double up’ on them by having four per drawer instead of the customary two.  I again had black pulls in mind and found the online selection of drawer pulls to be a little overwhelming.  There are so many choices and I began to think of other future projects just to incorporate the use of some of them that I really liked, but weren’t right for my dresser.  Finally, I found what I was looking for at hobbylobby.com.  Wicked Cool pewter Octopi was the perfect choice for my dresser, but they were a little expensive at $7.00 each and I would need 16 of them.  Even if I bought 8, the price was still over my budget and I would have to find 8 different pulls to go with them.   Reluctantly, I passed on them and continued my search.

The Octopi wouldn’t leave me alone, though, as I kept coming back to them.  In the end, even though they were expensive, I decided to treat myself to 8 of them, but only if I found another cool design to complement them.  What goes with octopi, black and purple, though?   I already decided that the octopi would be on the out most side of the dresser drawers so something smaller could work.  I looked at black knobs, multi colored knobs, crystal knobs until I finally found the perfect knob:  a glass skull head.

Crazy, I know.  But I knew the skulls and octopi would look wicked cool against the purple drawer.  Unfortunately, the skulls were $5.00 each and I would need 8 of them.  My perfect drawer hardware had quickly became the most expensive part of the dresser.  I knew I couldn’t justify spending $100 on drawer pulls, no matter how cool they were.  I decided to revisit the hunt for the perfect drawer pulls in a few days and tried to put the octopi and skulls out of my mind.

A few days later, I returned to hobbylobby.com and saw a joyous sight:  Drawer pulls were on sale!  I did some quick math and realized that I could get the octopi and the skulls for $3 each!!  That was well within my budget and I quickly ordered them.  They arrived today.

As soon as I unwrapped them, I went to work.  For an agonizing minute I thought the octopi screws were too big for the existing holes in my drawers, but they fit with a little encouragement.  The skull next to the octopus, on a purple background looked as awesome as I had hoped.  The only thing I need to fix when I get the right tool is the inside screw length.  The skull screw, especially, is a little long inside the drawer.  For now, I’ll just have to be careful not to snag my clothes.

Skull and Octopus

Perfect Combo!

Careful with the long screw

So there you have it!  My flea market find $40 dresser with the ugly drawer handles has been transformed to an awesome purple and black dresser with bad ass drawer pulls.  I absolutely love it.

Before

Ugly Drawer Pulls

My New Dresser!

Stripped, Primed and Painted

Tags

create, dresser, life, paint, project, refurnish, reuse

After buying 3Ms Safest Stripper, I carefully read the directions and applied it on the dresser, paying special attention to the grooves.  As the label said, the product didn’t have a strong odor and was safe to use indoors.  The cats were not interested in it at all (which was a small miracle!)

I left the product on longer than I should have because it dried out (don’t let that happen, otherwise somewhere a puppy dies).  Despite this, the product worked pretty well.  The outside sides were easier to strip but the panels were almost as hard to strip as the grooves.  Stripping it completely took a lot more time that I had planned and some elbow grease to boot.  I’m sure if I was more patient and used the Stripper as it should have been used (in small sections without letting it dry), it would have been an easier job for me.  But I’m a little stubborn and there was something strangely therapeutic about chipping off paint from a piece of furniture.

When my dresser was completely stripped, it was time to buy the paint.  I decided to go with royal purple with black trim.  As the project was a completely indoor project with cats, I didn’t want to use spray paint or have any noxious fumes.  We headed to Lowe’s and I told the Paint Guy what I needed and he pointed me to Valspar furniture paint.  I was a little hesitant about the color choices until he told me that I could probably use any Valspar color I wanted.  So for the next thirty minutes I tortured Husband into helping me decide between Blackest Night or Noir and Purple Majesty or Huckleberry.  I finally made my color decisions and Paint Guy complemented me on my ‘bold’ choices.  He also recommended using a primer base coat so the colors were uniformed.

When I got home, I started painting the primer on the drawers and dresser.  The primer dried very quickly (less than an hour) so I was able to paint the drawers, but waited on painting the dresser itself.

The drawer fronts was painted purple as were the top and side panels of the dresser.  The sides of each drawer was painted black.  It looked fierce!

The next day I started painting the dresser purple.  It was relatively easy because I didn’t have to be too mindful of lines and grooves because if I made a mistake, I knew I could paint over it with the black paint.  I ended up painting three coats of purple to get the royal purple color I wanted.

The trim was a little harder and needed a steady hand, which meant no beer whilst painting.  Husband thought I was crazy because I wanted the outside trim, the grooves and the inside panel grooves to be black.  I felt like a surgeon with my precision painting, especially on the inside panel grooves.  But the attention to detail paid off.  Two coats later and a couple of ‘tidy ups’, I have a bad ass purple and black dresser.  And praise Jesus my cats are still white!

Now to find the perfect drawer pulls and for the final finishing touches.

To be continued . . .

Deceptive Drawers

Tags

art, create, DIY, life, paint, project, refurnish, reuse

I started the stripping stage of my dresser, and began with the dresser drawers.  The old paint came off very easily in long strips without need for a commercial stripper. It reminded me unfrosting a cake.  Stripping the drawers was fast work and when I was done, I moved on to the top of the dresser.

The top required a little more elbow grease and a cold beer, but wasn’t too difficult,  I was lured into believing the sides of the dresser would be just as easy.  Maybe, I thought, I could skip a commercial stripper altogether, except for the trim and the front of the dresser, which had the most trim.

Boy was I wrong.

The sides were a nightmare.  The paint wouldn’t even flake no matter how much I scrapped and swore.  I had to break down and get a commercial stripper in order to complete the job.

I had a major concern about using a stripper.  I knew I could only work on my dresser after work and the weather forecast was calling for rain.  We don’t have a garage and working on it outside wasn’t an option because of the rain.  I had to do everything inside and needed to find a stripper that didn’t have toxic fumes that would harm my family.

Luckily, 3M makes a product called Safest Stripper.  It is a paste stripper that can be used indoor and does not have a strong odor.  It also promised to work quickly.  I picked up a bottle at the local hardware store and couldn’t wait to try it.

In the meantime, I decided on purple.

To be continued . . .

A New Project

Tags

art, create, flea market, imagine, life, project, refurnish, reuse

I’ve embarked on a new project – furniture restoration.  Granted, it isn’t photography, but as I call myself an artist, I thought it would be cool share my new project.

Earlier this Spring, Husband and I moved into a new place.  It’s an older home with lots of charm and potential and I decided I needed new furniture.

I hate shopping for furniture, because I can never find what I want.  Also, I tend to pinch pennies pretty tightly and can’t imagine spending $100 or more for a chair.  A chair!  However, I really wanted a new dresser so Husband and I went to the flea market with $200 in my pocket.  I wanted to find a dresser for myself, a dresser for Husband, and a dining chair.

Our first purchase was a tool cabinet that could be a dresser for Husband.  I bartered the price down to a reasonable $60 (though I probably could have gotten it for less if I was persistent).  After a thorough cleaning and a long drawn out fight with contact paper, the tool cabinet serves as a wonderful dresser.  I love the character of it.

While I was looking around other stall, Husband spied a cola rack and thought it would make a perfect bakers rack for our small kitchen.  Though it wasn’t on the list, I really liked the rack and thought it would be a great piece for our kitchen and give us lots of storage space.  The asking price was $95 but after some negotiations, the price went down and I happily paid for it.

After I paid for it, though, I was a bit nervous.  I had less than $100 and still needed to find a dresser for myself and a dining chair.  We went from vendor to vendor and either I didn’t see anything I liked or the asking price was firm and very expensive.  Finally, towards the back of the flea market, I spied my dresser.

It was ugly, but had good bones.  Best of all, it was only $40.  I purchased it, but my mind was racing to figure out how I wanted to refurnish it.  The previous owner had sprayed painted it white and put some ugly, ugly drawer handles on it.  But I really liked the grooves and shape of it and decided that I would paint it, and paint the grooves black.  And definitely get better drawer handles.

We brought everything home and I had to decide if I wanted to paint it navy blue with black trim, or royal purple with black trim.

~to be continued . . .

PS:  I also found the perfect dining chair on the way out.  $10.  Bam!

The Work Routine ~ Part II

Tags

believe, create, experience, photography

Welcome to Part II of The Work Routine.  This part is all about the shoot.

The shoot obviously is the most important part for a concert photographer.  It is easily the most stressful, most fun and most challenging part for a photographer, too.  Thankfully, there are only two guidelines to remember.

1~  Don’t be an asshole.  I can’t stress this enough.  Be nice to everyone you meet at the shoot.  Be nice to the security guys, the ushers, the venue point person, other photographers and especially the concert patrons.  Someone is always watching you while you cover a show and how you behave will follow you for the rest of your career.  If you thought you would have the traditional first three songs but it turns into on the first 10 minutes (or less), don’t be an asshole and complain about it.  If a concert patron thinks you are making too much noise or are blocking their line of sight, don’t be a asshole and tell them to suck it up because you have a job to do.  If the venue point person tells you the shoot is from the soundboard when you were told earlier it was from the pit, don’t be an asshole and demand pit access.  Concert photography is full of constant change and you have to be able to adapt to the last minute changes.  Be nice to everyone you meet.  There are enough assholes in the music industry already.

2~  Don’t second guess yourself.  One of the first times I ever shot at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall was during a Wynton Marsalis concert.  It was me and two other photographers.  Both of them had more experience then me and certainly better camera equipment than me, and I was a little intimidated by them.  Our point person walked us into Massey Hall before the concert started and gave us shooting options for our shoot (I can’t remember if we had three songs or two).  The options were stage left, stage right and house center.  He said we probably had time to use two of the areas, but not all three.  All of us agreed to shoot house center for one song, but the other two wanted to shoot stage right while I wanted to shoot stage left.  The problem with shooting stage right was a lovely grand piano blocking most of the band.  The other two photographers didn’t seem to care about the grand piano and I got the impression that the point person wanted to keep us together.  I didn’t say anything and went along with the other two photographers.  Sure enough, I didn’t really capture anything from stage right because of the grand piano.  But neither did the other two, as I heard them complaining about the grand piano on the way out.

My point is, had I had more confidence in myself and spoken up, I would have probably gotten more usable images of Wynton Marsalis.  But I was shy, insecure and intimidated and paid the price.  I learned a valuable lesson that night – don’t second guess yourself.

It’s easy to second guess yourself, especially if there are a lot of other photographers with you at the shoot.  It’s natural to wonder, ‘what settings are they using?’ or ‘what do they see that I don’t?’  But just because someone has better equipment than you doesn’t make them a better photographer. I’ve learned a lot from fellow photographers in the pit by asking about settings and camera equipment.  But it is so important to have confidence in your unique vision and abilities.  That’s when you succeed.

EyeEm Greater Than Instagram

Tags

best practice, create, eyeem, Growth, Instagram, marketing, photography, social media

A few months ago, I wrote about why I’m not on Instagram.  Since then, I’ve been looking for an alternative and I’m happy to say that I found it with EyeEm.

EyeEm, like Instagram, is a social media app that allows one to use creative filters, post and tag photos and follow other photographers.  It has a much smaller usage than Instagram (for now) but I think it is a much more photographer friendly app for several reasons.     

EyeEm’s terms of service is much more ‘cut and dry’ than Instagram’s and there is no question about who owns what or what could happen to images once uploaded.

EyeEm gives a photographer the option of selling photos.  This service is called ‘Market’.  By joining Market, a photographer can sell their images while maintaining ownership of the copyright.  The photographer splits the profits 50/50 with EyeEm once an image is sold.  Market also offers support with liscenses and is non-exclusive.  I have not joined Market and have no experience with it so naturally I can’t comment further.  But I find the idea appealing.  As a photographer, I would rather have the option of selling my photos outright, then having them used without my consent or knowledge.

EyeEm offers challenges, called Missions.  These Missions range from everything to submitting your best macro photo to submitting your best street photo.  Winners are awarded anything between EyeEm swag to having their image featured in The Huffington Press or other publications, or being featured prominently on EyeEm.

EyeEm offers tutorials.  These tutorials range from how to shoot in low light situations to how to capture better portraits.  EyeEm also often interviews successful photographers about their technique, gear and best practices.  As a photographer, I’ve found the best way to learn the art of photography is to see what other photographers are doing and hear about their successes and failures.

Social media is about being seen and is a great marketing tool.  But it’s important to be comfortable with your social media platforms, especially when you post photos.   What appeals to me with EyeEm is the dedication they have to photographers.  They want you to learn, not just to be seen.  They challenge you yet support you.  It is this dedication that makes EyeEm, in my opinion, the best photo sharing app.

If you are interested in joining EyeEm or are already on it, be sure to follow me at k3schultz

Beware of Fauxtographers

Tags

art, create, experience, photography, social media

Every profession, from photography to biology, has a group of individuals who know best about all subjects and circumstances.  These people are the quickest to offer criticism to your project under the guise of mentoring, if you ask for help or honest feed back.  They gleefully find any fault in your project and loudly denouce your decisions, yet rarely praise you.  They are poison and should be avoided or better yet ignored.  In the photography field, I call them fauxtographers.

Fauxtographers live comfortably in social media because social media makes it very easy to criticize another person as there is no face-to-face interaction.  Fauxtographers are often insecure about their own abilities and think the best way to build themselves up is to tear someone else down.  When confronted, they become indignant because, after all, they were only offering their opinion.  They often have the loudest voices and sometimes have minions who are quick to support them.

Concert fauxtographers think everything should fit inside a preconceived box labeled What-makes-a-great-concert-photo.   They’ve invented catchphrases like ‘mic mouth’, ‘eye hand’ and cry foul when a guitar head (or another other instrument) is cropped from a photo.  They love high contrast/high clarity images, bright colors and pinsharp photos.  They want every image to be the same.  Any images that falls outside these parameters are considered bad.  Unfortunately, the final images they love are predicable, boring and forgettable.  

Photography, concert or otherwise, is about capturing a moment.  Photographers should capture moments then refine the moment through the editing process.  Some moments are discarded but the ones that are chosen should be treasured because it is a reflection of both the photographer and the person in the image.  The more images you capture, the easier it becomes to find your own style of refinement.

As I’ve said before, concert photography is a tricky gig.   It’s a game between me, the other photographers in the pit, the lighting guy, the musicians, the fans, the security, and the equipment on the stage.  Split second decisions are made often in less than ideal circumstances.  It’s exhilarating, intimidating, at times frustrating, but extremely rewarding.  What I capture can be (and should be) different from what the guy next to me captures.  That’s what makes photography so exciting!  Every photographer has a unique point of view and that uniqueness should be celebrated!

A cropped trumpet

An off-centered out of focus performer

The dreaded ‘mic mouth’

As a professional concert photographer, I often cringe when other photographers ask for creative criticism on social media.  I cringe, not because people are asking for feedback, because everyone needs feedback, but because the person asking is the wrong way.  More often than not, a photographer will post a photo or a series of photos and ask for feedback.  That’s when fauxtographers pounce and then try to destroy.

It would be beneficial if photographers seeking feedback would provide details about the shoot.  What was the venue?  Was there a pit? Were you allowed to move within the pit or was it so small or crowded that movement within was impossible?  How was the lighting? Was the singer stationary or running constantly around or somewhere in the middle?  What was the audience like?  Where they pushing and prodding against the pit (if there was one) or was there appropriate space between you and them? What camera settings were you using?  How did security treat you?  How many songs were you allowed to shoot? 

Some of these questions might not seem appropriate at first glance but without having an idea of the environment in which the images were captured, it’s difficult to provide an answer.  Knowing the circumstances of the images can quantify constructive criticism.    Another strategy for constructive feedback or advice is to only seek it from other photographers who are familiar with the band, tour or venue.  They know the habits of the band or the best vantage points of the venue.  Before I shot the Foo Fighters I asked some photographers who shot them before what the best vantage point would be – stage right or stage left.  I received the answer and was able to get some great shots.

Getting feedback is part of learning and improving your skill set.  But it should be taken with the grain of salt, especially on social media.  There are no absolutes in photography except there will absolutely always be fauxtographers who want nothing more than to tear you down.  Don’t let them.  Create your own style and run with it.  You are meant to be unique and unforgettable. 

 

Keep On Shooting

Tags

art, create, photography

As a photographer, I like to follow the field online to keep current on the newest techniques, gear and to see what other photographers are doing.  It’s very interesting for me to see what advice other people have, particulary about showing your work.

A common theme I’ve seen from others is to label the type of photographer you are and focus on that area.  If you typically shoot landscapes, just focus on show casing your landscape photography.  If you like shooting concerts, only show your concert photos.  If you like photographing animals, only present your animal photos.

I understand the idea ~show only what you want to be known for.  That way, perspective clients and buyers have a snapshot of who you are as a photographer, and what you can bring them, as a buyer.  But I think this approach can be myopic and limiting.

I am known as a concert photographer, and 90 percent of my work is from covering music.  I love it, but I don’t pigeonhole myself or my art by only focusing solely on concert photography.  Some of my favorite and best received photos have been landscapes and portraits.   As a photographer, I want to constantly challenge myself and try new approaches to the medium I love so much.  I don’t want to get into an artistic rut by only focusing on one type of photography, even though it is a type I thoroughly enjoy.  Yes, it’s important to master your primary area of photography, but it’s just as important to go outside your comfort zone and try something new.

Another piece of advice that is hotly debated online is whether or not to participate in a photo a day project.    Detractors say it’s too easy to get bogged down and post lousy images out of obligation.  Your reputation as a photographer will suffer if you stray from your primary focus, they say.  Better to stick with what you know and don’t bother.  However, proponents argue participating in a photo a day project can help you shoot outside your comfort zone and encourage you to constantly think as a photographer.  I’m a big fan of photo of the day projects.

I started a photo of the day project back in 2013 and called it 365 Days of Awesomeness.  I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could go a whole year taking a photo every day.  It turned out that I couldn’t.  My 365 Days of Awesomeness tinkered out in the Fall of 2013, mainly because we were moving and I was without my camera for some time.  But I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of it and relaunched the project in 2015.

I’ll be honest – it is at times difficult for me to post a photo every day, especially on the days when I have a gig right after work.  Last year, I completed the year, but there are several Throw Back Thursday photos and I’ve been known to post almost a weeks worth of photos at one time.  But that’s OK because I’m constantly photographing something and my project has evolved into a visual social diary.  Yeah, some of the photos may not be technically good but they give the audience an idea of who I am.  As a photographer, I want people to not only know my work but also know a little bit about me.  In honor of the Leap Year, this year’s project is called 365+1 Days of Awesomeness and of this writing, I’m behind three days.

If you are interested in photography and are just starting out, throw yourself into it.  Try macro, try landscapes, try portraits.  It is through trial and error that we discover what we excel at. But, when you discover it, don’t limit yourself.  Hone your skills but get out of your comfort zone by trying something new or different.  Participating in a photo a day project is a personal decision but don’t flat out reject it because you are afraid of either not finishing it or damaging your reputation by not devoting 100% of your time to your chosen photography style. The secret to success in photography is having  a love of photography in all its vast interpretations and genres.  And to keep on shooting.

If you are interested in my 365 Days of Awesomeness project, you can check it out on Tumblr here

Work Hard and Stay Humble

Tags

art, create, photography

Being a photographer, especially a concert photographer, is a great gig to have.  I have been very blessed to have had all the opportunities I’ve been given and have worked hard to improve my craft.  I’ve met some amazingly talented people on my journey and have had adventures that I never imagined I’d have (and I have quite the imagination!).

But I know my photography isn’t and shouldn’t be about me.  My focus is 100% on the subject I’m shooting.  I know this may seem like a strange concept but I want my image to speak to the talent of the performer, and not the talent of the photographer.  Too many photographers that I know don’t share this point of view.  They take a shot and immediately start thumping their chest and shouting from the tops of social media mountains, ‘Look what I did’.

That’s not how I operate. In fact, I’m the total opposite.  I don’t go around dropping names, posting images of my work all over the internet and whining about photo releases.  It’s unseemly.  In today’s world where everyone can be a concert photographer, there are two vital things that are being ignored:  Integrity and humility.

Integrity in professional concert photography is vital in order to be a success.  Acts, venues, managers and anyone else ‘in the business’ needs to know that you, the photographer, are going to handle the images you take with respect.  To me, this means not selling the image, sharing the image only with the agreed upon publication, and not complaining about the release that you voluntarily signed.  Yes, there are some grey areas in concert photography, but if you are asked to take down a photo for whatever reason (and I have), you do it without complaint.

Humility is an even rarer quality in concert photography.  It’s hard to be humble when there are so many avenues on the internet to display images.  Some photographers are artists, and artists are notoriously insecure, so wanting validation is understandable.  But as the saying goes, ‘don’t believe your own press.’  Yes, I’m a good photographer.  In fact, some people have called me a bad ass photographer. However, I fully know that my gift of photography is a gift from God and this gift that is precious to me, may one day end.  In the meantime, I’m more than happy to share the spotlight with the One that gave me this gift.  And if people see Him through my work, than all the better.

Concert photography is hard work.  But work hard at it, treat it with integrity and stay humble.  Because integrity and humility is the difference between being an amateur and a professional.  And believe me, those in the music business know the difference.

photo courtesy of pintrest.com