Back At It

I'm back to 99% operating capacity after my little run in with Mr. Gallbladder. I've had a busy weekend. We shot an absolutely gorgeous wedding for Shannon and Adam on Saturday.





After a full day of shooting I realized how slack I've been with my butt on the couch most weekends! But it was great, and we had so much fun getting some great images. I was getting my old rhythm back and I realized why I love that click of the shutter once more.

Then today we revisited Cicily and Kasey. They wanted a little after shoot session for fun. I love shooting these two; they'll do just about anything.....which could be dangerous around me!





The last image was real fun, and if you know these two....it is so them! But it got me thinking, "Hey I need some more material for my training classes!" So I shot a quick 40 second video on my Nikon D90 (Kind of nice to have HD video on demand!)to just show the basic set-up of the flashes. It'll be handy when I'm teaching some of these lighting classes I do.



So back to processing photos! Hopefully the blog posts will be coming more frequent now that I'm back to full speed.

What It's Like

I'm up early this morning due to a little residual pain from the surgery. To be expected I guess since I woke up laying on my stomach for the first time since surgery. So i thought I'd take this opportunity to just chat on the blog a little bit.

Interest in the classes and workshops are picking up. I had some great feedback from the recent "Lighting Basics" class I co-taught down in Charlotte a couple weekends back. I'm looking forward to using some of the feedback I got to improve future offerings. I am especially excited about the August "Live Shoot" workshop. It will be a full fast paced day of producing a swimsuit calendar for a client. I hope, and I think, it will be an eye opening experience for folks who want to start shooting paid assignments. You'll have the chance to learn how to interact with your subject/model, assistants, hair and make-up artists, and others who pop-in along the way. I'm pretty sure I will start the class about an hour before scheduled shooting time. That way we can discuss some of the before hand logistics so that everyone can see what goes into the planning of this type of shoot.

So what is it like to shoot with me? Uh......good question. I try to just have fun and roll with the problems....because there will be problems no doubt! But here is a little video put together from a recent downtown shoot with the lovely Martinique. The video is courtesy of my good friend and great photographer from Charlotte Scott Stallings.


So if you interested in seeing the stuff behind the curtain, and learning some lighting, and general photography you can check out more info at my website http://johnleonardphoto.com/photolive

Slow Down or Else!

So after me bemoaning how busy I am I get put in my place by God. Well specifically an acute gall bladder attack. Late Sunday night things got pretty unbearable. I snapped this on my crackberry after some morphine and while waiting on my room. I have to say as far as hospital visits can go this was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Heck they even have Wi-Fi in the rooms. So Krista was able to keep on working.

So I'm slowed way, way, way down over the next few days. I am back home now and it is time to just enjoy it a little bit and get some long needed rest.

More Work

I had a great day sharing a little of what I know down in Charlotte today. Everyone had some great questions, and it reminded me of why I enjoy teaching. I love to see folks with the same passion and energy for photography as myself. I guess maybe these types of things could drain some people, but I feel oddly recharged creatively after teach and sharing. I think it is just part of the creative cycle. Almost like clearing out the old to bring in the new. So I really feel like I get as much out of these workshops as the participants. And it is always great to meet new people with a love for the craft.

So I'm back home, and I'm on to working on my backlog of processing. Which is tough because I am now fighting a full blown head cold or something. Let's just hope it's not the Swine!

But once I finish up Jessica and Matt's wedding I'll be in a good spot for at least 48hrs. Thought I would share how easy things can be sometimes......I stress sometimes. The shot below was shot using a Lastolite EzyBox with a SB800 in it. Everything was set-up on TTL. I shot it outside at night so everything in the background goes black since the light falls off way, way before it can reach it. I simply had Jessica hold her bouquet and the couple place their hands over it. You know getting two people who are in love to hold hands is just not hard no matter what!

Weekend................At Last!

So I'm taking Friday off to enjoy some the day. I'll be heading to Raleigh and catching game 4 between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes. GO CANES!

But on to Saturday I will be in Charlotte teaching part of the lighting basics workshop for the Charlotte Photography Group. This is the second lighting basics class I have taught in Charlotte. The first group was great, eager to learn and full of questions. I'm really looking forward to this class. I'm sure everyone will be able to take a boat load of knowledge. There is a good chance that in the next few months I will be doing a 1 day workshop on Nikon's CLS system. That should be a jam packed day of techie gear talk and shooting portraits. Sunday, back to processing photos and really getting to the grind on finishing some of those up and getting caught up in general.

If you didn't have a chance today get out and pick up a copy of The Rhino Times to see some of my work from this past Saturday at the NC Marathon in High Point.

Behind The Scenes

One of the thing I have encountered in the world of wedding and portrait photography is the lack of understanding of the process by my clients. This is no fault of theirs, I mean they are not photographers how would they know? One of the biggest areas I explain is the work I put in after the shoot in processing photos.

I learned right from the get-go a couple of things when I started shooting weddings. every venue is different and every shot can vary greatly within that venue. As such I choose to process every single photo personally. I just think it is a value added service for my clients. I could batch a bunch, but they all start to feel the same that way. So I put in hours and hours and hours of post processing time after each wedding. I factor this into what I charge. Once I explain this to my clients, and they begin to understand a lot goes into making a day into a memory.

I have thought about showing raw proofs, and out sourcing my processing to a lab on the images picked for purchase. Nothing wrong with this approach there are plenty of great labs like WHCC, Millers, etc. But I feel like this boxes my clients into a corner to make a decision based on money because the more they pick the more it costs. And the sad part is I wouldn't even make money on that it would just be a pass through cost. So why not just do it myself, and make everyone happy.

So where am I now? BEHIND! I'm just settling in to really lay into tackling Jessica and Matt's wedding from the weekend before last (Guys I promise you'll have them by the end of the weekend!). Their wedding was great, and just absolutely gorgeous at Castle McCullough in High Point.



More to come on the business of business!

Fresh, New, and More For You

Things have really been picking up here. Weddings, engagements, sports tournaments, product shots, and a little freelance photojournalism for the only real newspaper left in Guilford County, The Rhino Times.



But I am most excited to announce that the blog is reborn, and with the new blog comes some new stuff for the public. After recently being asked about a dozen times at a recent golf tournament if I gave lessons or taught classes I am pleased to finally say YES!

It has been long process to come to this decision. I wanted to ensure that there was enough demand, and that I could commit the time it will take to offer consistent quality education to folks who are interested in learning about photography. These classes start with a photography 101 class and move through a live shoot workshop. I am planning on adding more workshops geared to specific things such as lighting, and Nikon's Creative Lighting System.

These classes will be the most complete course you will find short of attending college. Each class will be 6 weeks long, and provide hands on time with one on one instruction. I hold nothing back, and will try to cram as much of what I know into your head. Kind of scary. Unlike some local course offerings from other institutes in the area I am not angling for you to come back, but I hope you do. I try to give you all the tools you need to hit the ground running. Visit my website www.johnleonardphoto.com for all the details and to purchase your course.

I'm looking forward to it, and this blog will serve as a portal to all things photography related in my life.