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DPChallenge Forums >> Out and About >> insanity reigns supreme: 30 days, 50 assignments
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 06/17/2006 07:56:01 AM · #1
the continuing chronicles of my freelancing...

insanity reigns supreme: 30 days, 50+ assignments

nothing too extreme, but, literally and figuratively, all over the map. some days, nothing, some days, four or five assignments. the real challenge is trying to find some way to shoot each one a little differently than what is typically expected. sometimes, you just don't have much to work with, and you have to go with what you can get.

sometimes, it's really hard not too get caught up in the moment. this was the case for me when i was covering the Celebration of Life for Chip Ellis, a high schoool senior who was murdered by a classmate just two weeks for he was due to graduate.

sometimes, it's just too much fun, like when i was sitting in a hole in the fence, waiting for the start of the NASCAR Busch Grand National race at the Nashville Superspeedway. (and sometimes, it's just hard on the butt. that weekend trip to nashville required a 10+ hour drive each way.)

sometimes, it's just too cute. those kids with the milkshake could probably do a number on any grinch.

sometimes, it's good to have friends. barely halfway into this stretch, my 20D's shutter plunger got stuck, leaving me without a backup. my wife told me to get the situation remedied, and the next day, i ordered my mark from b&h. in the meantime, i made a 3-hr round trip to see my friend linda (lhall), since she was lending me her husbands 30D (and a tent for my artshow). and my friend john (who i also shoot for), asked if i would like to shoot with 2 marks, since he was taking the weekend off. he also wanted to know if i would like to play with a 300mm f/2.8L IS and a 15mm fish. so, i went from a useless 20D to carrying a 30D and 2 marks--unfortunately, i was too busy to shoot a self-portrait. (and i also learned about canon professional services--what a killer program!)

sometimes, it just consumes you. whether it's the subject or the situation, you wind up just shooting and shooting, looking for that one shot. i know a lot of people who manage to not shoot, but it is what i do. i managed somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10,000 frames this past month.

and somehow i still managed to fit in a cub scout weekend camping trip, and an artshow.











gotta run--six four assignments to shoot today! (whew, lucky me that two got re-assigned!)

ya'll have a great day

Message edited by author 2006-08-06 08:26:27.
 06/17/2006 08:05:50 AM · #2


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06/17/2006 08:10:40 AM · #3
Skip, you are BUSY! I hope you get some time for a break. Don't burn out, man!

Thanks for taking the time post your stories up here. I absolutely LOVE to hear about what you're up to. As always, I'm pulling for your success and joy!
 06/17/2006 08:29:23 AM · #4
Sounds like you need an assistant! ;-)
 06/17/2006 08:38:25 AM · #5
Great stuff....

I sometimes feel busy just doing my one or two days a week shooting sports for a paper, this puts it in perspective. Looking at May I only did 15 events, I've got nothing to complain about!

Cheers, Me.
 06/17/2006 09:12:16 AM · #6
Uhm. Wow. Now I feel like a compleat idiot getting worried about being able to hack together 500 shots a week from now... ROFL.

You are amazing Skip!

I would have loved to have seen that self portrait with the 2 marks and the 30D and one with the 300mm f/2.8 IS...

W00t!
 06/17/2006 10:38:03 AM · #7
Wow! You're awesome!

And I was worried about the 800 wedding pictures I have to finish editing from last weekend! haha
 06/17/2006 10:44:42 AM · #8
great photos! Sounds like you are busy doing what you love!
 06/17/2006 11:53:13 AM · #9
O.K....Where do I sign up? I wouldn't mind my busy schedule so much if it involved photography like this.

Seriously, I'd like to get there one day (soon).
 06/17/2006 11:57:22 AM · #10
Pace yourself, dude :-) 25 years of that and you're gonna burn out... But you're still young...

R.
 06/17/2006 09:34:05 PM · #11
busy? that's a fair assessment. it's hard to say no, though, when you have bills to pay. the thing is, i absolutely love all this--even the stuff that makes you scratch your head. and i love getting paid to do it. sure, part of me would like to give it away, but, on the other hand, i like the 3rd party validation that comes when people are willing to pay. to me, it doesn't matter if it's a jar of jam or a rocketing race car, it's photography.

i think it's good to have goals, but i think it's really hard to have 'dpc' goals. for me, my goals are to produce at least 2-3 images a month that i want to hang on my walls at least as an 11x14 or larger. this past month was pretty good. these are my faves of the bunch.



this is my absolute fave. it was an awesome moment, and i nailed the shot. i can't say with absolute certainty, but i think this shot took more work than anything else i did.



thanks for all the comments and notes--ya'll are, as always, the buzz!
 06/17/2006 09:46:43 PM · #12
How on earth do you edit that many pictures?
 06/17/2006 09:56:49 PM · #13
Originally posted by cfischl:
How on earth do you edit that many pictures?

photoshop actions ;-)

i have a program that sorts out my 'rolls', and then i run them through photoshop to sharpen/tone/size them. then i pick out the ones that will go to the papers. the nice thing is, since the papers don't want them edited too much, i only do the basics and maybe crop them, and they take care of the rest.

my actions also create web versions and 100px thumbnails. i show people stuff pretty much as it is out of camera, then only seriously edit the stuff that going to be printed.
 06/17/2006 10:03:07 PM · #14
Skip, you ROCK! Keep up the great work!

06/17/2006 10:10:11 PM · #15
Dude, you're my hero. Still Grand champ.
06/17/2006 11:27:08 PM · #16
Originally posted by cfischl:
How on earth do you edit that many pictures?


I was going to ask the same thing...

I've been working on my PS actions, but I suspect that I need more RAM to keep up with my pace of shooting... I think my computer would grow legs and jump out the window if I asked it to keep up with your pace skip!

And if you are printing 2 large photos per month, with all the pictures I've seen around your portfolio, where the heck do you find the wallspace? :)
 06/18/2006 12:22:37 AM · #17
You're insane, or soon will be!

Canon professional program - one more reason to shoot canon!

I wish I could get good enough to show my out of camera shots. I find myself shoot tons and getting faster at editing, but still...i spend about as much time at the puter as i do shooting. and no fancy editing.
 06/18/2006 12:29:09 AM · #18
Ok, I know that this is a very basic question, but could someone tell me how you run an action on an entire folder of images? I am working with CS2 and Bridge. Thanks
 06/18/2006 12:44:02 AM · #19
Originally posted by cfischl:
Ok, I know that this is a very basic question, but could someone tell me how you run an action on an entire folder of images? I am working with CS2 and Bridge. Thanks


I'd like to know this too!
 06/18/2006 01:06:55 AM · #20
Anybody know? Chris and I are eagerly waiting :)
 06/18/2006 07:22:13 AM · #21
Originally posted by cfischl:
Ok, I know that this is a very basic question, but could someone tell me how you run an action on an entire folder of images? I am working with CS2 and Bridge. Thanks

even though i'm using ps cs (not cs2), i guess you've found one of the design flaws in cs that didn't get fixed.

here's the workaround that i use: have all your images in sub-folders, and then have only 1 image in your working folder. select the image, then select from the browser/bridge menu 'automate | batch'. when the dialog opens, click off the 'all subfolders' option. at the bottom of the dialog, you'll also want to change the 'stop for errors' to 'log errors' (you'll also have to specify a log file). if the action stops, there's no way to tell it to pick up where it left off.

yes, this takes a bit of time, and yes, it processes some throw-aways, but i use that time for other stuff. and, it makes it a lot easier to go through 50-500 images when they are all sized optimally and correctly rotated. i don't like previewing in ps because the program has too much overhead as it is, and it doesn't really do that well when trying to read and render 500+ thumbnails.

if you're shooting raw... my first step is to extract a previewable image so that i can review what i've shot with the least amount of overhead as possible. (i use bibble pro.)

kieran, i'm running out of wall space! i'm starting to cycle images through the frames...

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