That quote is from James Allen, a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best-known work, ‘As a Man Thinketh,’ has been mass-produced since its publication in 1903.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is something none of us had a way of preventing over a year ago. It happened so fast, and many would die.

My response was to help out restaurants and businesses where I live in Roswell, Georgia. One year ago today, I made this video to help Bob White and his family, who own Slope’s BBQ, communicate how they were responding to the pandemic and stay open, but for takeout only.

Over those first few months, I showed what I could do to help businesses. If I did a few of these, I thought someone would finally ask me to do one for their business.

I even returned to those restaurants to get testimonials on how those videos helped their businesses.

Nothing was working to get work.

“A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves Truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.”

~ James Allen

This year has taken its toll on so many of my friends.

“I lost my studio. My savings are gone. I’ve filled in the gaps by selling gear. People I love have succumbed to this virus.”

~ Anonymous

This has been a tough time when some of the suffering has been not by a virus but by people killing others.

The Colorado attack on Monday, March 22, is the 7th mass shooting in 7 days in the US.

“Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.”

~ James Allen

I continue to find solace in the Serenity Prayer through the years when circumstances beyond my control wreak havoc in my life. Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer originally asked for courage first, specifically for changing things that must be changed, not something that simply can be changed.

“Father, give us the courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.”

~ Reinhold Niebuhr

Don’t be Depressed or Anxious

“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

~ Lao Tzu

My friend Judy Bowen is a missionary in Togo, West Africa. She draws a lot of her strength from seeing God work through nature.

What I have to offer today is this Bible Verse:

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? ²⁷ Who among you by taking thought can add a cubit^[a] to his stature?
²⁸ “Why take thought about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: They neither work, nor do they spin. ²⁹ Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. ³⁰ Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is here and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore, take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² (For the Gentiles seek after all these things.) For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you. ³⁴ Therefore, take no thought about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take thought about the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the trouble thereof.”

Matthew 6:26-34

Most clients want to see some of your work before hiring you to shoot something.

They are looking for work similar to what they are hiring you to shoot for them.

I am starting from scratch by offering Aerial Photography using my Drone.

I have been doing aerial photography my entire career. I would hire a helicopter and remove the doors on the side I was shooting from. Here I am doing that on a photo shoot for a school.

Now shooting from a Helicopter, you must be +500 feet above the ground. With a Drone, you are -400 feet above the ground.

So there are still times you may need a helicopter.

I can put a few helicopter shots on the website and explain that if we need to go higher than FAA rules for a drone, I can also offer that service.

What to include in your portfolio?

It would be best if you targeted a niche. I am going to try and pursue the commercial work and also have a few residential images on the website as well.

The commercial should pay a little better than the residential.

Now a couple of tips I have been picking up from other drone operators through their posts on the topic has been that what sells isn’t always what you see a lot on drone pilots’ pages.

One guy realized over time that businesses often would buy stock drone footage of things around their business. For example, the Chamber of Commerce is more interested in shots that show off their town and not just pretty pictures of trees from the top.

From my research, I am working on a few things to shoot to build the website.

• Skyline of city
• Attractions
• Series of video clips that tell a short story of a place
  • Short video to show a small town highlights on why to live there
  • Short video to show a commercial property

Not So Easy

Flying a drone is making a photo shoot more complex than anything else I have done.

While this video looks OK, earlier that day, I shot another Hyperlapse. Watch what happens with the building.

So the learning curve on knowing what to do with the technology and the limits takes time to learn.

You must abide by two legal rules when flying a drone. You cannot pass over moving vehicles and people. There are exceptions, but for the most part, this impacts where you can fly.

So for this shot of the Chick-fil-A, I am over a parking lot with no moving vehicles. No vehicles.

You can see the parking lot on the left of the frame where I flew to get photo 2 above. I am flying over another parking lot to get this photo.

Weather

Each one of these variables in the App UAV Forecast can ground you. While you will see many flies regardless of the guidelines to be safe and not risk your or your client’s reputation, you want to play by the rules.

• 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise, you cannot fly at night without a waiver. This rule is changing, but flying at night requires more knowledge of airspace at night. That training is not yet available but will be this month.

• My drone, the DJI Mavic Air 2, is not recommended to work below 32º Fahrenheit. The cold temperature can make the battery fail, crashing your drone when it stops flying.

• When I was in Civil Air Patrol, I learned that we couldn’t fly above 20-mile-per-hour winds with the planes we were using. My drone is recommended not to fly above 20 mph winds. So if the app shows even gusts above 20 mph, it will recommend not flying.

• Drones are not designed to fly in rain, snow, or sleet. The reason is the water can get into the motors or battery and cause a short. Again this will cause you to crash.

• Cloud cover needs to be a minimum of 500 feet above you to fly. If the cloud cover is 600 feet, you can only fly up to 100 feet. You also have to be 2000 feet away from clouds horizontally around you.

• You cannot fly a drone unless you have 3 miles of visibility.

• many things impact the satellites that your drone can see. While you can fly with no satellites, the ability of the drone to hover by itself and to get home require good satellite coverage. The recommendation of 10 or more satellites seems to give you the best flying condition.

• The Kp index measures geomagnetic disruption caused by solar activity on a scale from 0 (calm) to 9 (major storm). The higher the Kp index, the more likely you will have problems. Kp’s of 1-4 are entirely safe. Losing a satellite can mean a fly-away drone.

AirMap

Another App worthy of mentioning is AirMap. It has many more things it can do for you. Including

• Request digital authorization for commercial operations in LAANC-enabled U.S. controlled airspaces
• Can I fly here? Get real-time feedback on airspace rules and conditions regarding your flight specifications, with national rulesets for 20 countries, including Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Connect to any supported DJI drone to fly and toggle camera settings directly from the AirMap app
• Plan a flight path to a specific duration, altitude, and airspace requirements

When you plan your flight with the app, you can connect to DroneInsurance.com to buy insurance. When starting, Instant aviation liability coverage is more affordable than an annual policy. You can also increase your liability from 1 million, 2 million, 5 million, or higher.

Since drones crash, when the electronics fail to have your drone crash and do property damage isn’t what your clients want. Most will require you to show liability insurance to operate on their property.

There are many apps out there, and B4UFLY has a lot of positive reviews and has been updated recently.

As you can see, the time of day you make your drone shot dramatically affects the outcome. While some dawn and dusk shots are dramatic, many times, the daytime shot is more appropriate for a business that wants their customers to recognize their property during their business hours.

As you can see, a learning curve is affected by so many variables.

I hope that each day I can fly for the next month, I come away with one portfolio piece. To have enough variety is going to take some time.

One thing I didn’t even mention is the time of year. While you can fly throughout the year, the vegetation looks different each season. Not many people are excited to get drone photos during the winter, except for those winter vacation spots.

If you know of great locations near me in Georgia to explore, let me know.

Today I got my Airman Certificate for the FAA Part 107 Certified Drone Pilot. I am now able to charge for my services. I cannot wait till springtime.

“Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.”

~ Lewis Grizzard

Why is this important for my clients?

“If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur!”

Realtors are told, “The pilot would face a fine of $1,100 per violation…while the person [The Realtor] who causes the operation could be liable for a fine of $11,000….”

A $182,000 fine was issued to a drone pilot in Philadelphia in December 2020.

Here are some guidelines for drones

• Request digital authorization for commercial operations in LAANC-enabled U.S. controlled airspaces
• Can I fly here? Get real-time feedback on airspace rules and conditions regarding your flight specifications with national rulesets. To charge for drone aerial photographs, you MUST be an FAA Part 107 Certified Drone Pilot
• Non-Certified Drone Pilots can and will be fined – $1,414 per violation
• Do not fly higher than 400 feet
• Try not to fly over any moving vehicles or people when possible
• Keep your drone within eyesight at all times
• Remain a safe distance away from others’ property and unprotected people
• Notify any airports ahead of time if flying within 5 miles of an airport
• Do not fly in adverse weather conditions or under the influence of substances
• Don’t fly near sensitive areas (power plants, water treatment plants, prisons, major highways, etc.)
• Don’t invade others’ privacy with photos or videos for 20 countries, including Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Connect to any supported DJI drone to fly and toggle camera settings directly from the AirMap app
• Plan a flight path to a specific duration, altitude, and airspace requirements

The reason you hire a licensed drone pilot is as much to do with flying by the Federal Aviation Administration rules as just how good their photos and videos are for you.

Give me a call, and let’s plan to make the most of this coming springtime.

John Kevin Cash served the community as a firefighter for the Roswell Fire Department and the McDonough Fire Department. [NIKON D5, 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 200, 1/125, ƒ/8, (35mm = 14)]

Here is one of the best tips I can give you about your camera and lens choice. The relationship of the camera’s distance to the subject is how it feels to the audience.

My favorite lens to transport the audience to be right in the subject scene is the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8.

I love getting down low and close to let the terrain pull you into the shot.

I enjoy doing the “Hail Mary” shot from above to show someone in a context like this group taking a selfie with the Chick-fil-A Cow.

I do try and keep people a little more centered than with other lenses to keep their heads not looking a little weird.

A great example of showing students learning up close with the teacher in the background.

You learn quickly in aerial photography that you want to be closer to the earth to see the details than too high up. The 14-24mm let me do this hear and show Kennesaw Mountain in the distance of Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell, GA.

Chick-fil-A gave away free ice coffee during the Kickoff in the Fan Zone. See how you see the product but in context?

The “First Bite” shot at all Chick-fil-A Grand Openings. This is the College Football Hall Of Fame location.

Dan Cathy always plays his Trumpet at the Grand Openings he attends with Reveille.

You are taken behind the counter of the fresh tray of sandwiches ready to be given away.

I love getting on children’s eye level and getting close.

You couldn’t get this shot without a super-wide angle of 14mm.

Here is S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, doing the coin toss at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in 2012.

Dan Cathy, my daughter, and her friend are shaking the sand-filled eggs.

This is about as close as you can get to a missed touchdown pass.

Worm’s Eye View is just as interesting as a Bird’s Eye View.

The best intimate aerial photography is when you are close to the earth like we are in this balloon shot.

[NIKON D4, 85.0 mm f/1.8, Mode = Manual, ISO 50, 1/60, ƒ/2.8, (35mm = 85)]

When shooting headshots/portraits, I have found that when using a zoom lens, I tend to move back and forth too much, distorting the person’s face.

A few years ago, I ran a test with my lenses to see which lens I preferred, and here is that test.

Now I don’t always shoot it wide open at ƒ/1.8. Often when I get close enough to fill the frame, this is too shallow.

If I back up and get a 3/4 photo of a person, then the ƒ/1.8 can work well. You see, the closer you get, the depth of field shallower. So, if you back up, you increase that depth-of-field.

It does well to help isolate your subject, like this couple at their wedding, but I still get a sense of mood with the background out of focus.

Now I can tell you the best thing to come along for Nikon was when they started making full-framed mirrorless cameras. I love the combination of the Nikon ƒ/1.8 and the Nikon Z6.

The Nikon Z6 has eye tracking that helps get your subject’s eyes into focus.

Hopefully, you will run your test. Shoot a portrait of a person like I did with my daughter, keep the head size the same throughout the frame, and then pick your favorite lens.

[NIKON D5, 120.0-300.0 mm f/2.8, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 4500, 1/4000, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 360)]

I wanted to open with a photo of a young baseball player at bat.

A batting average of 300 or higher is considered excellent, and a standard higher than .400 is a nearly unachievable goal. Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was the last Major League Baseball (MLB) player to do so, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship.

So in baseball, you will strike out 7 out of 10 times at bat if you are perfect. When you start out playing, that number of times of failure is more significant ~ you are learning.

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

In every business model, you must make some cold calls to get business. This means you will pitch your product or skills to people who do not know you.

This classic study from Kenan-Flagler Business School finds that “cold calling has only a 2.5% success rate.” This 2.5% success rate means that an experienced sales guy can make one appointment or another good follow-up per working day.

When you start in business, you start with your network of people who already know you. Cold calling is made with a referral; the rate jumps to 40%.

“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”

~ Zig Ziglar

In a nutshell, I have learned through more than 20 years of running my own business that too many quit just before their big break. If we know that the percentage of success in cold calling is around 2%, and you have spent the last couple of months contacting 98 different sources, the numbers say that # 99 is most likely when the break happens.

Since I was in college, I was always doing freelancing. Most of this was on the side until 2002 when I did this 100% of my income—full-time freelancing.

In 2002, I showed 35mm Slides and 6×7 Slides to get jobs.

When I lost my job due to layoffs in 1990, I sent out slides to get jobs. I had around 200 identical sheets of 20 slides that I sent out all over the country with cover letters. Not one job came from all that work.

I decided to return to school and work on my M.A. in Communications. I found a few jobs working in a portrait studio and later as manager of a one-hour photo lab.

When I finished my master’s in 1993, I sent out another round of portfolios. This time I got my job at Georgia Tech.

I believe that from the time I lost my full-time job with The Commission Magazine in 1990 till 1993, I must have sent out [Cold Calling] on more than 500 jobs.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

~ Michael Jordan

Here is a great commencement speech made by Denzel Washington, which he said to “Fall Forward”

Today be like Thomas Edison and experiment. Try something, and if it fails, try something different.

Like Denzel, pray daily for the strength to continue.

Any marketing campaign can take three months to see the results of those efforts. Until then, if anything, you may see a slight decrease as the changes take effect.

“If you don’t fail, you are not even trying.”

~ Denzel Washington

[NIKON D750, 35.0 mm f/1.4, Mode = Manual, ISO 640, 1/30, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

Why would I like this lens so much? I believe it is mainly because I can do with it what I could never do with a smartphone camera–Shallow Depth-of-field.

It is a great way to isolate a subject.

Bokeh is “the effect of a soft out-of-focus background that you get when shooting a subject, using a fast lens, at the widest aperture, such as f/2.8 or wider.”  Bokeh is a photograph’s pleasing or aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus blur.

Most of the time, I want to add the context of a person in their environment. Shooting with your lens closed down to ƒ/5.6 or greater gives you context because more is in focus.

However, the shallow depth-of-field allows for some context, often keeping something out of focus yet still discernible, like this of a lady working out with her trainer.

One thing that affects your depth-of-field is how close you are to the subject. Getting close will give you the shallowest depth-of-field. Sometimes if you get too close to some microlenses, your issue will appear out of focus because it is too shallow.

In this photo of the bud on the plant, you can see the “Circle of Confusion.”

In optics, a circle of confusion is an optical spot caused by a cone of light rays from a lens not coming to a perfect focus when imaging a point source. It is also known as a disk of confusion, a circle of indistinctness, a blur circle, or a blur spot.

I love my Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 and love it even more on the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. What a great combination.

When shooting in a restaurant kitchen, you don’t always want to show the working kitchen, but I still wanted to feature the team members. Shooting at ƒ/1.4 and getting close to the model helped me achieve a feel of the kitchen and keep details from being seen.

[NIKON Z 6, 35.0 mm f/1.4, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 1400, 1/1000, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

The above photo was taken with my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera and the Sigma ƒ/1.4 Art lens.

The flowers were a gift to us. The Orchids were given to us by Katie & Tyler of Nail Turbo in Roswell, Georgia, on our 25th wedding anniversary on January 6th, 2021. We started the day off pretty good, but as you recall, this was the day homegrown terrorists overran the United States Capitol. We decided to take a break from the news and get spoiled.

By the way, in 1996, when we got married was the year of the snow/ice storm that kept my family around Atlanta for a few days while Dorie and I got off to Cancun, Mexico.

The photo I took before this was with my Samsung Galaxy S10 on the portrait lens.

Now, some phones use software to create a shallow depth-of-field look. You can do this with many of the apps.

The problem is that when something is simulated, it can be close to the actual mechanical process, but I prefer to see what I am getting in real-time.

The other cool thing about shooting with a “Real Camera” is I can change the aperture with more choices.

Photos with different Apertures

Most people these days will not buy a camera if they have one of the latest smartphones. However, if you are serious and want more than possible with your phone, consider getting a mirrorless camera like the Nikon Z6 or the Z6 II.

This is Jo Fahringer who is a seasoned teacher in Kona, Hawaii with YWAM. [X-E2, XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 6400, 1/70, ƒ/5, (35mm = 83)]

Just the other day, I talked about this rule of communicating. The 7-38-55 rule is a concept concerning the communication of emotions. The rule states that 7 percent of meaning is conveyed through spoken word, 38 percent through tone of voice, and 55 percent through body language.

Now I work hard to see these gestures and listen for tone and word choices when photographing.

Time for 180º

I want to say right away that I am a lot better at watching and listening than I am with how I come across to others.

Speech difficulties, such as a lack of rhythm, an odd inflection, or monotone pitch, often affect children and adults with Asperger syndrome, which I have. Frequently they cannot modulate the volume of their voice according to their surroundings, so you’ll sometimes hear them being very loud in places like churches or a library. 

Right away, I struggle with the 38% tone of my voice in communicating. To make up for it, I often ask, “Does that make sense?” I know I have a problem and work hard to see if my message is clear and not lose anything.

People with Aspergers will gather enormous amounts of factual information about their favorite subject. They will talk incessantly about it, but the conversation may seem like a random collection of facts or statistics, with little or no point or conclusion. They may attempt to befriend or socialize with other people but make normal conversation difficult by eccentric behaviors or wanting only to talk about their particular interests. 

Over the years, I have become quieter in mixed groups because I know if I am not careful, I will talk about what is important to me and not aware that others don’t care.

I was almost always seen playing GI Joe and riding my tractor when I was young. I did this ALL THE TIME. I think it was easier for my family to let me go and play than to try to get me to have other interests.

Today I have a few topics I have spent far more time understanding than the average person.

When I am in the midst of thought, it is almost super crucial that I finish it. It is mainly because if we move on and I don’t finish it, I will not remember later what I was thinking, which can make me beat myself up. The problem with this is then the conversation is all about me finishing my thoughts.

When you speak, you hear yourself very differently from how others listen to you. This is because the sound waves travel through your head to your ears, where they are detected.

If you record your voice and listen to it, you will hear your voice very close to what everyone else does. Which is typically very different from how we hear our voice directly when we speak; the vibrations from our vocal cords reach our ear and change how we interpret the sound in our brain.

We all have different hearing abilities, so even when a bunch of people listens to the same recorded voice, it will probably not be the same sounds for all.

One of the best things you can do is to record yourself using video. This will let you hear your tone and see your body language. It is awkward to do but is one of the best ways to correct your behaviors.

I was privileged to spend a few days photographing Alan Alda in July 1995 while he was filming his show on the Georgia Tech campus. The Aerial Robotics Competition was before GPS would be used as we do today with drones.

What fascinated me all week was watching Alan Alda ask questions off camera and then realize he needed that comment for the TV show. He then asked the film crew to capture him, questioning the expert. What was wild is Alan Alda asked that question with the exact words, tone, and body language than helped him elicit the same response.

He did this over and over again. He also knew where I was standing, and the people next to him asked which lens I was using. Then he helped put the people around him in a better position than I could have ever instructed him to do. Why could he do this? Well, he was not just an actor but a director.

Time to Evaluate

In business, you need to hone your presentations to clients. It would help if you also listened to them as well as yourself. You don’t want a canned speech that cannot be altered to the situation.

Have you taken the time to evaluate yourself and know what you might have done wrong and how to correct it in the future??

That is the point of this blog. Here are a few tips that can help you.

First, ask your friends to tell you how you come across and what you could do to improve. Good friends will want to help you improve.

Try recording yourself doing your pitch with someone. Encourage them to ask questions or do whatever to see if you can meet the challenge of picking the right words, using the best tone, and helping you with your body language.

Watch it with them. Get others’ feedback.

[NIKON D4, 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, Mode = Shutter Priority, ISO 200, 1/500, ƒ/8, (35mm = 82) Alienbees B800 off to side fired with Pocket Wizard Remote]

In 2012, my uncle Knolan Benfield helped me on a stock photo shoot in Hamilton Mill, GA. He took some of these photos of me working. You can see some of my setups using lights to help improve the images.

Here you can see I have four Alienbees B1600 hanging from the ceiling. Here is another photo without them firing.

Now by using those strobes, I got photos like these here.

The biggest problem with all restaurants like Chick-fil-A is there are windows everywhere, which makes everything backlit and can cause problems.

Even when shooting outside, I wanted good skin tones, and as you can see in the setup photo, the guy is backlit as well.

Using the Alienbees B800 off to the side as fill light, I help reveal the face of the buy and better color on the cow.

These are the clamps I used to hang the lights from the ceiling. They are called “Scissor Mount for Drop Ceilings”.

Call me if you want a class for one-on-one training to do this as well.

Shooting sports was where I always compared what I got to other photographers at the same event.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I want to modify it a little and say, “Comparison can be the thief of joy.”

I have never met a photographer who is not looking at the competition and comparing themselves at some time or another.

Comparisons can be Beneficial

Suppose you compare yourself to others to measure your personal development or motivate yourself to improve and, in the process, develop a more positive self-image. In that case, this is a good thing.

David Sutton posted his survey responses to the question, “How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb?”

• What is it’s colour temperature? What operating system is it running on?
• This whole question is just another ego trip.
• The real problem is that the lightbulb reacts badly to criticism.
• It’s the tone of the lightbulb I don’t like.
• Nothing personal, but what do you know about lightbulbs?
• My mother’s aunt had a lightbulb just like it, and it didn’t need changing.
• It’s NOT the bulb you utter and complete idiot, it’s the person switching it on.
• None, anyone can fix it in Photoshop.

I am sure you have your list to add to this. If you need to procrastinate, then Google this for your amusement.

The problem with comparison is when it is no longer used to improve oneself but to tear down another person.

If you want to get better and have a good healthy attitude about your work, you can look at others’ work and not just learn from them but admire them.

Looking to others for inspiration (without comparison) is admiration. When we admire someone, we respect, appreciate, and feel inspired by their accomplishments. We are filled with encouragement and hope.

Prioritizing approval over feedback, learning, and growth will keep you stuck. You have to understand that each person has their path. What I have learned about this is that everyone has unique opportunities afforded them by things outside of their control. Face it, how you look had more to do with your parent’s genes than something you did. You do have control over how you take care of that body.

It took a while before learning to celebrate other photographers’ work. Unless the person was right next to me, we could not honestly compare our work.

One of the first places I started to understand why the comparison wasn’t possible was when another photographer was on the opposite side of the field, and the play was in front of them with no obstruction. I didn’t have a chance to get that same photo. However, just a moment later, I may get something they couldn’t call for the same reason.

Over time I started to learn how to look at others’ work and not just learn from it but admire it.

During the pandemic, I thought it would be great to use Zoom for FOCUS [Fellowship Of Communicators Uniting Socially]. Above is a compilation of all but the first few meetings.

I don’t think this would have been as successful if I had done this early in my career. I had to learn through the years that EVERYONE had something to share that I should listen to and learn from.

This has been an excellent year for me because of this group. I made it a point that anyone participating would be asked to be a presenter.

After the meetings, I often get emails and phone calls from people on the ZOOM call, and what is most interesting is they are talking about people’s work that didn’t have a reputation before the call. We have been blown away by people no one knew that well.

We have had many shares who have been guest speakers at national photography conferences, and even they surprised us.

Joanna Pinneo & Robin Rayne both shared about the struggles they encountered in doing stories. WOW! Usually, people with this type of experience show how successful they are with their work. Both of them shared how hard it was and how often they felt they were in over their heads with the assignments.

Here are three stories from the Bible to remind us how comparing to others only leads to real problems if we don’t exercise some humility.

• Jacob and Esau
• Joseph and His Brothers
• Cain and Abel

As Esau said to Jacob, “Let us start on our journey [together]” (Genesis 33:12), and may it lead us to trust, hope and peace.

Joseph, the most beloved of Jacob’s sons, is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous of Jacob’s gift to Joseph, a splendid “coat of many colors,” the brothers seize him and sell him into slavery. However, Joseph had also learned about forgiveness. At the death of their father, his brothers feared that Joseph had been treating them kindly out of respect for Jacob. So they sent a message to Joseph saying that Jacob wanted him to forgive his brothers. Joseph wept, and the brothers fell before him, offering to be his slaves.

Friendly competition is highly effective in pushing people. Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Here are some questions that I ask myself when looking at another colleague’s work.

• Why is their work so effective?
• What did they do to make this happen?
• What circumstances allowed them to do this that I don’t have?
• What should I take away from their work that could improve my work?

If someone’s work moved me and made me take notice, did I tell them? Take the time to encourage others. We all need it.

While asking if a person has advantages that I do not, I am using this question to set up one for myself. What can I do that others don’t have the same opportunity?

If you are a professional communicator or want to become one, all this self-improvement can be excellent, but one last thing must be central for you to grow.

Everything you are doing is actually so that you disappear. To be the very best communicator is when people are so moved by the work emotions take them over. They are connecting with the story of the subject.

The best question to be asking yourself is, “How can I do a better job of telling the subjects story more effectively.”

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Many people fall into positional bias, comparing “up” more often than “down” relative to their standing.

My goal with the FOCUS group has been to lift others and not to lift myself. “Paying it forward” requires us to realize how blessed we are with all the gifts that God has given us and celebrate those gifts in others.

… “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3: 27 – 30

Shooting a headshot in a hotel room is about having a compact system. Over Christmas, we were in Phenix, Alabama, and my daughter needed a new headshot. Her hair color had changed, so I brought this small kit to get her some up-to-date photos.

I had two Flashpoint XPlor 600 HSS TTL lights that I controlled from my camera using the GODOX X1-N transmitter.

The main light is used as a butterfly light using a beauty dish. I am using the Godox Beauty Dish Reflector (White, 16.5″), which has a Bowens mount that works on the Flashpoint 600 lights.

As you can see, I am also using one more Flashpoint light behind the subject. I forgot my 30º Grid, so I improvised and put a box around the 7″ reflector to act as barn doors. This kept the light off the background and created a lens flair with my lens.

I use the Lastolite Triflector MKII Frame + Silver/White Panels under the model’s face and on the sides to kick light back into her face.

For the background, I always carry a Savage Collapsible Stand Kit (60 x 72″, Black/White).

I prefer to shoot with the flashes in manual mode. I started with the main light at 1/128th power. And the same with the backlight. This had me shooting on the Nikon Z6 with the 85.0 mm f/1.8, at ISO 100, 1/800, ƒ/1.8.

I got this reading using my ExpoDisc. I hold this over the 85mm lens while facing the light with the beauty dish. I am holding the camera right where the model’s face will be. I take exposures and adjust the exposure using the histogram until I have a spike in the middle of the histogram.

Then I use the same ExpoDisc and do a custom white balance.

After shooting, I changed the depth-of-field to a little more depth. So I went from ƒ/1.8 to ƒ/4. I then just raised the power of the flashes by approximately two stops. So, now the main light is 1/32 power and did the same for the background.

I shot a few shots using this setup.

There is no light but the fall off from the main light hitting the white background. This gives you a grey look. If you want it black, turn around the background and use the black side.

If you want it white, light the white side with at least the same amount of light hitting the subject. However, I always recommend getting a pure white; give it one stop more.

Write me if you want to know anything about this setup that I didn’t answer in the blog.