Consider taking a break by going on a retreat or traveling somewhere new. Being away from the content of your everyday life helps you get out of the rut and gives you space to clear your mind. New faces and fresh experiences do wonders for gaining perspective. Take time to drop in, reflect and enjoy yourself.

I bought a Lensball for something to play around with for fun. My idea was that this could stretch me in some way.

To use the Lensball effectively, you must find that spot between the subject and the camera that puts everything in focus and is compositionally pleasing.

I also discovered it works best when the subject has more light on it than the Lensball. I learned there is a different focal point than shooting without it. I also learned to use a small focal point in the middle of the Lensball.

The objective for buying the Lensball is being achieved. I have to think differently. Choosing the right subject for the Lensball is quite challenging.

I also learned that the Lensball really concentrates the sun’s power and will burn you when outside. You have to watch where the concentration of light is going. I played with it and discovered you could start a fire with it if you were not careful.

If photography is not fun, you’re not doing it right.

If you do photography or anything for a job, you need to be having fun doing it, or you are not doing something right. Look for ways to put some fun back into your profession.

Freelancing is like dating. Dating, however, isn’t the same as marriage.

Dating is a tryout for marriage. Dating offers you the chance to explore and learn before you make the serious commitment of marriage. It’s not the same as being married. There are different legal aspects of marriage (such as bank accounts, taxes, will’s, etc.) that you can’t experience while dating.

The most significant difference between freelancing and dating is that your clients are not looking for marriage.

Dating provides the opportunity to build a secure foundation before entering into the marriage commitment and offers less relationship stability. Marriage lowers depression risk.

While these are breakup lines for couples dating, they are very similar lines the freelancer hears from their client.

1. “Something about us doesn’t feel right, and I have to act on that.”
2. “I don’t know what I want, and as long as I feel this way, it’s not fair to you.”
3. “I need something more.”
4. “We’ve tried to make this work, but now it’s time to let it go.”
5. “I have much more growing to do before I’m ready for something like this.”
6. “I love you, but I’m not in love with you.”
7. “I wish I’d met you five years from now. I’m just not ready for this yet.”
8. “Someone out there is perfect for you, I promise. It’s just not me.”
9. “We are not each other’s soulmates.”
10. “We’ve both changed and grown apart.”
11. “You’re my best friend, which is much more important to me than a lover.”
12. “I just don’t see this working.”
13. “Love shouldn’t be this hard.”
14. “I love you enough to want something better for you than what I can give.”
15. “I think we need to work on ourselves before we can ever share a life.”
16. “You deserve to find your perfect match. It’s just not me.”
17. “I’m not in a place to date someone right now, but I still love you.”
18. “I need to figure out myself before I can share my life with someone.”

What you should hear in all these breakups is you can be great looking, be a wonderful person, but still they are looking for something different. They do not want you to change to accommodate them.

Now we need to look for some of those silver linings. When you go on staff, you will not be able to do as much work for others.

Employees have to deal with the politics of working for a single employer. A freelancer may have to deal with solitude and loneliness. I mention this because we need to be honest; freelancing is challenging and an emotional rollercoaster.

I have lost my job two times as a photographer on staff jobs. I realized with so many others in every profession that the days of working an entire career for one employer are rare today.

While Divorce peaked at the end of WWII and even with it going down through the years to the lowest ever, it impacted the mindset far beyond families.

“Welcome to the family…” is how many employers greet you when you are hired. However, the uptick in divorcing those employees has been climbing. Now, more companies are using temporary employees/contractors over hiring and making them employees.

This is why today, you are more likely to be freelancing than working as an employee.

Not surprising to me is that the latest findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics Report show that from 1999 to 2014, the suicide rate in the U.S. increased by 24 percent.

Prayer for Financial Peace

Dear Father,
     You who are gracious and kind, hear my prayer! I face more financial pressure than I can bear.
     “Save [me] now, I pray.” Show me, Lord, what I must do to get out from under this heavy burden.
     Give me Your wisdom and discipline, I pray, that I may move toward resolution of this situation.
     Guard my heart, Lord, and my steps; protect me from bad advice and foolish actions.
     Draw me close to You, for I need Your comfort and guidance.
     In Jesus’ name Amen.

When Your Parachute Says Cliff-Diver, you are in trouble. So many freelancers are losing clients for all the reasons similar to the breakup list above. Your clients didn’t marry you–they were only dating you.

Like it or not, your industry is changing. Everything changes; it always has, and it always will. You can keep up with and be part of the changes, or you can overlook and ignore changes and let others pass you by.

Take the time to read up on the industry and how things change. At the same time, some traditional media are going down, like newspapers the upswing of media like Instagram is growing.

Join an association like NPPA or ASMP. Both of these associations communicate what is happening now, who is making the most of the changes happening, and who is going out of business.

Build relationships with people more intelligent than you. “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” I found that I was getting better when I played basketball with better athletes than myself. When I played people with similar skills, I didn’t evolve all that much in my game.

Create your board. Boards advise executives of large companies. Executives go to their boards and bounce ideas off them before implementing them. Do you have a small group of friends that serve as your advisors?

Listen to your customers. When customers are talking, you need to listen. What is on their minds? Also, ask them questions about what is important to them now and what they see as a future need.

Look for ways to change. Try and adapt to trends rather than letting your competition come in and do this for your client because you were resistant to change.

Here is a great scripture, a prayer I will end with for you.

Psalm 25

A Prayer for Guidance and Protection

To you, O Lord, I offer my prayer;
in you, my God, I trust.
Save me from the shame of defeat;
don’t let my enemies gloat over me!
Defeat does not come to those who trust in you,
but to those who are quick to rebel against you.

Teach me your ways, O Lord;
make them known to me.
Teach me to live according to your truth,
for you are my God, who saves me.
I always trust in you.

Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love
which you have shown from long ago.
Forgive the sins and errors of my youth.
In your constant love and goodness,
remember me, Lord!

Because the Lord is righteous and good,
he teaches sinners the path they should follow.
He leads the humble in the right way
and teaches them his will.
With faithfulness and love he leads
all who keep his covenant and obey his commands.

Keep your promise, Lord, and forgive my sins,
for they are many.
Those who have reverence for the Lord
will learn from him the path they should follow.
They will always be prosperous,
and their children will possess the land.
The Lord is the friend of those who obey him
and he affirms his covenant with them.

I look to the Lord for help at all times,
and he rescues me from danger.
Turn to me, Lord, and be merciful to me,
because I am lonely and weak.
Relieve me of my worries
and save me from all my troubles.
Consider my distress and suffering
and forgive all my sins.

See how many enemies I have;
see how much they hate me.
Protect me and save me;
keep me from defeat.
I come to you for safety.
May my goodness and honesty preserve me,
because I trust in you.

From all their troubles, O God,
save your people Israel!

You may want to take up the challenge today of finding something interesting to photograph. The first trick is to come up with something that interests you.

For me, I chose to photograph a Dodge Viper one day. I have just always liked the design of the car and thought why not photograph it.

I put the car in my studio and use a white background that I could throw the red gel on for dramatic effect if I chose to or just keep it simple with the white background.

One thing I noticed was that just shooting at a different focal length changed the look and feel of the car. Starting with the first photo I shot it at 119mm, then to 55mm and this third one is at 30mm.

I moved around the car trying all kind of angles and focal lengths.

I thought it was a fun shooting assignment. Just studying the car from all different angles.

Getting close also was fun and mixed up the variety of looks I was getting.

I found all I had to do for all these shots was get a basic lighting set and I then just picked the car up and moved it around for each photo.

CONTEXT

What I was hoping to surprise you with is that without some visual clue you cannot tell how big or small something is in a photo. That is why it is so important in some situations to leave things out or include them.

This was my lighting setup for the photo shoot and this was the camera I used for all the photos.

To teach yourself how to see start with a subject and then really explore just that one subject. Force yourself to take as many different photos of the one subject as you can.

The one thing I didn’t do in this exercise was to change backgrounds. With a small model car that is simple to do. Just take your can with you to different locations. See how much a location can impact the mood of the subject.

Here is a great article Model Cars Look Life-Sized Through Forced Perspectives. 

I think I spent less than $20 for the car and continue to have fun pushing my visual perspective pulling it out every once in a while and learning to see it in new ways.

Nikon D5 ISO Setting

On your camera, you can pick your ISO setting, or you can select Auto ISO.

On my Nikon D5, you choose the ISO setting, and then you can toggle right into the AUTO ISO setup screen.

You pick your range of the lowest ISO and the highest ISO you want the camera to use. This is great for the photographer who says I like up to only ISO 5000, and another photographer is ok with ISO 102400.

On the Nikon D5, you also set the maximum ISO when the flash is detected. This works with the flashes using the hot-shoe and has TTL.

Now, in photography, we talk about the exposure triangle. These controls can over-expose, under-expose, or adequately expose a photo.

When you set your camera to Aperture priority, then you put the Aperture, and the camera will adjust the shutter speed if you have chosen a specific ISO like ISO 100.

If you are in Shutter-Speed priority, you pick the shutter speed, and the camera selects the aperture.

Now, if you have AUTO ISO, the Auto ISO will pick the lowest ISO as the Shutter-Speed you selected, and then you can control the Aperture when in Aperture priority.

If you are in Manual mode and using AUTO ISO, the camera will pick the lowest ISO to expose the picture based on the Aperture and Shutter-Speed you chose.

If you choose not to use AUTO ISO, you must manually change this every time you change Aperture or Shutter-Speed, and the camera lets you know you are either over-exposed or under-exposed.

I found that 99% of the time, the camera is making the same choice I would make when I set the AUTO ISO to what I want as the low and high ISO and the Shutter-Speed.

When I need to turn off the AUTO ISO for things like shooting with strobes on the Nikon D5, I just push the ISO button on the back, spin the front wheel, and turn it off. To turn it back on, I do the same thing.

Auto ISO for me, is similar to anti-lock brakes on a car. The AUTO ISO will adjust the camera faster than I can and let me get more correctly exposed photos.

Billy Howard was the keynote speaker for the FOCUS Atlanta event held at Professional Photographic Resources on March 10, 2018.

This past weekend Billy Howard gave an excellent presentation to FOCUS at Professional Photographic Resources in Atlanta, Georgia.

Billy talked to us about the people he had met that ended up being subjects in the stories he was doing.

Getting a letter from his dentist saying he was no longer practicing started him down the road of photographing people with Aids that became a book.

EPITAPHS FOR THE LIVING–Words and Images in the Time of Aids

Billy printed 11×14 prints and left a large area for each person to write their own words. One person took over a year to get the print back to Billy. When the guy talked about how hard it was to write what would most likely be his last words is when Billy realized these words were Epitaphs.

Blending words and pictures all started when Billy was a writer for a newspaper and wanted to take photos.

To hear more about how Billy became a photographer and the many other projects he is working on, click on the video below to hear and see his presentation.

Robin Rayne Nelson was the keynote speaker for the FOCUS Atlanta event held at Professional Photographic Resources on March 10, 2018. [Fuji X-E3, 18-55mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/4, 1/90]

A young college student asked Robin Rayne Nelson after her presentation to the FOCUS meeting on Pixels and Picas, “How do you deal with your emotions when covering a story you shared?”

Robin said, “We’re taught that journalists are to be objective in their work. That should be our goal. But we are human, not robots.”

Click on the photo here to see the story that Robin shared as used by the Marietta Daily Journal.

I realized hearing this question that the young college student didn’t understand being a human being means you should feel all the emotions that the story takes you. You don’t bury these emotions; you embrace them. You explore them. It is through embracing you are tapping into the subject’s world. It lets you get closer to understanding their struggles.

When you are honest with your emotions, you can be unbiased. You can understand what you feel is accurate and then back up and look at things from a different perspective, which the subject often cannot do.

Robin said, “Some might call what I do advocacy journalism, and I’m okay with that, but I am first and always a journalist.”

While doing stories on disability for the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia, Robin says, “Most important; my ‘why’ is to help reshape how society views and treats those with developmental challenges.” Robin tries to persuade the audience to consider the realities of people dealing with disabilities.

In persuasion, your message must focus on emotions while maintaining a balance between logic and feelings. Logic and emotion are the two elements that make for perfect influence. We can be persuasive using only logic or emotion, but the effect will be short-term and unbalanced.

If you want to move your audience emotionally, you must first experience it as the communicator. People will not cry if you don’t cry. The audience will not laugh if you don’t laugh.

The subject’s story must move you enough to pour all you have into the storytelling process so that the subject’s story will move the audience’s heart and minds into action.

You can hear Robin’s presentation here in my video of her talk.

My message for students learning this craft of journalism and storytelling is not to fear stories impacting you emotionally; my concern is that you are not being more emotionally moved.

As you peel the onion of a person’s story to get to the core of the story, you should be experiencing a more profound emotion than when you started. It may be tears of laughter or sorrow. Each story is different, just as each person is different.

Chelle, our daughter, is excited to meet Snow White and show her she is in her shoes at Disney World at Magic Kingdom. [Nikon D100, 24-120mm, ISO 200, ƒ/5.6, 1/180]

Do you remember meeting your hero? Our daughter had just turned four years old when we were visiting Disney World. She was usually dressed in pink but loved her Disney princess sneakers.

She ran over to Snow White to talk to her. Snow White even came out of character for a brief moment when Chelle told her to have a Happy Thanksgiving.

The Disney Princess Alice in Wonderland wasn’t just staying on script. They interacted with my daughter where she was and made her day. Isn’t that what happens to our hero.

For my daughter, she fell in love with their stories. Isn’t that how it happens no matter our age? We fall in love with their account.  We want to meet them and interact with them.

I created a group called FOCUS. It stands for Fellowship of Communicators Uniting Socially. We are professional communicators who meet in various locations around Atlanta throughout the year to support each other and our work.

I had reached out to Billy Howard, Billy Weeks, and Robin Nelson in the past to speak to the group. This is the first time that all three have agreed to be our keynote speakers.

All three of them are my Storyteller Heroes.

Here I am with two of my other Storyteller heroes, Bill Bangham and Eugene Richards.

There is one thing to see your Hero from afar, and it is quite another thing to meet them and ask questions.

This Saturday, I will have an opportunity not just to see Billy Howard, Billy Weeks, and Robin Nelson but also to ask them some questions that have been on my mind.

You are also invited to see their work and hear them talk about what they do in Storytelling.

Go to the FOCUS Facebook Page for more details and how to get there.

You can show up and hang out with us, or you can let me know today you are coming, and I will have a FREE Chick-fil-A Meal for you. I have to know today to have the meal for you.

If your plans change and you can join us, please show up tomorrow.

Here are some tips for meeting your Hero:

Be a photojournalist – Take lots of candid photos. Tell a story with them. Capture emotion, not just posed smiles. Include shots of the venue to set the tone of your account. The little details matter. By doing this, you’ll be able to look back at your photos and relive the experience.

Stop taking photos – Don’t forget why you’re there. Put the camera down, breathe deeply, and let your gratitude fill you. Look around at everyone else and know that you are sharing a special moment. Be present.

If you speak with your hero – do one or more: express gratitude, ask a good question, say something funny, or share a short but fantastic story about how your hero changed your life.

If you don’t know about these guys’ work, go to their websites and learn all you can. They each have a following, and clients seek them out for their projects. Come and know why they are so special. I promise I will tell you more about them at the event.

“What’s the best type of lens for the city at night?” This is one of the variations of the question on the best lens for the question that I see pop up on photography groups all the time. Then the responses are so predictable.

“A 23mm f2 is fine. A faster lens will give you a bit more latitude, but I’ve had great results with my 35mm f2.” is one of the responses.

There is no best lens for everything. There is the best lens for what you are trying to accomplish in a specific photo.

Just as there is no best bike for world-class bicyclists. Bicycles are custom-made for a bicyclist when you are at the world-class level.

The correct answer depends not only on what you are shooting but on how you are interpreting the scene. I shoot skylines with wide to telephoto for example.

I have seen great shots from about every lens. You don’t need a fast lens either. That is a myth. People have been shooting night scenes with tripods since the beginning of photography when ISO didn’t get above ISO 20. Today with a camera that goes to ISO 102400 it frees up the photographer to not have to always shoot wide open aperture.

Now, this photo of a rodeo at night was shot at ISO 64000, ƒ/2.8 @ 1/2500. Now if you were just shooting photos around the stadium of people watching then you don’t have to shoot the higher ISO or the higher shutter speed.

Same rodeo and I caught the sun dipping into the sunset and shot ISO 640, ƒ/1.8 @ 1/160. Due to the ISO capabilities of the camera, I could have shot this at ƒ/22 @ ISO 81920 and the same shutter speed of 1/160.

If you want to get the shot versus getting a style of a shot then zoom lenses are great. I find that the combination of Nikon 14-24mm and the Nikon 28-300mm will let me get just about any photo I need for a client on a photo shoot.

Here is a recent blog where I talk about using just those two lenses for shooting an assignment.

What about primes?

Now there is another reason to use a different lens–Special Look. I think shooting with the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 gives you a beautiful look.

You isolate the subject very easily at ƒ/1.4. However, you also need to have your focus locked in on those eyes and shoot quickly before they or you breathe again. The depth-of-field is razor sharp and thin at the same time.

The other lens I love to shoot with is the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8. I used to own the ƒ/1.4 earlier version, but after shooting with the much lighter ƒ/1.8 I fell in love with the look and the lens.

What about Wide Angle versus Telephoto?

Should you use a Telephoto lens or a Wide-Angle lens? Well, that all depends.

Here I walked across the street and up a small hill and shot back at all the First 100 Campers sleeping over the night in the parking lot for the Grand Opening of Chick-fil-A at Northeast 8th Street in Bellevue, Washington. The First 100 get free Chick-fil-A for a year.

I think I did a great job of showing the campers in front of the store.

Here I walked a lot closer and shot it with the 14-24mm at 14mm to emphasize all the tents in the parking lot.

Which photo is better?

Well, that all depends on what you are trying to say. The real reason I am covering this story is that Chick-fil-A is just now with this Grand Opening getting into the Seattle, Washington market.

I think the first photo shows the city of Bellevue and even the corporate offices of Microsoft just next door to Chick-fil-A. The lower photo could almost be shot anywhere because the emphasis is more about what is the same at the grand openings–tents in parking lots.

Now if I were to only need one photo I would shoot the top photo, but I am a seasoned journalist and know to cover it completely, so I shoot them all and even more angles. This is critical when you are telling the story. This is especially true in multimedia where you may show both with other photos in a series. You may talk about the campers and how this is in the city of Bellevue.

The question is not just which is best but why not shoot both and then decide later as you figure out what you want to say. Maybe you will need both.

A great question about which lens might be which lens did Henri Cartier-Bresson use when he did the picture of the guy jumping the puddle? That is trying to find the lens that helped him get that photo.

I would follow that question up with why is that a good lens for that photo and could other lenses work just as well? This is how you learn.

This is the Halema‘uma‘u Crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii [Fuji X-E3, 55-200mm, ISO 5000, ƒ/6.4, 1/6]

It is tax time, and this can be like a volcano for those who own their own business. Did you pay enough last year, or will you owe more? Did you set aside enough money, or did you have circumstances like a medical emergency that took your money?

Hawaii was formed out of the ocean by a volcano. Kilauea has been continuously erupting since 1983, which is in the photo above.

Maybe your life is like the Kilauea Volcano erupting. I believe more people are experiencing volcanoes than peaceful calm waters in their lives.

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. – Peter Marshall

Maybe you are seeking those calm waters and taking longer showers to help ease the stress on your mind.

Many know that being around water makes us calmer and more creative. Science knows it, too: A recent study even showed that people who live near the ocean report less stress and better health than those who don’t.

While going to the beach or sitting by a waterfall can be therapeutic, you still have stress if the stress trigger is still there.

The pressures of life can overwhelm us if we let them. In my faith, when tensions mount, we are taught to go to the Lord in prayer.

Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Now all of this can sound quite pious. Quoting some scriptures and saying trust God will heal you is, in my opinion, useless, even if it is true. You are hurting, and life is overwhelming.

I want to be very honest that I think often life can suck at times.

James 1:2-4
2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Often I found that by blowing my own horn, I have created a problem. This is usually done when I am trying to compensate over. You know when you are trying everything you can to land a job with a client.

See if any of these might be something you have dealt with as a freelancer this past year.

Lost a client because your contact changed jobs
A client went out of business.
A client decided to go in a new direction.
Your computer crashed, and you had to repair or replace it.
Your camera had to be repaired.
You lost images due to a bad memory card or hard drive failure.
Your competition has upgraded their gear while your gear is ancient.
You had a medical emergency this past year.
You lost a family member.
You experienced a mental health crisis for yourself, your family, or a client.
Your transportation failed this past year. You had significant car repairs or had to replace a car.

This is by no means an exhausted list of all the stresses of life that I have personally experienced or had some close friends go through this past year.

The hardest thing I experience isn’t the things I cannot control, but when I make a mistake, it causes me problems. This is the one I beat myself up on over and over.

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

― Marcus Aurelius

Togo, West Africa [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/100]

When I think of the developmentally disabled, I think of people with disabilities that put them in wheelchairs.

In Togo, I saw many people in handmade wheelchairs. They had three wheels with a bicycle chain on the front wheel where they could peddle with their hands and steer their cart.

Another type of disability I think of is being blind.

I think of the people needing Braille to read.

I think of someone using a very crude technology and creating the bumps on the page that can then help a blind person read.

Today I think for the first time, I see most of the people I know now having more in common with the disabled than ever in my lifetime.

If you took away your smartphone and computer, could you function today in our society?

We are more handicapped today than at any other time in my life when it comes to getting things done. We need our technology.

Maybe you will be a little more compassionate when you see someone struggling who may need some technology to help them function in today’s society.

Chick-fil-A Spicy Deluxe Sandwich [NIKON D4, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 1400, 1/250, ƒ/4, (35mm = 105)]

When I go to my Chick-fil-A restaurant and ask for my favorite Spicy Deluxe w/ Pepper Jack cheese, they are not telling me how much time it took to make the sandwich and how much tomatoes, lettuce, pepper jack cheese, Chicken, bread, butter, and all the coatings cost and that being the total price. They tell me the price.

Freelancers need to learn from other industries. Other Chick-fil-A Franchise owners are the only people talking to each other about what it costs to make the sandwich. The public doesn’t understand all those numbers.

That information is part of the formula to get the price of their sandwich. That is the point I am making here. The actual costs are part of the formula that gives you a total.

Now for up-selling restaurants, put together packages. Do you want the meal or just the sandwich? The meal comes with fries and a drink.

This is how freelancers should be talking about their prices.

Create a base price, medium price, and high price.

Do you want the basic sandwich or the deluxe? Do you enjoy the meal?  Would you like the small, medium, or large?

So the point here is you need to know your costs, but don’t talk to your clients about your hourly or daily rate. Talk to them about a basic, medium, or large package.

I hope this helps you know how to price yourself for the public better.