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.

Our trip around The Big Island of Hawaii [Fuji X-E3, 10-24mm ƒ/4, ISO 200, ƒ/7.1, 1/400 – Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT]

Just last week Dorie and I enjoyed our trip to The Big Island of Hawaii where I was teaching for Dennis Fahringer’s School of Photography 1 at the University of Nations.

We enjoyed our time seeing the sights of the island.

No matter where we went others were touring as well and Dorie was offering to take their pictures for them.

There are safe viewing areas for most of the beauty of Hawaii, but there are also dangerous spots marked due to people who have died in those locations doing what they tell you not to do.

Now for our trip around the Island, I was carrying two cameras and three lenses.

Fuji X-E2, Fuji X-E3, 10-24mm, 18-55mm & 55-200mm.

With the 55-200mm on the Fuji X-E3, I was able to get a good video of the Volcano at sunset.

Shooting with the Fuji the 200mm is 300mm due to the sensor being a cropped sensor.

We stopped and visited with my friend Tom Butler a coffee farmer. His coffee won 2nd best in the cupping contest for Kona coffee. If you want some great 100% Kona coffee you can go to his website http://paradisefoundhawaii.com.

The main reason I am shooting with the Fuji on the trip around the Island and not the Nikon D5 is the weight and size. I wanted a compact system.

I was able to take wonderful photos in almost every kind of light on our trip. One of the stops I always make is to Ken’s House of Pancakes in Hilo.

Another of the stops that we made and we had been there before 12 years ago was the Hawaii Tropical Gardens near Hilo.

We also celebrated my birthday at Kona Brewery where the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday to me.

Dorie enjoyed the beaches while I was teaching Lighting and Business Practices to the School of Photography at the University of Nations.

While I taught students how to shoot in a photo studio I also took them on location for lighting class.

As you can see we had lots of fun.

One of the students wanted to know how I stay inspired and going to Hawaii and seeing all the beauty of the island and the people is one of the ways I stay inspired.

Six years ago when teaching lighting to the School of Photography 1 in Kona Gary S. Chapman’s daughter Sara helped as part of the staff for class. Sometimes she was a model for the students. This is one of the assignments I used to give where the students were mixing flash with available light. In this photo, Hasting Franks took the photo as other classmates tossed water onto Sara.

This was where the student’s used a studio monobloc light to overpower the sun to shoot the assignment.

Today more students are using the Godox because it is more affordable than their Sony, Nikon, Canon, or Fuji brand flashes.

I did a post not too long ago using them to light the soccer players.

Here is the lighting setup for both of those soccer photos:

For the assignment shoot this week in Kona, Hawaii we were illustrating how to improve a difficult available lighting situation like this one here.

To do the assignment this year I took the class to the coffee shop on campus where it had been raining. I picked a situation where the off-camera flash could improve the lighting in a situation. Here you can see that one lady is backlighted and the other lady has a light on her face from the window.

On the far left you can see not just the Godox V860IIN but the instructor for the school Dennis Fahringer getting a photo of me demonstrating this to the class behind me.

Here you can see how much the off-camera Godox V860IIN flash helped the photo.

The assignment PDF is here for you.

They have to first take a photo where there is no flash and then take a second photo where the flash improved the photo.

They are also making an environmental portrait. An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used in a genre of photography.

We went outside as well to demonstrate how someone sitting in the shade would benefit from an off-camera flash. I instruct the students to put the flash so it forms a triangle between the subject and the camera.

A good starting place is always at 45º, but they can put the light anywhere to help improve the lighting.

Here you can see the after shot showing better lighting on the face. Also, you can see Dennis taking more photos of the teaching time with the students.

I was using a wide-angle lens to capture the environment around the subject.

A couple of years ago I changed the assignment from just a mixed lighting assignment to more of an environmental portrait. In 2016 I walked around the campus doing a similar exercise and here is that post for you.

Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT

This is the very first year where almost all the students had bought a similar flash. Most of the students have the Godox V860II + Godox X1T for their brand of camera.

Most all the students are shooting this assignment with the speed lights that they own rather than using the studio strobes that are available as well. No one wants to carry around the heavier gear if the lighter gear will do the job.

GODOX X1-N FEATURES

Godox 2.4GHz RF Radio System
Range – 100m +
Flash Modes – iTTL / M / OFF
HSS to 1/8000th
Second Curtain Sync
FEC / FEB – 1/3rd Increments (±3 Stops)
FEL (Flash Exposure Lock)
Manual Flash – 1/128 – 1/1 Output (1/3rd Increments)
Remote Flash Zoom (Auto / Manual) (Global for All Groups Only)
Group Mode – 5 Groups A / B / C / D / E (D & E Are Remote Manual Only)
32 Channels
Large LCD Display with Back Light
HSS Delay Setting – 0~19.9ms, (100us Increments)
Modeling flash
Auto Memory Function
AF Assist light (With an On/Off Switch)
Wireless Shutter Release
Micro USB Port for Firmware Upgrades
Transmitter PC Sync Port – Input & Output
Receiver 2.5mm Sync and Shutter Release Port – Output

Photographing Island Breeze Dancer Victoria Taimane Kaopua while showing the class at Youth With A Mission Photo School 1 how to use off-camera strobe. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 400, ƒ/5.6, 1/1600 – 2 Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT with CTO +1 gel]

Last night I worked with Island Breeze dancer/singer Victoria Taimane Kaopua at the Old Kona Airport along the beach. I am teaching lighting this week at the University of the Nations-Kona, School of Photography I.

Last night I was teaching them off-camera flash and mixing it with daylight.

You are seeing three flashes on the left 2 Godox V860IIN and Flashpoint XPLOR 600 HSS TTL Battery-Powered Monolight with Built-in R2 2.4GHz Radio Remote System – Bowens Mount (AD600 TTL). Both systems work together using the Godox X1NT. They make this so these will work with Sony, Nikon, Canon, and Fuji. When you buy them just get the one for your system.

In the first photo, the only flashes firing are the smaller speed lights and not the larger studio strobe.

I start with a photo of the dancer with out flash and then I add the light.

My friend Dave Black likes to call this the Silhouette and Reveal.

I would show the students some of the shots as I was working.

I also was showing the model dancer the photos.

Today we will go over the photos in our class and I will see how many students paid attention to the conversations I had with the dancer and when I showed her photos. I will ask them why I did this. Do you know why?

The dancer and I were working together to make the photo. I was able to show her what I was getting hoping to get her more excited about the shoot and engage her more in the process.

We will talk about composition today as well as the lighting.

We are also going to talk about VALS today. That is a Voice Activated Light Stand, which is having someone hold your flash and adjust it when you ask.

Besides it helping you it also gets people involved and creates excitement for everyone because they are now helping you and are a part of the process.

If you want to do this with me give me a call and we can organize a photo shoot with your friends in your hometown.

Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion Dedication [Nikon D5, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 2200, ƒ/8, 1/100]

One of the types of photography I do a great deal of for clients in event coverage. This is the type of coverage that you are capturing the photos with available light and an occasional on-camera flash for a quick grip and grin.

In these situations, you need to go as wide as possible to pretty close up. I find that the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 is the best lens for capturing those super wide and wide-angle shots.

With a new campus dedication, I needed to show tour groups going through and around the new campus. I used the 14 -24mm to capture the room interiors with people to give a sense of perspective and to capture as much of the room as possible.

Now I was also using the 28-300mm because I was needing to capture moderate to telephoto shots of people around the campus and the speakers at a podium.

Now, this lens combination works great for just about any situation. Now for a smaller venue, I am often using the Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 when I just want to carry one camera.

If you are to cover things where you have speakers and need to capture rooms where you cannot back up enough then the 14-24mm and 28-300mm lenses will help you do a great job.

I am also loving my Fuji X series cameras and lenses. I am finding shooting with the Fuji X-E2/X-E3 with the 10-24mm and the 55-200mm lenses will give you a similar lens coverage.

The Fuji is a much lighter system than the Nikon.

It is much easier to walk around at an event all day with the Fuji system.

I haven’t tried the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS. I would love to try this with some high school football games to see if it could work. However, I am super confident with the Nikon D5 & Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with the TC-2001 converter keeping up with the action.

I am also more pleased with the Nikon D5 having microphone and headphone jacks for recording video. The Nikon D5 is the camera system that does it all and my only complaint is the weight.

My recommendation is to have lenses for covering events that are at least 20mm wide to 30mm for a full-frame camera. As far as a camera I cannot see ever buying a camera today that doesn’t have an ISO of at least 51200 and a low of 100. This will let you shoot in almost every situation without the need for a flash. The reasons I use my flash today are to add light to improve the photo where often there is no light.

Shooting events requires you to be ready for just about everything, so be sure you have the lenses, camera, and flash to deliver to the client.

I bought the Fujifilm 10-24mm ƒ/4 lens. It translates to a 15-36mm (35mm Equivalent) lens.

I have advised many photographers looking for smaller systems like the Fuji mirrorless camera. Many of my friends have already had this lens in their bags for a while, but I finally picked this up, and before using it on a paying job, I am just shooting test shots.

My test shots are not portfolio shots.

I am just shooting things to get a feel for the depth-of-field and how it focuses, which is super fast and quiet on the Fuji X-E3.

This is one of my favorite zoom ranges. I like to use a great deal. I have the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 that I use on my Nikon D5, which is like a center block compared to the Fuji X-E3 and the 10-24mm.

I love just taking photos all the time. It is not just my profession but also my hobby. However, I am not a fan of the weight of the Nikon D5 cameras and lenses. I trust them a lot more than the Fuji, but this has more to do with having 35+ years of experience with my Nikons.

When someone pays me to shoot an assignment for them, they are paying me to know what my gear will do and for my creative instincts. Whenever you buy new equipment, always take it for a good number of test drives, so you know any quirks before you find out about the paying job.

Stay tuned for more photos from my new Fuji X-E3 and my new 10-24mm ƒ/4 lens. I am off to Hawaii in a few weeks and can’t wait to see how they do around the Big Island.

I am my family’s visual historian. I take photos and give them away to my family all the time. Thanks to social media, there is a good chance these may be seen and enjoyed more than when I shot the film, and they went into a family photo album.

While I am not working on an assigned story, I still capture our family’s story in moments. The cool thing with social media is our ability to match words with those pictures.

I still take those formal photos of our families, but the living life photos capture the personalities of each person, in my opinion, so much more.

This role often means you are just observing, but I believe long into the future, when I am no longer here, my family will cherish these and learn about their ancestors.

My mother’s dad was always documenting his family and my dad.

I grew up every Christmas with my dad having these lights pointed at us as we walked into the room. I am not sure I saw anything for a few moments. It was so bright.

This is one of the rare moments where my wife Dorie has been with two of her sisters. While getting to see them was excellent, capturing the moment for us to remember makes this so we can tell the generations who their family is and how they are all related.

Here are a few tips to make you a better visual family historian.

• Take lots of photos of your family.
• Share your photos with your family. USB Jump Drives are good.
• Use metadata to put the text with each photo. For example, be sure you have the occasion and the names of the people in the image.
• Put your photos in some storage system like Google Drive, DropBox, or other online services.
• Create photo books. I use Blurb http://www.blurb.com/user/stanleyleary.

One of the best things you can remember is how you captured your family for everyone to enjoy now and for eternity.

American Gold Finch [Fujifilm X-E3, 55-200mm, ISO 8000, ƒ/10, 1/280 – Flashpoint Zoom Li-on R2 TTL & Flashpoint R2 TTL transmitter]

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

– Matthew 6:26

The past few weeks have been bitterly cold for our community in Roswell, Georgia. While we didn’t have a lot of snow, it stayed on the ground longer than usual due to the freezing weather.

While we always have birds at our bird feeders during this cold snap, they have been eating a lot more. I think this is because the ground is so hard to kill many insects and keep many in the background.

We stayed inside more than usual due to the icy streets for many days.

Since I couldn’t sit still, I decided to take photos of the birds at our bird feeder with a new Fujifilm X-E3 camera and a new flash system made by Flashpoint for the Fuji cameras.

This morning I pondered how they survived and was reminded of the scripture that says God takes care of the birds. I was fascinated by the scripture that birds do not “sow nor reap nor gather into barns” as humans do, yet God takes care of them.

No matter how well I know the scriptures about how God will take care of us–I worry.

We all indeed worry to some extent but do it too much, and it can color your whole life, leaving you strung out, unhappy, and constantly anxious. It’s not unusual either. Around 1 in 20 of us experiences excessive worrying – called Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) – at some time in our lives.

If you are struggling, get some help through a licensed counselor like a social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

One thing I noticed from being locked up inside due to the cold is getting cabin fever. It can be depressing as well.

Keep physically active. Develop a routine, so you’re physically active most days of the week. Exercise is a powerful stress reducer. It may improve your mood and help you stay healthy. Start slowly and gradually increase the amount and intensity of your activities.

Make sleep a priority. Do what you can to get enough sleep to feel rested. If you aren’t sleeping well, see your doctor.

Eat healthily. Healthy eating — such as focusing on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish — may help reduce anxiety.

As a freelancer looking for work to pay your bills, focus on the jobs, people need now. Portraits/headshots are usually needed quickly compared to someone booking a wedding photographer.

People don’t book headshots six months to a year out, but that is how they book photographers for their weddings.

Get together with other photographers and talk. They will not solve your problems by telling you their clients’ names, but you will pick up tricks and how they talk to their clients.

Maybe you can just practice a cold call with another photographer. Maybe you can practice doing an estimate with them.

Don’t let life ruffle your feathers.

Focus on one thing at a time. For me–and most people–multi-tasking typically leads to chaos. I try to choose one task, see it through, and head on to the next task that needs to be done.

Learn to be flexible. Things will come up, or someone will ask you to help with something, so learn to go with the flow a little bit. Just take a moment to think about what is happening and regroup. Change your plans accordingly.

Learn to prioritize. Let’s face it; some things will not impact your goals if you don’t get to them. However, there are some action items, if you put them off, can wreak havoc.

You can use your energy to focus on all that could go wrong or, even better, just focus that energy on doing something. The energy amount is about the same, but one moves you forward and leaves you standing still.

Remember, birds go where the food is, which is called migration. This is where we get the word about migrant workers. They go where the work is for them. They go where they can help their families survive.

Today is a day for action. The question for you is, what steps will you take? While the birds don’t “sow nor reap nor gather into barns,” they are out looking for food. How about you?