Daddy Daughter Date Night at the Memphis Zoo [Nikon D5, Nikkor 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 3200, ƒ/4, 1/15 – Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT]

“Photography is not like painting,” Henry Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

Capturing emotions requires you to feel the mood of the moment. I love this photo of the Chick-fil-A Cows with the daddy and daughter posing for me, while on the left, a dad is taking a selfie of himself and his daughter in front of the Ferris wheel.

When people pull out those phones and take selfies, I notice they are having a great time. They are also working hard to express themselves to match how they feel inside about the whole experience.

Seeing the joy on both dad and daughter as they skate together was great. But I love it even more when there is a little more interaction between people.

When the girl looks up at her dad, you can tell she thinks the world of dad. You can tell she is cherishing this moment.

I also saw dads looking at how much fun their daughters were having.

“Men are motivated when they feel needed while women are motivated when they feel cherished.”

― John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

The little things that dads did for their daughters that night touched me so much. One of the dads had bought a corsage for his daughter to wear. She was so proud of this gesture from her dad. He is setting the standard pretty high for the way she needs to be treated in the future.

Since I have covered Daddy Daughter Date Night since the 2nd one ever held at a Chick-fil-A in Olathe, Kansas, I was pretty much aware of many of the emotions I would experience, just like I know what plays a football team will call after covering them all season.

I was looking for moments when there was a genuine emotional connection between dads and daughters.

Chick-fil-A helped make the moments possible with Cows, Princesses, Ferris Wheel, Carousel, Music with DJ, and so much more.

I couldn’t just snap a photo because I saw and dad and a daughter. I had to wait for the moment between the two of them to start to happen. I had to anticipate those moments.

If you want better inspirational photos, you must start with feeling those moments and then be able to anticipate them to capture them.

“Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.”

— Yousuf Karsh

A father’s influence on a daughter’s self-image. A dad’s involvement in his daughter’s life is a crucial ingredient in developing a young woman’s self-esteem. … Direct involvement and encouragement by her father will help diminish a girl’s insecurity and increase her confidence in her abilities.

My favorite type of photos are where there is an emotional connection. Last night I was able to capture a lot of moments of dads and daughters enjoying the Memphis Zoo for a Chick-fil-A Daddy Daughter Date Night.

By putting my flash off camera for some of the photos, I was able to improve the light on the faces of the people to capture those expressions and then drag the shutter to pick up the background to add to the atmosphere.

The dads and daughters enjoyed dancing together.

They enjoyed a Carousel Ride as well.

The Important Role of Dad. While almost any man can father a child, there is so much more to the critical role of being a dad in a child’s life.

I watched as dads did everything they could to be sure their daughters were having a wonderful time.

Not all were as brave or good on ice skates as this dad. However, many did also take in the ice rink as well.

To walk the zoo could take a long time the zoo had its trams running to bring everyone around the zoo, cutting down on those long walks.

The Cow Celebrities were running around as well as the princess for the kids to enjoy being photographed with and to give hugs.

While I would have preferred to shoot everything with available light, the problem was that I found the people silhouetted by the glow of the events behind them. The flash also made them the essential part of the photo.

A good father makes all the difference in a child’s life. He’s a pillar of strength, support, and discipline. His work is endless and, often, thankless.

Roswell Fire Department [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 7200, ƒ/4, 1/100]

I have two fellow photojournalists that I love to hire when I need help. One is Robin Nelson, and the other is Michael Schwarz when meeting tight deadlines.

What all three of us have in common are newspaper and wire service backgrounds.

I have realized that we have a lot in common with Fire Fighters over the years. Have you ever visited a Fire Station? I know I did as a young preschooler.

You will notice they are ready to go at a moment’s notice. They have firefighter pants [Heat and Flame Resistant Clothing] with suspenders over their boots. Jacket hanging with their helmet and breathing unit nearby.

They are not there when they come back from a fire. Once they return to the firehouse, their first mission is to get everything ready to roll. They clean their uniforms; they tend the trucks, and any of the supplies that need restocking are done.

99% of the photographers I meet, if they were firefighters, would not have their boots and uniforms ready to go out the door.

What A.S.A.P Means to Wire Service

Shooting for a wire service like Associated Press means you get a shot, and as fast as you can get it out of the camera to your computer to caption it and upload it to the Associated Press server is expected. This “fast as you can” usually means less than 15 minutes, not like 2 or 3 weeks.

Each of us asks the client, “When is your deadline?” What surprises us is when they say A.S.A.P. each of us finds ourselves asking what they mean. Do you want it right after the event, the next day, or when?

When they say A.S.A.P., we all think we are ready to bring our laptops and turn them around in minutes, not days.

Why turn it around right away?

When I shoot about anything, I try my best to edit those images and get them to the client immediately. When I shot some weddings, which I rarely do, I had 2,500+ ideas for the bride and groom before leaving for their following honeymoon.

You see, my goal is to be ready like a firefighter. Too many photographers I have called to do assignments that have been too busy to take on another job. They were dynamic editing.

If you approach being a professional photographer the way firefighters do, you come home from a job and maybe go to bed, but the first thing you do is get that job edited and off the computer to the client.

The first thing I do is pull all my batteries and recharge them while editing. Once I have ingested the cards and have a backup, I reformat them so they are ready to shoot a new job.

I have different lighting kits ready for a various types of jobs. I have a speed light kit, studio strobe kit(s), and a video light kit prepared for any kind of jobs.

Once those images are delivered, I also scan all those receipts and create an invoice that goes to the client.

You could rarely call me, and I am not ready at that moment to walk out the door for any assignment. The only thing I can think of that would delay me getting on the plane anywhere in the world is only if the country requires a visa.

If you were to approach your business by getting your photography to the clients immediately and having your gear fresh and ready to go, your business would be on fire for the right reasons.

The camera that takes great pictures

How often do you feel insulted when some say your camera takes excellent pictures?

The reason so many people think this is because they treat photography like a commodity. They believe it is mainly the gear that takes photos.

When you give those people a Nikon D5, they will get better photos than the camera on their phone.

Your knowledge of how to use your photography gear makes you a professional photographer.

I believe you could take on the challenge of using every piece of your gear to capture a subject in as many different photography styles as possible. You would be changing the depth-of-field, controlling motion with your shutter speed, and pulling out your lighting gear to create so many different looks.

You could then show this client how you can take the same subject and give them many different looks. It might be a great way to talk about how knowing more about the purpose of hiring you will help you create the look and feel they need from your photos.

So much of our business revolves around tools. We often think of our gear as our only tools, but I was hoping you could think about other parts of your business as you do your camera gear.

Your business cards, websites, blogs, newsletters, phone calls, and postcards are all tools that have a great deal in common with your camera gear.

Too often, photographers treat their marketing tools like people think our cameras take great photos.

We create a website and then wonder why we are not getting calls. We print business cards and hand them out, and still no calls.

We even treat our photos the same way as clients. We hand them the images.

I have heard we are no longer living in the Industrial Age but rather the Information Age. The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization to an economy based on information computerization.

What was the difference between being a farmer during the Agricultural Age and moving from the Industrial Age to the Information Age?

The farmer used animals to plow the fields and also fertilize those fields during the Agricultural Age. During the Industrial Age, it was about using tractors and artificial fertilizer [nitrogen] to increase productivity.

In the Information Age, farmers learned how to analyze the data from their farms and improve all farming areas. They used computer models that used satellite imaging data to put different amounts of fertilizer and water on their fields to get the best yield from all the land.

As a photographer, you must know how to use your marketing tools. You need to understand how they all work individually and how they work together. There is the best time to use each of those tools, and there are also times that using an agency can do damage if not implemented correctly.

The Client

I am discovering that many clients do not know how to use their marketing tools anymore. They don’t learn how to take a well-crafted story that is a video and integrate it into their communications plan. They think maybe they show it just at a meeting or put it online or some other tactic and do not know what the video’s strength is compared to their business card or a brochure.

Be sure you help to educate your client on how to use your content to best leverage their audience.

Living in the Information Age is about personalizing your services to address your client’s needs. This is the knowledge economy we now live in.

This evolution of technology in daily life and social organization has led to the modernization of information and communication processes, becoming the driving force of social change.

We have moved into an era where photography is used all the time. The professional photographer’s actual commodity is their knowledge of how to use and control it for clients.

The best way to help your clients understand how to use photography in their marketing and communications is to do a personal project in which you demonstrate how this can be done. Then you have an example to show to your clients.

This is the brand new Chick-fil-A at the bottom of the Ferris Wheel Skyview and along the tracks of the Atlanta Street Car in Downtown Atlanta, GA. [Nikon D5, Nikkor 14-24mm, ISO 400, ƒ/8, 1/500]

I was trying to find the proper perspective to capture the new Chick-fil-A in a container at the base of Atlanta’s Skyview off of Centennial Park in one photo.

The photo above was my favorite of all the pictures because I also lucked up and caught the Atlanta StreetCar in the image.

Just a few seconds before the first photo, I captured the train passing by.

When I first arrived, I shot this photo. I thought it captured the restaurant at the base of the landmark well.

I shot details shots all over and everything in between. While I didn’t have a drone, I decided to do the next best thing available and pay for a ticket to get the view of the restaurant that those who ride the Skyview would get from inside one of the Gondolas.

You can see the restaurant a few times from inside the gondola. So my job was not just to find the “One Shot” but to compliment the photo with details like this from inside the gondola.

I moved to the other side of the gondola and shot this to compliment the other photo on the next pass of the restaurant.

While this photo doesn’t show the restaurant, it gives an idea of why people are drawn to the Ferris wheel for a ride. You can overlook Centennial Park, a central gathering place during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.

I went around looking for people at the restaurant as well.

I just kept looking for photos. These are a small fraction of what I shot.

Take Away Tips

Look for as many perspectives as possible
Go Super Wide
Go Close
Once you have a Wide shot, the medium shot, and the closeup, go and do it again, looking for something different. Do this until you have exhausted your ideas.

I had the pleasure of photographing  The Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta Gala, where they gave four Awards to those who have impacted Atlanta. The ISB seeks to build bridges between Muslims and the wider community.

The thing about my job is sometimes; I want to pinch myself to see if it is really what I am experiencing. Photographing the award honorees was a special honor.

Sally Yates is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Justice Department and formerly served as a federal prosecutor in Atlanta. Most recently, she was the acting Attorney General who refused to enforce President Donald Trump’s first ban on travel from several majority-Muslim nations earlier this year, calling the order “unlawful.” Trump fired her for her decision.

Arthur Blank has given more than 300 million dollars to charity. Most recently, he has helped with the Westside neighborhood, including Vine City. The English Avenue/Vine City area has some of the highest poverty and crime rates in the city, with the Carter St. area surrounding the Vine City MARTA station ranking in 2010 as the #1 most dangerous neighborhood in Atlanta and #5 in the United States.

Blank said his family foundation would contribute $15 million, bringing the Westside Neighborhood Prosperity Fund’s total to $30 million. The fund goes towards housing, education, health, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and youth leadership.

I must admit attending this was the most diverse crowd I have been a part of in Atlanta. People from all faiths were in the room and of different nationalities.

While there were Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the room within each group, there was even more diversity. Muslims from India, Arab Countries, and many whose roots are from diverse American blend backgrounds. There was also a mix of Christians from many different denominations.

Besides covering the stage, I am also covering the VIP room with donors getting time to meet the Award Winners one-on-one and get their photos.

The volunteer working the VIP room and I spent some time talking before people arrived. She was super excited to meet Sally Yates, maybe. The volunteer was star-struck when Yates walked into the room. I just asked Sally Yates and her husband to get their photo made with her. The rest of the night, that volunteer thanked me.

I enjoyed talking with Bill Nigut. My wife Dorie told me he was what we listened to on our way to see our daughter in Columbus, GA. I told him I often listen to him and Greg Bluestein on his news show.

Years ago, while on staff at Georgia Tech, I photographed Mokhtar Bazaraa. Bazaraa, Executive Vice President of LogicBlox and former professor at Georgia Tech, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award. It was good to make this connection as well.

If you get the chance to cover an event, read up on who you photograph. Sometimes you may need some “insider information” to help you with ice breakers and talk with people at the event.

I talked with Bishop Robert. C. Wright’s kids. We are both preacher kids, and I found out about their passions. The connection I used later with the Bishop was that our daughter and his were both Thespians.

My ice breaker with Mokhtar Bazaraa was some of our connections at Georgia Tech.

Ice breakers are ways you show your interest in the person.

Another tip is to arrive early and set your white balance for the lighting on the stage. Test your lighting in different rooms. It also makes the rooms your rooms after a while. You are there first, which will help you feel like the host rather than the guest. This can also help you to be more proactive with people.

Togo, West Africa [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm, ISO 2800, ƒ/4, 1/100]

We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.

– S. Truett Cathy

How people approach photography these days has me very disappointed. There is way too much emphasis on gear and techniques. While you must master your equipment and learn strategies, they are not the purpose of photography.

The essential purpose of photography is communication. Few people take pictures solely to please themselves. Most of us take them because we want them to be seen by others. Pictures are a photographer’s means of expression, as a writer’s means are words.

Every time a new camera gear comes out, there is much talk. I was privileged to have started my career before the digital revolution.

When I would go to workshops before digital cameras were introduced, we worked with the same technology for more than one hundred years. While the cameras did evolve in this time and the film technology got better, the understanding of how to take a photo didn’t change.

Here are what I would like to think of are the four “Ps” to make your images better.

Problem Solving
Patience
Persistence
People

Problem Solving

A great photo connects with people. If you know what you want people to take away from looking at your picture, you have a good chance of making a great photo. When you don’t understand why you are pushing the shutter at that moment is one of the most significant indicators that the audience will not know either.

Problem-solving requires you to be very curious. I didn’t know at the time my dad first labeled me “Curious George” that this quality would be one of the most important skills one should have when being a professional photographer.

 Curious George is a sweet African monkey who cannot help but run into trouble. George’s friend, “The Man in the Yellow Hat,” tries very hard to care for George and always saves the day.

Curious George is intrigued and pursues his curiosity while not paying attention to what he is doing. While photographers shouldn’t get themselves into trouble, they should be curious enough to want to figure out things and ask why.

Patience

If you look through history you will notice that great things could not have happened often before that moment or after. There is often a season for a good idea.

Mathematicians often do not solve some of the most complex problems until other ideas can be mixed to create a new solution.

For example, Guglielmo Marconi is credited with inventing the radio, but his equipment was based on Tesla’s ideas. Without Tesla, there would not have been Marconi’s solution.

One of the best things one can do is to keep a journal or write down some of your ideas in a book. You may pitch these ideas to others and find they are not interested.

Then often, years later, you can go back to that book and pitch those same ideas, and now the season is right for them. You may have learned something in between that helps you do a better job of communicating your concept as well.

As we know the word, photography means to write with light. You must be patient if you want to take photos using natural light.

There have been many photographers who, for example, need a lot of time to do the research to know when to take a photograph. When Steve McCurry was working on the story for France’s BiCentennial for National Geographic, he spent more than two weeks going around and making notes about the light and places. He took photos more for research than for publication.

He then realized certain places would be great photos, but he needed to return at a different time of day.

One photographer was doing a story on a train and saw this gorgeous landscape with a railroad track that went through it across a bridge. The photographer decided to wait until the peak of the fall season to capture the moment.

I know that in photographing a person making a speech, I must anticipate the moments that capture those expressions that will do the best job of capturing the mood and message the speaker was making.

I have also photographed a few problematic people to capture due to their unusual blinking. So besides being patient to get them looking in the right direction with the proper facial expression and body language, I had to get it when their eyes weren’t closed or half closed.

Persistence

Closely related to problem-solving is being persistent. Musicians may study music for years and practice eight to ten hours a day so that they can take the stage and perform with such skill that it makes people want to pay to hear them.

You see, probably the most famous photographer of all time, Ansel Adams, was described as having the same qualities as Curious George. He was described as a hyperactive child. He transitioned from being a concert pianist to being a photographer.

He grew up going to Yellowstone and other parks. He spent years finding the right location for photographing some of his most famous photos. This also required him to return to the park for the right time of year, day, and weather to get the images we now see of him in museums, homes, and books of these iconic places.

While Ansel Adams drove upon the scene Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, he would later spend much time in the lab to get all the values he could get out of that negative to make the prints we see today.

When we think of the famous photojournalist Eugene Smith, we think of all the time he spent on stories like the Country Doctor. He followed the doctor for days to build an account. Smith was hired to produce 100 photographs of contemporary Pittsburgh for a book in honor of the city’s bicentennial. Two years after beginning the planned three-week assignment, the editors demanded the photos, and if it were not for the funding stops, Smith would have continued to pursue better pictures than he had.

People

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

This famous quote is a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation and perception. Let me rephrase this question for the photographer.

“If a photographer makes a photo and no one ever sees it, what is its purpose?”

Even if what you photograph isn’t a person but a thing, you are most likely making the photograph to share with other people. You want them to appreciate something you saw as much as you did.

Matthew 22:37–40: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I believe photographers love our neighbors when we do our jobs at their best. We care for them in such a way that we want to share our experiences with them or take photos of them to share their essence with others. 

I see photography as serving the purpose of the glue that helps connect people.

Until someone invented the transporter device used on Star Trek to beam people around time and space, we only have photography/video that allows us to see people around the world and even into outer space.

Putting it all together

You need camera gear to capture photos. Learn to use the equipment the same way you use a car. While you may have never driven a stick shift, I remember a moment when I was no longer thinking about shifting gears but just doing it. This would be the same as the photographer who shoots today in manual mode.

Most likely, more photographers are using some automation on their cameras just like we use automatic transmissions. Some of us even have cars that help us drive ourselves today.

Most of us don’t care much about how the car works; we buy a model we like and then use it to take us places.

Use your camera like your car. Let the camera take you places. Spend your time like you do when you plan your trips. Focus on the destination and the people you will see. Make the trip with your camera about what is in front of it, not the camera itself. This is how you will take great photos.

I had a lot of fun covering my nephew’s high school football game. The oldest is a senior and played; the youngest was dressed if they ever needed him.

Like all small-town high school football, the lighting for these games is not great. I covered high school football in these small towns in 1984 for the Hickory Daily Record. Just getting a photo in focus, and somewhat good exposure was challenging in just Black and White. Today I can shoot colors and get great results.

So the camera settings for this game were:

ISO 64000
Aperture ƒ/5.6
Shutter 1/2000

Compare this to the Billion Dollar Mercedes Benz Stadium where I was shooting the Chick-fil-A Kickoff games:

ISO 12800
Aperture ƒ/5.6
Shutter 1/2000

2 1/2 stops are different in the quantity of light.

High School Color Temperature 5650º Kelvin with +2 Magenta
Mercedes Benz Stadium Color Temperature 5000º Kelvin with +11 Magenta

This was a big game for my nephew’s team. They were undefeated 9-0 before the game and basically needed the win to seal their conference win.

They went into the locker room at halftime 14 – 0.

They went on to win the game for 36 – 14 and now are 10 – 0 for the season in their conference.

The visiting team was in white and in the first half showed signs of frustration and turnover after turnover. Their coaches were losing their cool with the kids.

I think the coaches had a good talk with my nephew’s team. I think they explained how the other team’s outbursts and turnovers were signs that they had gotten into their heads. So they came out with more confidence in that second half.

What this made me realize is how much we all need encouragement. When you believe you can do something versus feeling like the underdog, you make the big plays.

During the first half, the offensive line couldn’t create holes for the running backs, but the pep talk gave them the confidence they could play better than the other team if they just believed.

While my nephews might not have played as much as they wanted, at the end of the game, they knew they were as much a part of the team that got them to 10 – 0 as the star players.

I could tell everyone was giving their all to win the game.

PHOTO TIPS:

Here are a few tips for those wanting to get better photos of your kids playing under the Friday Night lights game of football.

1. Buy a lens that is longer than 400mm. I suggest things like the Sigma – 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Sports DG OS HSM Contemporary, which is under $1,000.
2. Use the ExpoDisc to do a custom white balance under the lights. Gives you more accurate colors in your photos and significantly better skin tones.
3. Use a monopod to help steady your camera.
4. Use a fast shutter speed. I suggest 1/2000 if possible.
5. Use high ISO. You may need a new camera that shoots above ISO 12800.
6. Stand in front of the action and let the players go towards you. You get more photos of the faces this way.

Photography Students or Wannabe Photographers I realized that I need to connect the dots for many of you on how to start your career from those already in the profession.

First, this is not about photography skills but about developing relationships that can help you grow professionally.

While I love to teach photography skills such as lighting, and students love taking on those assignments, I share the business tips that, for the most part, very few ever follow through on, and the reason is simple–it isn’t as fun.

If you have a good portfolio and do not listen to the professionals when they talk about business practices, you will have missed the most important tips we can share.

If you are a student like Mark Johnson at UGA, then you have a significant advantage over those who are not. Mark Johnson is the person who knows most people in the industry and can help make that first introduction for you.

While Mark may not pick up the phone to make the call, he has essentially done this when he gives you the assignment and even names to call when you need to shadow a professional photographer.

That first email or phone call started with my teacher Mark Johnson, giving me an assignment. Those few words open a door that others cannot use.

Once you have met the photographer and done your assignment, writing a thank you note is essential in your career. I recommend the handwritten note over an email or just saying thank you in person.

I am realizing now that more people are writing those thank you notes that they forget to ask themselves the question, “Why do I write this handwritten note?”.

Students, I can tell you the one thing that is quite annoying to your teachers and professionals who will hire you later is when you check off an assignment. This attitude of treating people and stories like items on a checklist undermines the content.

To tell someone’s story, you must peel the onion, which also builds trust with the person. Checking your list is like washing the onion rather than peeling the onion.

Most of the Thank You notes I get seem to be done to check this off the list. They don’t know why they wrote the note, but they heard good etiquette requires it.

What is the purpose of a Thank You Note when you are trying to become a professional or move up in the profession? You are building a RELATIONSHIP with someone who can help you. If you try to move up without the relationship, it can come back to haunt you later.

The type of relationship you build is up to you and the other person. Keeping it professional can be done without you having to become the best of friends. You still need to mix some kindness in your conversations.

My recommendation is to build your relationship over time. Thank them for what they have done and then ask if it is OK to contact them again.

You may say something like: “Thank you for taking time today to visit with me. Do you mind if I send you a sample of my work in a month or so and get some of your feedback?” Then do a follow-up.

Then it is much easier to ask again with your correspondence if they see any improvements based on their previous comments. It can be more detailed, showing that you did listen and try to make those suggestions.

Then every once in a while, send a note thanking them for all they have done and how their suggestions have proven helpful in your professional development.

Ask them for referrals later in your relationship to see if they have someone they recommend that you get to know and show your work to for more professional growth.

While you may not want to become good friends with some of the people who have helped you do take the time and effort to thank them proportionally to how much they helped you.

If you got a job due to their connections and suggestions, a small gift is an excellent way to let them know you were appreciative and not just using them. It could be just a gift card to Starbucks or something similar. Take them to lunch to catch up, tell them about your new job, and thank them in person.

If you are reading this blog and you have people who have helped you along the way, write each of them a thank you note. Sometimes your note can be the little encouragement they need today. You would be surprised how many people never know they made a difference in someone’s life. And if their life is you, you need to thank them again even if you did it before.

It boils down to this. When you write a thank you note, you show appreciation for someone taking time out of their life that helps you. You also want to be sure that the person who helped you is open to helping you even more if possible. Don’t write thank you notes to put a check on some list. Don’t be the person that uses others for personal gain.

Just remember the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

The California Honeydrops play at Terminal West in Atlanta, Georgia. [Nikon D5, 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, ISO 25600, ƒ/5.6, 1/200]

One of the most fun things I ever did in my years of playing trumpet was sit in on a JAM Session.

A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp on tunes, songs, and chord progressions. To “jam” is to improvise music without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements, except when the group plays well-known jazz standards or covers of existing popular songs. Musicians often use original jam sessions and ‘free flow sessions’ to develop new material (music) and find suitable arrangements. – Wikipedia

For me, this is one of the best artistic renderings of what it is like to have good friends.

Many people never take their bands out of garages and enjoy the time of sharing music.

This gives and takes in the Jam Session, where bands form their bonds and write new music.

I get a lot of phone calls where someone is trying to sell me something. The sad thing is that often this is from my “friends.”

I have a small group of friends calling to catch up and talk about anything. We find that our spouses are often reminding us we have been on the phone too long. That is a good friend when the two of you get lost in time.

The funny thing is that most of my closest friends were musicians. They understand we need others for our creativity to be pushed, and we need friendship due to how lonely often it is being an artist.

Then there are the formal groups where I worked with people with the hope of building friendships. I served on industry boards and helped with many conferences for years.

When I needed to leave those roles for several reasons, I often sent letters to the group explaining my departure. Sadly only one person at the most ever reached out to say thanks or check to be sure everything was alright.

I have often talked about my mentor Don Rutledge and his impact on my life and many of my closest friends.

Don had an open door policy. If he wasn’t editing, the door of his office was empty. He had regular visitors through the years of all different levels of photography. He treated them all the same. Usually, he looked at their work and then would ask one of the other staff photographers to join him for a few minutes before asking the photo staff to go to lunch with him and the new acquaintance.

One day I was eating dinner with Don and his wife, Lucy. I said to them how much I appreciated his openness. Then Lucy got very serious. She was upset at how many photographers came by, and Don gave them some pointers, and they even went to Black Star, his agency in NYC, to try and take his work. They never came back again and just used Don.

Don bowed his head and felt a little shame. He never stopped welcoming people.

Don was trying to develop long-lasting friendships. He would call photographers and mention he saw their work and compliment them. He wrote letters all the time telling people what he thought and often gave little tips that were most of the time welcomed.

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Rodeo at Parker Ranch, Waimea, The Big Island of Hawaii [Nikon D750, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/1000]

Every once in a while, I like to go back through older photo shoots and look through them. I sometimes find photos I glanced over that are much better than I first noticed.

I use the software PhotoMechanic for my culling and reviewing of photos. 

I can make the photo large and also see all the information about the camera settings on the right of the image.

This is quite helpful for evaluating a photo. Why isn’t the image sharp? The shutter speed helps you see if it was fast enough to eliminate camera or subject motion.

I also like clicking on seeing the photo 1:1, so I can evaluate down to the pixels.

I am doing this with images I have already edited through Adobe Lightroom. If I think I could do a better job now than, say, when I first did the edit or that Lightroom now has tools that were not available when I first edited the photo, I may go back to the RAW image and work on it again.

When you first edit a photograph, you are on a deadline—having the luxury of a lot more time to evaluate photos, I find that I seldom feel much different than I did at the time of the first edit.

One thing I notice a great deal when I go back a few years or more is that the cameras have improved. In 2006 when I took this photo of the dear, I owned the Nikon D2X camera. This was a cropped 12-megapixel sensor with a usable ISO range of 100 to 800.

Just this Wednesday night, I was shooting at a music venue with my Nikon D5, a full sensor, and ISO 40000 to get this photo above. Basically, with the Nikon D2X, this photo wouldn’t have been possible.

Too often, when I look back at photos where I was hand holding the camera, the shutter speed wasn’t high enough to eliminate movement.

While this is a very recent photo of the Hawk in our backyard, it is so sharp because it isn’t the shutter speed as much as I was on a tripod.

I recommend you go back through your photos and not just look for great moments, but evaluate them for sharpness. If they are not sharp, then ask yourself, why not? Look at the camera data and see if you can learn from your older photos.

While shooting is a great way to improve your photos, learning to take the time and evaluate pictures for how to improve them next time technically can mean that when you do shoot again, you will not make those same mistakes due to not having the camera on the best setting.

On trumpet, the California Honeydrops’ Lech Wierzynski plays with Ben Malament on the washboard at Terminal West in Atlanta, Georgia. [Nikon D5, 28-300mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5.6, 1/200]

For my wife’s birthday, we went to Terminal West, a concert venue in Atlanta, Georgia, to hear The California Honeydrops play.

I am thrilled I brought my Nikon D5 and Nikkor 28-3oomm ƒ/3.5-5.6, so I could capture some of the band playing for our family album.

From their website: http://www.cahoneydrops.com/

The California Honeydrops don’t just play music—they throw parties. Drawing on diverse musical influences, including Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul, Delta blues, and New Orleans second-line, they have taken those parties worldwide, playing festivals of all kinds and touring widely across North America, Europe, and Australia. The band was honored to travel with Bonnie Raitt on her 2016 North American album release tour and, in the past, has been privileged to support the likes of B.B. King, Allen Toussaint, Buddy Guy, and Dr. John. Whether playing for audiences of thousands or in intimate venues where they can leave the stage and get down on the dance floor, the California Honeydrops’ shared vision and purpose remain: to make the audience dance and sing.

Founded by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Lech Wierzynski and percussionist Ben Malament, The Honeydrops started busking on the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, where they quickly developed a passionate local following. But the band’s roots stretch back to Wierzynski’s childhood in Poland, where he soaked up the sounds of contraband American recordings by Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong. Later, as a first-generation immigrant to the U.S. and child of political refugees, he assimilated himself by devouring American rock & roll, soul, jazz, and hip-hop recordings. His musical immersion continued at Oberlin College and on the club circuit in Oakland, California.

Growing up playing trumpet all the way into college bands and singing for the church, I loved the group’s sound. Their music is eclectic because most bands have a more narrow style.

Hearing a washboard being played with a horn section was just amazing. The syncopation and groove made me feel like I was enjoying the musicians in a garage jam session where they were playing for the love of the music rather than for performance only.

Terminal West was one of the best venues in Atlanta that I have been to for a small intimate band experience.

The cost of our tickets was only $15 each. The food was also great and reasonably priced.

They had two bars, and the staff was excellent.

We will be looking for more bands playing at Terminal West shortly.