Shot a holiday event this evening where they had a working phonograph. So cool to hear that unique sound in the background.
Front Cover
Heads up. Watch for the 2015 Winchester City calendar. Yours Truly is featured on the front cover (well, at least my image is) as well as multiple months inside.
Order a print of this image.
Warming Up
Getting ready for our last Handley holiday concert. Seems like this is my view at a lot of venues.
This has been my view for many Handley productions over the last 6 years
Astro Wing
Give me enough time and I’ll eventually cover the whole school. I’d need a lot of time, though.
Several weeks ago I posted the exterior of what I always thought was graffiti on the windows. | Order a print of this image.
Inside
I’ve shot plenty of stuff on the exterior and I’ve always wanted to just walk around inside and shoot, but I never can get it completely empty – until today. I took advantage of some time before the annual band holiday concert and did a little walk-around. I know a lot of Handley faculty follow these posts so I hope I wasn’t too far out of bounds with my little photo walk. I’m really digging the updated Protune features on the GoPro – now I’m just waiting for the GoPro cameras to start shooting in RAW.
I like what it can do, but there’s still such a difference between JPEG and RAW images in post (but I knew that going in). | Order a print of this image.
Tacky
Long Day and finally getting around to posting something. Participated in the Carmax Tacky Christmas Light Run in Midlothian. We’re talking Griswold see-it-from-space tacky. And I didn’t take a camera! What’s wrong with me?!
Wacky Tacky Finishing Chute.
Mothra
Each time we visit my in-laws, there’s some sort of ridiculously huge insect indigenous to Florida waiting for us. Crazy thing is, it usually sticks around the entire time we’re there. This time we named it.
Yep, this is what you get when I accidentally delete my intended one-a-day…
Cotton Candy Sky
I recently read a photography post compiled by top professionals indicating what photos I (as a professional wanna-be) should avoid because they’re cliche and “tired.” You know what, I don’t care. I don’t always take a photograph based on what the population will consider artful. In fact, I think being a professional means determining in my own mind what I think to be artful. And the sunset, although having been shot countless times every day, is different (IMHO) every single day. That’s the beauty of it. So enjoy this very unique sunset.
Can You See It?
I’ve read articles about how various drone sightings are freaking out pilots of major airlines. I certainly can’t speak to what it’s like to fly a plane or what it looks like out the cockpit window – having had only a 1/2-hour lesson in a Cessna once about 10 years ago. I’ve debated whether or not I should write about this because I know the sh*t storm that could ensue, but I think I’d be hard-pressed to see a drone out the window of an airplane. But that’s me. I don’t have the trained eye of a pilot. It’s different up there. Kinda like when I was in Africa and the guides kept seeing all the animals. I had no idea what I was looking at having never experienced it – that’s why they’re the experts. That being said, I can speak to what it looks like from the other perspective and can only assume that it’s a similar view. I know my pilot friends may have a lot to say on the matter and I certainly invite it because both sides need to be considered as the public moves into a new era of unmanned craft hovering around your neighborhoods. I think I’ve done a pretty good job at using common sense since I’ve had the aerial camera. I’ve only had one complaint and that person was questionable at best.
Anyway, can you see the small aircraft (prop plane) in this image? It was flying near my house and I was very nervous about it so I brought the drone back towards me. The plane was relatively close (probably just took off from the local airport) and I could clearly see it from my vantage point on the ground. Look really closely. It took me a little bit to find it and I knew it was there. Now, keep in mind that I’m probably below the plane so seeing it would be easier than it seeing me. I have a more contrasting background from my viewpoint.
Look out! I’m hovering at 374 feet by the way.
Bowl
What more can I say, it was a great night for shooting. Oh, and I’ve decided that the GoPro is a keeper.
Oh what a night – to shoot the Handley Bowl. | Order a print of this image.
Wonderful Life
No, not the movie. My dog – what a wonderful life it must be to be able to just chill all day.
We got Waldo just about three years ago right before Christmas. He was a guest on the weekly show Talk of the Town with Barry Lee. We shot on Tuesday and it aired on Saturday. He was adopted by the time the show aired.
Contrasty
The real trick to creating a decent monochromatic image is to have a really contrasty image to start with. I’m really digging what the new GoPro cameras can do. The fact that I now have much more control over the exposure is what drew me to them. I’m not even using it as an action camera as it was initially intended. Now I have to figure out a way to attach this to my current aerial rig…
Last Drop
What would I do without my coffee each day? Now I wouldn’t consider myself a coffee connoisseur, but I am a photo geek who’ll see an image as my morning coffee is brewing, set up an elaborate shooting rig that involves a macro ring light, extension tubes and a full-size tripod on the kitchen counter and fire off close to 300 shots to get this one. Too much coffee I guess.
Installing the latest Java update (see what I did there).
Mixed
So it’s been one year today. I’ve been thinking about this post for a while. Should I post about it? Am I dwelling on the past or am I simply being nostalgic? Should I let it go? Should I move on? How do I feel about it now that it’s 365 days behind me? I still have pretty mixed emotions.
So much has changed in the past 12 months. People I knew and worked with daily have moved on. Initially, I was incredibly angry and I held on to it for a long time (still have a little left). I mean, how could this have happened? Believe me there’s a unanimous opinion about that one. We decided to remain in the area because it’s our home. I understand the need for most to move out of the area – that’s the accepted protocol to stay in this industry and move up; however, I wasn’t in a position where I could do that. So I had to pick up the pieces and take a crack at it here and I think I’ve done ok for the first year.
What do I think now that I’m 52 weeks removed? Well, there’s still a very large part of me that is saddened by it all. I think it’s especially noticeable to me because I’m teaching a video production class right back in the same building. Kinda heart-breaking to watch my control room be dismantled. But when it’s all said and done, how is any negative talk going to benefit me now anyway? I’ve moved on, but I’ll never forget. That was my dream job. I was doing what I enjoyed. I essentially had no commute. I created some lasting friendships and met so many awesome people along the way. Some, of whom, I’m still working with these days.
I would never be where I am today and doing what I’m doing had it not been for several people who believed in me from the start. There I was, struggling to find something in the creative industry. No formal training in it. A degree in Psychology. And high hopes. Then along came TV3 Winchester.
For 7 years I got to have my cake and eat it, too. For 7 years, I built up a reputation that has carried me into the next chapter of my life. I still have a passion for what I’m doing and it’s a daily struggle, but such is the life of a freelancer. But now I have a track record behind me that’s helping me tremendously.
I don’t think I’ll soon forget the memories and experiences from my time with TV3 Winchester that have brought me to where I am right now.
The original cast and crew.
Happy Holidays
The photo booth was a big hit. To my surprise, one of the employees at the company built a backdrop for the booth. I tethered my camera and, through Lightroom, every new photo was instantly developed with a preset I’d created earlier. And all the guests had an instant preview on the big screen. It was absolutely perfect.
What a perfect backdrop for a holiday photo booth!
Worthy
I took the new GoPro out tonight to determine if it’s worthy enough to be considered a decent camera in my photography tool box. I’ve made my decision. What do you think?
The “Beacon of Light” all decked out for the holidays. | Order a print of this image.
Booth
Getting ready for a photo booth shoot. You really can’t go wrong with a photo booth at an event. Can’t wait to see what zany stuff’s gonna happen at this one…
Photo Booth = the original selfie.
Filters
I know a lot of people aren’t big on the “creative” images full of filters that come off a cell phone these days – me included. But I’m a real sucker for a photo that has that graphic novel look to it.
I chose to only take my phone to the Christmas parade tonight. My thinking was that I’ve shot this parade for 6 years now and I always come home with the same shots. BORING!! So here’s what I came home with tonight.
The John Handley Marching Band in the annual Winchester Christmas parade.
Preserved
A little twist on the obligatory annual family portrait as we will be forever preserved in bobble heads.
Yep, that’s us.
Pit Stop
Any excuse to take the aerial camera out and fly it, right? I saw these trees across the highway on the way down to Florida and said I thought it would make a cool image. So we stopped on the way home. I really missed out on some cool photography on our cross-country RV trip a couple of years ago.
Our first rest stop on the way home from Florida.
Cedarmeade Studios 