Christopher M Daniels Photography

PDN PhotoPlus Conference

2009-10-20T17:50:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to be attending the PDN PhotoPlus conference in NYC this week. I have a full schedule all three days and plan on tweeting the experience so if you're interested in tuning into that be sure to check back here later this week or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

If you plan on attending the conference be sure to drop me a line!

Use PLUS

2009-10-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is definitely worth passing on. If you routinely find yourself scratching your head when trying to create a licensing structure for your images this is for you. The PLUS Coalition is an international non-profit initiative on a mission to simplify and facilitate the communication and management of image rights. Basically they're trying to create universal, international standards to manage image rights. By creating a common language and communicating that language they hope to eliminate the challenges we all face when drafting a contract. The more organizations and individuals that support this cause, the better it is for all of us so check it out.

The Danger of Being Over-Prepared

2009-05-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not embarrassed to admit that as a photographer, I actually learned an important lesson from watching America's Next Top Model last week. The final 5 were on a beach shoot in Rio with photographer Nigel Barker. One of the models, Celia was waiting for her chance to shoot, and in an attempt to be on her A-Game, she started to practice her posing. After a few hours of practice she got onto the actual set and just FROZE. We're talking "deer-in-the-headlights" kinda stuff. Later in panel, where the judges critique the models, Nigel and Tyra pointed out a really important lesson for Celia. That lesson is the danger of being too prepared! Celia had spent so much time practicing in her head before the shoot that when it came time for the actual shoot she was completely thrown off. The set wasn't what she expected and not as she had practiced. This was the first time I've heard that little nugget of advice and I quickly realized that I suffer the same problem. In trying to be ultra-prepared for clients I have what I call a "Production Book". It's basically a multi-page excel spreadsheet that I use to keep track of every detail of my shoot. I detail my locations with photos and Google map images, I detail the models with everything from photos to shoe sizes, I plan and detail my shots with everything from focal length to lighting. It helps a ton when planning all of the logistics and it really helps to convey to a client exactly what they are paying for. But I realized the other day that by trying to adhere to my planning, I'm ignoring the most important part of photography which is the dynamic, spontaneous moment. I was on a shoot the other day in which one of my best images came in between one of those planned shots. It was one of those magical moments when the model had dropped her guard and was truly and honestly reacting to the environment. It wasn't planned, scripted or rehearsed and if I had been too focused on my spreadsheet, I would have missed it. Now I understand the danger of being over-prepared.

The beauty of Neutral Density filters

2009-01-05T15:18:00.001-08:00

I wanted to mention briefly about the beauty of neutral density filters. If you've ever found yourself shooting in bright sunlight at f22 and wondered how to get a shallow depth-of-field than neutral density filters are your answer. They essentially reduce the amount of light that enters your lens, which in turn allows you to crank down your aperture and decrease the depth-of-field. Give it a try!

How to Succeed in Commercial Photography

2008-12-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a great new book by Selina Maitreya called How to Succeed in Commercial Photography: Insights from a Leading Consultant. She lays down some very hard truths about this industry and has some great advice for success. She was also interviewed by 1ProPhoto.com and shares some tips from her book here.

Advice for aspiring models

2008-12-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

Over the years I've noticed a huge misconception about what exactly makes a good model. The truth is that modeling is much more than looking pretty, it's about conveying an emotion. I recently heard about a trend where photographers were hiring actors instead of models and now I understand this a bit more. When we work with clients to conceptualize a shoot one of the things we decide on pretty quickly is "what is this image trying to communicate". For a commercial shoot, we're trying to sell a product and to do that we invoke the feeling of desire in the consumer. This is why actors are so much more desirable than a typical model - they're trained in communicating and invoking emotion. They can go from "jealousy" to "joy" in a heartbeat. They're also good at 'being in the moment' which is crucial to creating an authentic emotion. I'm always amazed at just how good human beings are at being able to discern those almost imperceptible changes in facial muscles which express emotion. You have this ability too. Have you ever looked at a photo of a person smiling but could tell they were not happy? Actors have the ability to put themselves in the moment and truly believe the feelings they're showing. This the key to being a good model and these are the skills we photographers crave.

Yes, being pretty helps. Yes, fitting into a size 0 helps. But if you can't give a photographer more than 1 look or convey more than 1 emotion, you won't go very far. I've seen ordinary looking people with confident, emotional personalities go far in their careers and beautiful, insecure people that nobody wants to work with. What I recommend is to focus on gaining life experiences from which to draw on and find ways to express deeper feelings and emotions. Instead of spending hours practicing poses in the mirror, try taking a few acting classes instead.

Creative professionals working for free?

2008-12-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

The topic of "working for free" has recently come up again in the blogs of Chase Jarvis and David Hobby. It's a really important issue to raise and I'm glad they did. I haven't been working professionally in this field long enough to have an in-depth opinion about it, but after having worked my way up the professional pole, I DO have a strict policy on the issue. I'm all for working on a "trade time for print/cd" basis when everybody collaborating is in need of the same thing. In fact I think this kind of arrangement works fantastic for budding photogs, models, stylists, etc. I was able to build a decent book in a short amount of time doing so. The problem occurs when legitimate clients with products or services to sell, try to take advantage of that huge pool of talent-in-training.

My policy is this: If my images will be used to sell, market, advertise, or in any way bring you a profit, then you must absolutely compensate me accordingly.

Of course I'll admit that I developed this policy after doing several clothing catalog jobs for free. We're talking dozens of outfits, several models, over the course of several days. A pretty big production. All for free (well ok, it was actually pizza and gas money). At the time I saw it as a great "opportunity" for my career and portfolio. Now of course I realize the damage is two fold:

1) Any referral work I get from that job will expect me to work for free again.
2) I've set expectations in that client that they can in fact get quality images for free which means they're less likely to pay anyone else in the future.

Bad for me and bad for the industry. I've seen a lot of my models experiencing the same problem. The pool of modeling talent is SO huge that if a model refuses to work for free, the client will just move on to the next pretty girl who will. I see this a gross misuse of the "trade time" system that a lot of amateur talent rely on and quite unfortunate.

Alien Bee's Cyber Commander...

2008-11-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

Now here is something I'm REALLY excited about. I'm already a fan of Paul Buff's technology. I'm a heavy user of his Alien Bee system and I think this new development will revolutionize the studio lighting business (and have Pocket Wizard shaking in their boots). Imagine being able to control EVERY aspect of your lighting setup right from your camera hotshoe and then saving that entire configuration to an SD card. Check out more info here.

Rolex Watch Studio Shoot

2008-11-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

We finally finished the Rolex Watch shoot last week. Everything went as smooth as planned. Hoan did an awesome job even though we sprung the cigarette on him at the last minute... he was a trooper. This shoot was conceived as a an advertisement for the Rolex brand using a single male model in the studio. We were trying to express the elegance and sophistication of the brand. We took several shots of the model with a lit cigarette to create an vintage fashion tone but eventually decided that smoking doesn't represent sophistication as it once did. Times have changed huh? We used my favorite low-key lighting setup for this shoot. The main light was supplied by a AB800+lightbox and positioned to camera right. Another AB800+lightbox+grid was positioned behind the model to camera left and provided the rim light. The edits are posted on Flickr... check 'em out!

RED Launches 5K RED EPIC Flagship Camera

2008-11-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

I was blown away by the announcement of RED's new products the EPIC and the SCARLET. From a purely hardware perspective, the idea of investing in a "core" digitizer module and customizing that module as needed is absolutely innovative. But after closer inspection I realized that RED has a long way to go before they capture the hearts (and pocketbooks) of professional photographers. The modular hardware concept is really innovative but without the suite of software components like various metering modes, white balance/exposure bracketing, AF tracking modes, and all the other bells and whistles my Canon 1Ds has, the RED cameras just wont' be as useful.