Falling in Love

Published
by
Jake Garn
on August 24, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 9 Comments
If you want to take your photography to the next level then you’re going to have to commit more time to taking photos than just about everyone you currently know.  That is a hard thing to do, but it becomes a lot easier if you have passion for what you do. So how do you get passion?  That’s a question I can confidently answer with one sentence, “Fall in love.”

“When you’re in love it’s the most glorious two-and-a-half days of your life.” Richard Lewis

Love is such a complex term that it means a thousand different things to a thousand different people.  Even the same person can have different definitions of love depending on the context. For instance I love my wife, I love my son, I love my mom, I love my sisters, I love my pets, I love to play Call of Duty and I love photography – and each one of those is in a completely different way. Yet they all have the same beginnings. The beginning of love is always a willingness to get to know and appreciate… in other words, the time you invest into something can convert into love.  It’s easy to become infatuated with something, that only takes a day or two… but to truly fall in love?  Well, sometimes that takes a lifetime, rightfully so.

“You can’t explain love … Actually, you can’t even talk about it.” Charlie Brown, Charles Schulz

Love is not a unilaterally positive emotion, love is difficult.  Almost all the pain, heartache, stress and inadequacies you’ll ever feel in life are because you love.  That pain is absolutely necessary to keep you grounded though, there needs to be something that pulls you back into reality.  The hard times are simply the growing pains of happiness… learn to embrace them as much as the good times, after all the bad times are the best evidence you have that life is important to you.

“Love sought is good, but giv’n unsought is better” William Shakespeare

You can’t choose to fall in love with something.  It doesn’t work that way. Yet the more you understand something the easier it becomes to love.  In order to love something you need to know it, on a level deeper than most.  This concept applies to people, to animals, to objects, to art, to hobbies to music and anything else you can think of.

“I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I’ve ever known.” Walt Disney

Really loving any pursuit, whether it be photography, video games, snowboarding, rock climbing or whatever, is not easy.  Getting to know something well enough to love it takes can easily take 10,000 plus hours. This time you invest usually cannot be invested elsewhere.  When I’m shooting I’m not spending time with my family, I’m not playing video games, I’m not reading my favorite books or watching great movies – I’m shooting.  If you’re not careful a unilaterally focused obsession can develop, and that’s not good.  Make sure there is a balance in the things you love. Make time for family and friends and other things in life, but if you want to be great at something you’re going to have to be border-line obsessed.  Genius is a thin grey line away from madness…

“The greater the man’s soul, the deeper he loves.” Leonardo DaVinci

Great artists throughout history have struggled managing the thin line between a healthy love of their craft and a manic obsession that drives them mad.  If you want to create something that people can’t help but look at then consign yourself to this life struggle. As a visual artist you need to be in love, but as a person you need to not be obsessive.  Inspiration is found in the deepest recesses of human emotion. That doesn’t mean the art needs to be emotionally charged, or poignant or loaded with metaphorical observations of life.  It simply means you need to experience feelings beyond the ordinary, that is if you want inspiration beyond the mundane.  When I refer to art I simply mean something that people want to look at, not necessarily something that has to change the world.

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao-Tzu

Photography is only part of what a photographer does. To be a great photographer you need to learn to love the subject you shoot and the tools you use. You need love learning about controlling and manipulating light, expressions, moods, styling, ideas, post-processing and probably most importantly you need to love all the people involved that help make everything happen.  Having a very loving and understanding wife sure doesn’t hurt either!

“How bold one gets when sure of being loved!” Sigmund Freud

The more comfortable you are with your camera, your lights, or your models the more mental energy is available to focus on your imagination!  Original, unique, and bold ideas will get you noticed, they also require imagination above and beyond the ordinary.  It’s only after you’ve invested the time falling in love with your craft and your tools that you are able to focus nearly completely on the idea and have the confidence to pull it off!

“The best way to know God is to love many things.” Vincent Van Gogh

I’m nothing but a fledgling photographer that takes images of beautiful people, I know this.  I want to be something more though.  I want to make images that get noticed by more and more people… Sometimes people see me as something more, just recently someone sent me a message asking how I got to where I am as a photographer… well, the advice I have for them is the same advice I have for myself, the only way to get to the next level is simple… just fall in love.

“I am sick of love.” King Solomon

Recently I reviewed an Elinchrom Octa, I was supposed to send it back a couple weeks ago but I decided that I wanted to fall in love… well, my time is up and I’m sending it back tomorrow but here is a smattering of results from the last couple weeks.  Evidence of a fledgling love affair with a great light shaping tool!  The separation will be short though, I’m ordering one from B&H this week.  :-)


Equipment used to achieve these images

Most of these images were three light setups with two rectangle softboxes providing the key and the Elinchrom Octa as the main light, a couple of them were a classic over-under light setup.

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How to Steal an Expression

Published
by
Jake Garn
on August 17, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Working with Models
. 6 Comments

A couple weeks ago  I talked about The Art of the Pose where I discussed three styles of directing models.

Well within those styles are techniques, some simple and some complex.  Over the years I have  developed a lot of techniques to get the look I want on a shoot.  Here’s one of my favorites!

How to Steal an Expression

Expression stealing is a term I came up with to describe the technique of making a model make a certain expression, without specifically asking him/her to do it.  In other words it’s always better to make a model smile, rather than ask her to smile.

Take this image for instance:

This is an amazing expression from Sarah

Sarah’s expression is a unique and complex blend of disdain & joy, boredom & fascination, pity & fear… if I wanted to get this look from Sarah again I could tell her those descriptions but she would have no idea what I was talking about.  There simply is no good way I can think of to tell a model to do this… but I have a thousand ways to make her spontaneously give me a look similar to this!

You can’t describe your way to this expression… you have to steal it.

If I want a laugh I don’t tell a model to laugh, I make her laugh… and not with a lame joke either, that’s not a real laugh.  For instance, the best laugh you can make is that one of slight embarrassment, so to get one I’ll tell a model to smile [take a picture] then frown [take a picture] then smile again.  At first I slowly take pictures, waiting for her expression to catch up… then I go faster, and faster until she starts feeling so ridiculous at how how odd it feels that she just can’t help but laugh out loud!  In other words, I spend ten frames shooting something I’ll never use in order to get a true laugh out.

You, as the director, have to figure out a way to authentically make the model make a true expression and at the exact right second snatch it away!  That’s what I call Expression Stealing!

Any model that shoots with me knows that I usually talk to them throughout the entire shoot, I ask a lot of questions.  Little do they know that I’m silently, usually sub-conciously, noticing their reactions.  I don’t even really care a whole lot about most the questions I ask or the answers I receive (in fact I usually forget about what they say immediately) but what I am remembering is what their reactions are like.

So I thought I’d do a little exercise to illustrate this idea… Without either of them knowing anything about my experiment (at the time) I put the model (Sarah) on the phone with Ryan Muirhead in the middle of a test shoot last week… I gave them no explanation as to why they were talking, I just told them they had to keep talking.  Sarah was able to stay on the phone for over a FULL minute before ending the conversation and passing me back the phone.

The whole time they were talking I was busy stealing genuine expressions. All in 70 seconds.

(CLICK IT FOR A BIGGER SIZE)

By the way, expression stealing is much more than just saying something and capturing the reaction, sometimes the reactions build and build on each other… the more complex the reactions get the better the expression.

The ironic thing is that I love shooting models in a nearly expressionless state. When I think about it I realize there is a genuine reason for why I love shooting blank expressions so much.

“It’s easy to make someone laugh…”

It’s easy to make someone laugh but making a model ignore every care in the world and completely relax?  That’s a bit more tough.  Not only do I love the challenge but I love the idea of blank…

Once you’ve removed expression you are left with a blank stare, and isn’t it interesting how hypnotizing a blank stare can be.

“Isn’t it interesting how hypnotizing a blank stare can be.”

Go ahead, take a few seconds longer than normal and look at the image below… notice how, with a little imagination, it makes you feel like you’re looking into yourself.  Like it’s a mirror reflecting back the emotions that are currently on the edge of your mind?

Or is that just me?

Equipment used to achieve these images

Links take you to B&H with additional specs and current prices.

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The Value of a Muse

Published
by
Jake Garn
on July 31, 2010
in Collections and Series, Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 6 Comments

The Value of the Muse

muse: Classical Mythology, -n a goddess that inspires a creative artist.

A model shows up on time and well prepared for a shoot.  A good model takes direction and looks like a natural in front of the camera.  An excellent model makes any photographer they work with appear even better than they actually are.

Then there is the muse.  The muse is the rarest of all models.  They are all of the above but they somehow inspire the photographer to search for reasons to pick up the camera, any reason at all.  They participate in the shoot unlike anyone else and share the passion for creating something new and interesting.  This passion is contagious.  Enough passion can change almost anything in the world, including your photography.

I have LOVED shooting with dozens of models, I’ve really, really loved shooting a smaller group of ten or so models and I can count the number of muses and potential muses I’ve stumbled upon over the past ten years on one hand.  Here are just three of them… though a couple more are unlisted.  :-)

First there was Katherine.

I do, and will always, credit Katherine as the main reason I eventually became good at photography.  Her bubbly quirky personality was and is magnetic to be around. If she was born 4,000 years ago wars would have been fought over her.  Immediately after shooting her I’d want to shoot her again, and again, and again.  This was in the day before digital cameras and it was much more expensive to shoot but I didn’t care.  We had a lot of good times me and her and she always inspired me to take better photos.  I still get to shoot her every few months or so today but is getting less and less as she gets busier and busier, though she will always be my very first muse.

Mara sent me an email at the very tail end of 2004.

She attached a couple snapshots of herself and said she was interested in modeling. I was immediately inspired by the amazingly rounded structure in her face, it had a very rare chiseled quality that I couldn’t possibly describe with mere words.  I was only able to shoot her for a year or two before she moved away to L.A. but in that short amount of time I became addicted… I wish she’d visit Utah again!

Carly and I had our first shoot in July 2007, just before her 18th birthday.

I knew Carly would be amazing almost immediately.  That rare combination of a fear-nothing personality to a bewitching shyness the contradictions in Carly are endless, which shows in the way she models.  She fluidly moves from pose to pose, constantly shifting between whacky and serious.  She’s amazingly fun to shoot and is the reason for this post…

The Value of a Muse

To celebrate our three year anniversary of our very first shoot Carly convinced me we should do a classic shoot from the food series I worked on a couple years ago, a series Carly helped me with many, many times!

As she’ll tell you I was very skeptical, I shot so many images during that little phase that I thought it would be impossible to think of ideas that I hadn’t already done, but it was Carly and when she gets something in her head…

So there we were at the grocery store shopping for food, we got a number of items before meeting up with Steven Robertson (who volunteered to do some styling)… it was after the shoot I realized something… the food series from a couple years ago was full of quirky ideas but it felt like just a warm-up, now I had to really make a series out of it.

This one suggestion from one model not only sparked an amazing shoot that night, but I have since shot three more girls for a new series based around food… which is blowing my mind!

8/9/10 EDIT :: Images from this series will be available in the November 2010 issue of 944 Magazine.

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Inspiration vs. Mimicking

Published
by
Jake Garn
on July 24, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 3 Comments

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

Yes.

Sometimes it’s annoying to see someone post work showing off their skills when clearly they’re making a full fledged effort to mimic somebody else, but the fact of the matter is we are all doing it.

That doesn’t mean we’re all consciously trying to be like someone else but every artist in the history of time tries to relate their art to the world around them, the only difference between good art and bad art is how successfully the artist hides it.

For instance, when I take a photo that is an original idea, say a model shooting herself in the head with Silly String.  A great idea and one I never, ever saw shot before.  An original idea… at least I think it is… that being said I won’t be surprised when someone links me to a photo very similar to it (but I haven’t seen one).

The problem is not one single element in this image is a creation of mine.  Silly String was patented in 1972 – five years before I was born, the model is an exquisite creation of God, and the satire of suicide by string is ironic only because of the more serious issue it alludes to.

My only contribution was to combine a bunch of elements (that are not mine) and show them in a new way.  Technically I haven’t actually created anything.

Isn’t that all that art really is?  A reproduction of some form of the life we know?  Can we really claim ownership of that?

Well the answer is a resounding YES!  We can copyright just about any artistic creation but where is the line between new and old?  When does a portrait of another person actually become the artists‘ creation?

Before I had a camera I drew.  That was my artistic release, and when I would draw I’d look towards other images to mimic.  Just as a type of practice.  I made this drawing in high school based on a beautiful photo in National Geographic.  Not my creation but I did bring a new element to it, I changed the medium from a photo to a drawing… what are the ethics of that?  Am I allowed to change someone else’s photo into another medium?

What about this drawing of Bob Marley I did during the boredom I endured at the outbound telemarketing job I had in High School?  Who’s art is it?  Is it the photographer that took the original image?  Is it the drawer?  Is it Bob Marley’s parents for giving birth to him?  The question can get a little blurry… but the fact is I didn’t have permission from the photographer to make a work based on their photo, but does that mean I can’t draw it?  Not at all!

That said the ethics in the art world are pretty well established.  Drawings (and photos) that mimic somebody else’s creation are great for showing off and practicing technique, but you should never put mimicked images/photos/drawings in a professional portfolio (online or printed) and claim sole credit for the creation.  That’s just not cool.  But a personal site or a critique website where you go to learn?  I think most people agree that’s fair game.

If you want to claim credit for work then make sure it’s not just a copy of someone else’s hard work and inspiration.  Take something from the world around you and make it your OWN!  If you really want a drawing to be yours you need to draw something that nobody else created without your help or input!  Or if it is based on something at least bring something original to the table!  It’s a lot harder to draw from real life but it’s a lot more rewarding… take this charcoal drawing I did nearly 10 years ago (not the greatest thing in the world but not half bad for a hobbyist).

My advice to you is to know the phase your work is in… if you are in the mimicking phase then don’t worry!  Everybody starts somewhere, but just realize that maybe you aren’t quite ready to slap that “XXXXX photography” logo on your images just yet.  Save that for when you start producing your own ideas, it’s much more rewarding that way!

PS – I looked quite hard to find the original photograph of the Lady in the Hat and Bob Marley with no luck… if you can find them post a link in the comment section, I’d love to give credit to the original photographers but I drew them about fifteen years ago!

EDIT July 30th, 2010  - It needs to be mentioned that I am not referring to ANY photographer I personally know, I have had multiple guesses from multiple people, “Is this about so-and-so?”  or  ”Is this about me?”  The answer is NO… it’s about nobody specifically!  That said, we can ALL use a bit more uniqueness in our styles, myself included, so in that sense it is about nobody and everybody I know.

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How to Recruit a Styling Team

Published
by
Jake Garn
on June 28, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 5 Comments

Images like these, the ones that instantly blow my mind (even though I took the picture) require a team of individuals to create.  In this case it was Keith Bryce for the custom designed collar, Steven Robertson for the amazing halo-hair-pieces, and Paula Dahlberg for the absolute genius makeup.  Everyone brought a piece of their vision to the table allowing us to create something much, much better than any one of us could accomplish individually.  When that happens you know the collaboration was a success… yet not everyone has access to this kind of collaboration… so how do you get it?

Here’s a quote I heard from another photographer about some of my more over-the-top images.

“Anyone could make those, if I had access to your stylists and equipment it would be easy.”

This frame of mind is not unique to this particular person.  Many aspiring, and even established, photographers begrudgingly carry this thought around in the back of their mind.  It’s not even limited to photographers either.  The “I could do that if only…” mentality is absolutely pervasive in our culture.  Simultaneously diminishing the accomplishments of others and inflating ourselves to their level.  No wonder it’s so popular!

The argument falls apart, of course, when their creations don’t live up to their own expectations as being impossible to copy… of course anyone could pretend to be able to copy something someone else created.  I could have done an amazing portrait of Sunflowers if only I had Van Gogh’s free-time and toxic paint fumes, I could have treated your case of syphilis if only I could write a prescription for antibiotics, I could have made a billion dollars by inventing the iPhone if only I had access to Apple’s engineers and designers, it would be so easy!

If you have this thought in your mind then the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath, take a step back and accept this one simple fact…

It is your past that makes your present achievable

Yes, with the same stylists, equipment and ideas you probably could achieve something similar, the only problem is you don’t have those things… and I didn’t have them either, until I put in the work to get them.  If you want to bring a team of collaborators together in the creation of your own images then keep reading.

Everyone (stylists included) works for currency

I’m not talking about cash. This would be a pretty stupid blog post if all I did was tell you to gather a wad of hundred dollar bills together and call up a stylist (though that might work). Cash is only one form of currency in this world and the funny thing about cash is it’s value is completely invented.  Cash only exists in order to make it easier for the economy to work, but any economist will tell you that at the end of the day it’s the exchange of goods and services that has any real substance.  Cash is only valuable because you can trust you’ll be able to trade it for other stuff later… but I digress.

So forget cash and focus on a currency of real value.  The currency of talent.  It’s the stylist’s talent that makes you want to work with them in the first place right?  Well I have news for you, they want to work with talented people too!  So skip the cash and work on increasing the value of your own talent… that’s the first thing.

The Anatomy of Talent

In my mind talent is made up of two different, yet equally important parts.  A creative vision and the know-how to bring this vision to fruition.  I don’t care how amazing your idea is, if you don’t have the means or ability to create that vision into something tangible then the idea has no value.  The other side of the coin is all your technical abilities are completely useless if you don’t have an idea worth creating.

It’s actually not all that difficult to spend the time learning the technical craft of photography.  All it takes is time.  By the same token it’s not all that hard to come up with a “blow everyone’s mind” idea!  For instance I think it would be amazing to create a teleportation machine, I could charge everyone $50 to transport them anywhere in the world instantaneously.  I’d be a billionaire over-night.  Only problem is I have no idea how to accomplish this.

It’s the perfect marriage of these two elements that is rare, the ability to come up with achievable ideas that people care about and to actually see them through to fruition.  In other words you need to tailor your ideas to your abilities and simultaneously make them cool enough that people notice.

In that vein here are a handful of images that I created before I started working with a creative styling team.  All of these images/ideas were simple collaberations between the model and I, no professional hair styling, makeup or wardrobe stylists were used.  Just ideas.

Creating images showcasing ideas isn’t enough though.  Stylists want to know that you will be able to show their work in the best possible light (no pun intended?) and that means you need to know classic beauty lighting and composition. This means bright, soft light flooding your image. You’ll need to show you can do it over and over again so make sure your portfolio has lots of these types of images.  Over-reliance on photoshop effects and blurring the skin is a BAD idea to get this look, if you need to do that then you’re doing it wrong.

Once again here are a handful from my portfolio, again, all shot before I used stylists on a regular basis… and once again.  Notice they show off both technique and creativity?  That is important if you want them to be noticed.

When creating these images I did not have an agenda in mind, just a passion for creating them.  No money was involved, no class assignment, no commercial job for either me or the models.  I think that was the key.  Passion is the absolute best kind of fuel to drive your creative currency… without passion there is simply no way you can stand spending the time it takes to build it into something bigger than you are.

You HAVE to love what you do enough to actually go out and do it.  If the only reason you’re doing it is for the money then I’m sorry, you’re just not going to get good enough.  Shoot what you love so you can love what you shoot.  Don’t worry about creating what you think other people want to see… it doesn’t work that way.  People sense passion and people love artists that take risks, it may take some time for your passion to catch on to others and it is possible that it takes longer than your entire life (Van Gogh anyone?).

If that discourages you then you’re not cut out for the journey, after all… it’s the journey that’s the most fun.

What Next?

Here’s the beauty of this system.  I was in no hurry to start using styling teams, I was having so much fun that the thought never even really occurred to me.  Yet after creating images like these for a couple years I noticed something interesting happen and you’ll probably notice the same thing… your currency becomes valuable enough that it starts to be in demand.  When this happened to me I was taken a bit by surprise, and in several ways I’m still surprised to this day.  I really had no idea that my passion would translate into a currency that had value.  I was making them because I loved doing it, that was it…

Maybe that’s the secret.

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The Trouble with Pet Peeves

Published
by
Jake Garn
on June 18, 2010
in Photo Philosophy, Photoshop and Lightroom and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 7 Comments

Neck wrinkles in photos is my number one Pet Peeve

Neck Wrinkle (n) The overlaps in skin caused when a person’s head is turned with a seemingly unnatural angle relative to the neck.

Even though most photographers and models will create images that avoid overlapping wrinkles of skin somehow neck wrinkles pop up in professional fashion and beauty photography not commonly, but definitely not rarely.  There are neck wrinkles in a book titled “Fashion Photography” for crying out loud!

I don’t know why I allow myself to be so bothered by them.  Maybe it’s because it’s so easy to make posing adjustments to relieve the excruciating pressure required to overlap one’s skin on itself, or it might be because neck wrinkles remind me of over-active models trying too hard to show their arse AND their face, ala “Bikinis and Cars 18-month Calendar” style.

Whatever the reason, if there is a neck wrinkle in an image I just can’t stop looking at it (and thanks to this article I’ve now cursed you with the same affliction).  It’s like this, 1 of my 5 senses wants to abandon their post and render me temporarily deaf whenever I stumble onto one of Jay Leno’s monologues, yet my brain orders it to even greater attention, and in a true plot-twist my senses are repulsed but my brain is fascinated by the agony of it all.  So I cannot look away.

I even spend a few minutes talking about posing techniques that will eliminate neck wrinkles in my photo workshops for crying out loud!  It’s that big of deal to me.  I’m not condoning it, that’s just the way I am.

That being said sometimes, sometimes the perfect shot happens to have the wrinkles.  That’s just the way it is.  No amount of posing or time-machine can fix it.  The perfect comedy line-up just happens to include Jay Leno… what are you supposed to do?  Do you skip the whole event just because of one overlapping skin wrinkle?  Bless his heart.

The answer is of course NO.  You cannot abandon the perfect shot because of one dulwarp.

dulwarp (n) 1. Jay Leno 2. Neck Wrinkles.

So I’m working on a set of images I call the Chameleon Series. You haven’t seen the images yet, nor do you know anything about it because it’s a surprise (the series will go on display at The Aperture gallery in Salt Lake City on Friday June 23rd, 2010 – stay tuned for details) yet it happened… the perfect shot of one of the models just happened to have them.  I don’t know how I missed it during the shoot or if I noticed them and just didn’t realize we just made THE shot, but in any case I had to accept the fact that they were there.

THE shot (n) The shot of all shots in this particular look.

At first I just let them be, I thought to myself that I could do it. I could release an image with neck wrinkles, it would be fine.  But as the image neared completion I realized I couldn’t live with myself if Jay Leno accidentally made his way onto my TIVO anymore than I could put an image into this series with neck wrinkles.

So, I had to fix them and fixing them takes quite a bit longer than you’d think, yet it was all worth it.

Before

After (nearly complete)


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The Ingredients of Success?

Published
by
Jake Garn
on May 2, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 6 Comments

10,000 Hours

Awhile back I read a fantastic book called Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell. The author discusses the notion that to become great at anything it requires about 10,000 hours of dedicated work to achieve it.  This number rings true for everyone from Tiger Woods, to the Beatles, to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Beethoven… superstardom requires a tremendous amount of work.  Work is only half the equation though…

Where and when you were born also has an enormous impact on your ability to achieve that next level of success.  Did you know, for instance, that the founders of Apple, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems were all born between 1953 and 1955?  Or that two-thirds of all professional hockey players have a birthday in February or January?  There is a very good reason for both of these and it seems to have very little to do with coincidence.

With names like Avedon, Ansel, Ritts, Mann, among dozens of others, you might think that the best time to revolutionize photography has come and gone, but I would make the argument that right now is better than it ever has been for any photographer.  Never before has access to photography been this open both to the photographer and to the viewer. Access that would have been unbelievable just over 10 years ago. What has made all this access possible?  Two things:

  • High Quality Digital Cameras
  • Massively Adopted Social Media

Digital Cameras

Let’s face it, some photographers will be better than others well before the 10,000 hour mark and some photographers may not be anywhere near great well after 10,000.  That being said, I think it’s safe to say that in order to start realizing the highest potential for greatness inside your work then you’ll start to see it around 10,000 hours of good, solid, brow-to-the-plow experience. So, to invest 10,000 hours into photography you are looking at doing 5 shoots a week (3 hours each) for 7 years give or take.  Not too bad actually.

Here’s the problem.  Ten years ago to achieve 10,000 hours (with a film camera) the financial cost would be significant.  Figure it cost at least $100 to process each shoot (film, develop, print).  So $100 a shoot, 5 shoots a week for 7 years would bring the bill for your 10,000 hours to roughly $182,000.   Ouch.  In other words, if you didn’t start making money at photography almost immediately, or had a spare $26,000 a year, you simply were not going to have the opportunity to shoot often enough to become good enough.  Oh, and this investment wouldn’t include any gear like cameras or lights or models or studio space.

Compare that to the expense of using a digital camera today.  You can buy the Canon 5D Mark II right now for about $2,500 (the camera I use).  That is about the same cost you’d incur to do 25 shoots back in the day.  I can’t be certain but I’m pretty sure that the Great Depression may have been caused by the enormous amount of money everyone had to spend developing photos from their brand new Kodaks.

Don’t have $2,500?  No problem, you can buy several cameras for less than $1,000 that are WAAAAAY better than the digital camera I was using about 10 years ago, which had an amazing 3 megapixels!

Social Media

Everyone has a facebook or a myspace account.  Well everyone except for that one weird friend (we all have one) that is holding out because they “don’t see what the point is,” even my grandpa is on Facebook for crying out loud!  This one simple fact has big implications in the world of fashion/beauty photography.  The biggest thing is there is a platform for budding new photographers to show their work off to thousands of people.  If you wanted to show your work off to thousands of people 10 years ago you needed a lucky break, win a big award, get published in a big magazine, find the right commercial client.  It required skill and quite a bit of luck to be seen, but now if your work is worth seeing it WILL be seen.  Sure, it still requires a bit of luck to land those commercial clients, get published in magazines or win those awards but now your chances of being seen by the right person are increased dramatically.

Being seen by more people has another effect. Things that were tremendously difficult ten years ago are now easier than ever before.  Take model scouting.  Ten years ago if you needed to find a new model you could call up local agencies (and in a small market like Utah I quickly found that most agencies had no interest in finding work for their ‘models’ – they simply wanted to sign new victims up and charge them for ‘modeling classes’ – but that’s another post) or you could hit the malls, dance clubs and movie theaters and try to find them yourself.  This was tedious to say the least, and when you finally did find someone they were extraordinarily skeptical about your motivations for approaching them… and thanks again to all the scam modeling agencies most of the potential models thought you wanted to charge them outrageous fees for modeling classes (if you are getting the impression that I’m not a fan of small market modeling agencies then you are hearing me quite correctly).

Facebook and Myspace changed all of this, in quite a dramatic way.  Now whenever I take a photo of a girl she posts it on her Facebook page and suddenly all her friends see her photo with my logo on it… as this happens several dozens of times it starts to become pretty easy to find new models because suddenly they’re all coming to me!  Not only that but hair stylists, makeup artists, wardrobe designers, body painters and all sorts of talented people ALSO start seeing your work because they’re on Facebook too.  Social media is the most pervasive form of networking ever invented.

As this cycle repeats itself you find a bigger and bigger audience for your work, which attracts even more talented people which attracts an even bigger audience and you soon realize that your work is being viewed by thousands without the lucky break.  This is a big deal.

But What About the Competition?

If you are one of the photographers that complains about the sheer number of photographers entering the market then stop, take a deep breath and realize something.  There is no better thing to push your work to new heights than good, old-fashioned competition.  In my opinion having so many people taking an interest in photography is nothing but awesome for the industry as a whole.

Out of all the places in the world you wouldn’t pick Salt Lake City Utah to be a hot-bed for producing amazing talent in fashion and beauty photography but you would be wrong.  There are some amazing photographers (and stylists and models!) here producing amazing work and I personally LOVE how they make me want to create better and better work, all of the time.

Here are just a few of my favorites that have been shooting in Salt Lake City for the past several years.  Go check out their work and while you’re there tell them Jake Garn said hello.  :-)

Ryan Muirhead Photography

Justin Grant Photography

Mitch Meyer Photography

Steven Wood Photography

(these photos have all been posted with the respective photographers’ permission – and I’m certain I missed several more amazing Utah photographers, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your faves!)

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floating::drowning

Published
by
Jake Garn
on April 22, 2010
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 19 Comments

(click for full view)

“Right now I feel like my photography is in a bit of a rut.” -Jake Garn

I said this statement, out loud, January 9th, 2010 to the attendees of my photo workshop.  Many eyes looked surprised, did they disagree or were they just shocked that I was admitting it? I’m not really sure…. but I’m leaning towards the latter.

At any given instant we are all either high-on-life or wallowing in our failures.  Either we’re lucky in love or we’re excruciatingly lonely. Stifling hot or bitter cold, soaking wet or parched to the bone; we are all shooting either the best work of our lives or producing an endless stream of experiments gone wrong… Isn’t life all about being in one of these extremes?

Of course the answer is no.  Most of us are somewhere in between, and that’s the problem.

I had tasted a high at one point but for now I was on cruise control and I knew it.  You probably know it about yourself as well. If we are not floating then our risks are not paying off, and if we are not drowning then our risks are not failing. In the middle of these two extremes our cruise control is keeping us safe from all the consequences of risk, good or bad.

I recognized my rut about 6 months ago and spent several months, projects and experiments working out why, and what to do about it.

Today it hit me.

The problem was I was neither floating nor drowning… just treading water and slowly running out of gas.

I created this image, text included without a conscious thought of what, if anything, I was trying to say…. only that I felt like it was saying something – and that was different than usual.

When I finished it I just stared because I thought it was beautiful, then I noticed the shape of a heart, and I realized that in life we are either floating high or drowning in failure… If it’s neither of those then we’re just drowning too slowly to notice.

Art, work, relationships… it’s all the same.

I realized something, to get out of the rut I need to switch off the cruise control and take some risks, pull anchor and either float or drown. If I start to drown I’ll get a better boat, if I float then I’ll know the risk just paid off.

Today I decided I’m pulling up my anchor, this decision scares me… which sounds just about right.

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You’ve Got Questions, I’ve Got Answers (model version)

Published
by
Jake Garn
on December 5, 2009
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 5 Comments

You’ve Got Questions

I’ve Got Answers

Frequently Asked Questions from Aspiring Models

Such and Such Modeling Agency just contacted me, are they legit?

I can’t tell you how many models I’ve met that spent hundreds or thousands of dollars at agencies for “portfolios” and “modeling classes” and once their check cleared they never heard a peep from the agency again.  In California there are all sorts of laws against up-front fees charged by talent agencies, that is not the case with most other states.  Protect yourself and your money by doing some research before investing in classes or a portfolio with ANY agency.

There are lots of fake agencies in Utah, you can avoid them all by doing a  bit of research before you do business with any of them.  These are some great websites to start with:

KSL News Story • www.modelingscams.org •  www.newmodels.com

You can also compare the prices they are asking with what I charge to do a portfolio www.jakegarn.com/private/booking

Do I really have to be 5’9″ tall to be a model?

If you want to be a fashion model you need to be tall otherwise you won’t fit in the clothes you’ll be hired to model for.  They don’t custom make outfits to the models and the clothes they do make for high fashion shoots and shows are typically for tall girls.

If you are 5’7″ or shorter there are some options to model for commercial, art and lifestyle shots or even promotional modeling.  I’m not an agency though, so if you want more details than that you’ll have to find a more qualified expert than I am.

Can I model for you?

I have discovered some of my favorite models after they emailed me an application.  Unfortunately I get so many requests that only 1 in 20 or so are accepted.

If you’re really interested in having me take your photo you can also pay for a session, that guarantees an appointment and I have actually discovered a number of models that way as well.  There are a couple girls that I still shoot today that originally paid for their very first shoot.

www.jakegarn.com/models-wanted Apply for a test shoot with Jake Garn

www.jakegarn.com/private/booking Rates and Packages for a photo shoot

How much do you pay your models?

If I am doing a commercial project then the model’s pay is heavily dependent on the budget, if I am shooting for fun or for a personal project then I do not pay models, in those cases we all do it for the love of the end product!

Do you have a question that I didn’t answer?  Feel free to leave it in the comment section and if I know the answer then I might just answer it in Modeling Questions Part 2!

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You’ve Got Questions, I’ve Got Answers

Published
by
Jake Garn
on November 11, 2009
in Photo Philosophy and Whimsical Fashion Photography
. 13 Comments

You’ve Got Questions

I’ve Got Answers

Frequently Asked Questions from Photographers – Part 1

I don’t think a day goes by without somebody sending me a photography question of some sort.  Some I answer quickly, some I put off until later (and then accidentally forget about it) and some I actually spend a bit of time answering.  Well, I finally decided to put a big list of answers together so I can just refer people to my blog!

What Camera Do You Use/Recommend?

Currently (November of 2009) I shoot with the Canon 5D Mark II and I absolutely love it, this is a fantastic professional level camera (though definitely not the highest end camera money can buy) it is a little out of most beginning photographer’s price-range so here are some alternate cameras that I also really like (listed from most expensive to least expensive).  This list will look very different in just a couple years.

Canon 7D •  Canon 50D •  Canon Rebel XSi

For extensive reviews and feature lists on all these cameras visit http://www.dpreview.com/

What Lenses Do You Use?

To be frank your digital camera will need to be replaced probably every 5 years or so (at least) but if you take care of your lenses they last a lifetime.  Which is why should invest in high quality lenses before spending a ton on a high-end camera.  Why?  The sharpness of your images in large part is determined by the quality of glass you shoot through.

To start off I recommend a good portrait lens, the best lenses for portraits are 80mm (65mm if you’re using a cropped sensor camera like the Canon 7D, Rebel, etc).  This is so you can stay far enough away from your subject so you do not get facial distortion – a great resource explaining perspective and showing examples of facial distortion can be found here http://www.stepheneastwood.com/tutorials/Tutorials_Lens_Perspective.htm.

I definitely recommend investing in one really high quality lens rather than several less expensive lenses as this list will probably look similar even ten years from now.  The two lenses I use most are:

Canon 70-200 2.8L (for portraits and headshots) • Canon 16-35 2.8L (for wide angle shots)

When combined with the Canon 5D Mark II the Canon L-Series lenses (L stands for luxury) are incredibly sharp.  Like “Hey, I think you need to clean your contacts” sharp.

Click for full Size

Click for full Size

How do you find models?

Nowadays I don’t really need to look – but this was not always the case.

When I first started photography I just shot the people I knew – girlfriend, classmates, relatives, friends etc.  This is a great place to start when you are just learning, they’ll be patient with you and you don’t have to feel too much pressure.

After I was ready to kick it up a notch and broaden my horizons I just approached strangers with my business card and told them to get in touch with me if they wanted a free shoot.  Generally I would have to assure them that it wasn’t a pickup line (sometimes I’d have my girlfriend with me, before I was married, which helped) or I would have to promise that I wasn’t a fake modeling agency that wanted to charge them thousands of dollars.

That was all before the days of modelmayhem, facebook, craigslist and myspace.  Nowadays once you’re ready to move on from shooting friends and family jump on any one of those sites and just start networking.  You’ll find willing models in no time, generally they’ll let you take their photo for free in exchange for free images of themselves.

What Books do you recommend?

Photoshop Classroom in a Book If you’re a Photoshop beginner this is a must, it will take some time to get through but you’ll learn everything you need to know to get started.

Photoshop Artistry A little more advanced this book will give you a fantastic understanding about how to control the color in your images. You’ll learn how to correctly use ALL of Photoshop’s powerful color correction tools like levels, curves, duotones, layer modes etc. etc.

Light Science & Magic A fantastic resource that will help you understand how (and what you need) to control the lighting in your images. I wish I would have read this introduction to photographic lighting years ago… I’m sad I only just barely found it.

Photographing People; Portraits, Fashion, Glamour This is a great book because it shows a photo and right next to it shows the diagrams on how the scene was lighted.  A great way to get lighting ideas and explanations.

Outliers: The Story of Success Not a photography book but a book that will really make you realize that success is all about hard work, 10,000 hours of work to be exact.  This is a very inspirational read!

How do you find your shooting locations?

The hard way – I go exploring.  It doesn’t hurt that I live in an amazing area!

Should I study photography at college or do it on my own?

I think this question depends on you more than anyone else.  I studied photography both at Weber State University and more extensively at the University of Utah, though, as of yet I still haven’t graduated.

Studying in a great art department will give you a background knowledge in art history, technique, craft and principles.  This is invaluable.  You could learn this on your own but most likely you will be exposed to many more things at school than you otherwise would.  But my favorite thing about a serious art department setting is learning to give and receive critiques and criticism on your work.  This is priceless.  I personally despise school, it’s really tough on my short attention span, but I am very glad I went… and I hope to finish someday… I was just thinking about it the other day how weird it would be to show back up in photo classes just randomly.  :-)

What I didn’t learn in school is lighting or my style of photography, that came from shooting A LOT.  So school is not a replacement for your photo education, just a supplement!

More questions?

Drop your question in the comments of this post and maybe I’ll answer it in FAQ part 2!

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