Real challenges, and real creative pressure to deliver. What ever happened to Dean?

After watching this I almost felt validated as a photographer, that feeling I was on the right learning path with my art. If you watch it, we are on different paths but we have a common love. Enjoy!

Well, we all got a new respect for the beauty of the Shanadoah River and Luray, VA where our cabin was situated next to. What a beautiful place! We even met a camping neighbor "Tim" who said the view was better on our side of the river, so he swam over. :) Our fall workshops have been a hit thanks to the great weather, participants and the awesome models we've selected. Don't miss the next one, it's annual thing! See more photos of this trip by clicking here!

Check out Robert Rodriguez Jr. series on YouTube. We follow some of his techniques here at Skyloft F. And you can probably meet him like we did one year at PDN Photo Expo in NYC. Robert is also a Canson Infinity ambassador, a select group of hand-picked international artists that uphold and exemplify the Canson heritage of paper making since 1557. He prints all of his work and teaches printing workshops at his studio in Beacon, NY. * You may recognize this technique as we use this to display here in the studio.

💃🏻We just wanted you to know that the beautiful and talented @mayatihtiyas is coming into the DMV area September 26th thru the 31st. 🎉📸🔥She will be here @skyloftfrentalstudio on the 27th. Reach out to her directly if you are looking to work with her: Maya.attean@gmail.com #mainemodel #naturalbeauty #studiolife #travelingmodel #baltimore #model #skyloftfrentalstudio #shootwhatyoulove www.SkyloftFRentalStudio.com

My favorite lens, which happens to be a lens that sometimes comes with your new 35mm camera is the 50mm. But was it always my favorite lens? HELL NO! When I finally took my first photography course back in 1991 it was at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD. I just wanted to see what it was about, and maybe have them help me understand a little bit more about photography. (I call that time my Jan Starr development year. Program director that helped me so much at HCC.) I said one course, money is tight and I should be taking another class to finish up another program I started. Wasn't even thinking to check to see if I could use the credits towards that other program. I could, so a win/win. Back then you were required to only shoot with a 50mm and your SLR (film days) to capture all the assignments. Tough to do when you are all excited and walking around like a baby wide eyed and full of Coca Cola. But using the 50mm lens (it's the same view point, angle of the human eye) for a whole semester forced me into some good habits. The main one, get in close to observe people, places, and things. You can always memorize your camera settings, you can always walk up and move it where you want to with people and things in some cases. But to observe, to see it as it is and capture it as you see it. Thats the key to what I call a real photographic moment. Henri Cartier-Bresson once said in an interview with The Washington Post back in 1957: Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever. Over the now 26 years of practicing photography, and being the photographer I am today his phase rings true everytime I pick up a camera. Especially where animals are involved, yes including people. In the studio, or on location the subject the light and all the elements move into that perfect composition or moment you have to be ready. Not adjusting camera settings, not talking, your eyes have followed the action and you have anticipated this very composition/moment and then within a fraction of a second, it's gone. So, did you get it? That's the burning question in the photographer that has him running home at times to see. The 50mm has trained my eye to see! Black and White film with limited shots taught me to be patience and to plan. And I soon realized it also taught me to record every aspect of the experience so I can repeat the setup. So even with a DSLR, try a 50mm and 24 shot max rule the next time you are shooting a subject. Don't do it just once, do it for three months minimum. You'll love the texture, color, and you'll notice it may open up your heart and soul by really seeing whats going on, by physically being that close. So, don't always pickup the long lens. Zoom in with your feet so you can feel the action. Your images will be better, I promise.

Time flies and technology changes, these digital medium format cameras like the PhaseOne is so tempting. I love detail and depth it gives, everytime. I enjoy reading and watching photographer William Barrington's blog that PhaseOne shared of his first experince with his PhaseOne Camera System.

So lets start a poll and discussion on where is the next distination photography workshop? What are some options people are interested in? So far I've heard Prague, Cuba, Kauai, and the Carribean in general from photographer P.A. Greene. Any specific places and details you would like to share? If so, lets do it here so we can keep track of it. Don't let distination workshops make you feel uneasy, with prices. I love the idea of renting a house, split the cost, get there anyway you like, then pile-in and shoot. Of course there would be a shoot plan and flexibility to do you. So, where would you like to go that's not listed in our workshops already?

Some times I reflect back on where I came from in photography and wonder, "what if" I had this or that? Where would my skills and business sense be today? When I finally decided to take photography classes at the local college and then at a well named school in upstate NY I thought, all I have to do is get through this. Then they all said go assist a professional photographer in NYC, if you are serious. But I also heard, forget assisting just go for it! For the photographer not living in or near NYC who is wanting to learn more, not at the expense of his clients and ultimately his business. What other higher learning options did I have back in the 90's? Fast forward, the higher learning/real world options are pretty much the same plus now you have YouTube Channels. Learn from a professional, before, during, and even after the classroom setting. If you went that route. Those professional photographers have turned to offering workshops at a fee, teaching by the head count. All becasue of the drastic changes in the industry, and wanting to eat. But boy, I can only say I wish I knew about or seen photography workshops when I was trying to make heads or tails out of all the photography books I read in the book stores. Let alone the topic of finding your niche' to help stand you apart from all the others. Even in this digital age having a guide to help me interpret what was going on in my minds eye, and place into the physical with light ratios, camera settings, and then a print? Lord, that may have saved me about ten years on my life. Of course, this is just me reflecting on our workshops and what we present to folks in helping them think and create what they see in their minds eye. And me wishing I had this opportunity when I was learning photography back in the day. School and workshops would have been the holy grail for me back then, maybe who knows. :) So, tell me what would help you now with starting out in photography? Are you a hobbyist, or are you thinking about taking a step or two deeper than that? An image from 2010 at the Hotel Helix in Washington, DC which is now closed. Portfolio development project for the male model Miguel.

Some shots of model and participants in action. I think to make this workshop more fun next time we will rent a beach house. So folks can come and go as needed. Some folks just came for the workshop, and some stayed the weekend. A beach house option might benefit everyone? Your thoughts? And what else could have made this workshop "more" for you?

Skyloft F Rental Studio finally updated their equipment page on their web site. We have started to list some used equipment rental options, good for the duration of your rental that day. This option was brought to light when a couple photographers forgot their cameras, and another one had a damaged camera. Yep, it happens. Visit their equipment page as it grows and see the DSLR and Film Camera options to date.

Sometimes you get so caught up into the day to day needs of running a photography studio business, you forget you love all types of photograpy. So I came down to Ocean City, MD on a family portrait beach assignment and ran into the Ocean City Air Show. And being a WWII buff, one of the first planes I see is a B25 Bomber. Do you remember reading about the Doolittle Raid on Japan a few months after Pearl Harbor? To be respectful, here you go. B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle attacked mainland Japan, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans, and alarmed the Japanese who had believed their home islands were inviolable by enemy forces. Although the amount of actual damage done was relatively minor, it forced the Japanese to divert troops for the home defense for the remainder of the war. The raiders took off from the carrier USS Hornet and successfully bombed Tokyo and four other Japanese cities without loss. Fifteen of the bombers subsequently crash-landed en route to recovery fields in Eastern China. These losses were the result of the task force being spotted by a Japanese vessel forcing the bombers to take off 170 mi (270 km) early, fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and lack of electronic homing aids at the recovery bases. Only one B-25 bomber landed intact, in Siberia where its five-man crew was interned and the aircraft confiscated. Of the 80 aircrew, 69 survived their historic mission and eventually made it back to American lines. So anyway, not often do I carry anything longer than 85mm when shooter people. And boy did I pay for that at this air show. I can't remember why I didn't that 70-200mm with a teleconverter like I said I would months ago?🤔Paying for the lack of follow through already this summer. If you like air shows this one in Ocean City, Maryland along the beach at 16th street is a good one to come check out.