Missing my fellow commuters

This morning, I was reading news on my new digital gizmo while riding the train. When the train slowed before my stop, I realized that I missed everything. I didn't get a change to study people around me, their faces, facial expressions, hands, feet, items they carry. I didn't get a chance to guess who they are, what they do for a living, where they are from, what they are looking at, how they carry themselves. I was concentrating on some useless story and missing up the chance to study the way the light falls on their faces.

The ride back will be different, it'll be interesting, like it used to be

Another shoot in the park

Two Sundays ago, I was lucky to work with a great model in the beautiful location. We walked up the stone steps of the park overlooking Hudson River, looking for interesting places to shoot. The theme was the natural summer look and the weather cooperated perfectly.




One of the highlights was the family of three passing by. They were walking their dog, and I asked if they would mind if we took a few pictures of the model with the dog. They were happy to oblige and the dog didn't seem to mind either.






In the end, we found a hidden spot with the small stream, which we've used to emphasize the summer feeling we aimed for.

Stay tuned for more images from that day

"willingness to learn"

"Once the amateur's naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it. Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur."Alfred Eisenstaedt

I met a young photographer yesterday and let her use one of my SLRs for a couple of days. Her eyes lit up and I could see her visualizing the images that are possible with this new tool comparing to the old one. She has a lot to learn about the technical aspect of photography, but I envy her "humble willingness to learn" and her creative spirit. I envy her approach to the creative part of it. It makes me look at my own work differently, re-evaluate my goals and answer the question "why am I doing it?"

Of course, tools are important and being familiar with them is even more important. But often, that tinkering interferes with the creative work. The artistic goal appears not to be the what I think of my work not opinion of the reviewer, but the process itself.

New business model?

Looking at how companies offer free products and services, I'm thinking about changing my services lineup and coming up with something that might sound interesting to people, who are used to freebies.

So far, I've decided to offer free engagement session that would last up to one hour and result in images that can be used on couple's online profiles and social sites, such as myspace, facebook, etc. No commitments, no strings attached, no deposits for future services.

What other free services would you be interested in? Do you think that it'll worth the time and efforts on my side and result in bookings?

Google voice... amazing!

Just got an invite and signed up for Google Voice! Amazing service! Too bad they can't move my old number to this account, but it's still too good to pass :) It's like having a personal assistant working the phones in my virtual studio

Also looking forward to adding a Google Voice widget to (my contact page ;)

How do you measure satisfaction

Is it measured in how much you are being paid, or in how much you have accomplished? Maybe it's all about the appreciation? Getting a positive feedback is nice, but when you see that the model really means it by using your images for self promotion, it makes it for a very rewarding experience :)

Shooting in the park...

Beautiful female in the park with arches, steep stairs, elegant hat, flowing dresses, heels, and perfect weather :) The only thing missing are a couple of assistants to carry the gear, a makeup artist, and someone with the cooler full of chilled bottled water.

Check out the gallery and let me know what you think
http://intimatesketch.com/gallery/bz
cheers