Black Diamond Productions

Behind the Photo – The Real Story

Feel free to join the conversation on G+ and share your stories

So I see posts with great shots, and not one description…. I want more…. I want to know what happened on that day, or take a photo that you never thought you would ever have captured and tell us about it…..you know the hiked uphill, barefoot, 30 miles, naked in snow…

Did you fall down the cliff? Did the bear eat your camera? Did the model flip you off? (Happens to me all the time)

There are two main perspectives I use when i pick my favorite photos, one is that of the viewer not knowing any of the back story of the image and the other is the story and the things I remember when I was taking the shot. Many of my favorite shots are not technically perfect or even that great but they bring back memories of things that are very special times in my life….

I want to hear about your best captures that you like and the story about why….

Post them up……Put them on your profile and post a link here….. It will tell us all more about the real you and why you do what you do…..

Here is mine…

So the shot below of the insanely smokin +Jennifer Korbin (Who is not on G+) was one of the first shots I ever took of a real professional model… but there is so much more to this photo….

I knew nothing about taking photos of people, nothing about lighting, I just had this great idea that I wanted to do a Motorcycle calender for a internet site I run called www.rrzone.com – bunch of cool motorcyclists all riding the same type of bike…

How hard could photography really be…… hello wake up call…..

This photo finds me standing behind one of the best glamour shooters I have met in the industry: +mark daughn oh and we are in Belize, with about 80 other people on this insane Mystique Magazine Model Safari that I thought – Hey what a great way to learn about Glamour photography, fly to a island in the middle of nowhere with 20 hot models and 80 plus crazies and 3 pro photographers for 14 days of insanity….

Well it was just that… and that trip changed my career… After the first 2 days there was a very clear difference between fans and people who wanted to learn photography… My business partner at the time and I wanted to learn and were willing to work and mark put us to work…14 hours a day for 12 days… assisting and doing some shooting on the side… I learned from two of the best Mark Daughn and Bill Melton (Wild Bill). Sadly Bill is not around any longer so this photo encompasses those good times also….it collects 14 days of doing things I would never have done 2 weeks before the trip, one of them is photography and the other is major travel. It was a hair up my butt experience and it clearly shows that people need to make those in their lives.

So to this actual shot.. there I was, new Nikon D100 and 70/200 in my hand shooting over Mark’s shoulder and trying to snap the shot at the same time he was so I could use his flash setup…… Hey I was new…. there are no rules when you are new….

So this shot with a pile of clean up is easily still one of the shots I look at and then sit back and remember all the stories I will never tell my kids….. (Ok its not like that – but it was a fun time had by a handful of people that are still friends to this day)

I thought it also important to show the then and now… Left id the original image I took and the right is how I reprocessed this shot about an hour ago…

It shows and interesting change in many aspects of what and how I shoot… and hopefully it gives many of you the knowledge that not every shot is ever perfect….just keep shooting and ask a lot of questions here… there is a pile of talent here very willing to help….

Feel free to join the conversation on G+ and share your stories

https://plus.google.com/108542426628002931624/posts/759EvmRUJjo

Revising some older portfolio work…….