Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Is there a doctor in the house!


Today started off with a bit of surprise. Snow was falling and it was coming down hard! Then as I was about to run my son off to daycare, I received a phone call from my doctor friend, Maggie. She was wondering where I was. I guess there was some miss-communication and she and 15 others, doctors, nurses, techs and a mom with two little ones were waiting for me at the hospital for a photo shoot. The docs needed some stock photos to put in the Medical Post, the National medical magazine. Cool.
I had it in the books to do this tomorrow morning but one has to be flexible! So I rushed to pack my gear and my son in the van and hit the snowy roads.
I quickly realized I was not going to make time driving fast on the fresh snow so I slowed down and kept my cool. That is until I got to the hospital parking lot and ran with my gear bags in up to the new maternity clinic.


Once I arrived I was happy to see some familiar faces and everyone was relaxed. The room on the other hands was tiny. Maybe eight feet wide at the most and I had to fit 15 people in the shot. Hmmm... How to do this. The shot above is an idea of the confusion while I was arranging the lighting. I ended up using a shoot-through umbrella with my speedlite on maximum power which was just enough. The top photo is the end result.


Once I was satisfied with the group shot, Maggie asked me if I could do head-shots of the staff. Why not. So I had her as my test subject while I set up the lighting again. She was getting fidgety about the time as it took me about 5 shots to get things set the way I wanted. Then I had it. And after that I had the rest of the staffs' shots done on the first try and in about 3 minutes. Woo-hoo.
After I had finished packing my gear, another doctor asked if I could do the maternity shot for the clinic. But of course. I can't wait! There are going to be some great shots of moms to be, and moms with babies on display there soon...
So even thought the photo-shoot happened a day early, I made the best of it, people liked what I did and I made connections, leading to more great photo work. And to top it all off, I got to spend the rest of the day with my lovely wife Nina and have a nice lunch date! :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Giving back


It's not every day that I'm asked to volunteer time to photograph moms and dads with babies or expecting babies. My friend Laura asked if I could help with a project for the Healthy Babies program. I thought this would be a great way to get some more experience and give back to those who may not otherwise get a nice photo of themselves. Sometimes people have priorities more important than just looking good. Providing for a family isn't always easy. The Healthy Babies programs it there to help, so I was very happy to do my part. The group of ladies in the photo above run the program in Duncan. The following photos are some behind the scenes shots of ladies getting all dolled up by volunteer make-up, hair, nail, and massage professionals. Mixed in there are some shots of parents and soon to be parents. 















There was such a warm vibe there while I was taking the photos. And when I got home to do the editing it really sunk in. I don't think I've ever felt so good about photos I've taken. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I enjoyed taking them! I'm sure this is how people get hooked with volunteering. It just feels great!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Speed of technology




This time I'm not really writing about photography. Its more about what goes on behind the scenes. The business side. One has to have a website these days. The better the website, the better the first impression. I've finished off my new website (http://www.wix.com/kurtknock/photo). Its actually been ready for over a week now. The trouble is switching to the domain name I want: (www.kurtknock.com), where my old website sits. I thought this would be simple and easy. I was wrong! A week later and I'm still not there... So I thought I'd vent a little here. And show some of the differences (hopefully improvements). The top photo is a snapshot of the new website homepage, compared to the old website homepage below.


I think the new website is more modern and clean looking and it fits better with more customization capabilities at my end. The photos are clear and flow nicely and it all just seems to work. In my mind any way... 



Above is a shot of a portrait page from the portfolio section of the new website compared to the old one below.


I am sure I'll have the new website in it's rightful domain soon but until then you can take a look at both and let me know what you think.
Until my ultra high speed internet service can get my website domains straightened out I'll just have to sit back and play with my camera1 :)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Making it happen.


I like to take time to talk to people when I'm doing what I do. You never know where the conversation will go. I did a photo of a popular local photographer, Paul Fletcher, a while back and we had a chance to talk. He's instrumental in the conservation of the Somenos wetlands in the Cowichan Valley as well as being a City of Duncan councillor. Busy guy doing things that positively impact us. Thanks to Paul's work, there is a great boardwalk at the Somenos marsh where you can view the wildlife and nature. I also found out he was behind the new dock on the marsh that I had taken a photo of last fall.


A couple weeks back I met with Damon Griffiths, a business student who was working on an assignment and wanted to interview me. He had to pick someone who had been in the news lately and contacted me so we met and talked. It ends up that Damon is learning all he can about business as he's one of the new owners of the Canada Building in downtown Duncan. Some of you will know this building has seen better days but Damon and his business partners have great plans for the site. He was kind enough to tour me through the building and he showed me a suite where there had been a legal office. It had a cool little board room with a skylight and a glass block wall. I had to get a photo of that! I'm hoping to go back there and use the room to do portraits for others. See the Damon sample shot below:



And this is why I love taking photos of people. You never know when you'll meet someone with a cool story or learn something great or just make a good connection. You just have to take the time to listen and learn.


Thursday, February 3, 2011

Taking my time.


Sometimes I feel like such an idiot. When I rush I make mistakes or forget things. Yesterday I lost my wallet. I was rushing to go into town and mail some stuff and when I got to the post office my wallet was gone. I know I had it when I left the house.
So back to photography. Every once in a while I'll be taking some photos only to look back and realize I could have taken an extra 30 seconds to set up my camera better for the shots. The resulting photos have generally been fine but it has always frustrated me that I didn't set the camera perfectly in the first place. Sometimes corrections have to be made in photoshop which is fine. Better than tossing out the image. But I like to get it right with the camera.
Is it too late to have another new year resolution? I want to ad to my list - Take the 30 seconds to double check that my camera is set up the way I want it for the shots I'm about to take. Not set up for the shots I last took! I guess this should be a dead give away that I do not use the "Automatic" mode on my camera. That's for point and shooters...
Oh, by the way. I found my wallet this morning in my jacket pocket. If I had taken the time to give a good look for it I would have found it. Sometimes I'm such and idiot...