Turkey Day in Toronto, Eh?

Lake Ontario from Beaches in Toronto, Ontario.

There's nothing more patriotic than spending Thanksgiving in Canada. And I'm not talking about the Canadian Thanksgiving our northern friends celebrate in October. For those of you who were wondering why I didn't take any new Macy's parade photos this year, I didn't have a zoom lens long enough to capture the details all the way from Toronto!

And instead of taking the typical Canadian National Tower photos you would come to expect from a trip to Toronto (wait, I did take at least one photo above), I found myself drawn more to the local flavor of eastern Toronto, including a great little barber shop for kids called Little Tots Hair Shop. It was Sunday morning and our hosts were taking their twin boys for haircuts when I captured this great "in action" photo.

It's been a long time since I've gotten a haircut myself (as you can imagine--see profile photo) and I have to admit, I was a bit envious of the cool "souped up" barber chairs designed as a race car, a boat, and a fire engine. Before and/or after kids get their hair cut, they can check out an entire wall full of great toys and games to play. And even before the last speck of talcum powder was dusted off, the twins dove into an enchanting "Ballroom at the Bottom of the Sea" ball pen. Check out photos of Little Tots on their Web site. It may be cliche, but it made me want to be a kid again...or at least want to grow some hair!

Spreading the Word on Conservation

New York Institute of Photography student advisor Chris Corradino shared this photo on his blog last week as a way to spread the word on conservation. He encouraged all of his readers and fellow photographers to post this photo to their own blogs and link it to one of their favorite conservation efforts. What a great idea!

I'll leave it to you to click on it to see my earth-friendly cause of choice. 

"Rappy Ranksgiving!"

One of the many advantages of living so close to Central Park is the ability to watch the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from the comfort of your own balcony!

Last year it was a balmy 60 degrees on Thanksgiving morning in New York City. I shot Scooby at ISO 1600 with a 70mm lens f/14 1/800th. 70mm tells you we're pretty close to the parade, but you can see we only have a narrow view of the action as it passes us by.

We may barely reach 40 degrees this year, but I do believe the forecast is for sunny skies, and hopefully, minimal winds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Conversation with Commercial Lifestyle Photographer Evan Sklar

(c) Evan Sklar

This week, I got a chance to speak to commercial lifestyle photographer Evan Sklar. Our wives happen to work together at CondeNast's brides.com and Evan was kind enough to spend an hour on the phone discussing his career and offering advice for a budding photographer. While my wife facilitated this introduction, I encourage my fellow classmates to leverage the NYIP name and the professional photography course as a way to reach out to other professional photographers to learn more about the industry.

I'm always interested to learn about one's training and introduction into the photography industry. Evan earned an M.F.A. in Photography from Yale, but as I've quickly learned, a degree alone is not going to open all the doors and launch one's career. In fact, I have heard many photographers talk about how a majority of their fellow classmates either never pursued photography or gave up only a few years into their careers. Persistence, perseverance, and patience are apparently the three P's professional photographers must possess in order to be successful. Note: I just made those 3'Ps up myself right now. Patent pending!

Evan started his career working in galleries and building his network through school and work contacts. Soon enough he was able to get his work in front of a few editors at popular magazines. You can see from Evan's Web site and portfolio that he has shot lifestyle photography for magazines like Food & Wine, Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, GQ, CondeNast Traveler, and Kraft Foods, to name a few. 

And while Evan has worked for a diverse range of clients, he emphasized the need to have a laser-sharp focus on exactly what kind of photographer you are. For example, nowadays, it's not enough to say you are a "lifestyle photographer" - you need to be more specific - are you a food photographer, and if so, do you specialize in photographing drinks? You need to be very niche-specific - you can't be all things to all people. If a client is looking for a photographer to take photos of bedding, they are going to choose the photographer who has the most experience/best portfolio of bedding. It can be that specific and clear cut.

Evan has sold some of his work to stock photography companies. And while this used to provide a modest flow of income for photographers, the advent of digital and online stock companies like istock, has decreased the price earned per photograph dramatically. People can now purchase royalty-free photos for as a little as $1/piece. One would have a hard time earning a living on stock photography alone. It has also become increasingly more cost effective for companies to set up their own digital studios where they can produce what they need in-house for far less than hiring a freelance photographer.

According to Evan, the changes taking place in the industry in the past 5-10 years have transformed the business of photography. Here are a few "a-ha's" I took out of our conversation:

• Technology is changing the landscape. More and more photographers can get professional-quality equipment and produce professional-quality results at a fraction of the price. Accessibility is driving up supply.
• Competition is fierce. There have never been more photographers for less work. Hence, identifying your niche and promoting your brand is critical in this current market.
  
• Differentiation is key. With a flood of photographers in the market, what will your value proposition be? How are you defining yourself in relation to the limited opportunities in the market? What need can you fill or create in the emerging landscape?
  

In addition to our conversation, Evan also shared a couple of excellent blogs he follows which include a lot of great information about what's going on in the industry and links to resources for all aspects of photography.

• A Photo Editor
  
• About the Image
  
• What's the Jackarony?
  

As I stated earlier, I encourage my fellow photo enthusiasts to reach out to industry professionals who can share their wisdom and experience to help guide their own career pursuits.

Thank you Evan!

Unit Two: Photo Project Assignment

Beyond reading the lessons, listening to the CDs, and watching the instructional videos, the true value and learning in the New York Institute of Photography Professional Photography course lies within the photo assignments.

While Unit Two centered on focus and exposure, the photo project assignment was closely tied to Lesson Ten, "Developing Your Eye." Each of the three photographs for this assignment were linked to composition.

Photograph #1: Emphasizing the subject by its size and off-center placement.

"Make a horizontal photograph in which the subject is both very large and placed somewhat off to the side, following the 'Rule of Thirds.' If the subject is looking or moving in a certain direction, leave more space in front of it than behind it."

Subject: Cheering Onlookers

Location: Central Park, New York

Time of Day: 12:30pm

Metadata: ISO 200 43mm f/10 1/160

Lighting: Bright Sun

I follow the "rule of thirds" for many of my photographs without necessarily being cognizant of it. I often find the best composition just "looks right" by dividing the frame into thirds either horizontally or vertically. 

For the first photograph, I didn't necessarily go out of my way to shoot a scene with off-center placement, but my recent photo shoot at the New York City Marathon included this photograph which I took while trying to capture both the excitement of the cheering onlookers and the intensity of the runners heading toward the finish line.

Here the subject of the photograph is the two women on the right who appear to be cheering and clapping as runners go by. I'd like to think that this composition does a nice job of initially drawing your eye to the young women first and then down the road to see the action in the distance. This photo might have been even more dramatic had I been able to capture a few more runners in the foreground closer to the two women on the right.

In some ways this photo is unique in that it also plays to the next two photos within the assignment which include "framing to focus attention" and "leading lines to draw attention." For example, the trees in their autumn color do a nice job of framing the road. And the road itself draws your attention to both the crowds of fans lining the road and the runners approaching in the distance.

Photograph #2: Using framing to focus attention on your subject.

"Photograph an object, person, or scene, framing it with tree branches, an archway, a window, or other objects."

Subject: Tri-Colored Heron

Location: Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach, FL

Time: 8:25am

Metadata: ISO 200 200mm f/5.6 1/200

Lighting: Morning sun

Framing is another favorite composition of mine, but in the past couple of weeks, I didn't come across many opportunities which lent themselves to the more traditional framing approach. So instead of digging up an old example, I got a little creative in the interpretation by submitting this photograph of what I believe to be a tri-colored heron taken on my visit to Wakodahatchee Wetlands last weekend.

Here the heron is framed by the leaves within the water, providing a nice contrast to the more muted gray colors of the heron. Within Lesson Ten, there is a photograph of a kitten centered in a sea of ivy which illustrates this similar framing effect.

Photograph #3: Using leading lines to draw attention to your subject.

"Photograph a person or object using leading lines to guide the viewer's eye to the subject. If the subject is relatively small, be sure it contrasts well with the background."

Subject: Appalachian Trail

Location: Glenwood, NJ

Time: 3:00pm

Metadata: ISO 125 6.3mm f/5.6 1/320

Lighting: Sunny

A classic leading lines example might be a photograph of train tracks leading to a subject, or a view down a highway leading to a landscape vista in the distance. In the past couple of weeks I took many photographs which had elements of leading lines, but none that necessarily led the viewer to a distinctive subject.

The photo below was actually taken a year ago on the Appalachian Trail in Glenwood, New Jersey. I really liked the way the boardwalk zig-zagged through the field leading to the modest autumn colored hills in the distance.

Again, a more effective example of this composition would have included a subject at the far end of the boardwalk (how about a deer?) but I think the mountains in the distance are still effectively emphasized by the trail of the boardwalk leading to them.

I'll be ordering 5 X 7 prints of these photos from Mpix to submit along with my comprehension tests for Unit Two. I will soon be starting Unit Three on lighting.

The Journey Takes Me to the Bronx

As anyone looking to make a career transition knows, it's important to constantly network with professionals to learn as much as possible about the industry.

My friend John introduced me to a Cornell fraternity brother of his named Dan Fried. Dan is a co-owner of H&H Photographers, located in Riverdale in the Bronx, close to 260th street. Dan graciously agreed to meet with me to talk about breaking into the photography world.

Today, for the first time in my life, I rode an MTA express bus (BxM2) which took about one hour to get from 34th street all the way up to Riverdale. Given there were only 3 of us on the bus, it was actually a quiet and efficient ride.

When I walked in the door of H&H, I was surprised to see just how big the office/studio was. There was a receptionist and other employees mingling about in different offices and rooms which contained customer service areas, framing displays, large sample photographs from weddings and other occasions, and a few photography studios. This is not a one computer, one printer business run out of a cramped New York City apartment!

It's a fascinating story to learn of how H&H came to be. In short, in the 1940's, Dan's father and a friend of his were fresh out of the service and seized an opportunity to capitalize on the baby boom and marriages by becoming wedding photographers.

Early in his career, Dan had worked in the movie industry out in California and only recently came back to New York a few years ago to run the business. Dan does not consider himself a "professional photographer," but he does shoot when necessary, knows as much about the equipment and process as any Pro, and has a passion which keeps him happily engaged in his work on a daily basis.

Dan has photographers he uses for his business, but he made it very clear that the business of photography goes beyond image capture. A successful photography business relies on great salesmanship, great customer service and relationships, and nowadays, what you actually do to "exploit," market, or sell your images.

In the digital age, access to professional equipment and top training can be attained by almost anyone on a modest budget. As such, the supply of capable photographers has gone up, while the demand has remained constant. This obviously makes the industry extremely competitive, where price, product, process, and time are the key differentiators.

I asked Dan what advice he had for someone looking to get started in a career in photography. He shared many ideas, with these three standing out:

"Establish a good digital workflow and become proficient in organizing, managing, and detailing your images, e.g. pay attention to your metadata."

"Acquire and promote your digital darkroom expertise. You can differentiate yourself by what you can create with your own or someone else's images."

"Get a few jobs so that you can show winning shots. Equally important, KNOW which ARE your winning shots and be prepared to tell people what makes them your best."

I also asked Dan how he made decisions about hiring photographers. He said it's not about your training or resume per se. He wants to know where you shot, what your experience is, and whether or not you've got the courage and tenacity to run a "difficult" wedding or two on any given day.

My journey up to the Bronx was well worth the $10 express bus fare. I'm very grateful Dan took an hour out of his busy day to share his thoughts with me. And I encourage anyone else looking to enter the field of photography to reach out to others in all facets of the industry to learn more and to help shape your own journey.

Weekend of Florida Beaches & Wetlands

I don't get down to Florida quite as often as my parents might like, but I must admit it was really nice to escape the city for some warmth and quality time with family this past weekend--happy 91st birthday Grandma!

I also always try to hit one or more of the wildlife reserves in the Palm Beach area. This weekend, I visited the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, a great place to see over 140 species of birds, and if you're lucky, an alligator or two.

I also spent time at my in-laws apartment on the beach in Boca (yes, they have a place down there too.) Getting up at the crack of dawn and stepping out on the balcony pays dividends when trying to photograph a great sunrise. And a morning walk along the beach is just the right time to capture some solitude before eager beach-goers make their way on to the sand.

A couple of lessons learned this weekend: One again, I STILL need to get that lens shade (it affected a few sunrise photos.) And when shooting wildlife with a zoom lens (or any lens for that matter), be sure to focus on the eyes to keep the most important aspect of your subject in focus. Unfortunately, with a shallow depth of field, I had a few great shots of plumage with eyes, heads, and necks out of focus!

Fall Walk in Central Park

Since I've been enrolled in the NYIP course, I've been trying to get in the habit of taking my camera everywhere I go. Today, I took it along to a doctor's appointment on the upper east side and then decided to cut through the park on my way home. The result is the slideshow you see to the right, a new feature I added to my blog today.

I'm probably a couple weeks late for the peak of the fall colors, but as you can see, I still found some really great trees, leaves, and colors throughout the park. For more tips on finding and photographing fall colors, see this NYIP article on How to Photograph Autumn Colors written by the Dean, Chuck DeLaney.

I also decided to experiment a bit with watermarking my photos with "Robert M Becker Photography." I'm not sure if I like the font I am using or the size, but I do want to thank a new Facebook friend and photo enthusiast Shellie Wall for introducing me to Picnik, a great online photo editing application which makes adding watermarks (and many other fun features) easy!

Rock the Vote - Old School

With all the problems with today's modern electronic voting booths, you've got to love New York State's "old school" lever system!

Despite the long lines this morning, I decided to take a few extra moments inside the booth to capture what I believe will be an historical election. I'm not sure if you're even "allowed" to bring a camera inside (and I was a little bit nervous, a little bit "shaky"), but I believe I captured a great moment in time!

I actually brought my SLR into the booth, set the ISO to 800, and took this shot at f/9 125th. Setting the ISO to 800 increased the sensitivity to light and allowed me to keep the flash off.

I encourage you all to vote today--with or without cameras in hand!

New York City Marathon

Welcome to the first entry to my first-ever blog!

Before I get started, I wanted to acknowledge my student advisor at the New York Institute of Photography, Chris Corradino, whose blog "Behind the Lens" was the inspiration for starting my own blog.

As a new student of the New York Institute of Photography's (NYIP) "The Complete Course in Professional Photography," I thought this blog could help both myself and other students of photography share their successes and challenges of completing their coursework and realizing their dream of starting a career in photography. 

And while I feel some small pang of guilt for "stealing" Chris' blog idea, it was only yesterday that I was listening to Unit Two's "Developing Your Eye" where Chuck DeLaney, Dean of NYIP, stated:

"Being inspired or getting an idea from somebody else's work is as old as art." 

He also shared another unattributed quote:

"If you don't imitate other artists, you'll never make any art." 

With that, I hope I can inspire my fellow NYIP students to imitate me and create their own "learning" blogs.

So today was the New York City Marathon, and given that I live right off Central Park near the finish line, it made sense to head over to try to capture the action. But heading over to the park only a few minutes prior to Paula Radcliffe's dramatic finish was not going to grant me a prime time location for capturing the action. 

In fact, I was on the west or "wrong" side of the fence which meant I had to try to address the challenges of backlighting and flare (without a lens shade). I also couldn't quite get as close to the action as I wanted given I was often 2-3 rows behind the early birds. As such, this became an exercise is addressing the obstacles and trying to get "the shot" by taking several hundred shots.

My current Unit Two assignment calls for shots emphasizing off-center placement, framing, and leading lines. And I was open to looking for these opportunities, but capturing the runners was more of a reprise of the Unit One "motion" assignment--as such, I enjoyed practicing both freeze action and panning techniques, including the photo you see above.

Today's lessons learned: Show up early, find/secure the right spot(s), use a lens shade (I don't own any as of yet).

Despite the challenges, I did manage to get a few shots I liked, especially the ones with the more exaggerated and artistic motion blur. 

You can check out the rest of the photos I took today at my Kodak gallery.

You can also see some great shots taken by New York Times photographers--Slideshow 1, Slideshow 2.