As a Professional Photographer I some times get to go to some really fun jobs, Some times I get to do a job that is life changing, and other times I get to do jobs that can be meaningful. More and more these days I am finding I am getting hired to do a job that most people will usually try and take on themselves. Now there are a few big down falls for some people trying to do these things themselves. The first is the lack of know how, which I am going to help with that here in a minute. The other and biggest down fall is if you are sitting there trying to get every moment caught on camera you really do not get to enjoy every moment while it happens.
The first is the distance between you and your subject. If you are more then 15-20 feet away from your subject your on camera flash is worthless. Not only is it not helping it is actually telling your camera that it is giving enough light for the scene but it can not. So in turn your image will come out dark. This is true for every camera from a basic P&S to a canon xti , nikon d90 and so. To use a flash over 20 feet you will need an external flash, flash gun, there are many names for them but it connects to your camera VIA a hot shoe. If your camera does not have a hot shoe then you will not be able to use one in this situation.
The next problem / obstacle is the lighting. Usually graduations are held in a gym or auditorium that has poor lighting for photography meaning that if the flash has already been ruled out then you will need to compensate in a few different areas. Shutter speed ISO and Aperture. Now keep in mind most P&S cameras do not let you adjust each of those individually and even the ones that do I am just going to try and get you started.
If your camera is in Automatic or priority and you force the flash off (because you know it can not reach your subject) then the camera is going to automatically start adjusting the shutter speed ISO and Aperture. The first thing to realize is that now your shutter speed will be a lot slower your ISO will be Higher and your aperture will be lower. Now as long as your camera can go to an ISO of 400-800 (and give acceptable photos) then your shutter speed may be just fast enough to keep motion blur to a minimum. Also with the camera using the smallest aperture your DOF will be narrower so you will need to pay more attention to your/the cameras focusing.
Well after such a gray and dismal day yesterday today was nice to see. Clear Bright Blue skies. Today was a little bit special though. Even with the bright clear sky the sun shining it was not melting the ice. now most people would see this as bad. However I seen it as beautiful. So what else am I supposed to do when God gives me a day like today. Thats right enjoy it and take some photos to be able to share it and remember it with.
Enlarge this Photo HERE
With the sun shining the way it was just made every thing shine. This first photo was taken at the River View Cemetery In Marshalltown. I really liked how the ice was highlighting the edges of the tries from the sun shining on them. 
Enlarge this Photo HERE
The second and third photos were taken off of highway 30 in between Marshalltown and Tama Toledo Iowa. With a layer of ice on almost every thing it really did make the vegetation look like some special day time Christmas lighting. 
Enlarge this photo HERE
I just love when the sky is as blue as it was today it really seems to brighten the day.
Enlarge this photo HERE
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Once God set Time in motion not even mother nature can freeze it. It is one of those beautiful things God really is the one in control.
Enlarge this photo HERE
There really is nothing like Ice covered thorns with a touch of red. You really have to enlarge this one to appreciate it.
Thank you for checking up as always feel free to leave your feed back and comments.
God Bless
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)
And it Rains IN DECEMBER. A good friend of mine Ken Norton of Zone-10 (Pictured here)
and I were supposed to go and try and photograph some eagles today however due to the Ice this morning and Ken having a 20+ mile drive just to come up. It was decided that standing in this weather trying to get a few photos of some eagles just was not worth the risk.
Instead Ken had the idea to take some photos of the ice on the windows. I will try, I have some on my screens that is kind of neat, I am game.
Well to say the least mine did not tern out that good and to top it off Ken's turned out better. To boot he wrote a poem you can check it out here at Inside, Looking Out
So I just got another photo from a series I am working on that I shot last week in south east Iowa near Ft. Madison. 
I did not want to look completely out done.
Thanks for viewing and feel free to leave your feed back and comments.
God Bless.
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)
Some times even in central Iowa you can come across some pretty cool things to photography even if it is over a corn field.
The other day was one of those really cold windy Iowa days, so instead of staying inside I thought I should get out of the house and try and take some photos. I had been out of town for the past week with the family so any time alone was welcomed. 
As I was headed south through Tama I could see what looked like a rainbow to the west of the sun.
I thought that is neat as I got to more of a clearing I could see what is known as Sun Dogs. These are actually small and can get large enough to make a circle around the sun. 
It is a very cool effect none the less and on a bitterly cold very windy day made it very worth while to go out taking photos.
If you would like to see the rest that I took with the ability to enlarge them just follow this LINK Sun Dog's
Thanks for looking and feel free to comment,
God Bless,
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)
I really like location portrait shoot. well I should it is how I make a living. But some days you get to a shoot that is really great and would have no problem taking a few hundred portraits.
Well Today was one of those days I had a family portrait shoot that included two Chow Chow dogs. Some times pet photography can be a huge challenge in it self however today the owners of these Chow Chows show their dogs so they were very easy to work with. ( both the owners and the dogs) Even the pup that is just over 3 months old was already showing good sings of being a very good show dog.
As you can see He is very loved as well being very playful, He is still just a pup.
The older female does not get shown any more but she had no problem posing for us as you can tell with these two photos.
Even all together they just make one happy family and photogenic family.
I really do enjoy the challenges and rewards with on location portraiture photography. It is not like in the studio were every thing is set once and usually stays fairly close to those parameters . That kind of photography can be very repetitive and become boring. I mean if the studio is already set up with very few variables almost any one can take a photo and make it look ok. Look at Walmart and JC Pennies. I really like the sense of achievement when a client says "I want my photo here" and being able to give them just that and make it look good to boot.
If you would like to see more photos from this shoot in a larger size you may go HERE
Now if I told you there is an easy answer to this you would tell me I am crazy. Well no one has ever accused me of being sane. So yes I am going to tell you there is a fairly short answer to how to become successful.
The first part of how to become successful will leave you saying well Duh. However you will need to hang on for the whole thing so you can put it together. First for you to be successful you have to be so good at what you do that you can not be ignored. Plain and simple. If some one is better then you in that field you just try harder and more ways until you are good enough you can not be over looked. DUH!
Now the Question is "how do I become this good?" This is where the answer is not that hard it is just more then what most people want to do.
Malcolm Gladwell gives an informative yet entertaining 40 min. speech on it Here
Mr. Gladwell Outlines how it takes the average master 10,000 hours to become just that a master.
10,000 hours is a lot of time to devote to any one thing but as you look at successful people all around the world most will have put roughly that kind of time and effort to their cause. I hope you can find Malcolm Gladwell's speech as entertaining as I did.
As always I look forward to your comments and feedback.
Thank you and God Bless.
Corey Brown ( Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography )
It is cold here in Iowa again today and with the girls getting kind of cooped up I thought it would be nice to try and visit a warm memory. My oldest daughter Bella loves frogs, so when we get a chance we will go out to a couple of spots and see if we can find some to check out.
This first frog we fond on a trail just off the Iowa River near La Grand Iowa. It is a neat trail for the area it even has a suspension bridge on the edge of one of our few cliff fronts.
This Frog was fond in the back waters of the Lake behind the paper mill in Tama Ia. There is another trail that you can walk around the North side of the lake. 
This third photo was taken at the gold fish pond at MMSC in down town Marshalltown Ia. They have a nice set up and you do not need to go through the hospital to get to it. It sits on the North side of the hospital next to the cross walk that goes to McFarland Clinic. If you would like to see these and a few other photos at a much larger size and resolution you can folow this link
Thanks for looking and God Bless.
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)
As most people who know me know that I almost always have a camera with me. By doing so I try to always get a photo every time I go anywhere Whether by myself or with the family. Even if it is an area that I travel all the time. This really does help my photography in a few areas. The biggest is always trying to find a photo worth taking. The second is practice plain and simple.
This first photo is one south west of Tama Iowa. Before Jenna was born Bella and I would always take a Sunday cruise after Church and take photos. This is from one of our Sunday drives. I really hope to get back into that habit soon with both the girls. 
This Second photo is of a small Iowa snow storm going in front of the sunset. I love trying to capture photos like this for the challenge of how much dynamic range is in the scene. To Capture a Photo like this you really need to decide what is important to you to have in the photo and compose your photo around that. With any luck others will see what you were trying to capture.
I took this photo on the way back from a location model shoot I took a Three Bridges Park near La Grand Iowa. The main reason I was able to get this shot is I left the camera out after the shoot just in case I ran across something cool to take a photo of. Just a few miles up the road I came across this sunset that happened to have a train in it. This is another shot that can be difficult to get exactly what you are going for. Shooting into the sun can cause the train to end up black or if you get the train exposed properly the sun and sky will be blown out. So once again a shot like this is choosing what you like best in the scene and compromising some other parts. Usually to get a scene like this it is best to shoot, expose for the Sun set or shoot with a - EV and try to bring your shadows up the best you can in post process. 
The Main reason for this post is that you can never get a photo if you do not have your camera.
As most People know I try and make it a habit to always have a camera with me. By doing so I was able to get all the shots above. It seems you see the coolest things when ever you do not have a camera or have one ready. So does this mean that if I always have a camera at hand and ready I do not see any thing cool? Not at all. It just means when I do I have a photo of it when others just have a fleeting memory.
Thanks for looking and God Bless.
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)
Just a Quick update The Fall workshop is just around the corner ( Oct. 17th & 18th) so if you have not singed up yet and are planing on it now is a good time. You can get more info or register at http://www.pilgrimheights.org/groups/Photography_Fall or here is the Registration Form PDF And feel free to contact me directly if you would like
This workshop will be covering the foundations of photography. Anybody from the novice to the advanced hobbyist should walk away with with a greater understanding of photography and the ability to put it into practice. I will update next week when I will have a head count to let everyone know how many opening are still available.
Thanks and God Bless,
Corey Brown
