Cured from G.A.S.

I remember all those times during my early days getting into the field of photography. I remember the feelings, and I remember the emotions. I was over whelmed. Therefore, that gave me a lot of gas. This wasn't a clinical problem, but more of a psychological condition. What is gas? GAS is Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

Let me take you step by step.

Prologue - You have a decent camera, and you meet a friend, who is awesome with his point and shoot. You learn, and you understand your p&s even better. That's where all the majority is. If you are still here, you better give yourself a pat, because this isn't a gas condition.

Chapter 1 - Oh you have researched the web, and you've seen all the other people with amazing stuff, out of DSLRs. You just gotta have one. I need more control over my camera, and P&S is just not giving me what I want. I'll just buy a really cheap DSLR and the kit lens is all I need.

Chapter 2 - Oh! You can make money with your photography as a hobby, with stock photography. I guess I need to invest a little bit to buy a macro lens. Then I can really make some money

Chapter 3 - OMG! This kit lens SUCKS. I can't even zoom to an object outside my room. I need a zoom lens. Like something that can cover from a wide angle till a telephoto.

Chapter 4 - Man, I get too much camera shake in low light situations. I need a tripod. Everyone has a tripod, and I can afford it. Its an awesome thing to have in your gear right. I'll buy a tripod and fix this low light situation.

Chapter 5 - Okay, I can't take my tripod everywhere. At gatherings, everyone stares at me. Also, since its a zoom lens, the aperture is not good enough to take images in low light. I need to get a FLASH. The pop up is so uncontrollable. I need Flash that I can bounce.

Chapter 6 - Okay, so this website says that the prime lens are the sharpest, and that website says that a prime have better glass too. I should have at least one prime in my gear right?

Chapter 7 - I have the prime, but the I use the zoom more often. I need to invest in a good sharp zoom lens, with a wider aperture.

Chapter 8 - Man, I can't work with this small camera body. I need a better one, to fit perfectly with these set of expensive lens I have.

and it goes on....

Luckily for me, I woke up from this condition. Heres the good part of waking up after possessing this much gear. It gives me a better perspective. I see them as tools. I have a bigger toolbox, which means that I have less restrictions to certain photography genres. It was just recently that I had purchased a Zack Arias workshop, and that workshop really put all my photography into perspective. I knew some stuff, and I knew how to do it, but I didn't know WHY? I didn't know the technical. Now I do, and gives me a better and clear picture of what and where it is that I want to end up.

Also, an amazing quote from  Edward Weston "...few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them..." I have applied this theory for so long in terms with Money, being a business entrepreneur, that don't work for money, but let the money work for you, and I just couldn't see and think about applying the theory elsewhere.  

Finally, You know its like a little girl saying, I want to grow up and live in a Palace, and if she seriously worked towards it, gradually, everyday she would add detail to that. Initially, the vision in her head would just be an outline of a palace, and then slowly, she would envision, how the gates would look, how the windows would look, how her room would look, how many trees the palace would have and so on till she reaches there.

Everyone envisions where they want to end up, but it is the journey which gives the final shape ,the detail and the perfection to their vision. (Wow, I should copyright that) haha!

Photo

The April Wedding - It is, what it is.

A Decent Card Reader       AED 100
Special 95 Petrol Top up    AED 130
Backup CF Cards              AED 250
5D Battery                         AED 350
Laptop                              AED 6500
Car Broke Down on my way to the Wedding - PRICELESS!

What do you want me to say? I can only laugh about it now, because it was funny. On the other hand, I was lucky. It was the wedding night, and just to relieve you guys, I did reach the wedding, way ahead of time. I shot the whole wedding, except when the bride and groom were seen off, I was suppose to head back to their room from the venue and do a set of final shots of them there, to achieve the perfect ending for their wedding night. Well that didn't happen. My engine started burning as I followed the bride and groom in my own car. Since I have this american car, it is really crazy on safety, but also freaks you out. As soon as the temperature went in to the hot zone, my car started an internal alarm. It was like I had to evacuate or this car would explode. The alarm was loud, and it got me panicking. In that instance, I slowed down, and the bride and groom sped off, unknown to my situation. I didn't know what to do, so I started to look for a grocery store or a gas station (in Ajman : Okay, after Midnight Ajman becomes scary. And I didn't know the roads) and started making turns right and left and right and left. Finally, I found a small cafeteria which was open, where I bought two bottles of water. I popped the hood, and I saw one of the pipes was busted, and the coolant was spraying out. I let the car cool down. The radiator was empty after it had sprayed all that coolant out, so I poured in some water. The temperature came down, but I had lost my way. While finding my way back, the temperature rose again. It was a lost night. Finally, I called them up and apologized sincerely of my situation. It was so unprofessional, but it was, what it was. I finally found my way back, and reached home 3 hours later, because I had to take periodic stops for my engine to cool down.

Luckily for me, this happened after the major stuff was over. Though I still believe that if I got some of those shots, I would've had a perfect ending to my story.

No matter how much you prepare for a job you undertake. Sometimes, **it happens.  And it is, what it is.

I will soon be putting up some of the images from the wedding. So keep checking.

Business Tuesdays: Under Promise and Over Deliver

I think one of the most important lessons, I have learned the hard way. Why are people unhappy by your work and your service? Maybe you are unhappy about how some service you might have paid for, didn't come up to your expectations. That's the keyword, expectations. An employee expects his employer to take care of him. An employer expects his employee will work hard in return. A husband expects his wife, to take care of him, and in return a wife expects the husband to take care of her. The world is filled with expectations. When I go down to a steakhouse, I'd expect a nice juicy steak on my plate, and not the ones I make at home, which are half cooked and raw. But if that steak is raw and dry, and the worst you had in your life, someone somewhere has let you down. Your brand, your name is a promise. I can expect a Billy's Steakhouse can give me a bad steak, but if I go to a Tony Roma's or something, I expect to have a really good steak. That brand, that name is a promise in itself. 

Enough of general talk. No matter what field you are in, every person trying to make a buck, will promise the moon, the stars, the sun, the galaxy and the whole universe. As a customer, you will be like "Wow! This must be the deal of the century." and when they deliver, the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxy, but not the whole universe. What's going to happen next? Your expectations will fall. Hence making that the worst deal of the century. Its not about the effort involved. The person might have worked day in day out, to give you the sun, the moon, the stars, and the galaxy, and it must've been their best work, but they over promised and they under delivered. And thats when all that effort will mean to nothing.

This is customer service 101 guys. If you service your clients better then competition, people will pay the extra buck for you. Take some time, and remember why you went to an expensive place only because some one spoke to you nicely. So never promise the sun, the moon and the stars to your client. Always under promise and over deliver.

Join me back on Tuesday, for another round on Business Tuesdays. 

Photo Credits: Apple ; Fruits

Its got my name on it.

Let me tell you a story, which my English teacher told me back in High School.

There was a team of 2 people, who used to build houses for a living. They worked together for almost every project. (For the sake of the story lets name them Gary and Jones). Gary used to go get the jobs, and Jones used to build the houses. Jones was so good at building houses, that Gary never had to inspect them before delivery. They continued this for many years, till Jones said "Hey Gary! I can't do this anymore, I'm done with building houses, and now I need to retire." Jones was hoping Gary would listen to him and let him retire, but he didn't. Gary said "Jones, I can't let you retire just yet. I have one last job we need to do, and then you are free to retire." Jones was totally annoyed. He just didn't have any heart left in him for the jobs. Since it was his last job, he went ahead and did it, but without heart. For the heck of it, he finished that job, with messy fittings, a bad paint job, and uneven fencing around the house. Jones went back to Gary in his office, and said "Here you go, its all done." and handed over the keys of the house to Gary. Gary smiles back at him and says "Great!" and hands him the keys back and says "Jones, its your home now. A gift from me to you for working for us so long."

Moral of the story: Whatever you do, do it with you heart, because its got your name on it.

It can be anything, anywhere, just put your heart into it, because its got your name on it. It can be a paid job or a non paid job, my passion and my dedication towards it shouldn't change. Why? Because its got your name on it. Your name is what you are. People remember you by your name, and you need to make sure your name is remembered in a good way. At the end of the day, everything you do has your name on it. I always try to give it all I have, and yes, sometimes you loose motivation, but thats when you need to tell yourself, that look, its GOT MY NAME ON IT. I can't repeat this enough, but this is what it is. Whatever field you are in, you need to remember that you represent your name, which is a brand. No matter how small or big, its your name, and everything you do, HAS YOUR NAME ON IT. So go ahead and nail everything, anything everytime you do. 

Photo courtesy : Ali A. Daud

The "Manual Mode" Myth

In the days before the automatic camera's, there were your cameras which made every photographer work real hard to get that correct exposure. There were pocket manuals for different conditions, about what your shutter speed should be and what your aperture should be and what your ISO rating should be. The photographers worked really hard for their pictures. Hence photographers like Ansel Adams and Alfred Eisenstaedt were some of the famous pioneers of the art industry. They all shot in Manual mode, because that's all that was back then.

Technology has advanced a lot since then, creating micro sized chips with enough memory to fit a complete event, unlike the days of film. They have created more user-friendly cameras, and the creation of the "AUTO" mode in cameras.

For a short course on using M mode; it consists of 3 basic factors. Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO. The shutter speed controls how long your shutter is open. Aperture controls how much light enters the lens. ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor to the light. In the manual mode, to get the perfect exposure you need to adjust shutter speed and aperture according to the display of the light meter. Now, you either choose the aperture first, and dial the shutter speed till the light meter displays the correct exposure, or the shutter speed first, and dial the aperture till the light meter displays the correct exposure.

Now heres the misconception. "You are not a pro if you don't shoot in Manual." I'm going to come out and say it out right. I mostly use Av and I almost rarely use M. Why shouldn't I. Its an option on my 5D Mk II. Its there for a reason. You don't need to worry about what anyone thinks about how you shoot, as long as you get the job done. There were manual cars before, with gear shifts, till they came out with an automatic gear with a trip shift system. You are a pro as long as you are professional. As long as you get the job done. I use my camera on Av mode because I know how each f/stop changes the exposure, I manually decide my ISO depending on the situation, and I let the camera decide the shutter speed. The only time I use M mode is during still life and flash photography, when I'm using my umbrellas and soft boxes.

Don't be shy of how you shoot. If auto is how you roll, you go ahead and create magic. In the wedding industry, its all about timing. If you fumble with your settings, you might lose the opportunity to have captured a moment.

Did you know most "pros" use Av mode a lot more then M mode.