Recently I was in the mood to create something a little wild in Photoshop that I could also license as a royalty free stock photo.  I’m not the visionary type that can just get ideas in my head, and then go run and shoot all of the separate pieces.  I’m more of the type that shoots a lot of “stuff”, browses through it all, and realizes later (sometimes accidentally) which elements might play nicely together.  So, I started with a shot from my own photo library of a few little kids running. They were the son and daughter of some friends of mine, and I got a shot of them running through the park during a family photoshoot I did for them about a year ago. When I was in NYC recently, I caught a crazy shot of the traffic driving across the Brooklyn Bridge, with a slight gap in the traffic. I was standing above the highway on the foot path, and shot it at a slight angle so that it looks a bit more candid.  What was the result? Here it is!

The original kids shot:

The final:

The shadows were a bit tricky, but I got them right.  The size and skew angle of the children was probably the most difficult part.

It’s so much fun when you realize that you can combine multiple photo pieces to create and entirely new and different composition. Gotta love it!  The parents and kids got a kick of of it, and laughed their heads off on seeing this final result   That’s about as good as it gets.

Now why would someone want to use this photo?  Why bother going through all of the trouble to compose such an image?  Why not?  First of all, I had fun doing it.  Even if I don’t make a dime from the photo, that right there was worth it.  But unfortunately, homeboy has to pay the bills.  If my wife thought I messed around all day on the computer creating “fun” photos that I couldn’t sell, she probably might not be very pleased with me.  How might someone put this final image of kids running through highway traffic to good use in an advertisement or magazine article? I was thinking it might apply to childhood behavior concepts; perhaps even hyperactivity or ADHD.  Wild kids, kids gone wild, or other topics of that nature.  What about the location?  It’s New York City, and we all know that NYC is one of the most visited cities in the entire world.  Maybe an article about family friendly vacations to the Big Apple might find a nice use for this hilarious photo.  In the end, it can be applied to a number of different concepts.  Safety, behavior, travel, parenting, and more.

Image keywords: add, ADHD, bad, boy, Bridge, Brooklyn, brother, cars, Chase, chases, chasing, Children, control, crazy, Danger, dangerous, excited, freeway, Fun, funny, Girl, Happy, highway, hyper, hysterical, Kid, Kids, loose, misbehaved, misbehaving, mischievous, motorway, out, playing, plays, running, siblings, Sister, smiling, Street, tag, teen, together, Traffic, uncontrolled, undisciplined, unsafe, wild, young, youth

Here’s some really awesome commercials, clips, and inspiring examples of creativity I’ve seen recently that I really enjoyed.

Empty LA  by Matt Logue.  Los Angeles without any cars or people…  Crazy.

PDF article by AfterCapture magazine:
http://www.rangefindermag.com/storage/articles/AC0610_Logue_Smith.pdf

And for all of you that are videographers, or love to produce stock footage and video for microstock…  enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SItFvB0Upb8

Don’t judge the B ROLL!

Do you ever feel like your work is never good enough?  Do you get praise from others about your creations, but deep down inside you don’t feel the same way?  Maybe you feel like you just served up a pile of trash.  To be honest, I feel this way about my own work a lot.  I recently did a few photoshoots and nothing I shot really wow-ed me.  This type of thing happens other creatives I have spoken to, as well.

I Am My Own Worst Critic
I’m definitely my own worst enemy when it comes to criticism. I see the flaws in my work.  Even if they are minor, almost untraceable to others, I still manage to find them.  Am I just being over critical?  Am I bored with what I’m doing?  Is it just because I’m being overly anal?  What’s wrong with me?  I want to be happy with what I’m doing.  I am definitely enjoying it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be 100% proud of where I’m at creatively.  I think we all want to have our own “style” but this is easier said than done.  I’m still trying to figure out what it is, and probably will continue to do so for a very long time. 

Transform
Last year Atlanta Georgia based editorial photographer Zack Arias made a video like no other.  It described a personal struggle that a creative has and lives through.  I don’t care if you’re a graphic designer, a hairdresser, a chef, a contractor, a sculptor, or even a basket weaver… if you create on a daily basis, watch this video.  It’s a must see, and I am pretty sure you will be able to highly relate to it.  Any creative professional should see this.

Getting In and Out of Creative Rutts
We all get in the same creative patterns sometimes, and many times we might not even notice it.  As a designer I would find myself using a lot of the same typefaces, or laying thing out with the same compositions all the time.  In photography, I might find myself framing a lot of headshots in the same way.  Or, I might continue shooting the same themes and subjects with different models.  What do you do when you realize you’re in a rutt?  You do whatever you can to get the heck out of it.  Don’t wait around for someone else to tell you what to do.  Mess around and get crazy the next time you get to work.  Change things up surprisingly.  Look elsewhere for inspiration, if you need some.  Try something new (maybe a different subject, theme, or style) that you might have passed up before.  I personally find that when I get out of my comfort zone and try something new, I get a lot more satisfaction out of my successes.  You will also realize whether or not your new experiments are for you or not, and just might step back into your comfort zone.  Even still, you’re going to be a lot more well rounded of a creative than before.

It’s Okay…
Being your own worst creative enemy is not necessarily a bad thing… be worried when the opposite is true.  Then, you might have a problem.  Heck, maybe it’s healthy.  It’s nice to have a constant semi-dissatisfaction with your work, in a way, so that you can use that to drive you onward to the next level.  I talked to my mom about this topic recently (she’s a hairdresser that’s been in the business for over 30 years).  We agreed that sometimes you just have to keep doing what you know you have to to please your clients and pay the bills.  Feeling completely satisfied with where you are as an artist or craftsman might be a lifelong quest… just try not to beat yourself up so much along the way.

This is one of the coolest and most creatively executed music videos I have honestly seen in a long time.  I really like the song, too.  Watch this full screen, and let your mind be blown.  OK GO always has the best videos, including the treadmill one but this one takes the cake!  Think of the time it must have taken to put a crazy domino obstacle course like this together!?  What an incredible production.  This takes the one from the 80s move “The Goonies” and puts it to shame.

Every once in a great while there is a high tech video clip or short film that hits the internet, that just makes you go “WOAH, that is AWESOME.” This is definitely one of them – enjoy!

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. – Independent web videos.

Aaron Goodman is the man. I’m blown away by his stuff. He knows his gear, his lighting, and (even more importantly) his Photoshop; and he’s not afraid to use all of these skills in unison. His concepts are mind blowingly creative – enough to knock your socks off. Some of them are so simple, yet effective, that you think to yourself, “gee why didn’t I think of that?”.  The SAT’s with the pencil girl is one of my favorites. I want to try and think of more of these types of conceptual images, to add to my stock photography portfolio; as long as I can afford to spend the amount of time on them that they will obviously need. In the past I’ve spent hours and hours on images that have a very low return, so obviously when it comes to selling images like these through microstock outlets, you have to use your own good judgement and planning.

Read more in this excellent article by AfterCapture magazine here.  All images Copyright © Aaron Goodman.

I was thinking today about how incredible it would be to own a DSLR that was even 1/2 as good as our own human eyes are. Certainly cameras are just imitations of God’s wonderful creation and design, but have you ever really noticed how quick you can focus on any object? Talk about mind blowing; it’s practically instant. You don’t notice a delay, like you will on even the fastest digital cameras. They are getting better and better in time, but we can really appreciate how good we have it. Nature definitely did have it first.

Norman Rockwell was such a great illustrator, that he was practically a photographer.  His photo realistic images and sense of humor in his work have blown me away ever since I was a kid.  My mom used to hang prints of these on the kitchen wall, that she cut out of a Norman Rockwell calendar she got as a handout from the local bank.  We’ve always had beagles, growing up, so these are some of my favorites.  This stuff is just timeless.

The triple self portrait – pure genius.  For more info on Norman Rockwell, check out your local library or visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.