24 November 2009

Technorati Claim

This blogs only purpose is to verify that I am the blog owner to Technorati.  Please disregard.

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Jakked Hardcore Powercorp - IPA Powerlifting Meet

So I had the weekend off my retail job at the camera store last weekend, but that doesn't mean I wasn't working.  I actually worked my butt off all weekend.  Saturday I did an event shoot at the IPA Powerlifting Meet at Jakked Hardcore Gym in Montgomery, IL.  I've seen powerlifting at the Arnold Classic, but you're not as up close and personal as at a meet like this one.  I know some of the guys who competed, and there was even a woman who competed.  (Hey Renee and Aum!  You should compete next time!  She didn't have any competition!)

This was the first event shoot where I used my strobes to light the event.  It's also probably the hardest event shoot I've ever done.  I've talked to a lot of photographers about how they do this, and it's not difficult . . . . . unless you don't have the right kind of strobes.  My strobes are very weak, and what I needed was 500 or 750W strobes.  Man, it wasn't easy to get the light I needed to do this shoot properly.  I ended up using my SB600 in manual mode, boosting up it's power in manual mode, to set off my strobes that were maxed out.  All 3 of which were pointed at the white ceiling to provide the softening of light.  On top of that challenge, they had flourescent lights to light the room, with large open windows providing natural light.  Lucky I brought my handy dandy grey card so I could do a manual white balance!  Getting shots of the people as they were actually doing their lifts was often challenging because they're completely surrounded by spotters, or machinery.  I kept moving around all day, which would affect my lighting, which would affect my camera settings, . . . . . did I mention how hard this shoot was?  Well, at the end of the day, I got home, loaded up the memory card, and out of about 310 shots, I only had to delete about 20, and I barely had to edit anything.  Score!  Now that's a successful shoot!

Then on Sunday I was contracted to photograph a batch of jewelry for "The Naked Parrot".  I don't have a macro lens, but I do have a very sharp Nikkor 70-200 lens, this is another project I had never done before.  The client was sure happy with them though.  Soon you can see them on her website at http://www.thenakedparrot.com/  I basically setup my camera on a tripod, hooked up my wireless remote, placed the first piece of jewelry in the shot, did a pre focus, and then assembly lined the inventory.  Once I got everything setup, it worked great.  Oh!  And I even did it high-key, yeah, me, Mr. Low Key Lighting.  My umbrellas were both nearly touching the jewelry, to make the light super soft to prevent reflecting off the gems as much as possible, and it worked out well.  No light box, no hot lights, just strobes and umbrellas, and a white muslin. 

So all the rest of Sunday was spent processing images.  For hours and hours.  And tonight after work, more processing.  Do any of you non photographers know how much time we spend processing the images we take for you?  That time would be greatly reduced if I could afford one of those quad-core 4G processor, 4G RAM, 4TB Drobo Array, Nvideo super duper video cards, and a 30 inch monitor.  A photographer can dream right? 

11 November 2009

Quad Cities - Bald Eagle Days Art Show!

For immediate release . . .

Bald Eagle Days Art Show
Night Owl Photography & Jonathan James Moore Photography
Present the first annual Bald Eagle Days Art Show!!!




Cambridge, IL – 5 Nov 2009 – Midwest area photographer’s Richard James Nagle of Night Owl Photography and Jonathan James Moore of Jonathan James Moore Photography have announced their first annual Bald Eagle Days Art Show to occur January 23rd, 2010 at the home of Nick & Judie Moore in Cambridge, IL. There are many area “Bald Eagle Days” in January, which is our favorite subject to photography, and why we’ve chosen this title for our show.

Mr. Nagle and Mr. Moore spend many of the coldest winter days outside, photographing eagles along the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. They’ve captured numerous outstanding action photos of the majestic American Bald Eagle. These photos, as well as other sunset, nature, wildlife, and portrait photography will be featured as part of the Bald Eagle Days Art Show.

Kathy Stinson says of Mr. Nagle: “Rich is a fantastic photographer. I bought some of his eagle photos for my father's birthday and he just loved them. I am giving him this calendar for Christmas. He has a such great eye for detail. You will not be disappointed!”

Mr. Nagle says: “Jonathan took me out for the first time to photograph the American Bald Eagle many years ago, and I was hooked from the start. Ever since then, we’ve made it a tradition to go out at least a few times each winter to try to capture these majestic birds with our cameras. We’re happy to share our experiences with you in our photographs.”

The Bald Eagle Days Art Show will be on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 from 10AM – 4PM. It will be hosted at the home of Nick & Judie Moore at 326 South Ridge Street, Cambridge, IL 61238. Refreshments will be available.


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Richard Nagle is sole proprietor and owner of Night Owl Photography. Night Owl Photography can be located online at http://www.nightowlphotography.com/.

Jonathan James Moore is sole proprietor and owner of Jonathan James Moore Photography. Jonathan James Moore Photography can be found online at http://jonathanjamesmoore.smugmug.com/

09 November 2009

Sandhill Crane Migration @ Jasper Pulaski

Sunday I had planned on going to Jasper Pulaski State Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana, to see the annual sandhill crane migration, but when I woke up Sunday morning, I was dissapointed to see a cloudy sky.  Damn you weatherman!  I didn't expect to go, so I wasted time, waiting to see what the sky would do, and it started to break up.  Then I checked the radar, and the raw weather data, and determined that it would be sunny by the time I got there if I left at that very moment.  So I threw my stuff together and rushed out the door. 

I got there and was shocked at how many people were there.  Standing room only on the observation deck, so I took up a spot along the fence in the grassy field below the deck.  So for those of you who don't know about this, sandhill cranes migrate through Indiana every fall, and about this time of year, it's not unheard of to see 10,000 birds all at once in this fish & wildlife area, . . . at sunset.  For some reason, they all appear in this huge field, at sunset.  Then at sunrise, they leave again.  What they're doing is feeding in the cornfields by day, and bedding down in this huge field at night, along with the deer.  There are hundreds of deer in this field as well.  It's a unique sight of nature, that you can view, in your own back yard if you live in the midwest.  Only 2 hours from Chicago. 

My intent was to take some video clips, so I could share this experience with you, and to get some nice silhouette photographs.  Mother nature was on my side weather wise, and it was a beautiful warm SUNNY day in November.  I think it got up to 70 degrees today.  As the sun set, some horizon clouds began to appear, which made the sunset beautiful.  Exactly what a photographer wants to see in a setting like this.  It was pretty awesome. 

Enjoy the video, and I hope you like the pictures at the end of the video too. 







08 November 2009

Todd Gustafson - Capturing the Decisive Moment

A few weeks ago, I had requested Saturday afternoon off, so I could sit in on a class that our store was hosting, taught by Todd Gustafson.  My boss didn't give me the afternoon off, but he did say I could sit in the class and assist Todd for the duration of the class.  When to work this morning though, he says he wants me to assist the morning class too, so I should just spend the day in the classroon.  Cool.

The first class was a free macro class with an often published photographer named David Fitzsimmons.  I'd never met him before, but he put on a good class, and the students all gave him really high praise after the class too. 


Todd Gustafson's class started in the afternoon, and it wasn't really a class so to speak, it was him showing us numerous slideshows of his images, telling stories surrounding them, and the importance of being able to "Capture the Decisive Moment", and how that makes your image have "pow" factor.  He presented his slide shows in such a way that it showed how you can get started in your own back yard, then expand to nearby forest preserves, then expand to Wisconsin or Michigan, then to Florida or the southwest, and on, and on, and on, until you reach Costa Rica (check out the video below), or Africa.  Oh!  He told a story of a picture he has of a guerilla, where the guerilla was watching him prepare the shot, and when he finally snapped the shutter, the guerilla slapped it's hand to his own forehead, and then threw his head back like he was playing dead.  How does that happen?!  Neat story I thought.  Someday I'm going on one of his guided tours, I swear it.

(P.S.  At the store, we have the image to my left printed in about 18 x 40 or so.  This little representation just can't do it justice, but you can get an idea of it.  This is the most amazing image I've ever seen.  Period!  I drool over this image.  He took this image with a D3, and a 600mm Nikkor lens, from a boat, at ISO 6400.  Shocked?  I was.  Nikon rules!!!)

I've never seen so much of his work before, and I'm even more of a fan now that I have.  What's really neat, is that I learned today that he's a musician too, and he plays stuff like Louie Armstrong with is band.  *shakes head*  Wow.  Todd is such a down to earth guy, and I highly recommend checking out his webpage and this video.








06 November 2009

I Met A Pulitzer Prize Winning Photojournalist Today!

So today I go to work at the camera store, like I do 5 days a week, but today was a bit different.  First of all, we're in the middle of our 70th Anniversary Sale right now, so there are vendors in the store, to present their product lines to our customers.  (And to train us when the store isn't packed full of customers.)  When I arrived today, I went over to talk to the Leica rep who I already knew, and introduced myself to the Think Tank rep.  When I was done talking to the Leica rep the woman from Think Tank (who makes camera bags, designed by photographers) asked if she could go through the Think Tank product line with me.  Any time I get a chance for training, I take it, so of course I said yes.  Through the conversation, I realize that her photo is the one that's on every Think Tank bag you purchase, and that she is a co-founder of Think Tank Photo.  I finish my training and go back to work.  Later I ask her for her business card, which says she's a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist!  What?!  I just met a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer?!?! 


Her name is Deanne Fitzmaurice, and in 2005, she won the Pulitzer for a photo essay about a 9 year old Iraqi boy who was nearly killed in an explosion, and his battle to survive as doctors in California tried to restore him to health as he got used to life in the United States.  (click here to see the photo essay)

Later in the day, when the crowd had thinned a little in the store, I got to go talk to her again, and asked her  about photojournalism.  Something I've been interested in ever since I saw the webpage of a young photojournalist (a customer at the camera store) who does weddings throughout the summer months, to fund her trips to 3rd world countries for her passion, photojournalism.  She had some amazing images, the likes of which I had never seen before.  Which of course got me interested in that type of photography, but it's something I still don't quite understand yet.  So to be able to talk to a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist was a treat to say the least. 

So tommorrow will hopefully be another enjoyable day at work, as I'm suppose to get to sit in on a class with National Geographic photographer Todd Gustafson, as his assistant.  That is if the boss doesn't renig on the deal.  Wish me luck! 



05 November 2009

Photo of the Month - November

This month's photo of the month is called "Pennies".  Why is a photo of boxcars called Pennies?  Well, you might be to young to know this little trick, but back in the day we used to put pennies on railroad tracks, and come back later to find them smashed, and collect different shaped smashed pennies. 

So this photo is simply a photograph of a train on the very same tracks that I used to leave pennies on as a young teen.  My best friend and I used to climb a railroad bridge in the area, and in general, walk the tracks to kill time in the summer, kinda like in the movie Stand By Me, long before that movie was ever made.  I was back in my home town last year, and was out exploring the old stomping grounds.  I drove down this road to see the old tracks I used to walk along, and a train went by.  I got out my camera and took a few pictures.  This one I liked.  I hope you like it too.


04 November 2009

Powerlifting Shoot at Jakked Hardcore Gym

n1589109519_30029734_9278My friends Byron and Tami at Jakked Hardcore Gym called to ask me to shoot their upcoming powerlifting event on November 21st. Jakked was recently honored to have Olympian bodybuilder Branch Warren visit their gym to workout, when he was here to guest pose for the NPC Continental bodybuilding show. What's really cool, is that when Branch was recently interviewed by Muscular Development magazine, he gave Jakked Hardcore Gym props, and told how their gym made him like he was at his home gym of Metroflex. To quote Branch from the article "I'd never heard of this place before, but it definately earns that "hardcore" title in it's name." This is amazing free PR for Jakked, and it could really boost their gyms exposure in the bodybuilding, powerlifting, and strongman world.

Jakked is a gym where there's no contracts, heavy metal jams on the stereo as you push out that last rep, they have 210lbs dumbells, and bodybuilders, strongmen, and powerlifters abound. It's a gym that makes you feel at home. So if you're reading this, and you live anywhere near Montgomery, IL, go check out Jakked Hardcore Gym and tell them you heard about them from Night Owl Photography.

I'll update this blog when I have the details of the powerlifting event.

http://www.nightowlphotography.com/

28 October 2009

New Website!!! New Blog!!!

Well, I'm writing this from my new blog, which I've seamlessly integrated with my newly designed website, which does NOT require a hosting company of any type. Neat huh? How? With the magic of SmugMug, and 4 days of little sleep, and every spare moment in front of the computer. I started this little project on Sunday, and spent 10 hours coding. I've actually be doing a mix of teaching myself CSS, researching FAQs, forums, help pages, and tutorials, to try to figure out how to make this work. Why would I put myself through this? Because now that I've done it, I can cancel my hosting contract and save all that money spent on monthly hosting services. Also, when I write a blog that gets listed on page 1 of Google, someone reads that blog, and they're "already" on my homepage with my galleries, where my products are. I'm also going to implement Google Adsense on the blog to try to make some extra money for my business. All of this has required a great deal of time and effort, but I think it's going to pay off in the long run. Plus, I've just needed to have a more professional website, and can't afford a fancy flash site, or someone to create a website for me.

So anyway, browse around the new place, and let me know what you think!

The Importance of Branding

The market for photography in this day and age is packed full of aspiring photographers. I’m one of them. The majority of photographers choose to name their company after themselves. i.e. “John Doe Photography” When I started my photography business though, I didn’t think anyone would remember my company name if I only named it after myself. “Richard Nagle Photography” or “Night Owl Photography”? I was convinced that the latter would be more memorable. I was right. I was convinced that having a recognizable logo would help people remember me, and my work. I think this is true for most businesses, but I’m just a small business owner, and not an expert, so I could be wrong? I encourage you to ponder it though.

Why Night Owl Photography? When I was a kid growing up in my godfathers darkroom, with he, my dad, and my other godfather on occasion, it was always late at night into the wee hours of the early morning. That’s where and when I learned my craft. Of course I’d take pictures during the day, but late at night is when we developed them. I was just they’re helper most nights, but still, that name was engrained in my psyche from the git-go. When I got my first DSLR, all of my image processing happened late at night and into the early morning hours as well. Plus my love of raptors and astronomy just kinda all fit.

So this logo that you see plastered all over everything I do, took me a while to create. I looked for that owl you see for many months online before I finally found the absolutely perfect owl I wanted. It was like fate wanted me to find it. It was found on a site called “The Nest of the Snow Owl”, which is a native american site. I asked the owner for permission to use it, and she granted me that permission. Then I played around in photoshop for a while and came up with the logo you see.

Now it’s one thing to have a good logo, but if you don’t USE IT, what good is it? Once you have a good logo, you have to get it in front of everyone. EVERYONE! It needs to go on your business cards of course, and your website, but that’s not enough. It needs to be the main profile picture of every social networking site you’re a member of. Every forum you post to. Every advertisement you create. Everywhere and anywhere you can think of. You need to put it on merchandise (Cafepress makes this easy to do. Check out my merchandise link in the right column for examples.), things like hats, shirts, buttons, magnets, mugs, pens, everything. Then either sell them, or give them away to people who will actually use them. Yes it’s a business cost, but you write it off anyway, right? You need to put it in comment replies, perhaps in your signature file, and anytime you have an opportunity to upload an avatar, use your logo!

What should your logo be? Well only you can answer that. It should be something that you find passionate or interesting though. Something you love. If you’re not creative, you can hire someone to create a logo for you, but don’t let them do it without an interview. It should be a teamwork thing if it’s going to mean anything. If they create your logo on their own, without interviewing you, it will mean nothing to you, or to your clientbase. Your logo should have a connection to you, and it should have a connection to your business. It should be more than text with a fancy font, well . . . , in most cases at least.

Now this isn’t going to happen overnight, but eventually, people will see your logo on your business card, or on your hat, or your shirt, and they’ll say something like “Ohhhhh, you’re the Night Owl! I love your pictures!” It happens to me all the time now, after 3 years of hard work. It’s really kinda cool every single time it happens too, because it means it’s working. It happens to me at ren faires, bodybuilding shows, belly dance shows, birding outings, and basically all the events that I frequent. It seems that everywhere I go, someone knows and loves my work. That’s a good feeling, and it’s because of my “branding” that they remember me. I really don’t think they’d remember “Richard Nagle Photography”.

But what about all the famous photographers out there who’s photography is self named? In my humble opinion, they don’t need branding, because they’re just that good. I’m not. I need branding to make me stand out from the bazillion (yes, that’s “my” word) other photographers who are competing in my target market. I’m not trying to say that “everyone” needs branding, but it sure does help when you want to rise above the crowd of the masses, stand out, and be remembered.

Once you’ve got your logo everywhere, you need next need to get your images and logo in front of people, but I think there’s enough info there for another separate post. So look for that one soon . . . . .