Like many this time of the year we make a lot of promises to ourselves.  I’m no different.   I may not keep them all but I’m trying.The first big change I did, which shock a couple of people, is after over 12 years I shaved my Goatee.

I know it sounds small but there are very few who have seen me with out it. I look 5 years younger. Then there’s the glasses. After over 40 years I finally need glasses.  I have not made the appointment yet, but I will this week.  and if I can just loose 20 pounds……

Work wise I making many changes too. I’m offering some new services. updating some processes, and uncluttering my work life. more on all of this later.

For Google sake I do need to and a link to the newer food site.  Minnesota food photographer and the updated studio rental site Area Nineteen.

Thanks for reading…

Joel

I started my list of goals for next year. Why wait until February like I normally do. I going to ad video to my offerings. I started a blog called from still to motion to document my transition. I m doing more than just that. I leaning editing and shooting. All the thing you need to know. QuarterTon has been a great resource for me.

I’m looking for a second camera. I’m so tired waiting for the new up grade from canon of the 5D. I want a camera that compliment what I have now. But adds some additional
functions and features that I currently don’t have. The 7d will do all that just fine.
It’s about 1,700 dollars, so it will take me some time to save up that kind of money.

And it just one of the many things that are on my ” wish list”. Here are some others.
A new IMac 27 inch with the SATA convert ion to it. This will be for video editing.
A additional 500 LED light. A Pro-glide camera stabilizer. A video tripod with fluid head. And a 7 inch external monitor. It’s not much to ask, is it? Ya I think it is. I’ll just see what I can do this year. Camera first, then we’ll see about the rest.

All the best to you, the reader of this blog.
Thanks and have a wonderful Christmas.
Joel

I have always been interested in the the next thing.  It could be a camera,  new lighting or faster computers. I’m always looking for ways to advance my skills or find a new tool that will make my images different. I noticed on Ebay these LED lights. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. They take little power, produce little to no heat, and are portable. But are expensive. Newer technology always is.  i did not take them very seriously, I did not think the light out put would be  much. The other day, I was reading a blog from Kirk Tuck a photographer from Austin Texas. He found some less expensive lights on Amazon.  Kirk wrote about the power and the portability of the LED light. I was intrigued. so I looked at the samples he had, and did some of my own research into other types of LED lights. I think for starters the ones on Amazon are a good deal. So I order a light. I’ll the to get a couple of samples up for all to see.

I have alway been interested in the the next thing. Wether it be a camera, lighting or computers. I’m always looking for ways to advance my skills or find a new tool that will make my images differnt. I noticed on Ebay these LED lights. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. They take little power, produce little to no heat, and are portable. But are expensive. Newer technology always is. I was reading a blog from Kirk Tuck a photographer from Austin texas. He found some less expensive lights on Amazon. Kirk Tuck wrote about the power and the portability of the LED light. i looked at the samples he had. and did some research into other types of LED lights. I think for startes the ones on Amazon are a good deal. So I order a light. I’ll the to get a couple of samples up for all to see.

Here is a little movie,rough cut for now,  of a project I completed last week. It was shot by a fellow photographer  Keith Gulsvig.  the other in the video are the client and the food stylist Ann Jensen. this was on the second to last day of a 5 day shoot.  I’ll put together a longer version on of the whole project later.  That will be on the Minneapolis Food Photographer site

Here it is below.

Every couple of years, I update the computers in the studio. I shuffle them around to do different jobs. The slowest is for the email and office computer I think That one is about 6-7 years old. The next fastest is for file archiving and asset management,that ones only 5 years old. I hold on to computers for a long time. The studio computer, and the one that I edit images on, are 4 years old. I bought them used on eBay a couple of years ago. And the were two years old then. Now I’m looking at a couple of iMacs on eBay. These are last years models. The only reason that I’m even looking is because of the new Adobe softwear. The new Adobe Lightroom and photoshop CS 5 are such a leap forward in features and speed increase, that I would be a fool not add it in to my work flow. So over the next couple of weeks I will watch and wait to see what eBay will bring.
Joel

I was  surfing the web the other day. I look at other photographers site to gauge my work and to get inspired. I found a site that was simply designed and easy to look at. http://www.jannepeters.de/.  I thought to myself , hey I can do that.  So I set forth and updated the Minnesota Food Photographer site. With a plugin for Adobe Light room called LRB Portfolio. keeping all the text that was on the site. I adjusted the colors and some of the spacing.  I did have to re-crop some of the images so I could get them all to line up.  I redid the logo also.  It looks a 100% better. I now am looking to update the Minneapolis food site. but that will be another entry.

“I’m creating some new wood surfaces. What kind of wood do you all like the best? I’m making a couple of destresed wood ones now. I’ve also started collecting cook books for photo inspiration. And what I came up with is a short list of wood types that seem to be a standard set. 1. Wains cote in white, some times aged. 2. A white washed oak or maple. 3. A pine( barn wood) with the paint chipping or pealing. 4. An old grey oak or pine some times rough cut for texture. 5. And some times a painted blue or green wood heavily distressed. Since I’m making these myself, I am building them on a 3.5×4 foot in size. This way they will be easily stored.

There is a lot that goes into photography for cook book. There couple of pre-production meetings, called prepros. I have one this week. The author,stylist and I, will look at the list of recipes. And visualize each shot. There’s 40 to 50 shots. So this will be a long meeting.

We will determine the over all look. Then each surface, plate,and any additional props we will need.

I had the opportunity to work with a new food stylist Ann Jensen. This is the second time ann and I have collaborated on some shots. The first ones are here.

The second time we did some drink images. I’ ve shot some beer in the past, but I wanted to expand my skills.

I’ll be adding them to my food site Minnesota food photographer. And the BDI site