Micah Dalton
Micah Dalton, a marvelous singer-songwriter based in Atlanta, dropped by to let me take a few pictures of him this afternoon. Here are somethings that we got in a quick 30 minute session:
Micah brought the whole band too… Good times.
And you’ve got to get the cheesy portrait, if the photo above wasn’t cheesy enough…
Catch one of Micah’s live shows or find some of his music and give it a listen by starting at www.micahdalton.com.
All photos ©Cat Norman Photography
| Posted in » Andy Lee
I went shooting today with another good friend who is also a photographer – Andrew Lee. We meandered through blossoming trees and bales of hay and came up with a few shots of each other. Check out Andy’s work at andrewthomaslee.com. Shameless plug – he’s a GREAT family and children’s portrait photographer, you should hire him to take pictures of you and your sig. other or kid. Seriously.
- This is where he about destroyed the pile of hay and himself getting set up for the previous shot.
Here’s one he got of me in a tree that I really like…
Note: I processed it – so it may not look just like he would put it out. ©Andrew Thomas Lee Photography.
All other photos ©Cat Norman Photography.
Us vs Betty (or Joe)
Why hire a professional photographer when Betty in accounting (or ‘my buddy Joe’) has a nice camera and they’ll do it for free?
We’re all trying to cut costs right now as budgets have been slashed from the previous year and all departments are making sacrifices — we’re using generic post-it notes instead of ordering the one’s with our company logo, the company party now has a cash bar instead of free booze, the new office chairs they’ve been promising for months aren’t being mentioned anymore. So why would you put $1000 dollars or more of your limited budget towards a professional photographer when someone you know has a friend who is pretty good free?
a) You are a professional company or self-proprietor – look like one.
When you want to get hired for a job with a prospective client or an employer, you take a shower, comb your hair, and put on a good suit, and check your teeth in your rear-view mirror right before you go in so that you’ll make a good impression. You do all that because you know that if you don’t make a good impression, you might not get hired. Regardless of your experience.
The same goes for your company website and print work – when someone visits your site or picks up your brochure, you are making a first impression. If it looks like you cut corners there, why shouldn’t that person assume that you’ll cut corners when trying to meet his needs? The imagery that you have on your site and print material represents your business.
b) Everyone is busy – get it right the first time.
This point speaks for it’s self. A lot of people in your company barely have five minutes to spare the first time, so telling them that the first one’s didn’t work out can certainly raise stress levels and upset working relationships.
c) All the other companies are slashing their advertising budgets – this is your chance to get one up on competition.
I was at a business meeting not too long ago and the speaker made this point – and it’s a great one. Now is the time to work on your image. People are reconsidering what they do, how they spend their money, and where they spend their money. Make them switch to come to you by being professional, reliable, and on top of your game. People don’t want to switch to less reliable companies who are cowering with their eyes covered in the corner, hoping that they’ll still be alive after the storm.
d) There’s more to it than just taking a picture.
And this is where Betty comes in: I’m sure that Betty is really nice, and passionate about photography, and owns a nice digital camera, so please don’t take offense, but she’s not a professional and shouldn’t taking your CEO’s portrait any more than she should be allowed to draw architectural blueprints for the construction of your new branch.
When you hire a professional you tap into experience, equipment, resources, and knowledge that an amateur photographer simply can’t afford financially or time-wise. Professional photographers aren’t pros because they can miraculously take a better picture with the same camera – Betty can push the button as well as we can. Pro photographers are pros because they spend over 90% of their time preparing their minds and gear like an athlete in training for the moment that they’ll take that picture – and that makes a world of difference. Pro photographers are constantly researching the latest trends in photography and advertising, are discovering how new or different equipment can meet the needs of each image, and are testing multiple lighting and background options. They are working on communicating with their clients so that people look relaxed in front of their camera while they get that unique photo that will set your business out from the rest. And because they know their gear inside out, they can get the shot you need quickly and efficiently.
Oh, and they probably have a lot more equipment that you can resource – studio lights, backdrops, fancy lenses, cutting edge computers and imaging software. And, yes, a pro could probably Photoshop a suit onto the guy who forgot to bring one to the shoot – or they might just have a back up jacket on location…
Why People?
I remember straightening up at the Pyramids trying to compose that perfect National Geographic shot – intensely annoyed at the throngs of gawking tourists who were absolutely ruining my shot. What’s more, the official family photographer at the grand age of 10, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the incessant nagging coming from my father –
“Let’s get a family photo!’ he’d say.
“Amy, go stand over there!” he’d holler.
I just wanted the Pyramids in grandiose isolation. Sigh.
My dad said that the photos that would mean the most when we got back home were going to be the one’s with people in them. Age 10 thoughts – ‘Yeah. Right. Humph.”
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Zoom forward to my college-age self.
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Turns out my dad did know a few things after all… Looking back on family albums, I lose interest quickly in those photos of architectural wonders smeared with anxious tourists, while I find myself peering deeply into the family photos – trying to remember who we were and what was important to us in that slice of time.
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Since then, I’ve never felt satisfied with a photo that didn’t have a face in it. People put time, scale, emotion, and meaning into an image.
And the best part – people are the x-factor that makes what I do something more than the scientific ratio of light vs darkness. With a subject in front of the lens you react to who they are as a person and what emotions they are experiencing. You adapt to how the light interacts differently on each individual’s face. You move quickly to catch the light in their eyes and respond to time limitations. You make conversation and build new friendships as you pin down a unique moment of their life in film/digital sensor. You give them a representation of a slice of time, and in so doing, you make that piece of time important.
Tes
Tes is a wonderful friend that I know through my church. She is also a photographer here in Atlanta, so we got together today to play with our cameras.
First, we headed down to a beat up house on Wylie St and took turns posing and shooting. (The weather was phenomenal today, by the way.) Then we headed back to the house so I could drag her across my white seamless wall – I’m still trying to master the look. She’s makes an incredible model – even if she claims she’d rather be behind the camera.
You can check out her and her husband’s websites at TheDavison.com or buy vintage clothing at her etsy store – Vanille Vintage.
All photos ©Cat Norman Photography.
