A few months back, Christopher Robinson, editor of Outdoor Photographer Magazine, contacted me to see if I would be interested in being one of the featured photographers in the upcoming annual Landscape Photography Special Issue. I was astonished to find out that I was on OP’s radar and that they were interested in featuring me in the special issue. Outdoor Photographer is the foremost US publication on outdoor photography with an annual circulation of over 2.3 million. The magazine regularly features the work of many of the best known landscape and outdoor photographers including David Muench, Frans Lanting, Art Wolfe, Thomas Mangelsen and Galen Rowell. To be published alongside so many who have given me inspiration is pretty humbling stuff.
In the upcoming Landscape Special, author William Sawalich interviews myself and two other on-the-rise outdoor photographers. Here is a brief excerpt from the intro to the article. “The Outdoor Photographer 2008 Landscape Annual features the work of three artists who each takes a somewhat different look at landscape photography. Rodney Lough, Shane McDermott and Sean Bagshaw are all widely recognized photographers who have made their mark by taking steps away from the more staid, traditional landscape scene.”

Subscription issues are already in the mail and copies should hit the news stands soon if you want to pick one up. You can also read the article online HERE (my feature is on the third page). The online article gives readers the option to leave a comment at the bottom of the page if you are so inclined.

When I go out in search of colorful sunrises I am normally met by either complete cloud cover or complete blue sky (anyone else have that experience?). This photo falls into the latter category. However, the crystal clear spring air made for some great stretched out sunrise shadows and direct sun did a nice job of back lighting the new grass and blooming vetch. I like the drama that extreme lighting like this provides. There are a few strangely dark areas in the oak trees that are part of the original RAW files. There isn’t much data there, so I’m not sure how to deal with that.

Canon EOS 5D, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L lens, ISO 100, f/18, two different exposures blended manually in Photoshop to contain the wide dynamic range between the sun and the foreground.

William Neil has been working on a series for the past couple of years he calls “Impressions of Light” or something like that. He is trying to create unusual, impressionistic and intriguing visions of common outdoor photography subjects, something I’m also interested in. He uses a variety of camera techniques, one of which being slow shutter speed panning and/or zooming. A couple months back he had an amazing image in Outdoor Photographer that he took in a Yosemite redwood grove. It really struck a chord with me. This is my own attempt at something similar. It falls far short of Neil’s, but I like how the motion blur smooths out much of the distracting background forest clutter while emphasizing the lines, texture and lighting of the trees themselves. All the blur is in camera. In Photoshop I created several layers that were copies of the background image and then experimented with different combinations of blending modes (multiply, overlay, soft light) to increase color density, contrast and general mood.

Ashland writers, James di Properzio and Jennifer Margulis, have teamed up with Ashland Photographer, Chris Briscoe on a great book titled The Baby Bonding Book For Dads. It is a book I wish I had when I was first introduced to fatherhood. James and Jennifer have packed it full of honest, helpful and humorous stories and advice to help new dads realize the importance of connecting with their babies starting on day one. The book includes everything from hints to dads on how to hold, feed and comfort a newborn to suggestions for activities dads can do with their babies to create a lifetime connection. In addition to the fun and encouraging writing, as a photographer I particularly like the selection of photos that accompany the text.

Chris Briscoe, a father himself, is a well known and highly respected portrait photographer from Ashland, Oregon. Since I have known Chris, I have always been drawn to his calm charisma and genuine interest in people. His talent with people photography comes from his kind, disarming personality and love of interacting with others. His special talent for getting to know his subjects, putting them at ease in front of the camera and getting their best to show allows him to produce honest and engaging images. I have seen many of his photos of babies and dads in his studio, but until this book I had not seen an entire collection of dad and baby photos, which strengthens them even more. Each photo in the book is a perfect compliment to the narrative. The wonderful black and white images illustrate the emotional connection that can and should form between a father and his baby and help to bring the stories in the book to life.

While the photos in the book are most powerful for the story they tell as a collection, I have a few favorites that I think are particularly strong individually.

To me, this photo of a dad humorously commiserating with his crying infant represents the compassion and caring that a father and child can share and how a father’s love can be unconditional and complete, even if a little humor is needed from time to time.

The serendipitous fun of this photo has always made it one of my favorites. To me it symbolizes the unpredictability of being a parent and the importance of keeping a sense of humor even when things don’t go as planned.

Photos of a tiny baby foot cradled in the strong but caring hands of a father are as iconic as they are classic, but they never seem to lose their impact. This photo says so much in such a simple way about the relationship between a father and a newborn. It is a simple and moving tribute to the vulnerability of an infant and the awesome responsibility of the father.

As Father’s Day approaches, this book and the photographs have given me some new energy as a father and brought back some great memories of my sons as babies. Additionally, it has reminded me that I need to pull my focus away from landscape photography every once in a while and take some more photos of my kids.

To read more about baby bonding, dads, and what other bloggers are saying about the book, check out the book’s blog: http://babybondingbookfordads.blogspot.com/

See it on Amazon HERE 

One of the goals of my photography is to create images that have a sense of mystery and the surreal. Photography is so often based in pure realism, but I find that I am attracted to images that give a glimpse into fantasy or imaginary worlds. Many of my friend DAVID WINSTON’S photos have such a quality and I have also mentioned MICHAEL KENNA more than once. Although their subject matter is very different from my own, I am inspired by the photography of NICK BRANDT and GREGORY COLBERT.

In my photography I am often trying to show familiar subjects and locations in a way that is familiar while at the same time mysterious and fantastical. Unique perspectives, purposeful composition, extreme weather, motion and magical lighting can often create something extraordinary in an ordinary setting, but such conditions are not always available. Recently I have been experimenting with some techniques, both in the camera and in the computer, that give me more options when trying to achieve something mysterious and stylized.

Three of the oak forest photos accompanying this article are from a series I call Griffin’s Dream. I used a slow shutter speed (about .4 seconds or more) and panned my camera vertically during the shot. This caused the trees and grass to blur into streaks of light and dark that look somewhat like brush strokes and help to remove fine details from the scene, leaving only the main elements of form and color.

In the right kind of light, panning, zooming and other camera motion effects can create a great final image. However, for the Griffin’s Dream series the light was very flat giving the scene low contrast and washed out colors, so I employed a second technique to arrive at the final interpretations. In order to increase saturation, contrast and dynamic range in the initially lifeless images I used different combinations of blending modes in Photoshop. Darkroom technicians first developed the practice of stacking transparencies or negatives in various ways to produce different effects, and similar effects can be achieved with blending modes in Photoshop. To use blending modes you start by creating one or more layers that are exact copies of your original image (Layer>Duplicate Layer). Then in the Layers Pallet select each layer in turn and change the blending mode in the drop down menu at the top of the pallet. The blending mode defaults to “Normal”, which means that no blending between layers is taking place. For low contrast images I find that a combination of Multiply, Overlay and Soft Light blends work the best, but you have to experiment and see what works for each image. I also individually control the degree of each blend using the Opacity slider on each layer. I think the final result is painterly, surreal and fantastical, more like an impressionistic painting or a forest vision from a child’s dream.

Thanks to my Wife’s parents, we recently took a family vacation to Sayulita, Mexico. While this was a true vacation in every sense of the word, and I spent most of my time lounging, playing on the beach with the kids, surfing and ingesting large quantities of fresh tortillas and Corona beer, I also managed to get myself up at 5 AM most mornings to spend a couple of hours photographing the landscape.

Sayulita was, until the last 15 years or so, a little known and sleepy fishing village on a beautiful sandy bay about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I spoke to a few long time residents who remember when the whole town was nothing but grass palapas. It is now “on the map” for its surfing, sandy beaches, laid back art community and good food. Even with the recent tourist boom and large numbers of gringos living there it is still retains enough of its authenticity, laid back living and small town charm to make it a refreshing and unexpected departure from the scene down around Puerto Vallarta, with its high rise hotels, traffic, shopping malls and golf courses.

The photography opportunities were plentiful within walking distance of town and a bus or taxi ride up the coast provides access to many more beaches and even smaller and more remote coastal towns. It was also a great place for the entire family with plenty of fun hiking, beach activities, music, great food and a fun and active town square.

For the past two years I have been shooting landscapes almost exclusively with the Canon EOS 5D. Like many outdoor photographers, it has been just about the perfect camera for the purpose with its compact body, 12.7 megapixel resolution, full frame sensor and great color and clarity. However, in the past several months, watching Canon bring great new technology to the 1D Mark III, 1Ds Mark III and the 40D, I have been anticipating the next generation 5D. I even wrote an article a while back in which I listed the features I hoped to see in the successor to the 5D. Rumors of a 5D Mark II began circulating on the web as far back as last October. Now someone has posted information on the DP Review forums with specs, release dates and pricing for the 5D Mark II and the news is spreading to other sources. While the information sounds legit, the author wasn’t willing to reveal his source, so the report might be entirely false. According to the post, Canon will announce the new camera on April 22, so we’ll find out the truth soon enough.

If the rumors are true, this camera will include pretty much every upgrade I put on my wish list back in August and will make it just about the perfect camera for demanding, lightweight outdoor photography.

]]> http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/photography-equipment/80/feed/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/events/79/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/events/79/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:42:34 +0000 Sean Events Photography Business http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/events/79/

Over recent months there have been some new developments for Outdoor Exposure Photography that are worth sharing. A new lifestyle magazine called Northwest, which is being distributed in 15 States through Barnes and Noble and Borders Book Stores, has begun publishing many of my images, including the cover of the upcoming issue. Photo Researchers, a large stock photography agency in New York, is now representing my photography and marketing it to publishers across the US and in 35 other countries. I am also being represented by a new art consultancy out of Colorado called Western Photo Gallery which sells fine art prints to corporate clients. BetterPhoto.com is the premier website for online photography courses and critiques from top professionals. Their monthly photo contests receive as many as 40,000 entries and their newsletter goes out to over 25,000 individuals. Several of my photos have recently been recognized by BetterPhoto including two second place awards and two photo of the day features.

]]> http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/events/79/feed/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/digital-photography-tips/77/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/digital-photography-tips/77/#comments Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:51:19 +0000 Sean Digital Photography Tips Photography Equipment Photography Business http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/digital-photography-tips/77/ I recently went through a significant change in the way I have my photos printed. For about 7 years I produced all my own prints using ink jet printers. First a Canon and then an Epson Stylus PRO 7600 with Ultrachrome ink. I loved that I could be in control of the entire process, print on demand and easily print test proofs. I also thought it was the most cost effective way of printing and that the quality was on par with any print lab.

Within the last year I have had a change of perspective and have now switched over to using a professional print lab to produce all my prints. Two factors contributed to my switch. First, as my 7600 got a couple of years under its belt, combined with the fact that I sometimes go for a couple weeks without printing anything, it began to have issues with ink nozzles clogging, creating banding in my prints. I would then need to spend as much as two hours running the cleaning cycle to clear the nozzles. The time lost, as well as the cost in wasted paper and ink, became a source of stress and frustration. Admittedly, I have many photographer friends who properly maintain their printers and don’t suffer similar issues.

The second factor was my discovery that when printing on coated, non-absorbent papers (referred to as RC papers), such as glossy or semi-gloss, solvents in the inks are not absorbed by the paper and instead evaporate over time. When such a print is framed, the evaporating solvent condenses on the inside of the glass leaving a visible foggy residue. The issue is widely commented on in web forums and the offered solutions include waiting several weeks to frame prints, or to layer newsprint between prints and stack books on them for 48 hours to draw out the solvent. I didn’t have any luck with the newsprint approach, and some other prints that I let cure for a month and a half still fogged the glass when framed. To read an article specifically about the fogging problem click HERE. Much more can be found with a quick Internet search.
The combination of the two problems drove me crazy enough that I began having West Coast Imaging produce all my prints. They aren’t cheap, but the quality is amazing and they deal with maintaining the equipment and stocking paper and ink. Since the evaporation issue isn’t a problem with canvas and fine art papers, I have them print these with their Epson ink jet printer. For all my glossy and semi-gloss prints, I have them use their Chromira printer, which uses traditional chemistry based “wet” printing. In the end, I think that wet printing on glossy paper give superior results in color and contrast and it eliminates the strange reflections created by different ink densities when viewing ink jet prints at an angle. In addition, I like the selection of papers, such as Fuji Crystal Archive and FujiFlex super gloss, that are available with Chromira prints. Most importantly, the prints can be framed right away and don’t leave any residue on glass.

I still think that ink jet printers offer great color and quality and a lot of control and convenience for amateur and professional photographers alike, as long as one has the time and patience to maintain them and the evaporating solvent issue isn’t a concern. If you know anyone who wants to buy a 7600, mine is available for a really good price. I’ll probably get a 13″ ink jet for test prints and printing cards and small prints on matte papers.

]]> http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/digital-photography-tips/77/feed/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/photography-journal/78/ http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/photography-journal/78/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:26:34 +0000 Sean Photography Journal Photography Business http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/photography-journal/78/ Q: How would you advise a budding photographer such as myself or classmates to begin marketing themselves? And how do you market yourself now if different than before?

A: A lot of marketing depends on the type of photography you plan to specialize in. Portrait and wedding work is a very different business from commercial photography or photo journalism and they all require different approaches. Landscape, nature and travel photography like I do is different again. I can’t speak too specifically about portrait, commercial and journalistic photography, but there are tons of good websites, books and seminars out there. Portrait and commercial photography probably have the greatest potential to make money.

My goal is to work for myself, shoot what I want to shoot on my own schedule and then find markets for the images I create. At this time, my main markets are art collectors, corporate art collections, print media (magazines, calendars, cards, posters, etc.), advertising and web design. For students interested in this type of photography, word of mouth and name recognition is huge. Developing a web presence is critical these days by building a professional web site, blogging, posting on photo forums, and entering contests on a regular basis. I also keep a growing email client list and send out regular email newsletters. At the student level, this is also a good time to begin making contacts in the industry and getting to know publishers, gallery owners, seasoned photographers, art consultants and so on. Assisting an established photographer or working for a publisher can give a good idea of how the system works. Getting your work out in public is another key factor. Look for contests, community art shows, restaurants, banks, galleries, art fairs, offices and any place else that shows photos to the public. Don’t count on selling a lot of work early on in these venues, but look at it as good exposure, a chance to meet people, share your ideas, get reactions from the public (wear your thick skin), see what others are doing, learn how to develop a first class way of presenting and try to stir up some buzz around your name.

I’m at the point where I also give presentations to groups, send out postcards to potential photo buyers, submit images to magazines and publishers and work with galleries, art consultants and stock agencies that help to market me and get me out to even broader audiences. It takes time and constant work to build this all up. I’m not sure I’m doing much different now than before, I just keep adding new branches to my strategy, improving my approach and broadening my reach.

Q: Have you dealt with stock photo companies at all? If so what are your thoughts on them?

A: I work with a couple of stock agencies that represent my work. There are many dedicated stock photographers who make a good living. To succeed solely as a stock photographer, you have to be willing to shoot any subject that there is a need for (puppies, babies, medical equipment), have an understanding of the elements of what makes a valuable stock image and produce huge quantities of work every month. There is an old adage that says you can expect your stock sales to average out to $1 per image per year. That means to make $30,000 a year you need to have 30,000 images on file and being actively marketed, and those images need to be constantly added to and updated.

That being said, I know that I can’t produce enough quantity, nor am I willing to shoot things I’m not interested in, to support myself strictly on stock. However, I have an ever growing collection of images that I might as well have available for licensing as one of my sources of income. I license stock through my own website and with two other agencies that market to different types of clients. Some agencies will want you to sign an exclusive contract that doesn’t allow you to work with anyone else. Almost all stock agencies will want exclusive rights to market the specific images you submit to them for a period of a few years.

It is important to find the right fit when deciding how to represent your stock. Self representation gives you the most control and the most profit, but it is hard to have the kind of reach and connections that an agency does. The right agency can get your photos out to a much bigger audience, but of course they take a cut.

The big thing to watch out for is the new trend of stock agencies on the web that will take pretty much anyone and all you need to do to be represented is pay a monthly or yearly fee for hosting your gallery. Such outfits don’t actually care if they sell a single image since their income comes from the fees and the more photographers they get to join, the more they make without the need to sell anything. Agencies that only get paid when they sell images have a much bigger incentive to bring in good photographers, aggressively market your images and actively search out and stay in contact with reliable photo buyers. Avoid any stock agency that wants you to pay them a fee to represent you.

Q: As far as your intent goes when it comes to taking photo’s do you have a client or market in mind when you shoot a photo? Or do you seek potential clients after you have the images?

A: I do some of both. I really like to shoot for myself and chase my personal vision, but I also go after specific shots if I think there is a market for them. However, I do this all within the framework of my style of landscape, nature and travel photography. I have never set up a studio shoot, or hired models to create photos that I thought would sell. However, when I’m out shooting the landscape, I will also look for compositions that include roads in them because I work with an agency that provides backdrops for computer generated car ads. Normally I would rarely include a road in my photos. I also try to shoot some of my images composed in a way that would allow for text to be added or to be conducive to fitting in an ad layout. I also do assignment work from time to time, where I’m hired to create specific photos. This is when I most often end up shooting something I wouldn’t otherwise, such as furniture, architecture, cars and people.

Q: What would you have done differently (in regards to your photography career), knowing what you do now?

A: If I could start all over I would get into it as a career much earlier, when I was still single, so that I could have moved around, taken a variety of types of jobs, spent time on the road, lived on a modest income and spent more time being in the main flow of the industry. I also would have looked for some formal education in running a business instead of learning it the hard way. On the other hand, I think starting out later like I did I’m much more confident, focused, mature and world wise than I would have been starting out in my early 20’s, so perhaps I’m doing it right.

]]> http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/photography-journal/78/feed/