The tour de france: the photographers perspective

The tour is over...sigh

So for those needing a little post-tour pick me up, I found this little article pretty interesting for photographers, cyclists, tour de france junkies. Check it out here: http://www.whatsthejackanory.com/2009/07/le-tour-de-humphreys/

This guys on a mission to capture epic moments from different tours and has some pretty awesome photographs to view

If you're into cycling without all the photo mumbo-jumbo, you'll probably enjoy 40 sweet images from the 2009 tour de france that give both a journalistic and artistic perspective, courtesy of "the big picture": http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/07/2009_tour_de_france.html

It would have been pretty amazing to follow up my '06 tour adventures, george hincapie's shots (below) with a little addition from Lance Armstrong and team. There's always next year! Paris in 2010 anyone? Will it be Team Radio Shack or Livestrong/Nike?

Shot details below:

Rider: George Hincapie

2006 Tour De France

Stage: Prologue

Placed: 2nd

Gear:

Canon 20D

Canon 135mm f/22 shot @ f/2.5

ISO: 200

1/3200 Second

Lighting:

Natural Light Backlit by the morning sun. Exposing for face.

Hiring a consultant

Photoshelter is featuring "working with a photographer consultant" and I'd highly recommend a quick read for both photographers and non-photogs alike. A quick excerpt to get started...

"Working with a consultant has changed the way I approach my work, the perspective of how others see me and how I see myself. Others may think it extravagant, but to me it is necessary. It's more than a masters, it's going for your Ph.D in photography and business with a private tutor: learning the nuance of portfolio development, marketing, follow up, and most importantly, a lesson taken right out of advertising agencies, creating a strong brand and image. Without it I'm just another photographer on the bottom shelf of the supermarket aisle hoping someone will notice me."

This extremely insightful and well written piece on hiring a consultant was exactly what I needed today. Among others, one huge take-away for me, was to find the core of why I do what I do and start photographing it, even at the expense of throwing an entire portfolio or website away. D.A. Wagner, who's work, while quite different than mine, is extremely inspiring and even more so was his resolve after a few decades of professional photography to reinvent himself. The application of reinventing ourselves spans the world of photography of course and applies to people in any career or station in life. Are you doing what you are passionate about, what your purpose is, what you dream about at night and during the day? If so, good for you. If not, why not? Gather your so-called consultants around (people that know and understand who you are: parents, friends, siblings, co-workers, spouse) and ask for direction and advice about your skillset, values and passions in life and most importantly, as D.A. notes, hold you accountable to sticking to your plan, once you've taken the plunge.

Things to consider before hiring a consultant:

• Can you emotionally and financially commit to paying an expert to criticize your work? This is the biggest consideration, as there are no refunds...
• Conversely, can you afford to continue doing what you've always done, especially if that means struggling to make a living?
• Are you ready to accept a dialog of criticism and be challenged with every new contribution you make to your new vision (every photographer's project of building a portfolio and marketing it will be different)?
• Can you let go of old habits and behaviors in order to get to your vision?
• Will you be able to go outside your comfort zone and address the issues that have kept you from doing this on your own? There are no good excuses when it comes to getting the work you need to do, done.
• Are you willing to be successful in spite of all odds? It is possible, but you must be willing to listen, follow instructions and complete assignments and be consistant. Remember, be careful what you wish for.
• Finally, if a consultant is out of your financial reach, and you are ready to commit to your own success, look into becoming a member the APA and signing on with Success Teams™, which has the following mission statement, "... to help each member of the team identify and clarify his or her own professional goals for success and accomplish them through encouragement, feedback, support and mutual accountability."

HD Video Teaser: Apx ALARM, Architecture and Construction Photography

I've been creating more video lately in addition to the sports photography and commercial photography projects. The latest project is for a company called APX Alarm and is sort of a documentary of a new commercial office space they are building in Provo, Utah. A top interior architect has been on the project (Pollack Architecture based in San Francisco, California) and to say the least these guys do phenomenal work. I've been shooting with the 5D Mark II, which has been a blast. The final clip will be done toward the completion of the building (coming Oct. 2009). For now, here's a simple 2 shot 30 second teaser walking through the main floor of the building. These two shots were literally done in 10 minutes, and about the same for editing, so this is quick and dirty. No steadicam or other fancy equipment. The opening shot is really what's get me the most excited and several similar shots will appear in the final piece. Oh and check out all the still photography from the construction of the building at the Kevin Winzeler - APX Architecture photography . If you have a large monitor (24" plus) open a browser and click on the full 1080p HD video clip . I love having another creative outlet in shooting video!!

Also, here's a quick 1080p HD clip slowed down 800% with a little boy dancing in the water and playing with the garden hose

Behind the scenes Sports Photography Shoot | Olympic Speed Skater: Katherine Reutter

I'd highly recommend becoming familiar with one of the coolest and most underrated Olympic sports,
short track speed skating prior to the Olympics in just 7 months. While you're at it, check out
Katherine Reutter and her story during the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games
(Winter). She is young, energetic, already a champion and super fun to work with.
Prior to our shoot she had put in a seriously long and painful workout and still came strong
with lot's of energy for the photos. Go Katherine!! We'll be pulling for you. Also a little shout out
to friends Jason and Ty Fredericks (w/ odd animation, Justin Thorstrom, Stephanie Winzeler and
Nate Biddle for producing, assisting and helping direct the shoot. And a special thanks to Jason
Thompson for filming and editing this short clip! (Check out J's grass routes food show for some
tasty eats here)

--

This article just popped up in the News-Gazette.com featuring a nice little Q&A about Katherine's

journey to the olympics along with one of the portraits from our shoot.

hi! my name is Katherine Reutter

and over the next several months I’ll

be telling you about my experiences as

an Olympic hopeful preparing for my

first Olympic Games.

i’ve been a competitive short-track

speedskater since 2005, but this year

is my first real shot at showing the

world what I’ve got on an Olympic

level. This year is very special to me

because my goal in skating is not to

go to the Olympics — or even to bring

home a medal — but to be the great-

est short tracker this world has ever

seen. The 2010 Games in Vancouver,

British Columbia, will be a monumen-

tal step toward achieving my goal.

preparation for these games

started many, many years ago. I first

moved to a training center in 2005,

when I was 16. I was the youngest and

a rookie among a group of veteran,

world-class athletes. I started training

at the same level they were at, going

from less than 10 hours per week to

about eight hours a day. With the extra

workload and my determination to

finish everything, the inevitable hap-

pened. After six months I was over-

trained and burned out with just a few

weeks to go before the 2006 Olympic

Trials.

at olympic Trials, the first day is a

nine-lap time trial. The top 16 times

advance to compete for a spot on the

team. I was 17th by mere tenths of a

second. This was the beginning of my

journey toward learning everything

I could about this sport and how to

excel at it.

since then, every day has been an

opportunity to learn more. I’ve made

quite a few mistakes along the way,

but with the 2010 Olympic Trials 21/2

months away I feel like now it’s just

fine-tuning before I’m ready to show

the world what I’ve got.

summer training is like four-

months-of-hell week. Since the

beginning of May we’ve been doing

high-volume and intensity training (six

to eight hours a day) to build a base

to last us the whole season. Once the

competition season starts, the team

travels abroad for two weeks every

other month. Between tapering for rac-

es and recovering from flights and time

changes, there is very little time to

build strength in season so the name

of the game is maintenance.

The olympic Trials are in septem-

ber, which is four months earlier than

the U.S. Championships in a normal

year. This means all of our volume and

strength training is crammed into the

first two months of training so that we

can peak in September.

Training began in mid-april, and

our base training cycle is coming to

an end this week. Part of me is grate-

ful for the two months less of exhaus-

tion, but the other part of me wants to

keep going.

performance for the whole sea-

son is based on how strong you get

in the summer. I’ve been fortunate

enough that I’ve already reached the

point in my training where I peaked at

last year, but that makes me wonder

how much stronger I could be if I had

just a few more months to prepare.

Either way, I’ve done everything I can

to make training optimal every day

this summer so I can start my season

knowing there’s nothing more I had to

give.

as we enter into our preparation

cycle for olympic Trials and the

olympic season, I’ll keep you updated

on training, health and life in general

in the world of Olympic living. Kath-

erinereutter.com will also be up and

running soon if you’d like to check out

more frequent updates online.