Inspiration...

It's been quite a while since I've blogged, and if anybody still stumbles upon my blog, whether it be by accident or low percent chance of someone hoping to read more of my Epic Tales Ramblings; I'd just like to say that my hiatus from blogging was necessary as I was starting to burn myself out on all the little things. People really need to be careful when they get burnt out though, and I suppose without thinking about it I heeded that exact advice. The advice whom as even a kid I'd have given to the ultimate impression on me...


(Photo by Michael Guio)

I had a conversation with a good friend of mine yesterday about the process of learning photography and how appreciative he has been over the last few years of my allowing him to ask me questions, and I've always never had a problem with it because I feel as though he keeps me on my toes with my profession. I also told him that I'm honored he looks at me with photography because I look at photography that I want to emulate for instruction. The above photo Mike took at the very beginning of his photographic career, and it's one of my favorites of his. Really it goes to show that you never know where your inspiration will come from, or where it will take you.

When I was just starting out as a photographer (learning with the goal of being a professional), I only knew two photographers at the time personally, and they were both very inspirational to me. The first was my grandfather who was a recreational photographer and an Electrical Engineer for Inland Steel. He never thought he could make a living out of photography, and so he did a job that is a lot more complex than photography could ever be. The other ironically knew my grandfather in the steel mill. The only difference is that he was the Staff Photographer for the Mill.

(Photo courtesy of Chelsea Leininger)
I wish I had a photo of him, or a photo that he took, but I don't. That's him on the left at my friend Chelsea's senior review. Chelsea is also one of the fortunate souls to have studied under him, and is also incredibly grateful for it. It's unfortunate because he was killed in a head on collision with a Semi Tuesday morning of August 24th. He was the one that gave me my ridiculous quest of sharpness, color correctness, and doing it right the first time.


That photo was taken as part of my senior project while at Purdue under the supervision of Tim Fuller. I shot one of the first two senior projects to have ever been shot digitally. Really the first two projects shot digitally were shot that way without permission. We did it because professionals around the globe were adopting digital, and yet our professor Tim was adamant that film would prevail and would always be better. In the end, he was almost right according to this article.

He is most likely the reason I just short of idolize the work of people like Dave Black, and Joe McNally. The people that strive to make images of moments in real life, look like something you can only imagine.

He was a stick in the mud, hard headed, completely uncompromising when it came to his students quality of work, and I couldn't be where I am today without his inspiration. If I had a nickel for every time he told me to re-shoot something, or that something wasn't sharp enough; I'd easily have a thousand dollars. When I look at works that I don't like, I remember his criticisms towards me, and know that I need to be honest towards any works as that they may reap the benefits of said criticisms as well. Maybe I'm not always as brutally honest as he was, but more people should be. He believed that nothing was an accident, any light in any shot, of any video or still image were all planned. Because of him, I see light the way that I do and I aim for nothing but to shoot things accurately when I shoot them; like Joe McNally, or Dave Black. I am by far eternity not a perfect photographer, or even more so not a perfect person. In the end you never know who will influence you the most or where those influences will come from. Maybe someday I'll be able to influence someone the way that both my grandfather, and Tim influenced me. Someday maybe Michael will be able to influence someone, the way that he has thanked me for influencing him. I hope that there is a lot of photography left in this world even though photography is becoming much more point and shoot for the entire population no matter who you are. Maybe the world will recognize the skills that are actually involved in this profession and despite the increasing number of people that attempt to make a living at it. Even though everyone deserves a chance to live their dreams, and I welcome people to pursue the dream of being a professional Photographer as that is my dream. Zack Arias, whom I don't know personally but greatly respect said it best in his article here.

Inspiration can come from anywhere. It's the greatest honor of my life that I have been called inspirational by at least even 1 person. Tim Fuller was inspiration to hundreds. He was a Professor, a mentor, a teacher, and a friend. He will be sorely missed by more than a handful of people. May he rest in peace. More Soon.

Back in Action...

It's been a while since I've made a post, which goes completely against what I was trying to go for. Unfortunately I don't have internet tubes at home currently which makes posting every week (or twice a week was was my recent goal) somewhat difficult. Either way, I still have been shooting, I still have been lighting, I still have been carrying entirely too much equipment around, and I have been mixing Jalapeno Cheetos and peanut butter on occasion just to spice things up a bit. During the slight off time though I have been asked to give a few presentations, I've been asked increasingly more lighting questions, and I've definitely been asking more people where I've parked my car.

(Canon 5D Mark II, 640ISO, Canon EF100MMF2.8Macro, 1/25th@F14. Single Canon 580EX through a 42" umbrella set to full power camera left fired by Pocket Wizard. Single Canon 580EX fired through another 42" umbrella set to half power to camera right fired y pocket wizard. White balance set to Cloudy Day to bring out more of the orange in the sunflower.)

Been asked to go back to the Photo Venture Camera club on April 1st to give a presentation about shooting Macro Photography. Great group, I've spoken there before except last time it was about Sports Photography centering in Roller Derby. Great group of people who are extra eager to learn anything they can about photography, and I look forward to speaking to them again. The shot above was shot on the nicest day of the year thus far, during last week. Unfortunately it was also shot artificially lit inside the garage of a florist...


(Nikon D3, 800ISO, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@175mm, 1/250th@F4. Single Dynalight 400JR to camera abott 70 feet behind camera right bare bulb set to just under full power, Single Dynalight 400JR set to a little above half power about 70 feet behind camera left bare bulb. Both lights fired by Pocket Wizard Plus II's.)

Also been asked to go speak to a new photo group named the Indy MU Photo Club about Sports Photography prior to a club trip to the Roller Derby in April. They are also very interested in some on location lighting that I have done, which ties in nicely with a lot of work that I have done lately with the Salute to Nurses here in the Indiana Area. As I've mentioned before, working in hospitals can be extra tough as you have patient rights and identities to consider, as well as they are not the most expansive of venue's. See the photo below for an indicator on that, and keep your eyes peeled. LOTS more soon.

(Look for more information about this shoot coming up soon)

Indy Warehouse Photo Group...

A few weeks ago my buddy Joe Lee asked if I'd be interested in doing a shoot in a building he knew of that was covered in professional grade griffiti. What? do I look like someone that says no to something like that? At least I'm not as scary as this dude:


That's my buddy James, who showed up for about 10 minutes in the middle of all the commotion. He may look like the back alley guy that's looking for trouble but he really is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He saw the event happening on facebook, and I told him if he showed up he'd probably end up with at least one cool photo of himself. He seemed to like this one when he saw it, and I can't complain about it either. It was a quick 5 minute shoot, which is my favorite kind. Got him in front of the wall, bing, bang and done. Easy as pie. That's what the workshop part of this was for though. Joe wanted to get some Pro's together with people that wanted to become better photographers so there would be kind of this learning collective thing going on. Personally I think it could have used a little better planning over all, but either way I met some people that got some shots they were pleased with, and the very little I did actually shoot; I was pleased too.


That lovely lady is Joe Lee's mom. Back when he first spoke to me about this event he asked if I would mind taking a minute to take a photo of her for him, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. She was a lovely lady, who was incredibly excited to be a part of this event, and I was thrilled the opportunity to take her photo. I wanted to do something a little different for her, and so I had the lovely Brittany stand in front of a light, as though she was spray-painting the graffiti. Originally i wanted it to appear as though Mrs. Lee was one of the graffiti artists, but now that I see what I came up with it appears as though Mrs. Lee is the supervisor. Either way you want to take it is fine. You could also think she was catching the artist in the act although I prefer to think of her as the rebel...


Speaking of Rebels, this lovely lady is Brittany. Pretty girl who wanted to do nothing that night but go outside. So outside is where we went alright; outside through the window onto the roof of the warehouse. She wanted the same thing that I wanted originally, which was something to do with the Skyline. I was more than up to the challenge of this, except that the one and major recognizable building in downtown Indianapolis wasn't lit up. That one building was the Chase Bank Tower in the center of the downtown. This is the shot that I really liked out of the set we shot though This could have been shot down on the ground, I realize this; but now I have the story about how I climbed through a window, used a work light to weigh down my umbrella and strobe, and then stood with wet shoes on a vinyl bar stool that was already unbalanced. It immediately reminds me of when I introduced myself to some of the people at the warehouse. One of the guy's responded with, "Yea I met you before, you like to climb on stuff don't you?" Busted... If I didn't climb on stuff though; I wouldn't have been able to get above the snow to catch that wicked green tint from the Mercury Vapor street light on the snow behind Brittany. Was it worth risking life and limb for? I think so, but then again I also think that if I spin in circles nobody can see me so you should probably decide for yourself.



The last shot that I did that night was of Jamaar. I saw him standing there, and another shooter brought a guitar with him. It just seemed appropriate, I won't even lie. I guess I thought he had that Lenny Kravitz thing going for him or something because this is what I saw. Quick 5 minute shoot to end the night.

Everybody seemed to have a good time there, some people shot really well, others weren't as happy with their performance as they would have liked but in the end it was a learning experience for everyone. There is already talk about doing another one, and I'm going to try to have more of a part in the organizational standpoint in that because like I said earlier; there were a few logistical things we could have done better. Otherwise I think everybody had a good time, and I guess next time I look forward to doing even better. More Soon.