Feeding the Frenzy...

A couple of times a year I'm significantly busier than the rest of the year. September is one of those times normally. Don't get me wrong, the summertime is usually busier than the wintertime, but in the case of September; I've been out of town almost every weekend. That includes this upcoming weekend when I go to Pennsylvania to visit some of my most dear friends. Where have I been until now though? Simply everywhere...

(Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 320ISO, Canon 70-200F2.8IS@70mm, Single 580EX Speedlight fired by Pocket wizard inside of a FotoRosa 20" softbox to above camera right set to 1/4th power.  Single 580EX Speedlight zoomed to 70mm on 1/16th power fired by pocket wizard sitting on the desk to specifically light up the logo on the wall.)

 Thats Steve Jebonowski from Harrison college.  Quick portrait session.  So quick in fact, that it actually took me longer to get into the building than it did to do the setup and the shooting.  Steve was astounded that we were done in sub 15 minutes, and frankly, so was I.  Not that I don't think I'm capable, but sometimes things just work out the way they are suposed to, like in the case of that shot.  It's 95% straight out of the camera: The way I like it.

(Nikon D700, 2500ISO, Sigma 12-24mm@12mm, 1/80th@F4.5)

That shot is from the North Central Regional Roller Derby tournament.  The lovely ladies over at the Naptown Roller Girls extended an invitation to photograph them during the tournament, and who am I to decline an opportunity like that?  Despite the fact that I almost wet myself getting that shot, It's one of my favorites from the tournament.  You can check out the rest of the pics here.  It was a solid weekend as the girls went in as 9th seed, and came out in 6th.  No lack of things being interesting that weekend that's for sure.

Speaking of interesting, as I previously mentioned; this weekend I'm taking my girlfriend Shannon to Pittsburgh to see some very old and dear friends of mine.  I'm taking the weekend to do a few things I've missed, like hangin out, xbox, eating, drinking, and laughing.  In fact, we even introduced Catherine to her Destiny....

 (Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mm F.2.8N Macro, 1/100th@F8.  Nikon SB900 Speedlight to camera right shot into a bedsheet hung over a living room chair set to +-0 iTTL.  Nikon SB900 speedlight behind Catherine and xbox Controller set to iTTL +1EV fired into a white fireplace frame.  Both Speedlights fired by SU-800 Speedlight Commander from on camera.)

Very beautiful baby for a very beautiful family.  That pic above actually made it as photo of the day for me too.  And yea, you all know that I couldn't not take pics of little Catherine.  Even though I'm here to get away from some things,  and catch up on Sanity there are still things that I want to take pictures of.  Nuts huh?  This is the first baby I've ever really spent lots of time taking pictures of.  I guess if you consider about 45 minutes lots of time that is...  Either way, Catherine seemed to enjoy it and I know her parents will enjoy the photos as well.  I can't wait to see how little Catherine grows up, and what kind of woman she will become.  I look forward to seeing where the next 20 years takes all of us.  What projects we may work on, and what kinds of people we may all be then.  More soon.

(Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mmF2.8N Macro.  1/40th@F4.  Nikon SB900 fired into the TV stand in the front of the room to image left, set to iTTL +.3EV, fired by SU-800 Nikon Speedlight Commander from on Camera)

In Knots...

Here I sit at almost 2AM on a Friday morning knowing that I've got about a hundred things to do before I go to sleep, and yet I decide to write myself a blog. I'm thinking about my girlfriend, the computer sitting on the floor next to me, some paperwork I need to fill out and send back out, photos that need to be taken, eggs that need to be eaten, my cat running wind sprints up and down the flights of stairs in my house, my parents 30th wedding anniversary this weekend, and lots of other stuff too. There comes a time in any photographers career when things are just overwhelming. Some of them find it at a shoot, some of them find it between shoots, some of them find it while editing. Honestly, I find editing one of the hardest things to do as a photographer.

(Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikkor AF-D 85mm F1.4. 1/2500th@F1.4)

Last weekend I was asked to be the second shooter at a wedding by my buddy Matt Stoltz. That's him arranging the bride and groom for some posed photos for the album. Great group of people, the bride was an absolute hoot. She was such a ham that even during the ceremony she caught me taking a photo of her...

(Nikon D3s, 1000ISO, Nikon 70-200F2.8VR2 with TC20eIII@370mm, 1/500th@F5.6)

My assignment for Matt was mostly the details even though he encouraged me to shoot it as I normally would have shot it. Honestly shooting a wedding with 2 people is about a thousand times easier than shooting it with 1 person. The shot above was from about 30 feet above, and the time it took me to get up there was enough that I'd have missed some important shots during the ceremony. Even though Matt told me to get mostly details, I still ended up shooting a few things just for the ambiance of the day.

(Nikon D700, 200ISO, Nikon 18-35F3.5-4.5@18mm, 1/250th@F5.6)

Despite my inevitable disregard for instruction; either because of ADD, or just my quest to take a memorable frame, I did end up taking quite a few detail photos that I liked.

(Nikon D3s, 2200ISO, Nikon 60mmNano Macro, 1/80th@F3)


(Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikon 60mmNano Macro, 1/80th@F10. Single SB900 Speedlight shot hard light over the straw hat and rings towards the camera set to iTTL +1, fired by SU-800 Speedlight commander attached to the camera)


(Nikon D700, 1400ISO, Nikon AF-S 50mmF1.4. 1/80th@F1.4)

These photos are all unedited. That's what I was asked for, and honestly I wouldn't feel right editing them just for the blog. Is this how the bride and groom will get them? I don't know, that's up to Matt. Either way, I was pleased with my shooting of the day.

(Nikon D700, 640ISO, Nikon 18-35mmF3.5-4.5. 1/6th@F6.3. Single SB-900 Speedlight with a full CTO held by my left hand to camera right set to iTTL -1.7 zoomed to 105mm fired by SU-800 Speedlight commander attached to the top of the camera)

It was a great warmup for Justin and Lori's wedding in a few weeks. Greatly looking forward to their wedding, some old friends of mine. I'm very happy for them finding each other. Really until then I'm going to be super busy too. Until then though, I'm going to go back to watching my cat run wind sprints up and down the stairs, and thinking about how lucky my mom and dad were to have found each other, for what now seems like will be forever. 30 years this weekend. Epic in today's society. More Soon.

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.

Racing to shoot...

So last year I was offered an opportunity. I was offered an opportunity to shoot a Nascar event known as the Kroger 200. I only bring this up because I didn't do it as I was already slated to shoot a wedding that weekend. The big thing with me is that I don't like to say no to too many projects that I want, as I know that the more I say no the less people will ask. Not that I'll take on any project that comes my way (as no photographer should), I just don't like turning people away when it's something that I especially want to do. Luckily though, Kroger came back to me this year and asked me to shoot their Race the night before the Brickyard 400: The Kroger 200 at O'Reilley Raceway Park.

(Nikon D3s, 1250ISO, Nikon 18-35mmF3.5-4.5@18mm. 1/250th@F3.5)

The regular star coverage can be found here. I'd never been to a NASCAR Race, much less gotten an opportunity for an ALL ACCESS PASS to shoot one. You may say that I know nothing about Shooting a race, and I'd almost agree with you. Not almost agree because I've shot an Indy 500, or a MotoGP. Not because of the Purdue Grand Prix either. I'd only almost agree because my assignment meant that I was only required to take one shot. That's all. Just one. That meant that the other quite a few hours that I was out at the race? I was there getting paid, just for me.

(Nikon D3s, 1000ISO, Nikon 70-200VR2@82mm, 1/200@F2.8)

My assignment was to take a photo of the winner. Until I knew who that was, I had free reign of the entire racetrack. The guy above was one of the pitt crew for Car #98, Paul Menard. He was watching the race from on top of the travel trailer. Honestly I'd have love to have climbed up there and seen the race from there even, but honestly short of levitating I'm not sure how he got up there. Didn't need the shot, but just like a lot of photographers; you don't just take what you need.

(Nikon D700, 1250ISO, Sigma 15mm Fisheye, 1/800th@F5.6)

There are certain things you will do though while there. As an example, I am sending Kroger the photos that I did take, that I like but didn't use. Everything above is an example of that. There are lots of uninteresting photos of random racecars, strange people with mullets, or weird fisheye angles that didn't quite work out, but I'm only sending them as an extra for having me out. After all, they didn't have to right? Not only that, but from what I understand they were very pleased with the shot I took of the winner. It ran full page on the back of the Racing Special Section last Monday. Full page isn't a good enough description though I suppose. It ran larger than the front page photo by Sam Riche (an awesome photographer/good friend), which was almost full page. There were no extra ads on this photo, it was just the photo. Second largest thing I've ever had run in the newspaper. Just like the largest thing I've ever had run though, this one had no photo credit....More Soon.