The Last Post....

Okay folks this will be my final post at this blog.

If you missed it I have a new website at www.ryan-nicholson.com and a new blog which you can find at www.ryan-nicholson.com/blog. All of you that subscribe to this blog (and I know there are a number of you) please follow the link to the new blog above and enter your e-mail address in the "Feed Burner--Subscribe Via E-mail" box in the upper right hand corner and you will be set. If you use a reader service you just need to add the new url (and if you have any technical difficulties just let me know).

Anyhow, now that I have the new website up and running I should have more time to get this blog thing rolling again.

See you at the new blog soon!
Ryan

Some changes at the RNP...

Hey folks,

For all my loyal readers (yes I am giggling as I type that) if you have visited my website in the past day you probably noticed a completely new look. I decided recently that I needed to clean up the look of the website and force myself into a much tighter edit of the images presented on the site. With the help of the Rob "APhotoEditor" Haggart and his company "APhotoFolio" I think I accomplished my goals.

If you haven't already check it out at www.ryan-nicholson.com. Let me know what you think.

One other important note....for those of you that subscribe to this blog it has a new home at www.ryan-nicholson.com/blog please update your readers because I will be setting up shop there and no longer posting here.

More exciting news and updates to come.

Some questions from my readers...

Um, did your blog like roll over and die??

No, just doing lots of work "behind the scenes" with some big updates coming soon including a new website with a brand new blog. Basically I am trying to get everything that makes up my web presence better organized.

What is the "Tues. & Thurs." gallery all about?

If I am in town and not booked on a project I spend most of Tuesday and Thursday with my two girls. The images in that gallery document my time with my girls on those days. And yes I am available for work on Tuesday's and Thursday's :)

Why do the images in the headshot video move so fast? I can't really see your work!

I created the video to show two things. First that I have worked successfully with all kinds of different people and types over the past seven years as a photographer. And second I thought the video would just be a fun and unique way to show a small portion of that work. I will be updating and changing the headshot gallery in the coming weeks.

How many games are the Chiefs going to win this year?

Unfortunately I see only five wins in our future.

Keep the questions and comments coming and check back soon for some updates.

Back to the PHX...

Don't worry Mom I am not moving back to Phoenix (particularly not at this time of the year) just popping back to my old stomping grounds in September (from the 11th to the 16th to be exact) to do a little something people like to call work. If any photo editors or art buyers need anything shot in Phoenix during that time I will have my full dog and pony show ready to roll.

I will be doing my second cover shoot for Savvy Magazine on this trip. My subject is Susie Castillo. Susie is probably best known from her time on the MTV show "TRL." From what I have heard and scene of her I think it is going to be a fun shoot.

This will be my second cover shoot for the Savvy Magzine folks. Back in March I shot Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund:

I was talking to my parents after I was booked to shoot Kirsten and discovered that my father Larry Nicholson photographed Miss America (the 1966 version Deborah Bryant). I don' t know how many father/son photographers can make that same claim but I thought it was an interesting bit of trivia.

I also find it interesting that Miss America which was really one of the first "reality shows" has lost some of its draw in a day and age where reality television is so prevalent. Perhaps the law of diminishing returns at play. Miss America was big back in the day (and it obviously still has a very loyal fan base but nothing like it used to). Apparently they even added a "reality show" portion to the program this past year which again I find ironic because the whole show itself is a reality show. They took Kirsten (a nineteen year old college student that dreams of making it on Broadway) and by crowning her Miss America she is suddenly on the cover of magazines and meeting influential people. It is the same basic premise that most talent based reality shows follow, creating a star by putting their talent on television. The Miss America folks should have copyrighted that formula.

A blog about my blog...

When I started this blog I didn't really have a specific plan for what direction I wanted it to go. I knew I wanted to show the "Before and After" series and thought this "venue" would be perfect for that (didn't feel like the whole series would work on my website). After the series I have taken this thing in a few different directions and I just wanted to say if you enjoy the randomness of it all, expect to see some more.

First some linkage:

Days With My Father Amazing series of images that is worth your time.
Via Shoot the Blog.

And some visual treats from your's truly:

After spending a weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks we continued our "Tour of Missouri" by checking out Rocheport and many miles of The Katy Trail. Having grown up in this state I am ashamed to say that I never realized how much that area of the state has to offer.

We stayed on a farm an amazing place that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quiet retreat.

Our first evening at Terrapin Creek:

We spent parts of two days biking on the Katy Trail (46 miles to be exact) and I am anxious to see more of the trail. At some point I hope Kansas City will be linked to the trail.

Clay Silo east of New Franklin, Missouri:

Interstate 40 overpass:
The "new trail" of cars on Interstate 40 eventually helped to make the Katy Trail (which originally was a railroad line) obsolete. I love that people had the forsight to take something and give it a second life that benefits everything from the environment to the economies of the cities along the trail.

Missouri River, Booneville:

The power of the river is immense although they look like sticks in this image those are actually huge trees and branches the biggest probably 75 feet in length.

A learning experience...

For those of you that were fans of the "Before & After" series of MMA fighters I had the best intentions to create a second series of images by shooting another EFL event this past weekend. I planned my lighting setup, loaded up all my gear, arrived at the event, and basically completely failed to execute my plan.


After a hour or so of shooting mostly test shots (and two fighters) I loaded up my gear and went to Winstead's for a double with chesse and a 50/50. Although I didn't produce what I had hoped I did learn from the experience and at the end of the day that is all you can hope for. Sometimes I have to remind myself that "progress and not perfection" is the goal.

A response to the experiment....

Early this morning I received an e-mail from a disgruntled reader of my blog who just happens to be my brother. My brother Jeff has been a photographer for longer than he would care for me to mention and without question he has made a huge impact on me as photographer. I think it is an interesting dialogue so I thought I would post it.

Here is what he had to say about my last post " A little experiment" (and yes he makes no regards for proper punctuation):

i have tossed and turned over your little experiment.
grabbed some actions and have ridden across the countryside to stand up for digital.


and here is even your fancy dancy border - so think twice before you bash my pixels again you racist. the "4 x 5" polaroid is just a better composed shot. the highlight on the ground, the low angle and the framing with the background all make it a superior shot.


The racist comment is a bit strong (and used for comedic purposes) but he brings up a couple good points. First, could my digital image be made more interesting with some post production work? Absolutely as he shows by running a few photoshop actions, adding the funky polaroid border, the digital image is more interesting, in fact it looks more like a film image.

Second, the "4 x 5" image was a better composed image and that is the reason it is a stronger image.

I agree that the "4 x 5" is a better composed image (the highlight was a result of a change in light over the time it took me to setup the "4 x 5" and shoot) but that is part of the point of my post if the process alone makes me slow down and take a better composed image isn’t that evidence of it being a better tool for the job at least for me? Also, and I didn’t make this a part of the post and I should have, all of those images are basically out of the camera. I increased the contrast a bit on each image but that was it. I know that digital could be made to be stronger but I wanted to compare just the shooting and immediate results of the image taking process. I see the post production process as something entirely separate....and besides if your digital post production process is just to make the image look more like film why not just shot film in the first place? That is if you could find a lab to process it...

A little experiment...

At the Lake I conducted an experiment that I think provides some interesting insight to the digital vs. film debate. Of course I don't know that you can even call it a debate any more as the photography world has completely embraced the digital world to the point where it is difficult to find a lab in Kansas City that will process my favorite slide film. But as usual I digress...

My experiment went like this. I shot the same subject (a sign outside a church) in a similar fashion in every format that I work with. Basically I wanted to see what differences would exist between the images that were taken from a similar vantage point and as close together in time as possible.

First I shot with my Nikon Digital SLR:


Next I shot it with my Holga (a "toy" plastic camera that costs under $30) using Ilford black and white XP2 film:

I also shot it with my medium format film system (A Pentax 67 system) with Kodak SW color slide film but as I said earlier in my post finding a lab based in Kansas City to process the film in house has been a challenge. Once I have that film back I will repost with the medium format results.

Finally I shot the sign with what I call "the big boss hog" which is a Calumet "4 x 5" large format system that my dad passed on to me. It is a monorail camera that really isn't made for field work but that hasn't stopped me from trying to use it like a field camera. I used Polaroid Type 55 film which adds the funky border to the image:


I think the results speak for themselves. The digital image is a little too "snapshoty" to my eye. The Holga has its typical look and feel which just can't be replicated by anything else. To my eye at least the "4 x 5" is just at another level which didn't surprise me. With a large format camera you have a number of additional controls at your disposable. In addition I think the process and time it takes to setup the camera take an image literally forces you to slow down and carefully compose and execute the shot. Whereas with digital you can just shot and "chimp" as needed.

So here is my bottom line....Digital is great (and getting better seemingly everyday) but in my humble opinion the digital SLR can't hold its own against a large format system. If I am shooting something that needs to be captured quickly the digital runs circle around the "4 x 5" but if I have the time "the big boss hog" definitely takes the cake.

I like the analogy that Ken Rockwell (a good online resource for camera reviews) uses in regards to the digital versus film argument by comparing the two as cars. In his opinion the digital is like a fancy sports car and large format film system is like a bus. Both can get you to your destination and the fancy sports car is going to do it faster but you can fit alot more in the bus.

The Lake...

Thanks to those who took the time to send your regards about Alexis or as we liked to call her "Sexy Lexi" (she had more nicknames than Apollo Creed from the "Rocky" films).

After a tough couple of weeks I was happy to get away on two separate trips to get a little rest and do some shooting. It was refreshing to pour all of my attention and energy into making some images for my own enjoyment. Here are a few early selects I will post more soon. 

Our first stop was the Lake of the Ozarks or as locals like to call it simply "The Lake."

Goodbye to a great friend...

My life has felt a bit like a country song lately. We lost our dog of 12 years last weekend to pancreatic cancer. Alexis was a wonderful companion and one of my favorite subjects. She never told me how to do my job or asked me to retouch her wrinkles.

I am taking some time off over the next two weeks to recharge my batteries and do a little traveling (and shooting) with my family. I will be back with my usual assortment of images and random posts soon. Happy 4th everyone!

Lifelock Campaign...

I shot these images for a national Lifelock campaign back in Phoenix back in March. Should be seeing at least one of these ads running in some parenting magazines soon. If any of you see it let me know.

Agency: Mindspace
Art Directors: Brent Shelter and Melissa Brenneman
Hair/makeup/styling: Laura Flagler

Why my job is hard..

While I am on the subject of my job....let me tell you about what is the most challenging aspect of my work. Direction. Generally I spend more time talking about what "direction" my clients want the shoot to go than actually shooting. Whether it is a photo editor of a magazine, an actor who needs updated headshots, or an art director that needs an image to function as part of an ad campaign. The toughest decisions are all the little decisions that determine whether in the end a photo works or not. Of course whether or not that final photo works is all in the eye of the beholder, but I digress.

So what determines the direction of the image, everything. The talent or subject, wardrobe, the hair/makeup, the lighting, the setting, the posing, the expression, the angle the image is taken from, and the list goes on. Literally hundreds of decisions are made before the shutter is clicked for the first time.

Some of the funniest things I have heard on a photo shoot have taken place as all of the people present on a shoot are trying to make decisions on all these little things. Always the biggest concern is if something is "too" (fill in the blank). Too sexy, too conservative, too LA, too girl next door, too happy, you name it and it is possible for it to be too much whatever it is.

I often find myself trying to read people's minds and body language to determine if what we are doing is the direction they wanted to go. In some instances I am surprised that we wade through the waters of all the decisions and manage to produce anything that anybody likes because we have spent so much time talking about it and weeding it down to meet everyone's needs that it ends up being shot with nice soft lighting with no shadows against a white background and the talent is wearing a blue shirt.

I always find it interesting that my industry has created a commerical look that is really far from reality yet we all accept it. For example you see all these ads at Petsmart with a perfectly groomed happy older man (also insert woman, couple, child) at a park with their beautifully groomed golden retriever (also insert lab, weirmariner) the light is glowing golden rays on both their happy faces. I spend a lot of time at the park (I have two kids under the age of three) and I have yet to see that scene in the real world. Generally people are in sweatpants with a couple plastic bags from Price Chopper hanging out of their back pocket trying to listen to their Ipod or talk on their cell phone while "Fluffy" is sniffing around like their is fresh meat covering the ground. But maybe that is just the part of town I live in.

Photography and the ad business in general have created this hyper happy worlds that we all see continuously as we are out and about in the world or even just watching television. If you start to pay attention to the images you see(or become a photographer that creates those images) you will see what I am talking about. Just don't ask me if your shirt makes you look fat, because we all know that it isn't the shirt :)

So what do you do for a living?

When I meet people for the first time one of the first questions I am asked is what I do for a living. When I tell people I am a photographer they always ask what I photograph.

When I tell them I am primarily a people photographer and that I shoot for commercial and editorial clients (along with a mix of some headshot work) I generally get a blank stare. Unless they happen to work in a field that deals with photography in some vein or another they walk away having no idea exactly what it is that I do as a photographer.

Much like I have no idea when somebody tells me they are a lawyer and I ask them if they specialize in a certain area and they say "corporate law" and I smile politely and change the subject. Not because I have anything against lawyers who specialize in corporate law I just don't have any knowledge of what they do exactly.

On the surface I should have a job that is interesting to talk about but I have found for whatever reason (beyond my own lack of communication skills) that for me the "so what do you do for a living" conversation is generally short and not so sweet.

If you are one of those people that I have had these conversation with please accept my apologies and know that I am working on my "so what do you do for a living" speech.

Fight #9 Results...

Michael "not so small" Smalley was too much for Todd Pickup defeating him quickly in round number one. Beyond his great nickname, Michael is one of the dominant fighters of the EFL. Congrats to "dansgal" you wrapped up your own victory with your correct pick. Six of nine picks is impressive. Drop me an e-mail and we can work out the details of the "11 x 14" print. Thanks to everyone else for playing along. I will keep this blog active with new images, links, and news so keep checking back in.

Fight #9 "Before

Make you pick in the comments....

Fight #8 Results...

Well Paul is still due for a win, Fred ran his record to a perfect 3-0 with the victory. He was one of those guys who you would never guess was a fighter by looking at him but he handled himself very well in the octagon. According to my math "dansgal" has vaulted into the lead with five correct picks. "Shelia" and "fiscalgorilla" are still in striking distance. Stay tuned...

Fight #8 "Before"

For those of you really paying attention you will notice this was actually fight number ten of the evening, had to skip over a couple because I didn't have pictures of both fighters....anyhow, pick 'em in the comments.

Fight #7 Results...

For the first time we had zero correct picks. Chance was the winner and I have to say he also had one of the best "After" images. Stay tuned for more soon...

Fight #7 "Before"

Sorry for the delay in posting I was on the road the past five days shooting.

Here is the next fight....make your pick in the comments!

Fight #6 Results...

Robbie was the victor of this engagement (in a bit of an upset I believe). We are past the halfway point now, look for the next fight "Before" image sometime tomorrow.

Fight #6 "Before"

Make your pick in the comments....

Fight #5 Results...

These guys were both great. I hated to see either of them lose, but Ryan was the victor. And no James didn't lose the tooth in the fight.

According to the account firm of Lexi, Malia, and Manoa we have a tight race. "Fiscalgorilla" and "Dansgal" both have correctly picked three of the fights, "Shelia" and "SS" are close behind with two correct picks and a number of folks are in with one correct pick. I think we have a three horse race at this point between Shelia, Dansgal, and Fiscalgorilla. We will see who finishes strong.

As I said a couple posts back I am planning on taking the contest through ten fights so we have reached the halfway point. Thanks again for playing along I hope you are enjoying as much as I am.

Some linkage:

A quick break from the "before and after" series to pass on some sites worth spending some time on.

If you love exploring music definitely check out Lastfm.com. It is like Pandora.com on crack. Plug in your favorite musical artist and explore other artists with similar sounds. Just a fair warning it can be highly addictive and can lead you to spend lots of money on new music.

Another site worth checking out, although for completely different reasons is "Remember Me" it is an extensive documentation of one family's experience in dealing with a terminal illness. I think every now and then it is good to have something that shocks us to our core and this multimedia piece definitely did that to me. So tell Tito to grab you some tissues and check it out when you have some time.

Fight #5 "Before"

These dudes were awesome....make your pick in the coments!

Fight #4 Results...

Josh was the victor in this battle. Zach left with a dislocated elbow and some camera shyness. Good times.

The contest is tightening up....a few of you have asked how many fights there are. I actually shot fourteen fights that night but am planning on limiting the contest to ten or until everyone completely loses interest :)

Fight #5 will launch tomorrow. Stay tuned!!

Before Fight #4

Pick the winner in the comments....enjoy!

Fight #3 Results...

Joey pushed his record to a perfect 3-0 with the win. Bobby didn't have any interest in having his picture taken after the fight. He wasn't in bad shape or anything just a little camera shy...unfortunately he wasn't the only one that got camera shy on me as you will see in the next few fights.

I will keep this rolling by posting the "Fight #4 Before" image sometime on Tuesday. Thanks again for playing along...

Fight #3 "Before"

You should know the drill by now make your picks in the comments.

Fight #2 Results...

In one of the best fights of the night Eli was victorious. And based on the comments he enjoys a mix of pool and jalapeno poppers.

We have two early leaders in the contest...."dansgal" and "ss" are 2 for 2. But leads can evaporate quickly. Should be fun.

I will post "Fight #3 Before"on Sunday morning.

Fight #2 "Before"

Click on the image above to see it larger.

Just like last time select who you think won the fight in the comments. I will post the results on Saturday evening. Who will take themselves a step closer to a free print??

Good luck!

Fight #1....the results.

Thanks to those that are playing along and congrats to those that picked Jordan (I truly enjoyed all the various reasons for your choices). Many of you are off to a good start but can you keep it rolling?

I will post the "Fight #2 Before" image first thing on Friday morning. Good luck!

For those that missed the first fight you still have a legitimate chance of winning the contest so jump in on the action. I also have heard from a few folks that didn't want to create a google account (you don't know what you are missing by the way) in order to leave their comment/pick. I switched the settings on the blog to allow for anyone to leave a comment but I am going to stick with using the comments (rather than e-mail) so everyone can see the picks for themselves. I want everyone to see that I don't have the contest fixed for my mom to win the print. By the way to leave a comment just click on "Comments" under the post and it will take you to a separate page where you can leave your comment/pick.

And one last thing....if you input your e-mail address into the box at the top right corner of the blog these posts will come directly to your e-mail and you won't have to check the blog everyday.

Until next time...

Fight #1...

Click on the image to see it larger. Post who you think the winner was in the comments. I will post the "After" image tomorrow evening with the results....enjoy!

EFL "Before and After" Images and Contest

As you can imagine February 16th was an interesting evening. I went into this self assigned project with a few simple goals (the most important being to avoid any bodily harm at the hands of a disgruntled fighter). I have watched a little bit of MMA (stands for Mixed Martial Arts if you didn't know) on television but had no idea of what to expect from a local amateur league in Kansas City.

I was surprised by a number of things, mostly the fighters themselves. As you will see from the series of images the fighters came in all sizes and ethnic backgrounds as did the crowd. I was even more surprised how generally friendly the fighters were to each other after the fights. Literally seconds after trying to cause major physical harm to each other many of the fighters were hugging and congratulating each other after the fight. That was unexpected and cool all at the same time.

I also thought based on the time I would have with the fighters before their matches that I might be able to pick the winners. Lets just say I have no future as a MMA fight handicapper. I was wrong on half of the matches.

I thought it would be interesting to see if the readers of this blog could have a little more luck predicting the winners of the matches just by looking at the "before" images (heck you have a 50/50 shot). Starting on Thursday, May 15th I will post the "before" image of the fighters from the first fight and ask everyone to guess the winner in the comments section. On Friday I will post the "after" image with the results of the fight. The following day I will post the "before" image of the second fight and continue the pattern until we get through the entire series (which is fourteen fights by the way).

And to keep things interesting, whoever correctly guesses the highest number of matches I will send a "11 x 14" print of their choice from the series (or if preferred another image from my archive).

So if you want to compete for the prize you will have to check back at least every other day to make your guess. Should be fun.

One minor note...I didn't get a chance to shoot everyone (particularly after the fights) some refused to be photographed and a few were receiving medical attention. All in all I shot 28 total fighters before their fights and 20 afterwards. Should make for an interesting couple weeks of posts.