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...