Jason Tag Photography

Well September was a crazy month as I wrote earlier.  I’m glad that I was able to do the shoots and work with the models I got to work with.  Now it’s time to sit back and figure out what I learned so I can avoid making the same mistakes twice.

The month started out with me buying a new lens.  The Olympus 14-54mm ƒ2.8.  This lens is defiently superior lens to the kit lens I was shooting with previously.  The biggest difference is in the sharpness of the images this lens produces but also it has a smaller aperture range across a longer focal length which means better collection of light at the same focal lengths as my previous lens. The only drawback I would say is that it had a tendency to focus on the background.  However I discovered that underlow light conditions it takes longer to focus than under high key lighting situations.  when in a low light situation I just need to wait a little before taking the shot. Once I figured this out, things got a little bit easier with this lens.

Another lesson I learned was that I still have to work on steadying my hands when shooting at focal lengths above 50mm.  Of course this is the problem that most photographers spend years working on.  I’m not sure how to fix this except to shoot with the longer focal length and try to be steady or start using a tripod more.  I’ve benn thinking that my next shoot should be done with tripod just so I can figure out how to really incorporate it into my shooting.

During two os the shoots this month I worked with models who wanted direction.  This had been one of my biggest weaknesses since I started working with models.  Since I’m no expert at posing it’s not a skill that comes naturally to me.  I endup having to spend a great dael of time thinking about the body and looking at the models body to determine what poses would look good for her body.  On these two shoots I really felt that I did better than I had done in the past.  I felt that I was able to come up with a pose much faster and was able to communicate to the models exactly where to put their hands, legs, where to look…. etc.  The more I am forced to communicate poses the better I’m getting at it.  I’m still no where near where I want to be with the skill but it’s coming along nicely.  I think I’ll spend some more time looking at images and studying poses that I find in other artwork.

One thing I’m finding is that I’m making less techinical mistakes with the camera.  So I’m getting more good images versus bad images with every shoot.  However the more I shoot the more I realize that the things I have to work on now are becoming more about my interactions with the models and about the actual art itself.  Learning how to communicate my ideas effectively and understanding how to work with the models in a better manner.

I was getting worried because I wasn’t sure If I was going to be able to afford a shoot this time around.  I usually shoot about every two weeks because thats what my budget can afford at the moment.  The price of gas and all that plus bills, had me pretty worried.  But I picked up an extra gig this week that will allow me to do it.  So I scheduled a shoot for tomorrow morning.

The model has never done nude modeling before so it should make for a challenging shoot. If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ve probably figured out that I love to be challenged.  It forces me to be better.  It makes me work harder in communicating ideas and poses.  It also makes me really analyze how I shoot and how I compose the shots.  I can’t wait to work with her and see what else I might learn!

I’ll be updating the site as I usually do after every shoot so stay tuned…

Yesterday I wrote that I was working on a shoot for the weekend. Lat night I received an email from a model who was interested in working with me. We talked on the phone about the shoot and it seems like she’s going to be a lot of fun to work with. I’m always a little cautious when working with a new model. I got the impression that she’s done some nude modeling before but it’s been mostly for art classes. I know she’ll be relieved to know that she won’t have to hold the same pose for 5 minutes at a time. I’m a little nervous about working with a model I’ve never worked with before mainly because I never know what to expect.

I’ve been quite surprised by the models I’ve worked with through this experiment. Rose, as an example, is a woman I’ve known for years but never worked with her as a model until a few weeks ago. Even though I knew her, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to get and she turned out to be quite an amazing model. I’m glad I asked her to pose for me. And I’m sure we’ll be working together soon. I’ve found so many great models and wonderful women through this experiment that I find myself anxious to meet this new model this weekend.

The location I’ve selected is a place I’ve shot at before. The last time I was there it was an afternoon shoot. This time we’ll be doing a morning shoot. It’s a place that has a lot of nature but also man-made elements as well. The location also features an old road which I look forward to using. I also want to explore where that road goes. It branches off in a direction that looks like it just goes off into the bamboo but it might lead to something interesting. So I’m thinking that we’ll start off at the top of the mountain, move to the road and then move into the wooded area. Being nude in the woods will be a great way to end the shoot.

I guess we’ll see what happens…