Tim Tadder

I found this photographer recently through a friend. One of my good friends, Brad, sent me a link to this guy's website and I absolutely loved his work from the start. He's working out of San Diego. Turns out my friend Brad is actually working for him in his studio, just an extra hand around the place, setting up lights, etc. I'm extremely jealous, because Brad is trained as a Graphic Designer, but landed this killer job through his sister. I'm in total envy. He's where I want to work, and working for a photographer doing the exact work I want to do. I really want to shot sports, underwater photography, etc. But I'd also like to do commercial photography, such as portraits, like Tim's. The thing I like about them is the editing, and the subject matter. He gets to interact with professional athletes and come up with some really amazing photographs, they're so sharp, colorful, his sense of lighting is also really nice, which is very important because light is photography, obviously. Its hard to tell how he does some of his photographs, for example, a woman running out of the water with goggles on. I'm not sure how the lighting was done with that, definitely a strobe light, but how did they get the light so close and the fill is confusing to me too. Probably a pretty simple concept, i'm just over-thinking because of the proximity to water. I think I could come up with some results like that, with the editing and the lighting, just need more time to experiment in the studio by myself. Overall, Tim Tadder's photographs just really appeal to me, they look immaculate, but also bright and exciting in the imagery. Again, the lighting is really important to me, in some of the photos its more obvious than others, but I really like what he's doing with the quality of light and its design. Just by looking at his photographs, I start to pick apart different aspects, like the direction its coming from, what he may be using with the strobe (soft box, grid, foam core, reflector). Sometimes to get a great photo, all you need is a main light (strobe or natural light), and a big piece of foam core to bounce back some light to soften the shadows. I think thats about all I have at the moment, at first look, but I learn more and more just glancing through is photographs. Not to mention, i'm going to pick my friends brain so I can learn more. If I can get some money together, I may even try and visit San Diego, go hang out with my boy Brad for a week or so and go meet up with Tim Tadder, check out his studio and introduce myself. It'd be a great way to get myself out there. I really respect his work, and he's exactly where I want to be when I establish myself as a professional, perfect location, great photographs.

www.timtadder.com

Nascar, Its Not So Bad

Sorry for the delay of postings, but my schedules been pretty hectic, with the end of the semester and other photography jobs I have outside of school. To mention one, over this weekend, I had the opportunity to shoot for Associated Press covering the two races that took place at Richmond International Raceway. At first, I was excited about the job, but have never been a nascar fan at all, never watched it, the sport just never interested me, it was just a bunch of rednecks watching a car go around a racetrack. I mean, thats what it is, but being able to experience my first race from that kind of perspective really changes my opinion. I got to walk right up to all the big name racecar drivers, I had a great spot to photograph the event, it was really a lot of fun, eventhough the hours were really long. Both nights, I didn't get out of the event until 1:30 in the morning, the traffic was absolutely horrible. There was 100 thousand fans at this event, well, the Nascar race at least. But all in all, it was a lot of fun, watching the cars speed past me at close to 200 MPH, i've never seen anything like it, and got some really good photos in the process. Besides that, I really can't add anything deep feelings about the race, because I still am really distanced from the sport, I know nothing about it, couldn't name any racers or their sponsors, unless it was part of my assignment. Only racers I know are Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., because i was told to follow them around half of the day. Only other thing I can add, if its a night race and you're looking for crisp shots, shoot at 1000 ISO, aperture of 2.8 and shutter speed of 320. White Balance varies on the camera, for one of them I was shooting at around 5500 degree kelvin, when but with another, i had to compensate a little bit because the color balance was a little off. Just make sure you pan with the cars, or everything you take will be blurry, and watch cars that are riding close together, changes are, there will be a wreck, just keep your eyes open and your ears shut (earplugs are a lifesaver!)