Friday, July 14, 2006
Gentledogs, Start Your Engines!
Living with 4 hounds, I shouldn't be surprised by anything a dog decides to do. Check this out, as a f'rinstance. (BTW, this is an excellent blog for those of you who love automobiles as much as I do. Worth bookmarking.)
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Another One In the Books.
As long as I'm talking anniversaries, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this past 4th of July weekend, (yes, the weekend the camera went missing!) marked the 12th year of the existance of Shot On Site Photography. Time flies.
Back in 1994 I was just toiling with the masses in corporate America. I was a Regional sales manager for a manufacturer of environmental testing equipment in Ann Arbor. (A company that has since been sold to a British firm who's brought their "nanny state" rules to the table... I'm oh, so glad I got downsized out of there! Rumor has it, they're on the sales block again. Whenever we have dinner with an old workmate, I'm told how lucky I am to be out of there. No shit.)
So, downsizes happen... I'd already been toying with the idea of a part-time photography business. Even came up with the "Shot On Site" name while I was still working. When the axe fell, I was forced out of a state of inertia, and into action. My first gig was the MGA trial in Metamora, MI.
Now, things were a whole lot different back then. My cameras- a Nikon FM, and a Nikon FTn Photomic, were totally manual, as were the lenses... including a 500mm mirror lense. This means I would have to focus manually on a moving object.. the dog.. and advance the film, manually, after each exposure. Of course, I was shooting film, (digital cameras were $10,000 behemoths that only the New York Times and wealthy gadget freaks could afford), and needed to run out on Saturday night to find a 1-hour lab to get the film processed. Then I would have to number each print, and put them in presentation books to show on Sunday. Many late nights were spent in grungy Knights Inns, drinking beer, watching ESPN, (or adult fare on HBO), while I performed these menial tasks.
Of course, this also precluded shooting Sundays, the second day of most trials, because I would be busy showing and, hopefully, selling proofs, reprints, and enlargements to the trial entrants.
If that first event, 12 years ago, hadn't been a success, I may not be here writing this blog post. I'd probably be greeting you at WalMart instead. But it was successful beyond my wildest imagination! Over $700 gross s
ales, which we still consider good for many events even now. So I decided to keep doing it, and the rest, as they say, is history.
There are a couple of heroes I should mention. People who helped make it happen.. First, is Jack Helder, who told me about someone he saw at a trial in Lexington, KY who took pictures on Saturday, and returned with stock to sell the next day. I believe that might have been Robert Nix, who I wrote about here. If Jack hadn't made it sound easy, (little did I know..) I might have looked for work elsewhere. The photo that accompanies this post is Jack's "Mali". This was my first "famous" image. I've said often that it's the picture that "made Shot On Site", and I'm not joking. It's been used by ASFA in brochures, and has been published often, even in the UK.
The other person is Dr. John Burchard, now of California, but back then he lived in Rhode Island. The MGA trial weekend had, as a bonus event, the ASA (American Saluki Association) Brahma Cup trial, so John and his then wife, made the trek out in their Argosy. John was sufficiently impressed with my work that he spent an unheard of $150 on proofs, reprints, and enlargements. Once I knew there were people with dogs out there, who recognized talent, I knew I was going to be doing this for a long time.
There were others there, that weekend, and they all made it possible. I have so much fun doing what I do, that it hardly feels like work. Switching to digital three years ago, probably has something to do with that, too. LOL.
Back in 1994 I was just toiling with the masses in corporate America. I was a Regional sales manager for a manufacturer of environmental testing equipment in Ann Arbor. (A company that has since been sold to a British firm who's brought their "nanny state" rules to the table... I'm oh, so glad I got downsized out of there! Rumor has it, they're on the sales block again. Whenever we have dinner with an old workmate, I'm told how lucky I am to be out of there. No shit.)
So, downsizes happen... I'd already been toying with the idea of a part-time photography business. Even came up with the "Shot On Site" name while I was still working. When the axe fell, I was forced out of a state of inertia, and into action. My first gig was the MGA trial in Metamora, MI.
Now, things were a whole lot different back then. My cameras- a Nikon FM, and a Nikon FTn Photomic, were totally manual, as were the lenses... including a 500mm mirror lense. This means I would have to focus manually on a moving object.. the dog.. and advance the film, manually, after each exposure. Of course, I was shooting film, (digital cameras were $10,000 behemoths that only the New York Times and wealthy gadget freaks could afford), and needed to run out on Saturday night to find a 1-hour lab to get the film processed. Then I would have to number each print, and put them in presentation books to show on Sunday. Many late nights were spent in grungy Knights Inns, drinking beer, watching ESPN, (or adult fare on HBO), while I performed these menial tasks.
Of course, this also precluded shooting Sundays, the second day of most trials, because I would be busy showing and, hopefully, selling proofs, reprints, and enlargements to the trial entrants.
If that first event, 12 years ago, hadn't been a success, I may not be here writing this blog post. I'd probably be greeting you at WalMart instead. But it was successful beyond my wildest imagination! Over $700 gross s
ales, which we still consider good for many events even now. So I decided to keep doing it, and the rest, as they say, is history.There are a couple of heroes I should mention. People who helped make it happen.. First, is Jack Helder, who told me about someone he saw at a trial in Lexington, KY who took pictures on Saturday, and returned with stock to sell the next day. I believe that might have been Robert Nix, who I wrote about here. If Jack hadn't made it sound easy, (little did I know..) I might have looked for work elsewhere. The photo that accompanies this post is Jack's "Mali". This was my first "famous" image. I've said often that it's the picture that "made Shot On Site", and I'm not joking. It's been used by ASFA in brochures, and has been published often, even in the UK.
The other person is Dr. John Burchard, now of California, but back then he lived in Rhode Island. The MGA trial weekend had, as a bonus event, the ASA (American Saluki Association) Brahma Cup trial, so John and his then wife, made the trek out in their Argosy. John was sufficiently impressed with my work that he spent an unheard of $150 on proofs, reprints, and enlargements. Once I knew there were people with dogs out there, who recognized talent, I knew I was going to be doing this for a long time.
There were others there, that weekend, and they all made it possible. I have so much fun doing what I do, that it hardly feels like work. Switching to digital three years ago, probably has something to do with that, too. LOL.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Strictly Titillation
Odd, that until recently, I didn't know I shared the same birth year with the Bikini swimsuit. In an effort to make up for this oversight, I invite you to click here for a Brief History of the Bikini. It includes a famous photo of Brigette Bardot at Cannes. Her animal rights politics aside, she may be the most sexy woman who ever lived. At least that's what I thought in Junior High... even though I wasn't really sure of the concept of "sexy" at the time. Have fun.
I Didn't Know They Did This!
Here at the Holiday RV Park in Grass Lake, Michigan, the wildlife is very diverse... squirrels, chipmunks, flickers, cranes, deer, turkey... and this fellow who seems to have taken up residence in the base of a tree. Judging from the sawdust, he seems to be in the middle of a major remodeling project.Any toad experts out there? I've never seen a toad in these kinds of digs before.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Another Interesting Blog
Fortunately, there are several alternate routes for us to get the motor home to the site of next year's Scottish Deerhound National Specialty in... in... er..., it's either North Carolina or Tennessee. It's in the middle of nowhere, that's for sure...
Anyway, one of the routes follows something called the Tail of the Dragon, and involves an unbelievable 318 curves in 11 Miles! Photographers actually have businesses taking pictures of all the motorcycles, and exotic sports cars that traverse this route. This blog shows some of the action. (Make sure you scroll all the way to the last picture!).
This web page tells more about the road and the area. Gee.... we can't wait. Even the routes we can take with the motor home will be difficult. Not like this, though.
Anyway, one of the routes follows something called the Tail of the Dragon, and involves an unbelievable 318 curves in 11 Miles! Photographers actually have businesses taking pictures of all the motorcycles, and exotic sports cars that traverse this route. This blog shows some of the action. (Make sure you scroll all the way to the last picture!).
This web page tells more about the road and the area. Gee.... we can't wait. Even the routes we can take with the motor home will be difficult. Not like this, though.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Matt has moved!
The dancing blogger... or the blogging dancer, whatever he is, has moved his blog to here. I wrote about "Where the Hell is Matt?" a couple of months ago. He was recently on Good Morning America, again. It was recently divulged that his globetrotting, dancing, lifestyle was underwritten by a chewing gum maker. This begs the question: How can Shot On Site get a freakin' sponsor? We'll make the whole motor home available for graphics. Except the rear window.
Matt's newest dancing video would appear to be just around the corner. It includes Argentina, Easter Island, New Zealand, Norway, and more. You can see the 2005 video at the website.
An Irregular Feature: Crash of the Week.
And there were many to choose from, but this is the winner: Zuli vs. Adam. (Adam being the interloper, as noted by the leash with no human on the end.)
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