Back from my honeymoon with my amazing wife, refreshed and ready to take on the new year. Looking forward to a great year for myself and the website, lots of new things are cooking so be sure to come back often!
I set myself a number of goals for the upcoming year that I am committed to fulfilling, so I was happy to find a great list of 2012 resolutions from professional photographers (a few of which I really look up to and love their work). Read the full article over at Photoshelter.
I was stuck at work but managed to sneak out back and take a quick snap. Remember, the best camera is the one you have on you!
Gorilla-Studios is now on 500px.com, a new photographic community for discovering and sharing great photographs. I’m still setting up my profile and getting my work uploaded, but if you want to share your work be sure to join soon.
Happy New Year everyone!
Here’s to making 2012 a great year. I usually don’t make resolutions but this year I will be investing in my photography – dedicating more time and hopefully upgrading equipment as the year goes on. In 2011 I was focused on getting married and working my full time job, so now this year I am going to spend more time learning, shooting and expanding my portfolio. My immediate goal is to at least go out shooting once a week and try to get a portfolio image every month. I want to learn more and hone my skills, I will be really pushing myself and sharing my knowledge and experience here. I have quite a bit planned for the site this year, more post ideas, reviews, critiques and more!
So happy shooting and happy 2012 everyone!
Chris
The newest addition to my setup is a brand new Black Rapid RS-7 sling camera strap. Prior to finding this one under the Christmas tree this year I was using a homemade setup that consisted of a guitar strap secured to a post from an extra tripod mount – not the most professional setup in the world.
The Black Rapid RS-7 is simply the best camera strap I have come across in years. It allows me to go hands free when setting up a shoot, moving lighting around or directing my subjects while keeping my camera at my side right where I need it ready to go. It comes with the main strap and a fastener that attaches to your SLR body tripod mount (or long lens if need be). The strap clips into the fastener with a locking carabiner that sits well on the underside of your camera. I have a battery grip with vertical controls and the while the RS-7 attached I don’t find it uncomfortable shooting vertically. The fastener sits right in the center of my palm without any discomfort. The carabiner swings out of the way and freely spins on the strap without un-screwing the fastener from the SLR body.
The whole setup feels great to use – I am usually paranoid about straps and hanging on to my camera, but I have no doubts when using it. As with any strap I always have a hand on the lens while walking in crowds or around anything that I can bang into, but I have no worries about it unclipping or detaching and dropping. Sliding the strap up to shooting position is very quick with little resistance, same with sliding it back in place at your side.
Another great feature is the locking ‘bumpers’ on the strap that keep the shoulder padding in the right place. There is a back bumper that you lock in right where you want the camera to hang – this way if the padded portion of the strap moves when you pull your camera up to shoot, as you slide your camera back down it catches the bumper and moves the strap back into the proper location. There is another front bumper that you can move down to lock the camera down by your hip which really reduces how much it swings around when you are hands free.
The RS-7 is also compatible with Black Rapid’s Mods – like the BRAD strap or storage for memory cards or a cell phone.
Overall the Black Rapid RS-7 is a beautifully made camera strap that any photographer worth their salt should have in their bag. I only had the chance to shoot with it a few times, but I am in love with it and highly recommend it. Check out the RS-7 at Black Rapid’s website. Don’t believe me? Check out Jared Polin’s (aka FroKnowsFoto……DOT COM) video review. All images courtesy of Black Rapid.
I am reading The Passionate Photographer: Ten Steps Toward Becoming Great by Steve Simon and came across a quote from Ira Glass about honing your skills that I had heard a few years ago which hit me like a truck…
You’ve got to get rid of a lot of crap before you’re going to get anything that’s special. You don’t want to be making mediocre stuff. There’s a gap for the first couple years that you’re making stuff. What you’re making isn’t so good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is good enough that you can tell what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people at that point, they quit. The thing I would say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting, creative work, went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, they could tell what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that. If you’re going through it right now, or if you’re just starting off and you’re entering into that phase, you’ve got to know its totally normal and the most important thing you could do is a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work because it’s only by actually going through a volume of work that you’re actually going to catch up and close that gap.
- Ira Glass
Such an amazing quote.
