A l a n m u r A : : r a w

I went to my first ever photography lecture yesterday to see Joel Grimes at the Annenberg Space for Photography. I truly appreciated that he didn’t cover the basics of shutter speeds and studio lighting and understood that the people attending were mostly serious photographers. There were a few key points to his ‘discussion’ that stuck with me.

1) Be an artist
He explained the idea of not restricting your boundaries by stressing over the technical aspects. He explained that an artist uses intuition and emotion, and isnt dependent on ratios and formulas. He simply reminded us all, that we use cameras as tools for art. Whether HDR, compositing or strobing, a camera is simply a chisel to a sculpture.

2) We are part of a photographic revolution
A phone has a camera. Cars even have cameras. But more than just the quantities of cameras available, it is the ability to share photos which is revolutionizing photography.

3) Be a trend setter, not a follower
Do you like your own work? Do you realize that if you try something new and put your neck on the chopping block, someone will take a swing. Genius.

4) Every human with the drive to create is an artist
Nuff said.

What I appreciated about the entire event was not the just advice he shared, but the fact that he simply reminded us of passion, persistence, and drive. He reminded us of why we shoot in the first place. Why we create in the first place.

Yes. I decided to join flickr. You can follow my photos there at:

http://www.flickr.com/people/alanmura/

Thats all for now, behind the scenes video to launch later today

I have decided to try and create the occasional video journal. I intend on making one per week but thats all dependent on my free time. So to kick off the new year, I edited together a commercial like video of my family on New Years Day. Enjoy

Wow… has it really been two weeks since my last post? Time really goes by quick. I have been testing, planning, and shooting for Hush Los Angeles, a lingerie company out of well… LA. Hahaha

Lots of hard work went into the production of their catalogue. As I gather myself from such an intensive past two weeks, I figured I would post this behind the scenes video so you get an idea of what we are all dealing with… Pure fire.

Enjoy

When I set out to start my freelancing career I found it difficult to price out my services. It seemed that pretty much everyone wanted to receive my services for free. Although I understood that my portfolio at the time was lacking, I still felt that my time was worth at least a free lunch. As time had passed and my experience and style grew stronger, I would continue to receive countless requests to shoot for free.

My days as a rookie are long gone. Most aspiring photographers would have caved in by now, yet I persist to make this my number 1 priority in life. I have developed an iron-clad workflow, perfected several(not all) lighting techniques, I have worked with bands, small businesses, corporations, modeling agencies and fashion designers. I live and breathe quality work. It is my mantra. It is my obsession. Yet the low-balling still occurs. The only difference between now and then is it doesn’t bother me anymore. I know what my work is worth, and I know my work wreaks of quality.

It just seems that American companies are so desperate to save a dime these days that the quality of product coming out of this country has truly taken a dive. What American products do I own? Look around your room and you’ll notice that your TV is Japanese or Korean, your microwave is Japanese or Korean, my car is German, my computer is American but it is comprised of Asian parts. My oranges are from Brazil, my furniture is Swedish, and my clothes are made in China. So I’ll ask the question differently, what happened to American quality? And why are we surprised we are in a recession when the only thing I buy thats American are cigarettes.

Perhaps quality is a word from the past. Perhaps people no longer care about it. Companies continue to sacrifice quality to make a dime, but its my belief that it simply won’t last. Quality always prevails, and I never sacrifice it.