So, the rush is on. Our goal? 750 quality images up and running by the end of April. We are currently at 250.
The initial thought was to just flood with the images we already have, we definitely have a good 400 in our "Secondary Submission" folder. But, that's just it, they are secondary. Not quite as bold as what I chose for our first round.
The math works out to about 125 images a week. 125 images a week!! A staggering amount, and one that I was curious to see if he could meet.
And with great dedication, and definite diversity, he shoots everything he can get his hands on.
Like he always tells me, everything is a subject, it's just in how you look at it. From the lipstick tubes I have in my bathroom to a set of old keys a neighbor brought over, or the view of the building across the road from us everything becomes a subject to his camera.
Some have told me that it's impossible, that I have my head in the clouds, but I think he has the right touch to grow his portfolio that quickly.
He shoots his images in series, same image, different exposures. He steps it that way for five shots, and we take the best exposure. He told me he was going to do this, and there are always 200-300 images in a shoot. Its great, because if we get a series that is over or under exposed, we don't have to reshoot, we have the correct exposure already "in the can".
What ISN'T great is I have to number all of those images, in sequence, when they are in RAW format. We found it was easier to number the RAW images before they are worked, then everything remains in sequence. You catch a pattern after a while, and the numbering becomes mindless. But that is a DAILY task.
He picks the best images from the series and edits them for my review. I, then, have the daunting task to pick the very best of what he's given me. I must say, my eye has changed quite a bit.
At first, I was so excited to be working on this project, and every image he worked was "good enough for me". Then I began reading forums and looking at other portfolios, and realized the depth of our images could be greater.
I will always love our first images, they were the breakthrough images that started us on this path, and, for that fact, they are valuable to me. But you learn and grow in this business, your eye gets better, and soon you realize that, while technically correct, and solid, it's not as bold as what we are submitting now. And that, I'm hoping, will make all the difference.
