Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Meeting Dane Sanders and Shooting for Lust Boys

Hey Peeps,


This month I was asked by fellow photographer Dawn Melanson if I wanted to attend a talk sponsored by Atlantic Photo Supply being held at Studio 2540 in Halifax(thank you soooo much Dawn!!).The speakers were Dane Saunders, James Van Hees, Steve Richard, and Eric Boutlier-Brown.

These guys were all so great to listen to, they were down-to-earth, professional, friendly, approachable and had a focus towards their individual visions that was inspiring and refreshing.

It was a wonderful day of diverse perception, work ethics and giant cookies - delicious!

The highlight of my day was actually meeting an speaking with Dane about his book Fast Track Photographer, and his recent publication The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan(which I'm reading now).  They are a definite read for anyone seriously determined to turn their photography into a profession without burning them out, frustrating them to hell or make them give up photography altogether with a hate for it.  Both are terrific reads, with great insight and simplistic(but not necessarily easy) questions to ask oneself about who you are as a photographer.  Using these answers, you can better steer yourself towards the photographic career that you are uniquely designed for.  Needless to say, Dawn got a few shots of the day(it was a photography-based event right?)

 Well this is not the best image of me, but it was excellent pizza!
And of course, the ultrafan in me had to get a shot of Dane and I together, lol.

I also got the chance to shoot with two of my long-term models Victoria(who was just signed with a modeling agency) and Sharon, on a special project for some band art for Lust Boys.  We went to 3 different locations, 2 of which worked well.  The following is from the first location(the second will be posted in the next blog.)







We had a great time shooting these(as always, *pat on back*), and I can't wait to see how the rest turn out, they are(as I have explained to my wife) a little more "riskay-er" than anything that I have shot previously, but they do tend to go with the flavor of the band.

Anywho, again I suggest checking out Dane's books if you are serious about your photography business and all of the links in this blog for great artwork, artists, businesses and models.

Chat you later,

Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography
tangentpath@hotmail.com

Friday, August 26, 2011

Half Marathon in my Full Marathon Training

Hey All,

I just got back from a 3 mile run, part of my marathon training for October 9th in New Minas(the day before my 32nd birthday) the Valley Harvest Marathon will be my first marathon ever - but not my last. 

I've been running for a handful of years, interval sprints, fartleks(no jokes please), etc, but I have never ran as far as a marathon - at least not consecutively.  My training schedule was 18 weeks long and I say was because I started late.  So in order to get under the wire of time that I have, I selectively eliminated 5 weeks of the training schedule.  See below for full schedule, marked off weeks are ones I skip:





I'm currently on week 8, so this weekend I have to run 13 miles.  For those of you who don't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles and wouldn't you know it?  There's a half marathon this Sunday!!  HAHA!! Ho-ho, heh-heh, a-hemmm, hmmmm..... *sigh*, oh my.

So the goal is to do the Yarmouth Bean There. Ran That Marathon. (well, half marathon for me) this Sunday - or Sundee as my budd Davest likes to call it.  I'm trying to stay positive about it, it is for a great cause - the Kidney Foundation of Canada and focus on the love of running that I have.

I'm really looking to incorporate more of my running into my photography, wouldn't it be great to meet with clients and go over job specifics while cruising down a sunny road for a few miles in the sunlight and fresh air?  The blood pumping and lungs gasping, it can only spur on the brainstorming of creative ideas. 

Maybe I should offer it as part of my workflow with clients, a kind of optional extra - with no extra charge!  I need to run, for my health, for my family, for my photography, for myself.  Strength training is great - in moderation, but how many body builders can run 26.2 miles consistently?  What's the life expectancy of a body builder?  What's the main cause of death of a body builder?  I use body builders as my example because, well, they strength train and I believe for the most part they do little if any cardio.  I would think that a body builders life expectancy would be average 60-70 years(low average to average) and I would believe that the main cause of death would be cardiac arrest.

If I'm wrong, please correct me - with scientific information, I have not looked up any information to back up these beliefs, they are based on my own very basic knowledge of strength training and how it effects the body.  But I know for a fact that marathoners and overall runners have life expectancies of 90+ years, few die of cardiac arrest and the bonus is that most have the physical and mental acuity of people decades younger when compared to their less active counterparts.  Anyways, enough runner's preaching from me.

I hope to see some of you out there at either of these events, a few races have landed on my other training days, a few 10k's and a 5k, which were fun as heck.  Take a look:




Okay, so back to work.

Next Blog?  Mike Is A Fucker.  Don't ask, just keep your eyes peeled.

Laterz,


Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography Website
tangentpath@hotmail.com
















Thursday, August 11, 2011

Tony's Promise

This summer I was approached with a unique request.  I was asked to take photographs of ashes being scattered at the beach.  The ashes belonged to a young teen by the name of Anthony McColl.

I was honored to be a part of this, especially after hearing Anthony's story and of the promise named after him.

You see Anthony was killed in an automobile accident by a drunk driver.  From what I have been told, he was the designated driver for his group of friends, and while driving them home another driver who was intoxicated struck their car head-on.  Everyone survived except for Anthony.

Since then, Anthony's family and friends have promoted what is called Tony's Promise, which you can find on Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/#!/tonyspromise?sk=photos is the open page, here is the requested one: http://www.facebook.com/groups/tonyspromise/#!/groups/tonyspromise/).  It is a promise that you will not drive drunk or under the influence of drugs in memory of Anthony and those like him.  If you have ever lost a loved one because of driving under the influence, I'm sure you understand a little bit about the pain Anthony's family and friends go through everyday without him.

We went to the shore at sunrise, we prepared the ashes, took a couple of test shots with sand and then proceeded to shoot what was to be one of the best photo experiences of my career.  It was a perfect day - literally.  Anthony would've loved it.

Below are a few of the shots we took, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them, and I hope you do as I did and join Tony's Promise to promote responsible drinking and responsible driving for the future.







Thanks again McColl Family for letting me be a part of this great cause.