Many of you dont know, but early Sunday morning a friend of mine, Neil Godleski, was shot and killed in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington DC. He was only 31 and finishing up his degree at Catholic University. Everyone that knew Neil, spoke very highly of him and became very close to him. Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty was in attendance and spoke during the a candlelight vigil that was Wednesday night at Sherman Circle, the scene of the shooting. He said that police have strong leads and he was confident that the case would be close very soon. For information about the shooting please feel free to check out this link at http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/08/catholic-u-senior-fatally-shot-on-his-bike-4211.html.
Below is a photo essay that I shot from the candlelight vigil that was held last night and that saw over a 150 people showed up.
I had to run some errands downtown yesterday, so I decided to take the G10 out for the day. I recently read a web post by Chase Jarvis, who said that if you stand in one spot and you looked around. That you should be able to come up with ten amazing photos around that area. So I tried it down at the corner of 7th and H in the heart of Chinatown. I started to look at different spots to shoot from and how I could frame the image. Here are three images taken from the same view point, seconds apart from each other. The distortion is not from the lens of the camera or from an effect in post production. Its from the window that I was shooting through. I have to admit, I like what it adds to the images.
Earlier this year I was contracted by Game Informer magazine to photograph Michael Gallagher, President of the Entertainment Software Association for their June issue.
As technology has progress...so has the way photographers market themselves. In the early years it was about cold calling, sending postcards/books and physically knocking on an editors door. These methods are still done today...but with the widespread use of email and web 2.0. Photographers are only limited by their time and their budget the ways that they can promote themselves. Website, emailers, blogging, twitting, social networking, professional networking...the list goes on and on.
I chose three photographers to speak about for this blog. A high-end wedding photographer, starting off fashion photographer, and a commercial photographer.
Jasmine Star has burst on the wedding photography scene a fews years back and has hit the ground running. Named as one of them most influential photographers of the decade by PDN magazine. As soon as you hit her website...you are greeted by her bio-video talking about how she works, what she loves about photography and showing her at work. Below is a similar video that you will find on her site..following the same production value.
Last is Jaicee Calubaquib, a virginia based fashion photographer..who uses behind the scenes videos with background music to show off how he works on set.
Chase Jarvis(www.chasejarvis.com) has become a photographer that is at the four front of web 2.0. Being one of the first photographers to use blogging as away to push his brand and the world of photography to the masses. He regular has live streaming workshops, interviews with other photographers and behind the scenes footage of his photo shoots. He used interviews, candid footage, on-set footage and still photos to create his bio video.
But what says that a photographer is ready to make the jump from a simple paragraph to creating a bio video that could range from a friend taking footage on his iphone to a multi-camera production...almost a mini commercial in its own right. Does it also matter what type of photographer you are?
For instance I am a polirazzi(http://kcconnor.blogspot.com/2010/07/polirazzi.html) photojournalist which would require the crew to follow me to capitol hill, red carpet premieres and even the white house. Requiring credentialing and approval before hand before production would start on a bio video. Would it be something that my clients would be interested in seeing? Could it come off as being cocky?
If a photographer decides to move forward with a bio video...what is the best format?
Kris Connor is a Washington DC based celebrity and political photojournalist. His style has been described as “Controlled Chaos” by The New York Times photographer Stephen Crowley. He has worked for such clients as Save the Children Foundation, Humane Society of the United States, FilmDistrict, Cirque du Soleil, Grammy Association, Omega watches, The Daily Newspaper, The Danish Government, CNN, National Geographic Channel, Fox Network, Raytheon, and Warner Brothers.
