Hutch Graphics Blog

Wind Turbine Stock Image Goes "BIG"

My stock photography work has always been a part of my business but sort of plays "second fiddle" to the day-to-day assignments (or week-to-week at times :-) as my day-to-day work is what keeps paying the bills.

I got a call from a client - she inquired about one of my Wind Turbine images posted on my website for potential usage in their brand new Experience Center.  She said that she has seen many pictures of the Turbines but none that she really liked.  After informing me that they wanted an image for a large wall and discussing it at length with her I was concerned about the resolution and quality of the image when displaying it so large.  I offered to do a re-shoot on my dime and they merely would pay for their usage of the image and I as the photographer would retain the licensing rights to that image.  "If your gonna do it . . . do it right" is my motto.

After a scouting trip and coordination with the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management team who owns the property from which I shot the Turbine image we agreed to an early morning image.  I felt that the contrast of the white turbine blades against the deep blue sky looking north up the Susquehanna River would be the view she was after for her wall in her Experience Center.  So now the right weather and conditions.  We're starting up the summer with crazy high heat and humidity which makes for hazy skies without alot of clarity.  (Photographers who work outside become weather watchers more than people realize.)  But a few days away is a forecast of a storm which will bring a cool front so we schedule the day.  Shoot comes and goes exactly as anticpated.  I capture a variety of angles and panorama views and I'm liking it.

In the post shoot edit I was pretty happy with what I was seeing but sometimes that doesn't line-up with the clients desires.  We settled on the selected image and I have received many nice compliments from the client and even employees within the Center.  Her sign maker (NiteBrite) told her it was one of the nicest displays they ever put up. Wow.  Atta boys are nice once in a while.

Technical specs:  Canon 5D Mkll  EF16-35mm @ 24mm f22 @1/80 second ISO 400

Gitzo Tripod w/Really Right Stuff Omni Pano Head

People in the Turkey Hill Experience Center with the image displayed in the background on the round wall below.

What is cool is that I got a 5 year usage license from the client and had inquiries from other prospects about other images from the shoot for collateral and website usages.

Click here to see more images:

http://www.hutchgraphics.com/p1031228903

 

Girls Basketball Photography

Went to the girls basketball game last night at Penn Manor High School to get some pics for some parents. Check out this link . . http://www.hutchgraphics.com/p59146700
Here's a pic of "Maddy" Hess #5 on a fast break gettin' up above the crowd!!

"Re" touching Lives . . .

This post is prompted from a forwarded email I received recently from a client who came to me for a friend of hers because he was looking for someone to retouch a small faded black and white photo of him and his sister.    ". . .  tell jeff that Greg was so pleased with the retouching and reprints.  He couldn't believe how nice they turned out considering how bad the original was.  He said his mom cried when he gave her the picture."  Wow.  That's cool to hear because so often we're caught up in our day-to-day lives going about our business and take what we do for granted but I was happy to do it.  Here is a pic of the original:

The job involved some good Mac time in Photoshop CS5 becoming good friends with the content aware fill tool and scanning the original which was about 2 x 3 inches and pretty "ratty and beat up" from staying in a wallet for 30 plus years.  And here is the result of the retouch:
My thanks to Tammy for the referral and to Greg and his sister Lois!!

 

Saturday Night at the Oscars??

Well it was in Lancaster at the Convention Center anyways. I blew the dust off the tux - (and yes it still fits :-) - and covered the annual Turkey Hill Dairy employees banquet. Safe to say everyone had a great time. Check out the video!  Feel free to leave a comment or share the link.

Danielle

Danielle.
Senior Photography is starting to heat up.  Check out the session with Danielle!

Just click on her name above and it will re-direct to the video.

Yes . . . the "Little General" made the cut in this year's Hutch Graphics 2010 calendar. He's the December pic!

Fall Sports

I've been shooting some fall sports and below I've posted the links below which will take you to the different galleries.  It's mostly Football, Field Hockey and some Volleyball.  Also, I've include some pics of Homecoming activities at halftime of the Penn Manor - McCaskey game.  The band put on quite a show!!

Once you click on the links - give the galleries a chance to load then just use the arrow keys to scroll within the window or just start a slide show by clicking the arrow at the bottom.

Penn Manors Field Hockey team is awesome!

Here are the respective links . . . REMEMBER to give them a chance to load.  Also, I'll be posting some more links in the next few weeks - check back at my blog.  Enjoy!!

jeff

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/Donegal vs Penn Manor JV Field Hockey

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/Donegal vs Penn Manor Varsity Field Hockey

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/Hempfield vs Penn Manor Varsity Football

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/McCaskey vs Penn Manor Varsity Football Homecoming

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/Warwick vs Penn Manor Freshmen Football

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/Hempfield vs Penn Manor Freshmen Football

Just a little bit of irony . . .

Recently we've had a spell of gray rainy days so as I was driving by this field of "Sun" flowers the other day - I thought it would be a fun picture given that it was raining for the last three days.  Just a little something to put some sunshine in your day!

jeff

Sports Links

I've had a busy Spring shooting some sports . . .ie, Soccer, Baseball and some Lacrosse.  I'm posting 18 different event links below. To view the galleries simply click on the links you wish to view:

Penn Manor Girls Varsity Lacrosse vs Cedar Crest

Penn Manor Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs Elizabethtown

Penn Manor Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs Manheim Township

Penn Manor MS JV Girls Soccer vs Ephrata

Penn Manor Freshman Girls Soccer vs Ephrata

Penn Manor Freshman Girls Soccer vs Manheim Township

Penn Manor Freshman Girls Soccer vs Warwick

Penn Manor HS JV Girls Soccer vs Conestoga Valley

Penn Manor HS JV Girls Soccer vs Ephrata

Penn Manor HS JV Girls Soccer vs Hempfield

Penn Manor HS JV Girls Soccer vs Manheim Township

Penn Manor HS JV Girls Soccer vs Wilson

Penn Manor HS Varsity Girls Soccer vs Conestoga Valley

Penn Manor HS Varsity Girls Soccer vs Ephrata

Penn Manor HS Varsity Girls Soccer vs Hempfield

Penn Manor HS Varsity Girls Soccer vs Wilson

Penn Manor HS Varsity Baseball vs McCaskey

Penn Manor Freshman and JV Girls Soccer vs McCaskey

I hope you enjoy the photo galleries!  All images are available as prints in different sizes or I can design a nice "MVP poster" with multiple images assembled in a collage and personalized with your name and your school team's name.  Black and White, Sepia, Color, etc. conversions are also available.  These keepsakes make wonderful birthday and graduation gifts or they can be used for college recruitment purposes.

The prints can be mounted on foamcore and ready to frame.  They are authentic archival photographic prints which are sealed for water resistance and UV ray protection.

Please email me at: info@hutchgraphics.com for any additional details!

Thanks for visiting!!

hutch

 

The Masters . . . .

Once in a while an opportunity presents itself for you to do something that might be on your own "Bucket List" (ie, the movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson).  Well, a few weeks ago one of the items on my own personal "Bucket list" presented itself in the form of an invite to the Masters Golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  This is something that as a photographer AND avid golfer I've dreamed about doing most of my adult life.

So enter my brother-in-law Scott . . .  yes he hooked me up! Many many thanks to you and your sales guy Jeff, a southern gentleman for sure.

I decide to attend the Friday tournament round with Scott but since Augusta has very strict camera guidelines I was only able to take my camera into the course on camera day which was Wednesday the practice round which included the famous Par 3 Contest.  Let's just say that getting into the practice round was not easy because I didn't have a ticket and was at the mercy of the scalpers!   I can attest that the scalping industry is alive and well though.  But my mind was made up that there was no way I was not getting through the gates of Augusta with my camera since I traveled the 600 + miles!!  Mission accomplished.

It was a beautiful day and I only got patron privileges as far as camera access but I made the most of it.

 
Friday was also a great day to watch the competition.  Seeing Gary Player, Ray Floyd, and Fuzzy Zoeller hit tee balls off of the 11th tee up close and personal was so awesome!  If you ever get to Augusta the 11th tee is a hidden gem of spectating spots because no one seems to want to walk up that hill - of course I did :-)  Many -but not all - players were very talkative and courteous to the patrons before they hit their shots.

A Few Random Thoughts about the Masters:

1)  Pristine best descibes the property.

2)  Very orderly - Everything and everyone has it's place

3)  The Staff seemed very nice and accommodating

4)  The course truly is up and down more than TV shows.  No. 10 could be a small ski slope.

5)  Traffic wasn't too bad

6)  Food was very reasonably priced

7)  I could retire on the proceeds from a few days of receipts of money spent by the patrons on Augusta merchandise.

8)  I must be good luck for "El Pato" the winner Angel Cabrerra.  I saw him play at Oakmont in the US Open a few years ago and he won there too.

9)  I was really wanting Kenny Perry to win.

10)  I'd like to go back again with a press pass someday.

To see more images click on the link below:

www.hutchgraphics.com/lr/The Masters

I hope you enjoy my photo diary of a Day at the Masters.  I had a blast!

jeff

The Occasional "Perk" . . . .

Some days my job as a photographer is pretty cool.  Stressful but cool.

So last week I'm sitting at my computer in my studio and doing some tax prep for April 15th - yuck!!  The phone rings and my client, Turkey Hill Dairy, needs a professional photographer in a hurry (the next day) to photograph the World Series trophy and their employees as it makes it's tour around the country.  Yes that's right.  The Philadelphia Phillies employ atleast two individuals to escort the prized 2008 World Series Trophy (the actual one not a stand-in) on a tour for their corporate sponsors.

Now this isn't the type of job which you'll unleash all your creative energies on.  This job requires someone to plan for and manage about 200 hundred people coming in and posing with the trophy with the clock ticking.  They gave me 75 minutes.  That's right 75 minutes. Oh and the conference room where you'll be shooting isn't available till right before that time frame.  Great.  So I realize that given the speed of this job it will require my Travelites for the fastest recycling time and approx. 200 pics.  Battery powered speedlites weren't an option.  They couldn't tell me if they're would be 50 or 400 people so I planned for the worst or best depending on your point-of-view :-)

Pictured below l-to-r are:  Evan Wright, Colin Wright, and Tom Wright

Things actually went very well.  I set up my laptop tethered for file viewing and had someone making sure that eyes were open and we got the shot. Some people even took their kids out of school to come in for the shots.  We kept things moving along and I even had about a minute at the end to do a few creative shots of just the trophy.  In all there were about 150 finished images processed in Adobe Lightroom and posted to the web at the end of the day for the client to preview.

Congratulations to the Phillies and all their fans!!

jeff