Covid in a small town

For a long time, I have been the photographer for the Wellness Matters done by Community Hospitals and Wellness Center. I love all of the assignments I have done, but you get that special one every once in a while.

When we got together to talk about this upcoming issue, about covid here in Williams County and the people behind it, I was all in. These people, for me, are heroes. They had no clue what they were getting into. But they did what they loved. Health Care.

Covid has affected all of us one way or another. Suppose you have not had a chance to read this issue; click on this link and hear from these hero’s themself. I learned so much that I did not know while taking the pictures. Thank you to all healthcare professionals; you are truly blessed at what you do.

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Environmental Portrait

I have done a lot of different things when it comes to photography. The experts say you should focus on what you like. So what happens if you like everything? One area that I do enjoy is the Commercial side of photography. I like the challenges and have many years of experience printing. It fit’s me. I have an eye for what I am looking at.

Dr. John Elchinger at NorthWest Ohio Vision Center

I received a call from NorthWest Ohio Vision Center Marketing people and asked if I could do a headshot of one of their new Doctors. So, of course, I said yes, when and where? Next, I received an email asking if I could do an environmental picture instead of just a headshot.

I arrive at the client and begin to do the setup. In this case, I needed two lights—the environmental and a flash. Environmental was set up first. I wrote down my settings and then set up a flash. Yes, I am one of the strange ones; I still use a light meter. I like a light meter because I know it will be right when coming to shooting. Setup was made and time for the Doctor.

Thank you, NorthWest Ohio Vision Center; you now have helped me twice. Yes, I said twice; I went to see them about 4 years ago with one of my eye going blind. Dr. Tara knew what to do, and because of her and the resources, I have about 90% of my vision back in my eye. So make sure you see your eye doctor or get one if you like your eyes. You will not regret it.

Beginning to End

Everything has a beginning, and everything will have an end. Nature has away with this. I bought my wife back in December a Poinsettia Plant. The plant is doing great today, but leaves are starting to fall off and thus the end. I looked at the light shining on this leaf that fell and thought, “I wonder what this would look like as a closeup.” The light shining on the backside showed me the life of this leaf. I know, crazy, but sometimes I think this way.

I made a choice to make it black and white because the color did not help or add to the picture. I wanted to show the life of this leaf at one time. Using a macro lens, I set up using window light and then took the picture. It's incredible how we walk past this beauty, or in some cases, it's a dead leaf, throw it away to a photographer, and its documentation ends with a memory.

Taking away things you don't like

I hope everyone had a great time during the Holidays. For Lisa and I, we sure did. We got to spend some family time. As with any event, you always want pictures. In this case, it was no different. We went to a restaurant in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, and after we were done, we wanted a quick picture. So you got it, the waiter took it with my iPhone. The picture is great for us. It did what we wanted. A memory.

We got back home, and I looked at the picture, and I thought. I wonder what this would look like if I got rid of the distractions. This will be an excellent picture to practice on. With that said, I opened photoshop and started to get rid of what I call the easy distractions. The easy thing I used is what is called the patch tool. Easy items would be like the glasses in front, the silverware in front. For me, it starts looking good. Next was let’s finish it with some of the hard things. Like Lisa with the napkin. Notice her hand is blocked. With that, I needed to make fingers that looked like they belonged. Out came the clone stamp. I had other tuff things and used a combination of clone stamp and brush tool. I got what I think is a better picture.

Final Image

Practice makes perfect, the old saying goes. I m always practicing something. One to keep up with the new things out there, and second, to be good at anything, you need to practice and, yes, practice some more. That's what this exercise was all about. You see, the first picture will be fine; after all, it's not going to any magazine, but my thought was, what if a client wanted something removed? Can you do it?

The Dermatology Group Parkview Health

My first blog of 2022. I have been blessed in my photography career to do work for the health community. This one was a special one for me. My assignment was to do individual headshots of this group and then a group photo for an advertisement ad on a BillBoard. Driving this Holiday season, we have about 4-5 Bill Boards on the highway. I noted that pictures that I have taken were on 3 of them, including this one.

Let me tell you; this group was so friendly and so much fun to be with that I felt at home. After the job was completed, I thought I would ask a question that I knew they could answer. That is, I have this thing growing above my lip that is not cosmetic pretty. Can I get this removed? She left and grabbed a magnifying glass, and said that you have Skin Cancer. The good news is that you have the good kind but need to be removed. Remember, I only ask for information. It was their time to play photographer and take a picture of it with that. With that, off it went to what was my Plastic Surgeon. In a few day’s I had my appointment to have this growth removed. This group did far more than I could expect. They were all great, but I want to give a special thank you to Hallie. This great woman did so much for a perfect stranger that most likely would not have gone through this if not for her. One thing that I noted threw this whole process was the team and how a team that likes what they do is not just a team, but a great team.

The procedure was done, and before I could even say thank you. They came in and had my appointment made for a complete skin checkup. They must have known that I would have waited. (LOL)

I am looking so forward to 2022. I have a list of things that I want to accomplish for my photography and videography. Yes, videography. More on this later, but I have been having fun learning all aspects of this.

2022 is upon us. The question is, what are you going to do with it? One last note, If you have some abnormal growth or mold on your skin. Get it checked out. You never know. Thank you, Parkview Health.