Commitment

Nick Davis, Cycle61 Photography, on assignment for 4TheRiders

Decisions have been made, gears are turning, and changes, big changes, are in progress. Stay tuned for more details, as things are about to get very, very exciting around here!
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A change of course...

Many things have changed dramatically since I last weighed in here, nearly two months ago. My apologies to all who were living vicariously, or watching hopefully, through my blog. I'll summarize a bit, but there will still be a lot of stuff here.

When I was posting avidly, daily or more, my work schedule at the real job was 10am to 8pm, which allowed me to stay up until all hours of the night writing about my photographic endeavors. This changed in late February, roughly a week after the eclipse and just before the Feb 29th wedding. I was transferred to day shift, which starts at 4am at the plant, and for a supervisor, often extends until 6 or 7pm. 14 hour days, as you might imagine, pay well but severely limit one's free time to pursue hobbies, business launches, or for that matter, family.

I had submitted a request to drop my supervisor position and return to my tools, to do the job I loved and was damn good at for a more reasonable 8-10 hours a day, but that request was ignored. The company was under no obligation to allow me a demotion, and they elected not to. At the same time, I began to experience serious pressure to separate my work and photographic activities. My blog had been found, and my lack of discretion regarding work-related issues (and photographing an eclipse from the roof of the plant) were rather sternly frowned upon.

The combination of a total lack of personal time, the need to preserve my job, and desire to see my kids once in a while conspired to reduce my time spent posting on the blog to virtually nothing. I continued to do some photography when I could, mostly events through the school and other minor things of that nature. An attempt to gather the Bay Area DPR crew fell flat, but I hope they made it up to Yosemite as they were planning this month.

Financial considerations forced me to unload some of my less critical gear, quite to my dismay. The F4, a few lenses, and a flash and Pocket Wizard went to Craigslist. I still have the trusty D200, a pair of PW's, an SB-800, and an umbrella/lightstand. I find this can suffice for 95% of what I'm still doing, although I mourn the loss of the F4.

Then, in the space of perhaps three weeks, everything turned upside down. I had become increasingly disillusioned with work, mentally wandering from resentful to hating every minute I was there. I spent as little time there as I could, and consequently fell far behind on my responsibilities. I spoke to the manager repeatedly about giving up my desk and returning to my tools, to no avail. It was not difficult to sense that things were not going well, but I dealt with it by looking the other way. I spent weekends and evenings riding my motorcycle around the local hills and canyons, alone and often with local groups. It became an escape for me, because you can't ride a bike and think about anything else. You focus on the ride, or you don't ride. So I rode. Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, called in sick and traversed the Sierra Mountains one day, I just needed to be away.

So they sent me away.

Out the door Friday, May 16th with enough of a severance check to meet the family's needs for a bit.

Naturally, I went for a ride. Down Highway 1, through Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, almost to the fabulous Hearst Castle I rode that afternoon, just trying to forget the world with each bend in the road. And no, I didn't have my camera. Sorry.

I returned home late that night, spoke to my wife of what had transpired that day, and went to bed. Enjoyed the weekend with no worries of work or anything, and then went camping with the kids for a few days. Good times.

I have since gotten my job search into high gear, and although I don't have the money to sustain me until I find the perfect job, I think I'll be able to find a much better balance between work, family, pleasure, and business. I have made many friends in the local motorcycle community, and I am excited about the possibility of shooting at the local tracks, at races and events. I need to visit this further, but there are those making a living at it.

Cycle 61 Photography is not dead.

I just needed to go for a ride.

I make no promises of daily posts, as I find myself prone to spending far too much time on the internet and not enough focusing on my real life. I love my kids and family, and I have to remember that I'm doing this for them. I'll soon have another job, hopefully now for 40 hours a week instead of 80, and the photography will continue. Perhaps I could have borrowed many thousands of dollars, launched a Craigslist ad blitz, painted my car with the company logo, and found myself a full time photographer by now, but I have a household to support, and that (for now) still requires a paycheck.

Thanks to all who have been so encouraging along the way, please keep an eye out for me, because I will be here.

And I finally got the nerve to carry my camera while I ride, so although I may occasionally digress, at least the pictures will be good.

And on we go.....
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Strobist: Overclock Your Speedlight for More Power

Hats off to Strobist for this one. I was trying to put something together myself, but this is far better executed than anything I had in mind. For those of you who really are pushing their flashes to the limit, you have to check out the new amazing article on Strobist, and see what happens when MIT engineering students get hold of a couple of flashes and start playing around.

Strobist: Overclock Your Speedlight for More Power




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Feeling a bit lost...

I want to put out a few updates on what's been going on with the blog, and the business, because I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here. I promise, there won't be any more droughts like this anytime soon. Oddly enough, I check my own blog fairly regularly and seeing the same post on top for nearly two weeks has really been bothering me. More detail, and an action plan, after the jump.


Most of the reason I've gone dark has been my work schedule at the real job. You know, the one that pays my bills (most of the time). I was transferred back to day shift two weeks ago, and I've been trying to catch up on a lot of things there, which has tied me up from 4am until about 5 or 6 pm every day since then. We've had a rough couple of weeks. So leaving for work at 3:15 am, getting home at 6:30 or 7pm, and trying to be a dad hasn't left much time for business building.

My landlord and I reached an agreement and he signed the forms that will allow me to operate a business with my rented house as the listed address. I have to fix a couple of appliances, but at least my rent isn't going up (for now).

I still need to contact the city and find out what documentation is needed to certify my disabled veteran status, which will eliminate most of the filing costs for the business license. Once I've got this taken care of I'll file and Cycle 61 Photography will be official!

I've been playing quite a bit with the small softbox, and the more I use it the more I love the light it gives me. The little 12x16 job is easy to handhold, and for individuals or small tabletop setups it's awesome. It's also light enough to dangle on the end of a thin lightstand, like I did for the kids painting easter eggs here. Pricey for the size at ~$70, but the light is much better controllable than a shoot-through umbrella. I'm definitely addicted, I want to try a bigger one!

I'm going to get back in gear with the business stuff over the next week (hopefully I'll be able to cut back to less than 14 hour days at work) and there will be many updates as things continue to evolve. Thanks for your patience, all!
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At least somebody's feeling good

Yuck...
After a brief day of respite yesterday, my flu is back and really kicked my butt this morning. I've got to get over this thing, I can't afford any more time off of work, and I've hardly been able to think photography for well over a week now. But there have been a few things happening. More after the jump...

As I mentioned earlier, my landlord and I finally came to an agreement regrading use of the house to operate a business. This had been a major sticking point, and it meant that I'll be official by the end of March, where I had hoped for February. Oh well, at least the ball is rolling again. Next up is to get my paperwork from the VA to let the city know I'm a disabled vet, which will save some $$$ on the paperwork.

Next up is some more tabletop product photography I've been working on. I'm really enjoying the little PhotoFlex 12"x16" softbox for this kind of stuff, it's a cinch to work with and gives great results. No shortage of power either, with an SB-800 at 1/4 power I get f/11 to f/16, ISO 100 at 12-18" working distance. Much better control too, there's no way I could get the light to fade off like this into a black background with an umbrella.

By the way, I'm cleaning up my camera bag a bit, if anybody local is interested in an SB-600, a 50/1.8, a 105/2.5 AiS, a GorillaPod, or the above pictured F4, check the link here.


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A few hours out of the sickhouse

Our whole family has been hit hard by this flu that's going around, and after a week of trying to sleep it off every hour I'm not at work, I took the kids out to the park for a few hours. It feels great to be out of the house, but I sense I may be buying another day or two of misery. Hopefully not. We'll see.

The wedding album from Bryce and Danielle's wedding came in from Blurb on Friday, and is being delivered to the couple today. It's 20 pages hardcover, and it looks pretty nice. Next time I'll definitely include more pages, as the cost doesn't go up by much for an additional 10-20 pages.

My daughter's team took first place in their division at the regional tournament yesterday, and they're moving up to state in a few weeks. Pictures and more detail later, if I'm still feeling OK when we get home.
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Oh, Nuts!

Okay, the title is a bit of a stretch to connect the picture above with any sort of subject that I'm going to write about today. This picture is the first of what will be a series of six, using these great cups we picked up at Cost Plus World Market. Each is a different color, they have this nifty stainless steel caddy that carries them all around, and they've been begging me to do something creative with them since the moment they came home. This series is a self-assignment to keep the creative juices flowing, and to keep me looking for color-coordinated foods...

In business news, it's been a very slow week for me. I've been sick most of the week, and between work and trying to recover from a nasty flu, there simply hasn't been much photography going on.

One important breakthrough, I've reached an agreement with my landlord to sign the paperwork so I can file for my business license with the city. I also found out there's a possibility that as a disabled veteran, my license fees may be waived. Not a huge cost savings, only $85 or so, but every little bit helps.

And thanks to all those who have been leaving such great supportive and informative comments! Your words of encouragement are greatly motivating to me, and some of the resources you've pointed me towards have been invaluable.

Gotta go. More to come soon.
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Strobist Assignment Review

Just posted on the Strobist Blog, the results are in from Strobist: Lighting 102: Discussion - Double-Duty Light and I'm thrilled to have my "Nest Egg" image make the list! Please take a moment, check out the post and some of the images, and see the amazing things that can be done with a single light...
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Senior Portraits

William Davis, originally uploaded by cycle61.

From today's senior shoot for my cousin. Two SB's, camera right and left with CTO gels, slow shutter (1/5 second!) to burn in ambient light behind on the stage. I've got a few more from the shoot on my Flickr.

Copies of all the portraits I shot last week are posted in the theater lobby at 5x7" matted on 8x10" paper. It was interesting standing back at the wall during intermission, watching everybody gather around them, pointing out their pictures, their friends, which shots they liked or didn't like, etc. My website address wasn't there, but it's now posted along with the pictures, and I'm listed as the "Production Photogrpaher" in the program. Pretty exciting stuff for me. Now I've just got to get some business in a town that's less than 80 miles away...

I also got in some shooting during the "12th Night" performance. Conditions were far from ideal, but considering I'm shooting with a shirt wrapped around the camera, from the back row, wide open at f/5.6, ISO 3200, I think the shots came out pretty nicely. It certainly would have been nice to have a 70-200/2.8 and a body that doesn't make such a mess at high ISO's, but you get to use the camera you have, not the one you dream about...
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February business review

Just going to take a few minutes to look back over the last month here...I’m not sure what the expected financial “break even” point is for a fledgling photographic business, especially a part time one, but I’m certainly not there yet. Cycle 61 Photography’s business plan in the early stages of development, and at this point my photographic activity is primarily to be involved with everything I can. February’s progress report and upcoming events, after the jump.

Total photographic income for February is $60.00, which was my “thank you” for shooting the wedding last week. Please note again that this was a personal job, and this is not going to be my normal rate… Also, no stock sales as yet but I'm not in a hurry, I have 99 images online at PhotoShelter now and I know that stock is a numbers game as much as anything. My goal for this is to double my collection to 200 images live by the end of March.

Expenses, mostly mileage on the car and purchasing “The Moment it Clicks”, a new 4gb memory card, the LumiQuest softbox, some rechargeable batteries, and a parking ticket, were considerably more. (Can I count my parking ticket?) I also need to start factoring in the cost of the data plan for my cell phone and a few other items.

I've been leaning on my landlord to sign the permission to operate a business from my residence, apparently his lawyer advised him he should raise my rent if he lets me base my business here. I'm trying to explain that my business basically fits in my backpack, and the city just won't let me use a PO Box or I'd pay the $39 and be done with all this hassle.

I’m shooting senior portraits for my cousin this weekend, along with (possibly) a group shot of the “12th Night” cast. Next weekend is a regional tournament for a bunch of the local elementary schools, I’ll be shooting events for two of the teams. I shot this last year as well, and produced a book for the parents through Blurb, which sold out immediately at $20/copy. The Saturday after that is the meeting of our Bay Area DPR photography group, and I’ll be working as an assistant and behind-the-scenes shooter on a professional fashion shoot in San Francisco that afternoon.

I also finally finished the post work for the wedding I shot last week, the gallery is online and ready to go!

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