I wanted to share what happened to me yesterday when I called out on Twitter for help (which I wasn't actually expecting any). Over the weekend I ordered a new camera and lens, which I'll be talking about in the coming week here, but I got Amazon.com Prime 2 Day Shipping with it. They told me it was going to be delivered "Guaranteed" by Tuesday August 7th, 2012.
I did what any anxious customer would do. As soon as my tracking information arrived in my e-mail on Saturday I immediately pulled it up on the computer to Track it. Unfortunately, all I received was that a shipping label had been made but the item was not at the UPS facility yet I figured, this is Saturday, of course they won't have anything or Sunday either. When yesterday (Monday) came around I decided to check it out again. Again there was still no information. Now I'm starting to worry!
So around noon yesterday I decided to tweet a call for help. I really didn't expect an answer from Amazon, but I also added @UPS to my tweet.
Within minutes members of the UPS Team responded to me asking me to e-mail them for a follow-up. I did so with all the information I had and was told pretty much what I already figured, but they also said they were pretty sure it was not going to get there by Tuesday and would be there Wednesday August 8th. Bummer...... but that's not the end of it of course.
I did write back to them saying how annoying the "Amazon" system can be as I would have done overnight, but they didn't offer it, but that I was very thankful for the prompt service from UPS. Within 30 minutes of my exchange with UPS I suddenly had Tracking Information. The information said the item had just gotten to the UPS Facility from the shipper (so they never sent it out until Monday, which is normal since UPS doesn't work on weekends) But that wasn't the only surprise I had. My shipment was "2nd Day Air" with a delivery of Wednesday Aug. 7th. But on top of it was a message it said "Tuesday, 08/07/2012, By End of Day" So I'm not actually sure what happened, but it would appear to me that my friendly UPS customer service people went in there and bumped my package up to "1 Day Air" I think that is pretty cool. Even if it happened to have been Amazon, I'm going to let UPS take the credit here because they were great helpful and FAST! Way to go guys!
NOTE: This blog has been cross posted with my new Blogspot account. You can visit the blog there at www.PhotoLynch.com/blog
Hello there everybody! I am sorry for disappearing on you all. I've been going through some really serious life changing times in the past few months and am currently still going through them. There was a time when one of my friends... a good friend, I won't name any names, told me that I should not make my blog so personal. I took his advice.... but in doing that I found that I came up with far less things to discuss. In my keeping it short and simple... I kind of lost what I wanted this blog to be about. I don't really see it as an advertising piece, but as a chronicle of my life and struggles, discoveries, and beauties I found.
So I have decided.... I must come back to this blog and retake it as my own. In all honesty, I don't care if you don't read my posts, or if they are too long for you. This is my thing and I want to fill it with good, honest to god, content that is from my soul. In doing that, let me explain in a short not so descriptive version of what has been going on with my life.
Basically this entire Summer 2010 has been hell for me. I have been going through a ton of family troubles and am now going through the Divorce process. As you all know, I am a father to a beautiful little girl named Madison and now must take over as only single parent for awhile. Without going into details about my wife, it is her story to tell if she wishes, I can say she has been going through some very rough dark times in her life. I love her and wish her the best.
Unfortunately, with my stress levels on the ultra high, dealing with all these issues, and adjusting and coping with everything changing I have hardly had time to do much of anything. August has actually picked up a lot for me and I'm feeling a lot better for myself, but things have been changing. I have not had time for business of any kind. I did 1 photo session for a Maternity client all Summer. That was it. Because of the sensitive nature of Maternity Sessions, I will not be sharing the photographs with all of you at this time. Instead let me tell you some exciting news.
As I announced back around the end of May / June I was hired by www.BurbankNBeyond.com which is owned by the former Editor in Chief of The Burbank Times (local paper I used to work for). He asked me to come on board and do some Freelancing for local news stories. It was fun, but when the Schools all let out for Summer a lot of the events in Burbank just go dead. This happens every year unfortunately. Something about the relationship with the Schools and weather changes this town. This was ok, because that is when my own troubles started up. At the end of July though, that is when something interesting happened.
I was out one evening, actually visiting a friend at the hospital when a message went out. We get these text message / email alerts when a "Full Emergency Response" is issued in Burbank. In this case it was for a commercial fire up town. Normally 9/10 of these alerts end up being false alarms i.e. Food on the Stove, Over Heating Ballasts, Electric Shorts, etc. About 10 minutes later I get a call from the Editor. He tells me there is a huge commercial fire up-town and to respond to it if I can. He was stuck at another event and could not cover it. I didn't have time to run home and get my 5d Mark II, but I had my G11 on me and jumped in the car. I got up to this huge plume of smoke that was potentially toxic / hazmat. I Got up-wind from it and started shooting. Halfway through the fire, I decided... this would make a great little video. All I had was my 720p iPhone 4, my headset for it, and my G11 and an idea. Here is the video that re-opened quiet a few doors for me this past month.
Hope you enjoyed that little video, it was fun making it and impressed a lot of people that I was able to do that with the basically pocket sized tools. In the end, it's not the equipment you use... they are just tools, It's the story you tell that matters.
Because of that video, I was then asked by the Editor to become the Video Editor and do all the videos for the site. I have now gone back into editing and filming and I am building together my 5d Video Rig. It's really a cool thing... can get very expensive, but I'm enjoying it a lot. I am also picking up some Editing Freelance work on the side referred by Photography acquaintances that do not do Video. That brings me to where I am now... I'm not sure how much still photography I will keep doing as I move more into the video / mixed realm, but I do plan on sharing it all with you guys. I have also thought about starting a new blog / site all about video where I can showcase and talk about and review products, DIY gear, etc. Either way it looks like it will be fun... I'm also trying to plan some travel for this year so I can see some beautiful places, meet interesting people, and capture amazing photographs and videos.
Thank You everybody for reading. I'm leaving you with a few of the videos I have been editing. I even filmed on one of them (Be Bop In the Park) look for my name in the credits.
Yesterday I picked up a Westcott Apollo 28" Softbox. It's really a neat modifier. I'll be testing it out over the next few days and posting images as they come. Here is the first photo I did with it. (It seems I've been shooting right at dusk lately and getting these super dark images.
This photograph is of my father outside in front of my car. I was looking for somewhere interesting to test out the new softbox
Right now my lighting modifiers are a couple of 40" Umbrellas and a Photek Softlighter II 40". The Softlighter is a great tool, but it can be a pain to set up (have to get the cover's rings over each umbrella rib nub and take it halfway off each time you want to make a power adjustment. The Apollo is pretty easy in that regard with Velcro and fast zippers. The Apollo also came with this metal stick / pole that has an umbrella shaft sized hole at the end. It turns out that it is a mounting unit to allow better movement of the box.
It also makes the flash point up with the controls sticking out of the bottom. I'm thinking of turning the flash so I can easily change power settings and point the flash head up into the box.
All in all, it's a pretty cool modifier and I'll be using it for awhile over the next few months to really get to know it. I may also pick up a 60" umbrella to replace one of my aging 40" ones.
Maybe it’s because that’s just the way I find them a lot, but why do dogs often look sad in photos? Actually a lot of animals do to me. Maybe it’s just me?
This is Dingo, my sister in-law’s dog. She is a good dog, although hyper and wild having fun at times. I think this is the first time I’ve actually seen her at their new house. They often leave her with my wife’s parents.
Anyways, I thought that this kind of brought out the sadness of the scene. The power of a photograph to tell the mood is an amazing tool.
“So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the middle thereof: and you shall know that I am the LORD.” - Ezekiel 13:14
Although the quote fits somewhat, this is not what got me thinking about this photograph. I can’t say for certain that this was pre-visualized. It probably was, somewhere in the back of my brain. What got me thinking about this though was a sermon that the pastor, at the church I regularly attend, was giving last Sunday. He was talking about some of the differences in moving to California from the Mid-East. ”There are walls everywhere” was one of them. He spoke of the walls falling down in the Northridge Earthquake in the early 90’s, “All of the walls had tumbled in the earthquake, and for once we really got to know our neighbors.”
Maybe the quote is more fitting than I first thought, but it makes me really think about how we build walls (Physically and Emotionally) that hold us back. It’s important to remember… There is more on the other side. If you crack open your walls and slowly take them down, you will discover the beauty that lays beyond.
Like most towns, I’m sure, there are giant power lines that run through our city. They go from somewhere in the Valley following what is called “Whitnall Highway”. Originally this was supposed to be a highway 64 that would help traffic flow through Southern California. It was commissioned in the first half of the 19h century, but never was. As seen here “The Whitnall Freeway” the planned highway would have a 2.5 mile tunnel running from the Burbank side of the hollywood hills to Hollywood. It would have been the longest highway tunnel in California.
Nowadays there is no highway, freeway, tunnel or anything, but there is these Huge Powerlines…. By huge I mean, they are some of the largest of the largest. They cut across the Valley right over the hill into Hollywood. Unlike a car, they don’t need a tunnel and can easily climb over the mountain though. Visible from the air is what used to be… it’s impressive really to think about it. There are so many hidden treasures in Los Angeles which relate to the infrastructure of the first half of the century. In a way, they make Los Angeles fun to explore and discover.
I had to take a trip to the Magnolia Park Post Office today. It is a really cool, small neighborhood post office with kind staff and awesome service. Unfortunately, the Post Master General has been deciding to close it down for over a year. Somehow they are able to keep it open (most likely from the support and complaints of the citizens of Burbank). The post office is right next to the Whitnall Highway route. My Elementary School is right next to the Whitnall Highway route (Maybe that’s why I turned out so weird lol). NBC Studios & Johnny Carson Park is right on the Whitnall Highway route. Wow there’s a lot that is right on this route. It’s amazing to think about what it would have been if they had gone through with it.
It’s important to get your name out there. Whether it’s custom made business cards from a pro-printer, promotional flyers, or home made from your desktop printer cards. It’s a great thing to have. I made these guys at home using my inkjet printer. They aren’t fancy, but they have the necessary information on them and are “Something”.
This photo I took after speaking with one of my neighbors who I was helping out with his computer. He was asking me how the Photography was going? I told him all that was up and new with me. I’ve been asked a lot lately what it is I’m doing and if I’m getting busy. It can be a little nervous at this point, because everybody is starting to take note that I am a “Professional Photographer” and doing this as a full time career. They want to know exactly what I’m shooting etc. etc. It’s really good practice though! I am developing better speaking to people from each of these encounters and walk away feeling as though I accomplished something.
I wanted to share what happened to me yesterday when I called out on Twitter for help (which I wasn't actually expecting any). Over the weekend I ordered a new camera and lens, which I'll be talking about in the coming week here, but I got Amazon.com Prime 2 Day Shipping with it. They told me it was going to be delivered "Guaranteed" by Tuesday August 7th, 2012.
I did what any anxious customer would do. As soon as my tracking information arrived in my e-mail on Saturday I immediately pulled it up on the computer to Track it. Unfortunately, all I received was that a shipping label had been made but the item was not at the UPS facility yet I figured, this is Saturday, of course they won't have anything or Sunday either. When yesterday (Monday) came around I decided to check it out again. Again there was still no information. Now I'm starting to worry!
So around noon yesterday I decided to tweet a call for help. I really didn't expect an answer from Amazon, but I also added @UPS to my tweet.
Within minutes members of the UPS Team responded to me asking me to e-mail them for a follow-up. I did so with all the information I had and was told pretty much what I already figured, but they also said they were pretty sure it was not going to get there by Tuesday and would be there Wednesday August 8th. Bummer...... but that's not the end of it of course.
I did write back to them saying how annoying the "Amazon" system can be as I would have done overnight, but they didn't offer it, but that I was very thankful for the prompt service from UPS. Within 30 minutes of my exchange with UPS I suddenly had Tracking Information. The information said the item had just gotten to the UPS Facility from the shipper (so they never sent it out until Monday, which is normal since UPS doesn't work on weekends) But that wasn't the only surprise I had. My shipment was "2nd Day Air" with a delivery of Wednesday Aug. 7th. But on top of it was a message it said "Tuesday, 08/07/2012, By End of Day" So I'm not actually sure what happened, but it would appear to me that my friendly UPS customer service people went in there and bumped my package up to "1 Day Air" I think that is pretty cool. Even if it happened to have been Amazon, I'm going to let UPS take the credit here because they were great helpful and FAST! Way to go guys!
