How to not be second tier:

Posted by will | Filed under Nice, Quotes, Thoughts

Digital ProTalk has a great article on “What it takes to be great” referencing the Science of Experience article in Time magazine. If you don’t have the time to read all 8 paragraphs of both articles, just read this quote from Time and their response to it, especially the last sentence:

“”Take figure-skating as an example. For the 2003 book Expert Performance in Sports, researchers Janice Deakin and Stephen Cobley observed 24 figure skaters as they practiced. Deakin and Cobley asked the skaters to complete diaries about their practice habits. The researchers found that élite skaters spent 68% of their sessions practicing jumps which is one of the riskiest and most demanding parts of figure-skating routines. Skaters in the second tier, who were just as experienced in terms of years, spent only 48% of their time on jumps, and they rested or took breaks more often. As Deakin and her colleagues write in the Cambridge Handbook, “All skaters spent considerably more time practicing jumps that already existed in their repertoire and less time on jumps they were attempting to learn.” In other words, we like to practice what we know, stretching out in the warm bath of familiarity rather than stretching our skills. Those who overcome that tendency are the real high performers.”

Folks, I think this little tidbit of information gives a good insight into what it takes to be great in whatever we want to achieve in our lives. Practice the hard stuff, it’s the second tier performers that spend too much time practicing the easy or routine stuff, within their comfort zone, that they are already good at achieving.”"

Read more | Comments (1) | June 12th, 2008

Nuggets of wisdom from David Hobby

Posted by will | Filed under Asides, Nice, Photography, Quotes

John Folsom and I just got out of David Hobby’s first talk at the Southern Short Course. The following are interesting things that I thought worthwhile to pass on. Make sure you read the last one if you read none of the other ones.

  • Wired and Esquire are the best visually inspiring guys magazines
  • “You don’t want to be the 67 year old man who just learned how to light you want to be the kid with a new toy.” (Talking about continuing to be creative with your lighting)
  • “My studio is wherever I am.”
  • Rechargeable batteries recycle faster than alkaline ones and make sure you get the ‘precharged’ ones, they will hold a charge and not drain down while just sitting.
  • Seven Basic Lighting Controls
    1. Position
      • The difference between camera position and light position reveals shape and 3-dimensionality.
      • Close light is very powerful, but has very shallow depth of field.
      • The further away a light is, the more slowly the exposure value changes.
    2. Softness- Apparent light size
      • A large light distributes light over a larger area so specular highlights are easier to control.
    3. Balance
    4. Restriction
      • What makes a scene have amazing lighting? You have to think in those terms when your are creating light in order to make your photos interesting.
      • I can socially engineer my designer by the choices I make with my lighting.
    5. Reflection/Refraction
      • You can use found objects such as glass block or plants to create texture in the background.
    6. Color shifting
      • You can make a portrait in front of a sunset pop by gelling with a fluorescent correction gel and setting the white balance to fluorescent. Add extra warmth to the person by throwing a 1/4 CTO gel in from of the fluorescent gel.
    7. Time based controls
  • “You gotta have processing power in order to fix your dual drunk guy problem.” (In reference to shooting a drunk guy on a boat- get his friend to “hold” onto your light stand- it gets the drunk friend out of the way and gets the drunk subject to look at the light.)
  • ” To a hammer everything looks like a nail.”
  • “I won’t do it again, but don’t demotivate me anymore.”
  • “If you’re willing to give somebody (ie. the designer that had the idea) else the credit, you can accomplish anything. That person will come back to you the next time they want to look good.”
  • “If you want somebody to just push the button, why don’t you just get a monkey to come do it.”

Read more | Comments (0) | March 27th, 2008

Posted by will | Filed under Asides, Creativity, Design, Human Factors, Nice, Quotes, Technology, Thoughts

Thought of the day: Improved workflow fuels creativity.

Read more | Comments (0) | June 27th, 2007

planes

Posted by will | Filed under Humor, Quotes

Things you hear waiting on a plane:

  • “If you are in the gay house please make yourself known to an agent.”
  • “If the following passengers are on the plane, please let yourself know.”
  • “We do not need all passengers to remain seated in order for preparation for take-off.”

All things heard by DJ and I last night while attempting to leave NYC and make it home.  Maybe we were just delirious, but do you think that these things are in the least bit funny?

Read more | Comments (0) | December 2nd, 2006

Interesting quote:

Posted by will | Filed under Asides, Quotes, Thoughts

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” ~Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios

Read more | Comments (0) | July 6th, 2006