So the last get together with Dan Bachman (Eagle, ID) and Jacom Stephens (Salt Lake City, Utah) went so well we decided to do it again. Dan put together a few days of shooting in Idaho, so I decided to fly to Salt Lake City to shoot with Jacom Stephens for a day before driving up to Dan’s. Rich Legg was kind enough to let us use his great new studio, what a great facility. Did some Mime and Business concept shot, and test shots on a Park Ranger suit that we got for our shoot in Idaho. Glad to do the test shots, we found out that the suit was to small, so we returned it and got a better fitting set.

Jacom and I drove up to the Sawtooth mountain to meet up again with Dan Bachman. Dan put together a few days of shooting for us that turned out great. First of all he secured a great campsite where we did a day of Camping, Hiking, Boating, Ranger, WWII. Dan found 2 great kids who had never modeled before, they did great. We also had one of Jacom’s models from SLC drive up, kinda sucks, he hit a deer on his way up, luckly he did’nt get hurt, howerever his truck had some damage.

The next few days we went to Boise and shot at a great Bike Park. Saw some great stunts and got some great pic. I tore a calf muscle trying to run up out of the skateboard bowl. Kinda sucks, but I suffered thru it. Hurts like hell. Call me limpy, legs all bruised and yucky looking .

On the last day before I flew back to Nashville, Jacom and I did a quick Military shoot, man some of my best stuff ever. We are planning on a big military shooting next month. 7 model, a hummer, smoke bombs, army tents, gonna be epic.

Here is our iStockphoto lightbox containing all 3 of our photos from our get togethers.

This Video Features Highlights from Dan, Jacom & Dieter.

The first 2 weeks of May, Donna and I traveled to Arizona & Utah to Vacation and for me to shoot with some of my favorite photographers. Donna and I flew into Pheonix, drove up to Sedona, spent the night, then went over to the Grand Canyon and then up to Page, Ut where we spent the night and checked out Antelope Canyons and Lake Powel. We then traveled to and spent a day each at Bryce Canyon and  Zion National Park. We then had the opportunity to travel to St. George along with about two dozen other photographers for RedRockalypse #5, a big group shoot organized by AJ (Rich Vintage). The RR5 event was a Friday-Saturday affair consisting of three locations/themes: 1) beach and boating at Sand Hollow reservoir, 2) education and politics at Dixie High School, and 3) hiking, camping, rock climbing, yoga, etc. at Pioneer Park. These lypse events are a lot of fun because you get to rub shoulders with a bunch of other photographers who are equally passionate about photography, and you are exposed to models, locations and themes you may not otherwise run into normally. But boy are lypses crazy! At each station you have less than ten minutes to come up with a concept, light it, direct it and shoot it before it’s the next photographer’s turn, so it’s good practice at being quick on your feet and adaptable to changing circumstances. What was cool about this Lypse was that I went as an iStock Mentor and got to assist and lend my creativity to some fellow iStock Members, don’t know if I helped, but we sure did have fun.

Two of my good photographer friends that I’ve shot with before, Dan Bachman (Eagle, ID) and Jacom Stephens (Salt Lake City, Utah), were going to be in town for the RR5 event, so the three of us we decided to plan a bunch of shoots in addition to the official event. For several weeks prior to the event, we made arrangements for an additional eight shoots (two of which ended up getting cancelled because of weather, and the last one we were just too pooped to do). Jacom and I spent a couple thousand dollars on props including a full-blown astronaut suit, super hero costumes, a real cow skull, army uniforms and gear, water coolers, astro turf, post apocalyptic looking weapons/helmets/goggles, hazmat suits, a geiger counter, and a whole lot more. We didn’t even end up using all of them, so there will definitely be a round two (or three).

We had a super selection of Models! Many of them I had worked with before and it was great to see and work with them again, and also meet some new ones that I can’t wait to shoot with again!!! Thanks guys!

The shoots that we ended up actually shooting included golf, camping and hiking, other worldly (astronauts, aliens, super heros), fly fishing, politics, and an eclectic mix of different themes in a desert environment. Dan wasn’t able to stay for all the shoots in northern Utah because he had to get back to his day job. Our military and global warming shoots were rained out, and a couple of days later when we arrived at the Bonneville Salt Flats with eight models and a two vehicles full of props and equipment, we were shocked to find the entire salt flats buried under a foot of water. And on the last day, we decided to cancel our mountain biking shoot to give ourselves enough time to clean up and pack everything up before heading off to the airport. It was absolutely crazy, but it was an incredibly productive and enjoyable experience. And we all created some INCREDIBLE images to add to our stock portfolios. I wouldn’t be surprised to see most of them end up in istock’s Vetta Collection or featured as istock’s Image of the Week or Hot Shots. Take a look at the video and I think you’ll agree.

Note: I borrowed some of Jacom’s copy for this post , here is his original post about our great event (used with permission!)

also check out Dan’s Stuff

Coming off of the high from going to the HQLypse I felt that I had been to enough minilypses and have a real good feel for creating my own. I wanted to take some of the ease and less pressure from my Chappedlypse Group and add in some things that I learned from Atlanta, RR4 and HQlypse. So, I made the choice and made a post in the Forums. InhausLypse.01 is born. Right off the bat, I had alot of friends wanting to be on the list, I had alot of interest from members. So, now it was on, I had interest and now I had to deliver.

I found a cool modern hotel HOTEL INDIGO and it had great rates. It is real close to downtown and worked out perfectly.

From the list I had enough members driving in and they had studio lights, so, we would have plenty of lighting.

I put a call out to my regular models and ask them to ask their model friends to see if they would be interested, wow, I had plenty of model ready to work. I emailed them all weekly to remind them of the event, one thing I didn’t want happening was a shortage of models. Most of them I knew and knew that I could count on them. I went ahead and made model releases with their info and what days they would show up on, I put their images on the release and made myself a master book with all of the releases. I made a detailed schedule page for each day of the event, I gathered pics and described props that I would have available at each location. I also asked the photographer if they need me to get them any props based on what they thought of the pictures. I made a real point to have real good communications between everyone involved. There were only a few members that were coming that I didn’t know, the rest I knew and felt comfortable that they could go with the flow if any snags occurred. Here is the pdf that I sent to everyone detailing the event.

The event went off without a hitch, I played host and really didn’t shoot. I had quite a few new model show and I made sure that they had a great time and hopefully would get on my regular rotation of models.

Here is the iStock Lightbox of the images from the weekend!

]]> http://www.dieterspears.com/?feed=rss2&p=342 1 http://www.dieterspears.com/?p=198 http://www.dieterspears.com/?p=198#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:21:00 +0000 admin http://fmmserver.com/dieter/?p=198

Winning Image : The Survivor ©dieterspears

Dieter Wins The Lottery Ok, the iStock gods were shining down on me. The day that the RR4 money was due ($325), so was the HQlypse (Official iStock Lypse to held at the new home office, in Calgary, Canada) $500. Well, a few days before the mad dash to F5 to try to get on the HQlypse list, I lost my iphone., not being over contract it was a hefty $400 to replace, and along with the RR4, I was tapped out. So, it wasn’t to be for me to goto the HQlypse. I watched the forum and got to see the great reactions of those who made it in. Like I said in the last post, don’t feel out till it’s over. Luckly, 2 member had to bow out, and iStockphoto decided to do a drawing. OK, I want to believe it was rigged and iStockphoto loves me and yata, yata, or I got lucky, wink, wink, who knows, they had the drawing and low and behold, I got picked. I felt like Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a winner, and the good news, I had cash to do it! THANK YOU TO THE RIGGERS OF THE CONTEST!!!!

This was like going to the majors. I was going to meet so many of the iStockphoto Superstars. I was going to see the new home office and see really if putting my egges in one basket and being “Exclusive” was the right move, well let me tell you, I left wanting to work for Istock. What a great company, what a cool facility, I made the right choice! Over the next few days there were so many great moments. I am going to have to tell about you one and hopefully won’t be called out on it. So, once we got settled in we got a packet showing us out groups and shoot details. Oh boy, I’m on the same team as Lise Gange, ok, now I’m nervous. I’m on the same team as the Michael jackson of the Micro Stock World.

Explore Canada ©dieterspears

So, I’m standing in the gathering room looking around, there are a few members from RR4, and some close forum friends, so I dont feel alone. Well, I laid my gear down and kinda made my little spot on this counter and am hanging out till we get instruction of the next thing to do. The room is packed and people are shuffling round, alot of rekindling of friends, alot of pairing ups, and then in the could I could feel a buzz, all the first timers and members that didnt know to many memebr all were looking in one direction, so, I looked and low and behold, Lise had just come into the room. There was a hustle from memebers who hadnt seen her in a while to run over and say hi. I could tell she was a regular to the members of the home office , they made little to do about her and just went on their way getting the event running. Well this went on for a bit and Lise decided to grab her a spot and hang out like the rest of us. No she didnt’, she came and put her stuff down right next to me. Ok, I don’t ever meet a stranger, but with the excitement of the day I didn’t want to come across as a total dweeb. To this point I kinda felt like InhausCreative (my Screen Name) had a little traction and some member knew me, well, would she have any idea who InhausCreative was? About a minute passed and I made sure to let her settle in, no one was coming over to dote on her so I figured it was my time to introduce myself. I leaned over and said, “Hey, I’m Dieter, Inhaus Creative, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She kindly replied in a nice French-Cadanian Accent, “I’m Lise, pleasure to meet you.” Cool, I just met the Queen Bee, that was painless. So, I kinda stood around as she made conversation with some HQ members that would come by. This went on for 30 minutes, so

I figured we were best friends at this point, and I could just make casual conversation at this point. So, I figured I let her know that we were on the same team and that we ought to go ahead and get a game plan going. So, I leaned over to tell my new best friend that we were teammates, and she turns to me and says “Hi, I’m Lise and you are?” Nice, my best friend of 30 minutes didnt even know we had met. not to sweat, over the weekend I got the privilege to spend alot of time with Lise, and all I can say, “What a Sweetie!”  If you ever get a chance, go introduce yourself twice!

So, over the few day, I realized that there is a lot to learn, so, many members with great ideas, approaches, techniques,all willing to share and make out community greater. I want to Thank so many of the Home Office Members who made me feel so part of the iStock world. JJRD,Lobo, Sylvanworks, Rogermexico, Evilclown, all had some kind words and really made me feel special.

To top off such a wonderful event, I ended up wining an award (1 of 4) for Best Art Direction, Wow, such an honor, considering all of the images that I saw. It was cool too, 3 of the awards were won by RR4 members, so, it pays to goto lypses.

Here is the iStock Lightbox from the weekend.

Here are links to  two Animoto Videos feature some of the great images created by all the members that made it to the HQlypse, such talent!!!!

• Video A
• Video B

Southern Utah ©dieterspears

I had been reading in the iStock forums about how great of an experience Member RichVintage puts on at his ‘lypses. I got lucky and ended up on the Red Rock 4 attendance list. So, Donna and I took off for a week to visit beautiful Utah.

I really was looking forward to this trip, there were so many names that I was ready to put a face with. I had been talking to some of these members online for a few years. Well, with any announcement of a new lypse the list fills up quickly, and this one being an annual event, the list is big and fills up quickly. For those of you thinking about going to an event, don’t let this get you down, when it comes down to the actual paying for and being able to do the dates, alot of members drop off and the waiting line gets moved up quickly. it never hurts to let the organizer know that you can pay right now! So, I got on the waiting list and like I said the closer the event came  the more the member dropped off, I got lucky and made the first timers list, woo hoo out west here I come!

Not have been out west as an adult, I planned to make this a week long event instead of a few days. So, Donna, my wife, and I flew into Salt Lake City. There we spent a day seeing the great sights the city had to offer. We toured the Mormon’s campus and learned about their heritage. We drove the mountains and saw Big Bear, Sundance and some other sites. We then drove down to Moab and spent a few

Red Cliff Lodge ©dieterspear

days checking out Arches National Park, Canyonlands, and some other great and wonderful sites. We stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge, nestled in the canyon right on the Colorado River, just fantastic! We worked our way back up to Provo to meet up do the RR4 event. Member RichVintage, did it up right, we shoot out at the Bonneville Salt Flats, A pizza parlor, and an old farm. This trip was structured like a standard Lypse put on by Istock. We had teams, a Team Leader and a set time to shoot. It was more fast paced, than what I’m used to shooting with my chapped lypse group.

From this trip I would put faces with some friends, and make some great new friends. It was a good challenge and out of RR4 I got a few images that would help get me noticed in the iStockphoto world, so I am so thankful that  I went! The picture sign of life was my first Vetta image and it made it onto the Istockphoto.com home page, dude where’s the gloves!

Here is a link to the iStock Lightbox for all of the images shot that weekend.

Sign of Life ©dieterspears

Witch Casting A Spell ©dieterspears

After the success of Huskalypse, our group want to get back together. Members FuzzMartin and SimonMcConico decided to tag team the event. At this point our Chapped’Lypse group get-together just seemed to be easier to do and a lot more enjoyable. Simon and Fuzz landed some great locations and a huge slew of models. One location fell through and we acted like old ‘lypse pros as we found a new location in an hour and never missed a beat. This get-together allowed some members who hadn’t been able to make it to the other events to show, so it really was a homecoming! We also had a new forum member make it out, nautilus_shell_studios.

Our Chappedlypse Gang

On a side note, when you are putting on a photo shoot, make sure that all parties involved truly understand what the process is for shooting stock with models and locations. One location was a million-dollar, two-bedroom apartment. No fault of anyone’s, but the condo was furnished and for sale, and we were  descending upon it with 10 photographers and 15 models, gear and so on. It was tight. The realtor was our contact and she was there and very nervous, I wasn’t worried because I knew our group would be respectful and careful, at one point Fuzz and I overheard her on the phone and she said “I thought the photographer was just coming to shoot the place,” so there was some miscommunication. Fuzz, quickly told her that we would stop the shoots and exit the premise. About that time, unnannounced,  a model, striped down to her undies, jump on the couch and screamed someone shoot me. I’m sure the realtor had a stiff drink that night. So, shoots don’t always go smoothly, the key is remain professional and stay on top of the moment.

This trip I really started to under the relationship of studio lights, f-stop and models. It was awesome, so many models, and time, I mainly shot on paper backgrounds doing headshots and expressions. From this lypse I would get my first FREE IMAGE OF THE WEEK, which is a cool honor and marketing for anyone selected.

Here is the iStock Lightbox for the Brewlypse weekend.

So Sweet ©dieterspears

My First Free Image Of The Week ©dieterspears

The Farmer ©dieterspears

On iStockphoto.com, we have forums for the get-togethers called  “minilypses”. The Chapped’Lypse group has the largest minilypse thread. From talking to members on the site, I got a sense that they felt that we were a closed community. This, however, is simply not so. We randomly would have member drop in and hang for a while, though most would lose interest. Admittedly, there were a few tat we just didn’t like, so we simply wouldn’t respond to them.

Wedding Dispair ©dieterspears

Along comes Stacy (sbrogan). She jumps in our thread and acts like she’s been a Chapped’Lypse member for years. It felt like a minute before she was offering up to host the next Chapped’Lypse get-together. We all said “sure,” and Huska’Lypse was born. Stacy did a great job of hosting and we all had a great time. If you get a chance to get sucked into TacoJim’s extended world you will always be in for an adventure!

Huskalypse, for me, was refreshing. I finally felt comfortable with my gear, this was my group, and I wasn’t hosting. Our group was finally feeling like a group of old friends. We shot a lot out doors and Southern Indy is super hot in August. From a shooting stand point, it was the first time that I felt that I got some shots that were as good as any image out there. We had a few models that really knew how to work the camera and this was a big treat. It was also great to see my friends progressing as “Stock” photographers.

The only real downside of the weekend was the hotel where we stayed.  A few months prior, Southern Indiana was flooded. The hotel apparently had water up to the window sills. The entire hotel smelled musty and moldy. It wasn’t until we had already been staying there for a night before the hotel staff told us that they had just reopened. It seemed like they should have waited a little longer before reopening. Aside from that, though, the weekend was a great success.

Pitch Dark Long Exposure Ghost In The Graveyard ©dieterspears

Here is the iStock lightbox from the Huskalypse weekend.

Huskalypse ©michaelwesthoff

Altlanta Microlypse Group Hosted by Marilyn Nieves

So, my addiction with iStock is in full force. I’m tracking different members to see if they are selling well, and if I’m making the right choice to push this hard and spend this much time working on stock. The $$$ is slowly coming, but I was still a long way from making a living at this. I did, however, see that there are some people making a decent living shooting for iStock, so it kept me pushing on. Through the iStock forums, I found another Nashville contributor who had roughly the same amount of downloads as I did. Sean Warren and I became friends and helped push each other to  work towards our goal of becoming Diamond Members  (25k downloads) on iStock. Both of us saw in iStock’s “Meet Ups” forum that there was going to be an unofficial get together in Atlanta. Sean and I decided to go. This was my first get together outside of my Chapped’Lypse group. Member Marilyn Nieves hosted the event and it laid the groundwork for some future friendships.

Industrial Grab Shot sells on Getty Images ©dieterspears

The weekend started with a meet up for dinner, it was cool, I was meeting more iStock members and was seeing that we all had a similar addiction. This “addiction” ties us all together through the things that we do daily. Member GreenPimp dropped by the dinner unannounced. To Sean and me, GreenPimp was an admired iStock Rock Star, and we were pleased to be graced by greatness. A few years later I really got to know GreenPimp, and to me he is the real deal. If you are lucky to call Tom a friend you are in great company!!!!

Bible Concept ©dieterspears

So, now for the weekend. I found out that I suck as a photographer, I was out of my element and I was surrounded by real photographers. They knew how to use lights out in the field, reflectors (what the hell is a reflector???). “Be cool and don’t let them see you sweat,” I thought. Well, I was sweatin’, I’m fat and we are in Atlanta in the middle of summer. I would end up becoming friends and doing business with iStock members: Cadcave, JeanellNorvell, and Inkstudios. Marilyn Nieves would come to become my lead in the inspection process.

I didn’t get too many images that I was pleased with, but the weekend was a total success. The two above images were successful enough to pay for the weekend!

Here is an iStock Lightbox for the images from that weekend.

Nashvegas Logo ©dieterspears

With the success of Chapped’lypse, our group kept asking for someone to host the next event. I thought about it and figured, why not. I felt pretty confident because I have lived in Nashville since 1980, and knew that I could book some killer locations. Plus, I know enough people that I was sure that I could book plenty of models.

The locations fell into place rather easily, but asking friends to find models was another issue. After thinking about it, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to bug my friends. I did, however, have a few who knew my involvement with iStock (fellow iStockers, Deuelpics & Dennysb), and told me to find some models online at Model Mayhem. So, I signed up for a modelmayhem.com account and started collecting “models.” Quickly, I realized that there were a lot of flaky and frankly inconsiderate dumbasses out there. I had MM members swearing to me that they would be on time, only to contact me again as if they had never talked to me in the first place. Slowly, I felt I had a small group of models that  seemed reliable and would actually show up. I called around and got a pretty good deal on a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express. I found it beneficial to talk to the marketing manager instead of the front desk. I booked a restaurant and some models and photographers met there first to start our weekend.

Some of the Nashvegas Group ©michaelwesthoff

Holiday Workout made it into Men's Health Magazine ©dieterspears

I ended up booking a furniture store, pub, walk-around, and studio shooting at my office. Overall the weekend went great. Like any get together, it starts out slow and finally finds it’s legs. Few models showed for the furniture store, plus furniture stores are crowded with stuff. The pub was great, the models showed up and got into it. The location had a lot to offer and a lot of great images were taken. We walked around Nashville at night and ended up having some good hang time in the hotels conference room. Our Chapped’lypse group hadn’t done much studio shooting, so we set up 4 backdrops in my warehouse and just shot on backdrop for a whole day. We had great model turnout and I spent the day not shooting, but getting to know models and making sure everyone had someone or thing to shoot. This wasn’t as structured as a traditional minilypse, the photographers just paired up and then later swapped partners while I made sure that the models were being used and shuffled around.

Out of this weekend learned not to cram to much into an event, keep and motivate everyone to keep working (new ‘lypsers tend to be shy and don’t ask for models or props or help with lighting). I got lucky and made friends with some great models, who I now call friends and they actively help me get models for events.

Here is the iStock lightbox from that weekend.

Image to the above made it into Men’s Health Magazine, Kinda Cool!

My First Time To Use A Ringflash ©dieterspears

IStock member, Deuelpics, knew that I was a PhotoShop wiz and asked me to come to the event to  speak on some PhotoShop Tips. I said “sure, why not.” So, it was cool, it was my first time to fly as an adult, by myself, to another city. Little did I know that I would soon meet a lot of new lifelong friends and realize how so many in the iStock community really have a lot in common. Chapped’lypse was also the real start of my iStock addiction.

If I remember correctly, I was shooting with a new Canon 5D, and had a 50mm f/1.8, and a 24-135mm zoom lens. I was a little intimidated about using studio lights. Brent (Deuelpics) split us up into groups and sent us on our way. All of us were new to mini’lypses, so a lot of time was wasted. There were a few photographers who seemed to know their gear and had a lot of experience shooting, so, I tried to hang around them.

Added Pie Picture To Monitors ©dieterspears

TacoJim, had just hit 50k downloads that weekend, which just seemed like an unobtainable goal. DennysB was a gear nut and had brought everything plus the kitchen sink. He was so willing to allow us to use his stuff. For the first time, I tried out his ringflash. After this weekend I ended up buying the 70-200mm zoom lens and started borrowing studio lights on a regular basis.

Over the weekend, I could see that I excelled at concepts, and over time this has become a major part of my success on iStock.  I may not have had the technical specifics down, but I could get the ideas. There were a few shots that I felt moved me one step forward to being a better photographer.

Most Chapped’Lypse members have become friends and we get together regularly to shoot. We all have grown and have become better at our craft!

Chappedlypse Models and Photographers

Check out the images from the Chappedlypse weekend.