When do you start promoting your project?

Before I cast the first stone I have to say I have been guilty of building up hype for a project before it's finished and this rant is NOT aimed at anyone in particular...

I have stopped "promoting" unfinished projects until I can see how they turn out. Now every now and again I might post a behind the scenes photo or say something on social media about a fun, cool project I'm working on but I don't want to over promise anything any more.

 I get it people are excited they are making a film, but please wait until its done to promote it. I have worked on projects where we were asked to share and promote and add a "buzz" about the film, but when it's released and it's horrible, or it doesn't get finished. and it makes me a liar.

There is a fine line of being excited and talking about your film and prematurely promoting your film.  All I ask is at least wait until your have an edit and really look at it with a critical eye and then promote the hell out of it if you honestly like it. Like I said I have gotten caught up in the excitement of making a film, but I have learned just because it get's made doesn't mean it's good and I have plenty to prove that. If you make a bad film it's ok we are all learning if we were all awesome at making films we would all be in Hollywood. at least learn from your mistakes and make your next film better than your last.  You're only as good as your last film, and I use that as motivation, I want my best film to be my last film and if it's not I really feel it.

That being said idknightfilms.net has a real cool, fun project in the works, that we are excited to share with the world. That's all I'm going to say about that.... We will promote it closer to release time after we are happy with the project... so stay tuned!

Get out and shoot you never know what might happen.

It is so easy when you are hired to go out and shoot for a scheduled production, but what about the times in between?  I have been saying I need to go out and shoot more stills, I have a bunch of good ideas but instead of getting out of the house I will let almost anything get in the way... Am I lazy? That may be a small part of it. Another part may be that I feel guilty if there are other things around the house that needs to be done.

I live in northern California so many beautiful places to shoot. I just need to get out and do it.  Last year Tammy and I took off a week from work and made a point to take some day trips just for photos. On one of the days we drove to Bodie Ca and we got a ton of beautiful images How can you go wrong with a ghost town in the eastern sierras?  Then we took a day and took shot around Sacramento, there can be a lot to shoot in your back yard. Also took a trip to the bay area and was able to explore Oakland and the Marin headlands overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge  .... That was a great week and I came away with some great photos.

One of the interesting things that came from the trip was a friend of mine saw a couple photos on Facebook. Her boss tasked her with putting art on the walls of a brewery tasting room. She asked if I had any prints of if I wanted to sell some photos.. I was a little shocked but said yes... I spent the next week editing photos and printing them out and looking for frames. Now I have the photos for sale hanging in a public place. The first photo photo I sold was this one "Old Car in Bodie".  Now this is hanging on someone's wall.

I never thought about selling photos, but this led to me starting a  Smugmug account. Its a good site that will let you host albums of your photos with watermarks and copyright protections. it will also let you set your prices, they take care of the printing and the shipping. Everytime I get a image I'm happy with I upload it to the page and hope someone else will like it to. It's a good site for photographers, check it out and make sure it's right for you. http://www.smugmug.com/

So give yourself assignments or carry your camera with you everyday just get out and shoot you never know where it may lead.

Don't miss a really cool Opportunity be ready!

I got a phone call from Chris Ameral The drummer from The Nickel Slots. He tells me that They get to open for Bob Seger at Sleep Train Arena on Monday (3-9-2015) thanks to the music video we produced for them and asked me to be their band photographer and document the day. Of course I said yes. 

So what happened was, Bob Seger had to play a reschedule show here in Sacramento, the band who was touring with him could not make the date due to scheduling.  Bob's people called a radio station in town (98 rock) and the sent off links for a handful of local bands, but it was the music video for The Devil's Chain Gang that pushed The Nickel Slots over the top and onto the stage.

 Video of 98 rock DJ's talking to Steve about the show

The show was great! The Nickel Slots knocked it out of the park! They put on a great show for a sold out arena. Bob Seger's people were super nice and accommodating, at one point they said our group was part of the family.  Joe, the guy who's in charge of  video production for the tour gave us the footage from the big screen displays for the band to use, and now they have great content for their social media outlets...


It was a great day had by all it was probably the closest I have come to being a rock star. I was very happy for my friends and I was honored to be there and document it for them.

Thanks to KCRA 3 for doing a story on The Nickel Slots check it out here
The Nickel Slots on KCRA 3

Bands and other artists should have promotional material available, you never know what doors could open because of it....We at JDKnight Films will work with bands to produce high quality affordable music videos for bands and performers.

Balancing your freelance with your day job

I like my job, I like having a paycheck every 2 weeks and I like all the benefits that comes along with that job. I also like to freelance it fills a void that my job may not offer and puts a little extra cash in my pocket but it's not a stable income. Knowing this I am not real aggressive about looking for freelance gigs. I have been lucky to have some nice clients fall in my lap. I'm sure I could do a lot more if I got out there and marketed myself. I do let my freelance clients know I do have a day job so that comes first but I'll do everything I can to work with their needs.

I'm a big believer of not letting freelance work get in the way of your day job, but sometimes a good opportunity shows up short notice and it's hard to say no. When that happens what do you do? Do you beg for the day off? Do you call in sick? Do you make up something to get out of work?

This is what I did
I got a call from the client (time.com) they wanted me to shoot a few interviews and some supporting video for a story they were working on. It was a Thursday and they wanted to shoot on a Tuesday.   Holy cow! I need to get a day off and now! What do I do? Do I say nothing and call in sick or do I just ask for a day off with short notice.  I walked into my boss's office and told him I was sorry  for the short notice told him what I was doing and how good of an opportunity shooting for Time was he agreed and granted my time off.
I know that I don't have to tell my boss why I need the day off but being straightforward worked for me and I do believe that because I was honest with my boss it allowed me a little more freedom when it came to asking for time off.
If I would have called in sick and did the shoot I could not have told anyone I work with about how cool it was to be asked to shoot for Time.com.

It's always better to be truthful and keep your trust with your boss and your clients.

What Camera Should I Buy?

It might surprise you I get this a lot. "You're a photographer what's the best camera? What should I buy?" The first question I then ask is...How much do you want to spent?  and what kind of shooting do you want to do?

I will say this mostly it's not the camera that makes a good image it's the photographer. If you know what you are doing you can take a good photo with a cheap camera, and if you don't you can take a bad photo with an expensive camera...

                                                     A LITTLE TEST
All 3 photos are taken with 3 different cameras.
Can you find the photo taken with the cheapest camera?
Does it matter if the image is good enough?
Does brand matter?

                                                     

My answer is no. The only common thing with these photos is me. One was shot with a $300 camera one with a $2500 camera. It's all about the photographer. No one knows what you shoot with or cares if it's a good photo.

So what camera should you buy?  I would first figure out how much you want to pay, and then get online and do your research and get the camera that best fits your needs in your price range.

What kind of photos do you want to take?
are you just going to use it for snapshots of your kids? Are you shooting action? or landscapes? do you want to shoot video with you camera?

Find your budget and find a camera in your budget that fills your needs. If you have never picked up a DSLR before and you have a budget I would not run out and buy a $5000 camera, and on the other end if you have a photo shoot for a client I would NOT use a point and shoot camera.

And remember the best camera is the one you have with you