My search engine optimization seems to be working well, as I’m getting unsolicited inquiries about my photography. Here’s a recent one that reinforces one of my issues about why the photography marketplace is so difficult lately: With the proliferation of high-quality, low-cost consumer cameras, many people expect photographs to be free. In lots of cases, non-professionals are, in fact, giving their images away, and this is wrecking the market for the professionals. I tried to explain this politely, and I hope the person who inquired will understand and offer to license some of my photos. Here is our exchange:

Inquiry: I’m starting a travel website. We’re featuring Asbury Park and would love to include your photography. We’d give you credit. Can you send me some of your images?

My response: Thanks for your interest in my work. Photography is how I make my living, and unfortunately photo credits never pay the bills. I sometimes offer my photos to nonprofits who support causes I believe in, but as a professional photographer, I feel that commercial enterprises that make a profit should pay for photography just as they pay for their office supplies, web hosting, etc. If you do decide that you have a budget for top-quality, professional images for your website, please contact me about licensing them. My rates are pretty reasonable, and I’m sure we can work something out.

The photo above is of the Paramount Theatre on the Asbury Park boardwalk. It could be one of the images the website owner is interested in.

Looking to enjoy a beautiful autumn afternoon, my partner and I decided to take a ride to Island Beach State Park. I brought my camera and one lens with me, and as usual, when I started to shoot I wished I had the rest of my equipment with me. I tried to do the best I could with what I had, and it turned out that the challenge wasn’t the lack of equipment but the flat light.

The terrain wasn’t all that interesting, but it could have been beautiful with golden late-afternoon sunlight. So I tried to rescue some of the photos with heavy post processing. I don’t normally do this, but I think the results are okay. The images look almost HDR, but they’re not. I achieved the results in Lightroom by overdoing the clarity, recovery, fill light, and contrast; compensating for the fill light by increasing the blacks; decreasing the vibrance; making adjustments to the individual color luminance channels; and adding a post-crop vignette.

On December 3, 2011, the Asbury Park Fire Department promoted five members and inducted one new firefighter. I was there to photograph the swearing-in ceremony and the party that followed at Porta on Kingsley Avenue.

On January 6th, I attended the preview reception for Postcards from the Edge, where my photo “Saturday Night” was included among thousands of other works donated by the artists.

Postcards From the Edge is a Visual AIDS benefit show and sale of original, postcard-sized works on paper by established and emerging artists. All works are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The works are signed on the back and exhibited so the artists’ signatures cannot be seen. While buyers receive a list of all participating artists, they don’t know who created which piece until purchased. All proceeds support the programs of Visual AIDS.

Founded in 1988 as a response to AIDS and as a way of organizing the art world towards direct action, Visual AIDS has evolved a two-part mission. 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive Project, the largest slide library of work by artists living with HIV and the estates of artists who have died of AIDS, Visual AIDS historicizes artists’ contributions while supporting their ability to continue making art and furthering their professional careers. 2) In collaboration with artists and organizations, Visual AIDS produces contemporary art exhibitions, publications, and events to spread the message “AIDS IS NOT OVER.”

In the summer of 2010 I photographed a young couple’s wedding. I was delighted that they asked me to work with them again to make maternity portraits. I came to the couple’s home with my cameras, Speedlites, lightstands, and light modifiers. We chose two locations. For the first, we took advantage of late morning light streaming in through some sheer curtains. For the second, we cleared the furniture out of a room and removed the art from a light-colored wall to create a small studio.

The photos worked equally well in color and black-and-white. Ultimately I will leave the choice up to the couple, but here I present them in monochrome as an alternative to my usual color photography.

I’m pleased to announce that my photo, “Yowl,” taken in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, was accepted to the 33rd Annual Juried Art Exhibition at the Monmouth Museum (Island Weiss, Juror). Please join me at the opening of the exhibition, January 14, 2012, 4-6 p.m., 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738.

The Master Scholars in Medical Humanism Program at NYU School of Medicine plans to produce a “look book” to advertise the program to prospective students. They will include my photos from the Dean’s Fun Run and Tuesdays @4, but they needed images from some of the program’s classes. So I went to the school on two consecutive evenings to photograph the classes Medical Spanish, Medical Writing, Medical Mandarin, and Anatomical Drawing. It was all very interesting and fun to shoot.

I had only about half an hour with each class. The students and faculty were gracious to let me interrupt for some posed shots, but I made mostly candid photographs while trying not to interrupt. I lit Medical Spanish with two Speedlites bounced off the ceiling in the back of the classroom, remotely triggered by PocketWizard radio transceivers. Medical Writing was held in a small conference room where one Speedlite bounced off the ceiling was enough. The next evening was the final class of Medical Mandarin, and they were having a party, so we moved to a different room and quickly staged a mock class. This didn’t allow me the luxury of a more complex lighting setup, so I used on-camera flash diffused with a large Rogue FlashBender.

The most interesting class to photograph was the last one, Anatomical Drawing. This took place in the anatomy lab deep in the basement of the medical school. It didn’t smell as bad as I expected. The students drew from actual disembodied organs and full cadavers. I followed the policy of not photographing cadavers out of respect to the people who donated their bodies. Photos like that would not be appropriate for the look book anyway. But it was amazing to see them and to see the students working with them.

The Master Scholars in Medical Humanism Program (MSMHP) is a component of the Office of Student Affairs developed to complement the culture of medical education by encouraging students to explore intellectual and artistic interests not necessarily covered in the core curriculum. Through innovative seminars, colloquia, and events moderated by expert facilitators, students are encouraged to pursue their interests outside of the classroom to better prepare them for their practice and inevitably make a meaningful difference in the individual lives of patients.

I had Sunday evening free after photographing the Plymouth Church Christmas Pageant. Still high on holiday spirit, I decided to brave the crowds for a photowalk at Rockefeller Center. Planning for the twilight and early evening light, I brought only my fastest lens, the Canon 50 mm f/1.4. With the 50 mm fixed focal length, I knew I wouldn’t be making any wide-angle shots of the activity, so I concentrated on closer shots of the people. I found I couldn’t avoid people holding their point-and-shoot cameras and cell phones at arm’s length, so I captured a lot of those scenes. When I was through with Rockefeller Center, I walked to Times Square for more of the same.

I got to photograph the Plymouth Church Christmas Pageant for the second time. Having done it before made it a little easier, as I knew what to expect, though that didn’t make it any less challenging. This is one of the most spirited bunch of children I’ve known, and they move as fast as lightning. During the preparation in the gym, I was able to use flash to supplement the daylight pouring in through the windows and skylight. But the sanctuary was more dimly lit, and flash wasn’t appropriate during the pageant. I shot with ISO up to 3200, and I was pleased with the results of the noise reduction in Lightroom.

Last year I set up a studio on the stage after the pageant and made family portraits with parents and kids still in their costumes. This year the church wanted to try class portraits. It was a disaster (herding cats would have been easier), and I was feeling pretty bad about it until I was told afterwards that they expected it to be a disaster and they were pleased that I got anything at all. So we considered it a failed experiment and will return to family portraits next year. Making class portraits is actually a good idea, but I think doing it immediately after the pageant is not the best time, as the children are too wound up with Christmas excitement. I offered to come to class one day for proper class portraits, and I hope they take me up on it.

Click here to see all the photos from the preparation, service, pageant, and class portraits.

Happy holidays to all my readers. I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year, and I look forward to another year of blog posts for you to enjoy.

I made this photo for a family’s 2011 Christmas card.