Week 4, Scary Legal Issues

Scary legal issues will make any business owner run and hide.  The scary issues depend on the business and the services offered along with the size of the company and employees accountable to provide the services.  As a photographer the scary legal issues that would worry and bother me would be:
Error and Omissions:  I would be worried that a client felt that I wasn't able to capture a once in a lifetime moment, like their wedding, a baptism or any rights of passage ceremony.  The ability to capture these moments only happens once and to have equipment failure, illness or even an act of God interfere with the moment can ruin a families special day.
Bridezilla: Sounds vague, but the thought of having to deal with a Bridezilla can scare most photographers or anyone involved to just run for cover.   This type of client is never satisfied and will attempt to get everything for cheap and possibly file a law suit to make you pay for damages they believe occurred.  Each situation will be different but it is still one filled with headaches.
Copyright:  This is more than likely the scenario the one scenario that as an artist we will all face at least once in our career.  Someone always will claim to have some intellectual right to the idea or have a similar image or thought and take you to court for damages.  David LaChapelle recently dealt with a similar situation where he did a photo shoot for a famous musician and they turned around and used the same concept for their music video.  He sued them and won.  Copy written material is the one security blanket that ensures us some form of justice.
All these examples come to mind because they are always in the limelight some way somehow.  Picking the right client, pre planning and knowing our rights will protect us from these scenarios.

Week 3: Sports Photography

Sports photography requires passion and skill.  It is a game within a game.  You need to have the ability to anticipate a shot that expresses drama, passion and movement.  In order to capture a moment like that you need the valuable tools that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Look at any major sporting event and you’ll find an army of photographers on the sidelines waiting to make an image that can take them to the next level.  In the old days (talking about maybe 20 years ago) the goal was to be in Sports Illustrated, nowadays with the arrival of the internet anyone can be published they just need a voice loud enough to be heard. 
The image I’m providing this week is an image of a baseball game.  The pitcher on the mound is staring at his pitch as it’s flying towards home plate.  The batters’ hands seem to be tightening up and the umpire ready to make his call.  The drama is in the image, the motion is there too.  Watching the release and the motion of the pitcher along with the stare guiding the ball down to the catchers mitt.

Week 2 BOC: Crime Scene

 A bloody knife on a cold floor laying next to a cold lifeless body. What was the cause of this death?  A pair of dress shoes neatly placed next to the arm, why?  The person laying on the ground looks to be male.  There is blood on the forearm into the palm of his hands and onto the handle of the knife. Was this person standing where he currently lays? There are some blood drops splattered on the ground in front of the blade.  The shoes seem placed a little to neatly and have no dirt on them.   If they belong to the deceased it shows that he had clean habits.  The location of this mystery seems to be in a kitchen or dining area.  The angle of the image does not allow for much more interpretation.  The question no lays into “why?”  Why was this person murdered?  Is the knife for protection or was it used to assault and hurt someone?  No one will know for now, only him.
Crime scenes like this may happen more often than we imagine and it is the detail of the clues that helps investigators.  Crime scene photography can be crucial in helping fill in the blanks but also help preserve the details.  The important thing about a photo like this is that it can answer a few questions.  Can it answer the, Who, What, Why, Where and When for an investigator?  Look closely and it can answer at least three of the five.  The Why and When are the only two that cannot be determined just by looking at the photo.

Week 1: Photo Challenge

A look into who Mike Lapadu is.  There are so many things that one person can lay out that relate to their everyday lives but the items I placed out represent who I am today.  This image contains an image of my kids.  They are the reason for my desire to complete school.  I want to provide for them and give them opportunities that I may never get to experience.

I show my three forms of identification.  One is for school and the other two are for work.  Theses three id cards are the core of my daily grind.  I work full time for Southwest Airlines and go to school at the Art Institute of Las Vegas.  The watches represent the small luxuries in life that I like to collect.  They are not very expensive or flashy but they are simple and get the job done.  The car keys are my mode of transportation, and i like to travel in style.  Its my entry level to luxury and my way of treating myself to something nice after all the hard work.
My two must have items that represent who I am are the phone and camera.  The phone is another appendage to my body.  I usually have next to me and it is my way to stay in constant communication with those who matter most to me.  It is a tool that help me sell my services and find new clients and keep in contact with old ones too.  The camera is my tool.  It helps show my interpretation of the world as I see it.  My camera allows for freedom, creativity and my opinion to reach others.  I usually have at least one camera with me at all times just incase something or someone catches my eye. 
All theses items represent who I am today.  They represent where I do them, when and where but also why.  I’m sure that over time, these items will change but for now they do a good job of showing “Me.”

Week 1 EOC: Discuss Haute Couture vs Discovering Art as a Photographer

“Haute Couture is a French phrase for high fashion.  Couture means dressmaking, sewing, or needlework and haute means elegant or high, so the two combined imply excellent artistry with the fashioning of garments.” (http://fashion-era.com/haute_couture.htm)  This style is out there, completely different but appealing.  The designer, artist, model and photographer have to be in a different mind state than your typical photo shoot.  Finding the art in the clothes and not the model is the key to the success of Haute Couture.  The success is when you recognize a design pattern, a color pattern and look and feel that makes you not even recognize or remember the person that is wearing it.  The ability to discover the art behind this fashion style is not easy.  Thinking outside the box is just the beginning and it only gets better when you add even more oddities in to the mix.  Haute Couture is an art form in itself.  The most outrageous ideas are put together and worn and push the limits of extreme.  The art behind the art of Couture is putting the pieces together.  Each individual item can stand alone and evoke an emotion but when you put pieces together and allow for creativity to flow it snowballs into more fun and outlandish themes and ideas.  As a photographer the elements of organic and inorganic shapes, the ability to play with light patterns and to create a mood unlike anything else ever seen, that is the fun.  The moment of creation for a me as a photographer is when I look into my viewfinder and see what no one else has seen yet.  I look to put small details into perspective and allow my viewer to create their own story and interpretation.