Nat's Visions Blog

Be Real! It Photographs Better!

2010-05-28T12:19:00.000-04:00

One of the biggest issues that I see in newer models (and some more experienced models) is that they come to the set without really knowing who they are. Maybe that is because they are always being told what to do and who to be. But I find that a great number of the better shots I capture are of models that know who they are and are comfortable being themselves. They tend to share bits and pieces of themselves during the shoot.

These models have learned that what makes them unique and special isn't just their outer beauty, but it is their spirit and personality that makes me, as a photographer enjoy that working with that model. In many case a model that is very comfortable with him or herself is at least somewhat creative and doesn't mind adding a little of their creative energy to the shoot. For me than can be inspiring. I tend to feed off of the energy and vibe of the model. If the model is to hyper with no sense of creative direction, than that can be very distracting. On the other hand if a model comes to the shoot and think that they know it all and begin to direct themselves along with everyone else including me, the photographer, then that tends to be a much less productive shoot, and I will probably not book that model again.

I would suggest that a model just be REAL! Get to know you and master being you first! become comfortable with yourself. We all have things that we want (and need) to improve on, so cool, let get to work on making the improvements and use all those great qualities that we have to bring something to the shoot that no one else can ever bring, and that is YOU! You are the only you that God made, to take advantage of that and become the best you that you can be. Continue to listen when you are shooting to get a better feel for what the photographer is trying to capture. Build a relationship with your team, including the Make Up Artists, Stylists, and the rest of the production crew. Not just to be a suck-up, but to build a team of professionals that can help you to become better.

But most of all just be real, and work on getting a little better everyday! That would be a great goal for each of us, right? Let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I may be able to help you with. Remember that we have a Meetup Group just for models that you can
join to learn more and we have our Model Bootcamp that begins in June, 2010.

Remain blessed!
Nat
BlackBox Visions Photography
www.BlackBoxVisions.net

Free Photo Shoot Fridays!

2010-05-17T09:32:00.001-04:00

Help us select our top 20 photos and become eligible to join us for Free Photo Shoot Fridays.

BlackBox Visions is selecting its top 20 photos to use in our 2010 Summer Book and we want your opinion! What are your choices for the top 20 images at BlackBox Visions? If you go to the site and make your selections and add them to "Your Favorites" and "Share" your Favorites with "The Photographer" you will be eligible to join our Free Photo Shoot Fridays photo session. Even if you currently have a gallery on the BlackBox Visions site and you want to select all of your own photos that cool, but we are looking for the very best, and if you help us to select the 20 absolute best images then we want to thank you by inviting you to the Free Photo Shoot Fridays event! Every Friday we will be selecting someone, who helps us to select our top 20 shots, to join us for a FREE 1 hour photo shoot! You have to show up ready to shoot, meaning that you need to be dressed with your makeup on ready to get in from of the camera and shoot for 60 minutes! If you would like to change, do it fast because the clock keeps running! That way we can get to the next person in a timely manner.

It will be great! You will get to select your top 10 photos and we will even retouch 1 for you at no extra charge! You images will be available in your own password protected Proofs Gallery on www.BlackBoxVisions.net and if your photos are really great you may be selected to receive your own Public Gallery on www.BlackBoxVisions.net! So help us to select out top 20 photos and continue to build your book with BalckBox Visions at the same time! It's a win-win opportunity! You must include your full name, phone number and email address (and Model Mayhem # if applicable) in order for us to contact you to setup your shoot if you are selected.

We thank you in advance your working with us on this project and we look forward to getting your selections!

Remain blessed,
Nat Carter
BlackBox Visions Photography

Grow or Go!

2010-05-04T19:19:00.000-04:00

I am coming to understand that in order for me to grow, I need people around me what are want to grow also. For the past year or so we have been shooting on a black set. Every now and then we would try to use a white set, but I didn't really care for the way it looked in the final images we produced. I learned how to make the black background work for us. I learned that in some cases, I would need to use a seperator flash behind the model to help better define their silhouette. I needed to do that because a model with dark hair and/or clothing would blend right into the background. In some cases this isn't a bad thing. but in many cases it is.

So Carla did some research and found a tutorial that showed us how to create a great white set! This is an example of going outside our comfort zone and growing our knowledge and skill-set. We look for the same traits in the models that we work with. We are looking to work with models that are hungry for greatness. They want to be the absolute best they can be. We are blessed that we have those kind of people working with us.

We have recently signed both Amber Lynn and Akeria Skye to bot modeling and management agreements. They join Prisana Luke and Jasmine Lackey as fully committed Visions Models. As professionals we must be committed to learning more and becoming stronger in our respective roles. We don't have the time or inclination to invest in people that aren't driven to invest in themselves. It's very simple, we must Grow or Go! So far we all are growing! We motivate each other. That's a real good thing.

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD AND ARE CALLED TO HIS HOLY PURPOSE!!

2010-04-08T11:05:00.000-04:00

We know that We must be doing something right when we have former clients that utilize the same technology and "Vision" that we introduced them to when we created their website for them (for close to free!); they have now implemented the same technology and "Vision" for themselves! But like my man Tupac said, " I ain't made atcha, do your thing boy..." That's a good thing, for both of us. They are able to create their own site and it looks GREAT and I learned a lot while on this project.

Some of the things I learned have allowed both my photography business and website development business to grow exponentially. It also reminds me that we do add value and our "Vision" and technical intellect are worthy of emulation. Congratulation to Walt Jordan and Team Impact on their great site and awesome photos! God continues to show Himself strong!

The Breast Cancer Awareness Prep Shoot

2010-04-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, March 3, 2010 we held the prep shoot for Prisana Luke's Breast Cancer Awareness photo shoot. It was great! We got started at 8am. Yes, it was still kind of cold, but that only lasted for about an hour. As soon as the sun got higher in the sky things began to warm up, both figuratively and literally.

Prisana is very involved with breast cancer awareness and related events. BlackBox Visions was happy to work with Prisana to do whatever we can to bring more attention to this very worthy cause. So we sent out a casting call notice inviting anyone who was interested to come out and join us in Stone Mountain Park for this shoot.

We got some really great shots of Prisana Luke, Jamime Lackey, Javelin Woodland and Jean-Ernst Etienne. This shoot was just a practice shoot. The "real" shoot will be coming up in the very near future. Stay tuned for morning information!

Ms. Jasmine Lackey, The New-New!

2010-03-12T14:59:00.002-05:00

I got a call last week from a new friend that I met while shooting a celebrity golf tournament, "The Lady and her Caddie." My friend (Harry Huley) asked me about the casting call we were holding. I told his that it was a casting call for an upcoming swim suit shoot. The models will modeling bikinis. We, my friend told me that his co-worker had a daughter that she was trying to get into modeling, but she didn't know how to get started. They had already gone the normal route where you go and are asked to pay big money!

So I said I would talk to this mom. The mom got on the phone (at work) and was totally hyped about her daughter and said that she was looking for a photographer to help her build a strong portfolio. I'm sure that we talk about my rate as a photographer. Angie (the mom) sent me photos of Jasmine (the model) and said that she was ready to get started working. I really wasn't expecting too much. I mean after all, every mother thinks that their baby is beautiful and it's true that we are all beautiful in God's eyes. Well in this case I was pleasantly surprised to see that this young lady was very attractive.

I spoke with Jasmine later that day. We talked about our visions and what where we are going in this business and it was at that point that I realized that this attractive model was also very intelligent. So we set a date for her first shoot. It happened to be on my birthday, March 5th. Jasmine came by with her mom and we said our hellos and went to work. Jasmine shot for about three hours and awesome!

She came back the next day and shoot for about another four hours. I wanted to see what kind of stamina she had. She was able to hang with no problems. Jasmine is a pure joy to work with. She is on her way to an extremely bright future! She is strong and full of personality. She has a lot to learn but she is well on her way. She has the complete support of her family. We work extremely well together. Look for new projects from Jasmine in the near future. She is the future and the now! Thank you to Harry Huley, one of the baddest DJs in Atlanta for taking time out of his schedule to send young phenom to us at BlackBox Visions!

Current BlackBox Cover Shots

2010-02-17T20:40:00.001-05:00

Stay Focused!

2010-02-04T15:38:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I get distracted by my circumstances and my environment. I sometime get distracted by the things that people do or say. When that happens I end up spending more time focusing on the negative and by doing so, I elevate the negative.

I am learning how to learn from the negative and use the knowledge that I gain from it to create more positives in my life. Latley I have been disterbed by the both former and potential clients that don't seem to value our services. They don't seem to return the loyalty that we give them. That bothers me. Maybe that is becasue loyalty is a attribute that I value highly. But in any event, you don't ways get back what you give. Okay, cool. As Dian says, "Keep it moving!"

God has been showing up even more than he normally does for us. Right on the heals of the negative interactions with the former/potential clients that I mentioned, He has sent us new clients, corporate clients that are happy to do business with us in a win-win manner. I need to remind myself to stay focused and to not get distracted by negative people or circumstances.

I thank God for blessing me with people that continue to encourage and support me. It a wonderful thing! Stay focused and know that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and who are called to His holy purpose!!! It's a great thing!

I'm Blessed!

2010-01-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, but that will change. God has been good to me and my family, even my extended family. Sometimes I don't understand the things that happen. Sometimes I wonder why the people that I try to help don't seem to value the help or try to help in return. Then I realized that this isn't anything new.

This seems to be a recurring thought pattern for me. I should know by now that this is part of the walk. I do know that, but I guess that I haven't gotten use to it yet. I know that God is blessing us because we still have a roof over our heads and food on our table. We are shoot photos better than we ever have. We have been published by Score Atlanta Publications in the past week. We have a great team working with us that help us create some amazing images.

Carla is back in school. The kids are still in school and learning more each day. We have been blessed to work with some really great clients, and some not so grate ones too. The not so great clients taught me a lot. I know that it's okay to make mistakes, I hope that I have learned not to make the same mistakes!

I have been blessed by the Word that has been coming forth at New Mercies Christian Church, my home church. God have been blessing us through Pastor Curney. I have been able to bring a little attention to some accessibility issues at the police department in DeKalb county. I don't think that they are really taking the issue very seriously at this point, but it's not over yet!

Well, let me end this so that I can get ready for our next photo shoot with Zhai (and the crew!) As I started out saying, I'm blessed and I look forward to when God has in store for us next because I know that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are called to His Holy purpose.

Remain blessed!

Sincerly was Truly Sincere! (God is Doing Just What He Said He Would Do!)

2010-01-14T11:54:00.003-05:00

Okay, I obviously need to get out more and learn more about the movers and shakers in the fashion world! We have been very busy shooting in the past few weeks. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing at all! Things have been especially busy this week. We shot with Prisana on Monday. Ms. Dian and Ruby came by and added their magic and helped us create some more awesome images of Prisana!

Then on Tuesday Ruby and Dian came back and brought more magic to the 3 O'clock shoot we had with two models, Alisha Simmons and Sincerely Ward. The shoot was phenomenal. I later found out that it was Alisha's first shoot, but I wouldn't have known if Dian hadn't told me. Alisha was great! You can see for yourself, the photos are out on www.BlackBoxVisions.net. We also shot a big basketball game for Larry Wyatt, (the founder and Head Coach of Team Atlanta Basketball) on Tuesday evening! It was a great between Salem & Rockdale High schools!

As I said there was another model there and her name is Sincerely Ward. Well when she walked the door the first thing that I noticed wasn't just how beautiful she was, but how TALL she was! Yeah, I know, everyone is tall to me, but Sincerely was no joke! Well anyway, she came in and made her self comfortable and started getting ready for the shoot. Ruby was doing her makeup and Dian was coordinating the wardrobe and jewelry.

Sincerely was on the phone trying to give her dad directions to the studio so that he could come by and sit in on the shoot and visit with Baby Girl. After he got lost a couple of times I spoke with him and gave him the directions. When he got here it was like meeting an old friend. We laughed and talked about the things (and people) we had in common. Mr. Ward was absolutely great.

You could tell that he was very proud of his daughter and I think that she was even prouder of him! Well the shoot went on and on and as one model was shooting Ruby and Dian were preparing the other model for her next "look." All the while I had no idea of who Sincerely was/is. As I said I just knew that she was beautiful with an equally beautiful personality and that we "clicked." We were getting shots that we both though were awesome.

After the shoot she sat down and wanted to look through the images again to mark all the ones that she really liked. I took a few shots of her and her dad so that I could give them to him. And then she prepared to leave. As she was signing her model release form we exchanged numbers and I asked to let me know when should would be back so that we could work again and she said that she would defiantly do that. I know that she would only be in town for a day or so because she was going to Paris (this afternoon) to shoot there. I still had no clue about who this lady really was/is.

So last night I decided to do some research to find out more about her. I found out that she is the real deal! I went to one of her websites (http://www.myspace.com/sincerelyward) and learned that not only did she help pay for her college education by appearing in videos by the likes of Jay-Z, OutKast, P. Diddy, Ludacris, Nelly, and Snoop Dogg toname a few, but she also has been featured on the covers and in the pages of magazines like Vibe, Cosmopolitan, XXL (2001 Eye Candy of the year), Complex, Black Men's Magazine, and NV. Sincerely has also appeared in the movies 2 Fast 2 Furious and Bad Boys 2!

As I said, I need to get out more! I had no idea she was this accomplished. I find it to very confirming and encouraging that we worked so well together and that she was so pleased with the creativity and the quality of the shots we got for her. God spoke to me through Pastor John Guns on Sunday and the manifestation started taking place on Monday with Prisana signing to our new management company and Sincerely walked into our studio on Tuesday and did her thing with us! She is on her way to Paris today to shoot with someone else, but God sent her here first!

God sent Dravadan and his "family" several months ago to work and create with us. It was also Dravadan that God has been using to teach me. I thank him and Zhai for everything the have imparted in us. We welcome Dian, Ruby, and Angel into the SydCam/Carter family! I know that I am blessed to be at New Mercies with my spiritual father, Pastor Jesse Curney III. I'm getting my mail Pastor!

Now let's see what else God has in store for us! GO TEAM ATLANTA!!!

Prisana's 1ST Photo Shoot of 2010!

2010-01-12T01:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Prisana came by for her 1ST shoot of 2010. It was truly great. Prisana really came to give the client exactly what they were looking for. Dian, from Organic Xperiences came by to work with Prisana and me. She had some great styles and jewelry that she wants to feature on her web site and Prisana came through and delivered for the client. Ruby was the makeup artist for this shoot. Make sure you take a look at her work. Prisana's makeup was amazing!

I was fun working with Prisana again. She brings so much energy to the set. We even shot a little out in the snow. Yes, there was a little snow left and we go out there and got a few frames. All of the photos will be published on www.BlackBoxVisions.net in the very near future. Let me know what you think about our work.

Remain blessed!

SydCam Visions Management Signs it's 1st Model, Prisana T. Luke!

2010-01-10T23:14:00.004-05:00

Wow, I would have never thought that we would be entering the model management arena, but here we are! Today Carla and I decided to follow the path that has been set before us and launch Visions Management. The Model management are of The SydCam Group, Inc. We also signed our first model today, Prisana T. Luke. We are truly blessed to be walking out our destiny and to be joined by Prisana.

You may be able to tell that Prisana is one of my favorite people to work with because she is so very inspiring and she helps me to grow as a photographer. As a photographer I thrive on beauty and passion. Prisana provides both. If we don't get another client, Prisana's future will be more than enough to help us to become all that we will be. More to come soon, we will be shooting at 8:45am tomorrow. Stay tuned for the images.

Remain blessed!

The End of 2009. What have I learned, have I learned enough? Where will it lead me?

2009-12-31T11:04:00.001-05:00

Well, this is the last day of 2009! What have I learned, have I learned enough? Where will it lead me? I have learned that I need to continue to seek knowledge and wisdom. I have learned that I am sometime lacking in both. I have already made progress in obtaining more of both. I have learned that not all money is good money. Not all of your customers/clients will adequately value the services you render unto them. So, I've learned to let them go! I have learned that I have to invest my talents, time, and loyalty better. I have begun the process of reallocating my investments.

I have learned the importance of being delivered from what people think, from trying to fit in, from going along to get along. Not everyone that you call friend truly knows how to be one. I know that we are all trees that should be bearing fruit. I have learned that the fruit that we bare isn't for us. The tree dose not eat it's own fruit. The fruit is eaten by others and the seeds from the fruit that we should be baring should lead to new, younger trees that will also grow to bear fruit; not to just have good looking leaves, but to bear fruit. I have learned that a tree's leaves are for the tree. So what good is it for a tree to have glorious leaves and bare no fruit? No fruit, no seeds! http://www.wsbtv.com/video/22093451/

I have learned the the impossible is very probable with God and a Vision! I have learned that I must focus less on the conditions around me and more on my goals. When Peter was called out on the water by Jesus he was focused on only Jesus and he walked on water; something no one else had done before then or since then. He was doing fine moving closer to his goal/vision, Jesus. Then we took his eyes off of his goal and look at the circumstances around him, there was a storm going on! As soon as he took his focus off of Jesus, his destination/goal, he began to sink. But the bible tells me that all Jesus had to do to save Peter was to reach out his hand! Peter was just that close to his destination before he was distracted by the circumstances he was in.

I have learned to not allow the storms in my life to remove my focus from my destination. The root word of destination is destiny! I have learned that only you can keep you from your destiny. I have also learned that if God is where you are going then he will be there to reach out to you in the event that you become distracted and begin to sink!

I learned that a black man can be both President while being presidential. I don't have to be what they want me to be. I'll just work on being the best me that I can be. I have learned to capture the beauty that I see as often as I can and not to worry about what other people have to say about it. Even if they can only see a guy with a basketball and miss the beauty and expectation tat is frozen in that moment, I will continue to shoot it. Even if they just see someone with no clothes and not the beauty in the lines and the passion that has been frozen in time, I will continue to shoot and capture that beauty. My last photo shoots of the year were with Prisana, Mandisa, Jazzy, Brookwood Basketball, and tonight I will close out the year shooting for New Mercies christian Church, were Jesse Curney II is my Pastor. What a way to end the year!

I have learned to strive the be the greatest of all times in whatever I do. I have learned to love my family first! Have I learned enough, no, never. Where will it lead me? It will lead me boldly into 2010 and my destiny. I won't make excuses, I choose to make history!

Remain blessed!

NOTE TO SELF: Know Who You Are and Who You Are Not! (Stupid!)

2009-12-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

I know that we all should be the same in the eye sight of God. But I have to come back to the reality that we are not all the same!!! Some shorter people can come through a doorway with plenty of room overhead to spare, but there are others that have to duck their head when they come in a room or they will end up with a nice sized lump on their head! I always try to raise awareness wherever I go and whenever I can about the reality of people with "disabilities." At church I try my best to make people aware of the fact that folks with "disabilities" don't really show up in our services.

The 2000 census reports that 14% of the population in Gwinnett county Georgia is "disabled." But the percentage of those same people that attend church on Sunday morning are no where near that number. There are several reasons for that. At New Mercies Christian Church, we are working on a solution to that problem. However, today I was personally reminded of why the number of disabled worshipers are so low.

No, no one did anything to me. No one said anything offensive. My church family is wonderful, wouldn't trade them for anything. It just so happened that I was the one that reminded ME of how difficult it can be to be different. I know that as a man, if I have "man" issues there are several wise men that I can go to talk to about my "man" issues. I also know that if I have spiritual issues there are several wise spiritual people that I can go and talk to about my spiritual issues.

I know that I have photography related questions, there are a couple of very good photographers there that I can talk to about any photo related issues. The list goes on and on until I get to issue that relate to being disabled. Who can I talk to that really understands? I know that there are a church full of people that empathize with the issues that I sometimes have, but I can't bring myself to talk to them about it because I don't see how they could understand. I know that they mean well. I know that Deacon JOnes or Deacon Armstrong, both of whom are NFL greats, don't come to me to talk about any football related issues that may have. That's because I never played for championship NFL team (or any other football teams for that matter!) That makes sense to me.

So, what do I do? I talk to my wife about it because I know that she knows how much it hurts. When I feel like I want to withdraw from the folks that I know don't understand, what do I do. Today I feel like it would be easier for me to be like many of the other disabled people and stop going to places like church, trying to fit in and be one of the guys; trying do things like they do and expecting for things to just work out. I am reminded that things just don't work out all of the time. So, what do I do when I would rather do anything but go back, I go back. Because I know what God has for me there outweighs anything that I have to go through to get it!

So, I will keep going to 5am prayer for the rest of the year and continue to build my relationship with God and talk to Him. I will continue to strive to be a better husband and father. I will be the greates photographer of all time (next to Howard Bingham.) I will book a session with Prisana as soon as possible and get back to doing what I do best. You would think that after all these years I would remember to Know Who I Am and Who I'm Not!

Remain blessed!

Merry Christmas Baby!

2009-12-25T21:25:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day. We wre all together today. The kids opening and playing with there gifts. Carla watching "Criminal Minds" and cooking. Cam came by and dropped off some gifts and spent time talking. I created a couple of new pages on BlackBoxVisions.net. I created a new page for both Prisana and Mandisa. I think they look pretty good.

We started the day out at church (New Mercies) in prayer for the manifestation of miracles in our lives. I think today is the 15th day of our 21 days of prayer. I spoke with my mom and my brother. I received texts from several great people that wanted to wish me a merry Christmas. I talked to B.J. for a while. We had a great dinner. It was a great day.

I am looking forward to the great things that God has in store for us in the future. We have shoots planned for Prisana, Kade, Mandisa, Lisa, Roderica, and a few more people in the very near future. 2010 looks to be a great year for us if we remain focused and execute the plan. We will be doing more shoots on location and more sports related shoots. I thank God for all that He is doing in our lives.

Remain blessed!

Thank You Pastor Curney & New Mercies for Choosing Us!

2009-12-23T17:05:00.001-05:00

Over the past two years there have been several people that have asked me/us (SydCam Visions) if we are the photographers that took the photo that Pastor Curney used on the Christmas cards that he sends out each year. I would say no, not yet. Well my answer this year is YES! I want to that Pastor Jesse Curney III and Ken Morris for selecting SydCam Visions to capture that image of the Curney family for the 2009 Christmas card. It was truly an unexpected pleasure.

I must admit I was very nervous because this was a huge deal for me. I started out my photography career shoot photos of Sunday morning services. Pastor Curney is my spiritual father and I love him dearly and didn't want to disappoint him by screwing up his Christmas family photos!!! Thanks to Ken Morris, who directed the shoot, I didn't mess it up too bad. Ken gave great direction and Tasha Smith did an excellent job doing the post-production work. We didn't have a lot of time to put this together, but I'm very proud of the work we did. I hope to get the opportunity again next year!

Thanks PCIII!

Another Great Photo Shoot with Zhai!

2009-12-23T12:00:00.003-05:00

On Monday night we had an opportunity to work with Zhai again. It has been a few months since our last shoot and it was so good seeing her through my lens again. We were doing a product shoot for Organic Xperience, a lifestyle boutique located in Duluth, GA owned by Dian Thompson. We were working under some time constraints but that didn't hinder our productivity.

Zhai is an extraordinary person and model. She never fails to deliver passion and perfection. In this shoot Zhai was modeling several pieces of jewelry from Dian's collection. I loved this shoot because it gave em the opportunity to use new lighting techniques that I have recently learned. I used off camera lighting, which isn't that unusual for a studio shoot. However, in this case I used speedlites exclusively for most of the shoot. So what, big deal, right? Well it is a big deal becasue it means that we could reporduce this shoot anywhere, in the studio or on location without having to lug a lot of heavy equipment around.

This was a great shoot. Zhai gave me the passion that we needed for this series. The client was literally in tears at the end of the shoot (because she was happy!!!) Our makeup artist for this shoot was Ruby Nagra. This was my first time working with Ruby and she was absolutely fantastic! She was quick, but thorough. She worked very well in a low light situation. She didn't have her "own space" to work in because there were several people in the studio but she carved out a spot an made it happen. I look forward to working with her again on some upcoming shoots with Mandisa and Prisana.

You can see all the photos from this shoot at www.BlackBoxVisions.net. Remember that all of the photos that you see out on BlackBoxVisions.net have not been retouched. They are the real deal! If you would like more information on the one of a kind items Zhai was showcasing you can contact Dian Thompson at 404-453-4072. Her website is www.OrganicXperieince.com