Behind the Lens: It Takes Persistence

by Clint Thayer

Event photography isn't the only type of photography that I do - but it is perhaps the most visible type. Unlike my commercial or portrait photography work, event photography is, like photojournalism, a public affair.

But, here's a secret: Sports event photographers are looked down upon in some circles. Unless, perhaps, you are a Sports Illustrated photographer on an editorial assignment, with a seemingly mile-long lens that can take a photograph of a single drop of sweat across a 100-yard football field, the perception is that you are just taking the same old boring shot over and over again.

Photographing athletes gritting their teeth as they "hit the wall" in that marathon run or slathered in sweat as they cross the finish line may not have the polished, glamorous atmosphere of photographing a bride and groom on their special day. During an event, photographers do not have the luxury of time to get every hair in place or recreate the shot for a better angle as might occur in portrait or commercial photography.  Sporting event photographers live and work in the moment (photo credit for image at right: Anne Stack Connor). Timing is everything. There are no second chances, no do-overs — you either get the shot or the opportunity is lost — FOREVER!

I see each race and the need to get it right every time as a way to hone my skills technically. I need to be in tune with every athlete throughout the event, from starting point to finish line. And that takes experience, timing, and practice. My goal at an event is to take a unique, meaningful picture of everyone crossing the finish line, to capture that moment and the one characteristic action —  arms up, high five a friend, or beaming smile — that signifies each athlete as an individual. And I do that in camera. These moments simply can't be photoshopped into reality. 

To focus on the athletes, capturing their story, also takes persistence. Just like them, I endure hot sun and bone chilling cold,  drenching rain, mud, insects, and whatever other uncomfortable circumstances or distractions are thrown my way.

When it rains, there is the fear of water getting into the camera or on the lens, ruining the camera or distorting the shot. But when I focus on the athletes, on their accomplishments rather than my worries or discomfort, the rain turns into a positive opportunity — offering soft, beautiful light and intriguing reflections gifted by the water.

At one recent race I was plagued with gnats swarming around me, flying up my nose and into my eyes. Thankfully they didn't bite or sting, but there was absolutely no way of evading them. They buzzed between my face and glasses, in my beard...I did my best not to ingest them, but it was impossible not to end up with a few extra six-legged calories that day.

When in a situation like that, I must come to peace with the annoyance, filter out the chatter in my mind, stick it in an imaginary box and duct tape it shut. I must put the distractions out of my mind and stay focused on the rewarding experience — getting the shots!

The ability to focus on the job at hand and turn potential negatives into positives is just one more tool in my gear bag, as important as my camera, lens, lighting, and angle, if not more so. It is part of my personal customer service. It's as important as my trying to cheer everyone on, giving them a high five or calling their name as they cross finish line.

The rewards of persistence are great. Despite sun, rain, wind, cold, or those annoying gnats, the opportunity to celebrate amazing athletes and the satisfaction of helping them tell their story is really an uplifting place to be. It's a journey from an almost meditative state of concentration to celebration of each racer - over and over again.

Event photography takes focus and persistence. It can be a challenge. But, about that secret regarding event photographers being held in low esteem? I'll let you in on a secret of my own: photographing events is deeply rewarding and insanely fun. It's real. It's authentic. And it's all about keeping your wits sharp enough to perceive THE moment for every shot, all day long.  

Passionate about photography? We are too. Come join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. 

Behind the Lens: Going Left When Everyone Goes Right

by Clint Thayer

There are some advantages of doing what everyone else is doing.  Life is easy and you don’t have to think about it much.  Just follow the person in front of you and watch what they do.  If you can’t beat them - join them. Right?

Wrong. At least from a creative perspective. The act of creating means not just recapitulating what others have done before, but putting something new into the world.

Sometimes making something wholly new requires taking a different approach toward a familiar subject matter - one of which (for me) is cycling. If you've never heard of cyclocross, you would likely raise an eyebrow when I describe the nature of what a typical cyclocross racer does on the weekends.  Yet it’s strangely captivating to watch and even more so to photograph.  Over the years the sport of cyclocross has gained a great deal of popularity in the cycling community, and it’s starting to infiltrate the public’s eye as well.  This is wonderful for the sport and for the cycling community as a whole.  An entire industry is growing out of the weeds and as a professional visual storyteller - it is a wonderful backdrop.

With this growth, I’ve witnessed first-hand the explosion of like-minded photographers jumping in and crafting some amazing pieces of work.  Really great material showing off some exceptional athletes.  Welcome to the party!

I started shooting cyclocross a few years ago as a study in motion, light and...essentially,  grit.  I fell in love with the people, the sport, and most of all the imagery.  Turning a corner of the course into a Focal Flame portable studio was a blast and I learned a great deal about my professional craft - lessons that I still use today.  When Madison was awarded its bid to host the 2012 and 2013 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships, I could not have been happier.  What an opportunity to show my love of the sport through the lens - with cyclocross racers from all over the nation coming practically to our backyard!

But at the same time - I wanted to stand out and take some artistic risks.  Should I bring more lights? More filters? Climb trees?  Each technique could help produce wonderful images and likely push me creatively, as well as push the limits of what can be done with the camera.  

And pushing the limits meant that I wanted to go left when everyone else was going right.  I woke up on the Saturday of CX Nationals with my sights set on filming, editing, and publishing a ~3 min video that captured the heart of the event. And I wanted the creative process and the production to all be completed within one day.

I’ve never, ever liked rolling with the pack - going with the flow, or taking the easy road.  And I find value and comfort in setting my own expectations higher than I did the previous day.  I’m not in a race to out-do others - I’m in a race to push myself past my own creative comfort zone with the storytelling process.  This was the result:

Link to YouTube Video

So how different is shooting video from shooting stills? In many aspects, it’s very much the same.  Above everything else, story rules all.  With a still photo, the goal is to convey intent and imply story in a way that evokes a conclusion for the beholder in a single frame - not an easy task, yet very rewarding when successful.  From my perspective, video allows different creative space as a playground, including additional ways to help develop story. Your perception of time actually changes. Photography forces you into the moment in zen-like fashion. Videography beckons you to consider past, present, and future simultaneously.

And there are so many ways to evoke mood.  Sound, dialog, and ambient noise gives a videographer the capability to set tone without revealing a single frame. These are dimensions we all experience when we watch a movie, but when you begin to work with them as an artistic process for visual storytelling, it’s changes your whole perspective. It’s electric. It’s goosebump-inducing.

And I can’t wait for the next opportunity go push myself toward new paths, and new directions.

Thanks, as always, for joining in on the journey.  

Interested in learning more about visual storytelling, sports photography and videography, and more? Join our mailing list! 

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Behind the Lens: Thinking on Your Feet

by Clint Thayer

I recently had a master class assignment in which the premise was to toss you outside your comfort zone.  We were to imagine that all our photography gear had been lost in travel yet we still needed to “nail the gig” sans lighting equipment.  The gig was simple - but it still needed the bare minimum of lighting to be an effective piece.

Photographers often hold a fundamental rule: carry two of everything.  But sometimes circumstances don't work out in your favor and you're left with the only thing you can’t really lose, forget, or misplace... you.  

I grew up in rural northeastern Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie, a travel destination for vacationing families.  A local tourist trap named Mystery Hill was prominently placed to lure travelers in on the way in or out of the beachfront areas in Ottawa County.  Though no longer in operation, the 2-story-tall, garishly painted fiberglass dinosaurs at the entrance of the Mystery Hill and Prehistoric Forest roadside attraction just begged to pull you and your 9-year-old kids in. The place existed primarily to suck the cash right out of your wallet.  

After a quick stop at the ticket booth you were sent to me: a young tour guide working a summer job to earn cash for college. My responsibility as a tour guide was to use my wits to give you and your family an “unforgettable” afternoon. The gag of Mystery Hill was that the building was constructed on a 45 degree angle to the ground and surrounded with tall fences. It was constructed to immerse the participant fully in the sensory illusion of water appearing to run uphill, building angles that didn’t make sense at first glance, and the like.  As I walked guests through the slanted house using phrases like “7thwonder of the world” and “UFO crash landing site” I could often see the hint of dismay arise on Dad and Mom’s face. (The kids, in contrast, were usually happy as clams.)  

Every photographer who has been shooting long enough has seen at least one moment like this - a flicker on a subject’s face that might indicate loss of trust, confusion, questions, and maybe even anger. Making a photograph is a dance between subject and photographer, and even Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers stepped on each others’ toes from time to time. The vulnerability of those moments is never fun to experience, but it’s times like those - the uncomfortable moments - that remind me of Mystery Hill and those moms and dads.  If I had never learned how to read a situation, accommodate the unknown, and set people at ease and start them laughing again, I doubt I’d be half the photographer I am now.

That’s the moment you lost all your photo gear.  The moment when you lost your primary and secondary camera, the lights, and the assistant.  (Yep - I always pack my assistant in my carry-on luggage.  Rollers make it easy!)

It forces you take a step back and think.  Not about the mistake (there will be time to pick that apart later), but how are you going to pick up the pieces in the moment and move forward.  It helps to have life experiences like good old Mystery Hill to fall back on, but don’t just rely on that. It’s never a good idea to self-induce this situation with your trusted clients.  Plan ahead.  Pick a free afternoon and stage a “worst case scenario.”  Plan as far as you feel you need to gain some experience but make it really, really tough on yourself. Then put your mock “gig” in action, take yourself far outside of your comfort zone, and see what happens.

Here are some things that have always helped me:

• Keep a positive attitude.  It’s the root of success, and if you don’t have it in the worst of times, you will fail to turn around the situation.
• Trust yourself and the people you work with.  If you are spending more time questioning yourself, that’s valuable time lost to finding a solution.
• Always, and I mean always - arrive early. Time is your biggest asset aside from the grey matter between your ears.
• Really understand light.  Know how light works through common materials like glass, plastic, and bed sheets.
• Last, and likely least, know where the closest convenience store is located near you.  I’ve saved an entire day’s shoot with one stop at a Walgreens.

You might find the more you push yourself into the uncomfortable zone - the more it might feel...  comfortable!

2012 by the Numbers: The Pace Isn't Slowing at Focal Flame Photography

We have learned first hand how important numbers are to athletes. Common phrases include, “Is my time better than the last race?”, "What was my average pace this season?", and “How many miles did I log this year compared to last?” When it comes to keeping track of metrics, we wholeheartedly share this interest. Here at Focal Flame Photography, we've been doing a little end-of-the-year reflecting ourselves and thought we would let you know some of our stats.

In the area of event photography, Focal Flame Photography cranked it up from serving 8 events in 2011 to 22 events in 2012, a 275% increase!  Our photographers took 43,665 photos at those events in total and 85% - or 37,907 photographs - met our standards for lighting, focus, and composition.

Translation: Racers had better photos.

Reducing the time it took to get photos into race participants’ hands was a priority for 2012 and our pace quickened dramatically. This year, we processed photographs for events with up to 4000 racers in 24 hours. Photos for events with less than 1,000 racers were often ready for purchase the same day.

Translation: Racers had faster and improved access to their photos.

With the improved speed at processing photographs, Focal Flame Photography was able to offer two brand new event services in 2012: Same Day Sales and complimentary photos. Our Same Day Sales tent, offered at six events, provided racers the opportunity to view, select and purchase a print of photos of the race they had just finished. Race participants left each event with a photo in hand of their accomplishment.  We like to envision those prints in homes and offices across the Midwest.

Additionally, we were able to work with some race sponsors and directors to offer complimentary digital photos for select races. These digital images were not "free," but rather sponsored by event directors and/or sponsors who wanted to provide race swag that is completely personalized, environmentally friendly, and way-cooler-than-a-plastic-water-bottle. The response for the complimentary photos was enthusiastic. One race director received over 60 emails after one event alone.  A customer shared, “Getting free photos from a race is unheard of. I have been awarded free race entries, but never a complimentary image, much less all of them. Thank you very much, this is greatly appreciated!” We look forward to extending these services to events Focal Flame Photography covers in the future.

Translation: Race directors now have choices.

Focal Flame entered 2012 known to specialize in sports photography, but we also focused on increasing our offerings in other areas. In 2012, we offered career headshots (professional portraits) to both individuals and staff photographs for entire businesses. Given today's competitive job market, career portraits are an investment in your own future, and we loved hearing not only how much our clients appreciated being able to show their professional selves to the world on LinkedIn and their business web sites, but also how much they genuinely enjoyed the photo shoots. 

We even expanded into other areas, such as pet photography! Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post about a VERY fit athlete who just happened to have four legs (er, paws). 

Though December through February are typically off-season months for sports event photographers, the pace at Focal Flame Photography has not slowed. We’ve been busy planning for a fantastic 2013 season. We’re getting calls and emails daily from race directors making plans for 2013.  (Thanks everyone! And if you haven't contacted us yet, please do so quickly so we can reserve space on our calendar.)  In the process, we are finding our 2013 schedule is filling very quickly.

Finally, we have to give a shout-out to the outstanding staff here at Focal Flame Photography. As a small, growing business, we believe in creating local jobs and rely on the skills and professionalism of our employees to deliver outstanding service to our clients. Our professional editor, photography assistant, and sales staff are top-notch and work very hard to help make sure your experiences are enjoyable from start to finish. 

Thanks for being part of the journey in 2012, and we look forward to a fantastic 2013 with you!

The Best of 2012

The recent blizzard here in Madison has given us reason to slow down, curl up with some hot chocolate, and reflect on 2012. Wow!  What an amazing year it's been for Focal Flame Photography.  We'll be sharing some numbers next week that will explain that a bit more, but for now we thought it might be fun to tell the year's story in photos. Here's what we consider to be a few of the best of 2012!

Focal Flame Photography was founded to share our passion for sports photography and enable our desire to help athletes tell their story through photographs.  This shot, taken during the Madison Capital Criterium, which was the final stage of the 2012 Tour of America's Dairyland (T.O.A.D.) race series, reflects the determination and intensity we see time and again on the course.

When you sign up for an event we're covering, Focal Flame Photography considers you the most important customer of the day.  We go to great heights to fulfill our commitment to each participant and every race director - sometimes literally. This photograph shows the start of the Dane County Girls On the Run 5K in November 2012, and was taken from a ladder truck kindly made available by the Waunakee Fire Department. 

We love Madison - a city that is bristling with kinetic energy. There are action photographs to be made on every corner. This photograph shows the elite women's field at the Madison Capital Criterium during the Tour of America's Dairyland on July 1, 2012.  

By instinct, photographers are people watchers.  We look for moments that need to be preserved forever. This was one of them. Read more about the impact this photo had on us.

Focal Flame Photography will capture you when the race is hard and you're giving it all you got. And we'll also catch you when you're simply falling into fun! This photograph was taken at the Dirty Dog Mud Run on October 6. After a long, hot summer, the 45 to 50-degree F temperature that morning took some racers by surprise, but this team of friends wasn't daunted. 

Don't worry....We'll seize that moment when the real you sneaks out! Here, Ryan Griessmeyer of Race Day Events LLC shows a game face. (Have no fear, folks. He's a teddy bear at heart.)

The intensity required to persevere through a competition often mirrors the courage needed to face life's challenges. This image of custom sports photography client Michael Thompson shows him during a pivotal moment on the IronMan Wisconsin bike course. Can you see the thousands of hours of training, the mental preparation, the support from family and friends, and the depth of concentration captured in this instant? 

Kids are the ultimate in high-intensity action, and when it comes to teamwork, families can be a coordinated force to be reckoned with. (Heck, many families could give consulting advice to professional sports teams about logistics and coordination.) In 2012, we've been honored to increase our portrait and family photography services. Witnessing the dynamics of people in harmony with one another has been truly meaningful.

Thank you everyone for making 2012 one of the best years we've seen yet. What are you looking forward to in 2013? Let us know in the comments!

In Gratitude

By Robyn M. Perrin

Thanksgiving in its essence is such an introspective gift of a holiday – a chance to give voice to gratitude.

We at Focal Flame Photography have had so much to be grateful for since our founding. But as a small, locally-owned business, one of the most brilliant benefits of this entire journey has been the ongoing opportunity to witness the character, the antics, and the strength of members of our local community – the Madison, Wisconsin region and surrounding areas.

Take this season, for example. The majority of Focal Flame Photography’s work is in sports photography, and we’ve covered over 21,000 athletes at 23 events and custom photo shoots in 2012. Here are some of the things we’ve noticed:

We’ve seen families and friends cheer on an athlete with such intensity that you could almost feel them pour their own raw willpower into a seemingly impossible task. We’ve seen training partners crossing finish lines together while holding hands and jumping for joy. We’ve seen parents competing alongside their kids; impossible to tell which party wore the broader smile. We’ve seenkids running with their friends, co-workers laughing hysterically as they splashed their way over obstacles and through mud pits, and more than one wedding party that completed an entire triathlon together.

If you’ve become too world-weary watching news headlines about animosity and strife, come out to a local bike trail, or 5K race, or dog jog, or mud run. We’ll show you just how much friendship and love there is in our community.

Work the craft long enough, and you start to see other patterns too. Many of the events we serve benefit local nonprofits or are run by nonprofits. Several of these entities are growing and thriving. The Boys and Girls Club of Dane County (beneficiary of the Madison Shamrock Shuffle) has served 700 children this year (62% increase over 2011) in its summer camp programs for at-risk youth, and 90% of the students in the 2012 class of its AVID/TOPS pre-college program are now enrolled in college. The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, which has long been an effective statewide advocacy organization to promote cycling as a form of transportation is launching its first local chapter in Dane County. Girls On The Run Dane County now offers its 10-week program for girls in over 30 schools, reaching hundreds of students with an empowering, inspiring program. And these are just a few of the stories.

If you have any concerns about the level of compassion within our community, let us show you just how deeply it runs through Madison’s veins.

Today, we give voice to gratitude. We stand in awe of you, of your stories, of your commitment. We celebrate it and honor it, because together – hand in hand - each of you makes our community whole.

Thank you. 

From Behind the Lens: When We See Ourselves in Photos

By Clint Thayer

Photo by Monty Montgomery

It happens at almost every race.

A tired participant makes his or her way to the Focal Flame same day event sales booth.  I or one of our staff members help search for their photo. Within seconds of their image flashing on the screen, they exclaim loudly, “I look horrible in that photo!”

Then - regardless if the race that day involved bikes or not - the athlete starts back-pedaling. 

“I mean, I just never like photos of myself…”

We stand there a moment. Side by side - photographer and subject -  trying to reconcile our often drastically different impressions of a photo.

As a photographer, I instantly look for technical details that might be distracting from the quality of the image. Lighting, background, focus. These are issues often within my control. By looking at literally thousands of photos of a single event, I learn what to do differently next time.

What’s not under my control is an individual’s gut reaction to a photo of him- or herself. Sometimes deeper issues like self-confidence and concerns about self-image often come into play.

At a very human level, I can relate. For me, it’s a mental perception. Despite the fact that I’m quickly approaching my forties, I carry about an image of "twenty-something me." When I look at a photo of myself today, I don’t see the person I think I am.  I think I’ll see a smiling college kid with a lifetime ahead of him. The Clint looking back from the photo resembles a man moving quickly towards middle age.  Quite often, it takes me by surprise.

Some hypothesize scientifically as to why we don’t like photos of ourselves. Photographer Duncan Davidson claims we reject our image in a photo because it doesn’t correlate to the image we see in the mirror daily. Perhaps.

Some organizations are working hard to alter our views of self. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty encourages women to have confidence and feel comfortable with themselves.  Girls on the Run, a program to which we've provided event photography services and in which I’m proud to have a daughter participating with this fall, encourages the formation of a healthy self-image in pre-teen girls. I appreciate the efforts of these and similar organizations a great deal.

But some days, when I'm standing next to an exhausted race participant who's trained for months, sacrificed much, and just completed a grueling athletic event, I just want to say something like this: 

"That image of you, in that moment, digging deep as you cross the finish line? That's authentic. That's real. That's the face of someone who sweated, and suffered, and questioned whether they could finish at all - AND THEN YOU DID. You know what? I can't think of anything more beautiful than that."

What Belonging to ASMP Really Means

Robert Capa and Alfred Eisenstaedt are probably not names discussed around the family dinner table.  But their photographs are. 

The Magnificent Eleven, Capa’s photos of the second wave of American troops landing on Omaha Beach, are still printed in history books.

And Eisenstaedt’s photograph of a sailor kissing a young woman at the V-J Day celebration in Times Square is an American cultural icon.

It was the 1940’s. Photojournalism, as an art and profession, was new. The photojournalists of the day, Capa, Eisenstaedt, and countless others, were joining the newly formed American Society of Magazine Photographers. By 1946, the acronym ASMP was well known in the New York magazine and photography world.  In 1951, they established a Code of Minimum Standards, the precursor to ASMP’s current Member Code of Ethics.

Set in its proper place historically, it is clear why an ethical code was important for photojournalists.  They captured stories through the lens. They told our stories of war and celebration in pictures - stories that have remained.

The photography industry was, and still is, continually re-defining itself. Due to technological advancements, it’s easier then ever to take a decent image and market oneself as a professional photographer. The need for a professional organization is even more important today than in the past.

When starting his business, Focal Flame photographer Clint Thayer noticed a common thread between a few Madison area professional photographers. They were consistently producing well-crafted, story-driven images - and they were ASMP members.

The ASMP, whose full name changed 1992 to American Society of Media Photographers, is stronger than ever. ASMP offers educational resources, workshops, and is a consistently vigorous voice on topics such as copyright, licensing, and photography business practices. Upon investigation, Thayer was impressed with the ASMP’s Member Code of Ethics. He shares, “As a growing professional, I was seeking an organization that would allow the ability to build a business on a well-defined, established list of principles that protects the rights of the client as well as the professional.”

Protecting a client’s best interests and confidential information and stipulating fair and reasonable replacement values for lost or damaged photographs are just two of the principles an ASMP photographer commits to offer their client. “The code of ethics serves the whole community, the clients and the photographers," said Thayer.  

"Photographers helping photographers" is a core value at ASMP. The organization undergirds the local independent photographer with a network of support, educational seminars, and staff available for consultation.  “Responsibility to colleagues and the profession” is the first section of the ASMP’s Member Code of Ethics. Thayer, who was accepted as an ASMP associate member earlier this year, continues, "The code defines what it means to pick up a camera and use it to narrate the world in front of us."

Knowing your selected photographer has built their business on a commitment to something greater than themselves elevates the standard. Clint Thayer has pledged himself and Focal Flame Photography to a level of professionalism governing photographers since World War 2 celebratory kisses in Times Square. When Thayer narrates the world, not only is the newest story unfolding in front of him. Seventy years of photojournalists are standing behind him.

Guided Tour to the New Focal Flame Web Site

Sometime when you're in the thick of things, it's hard to slow down enough to capture it all. And ever since we founded Focal Flame Photography, being "in the thick of things" has definitely been one of the best aspects of what we do. But after over two years, it was clear: the time had come to update our web site. This was more easily done during the winter season, when the pace of any outdoor pavement-related endurance sports scene slows in the upper MIdwest (although there was plenty of off-road fun to be had, to be sure.) Because, really, hibernating is overrated. 

So after many sessions of coffee-fueled writing and coding, we present (drum roll, please) the new and improved Focal Flame web site. For a behind-the-scenes look, here's the guided tour.

Home

The home page has been completely redesigned. Our goal was to present a full-screen slideshow of images with a clean, minimalistic design that kept the viewer's focus on the photographic composition. The navigation bar is subtly placed at the lower right-hand portion of the screen, and social media buttons allow one-click sharing. The photo changes every 10 seconds. Now, try this: resize your browser window by dragging. The home page automatically resizes to fit the new dimensions. How sweet is that?! (OK, we're geeks...but you have to admit, it's pretty cool.) In a nutshell, the home page looks really simple by design, but it's kind of like a sports car: under a sleek hood, there's a lot of power. We've tested it on every browser we can think of and so far it has been bullet-proof and dishwasher-safe, but if you notice any issues please let us know. It's also mobile-friendly for viewing on smartphones and iPads.

Custom Photography

Next, check out the Custom Photography page. We've added some description that helps address many of the most common questions we hear about custom sports photography, and there are links to other pages that describe the process for starting a custom photography project and how you can arrange a session for your sports team or club. We've also added a page about other types of photography services we offer, such as career portraits, family and birthday party photography, weddings, and real estate photography. But the feature that we're most honored to include is the set of testimonials from past clients. Each one represents a custom photography project that was borne out of their determination and dedication as an athlete, and it's hard to express just how meaningful it has been to play a part in recording their journey.

Event & Race

From there, take a look at the Event & Race page. We describe a little bit about our approach to sporting events, because we know that competition day isn't just any day - it's the day that you've been working towards, sometimes for months or even years. You can also see an at-a-glance overview of events that Focal Flame Photography will be covering in the near future. Check back often, because we are adding new events all the time. There are also special pages just for Race Directors/Event Organizers and helpful tips for anyone needing assistance with finding their images and purchasing photo products. The Event Status page provides up-to-the-minute updates on photo availability for events that we've covered. 

We'll just take a brief pause in the guided tour to point out that the new site is extremely social. Every page can be shared with your contacts via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or via e-mail with a single click. So go ahead - chat it up. 

Commercial Photography

Next, let's take a look at the Commercial Photography page. We admit it - we love visual storytelling, and businesses and organizations are just bristling with both energy and photo opportunities. For several case studies, take a look at the links on the right-hand side of the page.

Fine Art Photography 

The Fine Art page is our creative playground. We believe that art is essential, and that fine art photography really does have the power to change the world. In addition to an Artist's Statement by Focal Flame Photography founder Clint Thayer, there are links to descriptions of exhibits and projects on the right-hand side of the page. We have several creative projects in the works at any given time, so check back for updates. 

Portfolio, About Us, and Store

The Portfolio page provides several galleries featuring sample images in a range of subjects, and once again, content will be updated periodically. The About page tells a little of our own journey, and also provides a link at the right-hand side to some of our Photolanthropy efforts. (Not familiar with the term "photolanthropy"? Visit the page to learn more.) The Store is, of course, your one-stop shop for dozens of galleries from events we've covered, and the Blog is...well....if you're reading this, you're already familiar with it! 

So there you have it. We've tried to illustrate the range of photography services we offer, and the types of creative projects we undertake. Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear them. Just drop us a line. 

And as always, thanks for your support. Your passion, dedication, and determination is what inspires everything we do. Let's get ready for a terrific 2012! On your mark, get set.....GO!

To follow these and other stories, join the Focal Flame Photography facebook page and follow us on Twitter! 

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Capture That Moment

On the eve of IronMan Florida in Panama City Beach, photographer Clint Thayer took an oceanside walk. While a boy played in sunlit water, Thayer re-discovered photography memories from his youth.  Here, he shares his thoughts.

I grew up in northern Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie. The first subject matter I studied with my trusted Pentax ME Super film camera were 15- to 20-foot storm waves breaking over the ~600 foot long dock in my hometown of Lakeside. For a teenager living in a small town these sessions bridged both my early love of photography, and my more rebellious side.  Getting the images I dreamed of involved some small amount of risk, and more importantly, a rhythm.  I would stand halfway out on the dock (closed due to the storms) - wait for the waves to hit a specific corner - watch them - crouch down and SNAP!  I wasted a great deal of film, and got really wet.

I had almost forgotten these first days with my beloved Pentax until tonight. I was walking along the beach in Panama City on the eve of shooting another IronMan race.  As I waited for the sun to dip low enough to paint the sky an amazing spectrum of pinks and reds, I noticed a kid having a little fun in the water.  Instantly, I was back on the Lakeside dock.  Watch the waves - wait for the right one - there it is - crouch and SNAP!

There were no storms, no 20-foot swells, but capturing that simple moment in time reaffirmed my desire to pick up a camera.  In a few days I'll be strapping on photo gear. My field bag is filled with maps, supplies, and my trusted notebook with logistical information needed to capture that moment in time when a human does something truly amazing. And I'll be looking for the rhythm, the motion, and those split-seconds that tell a story.

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