0Posted by Nate Ludens on May 16, 2011 at 10:21 pm
I shoot with pretty great gear. I worked my butt off and spent some pretty pennies for it, too. That said, I was hung out to dry a little at a shoot last Saturday. I have joked before that my gear bag is suited perfectly for a vampire. In other words, I always seem to be shooting in pitch black lighting conditions. (concerts, casinos, evening dinner parties & mixers)
For a while now, in these low-light conditions, my go-to lens (Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 USM) doesn’t Auto Focus at all, it just searches and searches while the great shots pass me by. I missed great shots at each of my last 4 or 5 assignments due to it. Talk about pissing a guy off. First, I dabbled with Servo focus setting and it seemed to be great for antsy, jittery musicians dancing around on stage… until I dumped my photos into Lightroom. Blah. Most of the shots were useless – blurry. Gotta go with the one-shot setting at concerts. At least I do.
Finally, Saturday night, I threw in the towel. Atop a building in pretty poor lit (great for dinner party – lousy for photography, in some cases) I busted out my backup lens (50mm f/1.8) and the zoom (70-200mm f/2.8) to compensate for my wounded wide-angle. Talk about frustration! Zooming with your feet and adjusting for the extra full f-stop down to 1.8 was tricky! I overexposed a few shots of food on white plates, and the super short depth of field meant that one person on the end of the group was out of focus, while the middle of the group was sharp as a tack. I managed to pull off the assignment, and I have received many compliments, which is lucky as hell, and I know it.
I’m in between assignments for a few weeks, so I decided to ship the anti-auto-focus lens to a Canon repair shop in Southern California. Cross your fingers it’s A) fixable and B) doesn’t cost me the sum of my last 4 sessions to fix. Stay tuned….
Testing new wordpress app. So far it’s cool – handy. Seems limited. Learning curve kicking in. Almost like texting. Let’s find some rich media and links…
Really loving this article. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/151/mayhem-on-madison-avenue.html
Linking is difficult. App crashed on me once. Auto correct still giving me fits a little. 2.5 stars. Might use this app. Might tend to be faster to go get my laptop or just post on Facebook. Stay tuned.
0Posted by Nate Ludens on April 8, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Here’s a collection of shots from January through April 2, 2011. I have been fortunate enough to shoot some really fun shows so far in 2011. Some local musicians who always show their crowds a good time, and some who have sold millions and millions of records. I think my favorite night so far was last Saturday, April 2, where I started out the night shooting the Heart concert at Green Valley Ranch, then migrated to Ovation where Otherwise opened up for Steel Panther, who was visited by special guest, Vince Neil of Motley Crue. Heart sounded phenomenal, and Vince hit well, most of the high notes. It was cool seeing them all, and here’s some of the shots from the show. Enjoy!
0Posted by Nate Ludens on March 12, 2011 at 10:40 am
This is the stuff that really gets me excited about social media for businesses, ladies and gents.
Those who know me are probably pretty tired of hearing that I’m a “butts in the seats” guy. (Translation: results guy). I have designed and sent millions (literally) of printed mailers over the last 10 years for many Las Vegas and regional companies. A “successful” campaign was pretty subjective, but it boiled down to: Did anyone show up for the event? Well, mission accomplished. Design six more. Repeat.
That way of thinking seems to be going the way of dot matrix printers, brick-sized cell phones, dialup, and dinosaurs. Check out the analytics that facebook released this week and see the latest way my old stand by phrase, “butts in the seats,” is being redefined. Matt Schlicht from Prezi.com did a nice job of translating the new changes so you can explain it to your boss.
0Posted by Nate Ludens on February 27, 2011 at 10:19 pm
The other night, I was reading a really wonderful blog post by the great Chris Brogan, titled An Insider’s Guide to Social Media Etiquette. It really got me thinking, and here’s what’s missing: a guide for bigger companies using Social Media. Here’s a start.
It’s okay to use a logo. In this case, you’re not a person, you’re a company. I’m fairly certain your followers know this. There are exceptions, but for the most part, you’re the virtual “face of the company,” and it’s a huge responsibility. You represent all of your co-workers, bosses and shareholders. Many very good corporate entities are doing social media very well “disguised” as logos. Here in Las Vegas, the Wynn does a great job on twitter, and they do social media by committee. You see it sometimes by the ^Initials at the end of the tweets. Totally cool with everyone I know.
Respect traditional public relations. If you can, buddy-up with a PR pro or take a class. The fundamentals of crisis control, patiently waiting for stories to develop, tone, and strategy cross over to social media more than many of the nu-social media experts care to admit.
Be appropriate. Don’t tell jokes or do #FollowFridays if you’re a police department or a doctor’s office. Please?
Be helpful. Corporations are on twitter and facebook to put money in the bank. Just because they’re using social media doesn’t mean they don’t want your dough. The best ones embrace the personality of the company. They allow creativity to shine and have some fun while keeping relevant ideas in readers’ minds that relate to the company at hand. A corporate account such as Ford or Nike tweeting about having a slice of pizza or what they’re watching on TV (from the corporate avatar) is just weird, I think. Be cool to people and you’ll build relationships – it sounds tacky, but that’s the name of the game.”The less you be a dbag, and if you treat people like humans, the more you’ll get done and succeed.” – @ManyaS – friend and experienced business twitter guru.
Leave the adspeak in your ads. Your company has an advertising budget, so let that do its job, and please don’t tweet like a radio commercial for a race. (Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!) My friends who tweet for companies always try to be helpful and cater to the people who want the updates. Hey, they already clicked follow or Like, right? My point? Quit dating and start mating.
Be nimble when you’re wearing your Customer Service Representative hat. If someone has a problem with your business and took the time to tweet about it – it’s somewhat of a compliment. You want to take care of that customer as soon as possible. If you have a customer service center on email or phone, but not twitter – note it on your page or bio. (Do they use rotary phones, too? Just curious).
Don’t delete negative posts. If I have to tell you this, go back to 2009 social media 101. There’s several great people to learn from. I started with the afore-mentioned Chris Brogan’s book, Trust Agents. Guy Kawasaki, Tony Hseih, and Gary Vaynerchuk all have awesome books to get you off on the right foot.
Do some quick research when there’s someone calling you out, and be careful not to bite when you’re being baited. Hey, just because someone tweets, doesn’t make them customer of the year anymore. There are trolls on twitter that complain constantly in hopes of getting a free lunch. These creeps are on facebook, too. Block them if they’re a pain in the butt, and don’t be afraid to say no. Use caution, though – mob mentality is one rude response away. One interesting response (I haven’t tried it yet) would be to post a reply, while signed on as your business – on their personal facebook profile. Could be risky, but might help avoid the mob mentality. Let me get back to you on that one. Heh.
Don’t be afraid to have multiple accounts. Managing more than one account isn’t difficult with the software available today. One CEO that I follow has one twitter handle where he can (and does) drop F-Bombs all day long. His company’s handle is much more businesslike. I follow both. If you have the content to back it up, create a help account, a sales account, one for media, etc.
NOTE: This post is a work in progress, so please check back and see how it develops. What did I miss? Was I way off target? Please feel free to comment and let’s discuss it. This doesn’t necessarily reflect my current employer’s opinions in any way.
Here’s about 60 shots from Red Rock’s new Acoustic Jam night at Rocks Lounge with Peter Love, Dave Ritz and Jeremy Cornwell. I highly recommend this show. It’s good. It’s free. And, there’s beer.
Once again, Flickr is being a pain in the ass. If the full size images don’t load, visit my page on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nateludens/sets/72157625797411837/
0Posted by Nate Ludens on January 26, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Someone asked me that today and it really bummed me out. Not for me, but for them. I don’t believe that there’s better music available now than at any other given era, but it’s ridiculous to not know about it. What year is this, anyway? How do you NOT listen to music? It’s a very foreign concept to me.
Every day, I listen to Pandora, SIRIUS, Grooveshark and YouTube. Every. Freakin. Day. I can’t imagine not knowing there’s great music to discover. Just in the last few weeks, I have learned of new – and old – bands to appreciate and spend a little time with.
In the last 72 hours I enjoyed music by The Gaslight Anthem, Hugo, Train, Taddy Porter, Jay-Z and Juliette Lewis. All are very, very good and most of the music was released in the last year or two. Of course, I also revisited classic Pink Floyd, Metallica, some of Rise Against’s older stuff, and a hybrid of old and new: Guitar Classics by Santana. Freaking GREAT. I love the tracks that I was convinced I’d hate when I bought it. Saw Santana’s show at the Joint here in Vegas and it’s so good. His newest album is a combo of signature Carlos and contemporary singers (except Joe Cocker – wth?)
Is there good music out there anymore? Listen to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Black Keys and follow it with Deep Purple and Eric Clapton. Pssh. No new music. Ridiculous. Recorded music doesn’t expire, it’s lives forever.
Turn off Glee and American Idol! In the name of Joe Strummer, go discover something and be inspired.
0Posted by Nate Ludens on January 12, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Here’s a selfish little pet peeve of mine that I wish to see the death of in 2011: Internet Muscles.
I have used this phrase for a couple years now, and I have no idea if I’m the original person to coin the phrase, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. Some people are real tough-guys online, hiding behind anonymity or the “out there” that the internet provides. Newspapers and Facebook Pages really bring out this phenomenon. Here’s some examples:
1. I’m in a long line. Any line. A restaurant. A drive through. A grocery store. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I tweet scathing words about it, I facebook it warning my friends not to ever come here. I Yelp! I’m proud that I can share this with the “out there” and face no real downside. Honestly, it’s a pot-shot and an ego trip. Who am I? Just a dude in line, right? Who are they? Some busy, underpaid, overworked folks with sore feet, most likely.
2. A fan (Okay, a “Like”) on Facebook. Say it’s a sports team. They’re changing goalies. They make a trade and lose my favorite player. We’re comment-makin’ fools! We’re all veteran team General Manger’s all of a sudden!
3. You comment on a news story. You get to lobby for whatever you support (truth or fiction) in the comments section under a controversial (or not) story. You know this lends ZERO credibility. Especially when you sign it “yousucknewswriterX” Real nice. Meet you after school at the flag pole, tough-guy.
Look, the game has changed. The expectations of “the other side” of social media has elevated. What? You have a problem? Companies are EXPECTED to be watching their feeds real time 24/7 to respond to a client or reader’s every need, no matter how small. Here’s what I think:
Change your game, too! Be polite when you tweet. Be understanding. Be HUMAN. Don’t flex your internet muscles.
Instead of whining incessantly online with your newfound power, have some respect. Could you do it as a DM? An email? Ask a question first. You never know, there could be someone working overtime just in case you have a problem at a given establishment. Or on vacation with his or her family, even. The company social media representatives take one for the team – just for you! They fight to give people the opportunity to… blindside them with complaints?! Yes, they do. Because the social media representatives at companies love what they do and the possibilities of being a part of this revolution in commerce and communication.
If you read traditional business media, you frequently hear about how challenging it can be for a company to integrate social media as a legitimate division to open up a real dialogue with you – the patron – to give you what you want- and more: Free meals, free tickets, free vacations, discounts, coupons, checkin specials, and on and on… Pretty nice folks, if you ask me.
So please, lose the juvenile, playground mentality and recognize when you’re flexing your Internet Muscles.
0Posted by Nate Ludens on December 8, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Five Bucks.
Everyone said it over and over, because none of us could believe it. Here’s a few shots from today’s sneak peek at T-time at Tbones inside Red Rock. T-time kicks off Monday, December 13th at 5 – and there’s over 50 items that are all – you guessed it – Five Bucks. I work for Station Casinos, but I’d plan on being there anyway. The portions are huge, the drinks and the food are all amazing. Hands down the best Happy Hour in the city, in my personal opinion.
0Posted by Nate Ludens on December 2, 2010 at 10:56 pm
I recently discovered Serj Tankian’s Elect The Dead Symphony Album and I’m thinking of buying the movie and/or LP. I’m super impressed when a band busts out of a mold like this. Serj did it big time by going from System Of A Down to a solo gig with a 70-pc orchestra. I commented to my wife that I was blown away when I heard Sky Is Over on SIRIUS the other day.
My wife asks: “Why does this one impress you so much?” and “What’s so different from what Serj did and what Metallica did?” [S&M was a similar project a few years ago: Symphonic Metallica, or something like that. I didn't jive with it much, but my wife liked it].
Here’s what I said, pretty much:
“Serj and System get to you. They irritate and pry into you with crazy heavy rock and random melodies, but they do it with a silly top coat and scathing ferocious humanitarian undertones. Metallica does one thing, whether they admit it or not: kick the world in the balls as the best damn metal band on the planet. Every time they try to break that mold, I usually hate it. Dude, when the black album came out, I liked it – but only a tenth of the way I liked the other Metallica records. I absolutely hated St. Anger. Still do. Lars sounds like he’s beating on pans on that record. (Bought it and sold it back a few days later. I think I traded it in for some punk records in Laramie, Wyoming. Anyway – back to the comparison and why I love symphonic Serj and not symphonic Metallica.) Serj and System have the versatility and the creativity to chant, sing, dance and goof off. They’re unpredictable. Metallica – nope. Just kick our asses. I think they’re back on track with that when they hired Rick Rubin, the baddest producer on the planet, to do Death Magnetic. Holy crap. That record is phenomenal. There are original riffs on a new tune like I had’t heard in a decade. I credit Rubin for identifying the strengths and weaknesses. Still, I hope they stay away from the Symphony and the other experiments. There’s nothing wrong with being the best damn metal band on the planet, ya know?”
Ended that conversation, for sure. I don’t think she wanted all that, but I think she got her answer… I think.
