A Common Question….

One of the most common questions I get is “where did you come up with Tee Rage? And how I got the name is told in the previous blog, you can read it by clicking here. But there is actually a meaning behind the name.

So here goes, my middle name and my son’s middle name is Lee. the Tee is the first letter of his first name “T” in place of the “L” in Lee=Tee

My wife spells her name Page, the “R” from Rob replaces the “P” = Rage

And the P from her first name fits perfect in Portraits.

When you remove all other letters you get TRP=Tucker, Rob & Page

At the end of the day I do what I do because they are the ones I want to make the most proud of me. Matthew McConaughey said it best in his oscar speech when he won best actor for Dallas Buyer’s Club. He said there were three things he needed each day, click the link below and let him tell you. I can’t write it or say it any better than he did.

Matthew McConaughey’s Three Things

 

So until next time my friends, just keep living and remember to be extraordinary!

 

Rob–Tee Rage

Happy Birthday to My Name…Tee Rage

3:33 this morning, October 17, 2018 marks exactly six years since the name that is Tee Rage woke me from a dead sleep and completely changed my life. As I reflect on the last six years I am completely humbled and in awe at what this dream has become. I had been asked by a few people to take some pictures of them and their families or take pictures of their kids. That seems to be the narrative for many of today’s photographers. But like so many times I always felt like I had more to offer than just taking pictures.

And so on the evening of October 16th, 2012, after a particularly rough day at the day job, I told my wife that I was going to start creating portraits as a side hustle. But the one thing I was adamant about was that they would be unique, unlike anything that anyone else was doing. I spent two hours trying to come up with a name for my portrait studio, because Rob Brown Photography just didn’t fit my personality. But after struggling for two hours I went to sleep somewhat defeated but determined that I would come up with a name that would fit the brand I would create. And in the middle of that night it came to me. And I have never thought twice about it or ever second guessed it.

I also was very deliberate that I wanted the brand to be it’s own face and that my face would not be what drove the brand. And it worked, very well! After the first three or four years people knew what a Tee Rage portrait looked like and many people were shocked when they realized that I was Tee Rage. And that was the point, the brand is known and recognized for the art that it is.

I did weddings, families, events, kids and seniors. And where I found my absolute passion is with high school seniors! The big misconception is that I am a sports photographer. I do photograph sports, not because I am a sports photographer but because I want these young athletes to have photos of themselves playing the games they love. I would have loved to have had photos of me playing ball when I was in high school. So I do what I can to fulfill that for them.

And yes, my sports portraits are awesome! But so are my fashion portraits. So don’t get bogged down with labels. I create art for my clients, period, the end! So don’t let anyone else tell you that I am just a sports photographer! I am a portrait artist and what I create for my clients is just that, art, moments frozen in time and printed to be hung on the wall for the world to see.

That’s my story, and for the last six years I have evolved gotten better and have had my technical skill catch up to my artist vision….

So until next time my friends, be extraordinary!

Rob, Tee Rage

How What We Think Is Not What We Do!!!

Most people are creative. They are! Don’t shake your head, because I promise you it is true. The problem is that along life’s path we are conditioned to put that away and grow up. Why do we do this? Why do we fold up and put away the very thing that makes us unique? News flash…Society doesn’t like those who think differently or act differently or basically don’t do what society thinks should be done. But is that the real reason why we have trouble being creative as adults? No it isn’t. Are you ready for the reason why we hide or stop being creative? We value someone else’s opinion more than we value our own. We are worried what the people we are associated with will say about us, how will that look? What will  so and so say? For example tonight my family and I decided that we were going to put up our Christmas tree. Why? Because we wanted to, because for the last two years we have not fully decorated it nor gotten to enjoy it. We decided this year we are going to fully decorate it and enjoy it. And you know what I could care less what anyone thinks or says about it. Because the truth is someone else’s judgment or opinion about you or me is a direct reflection of their own personal insecurities. In other words it is on them not you.

And so “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

So my friends, be who you were born to be, not the person that your parents, friends of family tell you to be. At the end of the day we know who we are and we need to love ourselves so much more than we love others. Because only by loving ourselves can we actually truly give real love to others.

You are unique. You are special. You have a creative voice inside you. Use it! You are the best! Now stop being held back by others opinions and go do that thing which brings your soul joy!!!!

Until next time my friends, be extraordinary!

Rob

The Light Series: No Flash vs. Flash

So this is a topic near and dear to my heart. And let me preface this post by saying this is not to knock anyone’s photography, or to say that anyone is doing it wrong or that my way is the only way it should be done. That being said, the way I shoot is different. And that is completely intentional. People ask me all the time if the sky in my photos are fake. And the answer is NO! The skies are not fake. I have used one fake sky in my career and that was because the client specifically asked for it.

So why is this such a big deal? Well the main reason it is a big deal is because there has been an influx of “self-taught” natural light photographers with the availability of digital SLR cameras. It is relatively easy to have a nice camera and take “good” pictures. And that is completely ok. But, but, when you shoot only natural light you are not allowing yourself to capture the beauty that is around your client. Now full disclosure, when I started I shot predominantly natural light. But again, I wanted to be intentionally different, so I learned very early on how to use off camera flash. For those who don’t know off camera flash is a speed light, or strobe that is triggered by a transmitter attached to my camera allowing the flash to fire and illuminate my client.

Using flash in my case strobes, which are my preferred choice of flash, I am able to not only bend light to my will, but also able to shoot pretty much anytime of the day, even in the dreaded middle of the day when the sun is at it’s apex. Natural light photographers, for most of them, cannot do this. They absolutely could, if they were willing to learn how to strobe their client, as well as use it correctly.

The photos below are the same day same time, one is shot with natural light, one with two strobes. The angles are different but there is enough of the sky in the first photo to see that you cannot see any blue sky or clouds.

The second photo has two strobes set to full power, for you photographers ISO 200, F/10, shutter speed 1/400th of a second.

The first picture is a decent photo, but if you had to choose between the two, would you really choose the first one? I kind of doubt it. The sky isn’t fake that is really the way it looked and being able to capture that is only possible if you understand how to use flash.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time my friends be extraordinary,

Rob

 

The Evolution of an Image

I wanted to do a post that addresses a very touchy yet important topic when it comes to digital photography…the evolution of an image. No image that a professional puts out, no matter how brilliant, is what we call “straight out of camera”, you know, what it looks like when you see it on the back of your photographers camera. If that were the case then the photographer is selling themselves and their client short.

Now there are numerous examples of over editing out there and yes I was even guilty of it when I first started shooting ten years ago, however understanding the tools we have at hand to take good images and make the extraordinary, ah what  gift.

And since this is such a hot topic I thought it fitting to show the evolution of one of my images from original to the color edit and then to through the first black & white edit to the final black and white image. So that you can see while it is a good photo originally, the depth of colors and shadows in the color image are so much closer to what our eyes see.

And the first black and white is a beautiful black and white image, but the final black and white image has so much more depth and warmth in it.

Original straight out of camera…

here is the color edit….

This is the original black & white…

And this is the final black & white edit….

 

I hope you enjoy these four images. If you have questions please feel free to email me at [email protected] or leave a comment.

Thanks for reading and until next time my friends be extraordinary,

 

Rob

Begin Again, Again…Best Laid Plans…

We all have great intentions when we begin something. We start out full of vigor and emotions for whatever that project is, no matter who we are. When those intentions revolve around our paths, our passions, our purposes we attack them with so much enthusiasm that sometimes we become overwhelmed by the sheer size of our goals and dreams.

Tee Rage began a little over five years ago, and if you would have said to me five years later that it would be what it is today, that I would be who I am today, I would have told you that you were out of your mind. I am grateful in so many ways that life takes the turns it does. And I am honored to have built this studio, this brand, this experience into what it is today.

About eighteen months ago I purchased a domain name, found a host and had technical support help me build the foundation of a new webpage. My current page is great for uploading photos to and allowing them to be shared with friends and family. And it was the original vision that I had, but like so many things, visions change.

When I started I wanted to be a good photographer. I wanted my technical skill to be what my artistic vision was. I have never truly just wanted to be good. I want to be great! I want to impact people in a way that my portraits move you when you see them.

So today after a long hiatus of being so busy that I just did not have time to work on it, my vision for where Tee Rage is heading has come into shape.

A new website, a blog, that has been on the web for almost three years with very little effort put into it, my bad, and a gallery website where my client’s galleries will be posted so they can share them with friends and family. All the links will be posted below.

teerageportraits.com

will serve as the hub for all things Tee Rage. You can now navigate to the website itself, this blog, Tee Rage Nation, and my Facebook Page.

The Website is an information page, as well as a page about the Tee Rage experience.

 

This blog will be where I will post my thoughts, blogs about sessions and sharing things that I want to share with you!

The Gallery page, teeragegalleries.com  you will be able to see you session proofs via a unique link and password protected folder.

The vision and dream I have had for Tee Rage is here! So check back often, visit the website, check the facebook page, and if you haven’t previously “liked” my facebook page I would ask you to go do that, and also my instagram, Snapchat, & Twitter @teerage_photo

Be extraordinary, my friends,

Rob