Ryan O. Hicks Creative | Designer | Photographer

15Feb/100

Interview with Designer and Photographer Jason Morrison

Jason Morrison, currently resides in McDonough, Georgia. Jason has had a successful career in photography and graphic design. Most recently, he has partnered with his brother-in-law and started the photography firm, JayMar Photography. Jason has this true passion for his work, and loves to share his knowledge with other creatives. He has been published in a number of magazines and has been awarded a few awards for his work.

Jason was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for us to enjoy.

Jason Morrison

Jason Morrison (dubtastic)

14Jan/100

Interview with the Creative Josh Sommers

Let me introduce you to Josh Sommers, who currently resides in California.  Josh is a photo illustrator, photographer, graphic designer, and software developer.  I have personally been watching Josh’s work for 17 months from his flickr account, where he continually inspires individuals and has built up a hefty list of followers.

Josh was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for us to enjoy.

13Jan/100

Canon 5dmk2 EG-S Focusing Screen Review

I recently bought the EG-S Super Precision Matte Focusing Screen for my 5dmk2.  I love to shoot wide open on my lenses, and currently I own all primes that come in lower than recommended f/stop range for this screen.  The 50mm f/1.4 and the 85L f/1.2 MK2.  If this is your first time hearing of this focusing screen I will go through a brief description of it below.

What is the EG-S screen?

(as Ken Rockwell explains)

These precision surfaces simulate ground glass and greatly increase brightness for f/2.8 and slower zoom lenses so popular today. They are designed to be bright and contrasty with these slow lenses.

Oddly, these modern screens get no brighter when you're using a lens faster than f/2.8. Try it: put on an f/1.8 or other fast fixed lens and flick the depth of field button. You'll see no change in anything until you stop down to about f/2.5!

28Dec/090

Case Study of the Trevor Stinson Firefighter Photo

Below is a small case study put together to show the process of how I came about the firefighter photo of Trevor Stinson.

This was shot for the Monticello (Indiana) Fire Department Calendar that I am currently finishing up.  It was originally scheduled as a 2010 calendar, but I think it might end up being their 2011 version.

Case Study

Final Image

Trevor Stinson

Trevor Stinson: Monticello Fire Department

1Dec/092

My New Business Cards

Received my new business cards today.

Uprinting.com was kind enough to send me 250 free business cards of my choice.  Huge thanks goes out to Rachel in the customer service department that put up with my multiple emails, letting me have the 250 free prints, and getting the job paid for me.  Much love.

I choose the uv-gloss and rounded die-cut corners.  Came out perfect and printed exactly how i proofed them.  Took a little while to get here because the proofs were approved just before Thanksgiving, but all in all Uprinting.com gets a big thumbs up from me!  Will do business with in the future.

9Aug/090

Devising your own Freelance Contracts

Recently I read the article posted by the graphic designer Brian Hoff, “What to Include In Your Design Contracts”. He has some excellent information and I highly recommend you stop by for a visit and read through the article (and subscribe to his RSS feed if you haven’t). I am going to expand on his article a little bit, and his will set the base for what I am about to touch on below.

I would like to give some insight on how I devise my contracts. This will probably be more catered to the photography side, but you can take this and twist this to other areas of the design world. We will be putting together a basic contract for a photo shoot. Now I must use this time to make my disclaimer, as I am not a lawyer and I have limited legal knowledge when it comes to offering advice about contracts. I have read books, I have hundreds of copies of different kinds of contracts saved on CDs, and even took a law class last year, but that still does not make me an expert on the subject. Everyone should seek proper legal advice about his or her contracts if you plan to get serious about freelancing, and you cannot hold me liable if you plan to use anything in this article for a contract. I have pieced together my contracts from numerous sources of information and advice given to me from other individuals.

This contract contains everything in a single form from the description of the assignment with an estimate of the photographer’s fees, terms and conditions, and defined terms. Below each section contains a sample in .pdf form that you can click on and download.

18Jun/090

Welcome Everyone!

Welcome to my new blog!

My name is Ryan O. Hicks and I am a creative graphic designer and photographer based out of West Lafayette, Indiana.

This blog will be a source of inspiration for some, a source of tutorials, a place for designers to gather and exchange information, and a place for photographers to explore different ideas and techniques. I will do my best to keep this blog updated as my time allows. If this expands beyond my control I will look to the community for support in putting a staff together to run the site for me when I can not be of service.

I'm currently still getting all my quirks worked out on this blog, so if something does not work or does not seem right do not fret I will get it fixed ASAP. However if you see something and I am not getting it fixed or it bugs you feel free to drop the admin an e-mail about the problem.

Please feel free to subscribe to our feed to stay updated about what is going on.

Thanks.