Photography – Sean Ongley

Spring/Summer 2023 Photo Collection

I am woefully behind. It’s almost winter and here comes the spring and summer photo collection. Truth is I posted a while ago to Instagram. It’s unfortunate how a super massive conglomerate surveillance software brand like Meta can get us all to prioritize Instagram instead of privately hosted blogs, but they did a good job of building soviet-style blocks that everyone could move into.

But, perhaps that I am so busy is a testament to the future. We can only hope. Actually, my photography schedule has slowed. I had my best paying gig thanks to Moodio Studios this year, but aside from that, I’ve mostly focused on shooting a documentary and getting product photos for Held Gear.

Given all the time of the day to pursue only what I want, I’d for sure be shooting a documentary all the time, plus enjoying special photo sessions and field trips.

Providing photography as a service can be a lucrative career, but it’s very competitive, and everyone has to find their niche. That should come naturally but with consideration to the particular talents they have. To evolve from a $1,000 camera rig into the $3,000+ you need just to do standard event photography is a hill to climb.

I am still using the Panasonic Lumix G-85, with the 42mm f1.7 lens, and the standard issue 14-45mm f3.5 lens. I love the 42 but it’s very specific in its appearance and focus range. It’s not versatile. The latter is too dark, too grainy, does pretty well with video but still needs more light than most stages and indoor events can offer.

I have worked around numerous photographers lately and they have these marvelous leather harnesses now that give them two cameras and multiple lenses and tools at the ready, and the weight is evenly distributed across their back and shoulders. I think I should build one for myself as a prototype and sell them as a durable vegan alternative. Held Gear is equipped for it.

The love for photography began when I was a kid, I just never invested into it. I have now been doing this fairly seriously since last summer, and what you see in this collection brings you up to one year of progress.

Enjoy.

November 19, 2023

Winter 2023 Photo Collection

Last year, I was hooked up with a Panasonic G-85 DSLM camera for the dual purpose of taking product shots for Held Gear, and to revive the old Thru Media dream with plans of publishing new original video content. As things have gone, I’ve taken to photography and have had the support of Philly friends in providing me some gigs. The pictures below are a combination of shots taken for hire and others I’ve volunteered for.

I don’t get out enough to shoot for the sake of it, I always tie it to something else, in part to maximize my time. Giving away photos for someone who can use them while gaining experience is a good tactic, although one stands the risk of making negative impressions with sub par results.

The photos below are a small collection of some favorites from the winter of 2023. Events represented here include Solar’s dance party series Oblivion, Great Circle’s live ambient music series Passages featuring a visual experience from Klip Collective, and Yolo Ono’s sober evening of DJ music called Club Connection.

Please read the captions for context to each photo, and if you want to know more intimate detail about it, please follow my instagram and you’ll see the same batch of images with a story and tags to the people involved.

April 20, 2023

Photography from 2022

In 2022, I became a photographer. The journey began in June and by December I was accepting money for pictures. It was necessary to volunteer without permission, give away thousands of photos until enough people saw the quality of the work to ask for it.

Sure, I dabbled with cameras before, I helped shoot documentary, but I never focused on photography with my own professional grade camera, a Panasonic G-85, until six months ago.

There are a lot of technical things I’m just starting to understand. Aperture, ISO, white balance, shutter speed, f-stop: Changing any of these can get very different results and sometimes they seem to do the same thing. Although I need to study the mechanics of all that, I have learned to adjust on the fly until I’m happy.

One of the accelerators for that learning was that the camera came with a 28-70mm Tokina AT-X lens with manual aperture, made for Nikon. The mismatched lens is trickier because modern lenses are electronic, and the camera needs data to interpret for autofocus and other computerized functions.

Eventually, I ordered a Panasonic lens, an entry level 45-150mm, but none of these photos employed it. This lens provides me pull access to the camera’s features, though it’s an entry level lens, it is electronically matched and that helps. However, all of these were taken with the Nikon lens.

Then there is editing. Rarely is a photo taken so well on a digital camera that the image can’t benefit from digital enhancements. I just use Apple photos. I have Gimp for graphic work, but I didn’t use it for these.

Please pay attention to the caption and descriptions as they provide a tiny bit of context for each image.

By the way, the excuse I gave myself to buy the camera was for product photography for Held Gear. None of that is included here. Please visit my business at heldgear.com to see those images.

These are free to download and share. I practice value for value if you find something of value in here, please spread the wealth.