Ask Me Anything

by

My name is Noel Chenier, you killed my father, prepare to die…
Oh wait, wrong fictional character!

My name is Noel Chenier, IAmA highly succesful social media influencer.

When I’m not doing that, I am a full-time photography instructor at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton.
Before that, I worked for almost two decades as a photographer for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal newspaper.
(For those born after the year 2000, it was how people go their news before the internet)
You can see some of that work here. Yes, I need to update my website. It’s on my list…

I also created a cool app Learn Photo365 to help insprie photographers. You can find more about that here.

To prepare for this, you really should check out my Instagram feed here and read every word of my posts.

I’ll probably end up regretting this…but here goes:

AMA.

I’ll do my best to answer them as quickly as I can. Keep checking back for the answers!

Your question is saved and will appear when it is answered.

Answers So Far..

  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on May 1, 2020 7:44 pm
    In Lightroom v6 Library mode how do I change the file letter to match my LR external drive letter.
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on May 9, 2020 8:54 pm
      Again, not an eay questiont to answer in this format, as it's a technical problem and I can't really ask questions.
      But I'll assume you are using a PC.
      The problem is Windows is giving the drive a new letter when you plug it back in.
      One online suggestion was to get Windows to give your drive a letter between M and Z, as Windows wouldn't normally assign those letters as you wouldn't have that many drives plugged in as once to reach those letters.
      Here is a link with instructions. https://www.howtogeek.com/96298/assign-a-static-drive-letter-to-a-usb-drive-in-windows-7/
      Hope that helps!
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 30, 2020 6:44 pm
    Hey Noel! I've got some experience under my belt doing food photography. I use a Nikon D3200 paired with a 50mm lens. I'm adding a 35mm lens to my kit so I can do flat lay photos from overhead. I find sometimes my photos aren't as "tack sharp" as I'd like. I'm looking at upgrading to a Nikon D5600 or 7200 if I can get my act together. Will that improve my photos, or should I wait it out? Any tips would help! Love that you're doing this!
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 30, 2020 7:30 pm
      Hard to give this kind of advice without back and forth, so I may need you to email me some pix...but here goes!
      For flate photos, better to set up so that you can get more distance between camera and food.
      So a lower table or a higher tripod that allows you to mount the pole sidways so the camera can be placed directly above a subject.
      You are having the problem I had with my alogrithm shoot I mention below...
      35mm lens is going to give distortion on the edges, plus on a crop sensor it's not going give a much wider angle.
      D5600/7200 are both the same megapixels, so there won't be an increase in quality, but are newer cameras so the chips are probably better quality.
      D7200 would be the better choice if ye the wealth...
      Other factors are potential camera shake, either too slow a shutter speed, not using a tripod, or not enough depth of field.
      Hope that helps, if not email me some pix!
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 30, 2020 12:41 pm
    How many illegitimate children do you have?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 30, 2020 12:46 pm
      To my knowledge, none.
      However, there was that time I was abducted by aliens.
      I'm still a bit fuzzy on what happened, but it's very possible during my "visit" they may have harversted some genetic material from me and may have impregnated other aliens with it. But I could have also taken part in some wierd alien marriage ceremony on the ship, I have no idea.
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 10:47 pm
    What are you learning on this journey grasshopper?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 30, 2020 1:17 am
      So much... 1. Doing this every day is hard. It's actually a lot of work. Well, at least trying to come up with something worth reading and not dumb two lines quotes of blathering nothingnesss... 2. I really need a wireless remote for my camera. 3. Some idiot put an illegal deer stand in a tree on my property that I'm not sure how to deal with. 4. People apparantly want to see more dancing... 5. The survey was super enlightening, will be sharing the results soon, but here are some teasers I found the lack of Star Wars fans among my survey respondents...disturbing... I was surprised for the lack of love for Capatin Sisko and Captain Ron... "Your very name is a lie. It says no 'L' but there it is, mocking me."
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 6:32 pm
    You've got great hair! Do you dye it?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 6:34 pm
      All natural! It used to be a nicer red, but then we had children and all the colour faded...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 4:35 pm
    Do you have stairs in your house?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 4:52 pm
      Inside, there is one set. Carpeted. Off white, with flecks of red and blue. Wait, are you casing my house to rob us? If that is the case, it leads to a pit full of alligators...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 4:30 pm
    Do you (or will you be) offer an online photoshop/lightroom course?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 4:53 pm
      It's on my list of things I'll never get done because I don't have the time... Until I do, Creative Live has some great courses. https://www.creativelive.com/
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 3:59 pm
    Did you really tape over one of the tapes of your kids first years?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 4:02 pm
      If I did, I wouldn't be able to reply. I'd be dead.
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 3:54 pm
    Are you okay? Do you need the contact details for a good psychiatrist?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 4:03 pm
      I'm great...why do you ask? Oh, these posts. I've had a few Facebook friends who are offer appointments. But I think I'm okay, thank you for your concerns!
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 29, 2020 3:29 pm
    How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 4:06 pm
      I think it's really not a question of how much wood could a woodchuck chuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood...but more of a WOULD a woodchuck actually chuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 28, 2020 10:14 pm
    Do you come up with the photos or the written parts first?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 28, 2020 10:39 pm
      Another chicken and egg situation… Sometimes I have a photo and write the post around it. Sometimes I have the words, and then come up with a photo to illustrate it.
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 28, 2020 10:09 pm
    Did you really plank and try to eat Cinnamon?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 28, 2020 10:40 pm
      Do I look that flexible? I had to combine separate images. One with my chest area raised, another with my legs flying up in the air...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 28, 2020 10:08 pm
    Do you use assistants?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 28, 2020 10:40 pm
      The best money can coerce. Or be guilted into it. Or whichever of my kids are unfortunately in the vicinity when I need someone to hit the shutter. But now my kids have grown tired of helping out, no matter how much money I offer...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 28, 2020 10:08 pm
    What photos were the most difficult to shoot?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 29, 2020 7:41 pm
      They all have some layer of difficulty. Mostly from trying to shoot them without a wireless remote and not having an assistant.
      One of the hardest things is framing the image properly, and getting proper focus where I am going to end up.
      One of the most difficult was the algorithm shoot. (Not the dancing one, the one with the charts, etc)
      First I had to create all the charts and calculations, etc. I had the camera on a tripod with the bar sideways hanging over the table. I had to arrange everything perfectly, leaving space for myself. Then I had to hit the self-timer, climb under the tripod legs without hitting them, and get into position.
      The table is about 8 inches off the floor, so I had to lay down on the floor, but then arch my upper body onto the table so it would look like I was asleep on a table. Otherwise it wouldn't right. That was really uncomfortable.
      And I had to repeat this over and over again, because by this point my kids were sick of being my assistant no matter how much I offered to pay them.
      My pec muscles hurt for a few days afterward, probably from not being used to have to actually do work.
      My ab muscles were the same after the birdbox/cinammon/planking challenge. That was also hard because I wasn't able to learn both my upper body and my legs at the same time, so I had to cheat and shoot them separately and photoshop them together.
      And finally, the one with our poodle Pepper also happened as I described. She did not want to co-operate at all...
  • Avatar Someone asked:
    on April 28, 2020 10:08 pm
    What are your favourite taco fillings?
    • Noel Chenier Noel Chenier replied:
      on April 28, 2020 10:40 pm
      Whatever I’m passionate about at the time, that’s what I want to do. Or do you actually mean tacos? Hamburger, shredded cheese, lettuce, onions, and salsa. Hard/soft shell, I’m good with either.

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