Here's your next assignment...

For whatever reason I have not done a very good job documenting the area I live in "photographically" and have decided that this summer I am going to change that.

So this past weekend I picked my first victim and headed off to photograph the town next door, Old Orchard Beach (Maine).

The population explodes between May and September as Old Orchard Beach is most definitely a tourist town, it has a kinda "carny" town feel to it with all the rides, games, and pier, it also has some of the nicest beaches in Maine.

Here are some images that represent a typical Saturday night in OOB.

Click on any image to view larger, especially the one of Elvis!

Lots of rides...

And you can't throw a rock six feet in any direction without hitting a pizza place....

The best part of Saturday night is that I can now say, "I SAW ELVIS!"

Yes, despite those occasional potholes and bumps in the road, life is very good.

Now your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to go someplace close to you, that you may have been to a bazillion times but never really photographed and do just that, capture it like you wanted to tell a story. Then (please) upload an image of two to our Flickr group.

If you are not already part of our Flickr group we would love for you to join us, you can get all the details on how to join right here.

A happy Father's Day... and a thought...

First, I want to wish a warm and wonderful Father's Day to all you dads out there. If I could give the new ones (those that still have the shine on them) just a small piece of advice, cherish being a dad, drink it ALL in, don't miss a thing.

You may think the road is long, but I had one daughter graduate last week, and now my twins will do the same in less than a year and I swear I don't know where the time went, obviously I must have been in a coma because surely 18 years could not have past by this quickly.

Along with other changes in my life Father's Day will be different moving forward, not that it's a bad thing, but change can be scary.

And what I wouldn't give to have them come running into the room wearing their one piece footy pajamas just one more time.

Here is a "re-run" of a previous Father's Day post:

I was having lunch with my friend Bob, our ritual is lunch every Thursday and I always enjoy our conversations as Bob is thoughtful and insightful man.

When Bob talks, I listen.

At this one particular lunch I was telling Bob about my dad, who left when I was 6, and how it had been decades since I last saw him.

I told him that on my 40th birthday a card containing a letter arrived from my dad telling me of his regrets, that a lot of water had passed under the bridge, and that he would love to visit. Reading his words didn’t provoke any emotions, the anger of him leaving us had long since gone, but I didn’t feel the need for a reunion either. The letter went into a drawer and I never replied.

Bob asked why; I told him that “at this point in my life I didn’t feel the need for father”. He nodded and then thoughtfully responded, “ya, but maybe he has a need for a son”.

It was like I had just been struck by lighting. I got it.

I found out where my dad was living and made arrangements to go see him.

But he died before I got there.

Regrets don’t come from the things we do, sure there are some things we won’t do a second time, but we learn from them, there was a lesson in there for us.

The true regrets come from the things that we don’t do.

You too may be at a point in your life where you don’t feel the need for a father, but maybe you have a father who needs a son.

Something to think about.

Happy Fathers Day dad.

(me and my dad)

Father's Day photo gear...

Just in case dad is a photographer, here are a few suggestions.

As is always the case, not only is this stuff on sale, it also comes with free shipping.

LumiQuest Wedding/Event Kit with Quik Bounce Light Modifier - $34

You can check out our LumiQuest review here, a great little light modifier.

Flashpoint VL-48, Macro Ring Light - $39

X-Rite Digital ColorChecker Passport, Exposure & White Balance System - $79

You can check out our ColorChecker review here, I use this ALL the time and think there is nothing better for getting color correct.

Think Tank Airport 4-Sight Four Wheel Roller - $149

Lexar 64GB Professional 800x CompactFlash Card - 2 Pack - $249 

Since I stared shooting with the Nikon D800 I have moved to this memory cards to accommodate the large file size and have been extremely happy with their performance.

Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density ND Filter - 2 to 8 Stop - $149

Check out our Scott Kelby Long exposure tutorial to see this kind of filter in action. I own it and love it.

Flashpoint Carbon Fiber Tripod, with Ball Head - $149

Lastly, every penny of every affiliate check we get goes to feeding the hungry, so here is a chance to get outstanding gear at sale prices while also giving a hand to those in need.

Thank you.

Photography Q&A with Zack Arias...

In the interest of full disclosure, I have made it pretty clear on this blog that I am a HUGE Zack Arias "fan boy"!

We have posted about Zack more than a few times, reviewing his One Light Workshop DVD (which we also named "product of the year"), we reviewed his CreativeLIVE workshop, and also shared his tutorials on using white seamless (to name a few).

With that being said, lets talk about the latest book to do the "UPS thud" on my porch, Photography Q&A: Real Questions. Real Answers from, you may have guessed, Mr. Zack Arias.

Believe it or not, the first thing I read when I open a book is the dedication, I think it speaks volume about the belief structure of the author.

Now, about the book itself.

Q: Who is the target audience of this book?

A: Anyone who takes their photography seriously, being an amateur or professional photographer has nothing to do with it, being serious about the craft of photography does.

Q: What was the origin of Photography Q&A: Real Questions. Real Answers?

A: It started with Zack's Tumblr blog Photography Q&A: Ask me anything about photography (where you can still ask questions or read the other questions along with Zack's answers).

Q: Did you like this book?

A: No, I absolutely LOVED this book, so much so that I will find it hard to give away to one of our readers.

Q: Is it really just questions and answers?

A: Yup, a 100 of them, about gear, about business, about the best places to go on the web to get good honest critiques of your work, and I can't tell you how many times I said "oooh, that's a good question".

Q: Did you have a favorite part of the book?

A: Yup, page 62, Zach talks about why we should photograph the people we love.

Q: Anything else?

A: I really liked his answer to the question about building a portfolio (page 216), probably the longest answer to any question in the entire book, really really well thought out answer. Lots of visual cues and examples along with the rational for why. It drove home the point that our portfolio is the most important thing we as photographers "put out there".

Q: Is the book worth the money to buy and time to read?

A: OMG YES! Because of the diversity and range of the questions it would be impossible to cover everything that's in the book, but I can tell you truthfully - not once did I read a question/answer and think "well, that was a waste of my time".

The questions are the same ones I (and I bet you) have, and the answers are phenomenally educational.

Seriously, it's like sitting across the table from Zack Arias and peppering him for hours with every question you've ever had and listening to his thoughtful and insightful answers, how could that NOT be extremely valuable?

The things you'll learn that will add to your photography are priceless, and the time and money you'll save by not making the mistakes Zack talks about will be worth far more than the cost of buying a few cases of this book.

There are educational opportunities that don't require you to ever touch your camera, it requires you to listen, to think, to learn from the experience of others, and if that interests you, you can't do any better than Photography Q&A: Real Questions. Real Answers.

There is no lesson here...

(click on image to view larger)
Nope, this is not a tutorial, there's no "big secret" or "trick" on how to edit, it has nothing to do with a Lightroom preset or a Photoshop action, and it's not a review of that next best piece of editing software.

It's a picture, just one single picture.

This is a photograph I took of my daughter Katie (aka: boo boo) on prom night a few weeks back.

I have taken a bazillion photographs that show how pretty she is (not that I am biased), but I think this is the first photograph I have taken of her that truly captures (and shows) her stunning inner beauty.

It's what I see every time I look at her... and I wanted the world to see it too.

Rolling on towards one million!...

Last night we topped 900,000 views on our YouTube channel.

We need to thank all of you for taking the time to watch our silly little videos, and to Scott Kelby for doing his "long exposure tutorial", which is by far our most popular video.

If you want to see our worst video, check this one out, a great product but a really bad video.

:)

So we now roll on to the 1,000,000 mark, a HUGE milestone, made possible only because of you.

THANK YOU!

You may have noticed....

We have added a "big event" countdown clock to the upper left right column.

Any guesses?

Check out this photo gear on sale...

Some great deals on photography gear for your consideration.

First we have Lexar memory card on sale, you can select from both Compact Flash and SDHC cards, and they are available as single cards or multi-packs.

Second, we have Canon lenses, almost every one of them are on sale and come with rebates, some as high as $200.

Third are the Canon bodies, again almost every one of them is on sale with rebates as high as $500. There are the options of body only or body and lens kits.

All of the items on sale also come with free shipping.

Lastly, every penny of every affiliate check we get goes to feeding the hungry, so here is a chance to get outstanding gear at sale prices while also giving a hand to those in need.

Thank you.

Another (outstanding) Flickr Wednesday...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's an eight thousand word post... ;)

Enjoy, I sure did.

Click on any of the images below to view larger.

"Berries" 

"4" 

"Fox" 

"Leaving Today" 

"Memorial Day 2013" 

"Parked" 

"Legs on Holiday" 

"Amazing Spiderman" 

If you are not currently part of our Flick group we would love for you to join us, you'll find all the details on how to join right here.

And if you do upload images, I strongly encourage you to watermark your image with your name and your website so folks can easily find you, and they can enjoy more of your work.

"Thank you" to everyone who has taken the time to be part of our group and for uploading images.

The origin of Photoshop...

In my humble opinion the origin of both Photoshop AND glamour photography falls smack in the lap of George Hurrell.

He was the photographer of the stars in the "heydays" of Hollywood (1930's).

I am not going to spend too much time today talking about Mr. Hurrell, but will leave you with enough resources below so you can read to your hearts content about him, his style, and gaze at his work.

If you had to pick out the two things that really separated George from the pack it was his lighting style and editing technique.

He would ask his stars to wear little to no makeup which made it easier for him to actually retouch the 8x10 negative produced by his large format camera (using things as simple as a pencil).

Here is the original photograph of Joan Crawford on the left next to the same photo on the right after the negative had been retouched:

More glamour shots of Hollywood stars photographed (and edited) by George Hurrell, he often lit so that the subjects eyelashes would cast dramatic shadows (click on any image to view larger):

Carole Lombard 

Dorothy Arnold 

Joan Crawford 

Jean Harlow 

Here are some links you will want to check out:

George Hurrell

Hurrell Estate Editions

From The Atlantic "Starlight and Shadow"

The Telegraph "George Hurrell: the master of the Hollywood still"

The Reel Foto "George Hurrell: Lights, Camera, Glamour!"

Watch the 1 hour documentary "George Hurrell Documentary "Legends in Light"

Here is a video the emulates the classic Hollywood glamor, but using todays tools and techniques "Classic Hollywood Glamour in Photoshop"

Enjoy

Tips & tricks for shooting reflective surfaces...

Here is a follow up (and an addition to) our post from Friday on photographing reflective surfaces.



One of the most challenging things to light is glass (and other highly reflective surfaces), because normally when we photograph a subject we are putting our light on that subject. But with glass we do the opposite, we are lighting around the subject.

I have put together some incredible examples of how to light reflective surfaces, so hang on, here goes:

The first resource is from us, here is the post of a shoot we did with our client Mastercam.

Resource number two is from one of my photography heroes David Hobby (aka Strobist), it was an assignment he shot of flavored vodkas, so follow this link to see all the shiny details.

Number three is from Strobist as well (see, I told you he was a hero), and it too involves alcohol, this time it's beer, check it out.

This link is from DIY Photography (yet more beer).

Another resources is from Pixiq and shows a dramatically different way of shooting the same product (Vodka).

Here are the last two well done tutorials for lighting glass here and here (sorry, no alcohol in these).

We will close with two video tutorials, the first is how to shoot glass, the second is how to shoot metal..

Subscribers, you know the routine, you will need to return to the blog to watch these videos (as they do not get pushed through with your subscription).

The last day of school....

Well, the last day of high school at least as Molly well be heading off to college in just a few short months.

Those of you who have been coming to Weekly Photo Tips for very long have kinda watched Molly grow up, as much to her dismay I have posted about her more than just a few times (like here, here, and here).

And oh my, how the van decorations have change.

And as the weather gods wanted to make her last day memorable, we came close to hitting 100 on her final day!

I drift between joy and sadness that my little girl "stinky" is graduating in a mere 7 days.

Just not sure how it was able to sneak up on me like this.

How to photograph reflective surfaces...

One of the more challenging things to light is glass (and other highly reflective surfaces), because normally when we photograph a subject we are putting our light on that subject.

But with glass we do the opposite, we are lighting around the subject.

You will find a couple well done tutorials for lighting glass here and here.

Today is the last day...

Just reminder that today is the last day to save almost 50% on the new editing tool "Clarity" from Topaz Labs (just $29).

For more information you can check out our original post here, or head over to YouTube and watch our "demonstration" video.