Lou Jones seminars...

I had the pleasure of meeting Lou Jones at a Portland Camera Club workshop a few years back (my profile picture was taken by Lou at that workshop) and we became friends from that point forward.

Lou was part of the very first post on this blog and is the first in my list of links.

Whenever he comes out with a new book I read it, or a seminar I go to it and with each interaction I learn something new, something that makes me a better photographer.

Well, Lou has two seminars coming up, this May in Boston and on Cape Cod in June, they are both 3 day seminars and anyone who is serious about their craft should consider going.

I'll be at the seminar in Boston and hope to see you there.

Here are the specifics:

Lou Jones, "Travel: Boston & Cape Cod Massachusetts"

Lou Jones is one of Boston's pre-eminent photographers and a Nikon "Legend Behind the Lens", he specializes in location photography for corporate, advertising & editorial clients like IBM, Major League Baseball, Federal Express, National Geographic, the Olympics, and Nike.

Lou Jones in Boston, this workshop emphasizes both extemporaneous photojournalism and more deliberately set up situations. We will pay special attention to using both available light and creating your own light.

Optional Equipment: Laptop (strongly recommended) and tripod.
Maximum Class Size: 12
Schedule: Fri 10AM-6PM; Sat Dawn-Dusk; Sun 9AM-2:30PM
2008 Dates: May 16-18

Lou Jones in Cape Cod, here you will learn to capture a variety of subjects under Cape Cod's ever-changing weather and natural light, we will, as needed, supplement with basic flash.

Optional Equipment: Laptop (strongly recommended) and tripod.
Maximum Class Size: 12
Schedule: Fri 10AM-6PM; Sat Dawn-Dusk; Sun 9AM-2:30PM
2008 Dates: June 6-8

One last note, these seminars are sponsored by Horizon Workshops and they have some 20 workshops from Massachusetts to Virginian and both the curriculum and instructors are outstanding, so be sure to check them out.

Two different three light setups...

In this episode you will learn two different three light setups. This video will help you to understand what equipment is used (and what you need to reproduce the results).

How to use a light meter...

In this video Mark describes the two types of light meters and answers the very important questions, "How do I use a light meter?" and"What meter should I buy?"

Turn your images into pencil drawings...

Outliner from from ImageSkill is a free Photoshop/Paintshop Pro plug-in that will allow you to turn your images into a pencil drawing.

During the conversion process you have control over image detail, edge size (pencil thickness) and can select either black on white or white on black.

Cool stuff.

Here is an image that demonstrates the possibilities, I won't insult your intelligence by marking them "before" & "After".

;)

Classic Camera of Biddeford Maine...

Is there anything more satisfying than finding a retail establishment that you LOVE doing business with? I don’ think so.

I want to share with you one such place I’ve found; it’s Classic Camera of Biddeford Maine. It’s run by Andy and (sometimes) his dad. You get outstanding service, great conversation, and leave looking forward to Your next visit.

Andy (a Leica film shooter) has forgotten more about cameras and photography than I will ever know.

Let me share with you my last two visits:

Just before Christmas a friend of mine gave me an old light meter she no longer used with the advice “it may need to be cleaned and calibrated”. I brought it to Andy, told him exactly what she had said and asked “how long?” “Give me a minute” with that Andy disappeared into the back of his shop, returned a few minutes later, handed me the light meter and told me it was all set. “How much?” I asked, “Nothing” he replied, “Merry Christmas”.

Recently I over tightened a bolt on a light stand and stripped the threads, so it was off to Classic Camera, “Andy, do you have one of these?” He didn’t have a new one but dragged out a big box of knobs, bolts, and doo dads he's been collecting for years and rummaged through it until he found me a match.

Try getting that kind of service on eBay or in a big box store.

They do repair work on all major brands of film cameras and sell great quality refurbished/used equipment (I bought a Quantum Battery 2 – new batteries and switches for $195).

You don’t have to live in Southern Maine to try these folks out; and you’ll be glad you did.

Classic Camera
West View Plaza
20 Edwards Ave.
Biddeford, ME 04005
207-284-5500

Ask for Andy!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have a dream..."

"I've been to the moutain top..."

This is a multi-purpose blog entry...

The first: If you are not yet listening to the podcast "The Candid Frame" hosted by Ibarionex Perello you are missing some great stuff.

At least once a month (sometimes more) Ibarionex will interview the worlds
top photographers and is kind enough to share these gems with us.

Simply amazing stuff.

About 18 months ago he interviewed Tara Whitney, a women who loved photographing her own family and then kinda fell into being paid to photograph others.

Many of us have seen the fancy shmancy flash and video websites and Tara rose quickly with only a modest, honest, and personal blog. Armed with that blog and her camera Tara realized the kind of success that many of us fantasize about (okay, so as I've aged my fantasies have changed), she was booking portrait sessions all over the west, she would fly into a city, do her sessions and then fly home, success by even the toughest of standards

Though Tara has moved on to the more traditional website, this has been fairly recent and was because of her professional success, not the cause of it.

Below you will find an excerpt of her original interview on The Candid Frame.

The purpose of this post is to :

1. Have you start listening to The Candid Frame

2. Go look at Tara's site and see some way cool family portraits.

3. To motivate you do stop waiting for when the "time is right", go do it now!

Remembering Your Lighting Setups... Part II...

Since the last entry, I came across some great examples of documenting/saving lighting setups by photographer Maurice Mc Duff.

Below is an image from this page that has sixteen examples, on the left you will find a beautiful image, on the right is the schematic layout of exactly what was used, what the settings were, and exactly where it was placed.

Good stuff, thank you Maurice.

Remembering Your Lighting Setups...

When you shoot a lot, it is easy to forget exactly what the setup was that you used, especially if it is a portrait session you shot months (or even a year) ago. Or maybe you are at a seminar or meeting and wished you had your setup to share with the photographers, or some way to right down their setups for when you get back to your studio.

Whatever the reason, here is the answer.

Kevin Kertz has put together a (Photoshop) .psd file that you can use to document (or create new) lighting setups.

The Photoshop file comes with a bunch of photography equipment included (each on its own unique layer) such as cameras, backdrops, lights, reflectors, models and more.

Create your diagram, flatten the image and viola!, it's ready for printing or emailing.

You can download the LightingSetup.psd here, and I have also included several sample images below to give you an sense of the possibilities.

Now before you download it, please understand that there are restrictions when using Kevin Kertz .psd file and I think it only fair (and respectful) that when a person is kind enough to share something with complete strangers, that we (the complete strangers) abide by the rules of its release. The rules are printed on the download page, but I want to print them here as well.

Restrictions:
• For personal use and to share your setups only!
• NO commercial use• Please leave the copyright on ALL setups...Thanks!
• YES you can post your setups on other sites. Please refer others to download here so FM can profit from new visitors.

So, now you are thinking, "Man! How cool is that!", but then it quickly sinks in that you don't have Photoshop. "Damn!"

Well, this is your lucky day as there is an online version that can be found right here!

Be sure to thank Scott Garson for providing this valuable online tool.

“Wireless flash” by Uzair Kharawala Reviewed…

I recently had the pleasure of watching the DVD “Wireless flash” by Uzair Kharawala for review on this blog.

Uzair is a wedding and portrait photographer living in England, he does Nikon sponsored training seminars, training for wedding photographers, and has produced this flash DVD.

Be forewarned, this DVD is done with and teaches how to use Nikon flash equipment (SU-800, SB-800), but I would strongly recommend that any photographers interested in learning some cool flash techniques take the time to watch this DVD.

This DVD presents us with 7 different photographic scenarios, 1 indoor & 2 outdoor portrait sessions, 2 outdoor sports sessions, 1 food, and 1 industrial session. A wide variety of lighting challenges, not just easily overcome, but done so with outstanding results. At the end of the blog you will find images from 2 of the 7 sessions.

Before you get 2 minutes into the DVD the first thing you will be impressed with is the quality of production. The audio is simply top notch in clarity and volume levels, the best I have heard in a photography based training DVD.

The chapters explain everything that a beginner or a person who has owned their camera for awhile may need to know in order to get excellent images using a simple set up that consists of a couple flashes and one triggering device.

In each of the seven photography sessions Uzair explains to the viewer the settings of the equipment being used and the conditions of the shoot conditions itself.

The flow from shoot 1 to shoot 7 is in such an order that it starts with a simple set up for a flash photography shoot and then builds sensibly from that point on by adding the extra equipment and changing to more interesting location examples.

All that being said, there are two things I would like to have been different:

1. The DVD is only 25 minutes long, everything was well documented and covered, but because I was thoroughly enjoying what I was watching, I wished there was more. Much like (for me) eating Thai food, though one plate is delicious and filling, that doesn't mean I wouldn't like some more.

2. A beginner will be blown away with what this DVD teaches, but a more advanced photographer would enjoy a bit of theory and maybe a few technical difficulties that needed to be overcome to make the shoot "work".

This DVD gets two thumbs up. Enjoy!

Outdoor Portrait

Outdoor Sports

Studio Lighting, Part 2...

More from Mark:

Studio Lighting, Part 1...

Here is the first in a series of studio lighting videos by Photographer Mark Wallace, enjoy!

A quick look back at 2007…

Here are the numbers:

This log has been online for 5 months

We have posted to it 41 times

Visitors have come from 98 different countries

There have been 10, 451 unique visitors

And 15,887 different page views

I want to thank you for making these numbers possible, as the success of this blog is because of you, our visitors.

If you like what we did in 2007, you are going to love 2008, as we will be doing more and doing it better with more posts, more reviews, and more resources for the photographers who visit this blog.

Your comments and suggestions on how to make this blog better are encouraged and greatly appreciated.