In this video John Ricard takes a look at the “usability” and “focus” of the Leica M9 digital camera.
Author Archive for Guest – Page 8
As a photographer my preferred line of work is in the studio, taking shots of people and products. My aim is to always create images that need a minimal amount of post production. This not only saves me time but I feel it forces me to be a better photographer. If I take my time composing a shot with consideration to how it’s going to end up looking on my screen or in print then hopefully it will come out right with minimal post production work. It’s not easy to do this and far too often I hear people say ‘ah that will do, I can Photoshop it out’. True, with the right skill set on Photoshop there is very little that is not possible these days. But does that make you a better photographer, no it makes you a better illustrator or image retoucher or essentially a lazy photographer!
If you can get an image spot on with minimal editing why would you not choose that path? Unless you are more of a photo retoucher and enjoy editing image after image why do it? Well an answer to this question may lye in the economic climate of todays world. Businesses are having to become very clever in their marketing strategies and to keep on to of the game they need something fresh and new. Good photographers are no different; constantly on the look out for new ideas, new challenges and finding a niche or edge over the competition.
So you’re a product photographer and your client is looking for something different or fresh for their website, why not offer 360º Product Photography? Read More→
As a landscape photographer, I love using lens filters. There are certain benefits you gain in effectively using filters that simply cannot be reproduced in Photoshop. Learning the ins and outs of proper filter use is an art form in and of itself and takes a lot of practice. What I would like to do today is introduce a few of my favorite lens filters, why I use them, and what they can specifically do for your landscape images. I will follow this post up in the future about the technical aspects of filter shooting so you can take this knowledge out to the field with you and create some beautiful images.
Circular Polarizer – A well know but seemingly under appreciated lens filter. Many people dismiss the usefulness of polarizers because of the amazing image editing tools available nowadays but there are a few reasons why I still like using one. Polarizers are most known for deepening blue skies and cutting out glare in water. Yes, skies can be further saturated during post processing, but CP’s also retain contrast in clouds and prevent them from being over exposed, hugely beneficial. Eliminating glare in water can often times be more aesthetically pleasing, but there is another use that can sometimes come in handy: dismissing reflections and glare in windows and glass.
Ryan Armbrust visits the Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas for a classic Las Vegas themed pinup girl photo shoot. Ryan and his team flew to Vegas and booked the Neon Boneyard for a 2 hour shoot, but Vegas was experiencing sustained 40 mph winds with 60 mph gusts. With winds like this they shut the entire Boneyard down because the bigs signs could easily blow over. Luckily they were able to work out a plan to get into the Neon Boneyard before it opened at 7am to shoot before they had to catch their plane back to Louisville.
You can read more about the shoot on Boudoir Louisville’s website.
True story – I was in Trader Joe’s the other night picking out a bottle of red wine. I’m notoriously bad at this. I don’t really know what makes one wine ‘better’ than another, and I barely understand the lingo. Someone can tell me the technical crap until they’re blue in the face – I still won’t get it or know what to expect. Worse, if it’s not the tastiest bottle, then I have to explain to my wife why I picked a bad one. Not good.
This particular night, though, I felt like rolling the dice and trying something new. Trader Joe’s is at least nice enough to add some description to the wines. They’ll tell a bit about the taste, what you can expect, and suggested foods to go with it. That’s all well and good, but have you ever been to Trader Joe’s? There are probably 100 different red wines to pick from. The descriptions all had words in them like oaky, full, light, or listed a zillion types of berries.
About halfway through working my way down the section and getting more confused than ever, one bottle in particular caught my eye. It was the design that was interesting; it was more than just a label with words that I can’t pronounce. So I read the little tag that Trader Joe’s put in front of it. Instead of the usual adjectives listed above, it told about the symbol on the bottle and its meaning, adding some background detail as to what that wine can be used to celebrate. Guess what? That was the deal clincher for me. INSTANTLY. It hit me on an emotional level (the wine was for a special occasion between me and my wife). More importantly the story behind the bottle was interesting. It gave me something to talk about surrounding my (ir)rational decision process in choosing that bottle. For once, I could actually sound intelligent in discussing a wine and feel proud of the decision that I made. Read More→
I love shooting boudoir. I got into it by accident several years ago. I had a client who had just changed their life. They liked my portrait work and asked if I did, or would like to do, a Boudoir shoot with them. Never having done it, I said, ‘Why not?! Sounds like fun!’ And it was. It was like doing a fantasy shoot with fashion, fun and playing with lighting like I’d never done before.
When it came time to do the viewing of the images we made, the client was silent. I was worried. And at the end of the show, she burst into tears!
My first thought was ‘Oh my God, she hates them! I’ll never do boudoir again!’ However, it turned out she had never seen herself as beautiful, until she got those portraits done. Seeing her beauty on film had an impact that could not be measured. It changed her entire body image as well as self confidence. And it made me realize how much potential we have as photographers to change people’s lives for the better. After that I changed my business, and now, 10 years later, Boudoir is one of my favorite specialties. Read More→