finger pointing thursday, april 23, 2009

Wonders of the web from the week we were:

• What looks to be a swell wedding photography book, Jacqueline Tobin's Wedding Photography Unveiled discussed/touted over at DPS
• More DPS sharing a basic lesson on ISO
• Oh, still DPS..... 14 great tips, tutorials and videos from around the web
• Cameradojo takes on color space. Specifically Adobe RGB vs. sRGB vs. ProPhoto RGB
• Pixelated Image suggests a plethora of photo blogs that you should be reading right now!
• Are you shooting any nudes? If you are, check out Photo Attorney's warnings about a law known as section 2257
• And... speed photography over at DPS. It's all about the flash, not the shutter speed!
  

bladt/hargesheimer wedding

Some pix from Saturday's Bladt/Hargesheimer wedding at the Phoenix Zoo.

zoo

Worked a wedding at the Phoenix Zoo last night. Ceremony by the "savannah" and reception in an area decorated like a Mexican village. Here's a shot from the reception.

"American Character"

Just stumbled across this project on MSNBC.com. They describe it as,

"American Character" is a collection of portraits put together to capture the diversity of subjects across the country. Conceived by USA Networks as part of an ongoing artistic initiative, the book brings together 11 photographers to share their visions of “character” in America. Photographers include legends like Sylvia Plachy and Mary Ellen Mark, amongst many others."

Basically, environmental portraits of average Americans doing their average American thang. Honestly, not exactly amazing, but always nice to see a project with a theme (as broad as it is) put together in a tidy package.

David Ziser seminar

Had the distinct pleasure of attending David Ziser's Digital Wakeup Call seminar last night in Phoenix. Let me tell ya, that guy is a dynamo! The tour continues in Tucson tonight and I can't recommend it enough. Especially for the price -- $59 advance/$79 at the door (although I believe you can register "advance" probably right up to about an hour before, but don't hold me to that). If you are somewhere else, check the schedule, they've got something like 50 more dates this year all over the country.

I won't go into everything he talked about or all the great perks you get -- go to his site and it's all listed there. But I will say that he fills every minute. He talks fast and gets tons of information in. When you take notes, do it fast, although he does provide a tourbook that has most of it in there. And he gives away a bunch of great door prizes.

One of the things that is great about David Ziser is he shows you how to accomplish some great photography without breaking the bank. For instance, up until recently his main workhorse was the Canon 40D, same as me, so that's nice.

I'd like to thank David and LaDawn Ziser for letting me be a part of the event and, of course, for the hospitality and beers afterward! It was great to meet you and I hope we cross paths again sometime!

finesse that retouching

One Big Happy
by Michael Johnston

hoppy easter, too

finger pointing saturday, april 11, '09

Check out the links for general awesomeness and specific examples of excellence!

• 50 Totally Free Lessons in Graphic Design Theory by our friends over at psd tuts!
• Painting with Light by photocritic.org
• Creating Depth of Field with Filters and Masks by Digital Photography School
• Very cool yabadoo demo that interactively introduces you to the ways aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. come together for exposure and effect
• family portrait tips by Digital Photography School
• Night Landscape Photography by Nice
• Environmental Portraits by Digital Photography School
• Using Ambient Light and Strobe for a Natural Looking Still Life by Lighting Essentials
• Seven Lighting Tutorials to Make Your Photos Stand Out by Photography Bay
• Custom Business Cards for Marketing by David Ziser at Digital Pro Talk

look serious

Look serious. Look intense. Look without looking.

Oh, and look! Models.

tat's tat

Winding down with model pix. That just means I've got to go shooting this weekend. One job on Saturday and then some free time to shoot for fun.

This young lady had a plethora of terrific tattoos and showed them off to great effect.

more Dolars!

format test

just a test a pic. A test and a pic, yup a test and a pic. Don't get excited, it's just a test and a pic!

lady's night

... and now for the ladies. Two of 'em, anyway. Getting chummy.

the male of the species

Running with scissors here, or a theme, anyway. This time just the fellas are on parade. Enjoy!

models

Sticking with the fashion shoot for awhile as I'm satisfied with a number of these pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

lingerie fashion show

I was invited to shoot a lingerie fashion show last night in Phoenix. It's been a few years since I had a chance to shoot a fashion show. Here's my first favorite. Probably more to come as I edit the batch. Stay tuned...

all the single ladies

Well, they may not ALL be single. I know the bride definitely is no longer single! Just a lovely groupshot of the bridal party from Erin and Chris' wedding just about two weeks ago.

life of the party

These two gents were the life of the party on Saturday at the Dolar wedding. Especially the fellow on the right. He nearly burned a hole in the dance floor. It was a very fun night!

Review of CameraLensRentals.com

Hello All~

Several posts ago I talked about equipment buying/selling, sharing, borrowing, and renting. Since then I had the opportunity to try out one of the rental joints, Cameralensrentals.com.

I'll save you all the suspense, the experience was good. I placed the order online. Shortly thereafter, they confirmed availability and acceptance of my order. Lens arrived on a Thursday just like they said they would. I ordered a Canon 24-70 f2.8L and the Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS. My official rental period (I chose 10 days) didn't start until the Friday. I like that.

The lenses were wrapped in bubblewrap inside softcases (with UV filters, caps, and hoods) and then packed well in lots of scalloped foam in an appropriately sized box. Also in the box was instructions, an invoice, and a return Fedex label (shipping was part of my original cost).

The price was cheaper or at least on par with the other 1/2 dozen places I shopped and CLR offered a 10% for a first-time user. Not too shabby.

The lenses seemed to be in fine shape, although I expected more out of L glass. They weren't as amazingly or consistently sharp, bright, or fast as I thought they would be. Of course, this is no reflection on CLR. Just on these lenses and perhaps my overzealous expectations.

The day before I was due to ship the lenses back, I received an e-mail reminder from CLR just as they told me they would. The day of shipping I got an email asking that I replace the return label with a new one they were sending via email (apparently to change the shipping from ground to air or express). They wanted the lens back on Wednesday rather than Friday. As long as it was their extra dime, fine by me!

Then I got a call to once again remind me to ship, but it was already happily with the Fedex/Kinko's folk by that point! So, as long as they are happy with the condition the lenses are in when they see them tomorrow (and I believe them to be the same way I got them), I'd have to give the whole experience a big thumbs-up. CLR was easy to work with and did everything they promised. Having said that, I see no reason not to use them again, but I am interested to know how the other rental joints work. So, if you have experience with other photography equipment rental outfits, please comment on this blog and let everybody know about it. Thanks!

Dolar Wedding

Just a quickshot from the end of the ceremony for Michelle and Nate this past Saturday. It was a super laid-back beautiful wedding at the Church of the Beatitudes and a rockin' party at the home of the bride's parents. Nice work, Pat and Mike! (who was the caterer? The dinner was amazing!) Everybody was having such a good time that I went an hour OT because I didn't want to miss anything!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Dolar!