Mar 25, 2013

Monday Photo Roundup - March 25

Dallas City Hall
Playing around with the phone camera before the "Dallas Men Against Abuse Rally" Saturday morning.  Kind of sad that such an event is even needed.

Look through his images and you'll see whyJeremy Lock has won Military Photographer of the Year honors seven times in a 21 year career.

If you are into surreal images and abstract art, how about trying to get those kinds of images in-camera instead of Photoshop?  Like by using a prism.

Quick (if corny) vid explaining hard light vs. soft light.
 Film Lighting Tutorial: Qualities of Light from Zacuto on Vimeo.

Planning any summer trips to shoot wildlife?  Some tips on what to take.  Or not take.

Nice thoughts on being competitive and ranking ourselves as photographers.

Mar 23, 2013

Brides - don't miss the point!

Don C. Johnson: People/Wedding Porfolio &emdash;

This article offers up a premise that "Brides regret not spending more on photography," which is interesting.

I'm sure they don't mean "Hey, I wish that photographer had charged me more!"

What I read is that 21 percent of brides in the survey were unhappy with their photos after the event.

Just last weekend I had this discussion with some friends who spent somewhere in the $800 range on photos and were very pleased.  I have also heard from people who spent much more and who were not all that pleased with the images they received.

Brides, please go beyond the price when considering who will photograph your wedding.  Look at images.  Talk to photographers.  Get your expectations in line with what you will be getting for your money.

Photographers, same thing.  Don't go low on pricing then under-deliver.  Don't show images that you won't be able to get.  And don't assume that raising your pricing makes you a better photographer.  Another 12 percent in that survey regretted spending too much on photos.

Hiring the photographer is not like any other part of the big day.  The images (and video) are what you will remember by.  It can change the way you perceive your wedding in the future, and you want those memories to be good ones.

Don C. Johnson: People/Wedding Porfolio &emdash;

Mar 18, 2013

Monday Photo Roundup - March 18

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Some quick ideas for photo inspiration. (via @resourcemag)

Thoughts on losing your photo gear, and recovering from such a loss...

Personal projects are often the most moving ... like documenting 57 years of marriage.

Converting your digital images to black-and-white can be great, but to do it well involves a little bit of work and a keen eye...

One of my favorite photographers to follow is Jeremy Cowart ... here is a great interview in which he covers his career and such.

For the best smile, maybe you should say "Cheese Pizza" (via @jdblundell)

7 Tutorials for improved indoor portraiture.

It's a long watch but great info, 15 Photoshop things photogs should know...


Have a great week everyone.

Mar 11, 2013

Monday Photo Roundup - March 11

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Spring is in the air.  Along with pollen and other allergens :)  If you think catching a good  photo of birds in flight is a fun challenge, try bees.  Even with dozens of them in the lovely wife's jasmine, I didn't catch any facing the camera.

Is photoshop ruining landscape photography?

For what it's worth, I have no problem with digital artists using photos.  Unfortunately, that also means that truly great photography falls under suspicion while something cobbled together from pictures found on the internet is seen as great photography.  With a photojournalism background, I prefer the less-is-more approach to post processing.

For you portrait people, here is a nice cropping guide.  Don't crop on the red lines.

There aren't many color photos from WWII .. Here are some nice ones.

More history in photographs... the 70's.

I love this list of Pixar "Rules for Storytelling."  If you can work that type of thought into your photography projects, you will have truly memorable images.

Pop some corn... and settle in for location portraiture education.

Have a great week!

Mar 4, 2013

Monday Photo Roundup - March 4

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The "Walking Man" sculptures in Deep Ellum are common photo subjects around here, but I like to stop by there when time permits.  Something about the whimsical nature of them that makes me smile.

Further east, there is a nice photo contest going on in the "Texas Forest Trail Region."

Strobist reviews the sub-$100 PocketWizard Plus X.  Looks good to me.

Great shots from young photojournalists...

Yes, post-processing makes a big difference in the look of your photos.  Even if you spent thousands on a camera.  The "Look" from most professional photographers comes from good work with the camera, and more work after the fact in the computer.  Simple tweaks to white balance, color saturation and contrast make a huge difference.

Speaking of which, photoshop guru Matt Kloskowski's Lightroom presets are a lot of fun to play with.  And free!

It looks like Canon has some nice new low-light technology in the works.  Looks like it is video-only at this point, but still... it is great to see even more progress in sensor sensitivity.

Have a great week.

Mar 2, 2013

Dancing keeps you young

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Had the pleasure of spending some time at a charity fundraiser concert by the Bandacoots in Terrell tonight.  This lovely couple proved once again that age has nothing to do with living life to the fullest.  What a beautiful thing for these 80-somethings to be dancing to some Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Great stuff.  Dancing keeps you young!

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