by successfulbob | fine art photography, Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography gear, photography lighting resources
Had the opportunity to test out the Fiilex LED light kit model FLX302 which includes three P360EX lights, stands and barn doors in a watertight rolling case. I used this kit on a real estate shoot a couple weeks ago You can see some of those results here.
I thought I’d give these bad boys a workout in the studio with a still life project. Again the ability to see the lighting exactly as it will appear in camera allows me to get a bunch of different looks in a very short period of time. Having the ability to change brightness and the white balance of the lights from the golden tungsten color temp of xxx to the brighter blue of xxxx adds to the creativity.
Here’s a quick animated GIF to show many different looks using just the three lights, a shoot through umbrella and a piece white of foam core as a reflector.
Many different lighting versions using the Fiilex LED’s
Once I have the initial image captured in studio it’s time to put Photoshop to work. Using multiple images of tectures, layer masks and blend modes I take the image to my artistic place. Here are a few versions…
From the initial image captures above it’s time to experiment with various textures and color palettes.
I’ve found many people like warm golden tones.
As they say variety is the spice of life. So more colors! More texture. Play! Experiment!
Images were photographed with the Lumix GH4 and the 35-100 f2.8 Lumix Vario Lens ISO 200 1/6 sec @ f4.5
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Today we reach out to the writing world for today’s theme in the Sunday Photo/Art Quote here on Successful-Photographer. Some of the best work I have created was inspired by or because of taking on personal projects…
I believe that if you don’t explore what your heart tells you is important or a subject that you haven’t tackled before you will take a long time to grow as a photographer.
When pursuing an impressionistic art look for my work I had no idea that it would morph into a paying project creating work for a nightclub. The techniques have become one of my most requested teaching programs called ‘Photo-Sythesis’. I also believe that the artistic techniques I am now using as a result of advancing personal projects to create art images led to my being named a Lumix Luminary by Panasonic. (of course it didn’t hurt that I was already yelling to all my photographer friends how much I liked the new format! But I digress…)
If I see an interesting face with character on the street I will engage that person and then ask if I might make their portrait. Making a total stranger comfortable in front of your camera makes it much easier to pose and photograph people you know or have come to you for a portrait.
That brings us around to today’s quote from Jack London.
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go meet it.” Jack London
Update… 9/22 I found another version of Jack’s quote, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” I like it!
Go get it! What are you waiting for?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – I can’t remember the full story of one of the first books that grabbed my attention but I have a memory of being scared reading London’s ‘Call of the Wild’ What’s wild about you? go meet and embrace your inspiration
by successfulbob | fine art photography, photography, photography education, success education
The wonderfully amazing surprising results from this year’s Professional Photographers of America International imaging Competition caused me to take a peek back at some of my older Loan Collection images. Here is a Loan print from my first print case, one of my first successes in competition.
‘Study in Orange and Blue’ Earned PPA’s Loan Collection designation
For those that aren’t familiar with the PPA imaging competition an image will be reviewed by six jurors for the image to be included into PPA’s General Collection and be awarded a Merit. A Merit designation essentially means that the panel of judges felt that the image produced is above average work for a photographer with above average skills.
Once and image is awarded a Merit it is then reviewed by a different and larger panel of judges for inclusion into PPA’s Loan Collection. This is considered the best of the best and the work must be exemplary according to a majority of the panel. Usually less than 10 percent of the images entered into a competition will make it to the Loan Collection. It is an honor and I am proud to say that I now have 17 images in PPA’s Loan Collection.
I would have to say that participation in imaging competition has been one of the driving forces to make me a better photographer. Placing your images in front of your peers for review is nerve wracking indeed. It makes you look at your work critically and go over it with a fine toothed comb. This has been really good for my clients over the years because this attention to detail and pushing the creative envelope has made my client’s images stand out and help their businesses look better than good. My portrait clients have received more flattering portraits as well e cause lighting, posing and finishing of the portraits makes a huge difference in how people are perceived by the camera.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Next years competition cycle is getting ready to begin… Are you going to become a better photographer and participate? Start setting your best work aside in a folder so you don’t have to scramble when it’s time to start prepping your images. You’ll be glad you did. And so will your customers.
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography
Man I gotta tell you I had a great night last night. Dinner with my wife Holly at Sound Bites Grill while listening to the music of Eric Miller and Ralf Illenberger. We ended up staying for all three sets because the music was soooo good.
We’ve heard Eric play in many different configurations with all kinds of musicians. I’m beginning to think he’s the ultimate musical chameleon. I’ve seen Eric playing in a rock and roll band, with a symphony, doing stage shows, a bit of opera, flamenco, composing and playing almost all the parts on a CD and much more. He has been collaborating with Ralf on a new album and they were debuting some of the new songs. I can’t wait for it to be released! They both bring lots to the project. Ralf was a pioneer in creating a unique guitar sound to the world back in the 70’s. Kind of a new age, fusion and fingerstyle all wrapped up in one sweet package. Eric brings his guitar skills and a voice that sounds remarkably like Sting – only better. Add the new lyrics and this is going to be a fantastic album. Watch for it!
Eric and Ralf live on stage at Sound Bites Grill. Both excellent musicians but the sum of the parts is much greater in collaboration!
Image captured with the Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the 35-100 f2.8 Lumix Vario Lens. Table in the foreground adds the reflection.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, macro, photography, photography education
No I didn’t stutter in naming this photo blog post it just seems that way…
Macro macro was exactly what I was trying to say. I thought I’d take the macro photography to another place and see what happens. I used the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f2.8 Aspherical mounted on the Lumix GH4 with a set of Vello Extension tubes (10mm + 16mm stacked) to see what would happen. Since I was trying to keep Weight down on the trail I used a MeFoto Backpaker Travel Tripod.
Some serious detail comes forward with this setup. I photographed this Yellow Desert Flower bud and love the detail I was able to bring to the image. Almost looks hyper-real.
I’d love to be able to tell you the specific name of this desert flower in the photo but there are so many varieties that look similar to each other… Ah what the heck let’s go with Yellow desert daisy bud.
Here is what our bud will turn into short of being eaten by wildlife or beaten into submission by rainy weather.
On the first image I added some sharpening using NIK Silver FX Pro2 and adding Structure and Fine Structure to the preset #4 High Contrast (smooth). Then I changed the Photoshop Layer Mode to Luminosity. Since I was shooting at a very high ISO 3200 because of the low light the sharpening also sharpened the overall noise in the image so I added a Layer Mask to allow the background to be soft while the flower bud was sharp.
Mix and match your photo tools, add a little post production to see what happens…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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