by successfulbob | Lumix Lounge, photography education, photography seminar
Enjoyed sharing some ideas with the Prescott Arizona Camera Club Great group! After I spoke I had a chance to see their print competition and it showed they have quite a few very talented photographers. Looks like they are in growth mode with a push for new members and improving their meetings and organization.
Prescott Camera Club meeting. (thanks to Bruce Roscoe for grabbing this image for me)
Here’s some feed back from my presentation…
“Bob – great presentation last night. By the time you’d finished the initial slide show I was ready to try about a dozen new things in Photoshop. I love your layered work. Please send me your presentation slides. There was a great deal of terrifically valuable information in there. Thanks,” JB Burke
“I enjoyed your presentation Tuesday night and am impressed with
artistry. Please send me the samples and links you discussed. I am
also interested in the site you demonstrated for watercolor effect. In
addition to the nice images that can be produced I found it is a perfect
way to save a nice subject that I have photographed but is flawed.” Pat Fiedler
“Bob, really enjoyed your presentation at our club last evening. You mentioned that you would e-mail any info that would help to become a better photographer with the subjects that you covered in your presentation. I would really enjoy some of those websites and articles. Thank You, and again really enjoyed your presentation.” Jim Naumann
“Good Morning Bob,
I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation last night. It was entertaining as well as inspiring. I love what you are doing with the layers, blend modes and textures. Your work is awesome! Please send me the “sticky notes” from last night. I like your idea of learning one technique a day. It makes learning Photoshop much more manageable. Thank you for sharing,” Bill Zombeck
Lumix helped make it possible with sponsorship for me to speak to this group. Need a speaker for your group or organization?? Get in touch.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education
WOW!
Had a chance to experience this quote by Henri in action at the North Central District Professional Photographers of America imaging competition.
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” Henri Cartier-Bresson
Two full days working with Thirteen other people viewing print images and digital files. Talk about being immersed in photography. Here’s the way it works. Six people are on a panel and along with a jury chair are working to see that each image gets a fair shake at be judged as impartially as possible. And therein lies my tie-in with the quote.
Being exposed to the shear number of images created and seeing what makers can envision makes me proud to be part of this industry. Moments in time preserved for families. Stories crafted. Fantasies brought to life. Emotions captured and far-off vistas shared. All of these images passed in front of my eyes and were created by photographers sharing their vision captured through the lens.
I salute those who put their images out there for review and to learn how to become better image makers and show what might never have been seen.
What are you creating right now>
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, photography, photography education
I’ve been working with a way to shoot flat art that really simplifies the set-up and gets you better color than some other ways. No longer a need for polarizing filters and busting butt trying to get even light across the field of the artwork by trying to use 45 degree angles with lights pointed at the art… See the diagram for the set up here’s how it works for me…
Take a measurement of the art. The lights should be at a distance as an equilateral triangle that is longer than the longest dimension of the art to be photographed. If you have really large art you can stack another umbrella light over the first to get larger coverage.
Lighting Diagram
Lights on umbrellas should be facing the CAMERA. We are lighting the flat art with the spill from each umbrella. This makes it extremely easy to get the light falling on the art to 1/10 of a stop over the entire surface with virtually no effort.
Set up flags so that the light doesn’t flare the lens since the lights are pointing toward the camera.
Take meter readings to ensure the light is within even across the art. Use that reading on your camera with an expo disk. Make an exposure with the expo disk in place with the metered settings from the artwork’s position and use that exposure to set a custom white balance on your camera.
If you are shooting artwork with glass or with highly specular highlights from the paint or glaze set up a black background behind the camera and cover the tripod with black velvet. Get out of the way and trigger the camera with a remote. There will be no reflections or any light for the artwork to “see” hence no glare or specular hotspots to deal with. The color will be spot on since you are using a custom white balance. I’m sure you could also use the Macbeth checker system also but the Expo disk works great for me. I also add a checker chart and gray card just in case, but haven’t had to use them since adding expo disk….
BTW the camera can be anywhere along the center line it doesn’t have to be in between the lights it can be forward or behind the lights.
One other thing to be careful about is lens choice. Ideally a tilt shift or very flat lens with no distortion is best. Use a level on the artwork and the camera lens to make sure they are on the same plane. Spending more time here will save you lots of hassles once you get to the computer. If you use a wider angle lens you can get some barrel distortion. If you don’t do enough of this work you can use the flattest you have. Camera raw has a lens correction tool that can get you very close but even then you should check that the image is perfectly square by pulling down some guides. A VERY small amount of transform tool using warp can get you back on the straight and narrow.
Since I have been using this system I no longer have issues with shifts in color from hot spots or polarizing filters. And most important no more fighting with artists about getting the ‘right’ color. Before there were always problems, no more. Try it you’ll like it!! Any questions give me a shout….
The black seamless paper is only necessary when you have glass that you can’t remove for one reason or another or if there are specular reflections in your room. You would also need to cover your tripod with black velvet to reduce reflections also..
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS Thanks to commercial photographer and educator Jim Lersch for the diagram materials… Jim Lersch Photography
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by successfulbob | fine art photography, photography, photography competition, photography education, success education
Thanks to New Mexico Professional Photographers Association (NMPPA) for hosting a convention of which to be proud. They did a great job. I was there to give a program on art and imaging competition and to help judge the annual print competition. There were a lot of great images.
If you are in the NM area and want to get in on some great learning you should join the organization. Organizations always go through ups and downs and it looks like they are on the ups with a solid board excited about getting quality photo education from photography speakers for their members.
Image made during the NMPPA convention during my ‘Photo-Synthesis’ Photoshop class.
Books, magazines, the web, DVD tutorials, Creative Live & PhotoVision are all great ways to gather photography education!
BUT, nothing beats in-person photo education and networking with fellow photographers and competing in the PPA system of Imaging Competition. A great place to start is with your state Professional Photographers Association whether you are in New Mexico, Arizona or any other state. Not sure where your closest PPA Affiliate is? Find out here.
Yours in Professional Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix Lounge, photography education, success education
In Albuquerque, New Mexico for the PPANM annual convention. Will be serving as a judge for print competition today (Sunday) starting at 1 PM. Then tomorrow I’ll be presenting my ‘Photo-Synthesis’ program with a side of print competition from the state through PPA District through PPA International. A bit about the why it’s good for your business and how to do your best in what the judges may be looking for in your images.
Will I see you there?? Or, at another one of my speaking programs?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
