They are often solid creative people and have spent some time in front of a camera so getting good posing is not a chore. Good eye contact with the camera and an idea of the story they want told in the image makes for a fun photo shoot. Especially fine session with Valerie Romanoff of Starlight Orchestras who splits her time between New York, NY and Sedona, AZ.
Valerie was looking for images to use in her social media. Some images were set in the red rocks and some were during a live performances over in Cottonwood at the Main Stage venue. She performed with some great musicians as part of the Bottom Line Jam with host band Bottom Line. (Totally enjoyed the performance by the way!) When I was going through the first edit my wife Holly looked over my shoulder and said, “Oh my, she’s going to have a hard time choosing images! There are so many good ones.” I’d like to think it was mostly my skill, but Valerie is a skilled performer and is extremely photogenic!
Here are a few selects from the outdoor session…
The Path leads right to Valerie and Bell Rock is pointing right to her also…
With Courthouse Butte in the Background.
This is a pose idea I picked up from Peter Hurley (The Head Shot: Secrets to Creating Amazing Head Shot Portraits)
For the outdoor photo session I used my workhorse camera the Lumix GH4 with either the Lumix Vario 12-35mm or 35-100mm f2.8 lenses mounted. We had nice light a little after sunrise supplemented with a Paul C Buffmono light powered with a Vagabond Mini Lithium battery. Having power to take studio lights easily on location gits you enough flash power to control the scene. This was fitted with a 35″ foldable Octabox. In order to keep shape and form the flash was placed on the same side as the sun to not flatten out light.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Images from the Main Stage performance will be posted tomorrow
Red berries interlaced with green and red leaves topped with a coat of snow grabbed my attention and put me in the holiday mode. Had a wee bit of snow yesterday which is a relatively rare occurrence here in Sedona. I had my Lumix GX8 with me and grabbed an image that put me in the season spirit. Add a little Photoshop Bevel & Emboss, a canvas texture and some text with a Bevel and Emboss with a soft Drop Shadow to, as they used to say in the Playtex bra commercials, ‘lift and separate’ it from the background…
Happy Holidays to you and yours for the rest of this year and deep into the next!
I feel so fortunate that I am able to make a living creating imagery and being able to share thoughts & ideas with you. If you get the chance take a little time each day and think about all the wonderful things that are happening in your life. Cheers!
I guess cause I got involved in a photo art project, then watched some football while quaffing some fine IPA beer followed by a cruise through the New York Times Newspaper.
If this kind of Sunday keeps up I may have to change the name of this post to Monday Photo/Art Quote… We’ll see how it goes.
So today we talk about disappointment…
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.” Ansel Adams
Ever return from a photo shoot excited to view your images only to have your hopes and dreams dashed upon the rocks of reality that can be the review process? I know I have. Less so these days because I’ve come to learn that not matter how much knowledge I have in the realm of photography I still can’t always see as the camera sees. It takes years and years of study and continual practice to have this happen less often but the heartbreak can still occur. Ansel Adams is known as one of the most iconic nature photographers of his time and yet you probably don’t know that he was extremely happy and excited if he was able to create twelve images in a year that he was happy with.
TWELVE images in a year.
So the next time you get down on yourself for not creating the images exactly the way you thought they were going to be just say to yourself, “Remember Ansel!”
And then get back out there and try again.
Your in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to create “The Image”. Keep shooting and educating yourself and practicing and it will come. I promise.
It’s a new learning platform put together by photographer Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs fame and a few others. You apply to be an apprentice in the Arcanum and a Master will ask you to join his or her group called a Cohort. You have challenges to meet and along with the rest of the group’s support and feedback you increase your photography skills at your own pace. You can find out more by clicking on the link.
And now to the rest of the story for today. As a side event within the Arcanum a team of masters and a team of apprentices are facing off in a Survivor type environment of photography challenges and teamwork. Images are scored each for each challenge and the highest scoring team gains immunity and the losing team sends a member home. It’s a fun little exercise and is pushing people to be creative. We were given the challenge to create an image based on a swimsuit. Being at a loss to find a model I created something quite different from the expected with a self portrait.
Here are the comments of the judge, Luke Ballard…
Video of my critique by Luke (BTW highest score is three)
As my wife said, “It pays to not take yourself too seriously!” She got quite a laugh out of this when she discovered me putting this together in my studio. She even had a hand in helping with the styling as she remembered a hat I bought on vacation in Cedar Key, Florida. Here are some of the outtakes from putting this together.
I used the Lumix GH4 and the 35-100mm f2.8 lens with a single Paul C Buff flash head bounced off the wall camera left. I used the Wifi connected to my IPhone to see what the camera was seeing and operated the camera remotely. Then, since my wife was there laughing, I put her to work triggering the shutter with the phone so I wouldn’t have to remove the phone in post production.
There are times when not having a camera can make you crazy.
Thanks to the camera I call the “Pro’s Point & Shoot” this was not one of those times.
I try not to carry a lot of photo gear with me when my wife & I are together. But as we headed out for dinner last night even she went “OMG! That’s beautiful!!” and didn’t mind watching the sunset blaze into more and deeper colors while I stopped to grab some photos of the heavenly display here in my hometown of Sedona, Arizona.
Sunset in the Village of Oak Creek with Castle Rock in silhouette.
Don’t forget to turn your head around when shooting spectacular sunsets as this was happening at the same time in another direction!
Oh, the “Pro’s Point & Shoot” I was referring to is the Lumix LX100. A solid magnesium body with an f1.7-2.8 DC Vario Summilux lens with a 25-75mm range zoom. I’ve had great success with this 12MP camera that ‘almost’ fits in your pocket.
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
Best embroidery ever. Give Queensboro a try, get a $20 instant credit to get started by clicking on the logo! They specialize in great quality custom logo apparel and promotional products with the best customer service.
Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
