by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GH3, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography
Fun shoot!
The Arizona Roller derby girls came to the the Arizona Professional Photographers Association meeting to add a little color for the photographers to shoot. A studio area for attendees to shoot during the convention was set up. The Roller Derby ladies got images to use for their promotion and the photographers got great animated models to put in front of their lenses.
Originally it was scheduled that the derby girls were going to have individual head shots for their promos but I wanted to take it a step further an see what kind of action we could put together. I think we got some ‘Bigger than Life’ images for them to use to promote their sport as well as some individual head shots… Wanna become an AZ Derby Skater? get more info.
Anita Alibi Poses for a head shot.
Ducky Norris enjoys the spotlight.
Simulated action is when the fun begins… These girls know how to put on a show!
More showtime from the derby girls.
Teammates!
It was a pleasure working with the AZ Roller Derby Team. They were really ready to put on a show and I’m certain that translates into great theater and sport in their matches! I’d love to do a full-on marketing shoot with the team!
What are you doing to stretch your education and practice of photography???
Wanna become an AZPPA Member? Get more Info
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography education, success education
One of the ways I keep in shape with my photography skills is to practice and try new things on a regular basis. Yesterday I was having an IPA (that’s India Pale Ale for the brew bereft) I quickly photographed the chilled glass of beer and then the bottle before enjoying my libation… By the way it was quite tasty!
Then, before I went to bed I decided to build a mock up of a magazine ad for the brew. Here’s what I started with…
IPA beer bottle capture.
Frosted beer glass with a nice head. Images captured with the Lumix GX7 and the 20mm f1.7 lens.
Then it was off to Photoshop with three different textures and the tools to separate the bottle and the glass from the background. Using Layers and Blend Modes some drop shadows and a little VooDoo Magic I came up with this…
IPA ad mock up.
How have you stretched and practiced your skills lately?? Let me know…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | art books, photography - art quote, photography education
I often find myself thinking am I really any good as a photo artist? Some days the answer is a timid yes… Some days not so much. Am I a pretender? Sometimes I just don’t know the answer. Which brings us to today’s Photo/Art quote.
“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Personal projects are a fabulous way to stretch when confidence wanes.
I want to share a TED TALK with Miru Kim who explored ruined urban spaces with a camera and an imagination to tell a story. You can see she is really brave with her art but nervous to talk about it. Called My Underground Art Watch and see if any ideas occur to you. Spread your wings. Open your mind – and see where you are taken….
Yours in Photography, Bob
PS – You don’t have to do your personal project naked…
by successfulbob | photography software, success education
When prepping images from an event or wedding it used to take me quite a while to give a quick once-over to the images in order to make a proof gallery. Take the images that were shot in the same situation. Make some corrections get the color set and apply it to all the images from that portion of the shoot. Gather next set of images and repeat. It was pretty amazing how much time that ate up even though single adjustments were being made to multiple images it was still pretty hands on…
Now I’m using Perfectly Clear. I must admit I have had access to this software for quite a while but it takes a while for this old dog to jump on new tricks! Wish it wasn’t so. I had played with the software using it on an image here and there but i wish I had been a bit more diligent! Once I realized that you could batch process files while making up to 12 corrections in an image without touching them i started kicking myself for not utilizing the power of this software earlier.
Here’s a strip of a couple images from a batch process that includes three different scenes and would have needed me to touch multiple sliders in Adobe Camera RAW three different times, and that’s just part of the wedding…
Thumbnail view of two bridge windows of the same images. Top row – unprocessed RAW files. Bottom row – Images after running an action using Perfectly Clear Software. Cleaned up exposures. Smoothed skin tones. Neutralized white balance. Opened up shadows and more.
For today and tomorrow you can pick up this time-saver at 50% off. Sunday night and the price goes back up but after that you can still get it by using code COATES. Cool part is you can get the software right away, try it out for a month and if you don’t think it works for you get your money back. Take the time to save some time. Check it out. If you have any questions give me a shout.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, commercial photography, fine art musician portrait, graphic design, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography, photography, photography education
If you follow my blog and life you’ll see that I’m a music fan. Photographing live music is something that I have been devoting myself to and adding in creating art for the musicians. When something like the Old Town Center for the Arts annual Blues Fest comes along I am in hog heaven. It gives me a chance to photograph and practice new techniques.
Tommy Dukes, Arizona Blues Hall of Fame member. Artistic Photoshop work from blues fest performance. Original capture with Lumix GX7 35-100.. 2.8 lens. Impressive Art filter. Layers and textures add to final art mix.
Did I say it gives me a chance to practice? I believe practicing is as important to photographers as it is to musicians, athletes or anyone else who needs to have the skill of working under pressure. Changing settings, working in new lighting (and often challenging) conditions is something you need to be able to work with almost without thinking so you can capture the essence of a performer. In this case I was playing with some of the presets in the camera and finding some cool looks. In order for you to access the camera pre-sets after downloading you need to capture the images as jpegs. For safety sake and to have all the info presented to the camera you can save as RAW plus jpeg.
Tommy was quite animated and his shirt added to the life of the performance. Capture with Impressive Art filter then layers of texture added to foreground and background.
Then I self assign creation of CD covers, music and musician art and share the ideas with the artists and their marketing people. This has led to being hired to do the work I enjoy. Hmm. Practice. Self assignments. Sharing. Marketing. People often ask me how I get the images I do and the work I want to do. Re-read the last paragraph again and you’ve got he answer. When are you starting your next personal project?
Pretty much straight out of the GX7 camera using the monochrome art setting. Pretty clean black and white!
Straight out of camera with the Impressive Art setting on the Lumix GX7
Yours in Photography, Bob
