Feedback ~ Critique Me

Random photo taken in my backyard. What do you think?

June Dates

6.10.10 -
Understanding Exposure Class @ Northland Library 7-9pm I will be teaching an introductory class on understanding exposure & your DSLR camera.
To register call: 412-366-8100

6.15.10 -
Pictage/PUG ~ Create Connect & Grow
7 to 9 ~
7:00 to 7:30 cocktails & networking
7:30 to 9pm into to new PUG followed by Q&A (topic/speaker TBD)
Location
Studio ~ 502 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15212

**Open to ALL photographers, including students

RSVP at craigphotography@mac.com

6.17.10 -
Understanding Exposure class @ Northland Library 7-9pm (Part II) ~ I will be teaching an introductory class on understanding exposure & Your DSLR camera.
To register call: 412-366-8100

6.24.10 -
Photo Walk
Topic: Dusk on the North Shore
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: Gate “A” Heinz Stadium Pittsburgh PA
What to bring: camera, tripod, passion to learn and a friend.

Photos of the Week ~ Random

All photography & artwork on this site is licensed under a creative commons licensing: Please feel free to use and distribute the photography & artwork in accordance with the licensing.

Photos of the Week ~ Random

All photography & artwork on this site is licensed under a creative commons licensing: Please feel free to use and distribute the photography & artwork in accordance with the licensing.

Creative Digital Photography - Is Your Photography "Up to Snuff

Once we've moved past the basics of understanding how our cameras work...once the "photo bug" has bitten - we photography junkies all want more creative digital photography. (Assuming you use a digital camera - otherwise you'll want more creative film photographs!)

We've all been there. We look at the pictures we see in books and magazines, then we look at ours and something is missing. The basics are there, a good exposure, correct shutter speed, clear focus and so on, but it just doesn't compare.

Don't Have The "Creative" Gift?

True there are geniuses out there! Maybe a handful scattered throughout the world. Our photos will never compare. (No one else's will either!) But, we aren't comparing our work to that miniscule group...we are comparing our work to the every day production of average, everyday Joes who truly are NOT more creative than we are.

For most of us, the first thing we think is that we just don't have the "creative" gift! As normal people do, we tend to undervalue our own work, and overvalue the work of others.

Creativity can be LEARNED.

The only difference between us and "them" is that they've learned how to put their creative vision into the camera - and we haven't.

Keep in mind, creativity CAN be learned! And it's relatively simple and FAST!

The trick is modeling. By that, I mean...If you shoot the same subjects, in the same conditions, with the same settings they are using, you will get the same results.

It must happen! The camera is a machine. It doesn't care who pushes the buttons. It's not going to work better for one photographer over another. It doesn't care who is looking through the viewfinder.

If we model them correctly, we can be doing the same quality work they do in no time.

Here's how...

When you find a photograph you like, cut it out of the magazine and paste it into your photo notebook. You do keep a photo notebook, right? All the best photographers do!

Then, closely examine the photo. Try to guess what the lighting conditions were. What time of day it was shot, how many and directionality of the lights (reflectors qualify as a light source). Guess at the focal length of the lens. Did they use a tripod, what was the f-stop, shutter speed and so on.

Then, record ALL this information in your notebook.

Now it's time to test.

Get out there and try to duplicate the photo. Test your theories on how they got the shot. The ones that move you closer to success, make a note of them in your notebook. Do the same with the ideas that don't work too!

As you move closer and closer to the desired finished result, you'll be having a lot of fun and learning a TON of new photo techniques.

Eventually, you WILL get the result you were after. It doesn't take long. Paste YOUR shot in your notebook, with all the technical details. Now, you will forever be able to re-create that shot! You've learned how to be creative!

Every time gets easier.

Now, do the same thing with another photo you like. Every time you do this exercise, you will add a new technique to your photo arsenal. Plus, it gets easier to do because you are building on what you've learned before.

So, there is the formula for creative digital photography. Try it, you'll like it. Before you know it, you'll be creating digital photography at will.

Various Equipment Pieces Used in Professional Photography

Any one who is involved in photography can tell you that working with professional photography equipment, shopping around for, and buying it really does turn out to be half of the fun involved in practicing photography. On top of this truth, possessing the correct photographic equipment for the task is critical for performing it right. This article discusses the various elements of professional photography equipment, including camera equipment and lighting equipment.

Apple Boxes

Apple boxes are found in every film studio and lot in the world. These can be utilized in myriads of various ways. When you are working with filming a person, they may be employed to effectively raise up a shorter individual. With several of them, you are able to boost the height of a table or a desk. Since they come in different heights, you may employ several arrangements of boxes in order to precisely reach the desired height.

C-Stands and C-Stand Accessories

This stands for Century C Stands. Their capability of being put together literally right next to each other is maybe their greatest benefit that they offer over competing forms of light stands. The height of every leg is different, permitting a photographer to align the stands next to each other by putting the leg of one stand beneath the leg of the next one.

The C-stands' arms are ideal for keeping differing C-stand accessories, such as light controls in the air including scrims, flags, reflectors, clamps, mirrors, etc. You are even able to arrange lights on these light stands. Such C-stands are available in varying sizes with differing features offered.

Light Meters

These have mostly become obsolete with the advance to digital filmmaking. But in the so-called golden days of filming, when films were shot using real film that was expensive to buy and to develop, light meters were essential. They saved the photographer both money and time. The majority of photographers would employ them to take light meter readings in order to know what the lighting exposure would look like when the film was developed. This avoided under or over-exposed filming of movies. But in today's technologically advanced age, all that you have to do when using the digital technology cameras is to press the button and you have instantaneous, free, test shots (you do not even require a Polaroid camera for test shooting anymore.). If your exposure turns out to be off, then you just take another picture. It your light is too little or too much, you simply adjust it. Very few professional photographers utilize light meters any longer.

Strobe Light Sources

The majority of photographers at some point utilize electronic strobe lighting equipment, also known as photographic electronic flash. Numerous competing brands and kinds of flash and strobe lighting equipment are available.

These include bare bulbs, which are strobe heads that do not contain a reflector; small reflectors, which offer wide or narrow sprays of lighting; large reflectors, useful for bouncing light off of ceilings or into walls; grid spots, which are used to keep light from spreading out; light boxes, which are used to precisely focus where a light source will shine; Freznells, which are very large and heavy lights that double as adjustable types of spot lights; optical spots, which are more or less a slide projector and a flash tube lying behind it; and ring lights, which are flash heads formed much like a donut that permit you to shoot film through the hole to achieve a nearly perfect light fill.

A Review of Green Screen Software

Green screening is a process of replacing the background image of the subject by any other desirable image. It is a technique with which you can transform the world of imagination into a world of reality. You can surround your subject against the hilly area or surrounded by the Wonders of the World. A photographer can even make a subject appear a giant or a dwarf. It enables you to place your subject to different places and different zones within a fraction of seconds with green screen effects.

There are a variety of pictures which can be changed or transformed in a desirable manner. A photographer can make use of a variety of tools to edit the pictures or videos. These editing tools enable a user to perform green screening, effectively and efficiently. You need to take care of a few points while transporting a subject to another place or to another background. A person can take a green color velvet cloth that does not reflect light. The surface of the green color cloth should not be highly polished otherwise it might reflect the light on the subject's face or clothes. Ensure that the cloth is not creased or folded in any way possible. The creased cloth creates a hindrance in the process of masking. You should also ensure that your subject should not wear the clothes that match with the background color of the subject. Keep an appropriate amount of light in the studio for clear visibility. Photograph the subject and then you can easily replace the background image by any other desirable image of the subject by using the editing tools or green screen software. The latest technology based computer programs provide you with drag and drop features. Simply drag and drop the video clip which you want to add to the time line of any tool. These computer programs equip you with transitions and to add visual effects as well as musical effects to the video or pictures. You just need to pick and choose the best one for yourself.

Myself webmaster of 123videomagic.com providing video editing software, green screen software, chromakey software helps in customizing video / images for replacing background, giving special effects as per your needs.

How to Prepare For a Portrait Session

There are many portrait studios on the market for you to choose from. Sears, Target and JCPenney Portrait Studios are just some of them. Once you decide which one will you choose, you will have to prepare for your portrait session.

Here is a list of interesting and useful advices of how to prepare for a portrait session.

In case you exercise regularly, you might consider changing the routine to show off your muscles you are certainly very proud of. On the other hand, you can increase the frequency of the exercise 10 days before the portrait session.

In case you shave, do so three days before the session, so to give the skin an opportunity to revive itself.

Instead of using a potentially harmful solarium and prematurely aging the skin because of the ultra violet damage, think about using some quality self-tanning creams as well as some bronzing products.

In case you do get a nasty pimple the very day of your session, don't touch it (really, DO NOT touch it no matter what), because you'll only going to make it harder to cover and much redder. Portrait studios such as JCPenney Portrait Studio have make-up specialists. So, let them fix your tiny red problem.

Make sure you don't try out new skin treatments the day before the session.

In case you dye the hair, ensure that you have had roots recently treated. This is because bright portrait studio lighting can really exaggerate dark roots. And you do not want that.

Ensure your finger and toe nails look spotless. Also, you might want consider doing a manicure and pedicure. Also, use only clear nail polish that will go just perfectly with any color outfit.

In case you'll be doing your own make-up, keep in mind that the heat from the lights as well as bright portrait lighting tends to make the skin look shinier.

Do not use deodorant, because most of them leave stains on your clothes.

Your tattoos can really add to the photograph. Therefore, make sure your photographer knows about them.

Portrait session can be really exciting. Just make sure you choose the best portrait studio.

Lumix Digital Cameras Are Designed For Experts As Well As the Regular Guy

For a long time Panasonic have been acknowledged for the standard of cameras that they manufacture, from 35mm to digital cameras. One line who has one and all talking from families who capture movies of their children to pros who get paid thousands of dollars in favor of the photographs that they take are the Lumix line of digital cameras by Panasonic.

You have got many choices with the Lumix range at many different price points these are cameras which have been planned to accomplish detailed tasks. Lumix cameras start off with a very economical price point so that even non pros that would like to seize stellar photographs can pay for a top quality camera that can produce fine-looking pictures image after image.

Regardless of which camera you choose to buy, there are a couple of things which you could anticipate each model to possess. The first thing is what Panasonic calls Intelligent Auto. This Intelligent Auto naturally focuses on what you wish the photo to focus on, assisting you in getting the picture you want on each occasion. Another feature that each Lumix digital camera offers is face detection. There is nothing worse than taking a picture with many subjects simply to have a number of them blurred out since the camera couldn't focus on a few of the people's faces. Lumix cameras do not have issues with that topic. Another impressive feature is intelligent scene selection, this ensures that everything that you really want within a picture is in the photo.

A different advantage to Lumix range of cameras is you have your pick of what sort of digital camera that you want to have. Professionals the world over work with the Lumix camera over any other type of digital camera for their specialist quality work.

Yes, it's also possible to spend 1000s of dollars on a very high end SLR Lumix digital camera. However, it's also possible to spend a few 100 dollars on a Lumix camera and acquire beautiful, expert looking consequences. You are able to choose every day cameras with things like Intelligent Resolution to be able to get the most out of the digital zoom.

A significant achievement of Lumix cameras is their compact concepts. Even the SLR cameras, which individuals time and again guess will be large and bulky, are compact and light-weight, making them perfect for travel, every day use, birthday parties and so on. Lumix by Panasonic includes a lot to offer for digital camera users the world over.

This is only a rant, let me do no harm.

This post would be so much better if I had a camera with me….sorry about that.

Ok I love this place; it has been two weeks since I have been in this coffee house. Last time I was here I wrote about the Brazilian girl and the Chinese lady. I did walk back into this place with expectations, but not really, it is just a coffee house.

As I stand in line – I think to myself how lonely life must me, how unnoticeable this person must feel. To be “seen’ is a hard thing to understand. From a distance, we are all seen or are all too self- absorbed to bother with what goes seen or unseen in our life.

To be outwardly self-expressive, using one's own body as a place of self-fascination. Not the body as a piece of art, but the body a canvas for art.

I stand in line waiting to order. The young lady in front of me has a full back tattoo that depicts a scene form Lord of the Rings…Seriously, truly a full cinematic-clip-in-all-of-its-glory tattoo on her back. She had a bikini top on showing off the full of her back. Two things go through my mind; one - damn this is good work (please Lord God never let my daughter do this). Two - when did she begin to feel invisible?

I have been running into extraordinary tattoos lately. There was the man with the Steelers logo (HERE) on his is head, the wedding guest with an Irish toast on her back (HERE) and last night after telling this story to a man at the pub he showed me his tattoo of a Dr Suess story that has taken up the better part of his left arm.

Don’t get me wrong - the pursuit of the unconventional is OK with me; all of life is a canvas as far as I am concerned.

The idea or subject matter of being noticed has stayed with me after seeing the back tattoo of the Lord of the Rings. What is it that would bring a person to place art/tattoo on their body in a place that everybody but themselves can see?

How unnoticeable must she feel? I could be completely wrong – self-expression is not for other people to judge, it is for the individual to express.

This is only a rant, let me do no harm.

This is only a rant, let me do no harm.

This post would be so much better if I had a camera with me….sorry about that.

Ok I love this place; it has been two weeks since I have been in this coffee house. Last time I was here I wrote about the Brazilian girl and the Chinese lady. I did walk back into this place with expectations, but not really, it is just a coffee house.

As I stand in line – I think to myself how lonely life must me, how unnoticeable this person must feel. To be “seen’ is a hard thing to understand. From a distance, we are all seen or are all too self- absorbed to bother with what goes seen or unseen in our life.

To be outwardly self-expressive, using one's own body as a place of self-fascination. Not the body as a piece of art, but the body a canvas for art.

I stand in line waiting to order. The young lady in front of me has a full back tattoo that depicts a scene form Lord of the Rings…Seriously, truly a full cinematic-clip-in-all-of-its-glory tattoo on her back. She had a bikini top on showing off the full of her back. Two things go through my mind; one - damn this is good work (please Lord God never let my daughter do this). Two - when did she begin to feel invisible?

I have been running into extraordinary tattoos lately. There was the man with the Steelers logo (HERE) on his is head, the wedding guest with an Irish toast on her back (HERE) and last night after telling this story to a man at the pub he showed me his tattoo of a Dr Suess story that has taken up the better part of his left arm.

Don’t get me wrong - the pursuit of the unconventional is OK with me; all of life is a canvas as far as I am concerned.

The idea or subject matter of being noticed has stayed with me after seeing the back tattoo of the Lord of the Rings. What is it that would bring a person to place art/tattoo on their body in a place that everybody but themselves can see?

How unnoticeable must she feel? I could be completely wrong – self-expression is not for other people to judge, it is for the individual to express.

This is only a rant, let me do no harm.