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I try and hunt down as many photography lighting tutorials as I can since I am learning from scratch and I don’t have extra money for real classes (This is how I learn most things actually…online video tutorials. It’s how I learned all the graphic design programs.). In my search, I came across a great instructional DVD called “One Light” by Zack Arias. If you’re just starting out and getting into strobe photography, I highly recommend the DVD. In it, he shows all the things you can do with just one light, hence the name. For me it really put into perspective the minimal amount of equipment you need to make a nice picture. Although it’s nice to have a ton of the best and most expensive gear, fortunately and unfortunately for me, talent plays a majority in obtaining a great photo. If you’ve got some extra cash, Zack also holds a workshop by the same title so you can get instruction in person.


Every year in Dubai there is an event called “Gulf Photo Plus” where professional and amateur photographers gather for workshops and seminars. This year, a few professional photographers were asked to participate in a shoot-out. Zack Arias, David Hobby and Joey Lawrence were given two models, any lights they wanted and 25 minutes to shoot. In the end they would pick one photo. Here is a fun video of what took place. It’s like a reversed version of America’s Next Top Model, instead of the models being challenged you get to see the photographers in action. These are my favorite types of videos. Professional photographers talk you through their thought process while showing you the technical requirements to pull off the photo. It always says a ton to me about a photographer who is willing to share their knowledge. It always tells me they’re not afraid of people stealing their ideas because they’re confident they have even better ones to come. Real progressive thinkers…


That said, I’ve followed David Hobby and Zack Arias for quite some time now and they deserve a GIGANTIC thanks for sharing their knowledge. As they say, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” And these guys are definitely making every one step up their game.

Just came across this Adobe Photoshop CS5 sneak peek of their new “Content-Aware Fill” tool and holy crap it is amazing! This would make my workflow at work so much faster in a lot of cases. Inevitably, there is always at least a burger I have to remove from a grill if we want to use the picture. Granted, that’s an easy example, but I can just think of so many cases where this would make a process so much easier both at work and in my own projects.


Awesome!

Chase Jarvis is one bad ass photographer. The guy is so in tune with his work and sharing his experiences. He is is also an avid blogger. He often shares his techniques and provides simple but nicely edited video behind the scenes of his work. He is a wealth of talent and experience. I wish I could just spend a few days with him to soak up the knowledge.

Chase is the author of the book “The Best Camera” which he says “is the one that’s with you.” In his case, it’s often his iPhone. It can be depressing looking at his iPhone photos because a majority of them are better than the best photos I’ve taken. Sad.

Here’s one example of the many great videos he has posted on his blog. This one is more about a film project he is working on rather than photography. Another reason I admire the guy, he’s so damned talented in both still and motion.

In the event you are a millionaire who stumbled upon my very sporadic blog, make the jump for a list of the items I would like that were featured in this video. For the rest of you, take a gander at the equipment he used.

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Ever since their “Balls” spot, whenever I see Sony’s ads, I always think about the visuals I create in my head, but I just wish I had the technical ability to execute such awe inspiring commercials. Looks like I need to take some 3D and animation classes to put these thoughts into reality…


It’s hard to believe they’re ads because I think of them as works of art before a marketing tactic. There is a definite shift in the way companies market to consumers. Along the lines of what Social Media is doing to communication, GOOD marketing now caters more to what the consumer wants, rather than what the marketer wants the consumer to want.


Produced by Superfad, here is Sony’s latest spot titled “Eye Candy”. It must be so satisfying to create something like this and see it come to life just the way you envisioned it in your head. The only requirements Sony had were that “it needs to be colorful and surreal”. Given that freedom, as far as combining art and marketing goes, could you have a better blank canvas to work off of?





Superfad Directs Colorful Vision in “Eye Candy” for Sony BRAVIA HDTV from Hype Communications on Vimeo.


You can check out the creative process behind the scenes in making this ad by clicking the photo below.

Thanks to everyone for your input! I got a lot more than I anticipated. It seemed most friends and family gravitated towards Melissa Jill (check her out, she’s got a great blog too) for the most part. If not their first pick, it was their second.


Chrissy, her dad and I had the opportunity to meet with Melissa a couple weeks ago at her home office. Right off the bat, you could tell she was very personable and very organized. She had all her ducks in a row and her presentation in order. She left us for a moment and let us watch a video and right as it ended she came down the stairs with some snacks and sparkling apple cider. Fancy touch! I’m convinced she had her ear to the wall waiting for it to end so she could make her perfectly timed entrance. Or…she just knows what she’s doing because this is her profession.


Melissa gave us a great bit of advice when looking for a photographer. It was simply to ask them to show you their proof book. Very good advice. What this does is allow you to look through their day’s work, their thought process, creativity and quality from photo to photo. This is what sold Chrissy and I on Melissa. She showed us a proof book and it wasn’t a bunch of pictures showing the same thing. All the pictures were high quality and from different perspectives. The moments varied from picture to picture and conveyed different emotions. It shows the photographer’s versatility and skill if you can look through a proof book and more than 75% of their photos could end up in the final wedding album.


So, Melissa is the official photographer of the Drazkowski/Nguyen wedding. We’re stoked about it! Now Chrissy and I have to put our creative minds together to make some fun/funny/creative photos! Which is another good thing about Melissa, she has so many great and fun photos Chrissy and I would’ve love to take but they’ve already been taken now. Boooo! Oh well, we’ll think of something good.

I have pictures of somebody other than Noah! Alright!

Here are a few photos of adorable Mayson and Jonah and their parents Cortney and Tyson. Once again, I got paid in food! See a theme? I’m a fatty… I felt too guilty taking money from them since they’re friends and I’m not confident enough in my own photography to get paid anyways. But, they insisted so I let them buy me food! You’ll see that Mayson is one photogenic little girl and a real ham! And Jonah, surprisingly for how young he is, is very photogenic too. Usually babies as young as him look floppy in pictures. Speaking of floppy babies, I was told by Chrissy’s dad that’s an actual disease so I probably shouldn’t say it any more. Sorry floppy baby syndrome infants, I really didn’t know.

As you can see, I’m still trying to figure out my own style. I’d like to get to a point where I have a little consistency in my photos. I find that I end up trying to over process my images in an effort to make them look “more professional”. I need to work on making the image nearly perfect right out of the camera.

Cameos by the parents, Tyson and Cortney after the jump!

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