Anna

There are some models that you work with, which brings out some of your best work. Anna for me is one of those models. She not only has a beautiful face, but knows her body and how to work angels in front of the camera. Anna also has a great personality. She bring a great energy to a shoot, its focused, but light and fun at the same time.

What a Day

What a Day - Shekou-China (Lr)
Originally uploaded by deste64

Us frustrated/struggling photographers hope and pray to get experiences like this one described by Stefano.

Congratulations to him for getting the opportunity and making the most of it.

"Few days ago I get in contact with the owner of an international model agency in Shenzhen that has seen one of my pics and she asked me send her some of my most significant photos and a small profile of me to be evaluated. After she received them, she invited me to visit the agency and told me to bring my camera; a couple of days ago I went there thinking we would have a chat and probably few shoots as they wanted to test me.
Ok, when I arrived there I was just impressed: big modern and stylish open space with 4 or 5 guys working on editing photos, a nice a full equipped photo studio (six lights, any kind of light modifier and reflector, electric drop down background, make up area with a big and well furnished wardrobe, etc.) and few closed offices. I was welcomed from the owner and a couple of her assistants in such a professional way, they treated me like I was Steven Meisel just arrived to China! I was told I was going to pass a little test, she wanted to see how professional I was (hey madam, I’m not a pro) and she put at my disposal the entire staff, a model and a MUA and asked me to do a photo shoot with three different changes of clothes, I had to decide everything, make up, clothes, lighting set ups………. PANIC! This entire team of professional people just expecting me to tell them what to do! Then, after the initial panic, something clicked in my mind: “Come on Stefano, they’re giving you everything you always dreamt about, use it!”, I felt like I really was Steven Meisel.
So, I did it. We had almost 4 hours work in between making ready the set (I had a very simple three light set-up easy to modify at each moment), preparing the model and the clothes, shooting and then showing them how I go through my basic editing in Photoshop. Wow, it was just great!!
The greatest thing out of it is that they were impressed about my “professionalism” and I was proposed to start collaborating with them to initially shoot for an underwear catalog, some brochures for a new line of clothes and later on passing to something more important. I was also asked to collaborate with them in editing few pictures for other photographers for some big advertising posters. Oh, and want to pay me!
It was just an amazing day!

This shot is a test shot but I like showing the set up. No editing on it, just a slight tone adjustment and sharpening in Lr."

Exposure 1/100s
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 18 mm (Nikkor 18-200mm)
ISO Speed 100
Strobist: two studio lights 800 (can't recall the name) at 10 and 2 hrs at 3/4 power shot into softbox, one studio light 800 at 4 hrs well above model at 1/2 power shot through big octagonal softbox, triggered with radio trigger, one big silver reflector in front of subject below camera.

Uploaded by deste64 on 5 Aug 10, 9.37AM EDT.

Robin

The Worth of a Photographer

I really think people don't value a photographer's worth. Good photography takes a tremendous amount of skill, effort, and investment. A good photographer has invested a lot of time in studying the craft, investing in equipment, etc... However, when people ask for a photographer's service, they tend to not want to pay or pay very little for high quality work.

I got a message from a model/TV personality the other day, asking to do a shoot for free. Her statement to me was that I would get exposure, free advertising, etc...

"Ms. X from TV's "XXXXX" is looking for a photographer who would be interested in a TFCD (non-compensatory service). If you are interested please leave a message in the inbox and we can discuss concepts/themes. We are looking for specific images. Your work will be seen on her autograph cards which will give your images credit. This is a great chance to advertise your photography. Also if you are chosen she will have your business card out to display as well as a picture advertising your business. "

I wonder what her reaction would be if the producers of her TV show told her to work for free and it would be great exposure and free advertising. She would probably walk her out of the room. So, if you going to use my photography for a business, why would you not pay for it. Again, people don't value a photographer's worth.

Photographers are not innocent in this matter. A photographer friend of mine put it quiet well:

"it seems to me, it is that willingness among so many photogs to task on work without compensation that is driving the demand for TF (non-compensatory service). Its a vicious cycle. The result is a cheapening of the profession among clients. The Craigslist "no pay" ads are the norm, instead of the exceptions. We photographers (pros, amateurs and hobbyists alike) love to shoot so much that we are willing to be exploited for the opportunity to create work that we are proud of -- whether we get paid for it or not, more than we should. We all have done it. But we all need to be aware of the negative impact it has. All of this know. And you're right, one has to be creative just to make the work at least pay for itself. I still haven't gotten to that point. Oh well. :-)"

The iPhone Fashion Shoot

Photography is one of the most expensive hobbies or professions one can pursue. When I hang around my photographer friends the conversation soon turns to equipment. Often photographers compare their equipment to others "I have the Nikon 3D" or "I want the new Canon 5D", etc... Does having the best and latest equipment equal creative and quality images, my conclusion is "probably not". Listen, I love new equipment just as much as the other guy. I'm a tech tool nut.... However, take a look at this video, and you might start to change your mind about going deep in debt for the latest toy.

By the way, I still shoot with my Nikon D80, its considered old by today's standards.

Wonderful Photography from Eugenio Recuenco

Eugenio Recuenco
Originally uploaded by Kelli Jo.

Eugenio Recuenco is a photographer from Madrid, Spain, who works mostly in the publishing and advertising fields. Compared to others, his personal style has been referred to as "cinematographic" and "pictorial". His work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and Madame Figaro

Eugenio Recuenco: I try to convince reality so it shows on a different way in front of me. I don’t do anything forced; everything happens spontaneously.

http://www.eugeniorecuenco.com/

Wonderful Words from Model Mayhem

Model Mayhem (MM) www.modelmayhem.com is a wonderful site and has helped me develop my craft and meeting wonderful people committed to the art. However, dealing with some models on MM has really tried my patience and even made me use some curse words every now and then (ok..I curse all the time). I have had models cancel on me just before the shoot, models not show up, models committed to do a TF (trade for) and then have the nerve to require me to pay (I didn't obviously. The nerve). The list is long, but Maverick Photo from Miami Beach, Florida (a very talented photographer Mayhem #134276), put it best on his profile page on MM:


MODEL MAYHEM QUOTES THAT CRACK ME UP AND THE SMELL OF COFFEE...:

*I DON'T TF.....ps TF anything is not a term used in the real modeling world....it's called testing and even $5,000 a day models test to keep updating there books and they pay premium test rates.

*I DON'T DO NUDES......i understand if you only do nude based work with high caliber photographers but you look silly saying that as a "PRO" model, when even the top supermodels have shot nudes...keep it real people.

*I BRING AN ESCORT TO ALL SHOOTS.......first of all no one takes other people to work or to their employement...cos they would get fired. If you are unsure of a photographer either check out his reputation or don't risk it... simple as that.

*I AM AGENCY REPRESENTED.......good for you...but over 80% of agency models never clear $30,000 a year...not even considered a working model by industry standards...but why would you be on this site and risk having potential clients undercut your day rate by offering you peanuts on this site when your agency would have got you full rate.

PS...all reputable agencies that i know of have pretty much banned any of their models from this site.

*YOUR 5'5" AND YOU WANT TO SHOOT FASHION OR EDITORIAL......enough said......come on girls ...do you REALLY think that you get to tell the industry what you want to shoot....instead of what your height, weight and looks have already determined?

*I HAVE MANY IDEAS.....lol...call me old fashioned but since when in the history of this business did a 18-23 year old model get paid or put infront of a camera to THINK.....

*I WANT TO BE A REAL WORKING MODEL.....but you live in a town in the middle of nowhere, have a half ass internet book....not even a real folio....never been on real castings.....never shot with an agency approved test photographer and want to stay in your hometown with your high school BF and friends.........as of this new year there are only two real markets left....NYC and MIAMI....LA is no longer a market but a secondary market.....just ask fashion week that permanently left the LA market ....for all you west coast girls that are serious about working it should ring a get the F**K outta dodge bell.

you have to follow the seasons in the different markets

*RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL QUOTES.......all nice but have no place in this industry......infact this industry is the last place you will find religion, morality, respect or any other feel good social ideas.....its a machine that only cares about one colour....GREEN!!"....and not the type you smoke...lol

and the only rule is the Machiavelli rule "The means to the ends justify the action"....not for you weak hearted out there.

*WORKING FOR FREE IS AN OXYMORON.....shooting for free or even shooting for free and paying your own travel costs is not an oxymoron if the person you are shooting with is either gonna get you a MONEY SHOT....a picture that leads others to hiring you and ends up making you X amount of dollars over the time period it is in your book or they have a name that leads to others working with you that normally wouldn't but since you are riding the coat tails of that photographer they will want to work with you too.

*THIS IS NOT A DATING SITE.......usually the girls......but its funny how they cross that line when they see something they like and then they private message or tag the guy with..." Hot body...let me know if you want to do a couples shoot"......PS.....i wonder where the term" CAREER DATING" came from...hhhmmmm???

*I AM A PRO PHOTOGRAPHER.....though you have only held a camera in your hand twice a week for the last 3 years ....and then you want to charge models ,agency test rates. And because you have found a couple of girls off this site that are with agencies you know claim them as clients too.....keep it real shooters.....it take 20 years just to get into the game.....just ask the 60 year old master photographers.

*PHOTOGRAPHER AND MODEL CREDITS......but for some reason they never match up with the pictures in their ports....if you claim it SHOW it.

*FOR GEORGE FAVIOS..."WE NEED TO SHOOT,I CAN ADD TO YOUR BOOK".....when the model has sublevel images and experience, her/his boyfriend has taken snap shots of them and she/he wants to sell an experienced photographer with a solid body of work and working models in his book to shoot her/him for free .....

*MORE TO COME ....I'M SURE....lol

If these apply to you ....i wish you all the luck in the world and success but feel free to SKIP my page.

For those that are awake and smell the coffee and wanna be realistic welcome......2010 is the BULLSHIT FREE year!

Enjoy,

Robin

R&B Artist-Syreeta Shrine

R&B Artist-Syreeta Shrine
Originally uploaded by Joel Grimes Photography

Joel Grimes does some wonderful lighting and HD backgrounds!

Guys

I mainly shoot women, however I do shoot guys. Here's some of my work.

Art is the end result of perception, wisdom, intelligence, discipline, hard work, passion, luck, accident, and coincidence.

-- Unknown Source

Help Haiti

I was asked to work on a donation effort for Haiti started in Atlanta. What a wonderful experience.

www.youtube.com/user/DonationsForHaiti#p/u/1/Bg7EhuENmR8

The relationship between Atlanta and Haiti post earthquake and what we can do to continue to support the sister city of Port au Prince.

www.donationsforhaiti.org

White Seamless

I took these images after I reviewed a blog from Zack Arias and connected with a cool model called Tiffani the Bombshell. Zack is an Atlanta based editorial photographer and his posts blogs about photography have been very helpful to me in my shooting techniques.

"Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, and countless other great photographers have rocked the white background for decades. I recently went to a huge bookstore here in Atlanta and counted the number of magazine covers shot with a simple white background like we are going to investigate here. 87 COVERS SHOT ON WHITE OR A VARIATION OF A WHITE BACKGROUND. Eighty-seven magazine covers at one book store. Its everywhere and it is everywhere because it is simple and effective and makes your subjects pop. It beats the bloody hell out of any wrinkled up grey/blue/brown muslin any day of the week. Walk into a Target store this week and look at the in-store signage. How did I learn to shoot like this? Because this is how we shot JC Penney’s catalogue clearance images when I shot for them. Need to add text and other artwork to a photo? A simple white background lets you do so all day long." Posted by Zack Arias


White Seamless Tutorial (chick here to access tutorial)

Step into the Light!

Sabrina_Beauty_2_0004
Originally uploaded by Stand by, JT

As a photographer, you start to think of one thing and one thing only as your primary goal. That is to create good lighting. Without good lighting, everything else is has little meaning.

Here is a good example of simple but very effective lighting by JT.

Brittany Wiess - God Bless

I haven't posted in sometime and I was wondering weather to post this or not. I had photographed Brittany in October / 2008, I didn't really know her well, but you hate to hear news like this. Your heart goes out to the family.

Suspect in DUI hits, kills student

Police: ‘Low-speed’ chase ends in crash

By Doug Nurse, Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday, December 27, 2008

When Brittany Elaine Weiss was a senior at Cherokee High School, she directed a play about the consequences of drunken driving. On Friday, the 19-year-old Gordon College student was killed by a man accused of drunken driving.

“We’re all heartbroken,” said Tori Wester, 18, who participated in the play that portrays young people at a party. At the end, the play reveals that two of the characters have actually died. “She liked the writer, and she thought it was powerful.”

Weiss had just left a Canton movie theater at about 12:15 a.m. Friday when her 2008 Toyota Scion was struck broadside by a 2003 Town & Country minivan. The driver of the minivan, Stephen Patrick Wauschek of Canton, is in Cherokee County Jail, where he faces charges of DUI and first-degree vehicular homicide, police said.

Canton police had tried to stop the suspect for possible DUI and an expired license tag, but Wauschek refused to stop. During a chase that police described as “low-speed,” the minivan ran a red light and struck Weiss’ Scion, police said.

He tried to run away on foot but was caught, authorities said, and had a suspended Michigan driver’s license.

Police said Wauschek had been arrested by Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies in September on charges of DUI, striking a fixed object and attempting to elude.

A Cherokee County magistrate judge on Friday evening set Wauschek’s bond at $318,000, but, because he had violated probation from previous DUI charges, a hold was put on his bond, police spokesman Sgt. Jay Baker said. “He cannot bond out of jail unless the hold is removed [by his probation officer] at a later date,” Baker said.

Weiss, an only child, was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the Scion, Kassandra Aileen Carman, 19, was injured and taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where she was in critical but stable condition Friday.

A man answering the door at the Weiss home declined to talk about Brittany Weiss. Friends described a vivacious young woman who loved everything about the theater.

Ciara Auringer, 18, also had a part in the play. She said Weiss loved drama and often styled hair and make-up for high school plays.

“She was funny,” Auringer said. “She always had a job. She was pretty together.”

Weiss worked as a hostess at Provino’s Italian restaurant in Canton.

Will Banks, a friend from high school, said he saw Weiss entering the movie theater Thursday night to see the film “Valkyrie.” “I saw her go in and decided to just say hello when we got out,” Banks said in an e-mail.

“She was talking to Kayce [Kassandra Carman] as she was walking in. After the movie was over, it slipped my mind because I was in a hurry to get home. I wish I could have talked to her one last time to say goodbye.”

David Bachman, who knew Weiss since elementary school, said he hadn’t talked to her in a year but remembered her fondly.

“She was an angel,” he said. “Now that she’s gone, I think she still is an angel.”

A good MUA!

I have come to the conclusion that in order to get your photography to the next level you have to, have to get a good makeup artist, hair stylist, and clothing stylist. One of the things that I love about photography is all the elements that go into making a good image. One has to think about lighting, composition, editing, clothing, makeup, hair, etc... The list is long. This is also the frustrating thing about photography, its not just about showing up and having the right and latest equipment. One has to think or at least pay attention to all the elements that go into making an image. This weekend I worked with an excellent MUA. She made all the difference in the quality of the images produced.

Legs & Shoes

I think I have a thing about women's legs and shoes. Actually, I know I have a thing for women's legs & shoes. I was shooting with other photographers and I noticed one of the models had a great pair of legs (the face was just OK), but the legs were great. So, I decided to shoot leg & shoes, and I think it came out OK. I am thinking of doing a whole series of legs and shoes images. I was once approached by a gentlemen by the name of John Ashford (www.JohnAshford.ws) from NY to shoot his shoes, unfortunately we couldn't connect, but his shoe line is wonderful.

Check his website out.

Robin

B&W

Originally I didn't like this image, but each image that I take, has its own qualities and dictates to me how it should be processed (my 2 cents). I was going to leave it in color, but when I changed it to BW, that's when the image took off, for me.