LeggNet's Digital Capture

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324,157 – Unique Visitors to LeggNet’s Digital Capture
126,742 – Most Hits on a Single Day
16,586 – Photos Taken
8,693 – Photos Sold Online
1,748 – Photos added to Flickr
1,514 – Photos added to iStockphoto
732 – Comments left by Readers
334 – Blog Posts Made
2 – Frontpage DIGG Stories
1 – New Camera

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and support throughout the year. I anxiously look forward to what 2008 has in store for all of us photographically.

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324,157 – Unique Visitors to LeggNet’s Digital Capture
126,742 – Most Hits on a Single Day
16,586 – Photos Taken
8,693 – Photos Sold Online
1,748 – Photos added to Flickr
1,514 – Photos added to iStockphoto
732 – Comments left by Readers
334 – Blog Posts Made
2 – Frontpage DIGG Stories
1 – New Camera

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and support throughout the year. I anxiously look forward to what 2008 has in store for all of us photographically.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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I spent the snowy Friday morning before Christmas at a local bowling center with a few kids doing a photo shoot for my iStockphoto portfolio. The kids had a great time getting to do some bowling while modeling. This shoot had been planned for quite a while since the date was a school holiday. What we didn’t expect was for it to be the snowiest morning of the season. To my surprise, all of our models braved the weather and made it to the shoot on time.

Most of the shots involved the kids hanging out in the bowler’s seating area, although I did do a few shots of kids bowling (above). In this overview image below, you can get an idea of the lighting setup used. Three large softboxes and a 5×7′ monolight lit diffusion screen created a sizable ‘set’ to shoot within.

It was very cool to have a whole bowling alley to ourselves. Of course, the raging blizzard outside did help contribute to the emptiness of the location. Special thanks go to my friend Harley who supplied some equipment, assisted on the shoot, and took the overview shot.

Labels: stock, tutorial

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I spent the snowy Friday morning before Christmas at a local bowling center with a few kids doing a photo shoot for my iStockphoto portfolio. The kids had a great time getting to do some bowling while modeling. This shoot had been planned for quite a while since the date was a school holiday. What we didn’t expect was for it to be the snowiest morning of the season. To my surprise, all of our models braved the weather and made it to the shoot on time.

Most of the shots involved the kids hanging out in the bowler’s seating area, although I did do a few shots of kids bowling (above). In this overview image below, you can get an idea of the lighting setup used. Three large softboxes and a 5×7′ monolight lit diffusion screen created a sizable ‘set’ to shoot within.

It was very cool to have a whole bowling alley to ourselves. Of course, the raging blizzard outside did help contribute to the emptiness of the location. Special thanks go to my friend Harley who supplied some equipment, assisted on the shoot, and took the overview shot.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/4 second, f/22, ISO 50

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Since a nasty virus pretty much wiped out the Legg household over Christmas (including house guests), the family goal today consisted of only one thing – Watch a Movie.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100

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Since a nasty virus pretty much wiped out the Legg household over Christmas (including house guests), the family goal today consisted of only one thing – Watch a Movie.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/4, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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(Alyssa chatting on the phone while cooking dinner.)

I spent yesterday morning shooting for an ‘In the Kitchen’ stock photo series that I am working on. Our location was a local company’s kitchen/cooking training facility. In addition to a large very nice residential type kitchen, the room has 48 theater style seats. This gave me plenty of room for my equipment and props.

(Behind the Scene shot of Evelyn cutting vegetables.)

I used two softboxes (20×30″ & 30×60″) for the strong side lighting. Fill light was provided by a single monolight firing directly into a 60×84″ piece of ripstock nylon. I prefer fairly strong directional lighting for this type of shoot.

My models Evelyn, Donna, Alicia & Alyssa all were extremely patient and did a great job. They were a lot of fun to work with and offered plenty of expertise for ‘keeping it real’ when it came to setting up kitchen scenes.

(Donna with a sheet of freshly baked cookies.)

My pre-Christmas activity is now to edit and upload the considerable amount of images to my iStockphoto portfolio.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

Labels: photography, stock

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(Alyssa chatting on the phone while cooking dinner.)

I spent yesterday morning shooting for an ‘In the Kitchen’ stock photo series that I am working on. Our location was a local company’s kitchen/cooking training facility. In addition to a large very nice residential type kitchen, the room has 48 theater style seats. This gave me plenty of room for my equipment and props.

(Behind the Scene shot of Evelyn cutting vegetables.)

I used two softboxes (20×30″ & 30×60″) for the strong side lighting. Fill light was provided by a single monolight firing directly into a 60×84″ piece of ripstock nylon. I prefer fairly strong directional lighting for this type of shoot.

My models Evelyn, Donna, Alicia & Alyssa all were extremely patient and did a great job. They were a lot of fun to work with and offered plenty of expertise for ‘keeping it real’ when it came to setting up kitchen scenes.

(Donna with a sheet of freshly baked cookies.)

My pre-Christmas activity is now to edit and upload the considerable amount of images to my iStockphoto portfolio.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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How ’bout some RSS feed goodness for this Wednesday? Here are the 37 photography related websites that currently reside in my RSS reader:

Annual Report Photography, David Tejada ‘The f Stops Here’
Assignment Construct
Black Star Rising
Bryan Regan Photography
Change, Culture, Creativity, Communication
Chase Jarvis Blog
Dan Heller Photography Business Blog
Digital Photography Review
Digital Photography School
Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor
DIYPhotoraphy.net – Photography and Studio Lighting – Do It Yourself
Epic Edits Weblog
Eric Hamilton Photography
Ethan Myerson Stock Photography
f/1.4 Photography by Sean Duggan
Kenneth Linge’s Journal
LeggNet’s Contacts Flickr Group
Lightsource Studio Photography Podcast
New West Images
Photo Business News & Forum
Photo District News – PDNewswire
Photo News Today
PhotoAttorney
Photography Bay
Photography for Real Estate
Photography Podcast – photography.ca
Photoshop Insider
Photowalking.org
Photowalking Salt Lake City
Pixel remix: The Ann-alog
Rasmus Rasmussen dot com
Scott[o]Smith’s Digital World
Shorpy – The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog
Strobist
The Digital Story
thephotographybiz.com
Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection

There you have it. Feel free to suggest some of the photography feeds in your reader. As for today’s image, I don’t think my friend Dale is reading RSS feeds on his D200, but I’m sure he would if he could.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 200

Labels: photography

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How ’bout some RSS feed goodness for this Wednesday? Here are the 37 photography related websites that currently reside in my RSS reader:

Annual Report Photography, David Tejada ‘The f Stops Here’
Assignment Construct
Black Star Rising
Bryan Regan Photography
Change, Culture, Creativity, Communication
Chase Jarvis Blog
Dan Heller Photography Business Blog
Digital Photography Review
Digital Photography School
Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor
DIYPhotoraphy.net – Photography and Studio Lighting – Do It Yourself
Epic Edits Weblog
Eric Hamilton Photography
Ethan Myerson Stock Photography
f/1.4 Photography by Sean Duggan
Kenneth Linge’s Journal
LeggNet’s Contacts Flickr Group
Lightsource Studio Photography Podcast
New West Images
Photo Business News & Forum
Photo District News – PDNewswire
Photo News Today
PhotoAttorney
Photography Bay
Photography for Real Estate
Photography Podcast – photography.ca
Photoshop Insider
Photowalking.org
Photowalking Salt Lake City
Pixel remix: The Ann-alog
Rasmus Rasmussen dot com
Scott[o]Smith’s Digital World
Shorpy – The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog
Strobist
The Digital Story
thephotographybiz.com
Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection

There you have it. Feel free to suggest some of the photography feeds in your reader. As for today’s image, I don’t think my friend Dale is reading RSS feeds on his D200, but I’m sure he would if he could.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 200

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 13 second, f/22, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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For today’s image, I sought to create the look of a dark family room being lit solely from a television screen. The light source was a single 18×18″ softbox placed in front of the kids on the floor. The black room in the background is just a roll of seamless about 5 feet behind the couch.

I did a whole series of these two pretending to play video games. This particular image was originally an outtake, but I ultimately decided to keep it in the set. Josh was saying funny things “under his breath” while I was shooting in an attempt to get Sarah to crack up. On this shot, he succeeded.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

The date for the next Salt Lake City Photowalk has been set for Saturday, January 12th. This will be an indoor photowalk exploring the nuances of studio lighting. The nice folks at Gateway Community Church in Draper have allowed us to use their rather large sanctuary (pictured, courtesy of Gateway Community Church) to set up at least three different ‘studios’, so unlike previous events – weather will not be an issue (and it will BE WARM!).

In addition to the opportunity to learn about studio lighting, we will have “gear sharing tables” available to try out other photowalker’s camera gear. I plan on having my 5D, 30D and G7 cameras plus an assortment of lenses all available for use at the Canon table and I know that at least one shooter (Ann!) will make their high end Nikon gear available.

We will even have at least five young people available to model for the photographers. This will be a great hands-on way for shooters to play around with lighting. There has been discussion on the Flickr Group about doing at least one of the sets as a budget setup, to show photographers how to get great results on a shoestring lighting budget.

If this wasn’t already enough incentive to come, my contact over at my favorite camera store Pictureline has offered to make some kind of gear donation for a door prize or two.

As always, these events are open to anyone interested in attending – regardless of skill and/or equipment level. If your camera has a flash, we will be able to sync you to the lights.

When: Saturday January 12, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm (ish)
Where: Gateway Community Church – 584 E. 12300 South, Draper UT 84020

For more information and discussion on the local (Northern Utah) photowalking events, please drop by the Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc. Feel free to contact me with any questions at rich(at)leggnet.com.

I hope to see a lot of you on the 12th!

Labels: photography, photowalking, salt lake city

The date for the next Salt Lake City Photowalk has been set for Saturday, January 12th. This will be an indoor photowalk exploring the nuances of studio lighting. The nice folks at Gateway Community Church in Draper have allowed us to use their rather large sanctuary (pictured, courtesy of Gateway Community Church) to set up at least three different ‘studios’, so unlike previous events – weather will not be an issue (and it will BE WARM!).

In addition to the opportunity to learn about studio lighting, we will have “gear sharing tables” available to try out other photowalker’s camera gear. I plan on having my 5D, 30D and G7 cameras plus an assortment of lenses all available for use at the Canon table and I know that at least one shooter (Ann!) will make their high end Nikon gear available.

We will even have at least five young people available to model for the photographers. This will be a great hands-on way for shooters to play around with lighting. There has been discussion on the Flickr Group about doing at least one of the sets as a budget setup, to show photographers how to get great results on a shoestring lighting budget.

If this wasn’t already enough incentive to come, my contact over at my favorite camera store Pictureline has offered to make some kind of gear donation for a door prize or two.

As always, these events are open to anyone interested in attending – regardless of skill and/or equipment level. If your camera has a flash, we will be able to sync you to the lights.

When: Saturday January 12, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm (ish)
Where: Gateway Community Church – 584 E. 12300 South, Draper UT 84020

For more information and discussion on the local (Northern Utah) photowalking events, please drop by the Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc. Feel free to contact me with any questions at rich(at)leggnet.com.

I hope to see a lot of you on the 12th!

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/200 second, f/8, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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This past weekend I did a stock photo shoot at my brother-in-law’s custom furniture shot. During the weekdays the shop is a hotbed of activity, but on this particular Saturday afternoon it was nearly empty and a great time to put together a set of images for my portfolio.

The goal for the shoot was to capture a craftsman at work using the various tools and equipment in the shop. I wanted the shots to look realistic and not staged. Tyler, my brother-in-law, made a great model working the equipment as we made our way around the large shop.

The lighting setup consisted of three lights. The main light was a 24×36″ softbox while fill light was provided by a 36″ umbrella. Both of these modifiers were mounted on 600 wattsecond monolights. I also used a single monolight for illuminating the background when necessary. A picture tells a better story, so here is an overview of one of the shots:

The main light was placed at a fairly sharp angle to give shadow and definition to the subject. The detail in Tyler’s left arm in today’s featured image is a good example of this result.

We were in an out of the shop in about 90 minutes and were able to produce 48 final images (from the nearly 200 shots taken) all of which were accepted into my iStock inventory. I generally love doing these location stock shoots and this one was no exception. The complete set from the shoot can be viewed here.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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1. Canon 1Ds Mark III
2. Mac Pro with 30″ Cinema Display
3. European Photo Tour

Oh yeah, and Peace on Earth!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/4.5, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The next Photowalking Salt Lake City event is tonight. The group will be meeting at 5:15 pm for a visit to the Christmas light displays in and around Salt Lake City’s Temple Square. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of skill.

For more information and details, check out my previous post or the Photowalking Salt Lake City Flickr group.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 10 seconds, f/22, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Since digital is now the prevailing type of camera, why do we still need to use the word digital when describing them? A decade ago when they were first coming onto the scene and film was still the primary format, it made sense. But now a film camera is a rare find.

I wonder how long it will be before people will assume a camera is digital when they hear the term “Camera”. Or is this already happening? Will I then need to change the name of this website to LeggNet’s Digital Capture?

Today’s image is one of the first cameras I ever used. It is the Kodak Brownie my father received from his grandparents as a graduation gift in 1950. In case you can’t tell, it is not digital.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/15 second, f/4, ISO 100

Labels: camera, photography

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Since digital is now the prevailing type of camera, why do we still need to use the word digital when describing them? A decade ago when they were first coming onto the scene and film was still the primary format, it made sense. But now a film camera is a rare find.

I wonder how long it will be before people will assume a camera is digital when they hear the term “Camera”. Or is this already happening? Will I then need to change the name of this website to LeggNet’s Digital Capture?

Today’s image is one of the first cameras I ever used. It is the Kodak Brownie my father received from his grandparents as a graduation gift in 1950. In case you can’t tell, it is not digital.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/15 second, f/4, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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It’s a snowy Saturday morning here in Utah and my 9:00 am photo shoot just got postponed, so I thought I would spend a few minutes and break down a wintery image for today’s post.

One thing that I have been working on improving in my photography is my use of color themes within a photo. When capturing this image (from a recent wintertime stock series), I concentrated on keeping the color tone similar in each element of the shot. With Michelle’s strikingly dark eyes (yeah, I’m a bit biased) and wanting to create a warm result to go with the hot cup of chocolate, working with brown tones was a natural choice.

My first thought when putting together the composition was to use a dark brown cup for the cocoa. After a bit of thought I opted for white to have the cup provide a subtle similarity to the brown/white of her eyes. Secondly, Michelle’s jacket was too dark in the original, so I had her wrap in a tan fleece that I happened to have in studio to give separation between her hair and jacket on the left.

One improvement that I wish I would have done is to move the cup a short distance to the right. I find the clipping of the cup’s handle on the left a bit disconcerting.

As you can tell by the large catchlights in the eyes, the lighting setup was very simple. I used a 24×36″ softbox positioned vertically to the left of camera. I purposely wanted to create the dark shadow area on the right, so the light was placed at a fairly sharp angle with no fill (light or reflector) on the opposite side. The 600ws light was turned to a minimum power setting to allow me to shoot at f/5 creating a narrow depth of field. To further narrow the depth of field, I shot with the lens at its most telephoto setting of 105mm (I stood on a stepladder to get enough distance).

Well, that’s enough rambling for today. I’m now off to brave the Greatest Snow on Earth.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 100

Labels: photography, portrait, tutorial, winter

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It’s a snowy Saturday morning here in Utah and my 9:00 am photo shoot just got postponed, so I thought I would spend a few minutes and break down a wintery image for today’s post.

One thing that I have been working on improving in my photography is my use of color themes within a photo. When capturing this image (from a recent wintertime stock series), I concentrated on keeping the color tone similar in each element of the shot. With Michelle’s strikingly dark eyes (yeah, I’m a bit biased) and wanting to create a warm result to go with the hot cup of chocolate, working with brown tones was a natural choice.

My first thought when putting together the composition was to use a dark brown cup for the cocoa. After a bit of thought I opted for white to have the cup provide a subtle similarity to the brown/white of her eyes. Secondly, Michelle’s jacket was too dark in the original, so I had her wrap in a tan fleece that I happened to have in studio to give separation between her hair and jacket on the left.

One improvement that I wish I would have done is to move the cup a short distance to the right. I find the clipping of the cup’s handle on the left a bit disconcerting.

As you can tell by the large catchlights in the eyes, the lighting setup was very simple. I used a 24×36″ softbox positioned vertically to the left of camera. I purposely wanted to create the dark shadow area on the right, so the light was placed at a fairly sharp angle with no fill (light or reflector) on the opposite side. The 600ws light was turned to a minimum power setting to allow me to shoot at f/5 creating a narrow depth of field. To further narrow the depth of field, I shot with the lens at its most telephoto setting of 105mm (I stood on a stepladder to get enough distance).

Well, that’s enough rambling for today. I’m now off to brave the Greatest Snow on Earth.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/2 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/2 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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One of the many photography blogs I follow is that of Colorado photographer David Tejada. David specializes in annual report photography and has a blog that details many of his assignments. The great part about the blog is that he frequently posts video overviews of his shoots.

One of his recent videos was a time-lapse presentation of an assignment doing corporate headshots. In the video, he places a large softbox directly to the right side aiming across the front of of the subject and then fills the opposite side with a reflector. Here is the video:

I really liked the result of the simple lighting setup and though I used a similar setup in my previous photographic life, I hadn’t done so in many years – until recently.

Today’s image of a young man in business attire is from a recent stock session in which I used this lighting arrangement. I opted for a complete black background to make the Junior Executive stand out in his white shirt and power tie. One other shoot that I used a variation of this lighting on was another stock shoot of a young man in a graduation cap and gown.

As you can see, this lighting setup is extremely simple and very effective. It definitely works well in both my stock and portrait work.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/80 second, f/10, ISO 100

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Today is the second anniversary of LeggNet’s Digital Capture. It has been an interesting and enjoyable ride over the previous 630 posts. Without sounding too corny (it’s probably too late for that), it is the kind readers who visit the blog, subscribe to the RSS feed, ask questions and share comments that make it all worthwhile.

To all of you, I offer a heartfelt THANK YOU!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/16, ISO 100

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NOTE: The meeting time has been moved to 5:15 pm

The next Photowalking Salt Lake City event is scheduled for the evening of December 11th. We will be making a visit to the Christmas light displays at Temple Square. The rendezvous time is 5:15 pm near the large red tree at the intersection of South Temple and Main Street (the tree in the center of today’s image).

Anyone who wants to attend is welcome to do so. While there will be many advanced photographers, there will also be many novices. These are non-competitive events aimed at having a good time. Please dress warmly and a tripod is nearly a must.

For more details or to announce your intention of attending, visit the Flickr group at flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 8 second, f/22, ISO 100

Labels: photography, photowalking, salt lake city

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Today’s image is an example of putting image stabilization and high ISO to use when photographing in a dark environment. I made this casual portrait of a restaurant owner in the extremely dim lobby of his Indian restaurant in Provo.

This was shot hand held with a relatively long shutter speed of 1/10 second. Typically, shooting at this speed without a tripod would result in an image too blurred to use. This is where advances in lens technology helped out. My everyday walk-around lens (Canon 24-105 f/4L IS) has image-stabilization built in. While this won’t help with moving subjects, it will dramatically assist in reducing camera shake. Using this feature combined with a high ISO (1600) and me bracing myself against a wall, I was able to capture a very usable portrait of Amrik.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/10 second, f/4, ISO 1600

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

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As 20th century crooner Andy Williams once said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”.

If you don’t tend to believe Bryan’s story about our recent trip to the North Pole to photograph Santa, then let me offer up a different (slightly less sensational) version of the how the photos came to be.

This gentleman is a semi-retired CPA who truly enjoys his resemblance to Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick. So much so, in fact, that he refuses to take payment for portraying the Christmas icon. He does it out of the love of bringing joy to children (his words). When we (Michelle and I) approached him about doing some modeling for us, he readily accepted. In exchange for a few 8×10’s, he spent some time with us in front of the camera letting me shoot him for my stock portfolio (here is a link to the full set from the shoot).

Of all the people I have photographed this year, he was one of the most enjoyable.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/10, ISO 100