Over the past month or so I have really grown to enjoy using the iPhone camera application Instagram. Its simplicity of use along with the various effect filters move it to the top of my “go to” snapshot camera list. This week I am sharing some of my favorite pics taken with the app. Enjoy!
Over the past month or so I have really grown to enjoy using the iPhone camera application Instagram. Its simplicity of use along with the various effect filters move it to the top of my “go to” snapshot camera list. This week I am sharing some of my favorite pics taken with the app. Enjoy!
Yesterday I added the 7,000th image to my portfolio at iStockphoto. I found it fitting that the milestone image was taken last month at the iStock/Getty event in Tokyo, since the company has had such an enormous impact on my life – both photographically and personally.
Now it’s time to get back to photographing and editing my way toward the next milestone!
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/640 second, f/4, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/9, ISO 100
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/50 second, f/4, ISO 100
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100
Today’s image is an example of a technique I use in my stock photography – using out of focus foreground objects to frame the subject.
In this image from from a recent series of stock photos I did at a shooting range, Jason (the subject) is carefully placed within the framing of the blurred foreground shooter. This technique goes along with what I have implemented in my stock photography for years – composing the image in three layers: foreground, subject and background with the foreground and background usually blurred.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/640 second, f/4, ISO 400
Canon 5D, Canon 50 f/1.4 lens – 1/160 second, f/3.2, ISO 320 (photo taken by A.J. Rich)
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100
Here’s a quick panorama I put together with CS5 from seven images captured at yesterday’s Cowboy’s game (click image for full-resolution). Photoshop did a nice job automatically lining up the shots. Now if only I had taken the pics during the actual game.
Canon Powershot G11 – 1/125 second, f/2.8, ISO 200
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 50 f/1.4 lens – 1/400 second, f/2, ISO 200
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/9, ISO 100
By Nicole Young
Mark your calendar for this year’s Thanksgiving Day Photowalk! We’re going to head out into the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, starting at the Boston Building and working our way around the streets nearby. The streets are typically very empty on Thanksgiving night so it opens up opportunities for some fun shots.
Here are the details:
Date: Thursday, November 25th
TIme: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location: We will meet at the Boston Building in Salt Lake City. The address is 9 Exchange Place (between 300 and 400 South on Main Street)
There will also be a book giveaway at the start of the walk. Hope to see you there 🙂
For those coming or with questions, head on over the the Flickr discussion for this event: LINK
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/4, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/800 second, f/5.6, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/13 second, f/22, ISO 100
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – .6 second, f/8, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/640 second, f/5, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/6.3, ISO 100
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/80 second, f/4, ISO 400
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100
Here’s a quick shot I took this morning with my iPhone on the way to church. I used the app Pro HDR in place of the regular camera and I must say I’m pretty impressed with how it handled the scene.
My neighbor Lee picked up a new copy of Printmaster software and noticed my stock image of Graduate Alyssa smiling back at him from the documentation. Cool find Lee, thanks for sharing!
I went to my very first KISS concert last night (yeah I know, how’d I miss seeing them in the 70′s?!?). It was really quite enjoyable and dare I say “family friendly”? One thing I didn’t plan on seeing though was everyone in makeup. So armed with my trusty Canon SD780IS point-n-shoot (I didn’t sneak in an SLR like another photographer we all know), I set out to capture quick pics of concert-goers looking their KISS best. Other than creating a set on Flickr, I won’t every use the pics – but it was a lot of fun taking them and interacting with the pseudo-band members.
Oh, and for the record: After attending this year’s Photoshop World, I will never be able to listen to “Rock and Roll All Nite” again without thinking of Scott Kelby (link)
Canon SD780IS – 1/13 second, f/5, ISO 1600
Thanks to Randy Lee on Twitter for spotting this in his local area and sending it over.
Nicole Young posted a “definitely worth reading“ piece today on her blog about the recent royalty structure change for contributors at iStockphoto (link). She comes at the change with a significant amount of credibility, since she stands to lose over 10% of her royalty percentage beginning in 2011. I have mostly kept mum on the subject, but I will go on record in saying that I can see both sides of the situation. Having worked in the past for over a dozen years in a management position for a large corporation, I have been involved in making some unpopular decisions. It is never easy and when you add the community aspect of iStockphoto the difficulty compounds. On the other hand though, it is extremely hard and discouraging to take a hit to your wallet. In the case of many iStock contributors, this hit will be in the 12-25% range – ouch!
What I have taken away from the ongoing forum discussion on the subject over at iStockphoto.com though is complete disgust and disappointment. The largely one-sided comments by some of those affected (to extremely varying degrees financially btw) has literally made me sick to my stomach. I have seen hateful comments aimed at not only iStockphoto and its parent company Getty images, but also at employees of iStockphoto – hard working people that I am proud to call friends. These comments have gone beyond business and become extremely personal and threatening at times. If you think I’m exaggerating, check out this snippet from the forum discussion:
When it all comes down to it, it is business. If a person, customer or supplier doesn’t like the policies of a certain company then they can choose to not do business with that enterprise. But the threatening, insulting and general foulness I have witnessed in this situation goes beyond how civilized people should interact.
As for me, my royalty percentage will stay put at least through 2011. I still support iStockphoto and still believe in the business model.
And now it’s time to get back to work…
Sean, Nicole and me outside the House of Blues at the After Hours event
It’s day three at Photoshop World in Las Vegas and I thought I’d check in. It’s been an extremely busy and productive couple days so far. I have been in sessions taught by Scott Kelby, Russell Brown and Calvin Hollywood. The challenge is going to be retaining all the info that is fired my way.
It was great to spend some time at a few social events last night. (Warning: Name Dropping Ahead!) At one point I had to sit back and think “Wow!” when I found myself in a conversation around the table with Scott Bourne, Zack Arias, Sean Locke and Nicole Young.
This morning I’m headed into a couple lighting sessions taught by Joe McNally.
See you down the road…
I’m off for a week of playing in the sun of Las Vegas. That is if you define “Playing in the Sun” as sitting in dark hotel conference rooms for several days. Yes, it’s time for the annual trek to Photoshop World. It’ll be great to meet up with some friends while improving my Photoshop chops. Updates to the blog will probably be sporadic this week, but rest assured I’ll be keeping busy 🙂
Canon Powershop G11 – 1/160 second, f/8, ISO 80
Here’s a quick sample from the “Driver’s Education” stock photo shoot I did last week. Keep an eye on my portfolio for the image series to appear soon.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 200
In preparation for a certain upcoming holiday that involves costumes and candy, I had a couple nice folks in the studio for a face-painting stock photo shoot. It was really cool to watch the artist work through the process of creating the mask on the young model’s face. Watch for this series to show up in my stock image collection soon.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100
My friend Scott Bourne did a nice write-up yesterday on the Photofocus blog about me and being a stock photographer. Thanks for the kind words, Scott!
(link)
Saturday August 21st, 2010 has been declared Mugshot Madness day at the RICH.LEGG.PHOTOGRAPHER studio in Draper. I’m looking for faces to add to the collection of mugshots in my iStockphoto portfolio. There will be a selection of costumes and a make-up artist & hair stylist on hand to help the participants get into character.
I want faces of any kind, since I will be photographing mugshots ranging from a ‘plain everyday look’ to heavily made-up characters. In addition, if a participant has a profession that they’d be willing to portray, then by all means let’s do it!
Here are the details:
Everyone who participates will need to sign a model release (or if under 18 have a parent/guardian sign) to allow the images to be used for sale on iStockphoto. Each person will receive a copy of their mugshot(s) to use (non-commercially). Take it from me, mugshots make a great profile pic on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. 🙂
If you’re interested in participating, please drop me an email at rich@leggnet.com.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5.6, ISO 100
The details for the September 18, 2010 Photowalking Utah event have been finalized and it’s going to be a great one. Not only will participants have the chance to capture some really cool sunset pictures from a unique vantage point, they will also get the opportunity to try out some camera equipment and share some pointers in a tips & tricks session beforehand.
The outing will begin with the tips/tricks discussion on Nighttime Photography at the Draper Pictureline store. From the store the group will make their way up Traverse Ridge to a location overlooking the Salt Lake Valley. Once at the overlook, we will spend an hour or so watching the sun go down and the city lights below come to life. This will be a great chance to capture some wonderful evening cityscape images.
As an added bonus, our friends at the Draper Pictureline store in conjunction with Olympus have arranged for us to have 10 Olympus E-PL1 “Live Drive” camera kits on hand to demo on the photowalk. These cameras feature the the Micro Four Thirds sensor which allow for the performance of a full-sized SLR camera in a body the size of a point-and-shoot. (Note: Since there will undoubtedly be more photographers than cameras available, we will ask those wanting to try one of the Olympus demo cameras to buddy up. Oh, and bring your own SD card to use.)
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, September 18, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:30 (ish) pm
Meeting Location: Pictureline Draper, 177 W 12300 South, Draper UT
As always, this events is open to photographers of any skill level and is free of charge. For those planning on attending, please head on over to the Flickr discussion group (LINK) and let us know you are coming.
I can’t wait to see everyone on September 18th and to try out one of the cool little Olympus cameras. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for nice weather 🙂
Saturday, August 7th, we’re heading out to the Salt Flats for Hellfire 15. This is an annual, multi-day event sponsored by the Utah Rocket Club where they fire off high-powered rockets. The first couple days are closed to spectators due to safety regulations working with experimental motors, but Saturday they use certified motors and open it up to the public. It’s a bit of a drive and can be hot, but there’s stuff here you won’t find anywhere else.
The range is open 8am to 4pm. I will get there about 8am to stake out an observation area and setup some shade. I’ll probably stay mid-afternoon. Feel free to show up anytime, but morning is better. People try to get the first firing of their rockets in before noon, both for temperature and wind reasons. So, the hours between 9am and 12noon have the most activity. After noon, things slow down a bit. We’ll probably take a group photo between 9:00 and 9:30.
Besides your normal photography gear, be sure to bring lots of fluids, sunscreen, lip balm, sunglasses and a hat. If you’re going to be staying for an extended time, you may want to bring snacks and/or lunch too. I’ll have an awning setup for shade, a cooler to store things in and a couple chairs. You may want to bring your own chairs, just in case.
To get there, head west on I-80 until exit 4 just before Wendover. Turn right off the freeway and then right again a little ways down the road. When the road ends, follow the cones on the salt leading to the firing range.
Plan on spending $10 and 30 minutes at the car wash when you get home. You don’t want to leave that salt on your vehicle.
Comments and discussion on this Flickr thread. If you want to meet others somewhere to carpool, post your interest on the thread and self-organize.
Update: I found an online ride sharing coordination site at RideShare.us. I’ve never used this site before but created an event for us to experiment with. The link just mentioned should take you to it. If you go in through their main page, you need to enter lookup code “pwuhellfire15” (without the quotes). After registering, you can post ads to ride and/or drive and find others in your area. We’ll see how well this works.
I’ve just wrapped up the editing of the courtroom photo shoot I did earlier in the month. I am pretty pleased with the images that were created, and since a few have already sold from my portfolio on iStockphoto I have hope that the set will be successful.
Going into the shoot, I had the plan to create courtroom scenes that were a cross between what happens in real life and the type of scene seen on television dramas. This involved assembling a fairly large group of diverse models and crew. The morning spent photographing was one the most enjoyable photo shoots I have ever been on. The large group (over 25 of us) had so much fun that it was at times difficult to create “serious” scenes due to the laughter. That’s a problem I am more than willing to deal with 🙂
On the technical side, the room configuration created a bit of a challenge for the lighting. Only one side of the room had any extra space, so the placement of fill lights was tight. Working with Harley and Pat, we ended up placing three large softboxes on the open side for main lights and two strip-boxes on the opposing side for fill. I then used a medium sized octabox to move around the room with me for additional light as needed.
About half the images have been accepted on iStock as of right now, and as previously mentioned a couple have already sold. Time will tell how well the collection performs, but we are off to a good start (click here to view the lightbox on iStock).
As always, HUGE thanks to everyone who helped out during the shoot. It goes without saying that without models and crew like I work with that I could never do what I do. Thank you all!
Nikon FE, Nikon 50 f/1.8 lens – 1/125 second, f/1.8, ISO 400 – Kodak BW400CN Film
I spent this morning in court. Well, sort of.
The courtroom was the scene of a stock photo shoot I have been working on for a few weeks. With 20 models, a makeup artist and 5 or so crew it was a fairly decent sized production. I will probably post a more detailed look at the shoot in the near future, but in the meantime here’s an excellent recap from fellow photographer (and lawyer-for-the-day) Dav.D: LINK.
Enjoy your weekend!
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/1250 second, f/4, ISO 100
With the move into my new studio a couple months back and the ramping up of my studio rental business, I’ve received more than a couple questions asking why I would want to do this. I thought I’d use a few words on the blog today to chat about my studio and how it fits into what I do.
My original 500 square foot studio evolved out of necessity. It was originally my real estate office (yeah, I might not look like it now – but I was once a Realtor). In 2007 as my stock photo sales took off it became readily apparent for my own sanity (and that of Michelle & the girls) that I needed a space outside the house for my camera and lighting equipment to be set up. The obvious choice was the office. Even though the office was not the ideal floorplan for a studio, when we (Harley, Dale & myself) removed the walls it became a usable space.
Once my lighting equipment was in a dedicated space, I found that it helped my creativity immensely. Knowing that I could leave the house and be shooting in under 15 minutes led to many spontaneous (and successful) photo shoots that would not have happened if all the gear were packed away in their cases at the house. I used the old studio for 3 years and created MANY successful stock images within its four walls.
After being prompted by a call from a photographer in 2008, I also began quietly renting the space out to other photographers. I really didn’t advertise it much for rental, partially I have to admit because I felt it really didn’t live up to being a “real studio” in my mind. That being said however, I did rent it out 8-10 times a year.
Roll the clock ahead to 2010. With the drop in retail lease rates over the previous year or so and new space becoming available in my current building, I decided it was time to pull-the-trigger and build a studio specifically designed for my photography. With the help of an awesome landlord, I nearly doubled my usable space and created what I dubbed Studio 2.0. Now the funny thing is that between shooting on location and home-office Photoshop work I only use the studio at most a couple times a week. It was because of this that I decided to up the game when it came to renting out the studio.
I’ve got two main reasons for renting out the space. The first (and probably most obvious) is that it helps offset my monthly expenses. Anyone who has ever owned a business and leased space knows that the rent paid is just the beginning of what it costs each month. A few rental dollars a week is nice to have when it comes time to pay these expenses. The second reason is that since I have been blessed immensely in doing what I do for a living, I like the idea of being able to use this blessing to help other photographers – and an affordable rental studio is a sure way to do that.
With the rollout of the new RICH.LEGG.PHOTOGRAPHER website last week (richlegg.com), I now have a dedicated section for studio rental. The prices for using the space start as low as $30 for one hour (which includes use of lights) up to multi-day rates. Over the past month I have had eight different photographers either use it or reserve time (some numerous times), so it appears to be working. Going forward, the challenge for me will be to plan ahead and schedule myself in the studio during the busy rental periods.
My primary business will continue to be the creation and licensing of quality stock photos. But being in the studio rental game is a nice secondary interest. To check out more information on renting the studio click on the Studio Rental tab up top or drop me a note at rich@leggnet.com.
Today we launched the new RICH.LEGG.PHOTOGRAPHER website at richlegg.com. It’s a simple website with details and links about my stock photography and studio rental business. Since you’re reading this, you can also see that we incorporated the LeggNet’s Digital Capture blog into the new site. I felt it was time to bring everything under one “virtual” roof and step away from the original design.
Huge thanks to Amy Howton for sharing her vision for the redesign and to Sawyer Pangborn for putting his WordPress chops to work implementing the vision into a working site. You guys rock! 🙂
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/4 second, f/5, ISO 800
(un-retouched other than the Black & White conversion in Lightroom)
Nikon FE, Lensbaby Composer lens – 1/500 second, f/2.8, ISO 800, Kodak Ultra Max 800 film
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 400
Again this year I have been invited to give my “10 Tips for Creating Great Photos” talk at the Venture Outdoors festival in Salt Lake City. I will be speaking today at 3:45 pm, so if you’re in the area come on over on this beautiful Saturday and say hi.
I’ve recently switched to using PocketWizard FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 radios to trigger my Canon Speedlite flashes. Even though I have had the Flex model since it first came out in 2009, this past month was the first time I used the TTL (through the lens) exposure control feature that these models are known for. One cool feature is the ability to synchronize at very fast shutter speeds.
I did a quick test of this feature the other day when Julie dropped by the studio. The above image was shot with a shutter speed of 1/1600 second using a Speedlite 580EXII for the main light and a 430EX for the fill light (both with shoot-thru umbrellas). I had the MiniTT1 on my camera and a FlexTT5 on each of the flash units. This high speed ability will come in very handy in the future when lighting motion shots both in and out of the studio.
Have a great weekend!
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens -1/1600 second, f/4, ISO 400
My good friend Ann Torrence (anntorrence.com) is hosting a book-signing tonight in Salt Lake City at the King’s English Bookshop. Ann poured several years of her life into researching and photographing Highway 89 from Canada to Mexico while writing the book, and tonight marks a culmination of her efforts. The event begins at 7:00 pm. Click here for details
When shooting images for my stock photo portfolio, I will occasionally venture away from my usual “Bright & Cheery” shots and work to portray some of the less pleasant elements of our world. Today’s image is an example of this. One of the concepts I worked to capture during last month’s iStock event in St. George Utah was school violence. In an effort to be sensitive to potential uses of the image, I purposely kept the model anonymous. Since this theme has already sold, evidently there is a market for the concept.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/60 second, f/4.5, ISO 400
Pentax K1000, Pentax 50 f/2.0 lens – 1/60 second, f/8, Kodak Portra 160 NC Film
Here’s a quick sample from yesterday’s stock photo session at a shooting range. We had a great time and the portable lighting rig consisting of a Canon 580EX II Speedlight shot through a white umbrella did a nice job. This was my first work shoot using the PocketWizard FlexTT5 & MiniTT1 to fire the strobe and I’ve got to say that I’m impressed with the TTL functionality of the pair.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 200
Beginning in about 1982 and through the early nineties, my primary camera was a Nikon FE equipped with the MD-12 motor drive. While that particular camera was sold years ago, my recent kick of shooting film led me to recently find a new (to me) sample on eBay. What struck me right away is that even though my FE seemed like a fairly large camera back “in the day”, look at how it compares to my current main camera the Canon 5D Mark II. Yeesh!
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/30 second, f/4, ISO 800
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