LeggNet's Digital Capture

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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

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

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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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During the Provo Photowalking event earlier this month, the group came across this cigarette smoking donkey skull mounted on the front of a Jeep. While we were checking it out by alternating between photographing it and laughing about it, the jeep’s owner emerged from the tavern it was parked in front of (yes, there are taverns in Provo). After getting over the initial shock of seeing 10+ photographers around his vehicle, he posed for a portrait.

To light this shot, I had my friend Dale hold a Pocketwizard triggered 430EX to the left of camera. I then quickly balanced the strobe’s power to about 2/3 f/stop above the ambient light. This gave the subjects face (and the skull) a bit of pop to separate them from the background.

The next photowalk event will be a December visit to the Christmas lights at Temple Square. Details will be posted here as well as the Flickr group.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/30 second, f/5.6, ISO 200

Labels: photowalking

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OBJECTIVE: Photograph an attorney and paralegal for an article in a trade magazine
LOCATION: The attorney’s office
CHALLENGE: The office space was small and the attorney had very little time for the shoot

The limited space was the largest hurdle in capturing this portrait. I was actually standing outside the room shooting through the doorway. The size challenge also limited the amount of lighting which could be used.

For lighting, a single softbox was placed to the right of the camera to give a strong directional shape. This also served to create a pseudo-window light effect in the windowless office. A large silver reflector was placed in the corner left of camera for fill.

All said, I was in-and-out in 15 minutes and the attorney was quickly back to work.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

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“I bought this expensive camera, but my pictures look Blah!” I have heard a variation of this expression many times. It usually comes from people who have recently upgraded to a digital SLR camera. With Christmas coming and many more photographers hoping to find a box of Digital SLR goodness under a tree, let me state my opinion on this subject as a cold, hard fact:

If you use a digital SLR camera, your images WILL require editing!

Unlike their inexpensive point-and-shoot cousins, digital SLR cameras are aimed at the more experienced photographer. These shooters are the type that don’t want the camera to do all the thinking for them. The camera’s job is to record the scene accurately at a high level of quality. It is essentially creating a digital negative which then needs to be developed.

Here is the unedited file* straight from the camera of today’s photo of a newlywed couple on railroad tracks.

Notice how blah the file is. The colors are drab, the contrast is low, the whole scene is rather dark and unsharp. In keeping with the film vernacular, this file is my “digital negative”. Like any negative, it needs developing. Today, we do this in our digital darkroom – photo editing software.

For my stock portfolio images, I do the bare minimum of editing. This is done intentionally to leave the final editing to the buyer, usually a graphic designer. But even my bare minimum consists of several steps.

– Cropping (if necessary)
– Adjusting exposure (I shoot at -1/3 f/stop to preserve highlights)
– Tightening Levels
– Adjusting Vibrance and Saturation
– Sharpening (using the High Pass Filter method)

For portrait and client work, I do much more editing. This includes:

– re-touching
– softening
– saturation
– color adjustment
– dodging & burning
– vignetting

and so on…

Some of this work is done with Photoshop actions (it is no secret that I am a big fan of Kenneth Linge’s actions). I would never want a client to receive an image that I have not edited – period.

If you are shooting a digital SLR, think of it this way: You capture the image with the camera, you develop the image with the software. A little bit of work with an editing program goes a long way in removing the BLAH.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/1000 second, f/4, ISO 160

* – This image was shot in RAW mode and converted to JPG with Adobe Camera Raw (added 11/29/07)

Labels: tutorial

“I bought this expensive camera, but my pictures look Blah!” I have heard a variation of this expression many times. It usually comes from people who have recently upgraded to a digital SLR camera. With Christmas coming and many more photographers hoping to find a box of Digital SLR goodness under a tree, let me state my opinion on this subject as a cold, hard fact:

If you use a digital SLR camera, your images WILL require editing!

Unlike their inexpensive point-and-shoot cousins, digital SLR cameras are aimed at the more experienced photographer. These shooters are the type that don’t want the camera to do all the thinking for them. The camera’s job is to record the scene accurately at a high level of quality. It is essentially creating a digital negative which then needs to be developed.

Here is the unedited file* straight from the camera of today’s photo of a newlywed couple on railroad tracks.

Notice how blah the file is. The colors are drab, the contrast is low, the whole scene is rather dark and unsharp. In keeping with the film vernacular, this file is my “digital negative”. Like any negative, it needs developing. Today, we do this in our digital darkroom – photo editing software.

For my stock portfolio images, I do the bare minimum of editing. This is done intentionally to leave the final editing to the buyer, usually a graphic designer. But even my bare minimum consists of several steps.

– Cropping (if necessary)
– Adjusting exposure (I shoot at -1/3 f/stop to preserve highlights)
– Tightening Levels
– Adjusting Vibrance and Saturation
– Sharpening (using the High Pass Filter method)

For portrait and client work, I do much more editing. This includes:

– re-touching
– softening
– saturation
– color adjustment
– dodging & burning
– vignetting

and so on…

Some of this work is done with Photoshop actions (it is no secret that I am a big fan of Kenneth Linge’s actions). I would never want a client to receive an image that I have not edited – period.

If you are shooting a digital SLR, think of it this way: You capture the image with the camera, you develop the image with the software. A little bit of work with an editing program goes a long way in removing the BLAH.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/1000 second, f/4, ISO 160

* – This image was shot in RAW mode and converted to JPG with Adobe Camera Raw (added 11/29/07)

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

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens with 1.4x extender – 1/400 second, f/5.6, ISO 160

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 100

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What’s a Thanksgiving blog post without a cheesy list of things we are thankful about. Here is a quick list of ten things in digital photography that I am thankful for:

1. Flash memory and hard drive space is cheap
2. Nikon and Canon are neck-and-neck competitors
3. Internet Distribution
4. Photoshop CS3 on a Mac
5. Pictureline and Wasatch Photographic being local
6. Great models always willing to help
7. iStockphoto
8. Knowing Kenneth Linge
9. Mpix’s $9.75 overnight shipping
10. The wonderful people that take time to read this blog

As for today’s image, I’m thankful that turkeys taste better than they look. Please enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/250 second, f/5, ISO 100

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I have had a Facebook account for a year or so but have rarely used it. Recently though I started to add friends and use the site as it is intended, and guess what? I’m enjoying it.

If you are on Facebook (or willing to sign up) and would like to add me as a friend, please do so. Just do a lookup for “Rich Legg”. I shouldn’t be too hard to find, I’m the one with the camera.

p.s. Obviously today’s image has nothing to do with this post.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100

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The photowalking event this past Saturday evening was great. We had a group of 15 photographers (and friends) join in as we walked the historic downtown district of Provo.

In addition to capturing images of my fellow photowalkers, I got into a Zoom-Blur mode on several shots – as evidenced by today’s photo. As I was following the group up the street, I made this shot. If you look closely, you can spot six of the photowalk participants in the scene. The blur effect was created with a quick twist of the of the zoom ring on the lens at the end of the half second exposure.

To see more images taken by the photowalk participants, visit the Flickr group at flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc.

The next photowalking event will be in December as we set out to capture the Christmas lights at Temple Square. I will post details on the Flickr group in addition to this site when they become available.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – .5 second, f/13, ISO 200

Labels: photowalking

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Today’s image of a beautiful young woman and her dog is from an outdoor photoshoot I did yesterday afternoon of three siblings and their pet. While the children were excellent subjects, the extremely excited golden retriever added a bit of a challenge. He was so interested in everything going on it was difficult to get him to stay in the frame – let alone look at the camera.

With Michelle’s assistance, I used a single silver reflector to light the scene combined with the afternoon sun as a hairlight. In addition to nicely lighting the subject’s blonde hair, the sunshine created a great rimlight giving separation between the dog’s face and the background.

This shot is one of my favorites from the set. I enjoy the informal feeling created by the retriever looking away from the scene combined with the young lady’s wonderful smile.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4.5, ISO 100

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

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

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(Instructor Kenneth Linge teaching students on the streets of Salt Lake City – 11/03/2007)

Years ago I sat in a training seminar where the facilitator stated that we are either “Green and Growing or Brown and Dying”. He was not talking about photography, but I believe this statement easily carries into this discipline. One common thing I have heard from many great photographers over the years is that they are constantly looking for ways to improve their work. These might be classes, books, magazines, seminars, or whatever works for them – but the common thread I hear is that these photogs all want to remain Green and Growing.

One way I do this is to read a lot on the Internet. I thought that I followed a fairly large amount of RSS feeds on photography until I read Brian Auer’s post this week listing the 87 Photography Feeds (of which I am humbled to have been included) that he follows on a daily basis. This got me wondering if I am doing enough to remain growing in my craft.

There is obviously a pent up demand for good photography training. One just has to see the growth of David Hobby’s immensely popular Strobist website or live training events such as those taught by my friend Kenneth Linge (pictured above) to verify this. With the Internet there seems to be an immense amount of training resources (mostly free) out there equaled only by the demand for it.

My question for you photographers reading this:

Where do you go to learn how to improve your photography?

I would love to hear what resources (websites, books, speakers, etc.) you use to improve your game. Please take a moment and speak up in the comments about your faves. After reading Brian’s list of 87 feeds, I feel like I should be adding a few more to my reader.

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

Labels: tutorial

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

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If you are in the Northern Utah area this weekend, please consider joining us for the Photowalking Event on Saturday. Here are the details from my earlier post:

________________________________________

It’s Photowalking time again, and even though we are based in Salt Lake City this walk will be in Provo. The third photowalk is scheduled for Saturday November 17th. We will be walking around the historic downtown district in Provo. Interesting sites include:

– Provo Tabernacle
– Utah County Courthouse (pictured above)
– Pioneer Park
– Countless sidewalk shops and such

The group will be meeting in the Southeast corner of the Albertson’s parking lot located at 560 W Center Street (Provo) at 4:00 pm (click HERE for a map). We will then head Eastward toward the courthouse area. If you have a tripod, it will be helpful. We will have about an hour of light before darkness sets in.

Again, these events are very non-competitive and ANY photographer is welcome to attend regardless of their skill level or camera equipment. This is a great way to introduce a friend to photography – so please invite one!

In recap, here are the details:

What: Photowalk #3
When: Saturday November 17th. 4:00 – 6:00(ish) pm
Where: Downtown Provo. Meet at 560 W. Center Street.
Who: Anyone!

For more information, visit the our Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc. Please feel free to contact me at rich(at)leggnet.com with any questions.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/60 second, f/4, ISO 100

Labels: photowalking

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I had a nice surprise over the weekend. A family who attends our church called to say that they saw a photo of Elisabeth in a magazine they subscribe to. They figured that I knew about it, but I didn’t. Since my images are sold through iStockphoto.com I don’t have direct contact with the buyers. I don’t get to know what the final use will be. When I see an image in use it is either because the designer contacted me or I come across it “in the wild”.

Of the thousands of images I have sold on the site, the number that I have seen in use is less than 1/10 of 1%.

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I had a nice surprise over the weekend. A family who attends our church called to say that they saw a photo of Elisabeth in a magazine they subscribe to. They figured that I knew about it, but I didn’t. Since my images are sold through iStockphoto.com I don’t have direct contact with the buyers. I don’t get to know what the final use will be. When I see an image in use it is either because the designer contacted me or I come across it “in the wild”.

Of the thousands of images I have sold on the site, the number that I have seen in use is less than 1/10 of 1%.

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

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Saturday’s stock photo shoot of a simulated classroom was great. This was the most models that I have used in a single session and everyone did an awesome job.

The location of the shoot was a local private school. One of my friends (and regular reader) was able to put together the use of the facility (thanks Ricci!). The room we used wasn’t a normal classroom, but a common area in the school. By using this room, we had extra space around the perimeter to place lights, equipment and such.

In lighting the scene, my goal was to have natural looking classroom light. I wanted one side of the room to be much brighter to simulate light that would normally come in through windows. To achieve this, I placed two softboxes down the side for the mainlights and then brought in fill light from the back and opposite sides of the room. Here is an overview photo (taken by our teacher’s husband):

Once the lighting was put in place and adjusted for exposure, I pretty much left it sit except for the occasional fine-tuning to add or subtract light from part of the scene.

For models we had 9 children and a teacher. Michelle arranged having the children at the shoot and we ended up with a majority of 6th and 7th grade girls to go along with our teacher, Jenna. The kids were great. They were extremely patient as we set up different shots and even suggested a few things to add or take away.

Today’s featured image (on the top of the page) was one of the funnest shots for everyone to do. For some reason, this group of above average students got a kick out of tying up their teacher and going nuts. Jenna was a great sport, but of course this wasn’t the first time we tied her up for a shot (see here).

All in all, I classify the day a success. The photos are very close to what I sought to capture. I now have the task of weeding through the 250+ images to select and edit the keepers for a set on iStock.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

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

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/10 second, f/4, ISO 800

Labels: salt lake city

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/10 second, f/4, ISO 800

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

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Note from Rich: Today’s post is written by my good friend and fellow blogger Bryan Catherman. Bryan is a very talented writer and a fun guy to hang out with. Be sure to check out his blog, The Hopeless Writer.

Into the Most Secret Place On Earth
by Bryan Catherman

I’ve witnessed many spectacular things—NORAD, secret detainee holding camps, and other highly classified places—but nothing compares to where I went, and what I saw last month with my good friend, Rich Legg.

About six months ago, Rich Legg was contacted about doing a photo shoot. That in itself was nothing out of the ordinary given the popularity of his website and the broad range of his work. However, the subject matter and the stipulations were nothing he’d ever dealt with before. He was allowed to select one assistant, and after considering my background, he selected me over many of his talented photographer friends.

From there, we completed the necessary paperwork, provided blood samples, and underwent a detailed background check. Rich’s immunization record wasn’t as up to date as mine, so Rich also received a Polio vaccination, as well as the six-shot series for Anthrax. Then we waited. We were on the short list, being reviewed for the job.

Rich didn’t let himself get too excited. He’d been through this before when he was being considered to photograph Suri Cruise. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he’d say, “that way you won’t feel let down when we don’t get it. Trust me; I learned my lesson when I didn’t get the Cruise gig.”

But I couldn’t stop thinking about Ralph Plaisted. Plaisted was the last American to visit the most secret place on earth with his unauthorized entry on April 19, 1968; a day that changed is life.

On October 7th, we were selected for the job and on October 19th, we arrived at the private jet terminal of the Salt Lake City International Airport. Before us was a small, overpowered jet painted stark white. The windows were limo tinted and the aircraft was free of any other markings. No tail number, no warning or caution markers near the engines, nothing.

A brutish man with a stock face took our gear. He informed us that from this point, we were allowed no photography equipment, no recording devices, no GPS tracking systems, no paper, and no writing instruments. He confiscated our cell phones and for some reason, he took the electric keyfob from my key ring. “You’ll be given back your camera at the photo shoot,” he said to Rich. Something in his voice intimated me. I’ve looked into the faces of some evil men, terrorists and killers, but this man—a man who couldn’t possibly stand taller than five feet—scared the hell out of me.

I quickly realized that the terrifying little man that took our stuff was also our flight attendant. He served us a plate of cookie snacks. I had coffee and Rich had milk, and then the man disappeared. We never saw the pilots and the area of the plane where we were seated had no windows. As I listened to the engines roar, I started to wonder what I had let Rich get me into.

When the door of the jet opened, the cold blast instantly snapped at my face. It must have been 50 degrees below zero.

Then two young girls boarded the plane. Or I thought they were young girls; my mind was hazy at this point. They each carried a parka, a hat, and sun goggles. “You’ll need this stuff if you’re de-boarding the aircraft,” one of them said to me.

Stepping off the jet, I looked to the right and left. In all directions was nothing but snow and ice like a great white ocean. Looking behind me, I could barely see the plane except for the tinted windows.

Moments later, a toboggan being pulled by two caribou arrived. “Welcome to the North Pole,” said its driver, a three and a half foot cheerful man. He explained that we’d have to wear blindfolds until we entered the compound and we agreed.

As the sled came to a stop, I could hear signing and laughing. The sounds were confirmed when the man removed our blindfolds. Neither Rich or I could form words, but the reflection in our eyes said it all.

Before us was the biggest, brightest factory I’ve ever seen. Little people moved about like bees in a hive. Large gears turned and steam spewed from tall pipes. Conveyer belts moved toy after toy past us. The factory that surrounded us was alive.

“Come this way,” said the driver. “He wants the photos taken in his private residence.”

“This is amazing,” said Rich.

“Oh, this, right,” said the man. “I guess working here day in and day out you tend to forget. We don’t get many guests up here. Come on. This way, please.”

I had no idea how to address the big man, but when he firmly shook my hand, he said, “Hi, I’m Santa Clause, but some people call me Kris Kringle or St. Nicholas. What ever you’re comfortable with is fine by me.” He nodded. “This is my wife, Mrs. Clause.” His voice was like warm syrup and his smile like a child’s innocent giggle.

Handcrafted furniture filled his living room as the wood-burning stove packed the space with warmth. On a desk in the corner were little flags—the flags of the entire world. A large King James Bible rested on his coffee table. One end of the couch was near a small end table, and on the table were a candle lamp, some knitting needles, yarn, and a Beverly Lewis book with a red bookmark. I think it was The Brethren, but I couldn’t be sure. Three books sat on the other end table: Blue Like Jazz, The Kite Runner, and a title written in French.

Rich and Santa chatted about the photo shoot for a moment and then Rich instructed me to unpack the gear. (The equipment arrived unnoticed while I was meeting Santa and his wife.) We didn’t know what the photos were for and nobody ever told us, but for the next twenty minutes, Rich snapped photo after photo. I held a big disk and reflected light. At one point I held two flash mechanisms and pointed them as Rich showed me. Snap, flash, snap. I think Rich must have captured 400 photos.

Then, as we were packing up, Mrs. Clause served us sweet sugar cookies and hot chocolate. Santa retreated into his study and emerged with two wrapped gifts and a copy of Letters From the Front Lines. “Bryan,” he said to me, “war is the devil’s play and I’m sorry you had to visit his playground. Please thank every veteran you know, for me.” Then he handed me the book. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind signing it for me?”

“Brave Rifles, Santa. Brave Rifles!”

And as fast as we had arrived, we were escorted out. I don’t remember the flight home, other than the time I spent staring at the small Christmas gift Santa gave me. The box was wrapped in gold paper and a small hand-tied bow stuck up from the top. “Don’t open this until Christmas Morn’,” he said. At one point, I looked to Rich, who was staring at his gift, larger than the one Santa gave to me.

“Rich,” I asked, “how will anybody believe we were really there?”

His reply: “Don’t worry, I’ve got the photos to prove it.”

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Earlier this week, I mentioned my recipe for having a high percentage of my photographs accepted into my portfolio on istockphoto.com. One of the key ingredients to my system is NOT using the popular UNSHARP MASK filter in Photoshop for sharpening. While this filter does a nice job for sharpening images to be printed, I find that it can be detrimental to the quality of stock photos which get inspected with a fine-tooth-comb before begin accepted.

The alternative method I use for sharpening is the HIGH PASS FILTER method. This method provides good sharpening while minimizing image degradation. Here are the steps:

1. Create a COPY of the layer you wish to sharpen

2. Select FILTER, OTHER, HIGH PASS

3. Set the radius to 4 PIXELS (then click okay)

4. Change the blending options of the new layer (by double-clicking on the layer) to SOFT LIGHT for mild sharpening or OVERLAY for stronger sharpening

It’s a very simple method for clean sharpening of photos. To make it even easier, I have recorded the steps as an action that I can run with the press of one function key.

If you haven’t tried sharpening this way, give it a shot and see how well it works for you.

Additional Note (Added on 15 November)

In response to a comment about this method causing an undesired “HALO” effect, let me add a clarification (that I should have included originally). This method is intended to be used on FULL RESOLUTION images of 8+ megapixels. Using it without tweaking the ‘RADIUS’ on smaller images will give an undesired result.

Labels: photoshop, tutorial

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Earlier this week, I mentioned my recipe for having a high percentage of my photographs accepted into my portfolio on istockphoto.com. One of the key ingredients to my system is NOT using the popular UNSHARP MASK filter in Photoshop for sharpening. While this filter does a nice job for sharpening images to be printed, I find that it can be detrimental to the quality of stock photos which get inspected with a fine-tooth-comb before begin accepted.

The alternative method I use for sharpening is the HIGH PASS FILTER method. This method provides good sharpening while minimizing image degradation. Here are the steps:

1. Create a COPY of the layer you wish to sharpen

2. Select FILTER, OTHER, HIGH PASS

3. Set the radius to 4 PIXELS (then click okay)

4. Change the blending options of the new layer (by double-clicking on the layer) to SOFT LIGHT for mild sharpening or OVERLAY for stronger sharpening

It’s a very simple method for clean sharpening of photos. To make it even easier, I have recorded the steps as an action that I can run with the press of one function key.

If you haven’t tried sharpening this way, give it a shot and see how well it works for you.

Additional Note (Added on 15 November)

In response to a comment about this method causing an undesired “HALO” effect, let me add a clarification (that I should have included originally). This method is intended to be used on FULL RESOLUTION images of 8+ megapixels. Using it without tweaking the ‘RADIUS’ on smaller images will give an undesired result.

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

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It’s Photowalking time again, and even though we are based in Salt Lake City this walk will be in Provo. The third photowalk is scheduled for Saturday November 17th. We will be walking around the historic downtown district in Provo. Interesting sites include:

– Provo Tabernacle
– Utah County Courthouse (pictured above)
– Pioneer Park
– Countless sidewalk shops and such

The group will be meeting in the Southeast corner of the Albertson’s parking lot located at 560 W Center Street (Provo) at 4:00 pm (click HERE for a map). We will then head Eastward toward the courthouse area. If you have a tripod, it will be helpful. We will have about an hour of light before darkness sets in.

Again, these events are very non-competitive and ANY photographer is welcome to attend regardless of their skill level or camera equipment. This is a great way to introduce a friend to photography – so please invite one!

In recap, here are the details:

What: Photowalk #3
When: Saturday November 17th. 4:00 – 6:00(ish) pm
Where: Downtown Provo. Meet at 560 W. Center Street.
Who: Anyone!

For more information, visit the our Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc. Please feel free to contact me at rich(at)leggnet.com with any questions.

Today’s image is of the Historic Utah County Courthouse which is one of the stops on the photowalk.

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

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

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I was invited to attend Kenneth Linge’s latest seminar, Photographing People Part I, this past Saturday in Salt Lake City. Kenneth wanted to have some overview photographs taken as he was teaching and demonstrating his photography methods and asked me to provide them.

Today’s image is one of the example shots from the class. The purpose of the photo is to show both the setup of a shot and the final portrait. In the left frame you can see Kenneth photographing Kathleen (the model) from a very low angle with her bending over at the waist to create a specific look. The lighting is provided by Kenneth’s wife MaryLyn using a single reflector. The right frame shows the stunning final result of this technique. It is simply incredible to see the results that can be obtained with the lighting and posing techniques that Kenneth teaches. I am obviously a fan of Kenneth’s photography and his teaching. I have learned so much from him and look forward to learning even more in the future.

For more information on Kenneth’s photography and seminars, visit his website at www.kennethlinge.com or his blog at kennethlinge.squarespace.com. He will be teaching at least one more session of Photographing People Part I before he moves into Part 2 in March (a class I will be attending).

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

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I reached a small milestone on Saturday, I had my 1,000th image accepted into my portfolio on the popular stock photography website istockphoto.com.

What makes this a bit of an achievement (at least for me) is that before an image is added to a photographer’s portfolio it has to be personally inspected by one of the company’s 40 inspectors to ensure that the image meets the site’s stringent requirements. I have heard from many a frustrated photographer over the past year who was having difficulty getting their images accepted. After a bit of a learning curve, I believe that I have hit on a good recipe for editing my photos in an acceptable manner for the site. I am now averaging over an 80% approval ratio all-time (and over 90% in recent months).

Image #1,000 is a studio shot of a cup filled with coffee beans. It is part of a small set I shot last week (click here to see the set). My next goal is to increase the portfolio size to 2,000 by March 31st of next year. You can view my iStock portfolio by clicking here.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

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

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The Historic Utah County Courthouse in Provo is a fantastic old building that serves many purposes from office space to wedding receptions. I captured this image of the entry and plaque before shooting a wedding reception last month. The plaque reads:

The Provo City and County Building, now called the Historic Utah County Courthouse, was built between 1920-26. Joseph Nelson, the architect, traveled with a committee to the West Coast to gather ideas from other administration buildings, prepared sketches, and submitted a plan that was accepted by the committee in 1919. Rudine and Chytraus were the contractors for this two-and-one-half story Neoclassical building. Built of oolitic limestone from Sanpete County, the lower portions of the building is faced with granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The sculpture grouping within the pediment was designed by Joseph Nelson and executed by sculptor Joseph Conradi. The figure of justice stands in the center with female figures on each side representing Utah County of Provo City. Horticulture, dairying, mining, livestock, and farming on the left, and music, sculpture, industry, letters, and painting on the right, are the various arts and industries symbolized in this grouping.

The interior is also elaborately ornamented. The central two-story foyer incorporates a painted arched ceiling and a stained glass skylight. The stairs at the rear of the central pavilion curve upward to the mezzanine. Two long narrow atria with coffered ceilings are accented with stained glass panels below skylights. The floors throughout are of Alaskan marble.

I have it on good authority that those Alaskan marble stairs can wreak havoc when a Canon 430EX strobe tumbles down them. Ouch!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/6 second, f/8, ISO 400

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

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Even though this shot doesn’t scream CHRISTMAS, that is a Christmas tree in the background.

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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Truth be told, this was actually taken just before rigging up a 100+ pound candy drop at a Harvest Festival on Halloween night. There’s nothing exceptionally great about the photography, but the scene was too cute to pass up capturing.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/80 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

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Since October 31st is the Halloween holiday in the United States, I dug into the archives to find a fitting image for today’s post. This stock shot was suggested a while back from friend (and blog reader) Scott. It has had a good sales run over the last two months on iStockphoto.com.

Have a safe time trick or treating tonight.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

Labels: stock

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Since October 31st is the Halloween holiday in the United States, I dug into the archives to find a fitting image for today’s post. This stock shot was suggested a while back from friend (and blog reader) Scott. It has had a good sales run over the last two months on iStockphoto.com.

Have a safe time trick or treating tonight.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/10, 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/16, ISO 100

Labels: stock

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One way to quickly add a different mood to your photographs is to adjust your camera’s white balance setting. Most digital cameras, even inexpensive point-and-shoot models, have the ability to make this adjustment. The resulting change in color tone can have a nice effect on the final image.

To create the subtle blue tone in today’s image of a foggy valley, I used a Tungsten light setting for my white balance. In doing so, the warm golden hues that the camera would have captured in this morning scene (with the white balance set on AUTO) transform into the cool blue tones displayed here.

Most digital cameras offer pre-set selections for white balance. These often include: AUTO, TUNGSTEN, DAYLIGHT, FLUORESCENT, FLASH, OVERCAST, and SHADE. The more advanced camera will allow you to set a custom white balance by dialing in the specific measurement you want.

One more way to make this change is open to photographers that shoot with their camera in RAW mode. By using this setting, the camera doesn’t convert the image to the desired white balance. This allows the photographer to make the adjustment in their digital darkroom. The advantage of this method is the ability to fine-tune the final product.

Adjusting white balance is another example of a quick change that can have a nice impact on your photos.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/50 second, f/22, ISO 100

Labels: tutorial

They say that when you use your blog to beg your readers to do something, it is called Blegging. If that is the case, then consider this post a bleg.

A friend’s daughter has a video posted on a YouTube contest called Friday Night Feats. The contest is for high school videographers to post a highlight video that they shot at a high school football game. The winner will receive up to $15,000 for their school’s football program. The submissions will be narrowed down to finalists based upon views and/or ratings on YouTube. In an effort to help her out, I’m featuring the video she shot on today’s post.

Please view the video and if possible, follow this link over to YouTube and give it a rating. She’s a nice young woman and GREATLY appreciates your help.

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Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/20 second, f/11, ISO 100

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GOAL

Capture a stern looking biker with moody lighting to create a “bad dude” feel to the final image.

Camera equipment: Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens

Lighting equipment: Two Canon Speedlites (a 430EX and a 580EX), hot-shoe extension, two Lightsphere modifiers, one lightstand

For the shoot, I placed the 430EX in slave mode on the lightstand above and to the camera right. I then hand held the 580EX (using the hot-shoe extension) to the lower left of the camera. I set the hand held flash at -1 f/stop to allow the overhead unit to be the main light. By holding the second (fill) light in my hand, I was able to quickly make adjustments on the fly as needed.

Final thoughts: I am pleased with the images. The whole shoot took less than 15 minutes, which is a good thing since it was right at 100 degrees out and Dave was cooking in his leathers.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 100

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

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/30 second, f/7.1, ISO 800

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Meet Ann Torrence. Ann is an amazing photographer who I finally met in person during the Photowalking event last month in Salt Lake City. She dropped by yesterday and we chatted for awhile about photography, Utah and life in general.

Ann has great passion for life and it definitely shows in her photography. She is currently working on a book titled US 89: the Great Western Road Trip. Here is a bit about the book in her own words:

“This book documents the icons, the treasures and the travelers along Highway 89, from America’s 5th largest metropolitan area to Indian lands and rural townships. Rodeo queens, paleontologists, artists, highway crews, ranchers, river-runners all inhabit this landscape as they define and redefine the western mystique.”

For those that have an interest in truly stunning landscape and nature photography, a stop by Ann’s site at anntorrence.com is a must. Her ability to capture the look and feel of nature is enviable. My favorite image on her site is the signature shot of Mt. Moran in the Grand Tetons National Park. The gentle color combined with the layer of clouds is stunning and Ann captured it perfectly.

After our conversation yesterday, Ann was kind enough to sit for a quick portrait. It’s always fun to put a photographer on the other end of the lens and Ann handled the challenge well.

Links to Ann’s work on the web: Her Website | Her Flickr Photostream

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

Labels: photography

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Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1 second, f/7.1, ISO 250

Labels: salt lake city, time exposure

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When it comes to looking through your camera’s viewfinder, which eye do you use?

I find that most of my photographer friends use their right eye, while I use my left. The reason is that our natural tendency is to use our dominant eye in activities that require one eye. Since I have cross dominant vision (I am right handed, yet have a dominant left eye), I use my left eye when photographing (you can read more about Ocular Dominance here).

Does this have any affect on our photography? Nope. The only difference I find is that my nose leaves more smudges on the LCD when using the left eye.

So, which eye do you use (and are you right or left handed)?

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/60 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

Labels: bw, photography