LeggNet's Digital Capture

This past Tuesday I had the privilege of being the opening speaker at the Scott Bourne event at Pictureline in Salt Lake City. The topic of my talk was Giving Back as a Photographer. I ended by showing a short video highlighting a recent project by local photographer Dale Welcome. For those that didn’t attend, I thought I’d share the video here.

A big thank you goes out to Aaron Dodds for filming and editing the video and to Dale for sharing his thoughts and allowing us to eavesdrop on his sessions.

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

I’ve just wrapped up five days of studio shooting for an upcoming children’s book featuring the character Princess Amerah. My job was to create images that will be joined with other images and backgrounds to become illustration-like graphics in the book.

In the behind-the-scenes shot above, I photographed the characters at the king’s dining table. What is not seen in the image is the palace background and Amerah’s dog saving the day by intercepting the poison goblet.

It’s been a busy and fun week. I’m excited to see the final product when the graphic designers are finished.

I’ve just wrapped up five days of studio shooting for an upcoming children’s book featuring the character Princess Amerah. My job was to create images that will be joined with other images and backgrounds to become illustration-like graphics in the book.

In the behind-the-scenes shot above, I photographed the characters at the king’s dining table. What is not seen in the image is the palace background and Amerah’s dog saving the day by intercepting the poison goblet.

It’s been a busy and fun week. I’m excited to see the final product when the graphic designers are finished.

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5, ISO 100

It’s been a long day with client work in the studio today and speaking at the Scott Bourne event at Pictureline tonight in Salt Lake City. I’ll save the detailed recap for later, but I thought I’d post a picture from the session before calling it a day.

The event was a sell-out with 150 photographers in attendance. I am flattered to have had the opportunity to be the opening speaker before turning over the microphone to Scott. Thank you everyone who came out and made this event a success.

Canon Powershot G11 – 1/20 second, f/3.2, ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/16, ISO 100

I spent this morning in the studio working with photographer friend Suzanne Reed Plant on a “Living Marionette” photo shoot. Suzanne dreamed up the concept of photographically transforming her daughter into a marionette puppet and asked for my help. I absolutely loved the idea when I heard about it and eagerly offered my assistance.

Prior to the shoot Suzanne put in many hours gathering the props to use and sewing both the costume and the velvet curtain. Her idea was to portray Abigail (her daughter) as a marionette on a stage. She visualized both solo images and the “living marionette” among other puppets.

We used a three light arrangement to create the scene. The main character was lit with a snooted monolight. Two other monolights were placed on either side with colored (blue and yellow) gels.

The 2 hour session was a lot of fun and both Suzanne and I left with some great images. It’s always fun help others achieve something they have pre-visualized and I’m flattered that I was asked to help. I have shown a couple samples of Suzanne’s images below. Her complete set from the shoot can be seen by clicking here.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

This past Saturday’s Lensbaby Photowalk at Pictureline in Salt Lake City was a great success. We had over 60 photographers participate in the event that featured Lensbaby lenses for the photowalkers to try out. This was the first time Photowalking Utah has held an event like this, one where the photographers had an ample supply of demo gear use.

Thanks for everyone who came out and especially to Lensbaby and Pictureline for their support. The success of this event lets us know that this (gear demos) is something we will try again in the future.

Canon Powershot G11 – 1/500 second, f/4.5, ISO 80

I fell into some free tickets to last night’s Utah Jazz game versus the San Antonio Spurs (thanks Shawn & Wes). Apart from the camera on my Android phone, the only one I had with me was my little red Digital Elph (Canon SD780). During the game I was playing around with the camera and decided to shoot some images to later stitch together as a panorama.

For the image featured today, I quickly captured three shots of the arena from my upper bowl seat. I didn’t do anything special to line them up, just simply shot them handheld. The camera was set on Program mode. To stitch them I selected the three captures in Lightroom and selected “Merge to Panorama in Photoshop”. That was it, apart from some selective dodge/burn and a final crop.

This is the first time I have used Photoshop’s panorama function since CS2. I’ve got to say that I’m impressed with how well it worked. Considering the limitations of the lighting and camera, the image quality isn’t too bad. I’m going to have to put together a “real” panorama with my 5D Mark II sometime and see the feature’s true capability.

To view the full-resolution version of the image, click here.

Canon Powershot SD780IS – 1/40 second, f/3.2, ISO 200

Have you ever seen a photographer shooting with a little bendy lens on their camera? Maybe you even were bold enough to ask them what it was and you heard the name Lensbaby. Now is your chance to get to use one.

The Lensbaby is a special effect SLR lens that creates a unique out-of-focus area (bokeh) with a focus area that can be moved throughout the image. The above image on Nicolesy was taken using a Lensbaby.

Photowalking Utah, in conjunction with Lensbaby and Pictureline, is hosting a Lensbaby Photowalk on November 7th in Salt Lake City. At the event we will have over 20 samples of the product (Canon, Nikon & Olympus mount) for participants to use.

The outing will be led by Pictureline’s own Nick Gilson. Here is the schedule:

November 7th, 2009 – Pictureline SLC, 305 W 700 South

1:15 – 1:30 pm Meet at Pictureline (Salt Lake CIty)
1:30 – 2:00 pm Lensbaby orientation and how-to session
2:00 – 3:30 pm Photowalk starting/ending at Pictureline
4:00 – 5:30 pm Optional Dinner at Charlie Chow’s (255 E. 400 South)

As always, these events are free of charge for photographers to participate in. We can’t take any responsibility though if you fall in love with the Lensbaby and end up buying one 🙂

If you are planning on attending (or have any questions), please head over to the Photowalking Utah Flickr group by clicking here and let us know.

I’m really excited about this event and hope to see many of you there.

I have been a fan of the podcast This Week in Photography (TWiP) since it first came out. The weekly show is a roundtable type of format with the hosts discussing the current news, trends and equipment in photography.

I was privileged to meet the show’s host Frederick Van last month while attending Photoshop World in Las Vegas. While talking to him about photography and more pointedly my work in the microstock industry, Frederick asked if I would like to be interviewed for TWiP. I immediately accepted his offer.

The long-form interview has been posted today on Frederick’s blog and will be included in this week’s episode of the podcast. In the discussion we talk about the microstock industry, iStockphoto, my background, my workflow and Photowalking Utah.

It’s always great to be able to share my story and I thank Frederick and TWiP for the opportunity.

On the web: Direct Link to Interview

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5.0, ISO 100

I’ve been a customer of Moo business cards since I first heard about their Flickr MiniCards in 2006. I was initially impressed with the ability I had to print samples of my Flickr photos on the back of the cards and ordered a set.

I became a bigger fan of the company in 2008 when they became the official supplier of business cards for iStockphoto Exclusive Artists. As a member of the group, I receive a free set of cards each year and much like the Flickr cards, these also feature samples of my photography (up to 50 separate images) on the backs of the cards.

While attending Photoshop World last month in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to chat with the nice people from Moo. It was great to see the faces behind the product. In the course of our discussion, I was told to keep a lookout for a redesign that would be coming soon.

True to their word, I received an email last month telling me about an update to their popular MiniCards product. While retaining all the features that customers like me loved about the original product, they added some new options. I was happy to take advantage of an offer to try out the cards with a free set.

When ordering my complimentary set of the updated cards, I immediately noticed some changes in the ordering process. There were now options to upload images for both sides of the card (previously only one side could feature a custom image) and many more layout choices. I opted to buck the trend of putting images on the back of my set and instead put a simple text design of RICH.LEGG.PHOTOGRAPHER.

I received the cards in about 10 days and have to say I am pleased with the product. In addition to the cards, the presentation box is equally impressive.

Note that, true to their name, the MiniCards are smaller than a typical business card. In the sample image above I have placed one of my iStock cards for size comparison.

If you are a photographer of any level and would like to have custom business cards incorporating samples of your images, I would suggest ponying up the $20 and giving Moo a try. Their product is top-notch and after meeting them in Vegas I’ve got to say – they are really nice people too!

On the web: Moo.com

* Other than the free set of cards, I have received no compensation for writing this review

I get ideas for my photo shoots from many sources, and one of those is to simply listen (or in this case, read). A few weeks back I received a text from one of my frequent models, Andrew. It was short and simple: “How about a crazy piano player photo??”. Knowing that Andrew is an extremely talented musician and very creative, my immediate response was “Sure!”.
Last week we got together for the shoot. We used the grand piano at a local church and went to work creating the images. What made this shoot different than my regular work was that it was Andrew, not me, that had the pre-visualized images in mind and I simply followed his direction. He had coordinated his wardrobe design and hair styling for the session.
I did however add a bit to the shoot for some shots I envisioned (with some input from friend Ann Torrence). In addition to Andrew as the pianist, I had another of my regular models Kati join in for a few shots portraying a sultry singer.

On the technical side, lighting was accomplished mainly using two softboxes – one large octabox (as seen in the behind-the-scenes image) and a smaller one to use for hair light and accents. Managing the light on the background proved to be the largest hurdle and made me realize that I really need to ad a grid to one of my octaboxes.
Since these images are a bit of a departure from my normal style, I am not sure how well they will sell as stock images. But they were a lot of fun to create.

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

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

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5, ISO 100

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/5, ISO 100

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Lensbaby Composer – 1/640 second, f/4, ISO 100

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 100

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

Note from Rich: Today I’m re-posting the Food Photography Mini-Clinic announcement as a reminder for this week’s event. I hope to see many of you there.

The date has been set for the next photography Mini-Clinic at the Salt Lake City main library. Just in time for taking pictures of your fabulous holiday dinners, the subject is Food Photography. Since I am not much of a food photographer, I am teaming up with my good friend (and awesome food shooter) Nicole Young for this clinic.
In the free 90 minute session, participants will learn techniques for capturing great food images using natural light, strobes and hot-lights. Our good friends at my favorite camera store, Pictureline, will be providing lighting equipment for us to use in the clinic.
Here are the details:

Date: Thursday October 29th, 2009
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: SLC Main Library – 210 E 400 South, Conf. room #4, 4th floor
Cost: Free!

I am pleased to be able to offer these clinics free-of-charge as a part of Photowalking Utah. Without the support of the Salt Lake City Library and Pictureline, I would not be able to do so. Please help me in thanking the great folks at these organizations for helping the local photographic community.
If you are planning on attending, please head over to the Flickr Discussion and let everyone know. I hope to see you at the clinic.

(Images © Nicole S. Young)

Note from Rich: Today I’m re-posting the Food Photography Mini-Clinic announcement as a reminder for this week’s event. I hope to see many of you there.The date has been set for the next photography Mini-Clinic at the Salt Lake City main library. Just in time for taking pictures of your fabulous holiday dinners, the subject is Food Photography. Since I am not much of a food photographer, I am teaming up with my good friend (and awesome food shooter) Nicole Young for this clinic.In the free 90 minute session, participants will learn techniques for capturing great food images using natural light, strobes and hot-lights. Our good friends at my favorite camera store, Pictureline, will be providing lighting equipment for us to use in the clinic. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday October 29th, 2009
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: SLC Main Library – 210 E 400 South, Conf. room #4, 4th floor
Cost: Free!

I am pleased to be able to offer these clinics free-of-charge as a part of Photowalking Utah. Without the support of the Salt Lake City Library and Pictureline, I would not be able to do so. Please help me in thanking the great folks at these organizations for helping the local photographic community.

If you are planning on attending, please head over to the Flickr Discussion and let everyone know. I hope to see you at the clinic.

(Images © Nicole S. Young)

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

I’ve written another guest blog post over at Photofocus.com. Be sure to stop by and check it out (link).

I’ve written another guest blog post over at Photofocus.com. Be sure to stop by and check it out (link).

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L with 1.4x extender – 1/1000 second, f/5.6, ISO 400

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

Watch for my review of the Manfrotto ModoPocket mini-tripod coming soon on PhotoFocus.com.

Canon Powershot G11 – 1/60 second, f/5, ISO 400

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

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

Last night while over at the studio doing a bit of organization, I took Elisabeth away from her homework for a few minutes to do a couple test shots with the G11. As I have previously said, one reason I like the G series of point-n-shoot cameras from Canon is the dedicated hot shoe. In addition to its ability to sync with my Speedlight flashes, it can easily work with my studio lighting.

For this shot, I set up a few softboxes and then simply eyeballed the exposure using the G11’s histogram. It took a couple shots before I landed on the settings used for this image.

I have got to say that I continue to be impressed by the capabilities of this little camera. Look for a more detailed write-up about it soon.

Canon Powershot G11 – 1/200 second, f/8, ISO 80

Last night while over at the studio doing a bit of organization, I took Elisabeth away from her homework for a few minutes to do a couple test shots with the G11. As I have previously said, one reason I like the G series of point-n-shoot cameras from Canon is the dedicated hot shoe. In addition to its ability to sync with my Speedlight flashes, it can easily work with my studio lighting.

For this shot, I set up a few softboxes and then simply eyeballed the exposure using the G11′s histogram. It took a couple shots before I landed on the settings used for this image.

I have got to say that I continue to be impressed by the capabilities of this little camera. Look for a more detailed write-up about it soon.

Canon Powershot G11 – 1/200 second, f/8, ISO 80

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

One of my most popular stock photo themes this year has been the series I did in August featuring active senior citizens. This past Saturday I revisited the subject with another photo shoot at a local assisted living facility. Today’s image is a quick sample from the session. Mary and Gary (the models in this image) were FANTASTIC (all caps definitely warranted!) to work with. They truly blessed my life with their eagerness to help and great senses of humor.

On the technical side, this image is my tried-and-true television setup consisting of a 14×14″ softbox placed in front of the couple. I would have liked to have removed the picture frame from the top-right corner, but I was moving fast and it was bolted to the wall. I will probably eliminate it from the final stock image in editing.

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

Earlier this month at Photoshop World, I was involved in a conversation with Scott Bourne and Nicole Young about a possible event featuring Scott in Salt Lake City. I am pleased to announce that we have finalized the details and are now taking sign-ups.

The event is scheduled for the evening of November 17th at Pictureline in Salt Lake City at 7:00 pm. The two hour session will begin with a short presentation (by me) on “Giving Back” before handing the microphone over to Scott for the remainder of the time. Scott will be showing his work and talking on the subject of “Previsualization”. In addition, he will be giving a gear demo and displaying examples of his stunning wildlife photography.

Here are the details from the registration page at Pictureline.com:

“Scott Bourne is a digital media pioneer and has been involved in photography for more than three decades. He’s the author of four photo books including, 88 Secrets to Selling & Publishing Your Photography, Captivating Wildlife, with David Middleton, 88 Secrets to Photoshop for Photographers, and 88 Secrets to Wildlife Photography with Rod Barbee. Scott’s also authored three photography-related titles for Lynda.com.

His website, www.photofocus.com, is a widely used resource in the photographic industry.

Scott has led workshops and seminars for, Palm Beach Photographic Center, Cooperative Communicators of America, WPPA, The Professional Photographers of America, Seattle Art Center, and Olympic Mountain School of Photography. He holds the designation Apple Certified Professional Trainer (T3) for Apple’s Aperture. He’s also previously held the designation Certified Adobe Photoshop Instructor.

Scott is a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA.) To see Scott’s bird portfolio or his general wildlife portfolio go to http://www.avianstock.com or http://www.photodiary.com.

Come to pictureline and listen to Scott’s presentation on pre-visualization and the impact that it has had on his life in the photo world. We are thrilled to have him speaking to us and look forward to having the great Salt Lake photo community in attendance. Reserve your seat today and receive a gift card of equal value when you attend the seminar.”

There is a $10 cost for the event, but as a great gesture of support Pictureline will be giving each attendee a $10 Pictureline Gift Card.

Space is limited, so I recommend signing up early. To view the registration page and reserve your seat, CLICK HERE.

I hope to see a great group of photographers on the 17th!

In yesterday’s post, I wrote that the #1 reason for my upgrade from the Canon G7 to the G11 was the improved low-light performance of this little point-and-shoot camera. Last night after band practice a group of us stopped at Applebee’s for some half price appetizers (after 9:00 pm M-TH!!!). Here’s a shot I took in the parking lot. This is an unedited JPG at ISO 3200 (full resolution available here). I’ve got to say that my initial impressions are quite favorable.

I’ve had a few people ask why I opted for this camera (the G11) rather than going for the Canon S90 with the same sensor, a more compact form factor and faster lens. The simple reason for me is that the G-series has a dedicated hotshoe which allows me to use my Speedlight flashes and PocketWizards.

A detailed “My Thoughts…” post about the G11 will be coming in the next week or so.

Canon G11 – 1/30 second, f/4.5, ISO 3200

My 3 year old point-and-shoot camera, a Canon G7, stepped aside today. The replacement: a Canon Powershot G11. I’ve only had the G11 for a couple hours and am still getting to know the camera. Since the biggest reason for the upgrade was the improvement in low-light/high ISO shooting I thought I’d share a quick sample.
The above image was one of the very first I took with the camera. It was shot with existing light at ISO 800. While the 100% crop sample of the eye shows a bit of digital noise, the image is quite usable. When contrasted with the nearly unusable results from the G7 at ISO’s greater than 400 (and even 400 was pushing it), the G11 passes with flying colors.
I will be playing around with this new camera over the coming days/weeks and will post back here with my impressions later on.
Canon G11 – 1/60 second, f/4.5, ISO 800

My 3 year old point-and-shoot camera, a Canon G7, stepped aside today. The replacement: a Canon Powershot G11. I’ve only had the G11 for a couple hours and am still getting to know the camera. Since the biggest reason for the upgrade was the improvement in low-light/high ISO shooting I thought I’d share a quick sample.The above image was one of the very first I took with the camera. It was shot with existing light at ISO 800. While the 100% crop sample of the eye shows a bit of digital noise, the image is quite usable. When contrasted with the nearly unusable results from the G7 at ISO’s greater than 400 (and even 400 was pushing it), the G11 passes with flying colors.I will be playing around with this new camera over the coming days/weeks and will post back here with my impressions later on.Canon G11 – 1/60 second, f/4.5, ISO 800

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

By Nicole S. Young

Photographer Ann Torrence on a recent Salt Lake City Photowalk. (image © Nicole Young)

The next Photowalking Utah event will be a walk around the Old Greek Town area of downtown Salt Lake City on October 17 @ 6:00 pm led by Nicole Young (that’s me!). The Old Greek Town area is just Southwest of “The Gateway” shopping district along the Trax line on 200 South.

This will be an evening photowalk to catch the “golden hour” of the day, and we will be photographing urban decay, older buildings, your fellow photographers, etc.

The event is free of charge and open to all photographers, regardless of skill level. We frequently have people bring point and shoots, SLRs, and even camera phones.

Location: Old Greek Town Trax Station (550 W. 200 South)
Time: 6:00-8:00 pm
Cost: Free!

Parking in this are is limited so consider riding Trax to the photowalk. I will be riding from the Sandy station at 4:44 pm to the Arena station, and walking to our meeting location.

For those planning on attending please join in on the Flickr discussion group. Hope to see you there!

View Larger Map

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/50 second, f/14, ISO 100

I’m spending today wrapping up the image editing of last month’s ballroom dancing photo shoot for my stock photo portfolio. As I type this, I have no less than six other shoots on my “To Edit” list. I spend the majority of my worktime sitting at the computer editing/uploading/keywording images. That is one of the biggest things I have come to realize in the two plus years that I have been shooting full-time for iStockphoto. Years ago as a child when I dreamed of a career as a professional photographer it never occurred that this is what it would entail – sitting at a computer for hours on end.

My switch to Lightroom from Bridge this past summer has helped to speed up my editing workflow, but I still edit each image individually creating on average 5-6 layers in Photoshop before uploading.

Please don’t get me wrong though. I love being a photographer and with that the time spent in Photoshop. I would not want to change my job for anything in the world. I truly love what I do and feel blessed to be able to make a career of it.

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/1000 second, f/8, ISO 400

With my primary photography being the creation of stock imagery in controlled lighting environments, I rarely venture above ISO 800 with my Canon 5D Mark II. Hanging out in Las Vegas this past week at Photoshop World reinforced to me the value in having a camera body capable of increasingly high ISO captures.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to several parties. Since the best parties always seem to happen after dark, shooting at ISO 3200 and above was the easiest way to capture images.

Today’s image of the fire eating woman was shot at the incredible iStock Dollhouse Party last Friday. The sole light source for the image was the torch flame. If I were carrying either of my two other cameras (Canon 5D or G7), I would not have been able to leave with a usable image.

What this outing also solidified was my realization that it is time to retire my point-and-shoot Canon G7 for a model with better low-light performance. Right now it looks like the soon-to-be-released Canon G11 will be the replacement.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 3200

Have you ever seen a photographer shooting with a little bendy lens on their camera? Maybe you even were bold enough to ask them what it was and you heard the name Lensbaby. Now is your chance to get to use one.

The Lensbaby is a special effect SLR lens that creates a unique out-of-focus area (bokeh) with a focus area that can be moved throughout the image. The above image on Nicolesy was taken using a Lensbaby.

Photowalking Utah, in conjunction with Lensbaby and Pictureline, is hosting a Lensbaby Photowalk on November 7th in Salt Lake City. At the event we will have over 20 samples of the product (Canon, Nikon & Olympus mount) for participants to use.

The outing will be led by Pictureline’s own Nick Gilson. Here is the schedule:

November 7th, 2009 – Pictureline SLC, 305 W 700 South

1:15 – 1:30 pm Meet at Pictureline (Salt Lake CIty)
1:30 – 2:00 pm Lensbaby orientation and how-to session
2:00 – 3:30 pm Photowalk starting/ending at Pictureline
4:00 – 5:30 pm Optional Dinner at Charlie Chow’s (255 E. 400 South)

As always, these events are free of charge for photographers to participate in. We can’t take any responsibility though if you fall in love with the Lensbaby and end up buying one 🙂

If you are planning on attending (or have any questions), please head over to the Photowalking Utah Flickr group by clicking here and let us know.

I’m really excited about this event and hope to see many of you there.

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/500 second, f/4, ISO 400

I’m spending my last full day today at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. This morning I found myself helping prolific photographer/blogger/nice guy Scott Bourne with the shooting of an unboxing video of his new Canon 7D. Keep an eye on Photofocus.com for the video to be posted in the next few days.

Now I’m off to the super cool iStockphoto party… See you on the other side 🙂

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/80 second, f/4, ISO 1600

I’m in Vegas for a few days hanging out with some really cool photographers at Photoshop World. Here’s a quick point-and-shoot shot I took of Niki (the Birthday Girl!) and Scott last night at the Tweet-Up/Forum Party at the House of Blues.

Canon G7 – 1/4 second, f/2.8, ISO 200

Here’s another quick edit from last night’s London Bridge outing in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In this 25 second exposure, I waited until 15 seconds had passed then slowly began zooming the lens from 24mm toward 105mm. The best part (at least for me) is the “beams of light” effect created on the top of the frame.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 25 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 100

I’m headed to Photoshop World in Vegas this week, but before basking in the glow of neon I’m spending a day or so in Lake Havasu Arizona helping out with a few things around my parent’s home. I took some time last night to head down to the London Bridge (Lake Havasu’s major tourist attraction) for some evening photography.

The panorama above was taken just after sunset while the overcast sky still had a small amount of light. The brilliant color was further enhanced by using a custom white balance setting of 3900k. The long two-minute exposure created the smooth water which was reflecting the red lights from the nightclub just out of the camera’s frame to the right.

Now it’s time to pack up the cameras and head back North toward the neon lure that is Vegas. See you on the strip 🙂

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 120 seconds, f/16, ISO 100

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

Here’s another quick edit from last night’s London Bridge outing in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In this 25 second exposure, I waited until 15 seconds had passed then slowly began zooming the lens from 24mm toward 105mm. The best part (at least for me) is the “beams of light” effect created on the top of the frame.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 25 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 100

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

One of my favorite models, Kati, had an “incident” with a scooter last week. And while this was truly an unfortunate accident (and one Kati REALLY didn’t need right now), we agreed that we had a unique opportunity to create some imagery of her with the injury.

What is striking to me is just how beautiful Kati’s eyes remain in spite of being surrounded by the ghastly bruise.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/500 second, f/4, ISO 400

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/25 second, f/5.6, ISO 1600

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

I’m flattered to say that Scott Bourne recently asked me to write a guest post on his extremely popular Photofocus blog. The article titled The 80/20 Principle: Giving Back as a Photographer is on the site today. Please consider heading over and checking it out. (LINK)

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

Image © Kenneth Linge. Used with Permission

There is a commonly held perception that for images to be accepted into a contributors portfolio at iStock, photoshop work should be kept to a minimum. I have received numerous emails from frustrated contributors who have received several rejections wanting to know how they can get their images accepted. My answer usually comes back to looking at their workflow and suggesting to limit the processing that they are doing to their images.

I want to show an example today that heavily processed images, when done properly, can be accepted into iStockphoto.

Today’s image is one taken by my friend Kenneth Linge (and used here as an example with his permission). Kenneth recently had this image accepted into his portfolio on iStockphoto.com. Since he is neither an exclusive contributor nor one with a lot of sales on the site, it even further helps by showing that there was no (perceived) favoritism helping with the acceptance.

The image of Jamie (which is Killer in my opinion), was heavily processed in photoshop. The key to it being accepted is that the editing work was done completely by hand (no presets or actions) and done with extreme care not to degrade the file in any way. Sharpening was kept to a minimum (and probably done with the “high pass” method), saturation adjustments kept subtle, and skin tones not overly smoothed.

What seeing acceptance has done for me is inspired me to kick up my editing a bit and push the boundaries. I have long talked about how I edit my images yet keep them a bit generic. Maybe it’s time I challenge my 90+% acceptance rate with some more extreme processing.

For a behind-the-scenes in the lighting used for this image, click Here to visit Kenneth’s blog.

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

Anyone who has happened to run into me over the past week or so has probably seen that I’ve been carrying around my backup 5D with a Lensbaby attached. I was given the Lensbaby by Scott Bourne of Photofocus.com as a gift and have really enjoyed using it to make some creative captures for personal use.

It took a bit of shooting to get up-to-speed with its manual focus and adjustment before I became comfortable enough to be able to use it for quick shots, but I think I’m nearly there. Today’s image of Scott Jarvie with his D300 (with Lensbaby attached) was taken at last week’s Digitalfest event at Pictureline Salt Lake City. I really like how the crowd came out in the image, and just might try and recreate the look with some crowd shots for my stock image portfolio.

For anyone who has ever wanted to try a Lensbaby, keep a look out here. I am working with Pictureline and Lensbaby to put together a Lensbaby Photowalk with plenty of demo units for participants to use. Once the details get worked out, we will have the outing in the next couple months as a Photowalking Utah event.

Canon 5D, Lensbaby Composer (Double Glass) – 1/15 second, f/4, ISO 1600

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

Here’s a sample from this week’s editing assignment. I’m making my way through the images from the ballroom dancing photo shoot I did last month and this one stood out to me. I really like the intense expression on Martin’s face.

Now back to editing….

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 200

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

© Nicole S. Young, Used with Permission -=- Nikon D200, Lensbaby Composer

The date has been set for the next photography Mini-Clinic at the Salt Lake City main library. Just in time for taking pictures of your fabulous holiday dinners, the subject is Food Photography. Since I am not much of a food photographer, I am teaming up with my good friend (and awesome food shooter) Nicole Young for this clinic.
In the free 90 minute session, participants will learn techniques for capturing great food images using natural light, strobes and hot-lights. Our good friends at my favorite camera store, Pictureline, will be providing lighting equipment for us to use in the clinic.
Here are the details:

Date: Thursday October 29th, 2009
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: SLC Main Library – 210 E 400 South, Conf. room #4, 4th floor
Cost: Free!

I am pleased to be able to offer these clinics free-of-charge as a part of Photowalking Utah. Without the support of the Salt Lake City Library and Pictureline, I would not be able to do so. Please help me in thanking the great folks at these organizations for helping the local photographic community.
If you are planning on attending, please head over to the Flickr Discussion and let everyone know. I hope to see you at the clinic.

(Images © Nicole S. Young)

© Nicole S. Young, Used with Permission -=- Nikon D200, Lensbaby Composer

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

The date has been set for the next photography Mini-Clinic at the Salt Lake City main library. Just in time for taking pictures of your fabulous holiday dinners, the subject is Food Photography. Since I am not much of a food photographer, I am teaming up with my good friend (and awesome food shooter) Nicole Young for this clinic.In the free 90 minute session, participants will learn techniques for capturing great food images using natural light, strobes and hot-lights. Our good friends at my favorite camera store, Pictureline, will be providing lighting equipment for us to use in the clinic. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday October 29th, 2009
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: SLC Main Library – 210 E 400 South, Conf. room #4, 4th floor
Cost: Free!

I am pleased to be able to offer these clinics free-of-charge as a part of Photowalking Utah. Without the support of the Salt Lake City Library and Pictureline, I would not be able to do so. Please help me in thanking the great folks at these organizations for helping the local photographic community.

If you are planning on attending, please head over to the Flickr Discussion and let everyone know. I hope to see you at the clinic.

(Images © Nicole S. Young)

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

Sam Scholes is a Utah photographer whose work I have followed for nearly 5 years. I’m pleased to be able to say that Sam (along with Ben Kuhns) is hosting an exhibit of his photography this Friday night at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. Here is Sam’s announcement:

This next Friday, September 25, I’m excited to announce the opening of the “Forgotten Places” photography show at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. The show features 50 photographs taken by myself and fellow photographer, Ben Kuhns, of abandoned and decrepit buildings throughout Utah, California, Washington, and Nevada.

You are cordially invited to an opening reception Friday, September 25, from 7:00pm until 9:00pm. I hope to see many of you there.

Brigham City Museum-Gallery
24 North 300 West
Brigham City, UT

The show will be on display through November 11, 2009. Hours of operation at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery are Tuesday – Friday, 11:00am – 6:00pm and Saturday 1:00pm – 5:00pm.

If you find yourself anywhere near Brigham City Utah this Friday, I hope you’ll consider attending Sam’s exhibition.

Sam Scholes is a Utah photographer whose work I have followed for nearly 5 years. I’m pleased to be able to say that Sam (along with Ben Kuhns) is hosting an exhibit of his photography this Friday night at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. Here is Sam’s announcement:

This next Friday, September 25, I’m excited to announce the opening of the “Forgotten Places” photography show at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. The show features 50 photographs taken by myself and fellow photographer, Ben Kuhns, of abandoned and decrepit buildings throughout Utah, California, Washington, and Nevada.

You are cordially invited to an opening reception Friday, September 25, from 7:00pm until 9:00pm. I hope to see many of you there.

Brigham City Museum-Gallery
24 North 300 West
Brigham City, UT

The show will be on display through November 11, 2009. Hours of operation at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery are Tuesday – Friday, 11:00am – 6:00pm and Saturday 1:00pm – 5:00pm.

If you find yourself anywhere near Brigham City Utah this Friday, I hope you’ll consider attending Sam’s exhibition.

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

Here’s a quick sample from Saturday’s photo-shoot for a side project I have been working on. The assignment is to create the images for a children’s book that is coming out in 2010. The final images in the book will be processed to appear as illustrations, but I thought I’d share an unedited version here.

The lighting for this shot was a combination of ambient and artificial. To accent the sunlight coming through the window, a small square softbox was placed left of the camera to light the model’s face and a silver reflector was positioned behind her.

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

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

One of the biggest honors an iStockphoto contributor can receive is to have one of their images featured as the Image of the Week. When you take into consideration that there are over 85,000 contributors who have built an inventory of 5,000,000+ images it really puts into perspective how difficult this can be to achieve.

This week’s selection is a great image by none other than local photographer (and my good friend) Nicole Young. Her panning shot of a speeding cyclist can be seen on iStock’s front page this week.

Congratulations Niki! The honor is much deserved.

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

Here’s another of my images that was spotted in the wild, this time on a news website in Poland. The photo came from the back pocket series of Kati that was shot back in April.

Here’s another of my images that was spotted in the wild, this time on a news website in Poland. The photo came from the back pocket series of Kati that was shot back in April.

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

Thanks Bryan for sending this over after spotting it “in the wild” at a local bookstore.

Thanks Bryan for sending this over after spotting it “in the wild” at a local bookstore.

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

Canon 5D Mark II, Lensbaby Composer – 1/100 second, f/4, ISO 100