Fashion

Palm Springs Photo Festival

Photo Enthusiasts Gather in the Desert for The 2013 Festival

By Vince Gonzales | May 08, 2013

The Palm Springs Photo Festival was held this year at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Palm Springs for 6 days drawing photographers, vendors, lecturers and players of all types involved in the creation and business of photography.  The event director, Jeff Dunas created an environment... Read More

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Topaz Detail 3

This useful plug-in gives you more control than ever of your sharpening.

By Tom Bol | April 25, 2013

Bottom line, if your shot isn't sharp, then nothing else matters...delete, delete, delete.  I spend countless hours working on my images after a shoot, and sharpening is one of the most important parts of my workflow.  Sharpening takes some time to master since not all... Read More

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Simplify Your Creative Business

By Dan Carr | April 03, 2013

As a self-employed creative professional I wear many hats on a daily basis.  My virtual hat rack includes photographer, accountant, marketing manager, administrative assistant, video editor, writer, lawyer and business development manager.  You can see why I need a whole... Read More

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Working The Red Carpet

"Game of Thrones" Premiere at The TCL Chinese Theatre

By Vince Gonzales | March 29, 2013

Publicists, executives, starlets- oh my.  I covered the recent red carpet for the upcoming season premiere of HBO’s "Game of Thrones" at the TCL Chinese Theatre and after party at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.  As a contributor to FilmMagic and... Read More

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Giving Back

Visiting the students at Orange Coast College

By Tony Donaldson | March 14, 2013

I recently had a chance to talk to the students of Leslie McCall's Professional Digital Techniques class at Orange Coast College. OCC has an amazing facility and great faculty. The school is amazing, there are tons of 5D, 7D, Canon AE-1 (film bodies) cameras and lenses, all Profoto... Read More

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The Basics of a One Light Setup

A Lighting Tutorial

By JPMorgan | March 06, 2013

In today's TSL lesson we are going way back to the very basics of a one light setup to light a face.  Our talent Tiffany Taylor is beautiful and it's very easy to demonstrate on her face. Everything in the world is a ball, a cube or a cylinder. The human face is nothing... Read More

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Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic

The Edge 80 allows precise focus control in images.

By Tom Bol | March 05, 2013

I have been using Lensbaby lenses since they first came out.  How cool was it to create wild out of focus images using this compact lens?  It reminded me of shooting my Holga camera; you never knew exactly what the image was going to look like.  But then Lensbaby... Read More

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Lastolite Ezybox II Switch

A unique softbox for speedlights and studio strobes

By Tom Bol | February 21, 2013

I often fill my truck to the ceiling with lighting equipment on an assignment.  I hate to limit my lighting options on a photo shoot.  I might want my strip bank for this effect, and my big square softbox for this look. I better bring my speedlights for quick and easy... Read More

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Behind The Scenes On A Glamour Photoshoot

Kikey Castillo Glamours Up

By Vince Gonzales | February 14, 2013

For my glamour shoots, women walk in wearing sweats with a scrunchie in their hair, sit down to professional hair and make-up and are transformed in to their inner cover girl.  I thought it would be valuable to have a behind the scenes video in... Read More

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Iconoclasts: Wedding Photojournalists

rebels vindicated: the most maligned photo specialty worth deeper look

By Sara Frances | February 04, 2013

The commercial photographic community has long looked down its collective nose at the wedding photographer without realizing this skill combines just about every other specialty. A much harder job, if practiced to the hilt.

Food photography and... Read More

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Pinterest

Ok, so I'm late to the party. This social media site is quite useful!

By Tony Donaldson | January 30, 2013

I'm no luddite. I love technology, I'm an early adopter, beta tester and consultant on a lot of things. But social media, with the plethora of different options, are hard to learn and use effectively.

Honestly, I just tried Pinterest really for... Read More

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How To Know When To Fire A Client

Get rid of clients that drain you so you can work on the good ones!

By Tony Donaldson | January 21, 2013

There comes a time in any relationship to know when it isn't working out. In business, it is essential to be able to assess yours and get rid of the clients that drag you down. They all abuse you in some way. Some always beat you up on price or terms, some pay you very late, consistently.... Read More

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Portrait Professional

This retouching program dramatically reduces time in post production.

By Tom Bol | January 14, 2013

I'm always on the lookout for Photoshop plug-ins that will make my life easier in post production.   Plug-ins generally simplify what I am trying to achieve in Photoshop.  What might take me 10 layers in Photoshop can be achieved with one click with a plug-in.  But... Read More

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Resolutions and goals for 2013

...and by resolutions, I don't mean 36 megapixels!

By Tony Donaldson | January 08, 2013

For 2013, I've been setting some goals. And by setting goals, I mean putting them on paper. And digital paper, in the form of my devices, so I can have them in front of me and in the forefront of my mind all the time.

There's the obvious, expanding my work and my business. I... Read More

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Elinchrom Skyport WiFi

Use your iPhone or iPad to control your Elinchrom flash packs.

By Tom Bol | January 07, 2013

I'm a sucker for anything that streamlines my workflow and photo assignments.  A simple photo shoot can get complex quickly; one main light on the subject, one accent light on his left side...better add a few lights to illuminate the car in the background.  Before I know... Read More

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Progressive Posing - Full Length

By Rick Ferro | December 20, 2012

In my last article Progressive Posing, I covered the Two-Thirds view and the Profile view.  Referring back to that article, once you have achieved positioning the couple you are now able to easily change lens and create a full length image at ease anytime and anyplace.  This is why I call it Progressive Posing.  Now, for this month's steps & tips for full length wedding and portrait Progressive Posing.

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How to Light & Pose a Seated Bride

By Rick Ferro | December 17, 2012

Having a portrait of the bride done before the wedding is something all photographers should think about doing. Besides the extra revenue, it provides confidence not only for the bride, but for yourself especially if you are a new photographer. If you don’t have in mind what you’re going to do in posing, you may be setting yourself up for failure. If you are new, have a set of posing thumbnails to review and keep close while at the session. I remember when I was first starting out I had a cheat sheet right next to me. Take a look at a session on how to light and pose a seated bride portrait.

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New Documentary With Joey L Online

By Dan Carr | December 11, 2012

I'm a huge fan of the work of New York based photographer Joey L.  He's just released a new book about lighting and simultaneously a 45 minute documentary called Beyond on Vimeo.  The video contains footage of several of the images from his book and if you like his work and his style then it's a must watch.  Rarely does such lengthy, high quality photography video content hit the internet for free.

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The New Lithium Battery for the Elinchrom Quadra

Smaller, lighter battery strobe system

By Tom Bol | November 18, 2012

When the original Elinchrom Quadra came out a few years back, I was very excited. The Quadra was a small 400 watt pack that used Elinchrom's popular Skyport wireless system. If you were a speedlight shooter and looking to step into a flash pack system, this was a great choice. Read More

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Depth of Field as a Creative Tool

A lighting tutorial!

By JPMorgan | November 10, 2012

In today's Slanted Lens lesson we will take a look at depth of field as a creative tool while shooting some fashion shots on location at Vasquez Rocks. We will use a simple 2 light set up to shoot beautiful Gabrielle Tuite and look at how different lens focal lengths give us different depth of field options. We will look at what lens choice will give us a shallow depth and what lens choice will give us a more scenic deep depth of field. Vasquez is the perfect place to look at depth of field. It's one of the most photographed places in Southern California. It has a long history of film making. It has been in Star Track "Captain Kurk and the Lizard fight", Austin Powers, Bonanza, John Carter, and many many more. It has a very strong rock point that is graphic and the reason I wanted to shoot here. We will use that as a graphic element in our shots. Let's take a look at depth of field as a creative tool. Read More

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