SLR Snapshots to Great Shots Week: Day 2 - Use Rembrandt Lighting

This week's blog is devoted to SLR tips - in honor of the Wiley DVD that I am currently shooting on the new Canon Rebel T1i (available this fall). All the photos were and will be taken with that camera. It's a also to celebrate my new SLR classes on Kelbytraining.com (available now).

Rembrandt Lighting is Nice Lighting

Compare these two pictures, both of which were taken by window light. For the picture on the right, I had my friend, Paula, look toward the direction of light. For the other shot, she was looking away from the window. My point: have your subject look toward the light source (in most cases).

Window light can produce Rembrandt lighting, which is illustrated by the picture on the right. If the shadow on the shaded side of your subject’s face is too dark, use a reflector to fill in that shadow.

When shooting by window light, you’ll need to boost your ISO to prevent a blurry picture caused by camera shake. Or, you can use a tripod.

Take the time to work with the light and you'll get more professional looking pictures – turning your SLR Snapshots in Great Shots.

You can read more about exploring the light is my book, Exploring the Light.

Explore the Light
Rick

Quickie Contest!

I took these pictures today during the taping of my Canon Rebel T1i DVD. I like them so much I had to share them with you... and run a quickie contest.

The first person who get all three answers correct gets a copy of my book, Face to Face, which features my favorite people pictures and tips. (US shipping only.)

1) What exposure mode did I use (Av, Tv, M, P, Green, Portrait, etc.)?
2) What very important tip do you think I'd give to newbie photographers?
3) What people photography tip do you think I'd give?

Good luck.

Make pictures,
Rick

SLR Snapshots to Great Shots Week: Day I - See the Light

This week's blog is devoted to SLR tips - in honor of the Wiley DVD that I am currently shooting on the new Canon Rebel T1i (available this fall). All the photos were and will be taken with that camera.

See the Light

Compare these two pictures. I took the top image of our videographer/sound person/creative director David Leveen (the dude won an Emmy) with my camera set on the Green mode. Notice how the background is washed out and the lamps are overexposed.

Now look at the light in the bottom image. Nice and even. What's more, one of the lamps on the wall behind our friend, Paula, acted like a hair light. (Click on the images to enlarge.) That was no accident. I set my camera on the Av mode and added just a bit of flash – for what's called fill flash photography.


Take the time to see the light - and work with the light - and you'll get more professional looking pictures – turning your SLR Snapshots in Great Shots.

You can read more about exploring the light is my book, Exploring the Light.

I also have an extensive range of SLR classes on kelbytraining. The latest classes are on the Canon 5D, 5D Mark II, 40D and 50D.

Okay, I have to go. We're shooting in an hour.

If you have an SLR question, I'll try to answer it here.

See the light,
Rick

Eyes on Africa Days 6/7 Part II: A Lightroom Lesson for Outdoor Portraiture

Here is a cool tip from my friend and fellow Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford. Take it away Tyler . . .

A Lightroom Lesson For Outdoor Portraiture

Among the many features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, one of my hands-down favorites is the Vignette tool.

When I shot a multimedia documentary in Ethiopia this winter on the country's orphan crisis, my goal was to connect the viewers deeply and personally with the Ethiopian people. In this portrait of the orphaned girl Frehiwot Abera, I wanted to showcase her amazing eyes and the sadness embedded in her face. The midday light at an altitude of 8,000 feet was harsh, so I placed her backlit to the sun, with a concrete wall behind me adding a bit of fill light. I shot at a wide aperture to keep a shallow depth of field, directing the attention only to her.

In Lightroom, I used the Lens Correction sliders "Amount" and "Midpoint" in the Vignette panel to heavily darken the edges of the image. (Note that I prefer the Lens Correction pane over the Post Crop pane, as the results look more natural.) Notice how this vignette draws your attention to Frehiwot's eyes, and prevents you from bouncing around the rest of the image.

The intensity you choose is purely a matter of taste; experiment with this tool, and you'll find a whole new level of power in your portraits!

To see more images from the shoot and a 7-minute multimedia video shot with two Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras, click here.

Tyler Stableford was named by Men's Journal as one of the seven "World's Greatest Adventure Photographers," and he is one of Canon's distinguished Explorers of Light. Visit his news blog.

Eyes on Africa Days 6/7: Don't Leave Home Without a Flash

A good friend of mine is going on an African photo safari in the fall. How cool. He asked me if he should bring a flash.

Well, I sent him this set of pictures: middle, no flash; ends, flash. Guess what? He's packing a flash :-)

Here's an article I wrote on daylight fill flash that you may like.

And here's an article on flash for Canon users.

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December. Not posted on my site yet.

NOTE: I have reserved the tents and safari lodge. Dates are December 11-13, 2009. Cost to come. Drop me a not if you are interested. Only seven tents. Ricksammon@me.com

Make pictures,
Rick

Eyes on Africa Day 5: Friday's Fun Photos

My blog posts this week are devoted to tips on taking pictures in African. Each day's blog topic will remain the same as in previous weeks:

• Monday’s Inspirational Message
• Tip For Tuesday
• Where in the World? Wednesday
• Photo Thought for Thursday
• Friday Fun Photo
• Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session
• Sunday Speedlite Secrets

Subscribe and stay tuned.

Unlike in weeks past, where I posted a funny picture, I thought I post some of my favorite people pictures from a workshop I lead to Namibia. Why are these pictures in Friday's Fun Photos post? Because I had so much fun photographing these beautiful Himba women.

Click here for some people photography tips.

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December. Not posted on my site yet. NOTE: I have reserved the tents and safari lodge. Dates are December 11-13, 2009. Cost to come. Drop me a not if you are interested. Only seven tents. Ricksammon@me.com

Make pictures,
Rick

Eyes on Africa Day 4: Photo Thought for Thursday: The Eyes Have It

My blog posts this week are devoted to tips on taking pictures on an African Safari (some of which you can also use in wildlife parks). Each day's blog topic will remain the same as in previous weeks:

• Monday’s Inspirational Message
• Tip For Tuesday
• Where in the World? Wednesday
• Photo Thought for Thursday
• Friday Fun Photo
• Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session
• Sunday Speedlite Secrets

Subscribe and stay tuned.

Today's post is from my friend/wildlife photographer, Andy Biggs. Take it away Andy!

As the adage says, "The eyes are the windows to the soul", and this rings true for wildlife photography.

I find that the more eyes that are in a wildlife scene, the better. If I have 3 animals in my scene, I often find that 6 eyes in view are better than 5 or less.

When watching a scene, you can better determine when to take your photos based on eye contact with your subjects. You will be amazed at how many more successful images you will capture with your camera – and eye.


Andy Biggs
Web Site: andybiggs.com
Blog: www.theglobalphotographer.com

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December. Not posted on my site yet. NOTE: I have reserved the tents and safari lodge. Dates are December 11-13, 2009. Cost to come.

If you have any questions about these and my other workshops, please contact me at ricksammon@me.com.

Make pictures,
Rick

My Simple Business Plan: Everything is Related to Everything

Hey, I know this diagram looks busy.. but heck, I am a busy guy!

You can click on the image to make it larger and easier to read/digest.

I was speaking with a photographer today and suggested that she do everything possible to promote herself – because everything is related to everything . . . and because everything helps everything else.

Another way to put this: One thing leads to another.

So get busy if you want to promote your work. Otherwise, you snooze you lose.

Rick
P.S. Why do you think they call it work?

Eyes on Africa Day 3: Where in The World? Wednesday

My blog posts this week are devoted to tips on taking pictures on an African Safari (some of which you can also use in wildlife parks). Each day's blog topic will remain the same as in previous weeks:

• Monday’s Inspirational Message
• Tip For Tuesday
• Where in the World? Wednesday
• Photo Thought for Thursday
• Friday Fun Photo
• Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session
• Sunday Speedlite Secrets

Subscribe and stay tuned.

So once again it's Where in the World? Wednesday. Where in the world did I take these two pictures of cheetahs? The sunset? Botswana. Could be a hint, or not.

First correct answer posted here gets an autographed copy of my book, Field Guide to Digital Photography. Join the fun. US shipping only. Sorry.

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December. Not posted on my site yet. (Fossil Rim could be a hint, or not, too.)

If you have any questions about these and my other workshops, please contact me at ricksammon@me.com.

Make pictures,
Rick

Eyes on Africa Day 2: Tuesday's Tips: See the Light & Don't Shoot Down

My blog posts this week will be devoted to tips on taking pictures on an African Safari (some of which you can also use in wildlife parks). Each day's blog topic will remain the same:

• Monday’s Inspirational Message
• Tip For Tuesday
• Where in the World? Wednesday
• Photo Thought for Thursday
• Friday Fun Photo
• Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session
• Sunday Speedlite Secrets

Subscribe and stay tuned.

I took all these pictures within about an hour of each other. The picture on the right is my "keeper." Great light!

The top left picture was taken after the sun had set. Flat light, little contrast. A photo dud.

The middle picture illustrates how close the animals can come to the vehicles. Just a boring grab shot.

The bottom picture illustrates that point that when you photograph animals close up from a vehicle, the photo looks as though it could have been taken in a zoo or wildlife park. You are much better off using a long lens and photographing the animal at a distance. The further away the animal, the more it appears that you are seeing eye to eye – as illustrated in my keeper.

Want more tips? See my article on Ultimate Travel Photography.

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December.

If you have any questions about these and my other workshops, please contact me at ricksammon@me.com.

Make pictures,
Rick

Eyes on Africa Day 1: Monday's Motivational Message + Top Tips

My blog posts this week will be devoted to tips on taking pictures on an African Safari (some of which you can also use in wildlife parks). Each day's topic will remain the same:

• Monday’s Inspirational Message
• Tip For Tuesday
• Where in the World? Wednesday
• Photo Thought for Thursday
• Friday Fun Photo
• Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session
• Sunday Speedlite Secrets

Subscribe and stay tuned.

I hope you enjoy today's Motivational Message. But for how-to info, here's a link to one of my favorite articles on wildlife photography.

If an African safari is on your "bucket list," I am leading two awesome African photo safaris in 2010:
Kenya
and
Kenya and Rwanda.

Closer to home, yet still with a taste of Africa, I am leading a workshop to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, Texas) in December.

If you have any questions about these and my other workshops, contact me at ricksammon@me.com.

Make pictures,
Rick

Happy Father's Day to All Dads!

Father's Day is tomorrow, so I am taking the weekend off from posting new photo info.

With my son going off to college in the fall, I am thinking about years gone by. If I could go back to one day, it would be the day I took the photo on the left in our backyard.

If you could go back, what day would that be... and do you have a photo?

Photos are such very precious memories. Safeguard them... in at least two places.

Happy Dad’s Day to All Dads.

Here is something I wrote about being a dad/photographer: Have kid will photograph.

Rick
P.S. I took the photo on the right last night at the pre-prom party. New dads: you will not believe how fast the time goes… from one moment/picture to another.

Father's Day Thought

Hi Dads

If you have a teenage son, this quote is for you!

Hang in,
Rick

The Glub Glub Club

Here are two of my favorite underwater images – taken with slide film and recently scanned by Scan Cafe (a great scanning house).

The top image is a whale shark, the largest fish in the sea. I photographed this guy in the Maldives.

The bottom image is a decoy scorpionfish. I got this shot in Hawaii.

Any underwater photographers out there? Maybe we can start the glub glub club.

Safe diving,
Rick

Friday Fun Photos

TGIFFPT- Thank god it's Friday fun photos time :-)

Each week I try to post a fun photo or fun photos. Usually, I post my own. But today, I'll share three pictures that are circulating on the web. They are fun, but they also illustrate some very important photo tips: watch the background, watch the foreground and consider perspective.

Have a great weekend. Hope to see you here tomorrow for Saturday's Mini-Photoshop Session.

Make pictures,
Rick

Photo Thought for Thursday: Develop a Sense of Place

Want to see an example of why it's important to develop a sense of place in your photographs? What the video.

More tips like this in my book, Face to Face.

Take care, partner.
Rick

Where in the World? Wednesday

Well, it's Where in the World? Wednesday once again.

All these big cats were photographed in the same place - so to speak. First correct answer gets an autographed copy of my new Field Guide to Digital Photography (click on the picture of the book cover on the right for info).

US only due to shipping.

As you know, I try to be a bit tricky about my questions. . . As always, be as specific as possible.

Subscribe to my blog for cool learning mixed with some fun. Every day, something new - when I am not traveling.

Make pictures,
Rick
P.S. I am launching a series of "Big Cats, Big Prints" soon. Stay tuned.

Tips for Tuesday: A Key Tip for Removing A Keyword in Aperture

To remove a single keyword from a photo, or group of photos, first select the photos that have the common offending keyword(s), then type the keyword you want to remove in the “Add Keyword” box at the bottom of the interface. Then simply press SHIFT+RETURN. Aperture will then remove the keyword(s) from all the selected photos.

Additionally, if you know you don’t want a particular keyword for ANY photo, simply select all the photos in your project and remove the keyword. It does not matter that the keyword was in some and not in others.

Tip and photograph by Scott Bourne
www.scottbourne.com
www.photofocus.com

Just Say No to Chromo Abs

I received soooo many emails about my HDR talk at B&H yesterday that I had to post this Photoshop tip before my usual Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session.

The emailers wanted more info about removing chromatic aberrations from HDR images – and images in general.

Well, here we go!

The top image is my original shot.

I created the middle image using Photomatix (5 exposures) and then by applying the Omaha Beach effect in onOne Software's PhotoTools. More on Photomatix and onOne at pluginexperience.com.

When I zoomed in on my final image (as always), I noticed a chromatic aberration around the trunk of the tree - stroked in red in the middle image.

To reduce that effect, which does creep into HDR images, and into some high-contrast photos taken with less expensive lenses, I turned to Photoshop. I went to Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. I played around with the Chromatic Aberraton sliders until the bright red line was removed, as you can see in the bottom illustrations.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Hey, I am trying to talk my buddy Scott Bourne into doing a Photofocus podcast on HDR imaging. Like the idea? Let is know here!

Remember, I have a new tip every day (when I am not traveling). Subscribe to my blog and get the info pronto. Gotta go for some Mo Joe.

Monday's Motivational Message

Sunday's Speedlite Session - Control Subject and Background Brightness Independently

Compare these two pictures of a monkey that I took in Gibraltar. One is an available light shot and the other is a daylight fill-in flash shot – the one that clearly shows the monkey’s face.

Here’s one technique for reaching that goal when you are photographing animals (at relatively close distances) and people outdoors.

First, you’ll need a flash with variable flash output control, that is, +/- exposure control – or a camera that lets you control the flash output from within the camera. Mount the flash on your camera (better yet on a bracket or off camera), but don’t turn it on yet.

Set your camera to the Manual exposure mode.

In the Manual mode, set the exposure for the existing lighting conditions, a.k.a. ambient light.

Turn on your flash and make an exposure with the flash set at – 1 1/3. If the picture on the camera’s LCD monitor looks too much like a flash shot, reduce the flash output to – 1 1/2. If it’s still too “flashy,” continue to reduce the flash until you are pleased with the results.

This techniques works because even in the Manual mode, the flash operates in the TTL (through the lens) automatic flash metering mode.

Some digital SLRs and flash units help the flash metering system determine the main subject’s distance, while others let you lock the flash exposure on the subject, while still others measure the ambient light and take that into consideration – helping you to get a great outdoor flash shot automatically.

Still, I suggest you master this manual technique if you are serious about your photography. When you do, you can control the brightness of the subject independently (with the flash output control) from the background (with the shutter speed).

Hey! They don't call me Rick "Speedlite" Sammon for nothing! I never leave home without one!

Saturday's Mini-Photoshop Session: Think Selectively – Not Globablly

This might be my most important digital darkroom tip: think selectively, not globally.

When you think selectively, you think about the individual parts of an image that need enhancement. When you think globally, you are thinking about making enhancements to the entire image – which is sometimes not necessary, and sometimes not even necessarily the best idea.

Adjustment Layers and Smart Filters in Photoshop – and Plug-ins for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Aperture and Lightroom – make working selectively possible.

For this image, I increased the saturation of the woman’s dress and of her reflection in the mirror. I then used the Burn tool to darken the floor, background and her hands and face. As a final step, I sharpened the woman, the dresser and the mirror – leaving the background a bit soft so that the main subject was prominent in the scene.

About the photo: I photographed Marzia Gaspparotti during a VSP Workshop in Venice, Italy. Check out all of VSP’s info-pack and fun-filled workshops on their web site.

I was the instructor on a trip for VSP – founded by the lovely Marzia’s kinda good lookin’ hubby/great photographer Jonathan Maher – to Namibia two years ago and had a blast. I also helped out during one of their Venice workshop. No one does Venice like VSP … which formerly stood for: Venice School of Photography.

I love this dynamic duo.

Make pictures,
Rick

P.S. Hey, if you want to see some of my pictures from Namibia, click here to read my Layers magazine article: The Art of On-Location Portraiture. If you wanna join the fun on one of workshops, see the Events page of my website. China, Kenya, Rwanda, Laos/Vietnam - and the American South West added for 2010.

My Window Seat

Hey... TGIF!

Just back from giving a seminar in NC and thought I'd share a few shots I took with my G10 from my window seat. I'm really getting into this compact camera thing. :-)

That said, no way am I hanging up my 5D Mark II. In fact, HD videos are in the works.

Got a G10 - or any other compact camera? Here are my top two shooting tips:
- Always shoot at the lowest possible ISO. These little babies can get a bit noisy above ISO 400 - especially in low light.
- Don't underexpose your images. That will cause an increase in digital noise - especially in the shadows.

And here's my top image-processing tip:
- Experiment with Levels first. Look to see how an adjustment can improve contrast, brightness and color. Pictures from camera cameras can often use a boost in those areas.

And here's another tip: ALWAYS HAVE A CAMERA HANDY! If not, you might miss some fun shots like these.

Make pictures,
Rick
P.S. If you like window seat pictures, check out Window Seat by Julieanne Kost - my Photoshop hero (so much so that I dedicated one of my books to her).

Going Out of Town . . . Combining Thursday & Friday Posts

Hi All

I am going out of town, so I thought I'd post Thursday's Tip and Friday's Fun Photo in one post.

Tip: Keep it simple! Don't take a ton of cameras and lenses with you when you are out shooting. The more gear you have, the fewer the great shots you'll get. That is scientifically proven.

Friday's Fun Photo: Write a caption for this photo and post it here! Be kind :-)

Have a good weekend!

Rick

A Good Reason to Always Carry a Camera

Sounds like simple advice - but it's a good idea to always carry a camera . . . and to make sure:
1) your battery is charged;
2) a memory card is inserted (something that I actually forgot once or twice).

These grab shots (taken with my every-ready Canon G10) from this morning illustrate this point.

Another idea: Try to tell a story with your pictures. Here I am telling the story of how well the momma hid the baby in the foliage. Story telling with pictures is fun.

By the way, the ISO for these shots was set at 800. Sure, I have a bit of noise in the pictures, but a bit 'o noise is better than a shaky picture.

Where in the World? Wednesday

Welcome back to Where in the World? Wednesday.

As always, the first person (US only) with the closest guess as to where I am wins something cool.

This week it's Snap Art from Alien Skin – a cool plug-in that turns your snapshots into art shots with a few clicks of your mouse – or taps of your stylus.

Please be as precise/exact/right-on as possible. Again, closeness counts. In other words, if you see what you think might be a correct answer, fine-tune the location.

You need to post your answers here – not on twitter.

Hey, if you don't win, you can get a 10% discount on Snap Art (and all Alien Skin plug-ins) when you use this code upon checkout: RSA0901.

Good luck to everyone. But no pros, please.

Best,
Rick
P.S. For more plug-in fun, see PluginExperience. Are you experienced?

Need a Little Creative Stimulation? Try IR Photography

Hey All

If you feel as though you need a bit 'o creative stimulation, why not have one of your old digital cameras converted to an IR-only camera.

On the left:
Top - Zzzzzzzzzz
Middle - IR picture (straight out of the camera)
Bottom - with a few Channel swaps.

Get a discount on your IR conversion at Lifepixel by using this code upon checkout: Rick Sammon.

For more of my IR work, see my article in Layers magazine.


IR Rocks!
CU,
IR Rick :-)

Tuesday's Tip

Focus on Focusing
Greg Downing

When making close-up photographs (with super telephoto zooms and macro lenses) of wildlife, some photographers make the common mistake of always focusing on the eyes.

Generally speaking, the eyes are the preferred point of focus but the photographer also needs to consider the other elements in the scene – and how to make the most of the available depth-of-field. For example, when looking at my image of a bald eagle, the eyes are in focus – but as important in this shot, so is the tip of the eagle's bill.

With any lens, more than half of the depth-of-field falls beyond the initial point of focus. So, in this case, had I chosen the eyes as the focus point, getting the tip of the bill sharp might not have been possible.

Here the depth-of-field just barely makes it to the eyes before falling off rapidly. To get the desired depth-of-field, I very carefully composed the shot and then manually tweaked my focus well in front of the eyes, near the base of the bill. I used my depth-of-field preview feature to ensure that the eyes were also in focus. The magnification was so great (I was shooting with a 600mm lens on my Canon 1D Mark II) that I needed to use f/22 to get the bill and the eyes in sharp focus.

I also used a bit of fill-flash to help maintain sharpness – a technique that I often use to do close-ups shots of distant animals.

To learn more about how I create close ups in nature, see my article on Creating Intimate Portraits in Nature on NatureScapes.net.

And . . . mark your calendar: Rick and I are giving a full-day seminar on wildlife, outdoor and nature photography on November 7th in Fairfax, VA. Be there or be square.

Until then, focus on focusing.

Monday's Motivational Message

Just An Important Reminder...

Hey All

Just a reminder - of which I was reminded today!

Cameras don't take pictures, people do. I shot one of these pictures today with my G10, the other a year or so ago with my 1Ds Mark III.

Both look pretty good to me.

Message: Compose carefully, see the light, watch the background, get the best in-camera exposure.

:-)

Keep shooting.

Best,
Rick
P.S. My next book (no kidding): Confessions of a Compact Camera shooter.

6.7.09 Sunday Speedlite Session: Big Light from Small Flashes

This week's tip comes from my pal Scott Bourne, the cool dude with whom I co-host the Photofocus podcast, and who heads up the Photofocus website (as well as doing about a million other things).

Beam us up (as in "give us some tips on using the beam of our flashes") Scottie.

Here's How to Make Your Small Flash Act Like a Big Strobe
Scott Bourne

Small speedlights are very cool little inventions. They give us the ability to bring light to every situation regardless of "natural" conditions. But the small size of the average portable flash is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that these little babies are very portable. The curse is that being small; they tend to emit rather harsh light. So how can we fix that?

Simple. Get closer and get bigger. I know, I know - you think that's crazy. While it may be counter intuitive, it's true. The closer the light is - the softer it is. The bigger the light is - the softer it is. (Don't confuse brightness and softness.)

So getting closer is easy. How do we get the small strobe to act like a big light? There are lots of ways to accomplish this. One would be to use something like the Rick Sammon Tote from Westcott. Pumping the flash at the reflector makes the size of the reflector the size of the light. This is many, many times larger than the flash head so it softens the light.

Another great accessory is the Westcott Mini-Apollo. This accessory turns your small flash into a decent-sized soft box.

I took the photograph of the little girl on the left. Rick took the other two pictures.

The behind-the-scenes photo shows two flashes aimed at two reflectors; the light in the background is a hair light. The end-result photo on the right was taken with that set up - with another reflector added below the model's chin to fill in some of the shadows.

So the message of this post: Test this yourself. Get closer to the subject and make the light bigger. You'll make pictures with softer light every time.

If you have any flash questions (or any photo questions for that matter), post it on twitter: twitter/ricksammon or twitter/scottbourne
–––
Rick here . . .
Check out the new PocketWizards for effortless/foolproof off-camera flash photography. Note: the wireless transmitter circled in my picture is the Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter.

Scott and I are tossing around the idea of doing some flash workshops around the country. Let us know if you are interested. Tell is on twitter.

6.6.09 Saturday Photoshop Mini-Session

Yes... it's time, once again, for my Saturday Photoshop mini-session.

One of my pro photographer friends made this image. The first person who correctly guesses the technique and the number of exposures will get an autographed copy of his wonderful book ($75 value). It's very heavy. So US shipping only. Sorry.

Good luck to all.

You need to post your answer here.. not on twitter.

This photographer has an amazing and inspiring story, too. He will be revealed on Sunday in my post of the winner. So come back... and see a behind-the-scenes image, too!

When I say inspiring, I truly mean inspiring.

No pros, please.

Rick

Fishing for Answers to Saturday's Photo Question

Attention Photoshop Users :-)

First, thank you ALL for playing along.

Sooo.... it was a trick question.

Absolutely no Photoshop techniques were used to create the image. It's a one-shot image.

Photographer/artist Ryszard Horowitz created the image in-camera - before many of us ever heard of Photoshop! Do a search on Ryszard to see his amazing - and more current – work!

Above is a shot of Ryszard taking the actual photograph.

For now, here are just a few of his favorite images.

Read his bio, too.

You can contact him through his web site.

Our winner (you will love Ryszard's book) is: kberwin. Please send me your address. ricksammon@me.com

The point of this post: Experiment with in-camera techniques, too. It's amazing what we can do without the aid of Photoshop.

Rick
P.S. Don't feel bad if you posted suggested Photoshop techniques. I got it wrong the first time, too.

6.4.09 Photo Thought for Thursday: Try It For The First Time

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Post and Photograph by
Judy Host

That was the question asked years ago in a Hasselblad ad – and that idea has stayed with me ever since then. So with that idea in mind, I often try something different, something new, something I haven't done before.

I happened upon a Lensbaby many years ago when they were first introduced, and I use it quite often. This cute, funky little lens tilts in all directions, and is a terrific accessory for portraits when I'm photographing in soft beautiful light and need an almost mystical effect.

The Lensbaby is actually a selective focus SLR lens and has a sweet spot in the middle of the lens that you control with different size aperture discs – allowing you to choose the size of the sweet spot. The new Lenbaby Composer allows you to use a focusing ring once you have tilted the lens and decided where you want to position the sweet spot. Cool!

The image you see here was created with the new Composer on a Canon 5D Mark II and using a f/5.6 aperture disc with the ISO set at 400. The natural light is coming from floor-to-ceiling windows with light streaming into the scene from behind her as well as in front of her.

So my advice for this Thursday: Try Something New – something different for the very first time . . . no matter what lens you are using.

From Rick:
To see more of Judy's work visit her website. Judy also has a way-cool DVD titled "The Art of Available Light" you should check out on her website.

Sums Up Social Media :-)

Someone just sent me this screen shot. What a hoot.

Actually, I do believe in the power/value/importance of Social Media Marketing. See post below.

Rick

Where and What in The World? Wednesday

I'm back for "Where in the World?" Wednesday – but once again, I am asking a second question.

Where in the world (country) was I when I took this picture? And what four Photoshop enhancements did I used to make a more dramatic image? Please be as precise as possible when describing the enhancements. Precision counts when it comes to working on your images.

Winner (US only) gets a copy of my latest book, Field Guide to Digital Photography. You need to post your answer here.

No pros, please.