Lightroom 1.2 update available...

Adobe has just released Lightroom version 1.2, this is a free update for those who already own Lightroom, you can download it here... go directly to the download, do not pass go, do not collect $200...

Another person who is smarter than me…

Of course the first thought of people how know me is, “Okay Scott we'll bite, who isn’t smarter than you”

;)

One of the most important websites I frequent is by Ken Rockwell, but be warned, it has soooo much information that you can only stay for a short period of time, if you stay too long you run the risk of having your head explode from overfilling.

I don't make a single lens purchase without seeing what Ken has to say about it. Not only will he tell you his likes and dislikes about a given lens, Ken reinforces his review with photographic examples that demonstrates the point he is trying to drive home.

Before finding Ken's site I made more than one bad lens purchase (I see some of you out there nodding your head in agreement, yourselves having bought "bad glass"), since reading his reviews I have purchased two lenses based on his recommendation (Nikon 18-200mm VR and a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8), that's a lot of money, errr, I mean trust to put in the hands of a stranger, and I could not be happier that I did!

Ken also provides his reviews and recommendations on cameras and flashes as well.

Two areas you will want to be sure to visit are his "highly recommended photography books and magazines" (my wife walked by while I was going through the list and said "stop drooling and close your mouth") as well as "how to do anything photographic".

And lastly, if you read nothing else, be sure to read his article "Why your wife wants you to get a new camera", not only will you learn how to approach the boss and get her on your side when it comes to filling your camera bag with gear, in this article it is revealed for the very first time - WHAT WOMEN WANT!

Bottom line, be sure to pay Ken a visit.

My Interview With Vincent Versace…

Below you will find my interview with Vincent Versace, as I noted in my very first blog entry, he has had a significant impact on my development as a photographer, much like he as has with countless other folks, and with good reason, Vincent Versace a lot to offer.

His work is inspiring (be sure to visit his website), his advice is dead on, he is more than willing to share what he knows, and is an outstanding teacher.

He is also generous with his time, when I have emailed him to ask a question or advice, he has always been kind enough to respond, though his last email said something about a restraining order.

;)

Regardless of where you are on your photographic learning curve, you should really take the time to listen to him on one of the following podcasts, The Candid Frame (episode #4), American Photo, and Inside Digital Photo.

You can also bring him into your own home with one of his many teaching DVD's, and as an owner of 4 of them, I give them two thumbs way up.

But enough of my rambling, onto the interview:

How/when did your photographic career begin, where was your first Studio, what kind of clients and projects did you start out with?

I SOLD MY FIRST PICTURE TO A LOCAL NEWSPAPER WHEN I WAS NINE YEARS OLD, I GOT BIT BY THE PHOTOGRAPHY BUG WHEN I WAS SEVEN. MY UNCLE FRANK WAS A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER AND I SPENT THE DAY WITH HIM IN HIS DARKROOM BECAUSE HE GOT STUCK BABYSITTING ME. I WATCHED HIM DO THE DODGE AND BURN ENLARGER DANCE, PUT THE PAPER IN THE DEVELOPER, SAW THE IMAGE MATERIALIZE GOT A WIFF OF FIXER AND I WAS HOOKED. I HAVE BEEN AT THE CORE BEGINNING TILL NOW AN ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT AND FINE ART NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER.

Once your career began, who had the most influence on your development as a photographer?

MY CAREER BEGAN AT NINE. SOOOOOOOOOOO………. MOM, DAD....GROWING UP IT WAS MY UNCLE CJ ELFONT WHO INFLUENCED ME THE MOST. THE BASIS OF HOW I "SEE" AND IMAGE AND COMPOSE IT I LEARNED FROM HIM. IN MY ADULT LIFE, TAD Z. DAINELEWSKI, SIDNEY WALKER AND JAY MAISEL. TAD TAUGHT ME HOW TO TAKE WHAT I FEEL AND EXPRESS IT, SYDNEY TAUGHT ME THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GIFT OF GIVING AND JAY BEAT THE BEJEEZUS OUT OF ME AND SHOWED ME HOW MUCH MORE DEEP OF A GAME THE GAME OF COMPOSITION IS.

What was your "big break"?

A MEETING WITH DAVE FLEMING WHO IS NOW AT MOSAIC MEDIA. WHEN I STARTED IN HOLLYWOOD RIGHT AFTER GOING TO USC FILM SCHOOL I COULD NOT GET ARRESTED. I HAD JUST SHOT GLORIA RUEBEN AND SHE HAD JUST GOT CAST IN THE TV SHOW ER. SHE HAD SENT A HEADSHOT IN TO THE PRODUCERS THAT I HAD TAKEN OF HER WITH "COLORED GIRL FOR HIRE" WRITTEN IN MAGIC MARKER ON THE PICTURE. THEY CALLED HER IN SHE WENT STRAIGHT TO PRODUCERS AND GOT THE PART. HER MANAGER, DAVE FLEMMING TOLD HER "I HATE EVERYONE OF MY CLIENTS HEADSHOTS EXCEPT YOURS. WHO TOOK THEM?" I CAME IN A FEW DAYS LATER; WE SPENT FOUR HOURS JUST TALKING THEN WHEN I GOT UP TO LEAVE DAVE SID "CAN I SEE YOUR PICTURES?" WE'VE BEEN CLOSE FRIENDS EVER SINCE. I'VE PHOTOGRAPHED ALL OF HIS CLIENTS.

You can shoot any camera you want and choose to shoot Nikon, why? What is it you get from Nikon that you can't from other camera manufacturers?

I FEEL THAT NIKON CAMERAS ARE CAMERAS THAT WORK AND FEEL LIKE CAMERAS, THE REST OF THE DIGITAL CAMERAS I'VE PLAYED WITH FEEL LIKE TRANSISTOR RADIOS IN MY HANDS. ALSO THE COLOR IS NEUTRAL, NOT BOOSTED OR WARMED. THE GLASS IS SECOND TO NONE. ALSO THERE IS CAPTURE NX AND THE .NEF FILE FORMAT WHICH IS THE ONLY TRULY NO-DESTRUCTIVE RAW FILE WORKFLOW.

Nikon has recently announced the upcoming release of some new products (D300, D3, Lenses, etc.), is there anything on that release list that you are excited about?

JUMPING UP AND DOWN BLOWN AWAY!!!! IF THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW PATH FOR NIKON I CAN'T WAIT TO GO ALONG FOR THE RIDE

You shoot RAW, what advantage does RAW give you? What would you miss the most if you HAD to shoot .jpg?

QUALITY, CONTROL AND THE ABILITY TO HAVE ALMOST ALL PHOTOGRAPHIC SINS BE FORGIVEN. (EXCEPT FOR ISO)

Are there any occasions when you still shot film? If yes, when and why?

FILM IS WHAT OCCURS ON YOUR TEETH WHEN YOU DON'T BRUSH

If I looked in your filter pouch, what filters would I find?

SPLIT GRADIENT NEUTRAL DENSITY, A NIKON POLARIZER AND A CANON 500D 77MM CLOSE-UP FILTER

Of all the locations you have photographed, where would you go back to first?

MYANMAR (BURMA) THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET, THE DEPTH OF SPIRIT OF THE PLACE IS HUMBLING.

Are you an Adobe Lightroom user, if yes, what are your thoughts on it, what do you like/dislike about it?

LIGHTROOM IS A BRILLIANT PIECE OF CODING. I DO NOT USE IT TO WORK ON MY RAW FILES, I USE CAPTURE NX FOR THAT, I WOULD ALSO RECOMMEND THAT ANY ONE SHOOTING NIKON DO THERE RAW MANIPULATION IN CAPTURE NX. THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT I DON'T USE LIGHTROOM. I USE IT ALL THE TIME. LOVE THE USER INTERFACE, LOVE IT TO MAKE CONTACT SHEETS TO GIVE THE CLIENT SOMETHING QUICK DOWN AND DIRTY. LOVE IT AS A BROWSER EVEN IF IT COMPLETELY CHANGES THE LOOK OF MY IMAGES FROM THE WAY THE CAMERA SHOT THEM. HATE THE FACT THAT IT DOES NOT GIVE ME WHAT THE CAMERA SHOT. THIS IS PARTICULARLY PROBLEMATIC WITH DIGITAL INFRARED FILES WHICH ID DO A LOT OF. AS SHOT IN LIGHT ROOM IS MORE A CASE OF AS INTERPRETED WHEN IT COMES TO NIKON RAW FILES.

You are a huge advocate of monitor calibration, which calibration tool Do you use, would you recommend for others to purchase?

XRITE EYEONE DISPLAY II

I have heard you say in the past that you are a Windows user because of the printing environment, did that improve with the release of Microsoft Vista?

IT DID NOT IMPROVE IN VISTA BECAUSE IT ALREADY WAS WORKING IN XP. SO IT IS STILL BETTER IN WINDOWS THAT IN THE APPLE OS AT THIS TIME.

You do a lot of teaching, it seems that every list of workshops I see has your name on it, how did you get into teaching and what do you get out of/take away from being a teacher?

I'M NOT SURE HOW I WOUND UP TEACHING SO MUCH. I DO BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF SHARING THE REFULGENCE. I LIVE A VERY BLESSED AND CHARMED LIFE. SO I WANT TO GIVE BACK TO THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY WHAT I'VE LEARNED ON MY JOURNEY. IF I CAN CONTRIBUTE TO PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO HAVE HALF THE CREATIVE BLAST I HAVE THEN SIGN ME UP.

What (photography) projects are you involved in that offer no financial return, but are of importance to you?

I TRY TO EVERY OTHER YEAR OR SO DO A PROJECT WHERE I GIVE ALL OF MY TIME AND IMAGES TO FOR FREE (OPERATING AND EXCEPTING THE PREMISE THAT NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED) FOR EXAMPLE THE SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO PROJECT AND THE AMERICAN PHOTO MISSION SERIES PROJECT "OUR NEIGHBOR'S CHILDREN" ON HOMELESSNESS I DID COME TO MIND. I BELIEVE THAT SERVICE TO YOUR FELLOW MAN IS THE RENT YOU PAY TO LIVE ON THE PLANET. EACH OF US HAS A TALENT, WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY EARN IT, WE WERE BORN WITH IT. IT IS INCUMBENT UPON US TO USE THAT GIVEN TALENT TO MAKE THE WORD A BETTER PLACE.

Do you have any books are training DVD's that you are currently working on?

I JUST STARTED MY SECOND BOOK, "SEEING IS BELIEVING" SHOOTING A NEW DVD WHICH WILL BE LIGHTING ON A LAPTOP 2; LIGHTING LIKE A SUNBEAM AND HOW TO RETOUCH A PHOTOGRAPH IN 15 MINUTES. I'M ALSO PRODUCING LEE VARIS'S DVD'S BEYOND SKIN: GOING DEEPER WITH CS3 AND A JOHN PAUL CAPONIGRO SERIES AS WELL. I'M ALSO WORKING ON A TV PILOT ON PHOTOGRAPHY. WE ARE JUST FINISHING THE FINAL EDITS.

Of the books and DVD's you have done, is there one you are most proud of?

WELL… MY FIRST (AND ONLY BOOK) WELCOME TO OZ COMES TO MIND… OH YEAH THE LAST DVD "UNLEASHING THE RAW POWER OF CAPTURE NX"

If you weren't a photographer, part-time super hero, and short order cook, what would you be?

UNEMPLOYED AND DIVORCED. MY WIFE ONLY KEEPS ME AROUND FOR MY COOKING SKILLS. (I'M A BETTER COOK THAN I AM A PHOTOGRAPHER.)

Lastly, what is the one thing you would want people to know about Vincent Versace?

I'M A BETTER POET THAN A COOK

Thank you Vincent

Adobe Lightroom 1.1, Part III...

I know that this is my third post on Adobe Lightroom (pretty amazing math skills, huh?), but it is such a great tool for photographers and there is new stuff available on an almost daily basis, and I just want to keep my Lightroom buddies informed.

But before I give you the new links, let me share another reason why I think Lightroom is such a cool tool.

When I shoot a wedding there can easily be 4 cameras involved (2 of mine and 2 from a second shooter) and a problem I’ve always had is getting the images from all 4 cameras into correct chronological order. Many programs will sort files by date but NOT by hour (or even minute and seconds). Manually syncing some 1400-2000 images is a HUGE task (and a huge pain in the buttocks).

Well, I imported my last wedding into Lightroom and TA DAH! Every image was in the correct order. So before you go out and shoot with multiple cameras, be sure to sync up their dates and times.

I love Lightroom and would give a full mouth kiss to every one of its developers to prove it.

;)

here are some more great Lightrooom links:

1. Inside Lightroom (same name but different website than the one mentioned in my first Lightroom post) has more than just a few articles, tutorials and getting started guides.

2. George Jardine on Lightroom and Digital Photography is a site you do not want to miss.

3. And be sure to visit Adobe on del.icio.us.

thanks for the emails of support, please keep them coming!

Take the flash off your camera...

For those of you who have been "embracing your flash", you may want to consider taking it to the next step, taking the flash "off camera".

For Nikon shooters out there (of which I am one - D200 with SB-800 flahses), you already have that option by using "Commander Mode", but because it is IR (infrared) it is predicated on line of site - if your camera trigger can't see the off camera flash, then it won't fire, no flash - no picture, and if you're shooting a wedding (or other live event) you most likely will not have a chance for a "do over".

Pocket Wizards are an option, but a very, very expensive option.

I recently bought (on eBay) a trigger/receiver set with an extra receiver from Gadget Infinity and with shipping it all came to just over $60. They ship from Hong Kong but much to my surprise these bad boys were knocking on my door in just 6 days (that's right, from order to delivery was less than a week). From talking to others, this is the rule, NOT the exception. The quickest delivery has thus far been 5 days.

They even come with batteries so you can start flashing right out of the box. Though to be honest, they are not the greatest of batteries so do your self a favor and get some batteries to have at the ready. They take the CR2 type battery, which is not the cheapest in the world, but again, on eBay, I got 5 brand name (Energizer Lithium) batteries for $9, yes - that included delivery.

I love eBay!

These are 4 channel triggers and for some reason (mostly with Canon flashes) some channels are more reliable than others. Duncan Babbage has done us all a great service by extensively testing theses radio triggers and he can tell you which are the "God Channels". You can see his complete write-up and view the results of his testing here. So far (here the sound of knocking on wood) I have not had a single missfire.

If you have read this far and are still wondering why you might want to take the flash of your camera, go to Flash Flavor and view the stunning work of Matt Adcock and Sol Tamargo, work done with off camera flashes. Be sure to take the time and scroll (slowly) to the bottom of their page and see everything stunning image they have to offer.

For under $100 you can truly take your work to another level.

At this point I want to talk strictly to the Nikon shooters, so all you Canon folks return to your lives, there is nothing to see here.

If you own Nikon gear, you have to visit Nikonians.org, a great place with a ton of resources and references. If you want to see a great tutorial on hw to uses your flash, they have it, how about an in-depth look at Nikons Creative Lighting System (all that Commander Mode Stuff), product reviews, FAQ's, eBooks, and a library of information is at your finger tips at this website, so be sure to take advantage of it, 'cause it's all free.

That's it for this entry, I am off to shoot a wedding with Stacey Kane, have yourselves a great weekend.

Learn from David Jay... NOT me...

The above image is from a recent portrait shoot that we did.

This shoot was for a client who came to me after seeing work we did for another family, work that the wife loved and she wanted to have us shoot her and her family (including the family dog) at the beach.

Imagine my surprise when I posted the images from the shoot and the wife rejected them.

Was she being difficult, overly critical? ABSOLUTELY NOT, the problem was mine, all 100% of it belonged to me.

And it wasn't that the images were technically or aesthetically bad, they simply weren't the type of image she was looking for, because of her comments of my previous work and wanting to go to the beach, I assumed I knew what she was looking for, I did not take the time to truly listen to what it was she wanted to achieve.

It was not until she rejected the initial images that I listened, that I sought to understand their desires. We have scheduled another shoot, but this time we will capture the images that the CLIENT has in mind and (obviously) will do so at no charge.

Within days of of this experience I was turned on to a new online forum that covers a wide range of topics, including these very types of client/photographer situations and how to avoid them.

David Jay has recently launched Freedom Club, an online forum for (wedding) photographers that is an outstanding resource on gear, marketing, and of course shooting.

IMHO, David Jay is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to wedding photographers (forget the fact that he is as cute as a button), so anytime he talks, I am going to listen. You should too.

One of the (many) forum videos I watched at the Freedom Club was DJ talking about our competition:

“who is your real competition?”

"Many photographers have the idea that other photographers are our competition… when the real competition is the consumer not valuing the product, not valuing the service that we offer…”

He talks about what should and should not be discussed with a client, how (and why) the conversation should always be kept positive and geared around the most important thing, giving the client the most beautiful pictures possible.

You can visit the forum for free, but I would strongly suggest signing up for at least a month (heck, it’s only $15) and seeing all that David and the Freedom Club has to offer, you’ll be glad you did.

Embrace your flash!...

For most photographers it only takes one word to have them on the floor in the fetal position and blubbering like a baby- FLASH!

Okay, I have no idea about other photographers, but that's what it did to me.

;)

But seriously, if you think working with your flash is more painful than a stick in the eye, you can use your flash well enough so that your pictures don't suck, or you think you know your flash well, you need to to visit the website STROBIST.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200, RUN (don't walk) to this website.

There is almost too much information, so much good stuff that it's overwhelming, but it's like the old saying "how can an ant eat an elephant? One bite at a time", attack this site one article at a time.

Here are some of the areas I found most useful:

1. Lighting 101 - This is a great introduction to your flash and getting it off your camera. we are not talking about lessons that have you spending a ton of money, nope, you will learn about making snoots from cereal boxes, making your own pc-sync cord, using bungee cords, and improving your light by bouncing it off existing items like shirts, walls, and ceilings. GO TAKE THIS COURSE!

2. This was followed with Lighting Boot Camp which is a series of assignments that build upon the Lighting 101 course and will further expand your knowledge.

3. Just when you thought it could not get any better, they roll out Lighting 102! From the site: " L102 is designed to be a comprehensive course that starts from square one and is designed to build a broader and organic understanding of how to control light.There will be full assignments and small exercises. But where Boot Camp skipped straight to dessert, this time we'll eat our veggies first.We will start by exploring the different ways in which light can be controlled. Along the way we will be doing exercises to build a strong understanding of each of those variables. As we start to get some of the control factors under out belt, there will be assignments that make use of what we have learned so far."

And if you're wondering if it's worth the effort, take a look at the images by some who have taken the time to master their flash, Flash Flavor is dedicated to showing the images some "pretty amazing lighting masters". And they don't just show you the images, they show you (in words and graphics) how they accomplished these world class images.

Flash Flavor is the brain child of Matt Adcock and Sol Tamargo, if you want to see one of the coolest things ever, what their "trash the dress" video.

If you are going to take the time to take picture, why not take the best picture you can?