Final shots from Santa Monica Pier

This set of images is of Larry Dallas Poling, a street performer on Santa Monica pier. I photographed him at the end of the day, right before sunset. I really loved his sound and guitar work, but after a few minutes he told me to beat it…that I was hurting his tips. [...]

(I) Portrait Photography: The 11 month old

Yesterday I had the joy of photographing my neighbor’s 11 month old daughter.  Everyone here understands what that means; constant motion, unpredictable, accidents!  With all that happening its beneficial for the photographer to be prepared.  Scout the space, decide what you want for natural light, decide what you want for key or fill light, and [...]

Great Comparison of Ring Lights on Strobist

Strobist is running a two part series comparing the Ray Flash v. Orbis v. AB 800 Ring Flash
You can find that series here.
I think there are a couple of important points to draw out:
1) Quality of Light is subjective;
2) The Ray Flash and Orbis are used on a speedlight, but can be mixed with studio [...]

Landscape Photography: Giving Up #1

Today’s image is the first of three I’ll be posting as a series titled, “Giving Up.”  In early Octoboer, 2009 I left Saint Paul at 3 am to catch sunrise on Lake Superior in Duluth.  The forecast was for rain, it rained all the way up I35, then stopped in Duluth.  Then started again in [...]

Natural Light Portrait Photography

The timing of this article, Shooting with Available Light, could not be more perfect and I think the author makes some excellent points.  I was on a trainwreck of a natural light shoot just a few days ago, photographing in hard early afternoon light.  I started with a strobe…ok, fine, but a bit stifling on [...]

Lensbaby Composer Portrait Photography

The next series of images this week are portraits I shot of quintessential Venice Beach characters. The first few are of Harry Perry, a street musician who has played Venice for over 20 years. I connected with him late in the day and he allowed me 20 minutes of shooting (if I purchased a T-shirt/CD [...]

Venice Beach Flash Photography Example

Hi Gang, I recently had a few hours to kill in L.A. so I headed down to Venice Beach. Next week I’ll post and discuss some of the street photography I did and this week I want to post some of the miscellaneous things I shot.
I’m starting with the last photo [...]

KS#3

Hi Gang,
Using a similar technique from KS#1 and #2, I went to work shooting some cityscapes in the same manner. This image was made in downtown Saint Paul at a parking ramp. These were lights in the parking ramp stairwell.
Technical: Canon 1Ds MkII, 24-70mm, 10 second exp., f/16, in camera multiple exposure with [...]

Kaleidescope Images and Photoshop #2

Hi Gang,
Two announcements this morning: First, you’ll see a new tab at the top of the blog page labeled “CREATE.” This is the section where I’ll be posting video tutorial content. I’ve posted my first attempts and would love your suggestions on content.
Second, today’s image is another in the Slap Zoom/Flash series, [...]

Kaleidescope Images on Lake Superior

Hi Gang,
I’m posting two images today to illustrate a technique I’ve worked on this summer. Starting Friday, I’ll be posting a series of images, the KS series, that are based on this technique.
Description: Both images are examples of slap zoom, a technique that’s been used over the years. The slap zoom technique involves [...]