RICH LEGG
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
I'm a photographer working in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is where I share my work on a regular basis.
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Since October 31st is the Halloween holiday in the United States, I dug into the archives to find a fitting image for today's post. This stock shot was suggested a while back from friend (and blog reader) Scott. It has had a good sales run over the last two months on iStockphoto.com.
Have a safe time trick or treating tonight.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100
Labels: stock
One way to quickly add a different mood to your photographs is to adjust your camera's white balance setting. Most digital cameras, even inexpensive point-and-shoot models, have the ability to make this adjustment. The resulting change in color tone can have a nice effect on the final image.
To create the subtle blue tone in today's image of a foggy valley, I used a Tungsten light setting for my white balance. In doing so, the warm golden hues that the camera would have captured in this morning scene (with the white balance set on AUTO) transform into the cool blue tones displayed here.
Most digital cameras offer pre-set selections for white balance. These often include: AUTO, TUNGSTEN, DAYLIGHT, FLUORESCENT, FLASH, OVERCAST, and SHADE. The more advanced camera will allow you to set a custom white balance by dialing in the specific measurement you want.
One more way to make this change is open to photographers that shoot with their camera in RAW mode. By using this setting, the camera doesn't convert the image to the desired white balance. This allows the photographer to make the adjustment in their digital darkroom. The advantage of this method is the ability to fine-tune the final product.
Adjusting white balance is another example of a quick change that can have a nice impact on your photos.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/50 second, f/22, ISO 100
Labels: tutorial
GOAL
Capture a stern looking biker with moody lighting to create a "bad dude" feel to the final image.
Camera equipment: Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens
Lighting equipment: Two Canon Speedlites (a 430EX and a 580EX), hot-shoe extension, two Lightsphere modifiers, one lightstand
For the shoot, I placed the 430EX in slave mode on the lightstand above and to the camera right. I then hand held the 580EX (using the hot-shoe extension) to the lower left of the camera. I set the hand held flash at -1 f/stop to allow the overhead unit to be the main light. By holding the second (fill) light in my hand, I was able to quickly make adjustments on the fly as needed.
Final thoughts: I am pleased with the images. The whole shoot took less than 15 minutes, which is a good thing since it was right at 100 degrees out and Dave was cooking in his leathers.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 100
Meet Ann Torrence. Ann is an amazing photographer who I finally met in person during the Photowalking event last month in Salt Lake City. She dropped by yesterday and we chatted for awhile about photography, Utah and life in general.
Ann has great passion for life and it definitely shows in her photography. She is currently working on a book titled US 89: the Great Western Road Trip. Here is a bit about the book in her own words:
"This book documents the icons, the treasures and the travelers along Highway 89, from America's 5th largest metropolitan area to Indian lands and rural townships. Rodeo queens, paleontologists, artists, highway crews, ranchers, river-runners all inhabit this landscape as they define and redefine the western mystique."
For those that have an interest in truly stunning landscape and nature photography, a stop by Ann's site at anntorrence.com is a must. Her ability to capture the look and feel of nature is enviable. My favorite image on her site is the signature shot of Mt. Moran in the Grand Tetons National Park. The gentle color combined with the layer of clouds is stunning and Ann captured it perfectly.
After our conversation yesterday, Ann was kind enough to sit for a quick portrait. It's always fun to put a photographer on the other end of the lens and Ann handled the challenge well.
Links to Ann's work on the web: Her Website | Her Flickr Photostream
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100
When it comes to looking through your camera's viewfinder, which eye do you use?
I find that most of my photographer friends use their right eye, while I use my left. The reason is that our natural tendency is to use our dominant eye in activities that require one eye. Since I have cross dominant vision (I am right handed, yet have a dominant left eye), I use my left eye when photographing (you can read more about Ocular Dominance here).
Does this have any affect on our photography? Nope. The only difference I find is that my nose leaves more smudges on the LCD when using the left eye.
So, which eye do you use (and are you right or left handed)?
Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/5.6, ISO 100
Today's capture is a quick-n-dirty test shot of myself I did in the studio with two of my new lights. These lights are more powerful than my other lights and offer MUCH more adjustment.
For this shot I have a 24x36 softbox right of the camera for the main light and a 40" umbrella behind as fill. The hairlight (which missed it's target a bit) is a snooted monolight in the back left. This is my standard portrait setup. I usually start with this arrangement and then deviate from there depending on the look I want.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100
Labels: studio
There is another Photowalking event coming up on Friday evening (October 19) beginning at 5:30 pm. Here are the details from Ann Torrence:
Theme: The Grunge/Gentrification InterfaceI will be in Provo photographing a wedding and won't be able to attend this photowalk, but I will catch up with everyone on the next one. The West side of Salt Lake City is an intriguing area and should provide plenty of interesting subject matter to shoot.
Location: Meet at the corner of 500 West, 200 South. (Parking is available in 100-200 block of 500W)
The walkabout is from 500W 200S to the new (?) depot at 6th west, down 300 S toward the back side of the Rio Grande station (which could be awesome in golden light), return north on 5th west toward the galleries at the corner of 200S and 500W as people start to arrive. If they are still working on the rails that late, there could be some fun shots after dark with their lights. Today (Tuesday) they are pouring the concrete on the turn at 4th west, who knows how far they will get. But they told me they are working late shifts.
I am probably the last person in SLC to realize that the construction on 200S is connecting the new Frontrunner to the TRAX, but the gentrification is happening RIGHT NOW, and there are photos that will be possible today but not next week or month. Lots of old brick with faded paint signs, Thomas Electric's pile of rusty motors along Eccles Street, the old brothel (had a long chat with the bricklayers working on 200S about the area, naturally they had read the historic marker about a brothel.) The new/remodeled depot reminds me of an arcade in Auckland, NZ.
Late afternoon light is going to be as good, if not better, than after dark light. There's not as much artificial lighting as on the east side to work with, except the gallery windows. At least 4-5 galleries in the 2x2 block area are participating in gallery stroll, so there should be some people about.
Special considerations: The safety factor needs to be considered, but I think we can work with it, if folks stick together and act like we are in an urban area. I'll have a couple bills in an outer pocket for panhandlers, and will be traveling light.
Labels: photowalking
I took this photograph last week on a ridge overlooking Lehi, Utah. I found the location a few days earlier and thought it would make a nice location to try some long exposure night shots. Even though I am not entirely pleased with how this image turned out, I thought it was worth sharing how it was done.
The shadowy figure looking over the city was created entirely in camera with a simple technique. I set the exposure for a shutter speed of ten seconds and put the camera into self-timer mode. I started the timer and took a stance in front of the camera standing as still as possible. Once I heard the shutter open, I counted to five and then quickly exited the frame. The result is the transparent outline of my body in the image.
This technique is similar to the way I created the Weeping Angels image last year (though I like that result MUCH better).
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 10 seconds, f/4, ISO 100
Labels: tutorial
Yesterday afternoon this photograph of a load of pumpkins was my 5,000th image download to sell on iStockphoto.com. My portfolio on the popular microstock photography website has grown to over 850 images today from a mere 77 in March and my sales have shown a comparable increase. I am pleased to say that my October revenue will be over triple the amount I earned in June.
My goal for the future is to continue to grow my iStock portfolio by a minimum of 10 percent each month. In doing so, I anticipate my sales to grow at an equal or higher percentage. I am finding that my approval percentage (each image submitted to iStockphoto has to be personally inspected and approved) is getting better the more I upload to the site. I now have fine tuned my recipe for post-processing images and I average over a 90% approval percentage on my photos (up from around 50% early on).
As I said in an earlier post, I look forward to continuing to add images to my portfolio and monitor the growth. Is this a sustainable business long-term? We'll continue to wait and see.
Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100
Labels: stock
The autumn colors have arrived full force in Northern Utah. I made this capture on a beautifully clear day atop Traverse Ridge. The use of a circular polarizer filter really helped the blue sky to stand out against the golden leaves.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/40 second, f/5.6, ISO 100
I made this capture while crossing Salt Lake City's Main Street on a rainy Saturday night . The saturated color and high contrast were added using a Cross Processing effect in Photoshop. My favorite parts of this image are the the reflection created by the wet asphalt and the lines leading from the lower corners. The fact that the technical quality (noise, blur, etc.) of the image is rather low but the visual appeal is high is simply a bonus.
Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/30 second, f/4, ISO 250
Labels: photoshop
I received a nice surprise yesterday when the UPS man dropped off a copy of Utah, Life Elevated by Kimball Thomson. The 200+ page book is primarily for the State of Utah to use as a recruitment tool for companies looking to relocate or expand into this area.
In February of this year I was contacted by the publisher to see if I was interested in doing freelance photography work for the book. The pay per image was reasonable so I accepted the offer. I am pleased to say that they used 11 of my images including four as full-page section dividers. While digital is cool, I never tire from seeing my photographic work in the physical "hold in my hands" printed form.
Today's image is my favorite from those used in the book. Not just because of the particular photo, but also with the placement. It is a shot of the Utah Capitol Building at sunset and it is placed adjacent to the book's foreword written by Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 100
For some people, the daily commute doesn't involve sitting in freeway gridlock in a four door sedan.
Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 100
The Photowalking Salt Lake City event went off last night without a hitch. Well, that is unless you consider pouring rain and a temperature hovering around 40 degrees a problem. Six of us braved the elements for 3+ hours trekking around the downtown area in search of the perfect shot. Since the LDS Church's semi-annual General Conference meeting was taking place, the city was buzzing with activity that made for many excellent photo opportunities.
The best part of the night for me was hanging out with fellow photographers and bloggers. Pictured in today's image is the photowalking group (left to right): Harley, Rich (me), Diane, Bryan, Ann and Scott. Look closely at the shot and you will see that it appears Scott didn't get the memo on the dress code for footwear :)
We are planning another Photowalk in the near future. Keep an eye on this site or photowalking.org for details.
To see images from the participating photographers, check out the Salt Lake City Photowalking Group on Flickr: flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc.
Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/30 second, f/5.6, ISO 400
Labels: photowalking
Today's the day for Photowalking Salt Lake City. Judging by the weather forecast, I would definitely recommend to dress warmly. Here are the details on the event from my earlier postt:
____________
With a deserved nod to Thomas Hawk's semi-famous San Francisco Photowalks, I will be participating in a Salt Lake City Photowalk on Saturday October 6th. I"ve teamed up with several other Utah photographers to organize this outing. Here are the details:
When: Saturday October 6th at 5:00 pm
Where: Meet at the main entrance to the Salt Palace (100 S. West Temple) on the East side of the building under the tower (see today's photo)
Who: Anyone who wants to attend
Labels: photowalking
This image provides the perfect opportunity to plug my friend Bryan's blog about reading and writing, The Hopeless Writer. Bryan and I began blogging within weeks of each other back in 2005. In that time I have watched his site evolve into a fantastic resource for writers and anyone who enjoys reading.
Today's capture was photographed in my studio with the following setup:
Small softbox camera right for main lightCanon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/100 second, f/9, ISO 100
Umbrella diffused light above and slightly left for fill.
Polarizing filter on lens for effect.
Black seamless paper backdrop
Like most blogs that have been around for a while, I get a fair amount of incoming hits from search engines. Call me geeky, but I get a kick out of reading what people typed into Google to find me. As an example, here are the search terms that led websurfers to this site yesterday:
ttv layer ~ utah photography industry ~ http://leggnet.com ~ earn istockphoto.com credits ~ sensor sizes aps-c ~ geek squad cars green ~ geek squad sucks ~ how to make a fake lightbulb ~ capturing blue skies ~ spontaneous combustion ~ ring ~ part time photographers trend ~ photo of light bulb off ~ sekonic meter, tutorial ~ istockphoto.com ~ the other barn ~ geek squad poster ~ blue sky canon color ~ photos of creepy eyes ~ tips for low light photography ~ camera sensor sizes ~ photography of smoke ~ smoke photography ~ hand blown glass vase ~ tahquitz rock ~ canon 24-105 tack sharp ~ canon 24-105 portrait examples ~ canon 24-105 for weddings? ~ digital camera sensor size ~ istockphoto ~ canon 5d sensor crop ~ where are the inspiration come from ~ istockphoto.com ~ leading lines ~ california jumping suicide location ~ istockphoto.com ~ light bulb idea picture ~ why is the forground of my photos blurred ~ istockphoto a-living ~ milk splash photo ~ legg wife ~ wedding school ~ polarize photos ~ photograph example leading line ~ colored burn out smoke ~ legg net ~ smokr photo invert how ~ full frame versus aps digital ~ autumn leaves utah ~ using canon 30d with r72 filter ~ body scan salt lake city ~ camera exposure after sunset ~ kenneth linge
Labels: stock
Here's a reminder about this coming Saturday's Photowalk in downtown Salt Lake City. If you missed any of the earlier posts (here and on a few other sites), here are the details:
When: Saturday October 6th at 5:00 pm
Where: Meet at the main entrance to the Salt Palace (100 S. West Temple) on the East side of the building under the tower
Who: Anyone who wants to attend
Labels: photowalking
The term Cross Processing is a hold-over from the film era. Before digital, it referred to the act of using the wrong chemicals to develop film. For example, a photographer would develop transparency film (E-6) with developer intended for color negative film (C-41). The distortion this caused in the image's color and contrast could lead to some rather stunning images.
In today's digital world, we can reproduce this technique in our editing software. In the past when I wanted this effect, I followed some step-by-step instructions I found on the web. In an effort to simplify my post processing workflow, I am now using a Photoshop Action Set to create the effect. I purchased the set at a seminar I attended taught by Kenneth Linge. Now I can consistently create this affect to my images with one click.
Today's image of Erik has the cross processed effect applied. The stark contrast and colors add to the moody feeling in the capture. For comparison, here is a link to a black & white version from the same shoot.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/25 second, f/4, ISO 400
Labels: photoshop
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs and text copyright 2005-2010 Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction or redistribution in any form without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
