Wedding Crasher

It's the beginning of the wedding season and I'm right in the middle of the two weddings that I am photographing this week. Even though I enjoy the work, I am not looking to make wedding photography my primary business (that was the eighties). With that being said, I do shoot several each year.

In keeping today's image with the Wedding theme, I'm featuring my fellow photoblogger Bryan Jones as he (we?) crashed a wedding reception on a recent Photowalking Utah event. (Actually, we behaved ourselves and kept out of the way of the guests).

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/100 second, f/4, ISO 100

Kim

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/4.5, ISO 100

My image in use on USPS.com - Legally

Last week I wrote about the Wall Street Journal illegally using one of my images (read here). Today I'm featuring another high profile website using my work, but this time legally.

I received an email over the weekend tipping me off to the use of my image of a graduate on USPS.com. The designer of the website purchased the image from my inventory on iStockphoto and implemented it into their design.

Since I have no direct contact with buyers of my stock images, I usually don't know where they are used. It's nice to come across them in the wild from time to time.

Baseball on Black

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/100 second, f/11, ISO 100

Behind the Scenes: Cafe Photo Shoot

Model Andrew enjoying a fresh cup

Last Saturday I did a photo shoot in a small Cafe`. The purpose of the shoot was to create images to add to my stock portfolio. My friend Jeremy came along to shoot some behind the scenes shots, so I thought I'd share a few of them along with the resulting final images.

On the shot above of Andrew, I used three lights. The main light was a large softbox positioned to camera right with a second softbox behind the model. A third light was used to light the background area.


High angle shot of Andrew at the counter


Model Kattie with the menu board

On this image of Kattie, I wanted to communicate 'Cafe', so I shot from a low view to include the large menu board in the top of the frame.


Low angle shot of Kattie with the menu board


Models Julie, Jessica and Kattie on the couch

For the three ladies enjoying their beverages on the couch, I wanted a high vantage point with the girls looking up. I always carry a small stepladder on my shoots for this purpose. As can be seen in the shot below, the extremely slick floor necessitated the use of a ladder stabilizer - namely Josiah.


Josiah offering some stability to my stepladder


Models Kattie, Cerrick and Josiah at the counter

I used a couple of first-time models (at least for me) on this shoot. Both Josiah (right) and Kattie (left) in the above image did a great job. I look forward to working with them in the future.



And lastly, it just wouldn't be a shoot without Alyssa (below). I have photographed her more than any other model and we work well together. Here she is with another regular of mine, Andrew.


Frequent models Andrew and Alyssa

As you can see in the background, this cafe is located inside a climbing gym. Definitely an interesting location.



As always, I cannot do what I do without the help of others. Involved in this shoot were models Andrew, Alyssa, Cerrick, Jessica, Josiah, Julie and Kattie along with assistants Michelle and Erik. It is always great to get to shoot on location, and this shoot wouldn't have been possible without the great folks at Momentum Climbing Gym and Cafe opening their doors for us.

To see the full set on my iStockphoto portfolio, click here.

Special thanks to Jeremy Hall for taking the behind the scenes images.

The Wall Street Journal lifted my image!

I'm a little annoyed right now. I just found that the Wall Street Journal took an image from this site (LeggNet.com) for use on their own "Deal Journal" blog. What's the problem? Well, it states on the bottom of every page here:

Photographs and text copyright 2005-2008 Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction or redistribution in any form without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

They never contacted me for permission. Had they done so, they would have been directed to purchase the image on iStockphoto.com. I see this behavior from small blogs from time to time, but the Wall Street Journal? C'mon already!

I have sent them an email. Let's see how (or if) they respond.

UPDATE: I have been contacted by the author of the blog post on WSJ.com. She has taken down the image and apologized for its unauthorized use. We had a pleasant email exchange and I am confident that she won't make this mistake (using copyrighted photos on Flickr) again.

Tattoo Artist

Today's image is a sample from last Friday's Tattoo Artist photo shoot in Salt Lake City. Lighting was provided by a single Canon 430EX remotely triggered to the left of camera. I opted for a cross-processed effect to add a little 'edge' to the image.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 100

Springtime

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 100

Photowalking Utah: Tulip Festival Recap

In spite of high winds and dust that threatened to derail the event, 15 courageous photographers showed up at Photowalking Utah's Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival event on Saturday. The recent cold snap had slowed the emergence of the tulips, but there was still plenty to photograph.

Instead of carrying my normal SLR camera gear, I opted to travel light and loaded my pockets with a Canon G7 (10 mp point-and-shoot), Canon 430EX strobe, 2 Pocketwizard radios and a handheld light meter. Today's image of a tulip was captured with this equipment.

I lit the subject by placing the strobe on the ground to the left of the subject. The directional light created a nice rimming effect on not only the flower petals, but the leafs as well.

For those that skipped the event because of the wind (I know I was tempted to), you missed a great time. It was actually quite peaceful with very little wind once we entered the gardens.

The details for next month's Photowalking Utah event are being put together and will be announced soon. To see more images from the participants in the April photowalk and for announcements about future events, visit PhotowalkingUtah.com.

Canon Powershot G7 - 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

A Tragic Loss

It's a rare day that I do a Sunday post on this site, and an even rarer day that I post a video. I'm going to do both of these today since I feel this needs to be shared. I came across the video of a recently documented search-and-rescue attempt in Southern Utah's beautiful Canyon Country (thanks to a link from Zelph on PhotowalkingUtah.com) and to quote a friend of mine "I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob!"

The Beginning

This simple image of a baby's hand being held by her father marks a new chapter in my stock photography. I have been accepted as a contributing artist for Getty Images and this is the first image in my new Getty portfolio.

The process of adding images to Getty is a bit different than adding to iStockphoto. The main difference is the time for acceptance. On iStock I can have an image added to my portfolio in around one day, while on Getty it takes nearly two months. Good things can come to those that wait though, since the average income per image sold is considerably higher on Getty.

In the coming months and years, I will be deciding which images to add to Getty and which to add to iStock. I look forward to growing the new portfolio and comparing its performance with my ever growing iStock collection.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

I've got a secret . . .

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 100

For the Birds

I just returned from spending the morning in the home of a very nice couple that happen to have over a dozen exotic birds. The purpose of my visit was to take portraits to add to my stock portfolio.

Today's featured image is the star of this morning's shoot, Dixie. I have a bit of a history with Dixie, since he lived with us for a period of time around five years ago. He is an extremely handsome Cockatoo and loves to be photographed. I set up lights and a backdrop in the couple's living room and then let the birds hang out while they took their turns being photographed.

One of the things I aim for in my stock image portfolio is diversity. With the addition of today's bird images, my inventory will definitely become even more diverse.

(The full set of images can be seen here)

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/9, ISO 100

An Ounce of Prevention

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/13, ISO 100

Colorful Crab Legs

These fresh king crab legs served a two-fold purpose yesterday. First they made a colorful stock photo subject, then they became a tasty lunch.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

Hey, It's Me!

Here's a bit of vanity for this Monday morning. I needed an updated image for my online profile on sites like iStockphoto, Flickr, Model Mayhem, etc. so I jumped in front of the camera and shot one.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 100

Top Shelf Celebration

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 100

Save the Date: Photowalking Utah Tulip Festival

The next Photowalking Utah event is coming up on April 19th. Here are the details from the announcement:

This month's event is scheduled for Saturday April 19th from 5:00 pm to closing at 7:00 pm. We'll enjoy the blooms of spring around the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point catching the evening light.

They are located just off I-15 in Lehi. Click here for a map.

As always, this is for photographers of any age and skill level to come and enjoy taking pictures with other like minded people.

There is an admission fee:
Adults: $10.00
Child (Ages 3-12): $6.00
Senior (Ages 65+): $9.00
Tickets are available online.

Afterward, we'll be meeting for dinner at some place yet to be determined.

As was stated in the announcement, these events are open to photographers of any skill level. The group is a great way to meet other shooters and advance your own photography knowledge. Feel free to contact me at rich(at)leggnet.com with any questions about the event. You can also add to the conversation on the Flickr discussion. I hope to see many of you on the 19th.

I Dream In Color (guest post by Jeremy Hall)

Today's image was created by Jeremy Hall. Jeremy is a friend of mine that I met through Photowalking Utah. I saw this image on Jeremy's Flickr photostream and asked him to write about how he created it.

By Jeremy Hall

I have some great friends and co-workers that step in as my models when I have ideas for new shoots. Good people. Kattie is a beautiful girl working in our customer service department that has very photogenic eyes and an appreciation for taking good photos. I have had in my mind some ideas for taking a series of photos of just eyes or tightly composed face shots, and she was willing to be my first victim.

After taking a series of shots, angles and lighting adjustments I went to work in Lightroom seeing what I had to work with. Lately I have been spending a lot of time trying to learn new development techniques in Photoshop, so when I take photos I tend to view them as a canvas ready to be brought to life. This is not to say I don’t try to get a perfect image out of the camera without processing, but the processing has been my interest of late. There is so much to learn and evolve in photography that I love!

One thing I especially enjoy about photography is the willingness of most other photogs to share their knowledge. Sure, there are some “secret sauce” business things that tend to stay protected; but when it comes to creating beautiful art, most are willing to help along those of us earlier in the learning process. With that in mind, I am always happy to share what I know to help others learn like I am.

Here are some notes of what I did with this image:

1. Shot normally with single soft box and model facing light at slight angle

2. Slightly underexposed in Lightroom to maintain shadow detail.

3. Photoshop channel mix layer for high key b&w conversion with selective mask to avoid eyes. For the b&w I just play with the sliders until I achieve the look I am going for that best enhances the photo.

4. Same eye selection (control/cmd click the previous adjustment layer thumbnail to reselect) for saturation and curves

5. Several dodge & burn layers for enhanced high key and knocking out aspect of background and face I didn't want.

That’s really it. I did a crop based on how I wanted to display the image and some additional selective sharpening once the image was downsized. My preferred technique for a final sharpening is to create a duplicate of the background layer, apply the sharpening that best fits the important areas of the image, then apply a layer mask to hide all of the sharpening and then paint back on with a soft brush where I want the sharpening applied.

For comparison I have created this before and after image.



Thanks for the invite on the guest post, and I always appreciate visitors and comments over on my site at www.whatsgottastay.com and on my Flickr stream!

Love

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

From the Inside Out

Here's my latest desktop wallpaper for the PC that sits in the #2 spot on my desk (my Mac is #1, of course).

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/7.1, ISO 100

Monday Recap: Business Meeting Shoot

It was a productive weekend of shooting, highlighted by Saturday's Business People stock shoot. Smiling business people are a bit of a cliche' in the stock photography business, but that's because they tend to sell fairly well.

For the shoot I arranged for six models to stage a mock "business meeting" in the studio. I brought in a conference table, chairs, flip-chart, and various other office-type items. The goal was to create a real looking office environment while being able to easily adjust the lighting.



I first shot the meeting against a white seamless paper backdrop. I then re-positioned it on to the other side of the studio against the painted walls. The versatility of my small studio space really pays off.

I ended the day with nearly 300 images to be culled through for candidates to add to my stock portfolio.

As always, this type of photography is a team effort and I could not do it without the help of so many. Thanks to Michelle, Alicia, Julie, Ron, Glen and Dale for modeling and to Harley and Diane for assisting.

What to do with an old CRT?

Why, hollow it out and use it as a prop of course.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/10, ISO 100

Gene

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/250 second, f/4, ISO 100

Ladies Night in the SLC

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/8, ISO 100

Anatomy of an Engagement Shoot

Specializing in stock photography, I don't do a lot of portrait work. But when I do shoot it, I quite enjoy it.

Last week I did an engagement session with a couple whose wedding I am shooting this spring. After three rain snow-outs, the weather finally cooperated with us last Friday. The couple wanted a distressed-urban setting for their photos, so we headed downtown.

The above image is a somewhat unconventional pose for an engagement photo, but it is one of my favorites from the shoot. In addition to the natural afternoon light, the scene was enhanced with the use of two handheld tungsten lights. A diffused light was aimed at the young womans head/shoulders with a stronger light providing hair highlight from the back.

The image the couple ultimately selected for their announcement is a more conventional engagement shot. While being taken in the same area as the other image, this one has a warmer/softer feel to it.

The lighting was provided by the cloud diffused sunlight being reflected into the faces from below.

While reviewing the images with the clients after the shoot, I heard the words a photographer loves to hear: "We love them. We'll just have to buy them all!"

Downtown Sandbox

Here's some little construction machinery I came across on last weekend's Photowalking Utah event in Salt Lake City.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/250 second, f/8, ISO 100