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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Here's another quick edit from last night's London Bridge outing in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In this 25 second exposure, I waited until 15 seconds had passed then slowly began zooming the lens from 24mm toward 105mm. The best part (at least for me) is the "beams of light" effect created on the top of the frame.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 25 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 100
I'm headed to Photoshop World in Vegas this week, but before basking in the glow of neon I'm spending a day or so in Lake Havasu Arizona helping out with a few things around my parent's home. I took some time last night to head down to the London Bridge (Lake Havasu's major tourist attraction) for some evening photography.
The panorama above was taken just after sunset while the overcast sky still had a small amount of light. The brilliant color was further enhanced by using a custom white balance setting of 3900k. The long two-minute exposure created the smooth water which was reflecting the red lights from the nightclub just out of the camera's frame to the right.
Now it's time to pack up the cameras and head back North toward the neon lure that is Vegas. See you on the strip :)
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 120 seconds, f/16, ISO 100
One of my favorite models, Kati, had an "incident" with a scooter last week. And while this was truly an unfortunate accident (and one Kati REALLY didn't need right now), we agreed that we had a unique opportunity to create some imagery of her with the injury.
What is striking to me is just how beautiful Kati's eyes remain in spite of being surrounded by the ghastly bruise.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/500 second, f/4, ISO 400
I'm flattered to say that Scott Bourne recently asked me to write a guest post on his extremely popular Photofocus blog. The article titled The 80/20 Principle: Giving Back as a Photographer is on the site today. Please consider heading over and checking it out. (LINK)
There is a commonly held perception that for images to be accepted into a contributors portfolio at iStock, photoshop work should be kept to a minimum. I have received numerous emails from frustrated contributors who have received several rejections wanting to know how they can get their images accepted. My answer usually comes back to looking at their workflow and suggesting to limit the processing that they are doing to their images.
I want to show an example today that heavily processed images, when done properly, can be accepted into iStockphoto.
Today's image is one taken by my friend Kenneth Linge (and used here as an example with his permission). Kenneth recently had this image accepted into his portfolio on iStockphoto.com. Since he is neither an exclusive contributor nor one with a lot of sales on the site, it even further helps by showing that there was no (perceived) favoritism helping with the acceptance.
The image of Jamie (which is Killer in my opinion), was heavily processed in photoshop. The key to it being accepted is that the editing work was done completely by hand (no presets or actions) and done with extreme care not to degrade the file in any way. Sharpening was kept to a minimum (and probably done with the "high pass" method), saturation adjustments kept subtle, and skin tones not overly smoothed.
What seeing acceptance has done for me is inspired me to kick up my editing a bit and push the boundaries. I have long talked about how I edit my images yet keep them a bit generic. Maybe it's time I challenge my 90+% acceptance rate with some more extreme processing.
For a behind-the-scenes in the lighting used for this image, click Here to visit Kenneth's blog.
Labels: tutorial
Anyone who has happened to run into me over the past week or so has probably seen that I've been carrying around my backup 5D with a Lensbaby attached. I was given the Lensbaby by Scott Bourne of Photofocus.com as a gift and have really enjoyed using it to make some creative captures for personal use.
It took a bit of shooting to get up-to-speed with its manual focus and adjustment before I became comfortable enough to be able to use it for quick shots, but I think I'm nearly there. Today's image of Scott Jarvie with his D300 (with Lensbaby attached) was taken at last week's Digitalfest event at Pictureline Salt Lake City. I really like how the crowd came out in the image, and just might try and recreate the look with some crowd shots for my stock image portfolio.
For anyone who has ever wanted to try a Lensbaby, keep a look out here. I am working with Pictureline and Lensbaby to put together a Lensbaby Photowalk with plenty of demo units for participants to use. Once the details get worked out, we will have the outing in the next couple months as a Photowalking Utah event.
Canon 5D, Lensbaby Composer (Double Glass) - 1/15 second, f/4, ISO 1600
Here's a sample from this week's editing assignment. I'm making my way through the images from the ballroom dancing photo shoot I did last month and this one stood out to me. I really like the intense expression on Martin's face.
Now back to editing....
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 200
Date: Thursday October 29th, 2009I am pleased to be able to offer these clinics free-of-charge as a part of Photowalking Utah. Without the support of the Salt Lake City Library and Pictureline, I would not be able to do so. Please help me in thanking the great folks at these organizations for helping the local photographic community.
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Location: SLC Main Library - 210 E 400 South, Conf. room #4, 4th floor
Cost: Free!
Here's a quick sample from Saturday's photo-shoot for a side project I have been working on. The assignment is to create the images for a children's book that is coming out in 2010. The final images in the book will be processed to appear as illustrations, but I thought I'd share an unedited version here.
The lighting for this shot was a combination of ambient and artificial. To accent the sunlight coming through the window, a small square softbox was placed left of the camera to light the model's face and a silver reflector was positioned behind her.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/4, ISO 100
Sam Scholes is a Utah photographer whose work I have followed for nearly 5 years. I'm pleased to be able to say that Sam (along with Ben Kuhns) is hosting an exhibit of his photography this Friday night at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. Here is Sam's announcement:
This next Friday, September 25, I'm excited to announce the opening of the "Forgotten Places" photography show at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery. The show features 50 photographs taken by myself and fellow photographer, Ben Kuhns, of abandoned and decrepit buildings throughout Utah, California, Washington, and Nevada.
You are cordially invited to an opening reception Friday, September 25, from 7:00pm until 9:00pm. I hope to see many of you there.
Brigham City Museum-Gallery
24 North 300 West
Brigham City, UT
The show will be on display through November 11, 2009. Hours of operation at the Brigham City Museum-Gallery are Tuesday - Friday, 11:00am - 6:00pm and Saturday 1:00pm - 5:00pm.
One of the biggest honors an iStockphoto contributor can receive is to have one of their images featured as the Image of the Week. When you take into consideration that there are over 85,000 contributors who have built an inventory of 5,000,000+ images it really puts into perspective how difficult this can be to achieve.
This week's selection is a great image by none other than local photographer (and my good friend) Nicole Young. Her panning shot of a speeding cyclist can be seen on iStock's front page this week.
Congratulations Niki! The honor is much deserved.
Here's another of my images that was spotted in the wild, this time on a news website in Poland. The photo came from the back pocket series of Kati that was shot back in April.
I received an email this morning from photographer Lou Horton. Lou was browsing the information leaflets at a train station in Southwest England and recognized one of my stock images featuring Kylee. It makes me smile to find out about situations like this when my photography has been recognized in distant places.
Thanks for sharing this, Lou!
Thanks to a very generous Scott Bourne of Photofocus.com, I was recently given a Lensbaby Composer to add to my lens collection. If you're not familiar with a Lensbaby, it is basically a special effect lens that creates a moveable focus area (the sweet spot) amidst a creatively blurred out-of-focus area. I've watched from the distance as the product line evolved from the fairly simple original design to their current offering, "The Composer".
I took some time today to become familiar with the lens and learn how I can use it in my photography. I put it on my backup Canon 5D body and commenced shooting. Today's post is a quick peek at a couple samples from today's shooting. The above image of the yellow flower was taken in my front yard as I headed out to lunch, while the shot below is one I captured of everyone's friend Jarvie over at the Pictureline store in Draper.
It's still a bit early to see how (or even if) I will incorporate the lens into my work shooting, but I'll be the first to admit it's been pretty fun to play with so far.
I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to live in such a great photographic community. Being involved in groups and events such as Photowalking Utah and Photocamp Utah are just a couple examples. One other event that I make sure to circle on my photographic calendar each year is Pictureline's annual Digitalfest event.
In addition to a great trade show, the event always plays host to world class photography speakers. I will never forget sitting for nearly two hours during last year's presentation being mesmerized by the presentation of National Geographic photographer Sam Abell.
This year's speaker lineup is as impressive as I can remember seeing in Utah. The Thursday night session is Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly. David has photographed wars, presidents, domestic turmoil and more in his 40+ year career.
The Friday night session is natural light photographer Vincent Versace. Vincent is both a world-class photographer and photographic instructor. As near as I can tell in reading his bio, he has taught photographers on every continent of the planet. His work in all genres of photography (people, portrait, landscape) is beyond exceptional. Being a photographer that uses artificial light extensively, I really look forward to hearing about his techniques for using natural light to create stunning images.
In years past, photographers just had to sign up to attend the sessions. This year, Pictureline is doing it just a bit different. Due to the number of people who reserved seats and didn't attend (causing other photogs to be turned away), they are requiring a ticket to be purchased to hear the speakers. But the good part is the tickets are inexpensive (especially considering the quality of presenters) and every attendee will receive their ticket price back in the way of a Pictureline gift card. Tickets are $12.50 per session.
I just spoke with the store and there are still spots available, albeit it looks like the Friday session is nearly filled so I encourage you to act quick!
To sign up and reserve your seat, head on over to pictureline.com/digitalfest. I look forward to seeing you at this years event - be sure to say Hi if you see me :)
My blog posts have been, shall we say, a tad lackluster of late. The main reason is that I did several large stock photo shoots last month and am working at catching up on the editing. That means I'm spending the bulk of my time in front of my production iMac and not out shooting. In fact, I even sent my main camera (Canon 5DmkII) with Nicole to Seattle for the Aperture Nature Workshop this week while I sit here at the computer (just another step in converting a Nikon shooter to Canon...heh heh).
Today I'm wrapping up the editing of the fitness series I shot in Salt Lake City. Today's image is a sample from the series. The location was very light-and-bright which made it great to shoot in. The windows and mirrors however presented a bit of a challenge in avoiding reflection. As you can see in today's shot, one of my lights is visible in the background. I don't feel that it detracts enough from the shot to eliminate it's inclusion in the series.
I used my fairly-standard four softbox setup for lighting the scene. The main light (as seen in Jane's eyes) was a 48" octabox. The second octabox is providing the hair and back light on the model. The remaining two boxes were positioned for lighting the background.
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/4.5, ISO 100
In Salt Lake City we are blessed to have a locally owned camera store, Pictureline, that is here to serve the local photographers. Here are ten reasons in no particular order that I support this business and you should too:
Locally Owned
Pictureline is locally owned and operated. You can walk in just about anytime and speak directly with the owner, Jens Nielsen. Your dollars spent at Pictureline are staying within the community.
They Receive Great Manufacturer Support
What better example of this than the fact that Pictureline was one of the first (if not THE first) retailer in the U.S. to have the Canon 5D Mark II in stock. They move a large amount of product and appear to have great connections within the manufacturers.
They Give Back
Pictureline's annual event, Digitalfest, is one example of their giving back to the photographers they serve. This year's keynote speakers of Sam Abell and Julianne Kost were fantastic. The event was free to customers. Additionally they offer free classes through their Digital U training program. These classes are aimed at photographers of all skill levels.
Non-Commission Sales People
I have never felt like I was being pressured into buying something. The sales staff has always been more concerned in what would fit my needs rather than the price of the equipment.
They Treat Their Employees Well
As evidenced by the long-time employees at the store, the staff appears to truly enjoy working there. Turnover seems to be pretty low. This means that there are always familiar faces ready to serve.
Personalized Service
The best example of this was when my 70+ year old mother was in town last Christmas. She went into Pictureline by herself to pick up a gift for me (what a nice mother!). She has since raved numerous times about how well she was treated. The young lady who helped her took all the time to answer her questions and make sure she was getting what she needed.
They Stand Behind What They Sell
They recently replaced an out-of-warranty piece of equipment for me without even being asked. I was talking with them about purchasing a replacement, and they asked why. When I told them that it had died, they stepped up and replaced it.
Rentals
They provide a rental service. If I need an additional piece of gear for a shoot, I know that I can make a call and have it reserved. I have rented large lenses (400mm+) and additional Pocket Wizards.
Great Website
The Pictureline.com website not only has great up-to-the-second inventory info, it has a community section as well. I know that if I sign up to be notified when a piece of equipment comes in stock that I will get an automated email the minute it is available. In the community section, they have a free Directory in which photographers can feature a bio and samples of their work.
Berkley
Berkley is my main contact. He is the sales person I have depended on for a few years now. I know that he will do what it takes to help me out. He has gone out of his way on more than one occasion to find a certain piece of equipment for me. The best part is that I was treated the same way from him when I first went into the store and he didn't know me at all.
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.
