Into the Wild Blue

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/1600 second, f/8, ISO 400

Window Seat

Canon Powershot G11 - 1/25 second, f/3.5, ISO 100

Happy Turkey Day (unless you're the turkey)

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L with 1.4x Extender - 1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

Image in Use: insweb.com - A License Violation?

Blog reader and fellow iStock contributor Dan Bachman was kind enough to send over a screenshot of an image of mine he found in use this morning. The shot of Kylee is in the footer of a few pages at the insurance website insweb.

While I quite like the implementation of my image in the website, it does bring to mind that this use likely would be considered a violation of the iStockphoto License Agreement. The problem is not using the image on the website, but the quote placed next to Kylee's smiling face. By placing the wording there it implies that the model is actually J. Tindal of Jeffersonville PA and that she really likes the company's product and website.

Here is the section of the license agreement dealing with this:

Standard License Prohibitions

7. use or display any Content that features a model or person in a manner (a) that would lead a reasonable person to think that such person uses or personally endorses any business, product, service, cause, association or other endeavour; or (b) except where accompanied by a statement that indicates that the Content is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the Content is a model...

As I said, I really don't mind the usage in this context and I'm sure Kylee will be happy to see her face on yet another website. But this type of use is just one of many restrictions that buyers should be aware of when using stock images.

Do You Insure Your Camera Equipment?

I've posted before about my policy insuring my photography equipment. I spent some time yesterday updating my 'inventory list' for the insurance company to make sure that everything is covered in case of accident or theft. This is something that I do a few times a year. By keeping a detailed list with model numbers, replacement cost and serial numbers (and providing this list to the insurance company) I feel confident in knowing what I am insuring and that I have sufficient coverage.

I thought I'd share this today to either serve as a reminder for other photographers to update their insurance policy to make sure all their equipment is covered or to maybe motivate those without coverage to look into getting it.

Obtaining insurance is relatively inexpensive to do. Taking into account the amount of my annual premium, I could easily pay it for over 25 years before having a loss and still come out ahead. Given the recent thefts of cameras in Salt Lake City, I think there is now more reason than ever to insure your gear.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/640 second, f/6.3, ISO 160

On Approach

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/640 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

Julie

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

Image in Use: HowStuffWorks.com

Giving Back as a Photographer

This past Tuesday I had the privilege of being the opening speaker at the Scott Bourne event at Pictureline in Salt Lake City. The topic of my talk was Giving Back as a Photographer. I ended by showing a short video highlighting a recent project by local photographer Dale Welcome. For those that didn't attend, I thought I'd share the video here.

A big thank you goes out to Aaron Dodds for filming and editing the video and to Dale for sharing his thoughts and allowing us to eavesdrop on his sessions.

Behind the Scenes - Princess Amerah Children's Book

I've just wrapped up five days of studio shooting for an upcoming children's book featuring the character Princess Amerah. My job was to create images that will be joined with other images and backgrounds to become illustration-like graphics in the book.

In the behind-the-scenes shot above, I photographed the characters at the king's dining table. What is not seen in the image is the palace background and Amerah's dog saving the day by intercepting the poison goblet.

It's been a busy and fun week. I'm excited to see the final product when the graphic designers are finished.

Image in Use: Mashable

In Character

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

After the Scott Bourne Event

It's been a long day with client work in the studio today and speaking at the Scott Bourne event at Pictureline tonight in Salt Lake City. I'll save the detailed recap for later, but I thought I'd post a picture from the session before calling it a day.

The event was a sell-out with 150 photographers in attendance. I am flattered to have had the opportunity to be the opening speaker before turning over the microphone to Scott. Thank you everyone who came out and made this event a success.

Canon Powershot G11 - 1/20 second, f/3.2, ISO 1600

The Gang's All Here

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/16, ISO 100

"Living Marionette" Studio Photo Shoot

I spent this morning in the studio working with photographer friend Suzanne Reed Plant on a "Living Marionette" photo shoot. Suzanne dreamed up the concept of photographically transforming her daughter into a marionette puppet and asked for my help. I absolutely loved the idea when I heard about it and eagerly offered my assistance.



Prior to the shoot Suzanne put in many hours gathering the props to use and sewing both the costume and the velvet curtain. Her idea was to portray Abigail (her daughter) as a marionette on a stage. She visualized both solo images and the "living marionette" among other puppets.

We used a three light arrangement to create the scene. The main character was lit with a snooted monolight. Two other monolights were placed on either side with colored (blue and yellow) gels.

The 2 hour session was a lot of fun and both Suzanne and I left with some great images. It's always fun help others achieve something they have pre-visualized and I'm flattered that I was asked to help. I have shown a couple samples of Suzanne's images below. Her complete set from the shoot can be seen by clicking here.

Floating an Idea

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

The Lensbaby Photowalk

This past Saturday's Lensbaby Photowalk at Pictureline in Salt Lake City was a great success. We had over 60 photographers participate in the event that featured Lensbaby lenses for the photowalkers to try out. This was the first time Photowalking Utah has held an event like this, one where the photographers had an ample supply of demo gear use.

Thanks for everyone who came out and especially to Lensbaby and Pictureline for their support. The success of this event lets us know that this (gear demos) is something we will try again in the future.

Master Chief

Canon Powershot G11 - 1/500 second, f/4.5, ISO 80

Jazz Game Panorama with a Digital Elph

I fell into some free tickets to last night's Utah Jazz game versus the San Antonio Spurs (thanks Shawn & Wes). Apart from the camera on my Android phone, the only one I had with me was my little red Digital Elph (Canon SD780). During the game I was playing around with the camera and decided to shoot some images to later stitch together as a panorama.

For the image featured today, I quickly captured three shots of the arena from my upper bowl seat. I didn't do anything special to line them up, just simply shot them handheld. The camera was set on Program mode. To stitch them I selected the three captures in Lightroom and selected "Merge to Panorama in Photoshop". That was it, apart from some selective dodge/burn and a final crop.

This is the first time I have used Photoshop's panorama function since CS2. I've got to say that I'm impressed with how well it worked. Considering the limitations of the lighting and camera, the image quality isn't too bad. I'm going to have to put together a "real" panorama with my 5D Mark II sometime and see the feature's true capability.

To view the full-resolution version of the image, click here.

Canon Powershot SD780IS - 1/40 second, f/3.2, ISO 200

Reminder: Lensbaby Photowalk this Saturday

Have you ever seen a photographer shooting with a little bendy lens on their camera? Maybe you even were bold enough to ask them what it was and you heard the name Lensbaby. Now is your chance to get to use one.

The Lensbaby is a special effect SLR lens that creates a unique out-of-focus area (bokeh) with a focus area that can be moved throughout the image. The above image on Nicolesy was taken using a Lensbaby.

Photowalking Utah, in conjunction with Lensbaby and Pictureline, is hosting a Lensbaby Photowalk on November 7th in Salt Lake City. At the event we will have over 20 samples of the product (Canon, Nikon & Olympus mount) for participants to use.

The outing will be led by Pictureline's own Nick Gilson. Here is the schedule:

November 7th, 2009 - Pictureline SLC, 305 W 700 South

1:15 - 1:30 pm Meet at Pictureline (Salt Lake CIty)
1:30 - 2:00 pm Lensbaby orientation and how-to session
2:00 - 3:30 pm Photowalk starting/ending at Pictureline
4:00 - 5:30 pm Optional Dinner at Charlie Chow's (255 E. 400 South)

As always, these events are free of charge for photographers to participate in. We can't take any responsibility though if you fall in love with the Lensbaby and end up buying one :)

If you are planning on attending (or have any questions), please head over to the Photowalking Utah Flickr group by clicking here and let us know.

I'm really excited about this event and hope to see many of you there.

The Blues

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/5.0, ISO 100

My Interview on TWiP

I have been a fan of the podcast This Week in Photography (TWiP) since it first came out. The weekly show is a roundtable type of format with the hosts discussing the current news, trends and equipment in photography.

I was privileged to meet the show's host Frederick Van last month while attending Photoshop World in Las Vegas. While talking to him about photography and more pointedly my work in the microstock industry, Frederick asked if I would like to be interviewed for TWiP. I immediately accepted his offer.

The long-form interview has been posted today on Frederick's blog and will be included in this week's episode of the podcast. In the discussion we talk about the microstock industry, iStockphoto, my background, my workflow and Photowalking Utah.

It's always great to be able to share my story and I thank Frederick and TWiP for the opportunity.

On the web: Direct Link to Interview

The Newly Updated MiniCards by Moo.com

I've been a customer of Moo business cards since I first heard about their Flickr MiniCards in 2006. I was initially impressed with the ability I had to print samples of my Flickr photos on the back of the cards and ordered a set.

I became a bigger fan of the company in 2008 when they became the official supplier of business cards for iStockphoto Exclusive Artists. As a member of the group, I receive a free set of cards each year and much like the Flickr cards, these also feature samples of my photography (up to 50 separate images) on the backs of the cards.

While attending Photoshop World last month in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to chat with the nice people from Moo. It was great to see the faces behind the product. In the course of our discussion, I was told to keep a lookout for a redesign that would be coming soon.

True to their word, I received an email last month telling me about an update to their popular MiniCards product. While retaining all the features that customers like me loved about the original product, they added some new options. I was happy to take advantage of an offer to try out the cards with a free set.

When ordering my complimentary set of the updated cards, I immediately noticed some changes in the ordering process. There were now options to upload images for both sides of the card (previously only one side could feature a custom image) and many more layout choices. I opted to buck the trend of putting images on the back of my set and instead put a simple text design of RICH.LEGG.PHOTOGRAPHER.

I received the cards in about 10 days and have to say I am pleased with the product. In addition to the cards, the presentation box is equally impressive.

Note that, true to their name, the MiniCards are smaller than a typical business card. In the sample image above I have placed one of my iStock cards for size comparison.

If you are a photographer of any level and would like to have custom business cards incorporating samples of your images, I would suggest ponying up the $20 and giving Moo a try. Their product is top-notch and after meeting them in Vegas I've got to say - they are really nice people too!

On the web: Moo.com

* Other than the free set of cards, I have received no compensation for writing this review

The Mad Pianist - Behind the Scenes

I get ideas for my photo shoots from many sources, and one of those is to simply listen (or in this case, read). A few weeks back I received a text from one of my frequent models, Andrew. It was short and simple: "How about a crazy piano player photo??". Knowing that Andrew is an extremely talented musician and very creative, my immediate response was "Sure!".

Last week we got together for the shoot. We used the grand piano at a local church and went to work creating the images. What made this shoot different than my regular work was that it was Andrew, not me, that had the pre-visualized images in mind and I simply followed his direction. He had coordinated his wardrobe design and hair styling for the session.

I did however add a bit to the shoot for some shots I envisioned (with some input from friend Ann Torrence). In addition to Andrew as the pianist, I had another of my regular models Kati join in for a few shots portraying a sultry singer.

On the technical side, lighting was accomplished mainly using two softboxes - one large octabox (as seen in the behind-the-scenes image) and a smaller one to use for hair light and accents. Managing the light on the background proved to be the largest hurdle and made me realize that I really need to ad a grid to one of my octaboxes.

Since these images are a bit of a departure from my normal style, I am not sure how well they will sell as stock images. But they were a lot of fun to create.