Happy New Year!

Image of the Year

Each year at this time I take a look back over the images I have created in the past 12 months to select my personal Image of the Year. I have been giving this some thought over the past few weeks as I considered all the images I took in 2009. During this consideration I kept finding myself drawn to the image of Kati with a black eye that I took in September.

The combination of beauty and pain is what attracts me to this photo. 2009 has been a very trying year for me personally yet I feel that I am leaving the year in better shape than I entered it. I am sure that my personal journey through the year has influenced my selection of this image as my 2009 Image of the Year.

Here's to a great 2010!

Open Wide

Today's image is an example that it is not always the prettiest pictures from a photo shoot that will become useful stock imagery. When I am shooting images for my stock portfolio I think about creating unique scenes to go along with the "pretty" ones. I captured this shot of Kylee last summer as part of a series I did featuring dentists and patients in a dental office. The set of images has sold fairly well so far and should continue to do so into the near future.

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

Rio Grande

Canon Powershot G11 - 1/40 second, f/4.5, ISO 800

Into the Most Secret Place On Earth

Note from Rich: Today's post is written by the talented writer Bryan Catherman as a special to LeggNet's Digital Capture.

Into the Most Secret Place On Earth

by Bryan Catherman

I’ve witnessed many spectacular things—NORAD, secret detainee holding camps, and other highly classified places—but nothing compares to where I went, and what I saw last month with my good friend, Rich Legg.

About six months ago, Rich Legg was contacted about doing a photo shoot. That in itself was nothing out of the ordinary given the popularity of his website and the broad range of his work. However, the subject matter and the stipulations were nothing he’d ever dealt with before. He was allowed to select one assistant, and after considering my background, he selected me over many of his talented photographer friends.

From there, we completed the necessary paperwork, provided blood samples, and underwent a detailed background check. Rich’s immunization record wasn’t as up to date as mine, so Rich also received a Polio vaccination, as well as the six-shot series for Anthrax. Then we waited. We were on the short list, being reviewed for the job.

Rich didn’t let himself get too excited. He’d been through this before when he was being considered to photograph Suri Cruise. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he’d say, “that way you won’t feel let down when we don’t get it. Trust me; I learned my lesson when I didn’t get the Cruise gig.”

But I couldn’t stop thinking about Ralph Plaisted. Plaisted was the last American to visit the most secret place on earth with his unauthorized entry on April 19, 1968; a day that changed is life.

On October 7th, we were selected for the job and on October 19th, we arrived at the private jet terminal of the Salt Lake City International Airport. Before us was a small, overpowered jet painted stark white. The windows were limo tinted and the aircraft was free of any other markings. No tail number, no warning or caution markers near the engines, nothing.

A brutish man with a stock face took our gear. He informed us that from this point, we were allowed no photography equipment, no recording devices, no GPS tracking systems, no paper, and no writing instruments. He confiscated our cell phones and for some reason, he took the electric keyfob from my key ring. “You’ll be given back your camera at the photo shoot,” he said to Rich. Something in his voice intimated me. I’ve looked into the faces of some evil men, terrorists and killers, but this man—a man who couldn’t possibly stand taller than five feet—scared the hell out of me.

I quickly realized that the terrifying little man that took our stuff was also our flight attendant. He served us a plate of cookie snacks. I had coffee and Rich had milk, and then the man disappeared. We never saw the pilots and the area of the plane where we were seated had no windows. As I listened to the engines roar, I started to wonder what I had let Rich get me into.

When the door of the jet opened, the cold blast instantly snapped at my face. It must have been 50 degrees below zero.

Then two young girls boarded the plane. Or I thought they were young girls; my mind was hazy at this point. They each carried a parka, a hat, and sun goggles. “You’ll need this stuff if you’re de-boarding the aircraft,” one of them said to me.

Stepping off the jet, I looked to the right and left. In all directions was nothing but snow and ice like a great white ocean. Looking behind me, I could barely see the plane except for the tinted windows.

Moments later, a toboggan being pulled by two caribou arrived. “Welcome to the North Pole,” said its driver, a three and a half foot cheerful man. He explained that we’d have to wear blindfolds until we entered the compound and we agreed.

As the sled came to a stop, I could hear signing and laughing. The sounds were confirmed when the man removed our blindfolds. Neither Rich or I could form words, but the reflection in our eyes said it all.

Before us was the biggest, brightest factory I’ve ever seen. Little people moved about like bees in a hive. Large gears turned and steam spewed from tall pipes. Conveyer belts moved toy after toy past us. The factory that surrounded us was alive.

“Come this way,” said the driver. “He wants the photos taken in his private residence.”

“This is amazing,” said Rich.

“Oh, this, right,” said the man. “I guess working here day in and day out you tend to forget. We don’t get many guests up here. Come on. This way, please.”

I had no idea how to address the big man, but when he firmly shook my hand, he said, “Hi, I’m Santa Clause, but some people call me Kris Kringle or St. Nicholas. What ever you’re comfortable with is fine by me.” He nodded. “This is my wife, Mrs. Clause.” His voice was like warm syrup and his smile like a child’s innocent giggle.

Handcrafted furniture filled his living room as the wood-burning stove packed the space with warmth. On a desk in the corner were little flags—the flags of the entire world. A large King James Bible rested on his coffee table. One end of the couch was near a small end table, and on the table were a candle lamp, some knitting needles, yarn, and a Beverly Lewis book with a red bookmark. I think it was The Brethren, but I couldn’t be sure. Three books sat on the other end table: Blue Like Jazz, The Kite Runner, and a title written in French.

Rich and Santa chatted about the photo shoot for a moment and then Rich instructed me to unpack the gear. (The equipment arrived unnoticed while I was meeting Santa and his wife.) We didn’t know what the photos were for and nobody ever told us, but for the next twenty minutes, Rich snapped photo after photo. I held a big disk and reflected light. At one point I held two flash mechanisms and pointed them as Rich showed me. Snap, flash, snap. I think Rich must have captured 400 photos.

Then, as we were packing up, Mrs. Clause served us sweet sugar cookies and hot chocolate. Santa retreated into his study and emerged with two wrapped gifts and a copy of Letters From the Front Lines. “Bryan,” he said to me, “war is the devil’s play and I’m sorry you had to visit his playground. Please thank every veteran you know, for me.” Then he handed me the book. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind signing it for me?”

“Brave Rifles, Santa. Brave Rifles!”

And as fast as we had arrived, we were escorted out. I don’t remember the flight home, other than the time I spent staring at the small Christmas gift Santa gave me. The box was wrapped in gold paper and a small hand-tied bow stuck up from the top. “Don’t open this until Christmas Morn’,” he said. At one point, I looked to Rich, who was staring at his gift, larger than the one Santa gave to me.

“Rich,” I asked, “how will anybody believe we were really there?”

His reply: “Don’t worry, I’ve got the photos to prove it.”

Jarica

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/4, ISO 400

Bad Dog

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

Photowalking Utah - Winter Clothing Drive Results

Last night's Photowalking Utah event in Salt Lake City was a huge success. With over 130 photographers participating in the clinic and photowalk this year, the annual event continues to grow and is always one of the post popular outings during the year.



This year we added a winter clothing drive to the schedule. Participants were asked to bring winter clothing items to donate to a local shelter. I am pleased to say that we collected a fantastic number of items. I have spent time this morning sorting them in preparation for delivery and am blown away at the amount and quality of items donated. The picture above shows the bulk of the outerwear, but there is also a box of hats/scarves/socks not pictured.

Thank you everyone who came out and made the night a success. And thank you for helping Photowalking Utah help give assistance to those less fortunate. This group is truly about community and last night showed that in a big way!

Photowalking Utah - Lensbaby Photowalk Video

We've had some really cool events in the two years that Photowalking Utah has been around, and last month's Lensbaby Photowalk gets to take its place near the top of the list. Nicole Young shot some great video during the event and has compiled it together with footage shot by Jeremy Hall and Scott Jarvie to create this fantastic recap video. Thanks again to everyone who came out and supported the outing and especially to Pictureline and Lensbaby for sponsorship.

The Lensbaby Meets Skier Jane

I did a studio session this morning creating stock images of Jane as a skier. During the hour-long session I spent a bit of time with the Lensbaby Composer on my camera in place of my usual Canon lenses. This is the first time that I have used the Lensbaby for a work shoot in the studio, and judging by today's images I am pleased with the results.

Canon 5D Mark II, Lensbaby Composer Double Glass - 1/160 second, f/8, ISO 100

Image in Use: High School Advantage Essentials

Lady in Red

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

Helping with the Help Portrait

I spent a few hours on Saturday helping out by taking portraits at one of the Help Portrait sites in Salt Lake City. The time I spent doing this has to go down as some of the most rewarding time I have spent as a photographer.

The image of me above was taken by one of the children at the event. The 4 year old boy had just had his portrait taken with his family. While they were waiting for the portrait to print I let him and his sister take some shots with my camera. It was so cool to see their eyes light up when they saw the pics they had taken.



Huge thanks to everyone in Utah and around the world that worked on the Help Portrait project this past weekend. I am so glad I was able to participate.

Today is the Day - Help Portrait

Photowalking Utah Winter Clothing Drive

This year Photowalking Utah has added something to our annual Temple Square Christmas event - a winter clothing drive.

At the event on December 17th we will be collecting winter clothing items (hats, coats, gloves, boots, etc.) in good condition. These items will be donated to The Road Home to help them in their service to those less fortunate.

If you are attending, please take a look through your closet ahead of time and see if there is anything you can donate. If you are unable to make the evening outing but would still like to drop off items to donate, we will be accepting them in the fourth floor conference room of the City Library between 6:15 and 7:00 pm on the 17th.

All items collected will be given to The Road Home on Saturday December 19th.

I know I speak for others as well when I say how blessed I feel to be a part of Photowalking Utah. Let's now take our group to the next level and help to bless others in their time of need.

For more details on the December 17th photowalk, click here.

Just a Walking Down the Street

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/4 second, f/4, ISO 3200

Hedunnit!

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

Whodunnit?

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

4 Years of LeggNet's Digital Capture

This past Saturday was the 4th anniversary of LeggNet's Digital Capture. Over 1,200 blog posts and 700,000 visitors later it still feels like I'm just getting started. Thank you everyone who has contributed to this little project that I started in 2005.

Cause You Had a Bad Day

Maybe, but this is actually a test shot I did yesterday for a stock photo shoot I'm putting together in my studio. Even though it was just a test, I figured I should "get into character" a bit for the image :)

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/11, ISO 100

iStock Sale # 90,000

This morning I sold today's shot of Biker Dave as the 90,000th image from my portfolio on iStockphoto.com. Wow, it's hard to believe that I've only got another 10,000 to go until I break the elusive 100,000 barrier.

Have a great weekend!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/11, ISO 100

Princess Amerah Book Cover

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I recently spent time creating images to be used in the upcoming children's book, Princess Amerah and the Magic Dress. My job was to create single images that would later be joined together with a background scene to illustrate the story. On most of the scenes, I was given a sample of the background image to work off of.

The designer is now working with the book's authors on the arduous task of combining the elements. Today's image is the book's newly unveiled cover.

I was shown the background image and a sketch of what the authors envisioned for the scene. I then set up lighting and posed the model(s) before shooting each of them individually. Here are the three elements that were joined together to create the scene shown above:



I've got to hand it to the designer, Steve Diaz. He has done a very nice job in joining the elements together to create the scene. I'm excited to see the final product when it goes to print next year.

From the Back Row

Canon Powershot SD780 IS - 1/4 second, f/4.5, ISO 400

Back in the Garden

Each year in December, I take some time to revisit the original RAW files from previous stock photo shoots and look for good images that I passed over the first time. Today I've been revisiting a photo shoot I did in the garden of Ann Torrence back in September '08. A few of the images have sold quite well so I've selected another 10 or so from the originals to edit for stock. Today's featured image is of the former Mrs. Legg working in Ann's rose garden.

It will be interesting to look back at the newly edited images after a few months and see if the time spent was worthwhile.

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

Simply Broccoli

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/18, ISO 100

Save the Date: Holiday Light Clinic & Photowalk 12.17.09

It is time again for Photowalking Utah to make its annual trek to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to photograph the holiday lights on display. This year's event will again be in two parts. The first part will be a mini-clinic on taking low-light photos held at the Salt Lake City Library. When the one-hour clinic ends, the group will make their way to Temple Square to photograph the incredible holiday lights on display.

Here's the schedule:

December 17 - 6:30 to 9:00 pm

6:30 pm - Mini-clinic at the Salt Lake City Library (210 E 400 South) 4th floor conference room.

7:35 pm - Clinic concludes. Head downstairs to the TRAX station

7:50 pm - Ride the TRAX train (for free) to Temple Square

8:00 pm - Photography at Temple Square

This year we are adding a bit of giving to the December event. We will be collecting winter clothing to be donated to local organizations that help clothe those in need. Please bring any extra jackets, scarves, hats, etc. that are in good condition to the library. These will be collected and distributed to those less fortunate.

As always, there is absolutely no charge to participate in this event. Photographers of ANY skill level are invited to join in.

Head on over to the event discussion on the Photowalking Utah Flickr page if you have any questions or would simply like to say you're coming. I hope to see a great group on the 17th.

Image in use: About.com