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Live Show Recap: Portraits with Matt Granger

Guys! We had Matt Granger Skyped into the show this week and it was a blast. We review your portraits and we got some gems!

Matt is doing a trip to Bhutan which he tells us about here.

NO SHOW NEXT WEEK! Remember and don’t be disappointed. But in two weeks we’ll be looking at your landscapes.

We start the show with Chit-Chat, everyone’s favorite segment where we talk about mean/funny/weird things that people say to us on YouTube.

  • Nkeyah and David, hittin’ on Tony
  • if you missed it, Nigel Barker was on a bonus live show this week! Today is the last day to submit to sdp.io/top to compete on Nigel’s new show, Top Photographer.
  • moon troof. “oh, you speak maniac”
  • erratically flying head
  • “this guy spends his days listening to mowers.” TLC “Scrubs” sing-off!
  • Home Alone-ing

Okay, we start looking at your portraits here. Please forgive the crazy echo on Matt, we get it fixed around 18 minutes:

  • toilet pose
  • first pick of the day
  • “this baby is watching the news, and bad things are happening in the world”
  • “this baby is having feelings”
  • balloon fro
  •  “Matt, how’d this person get a picture of you?” “people don’t realize how much they hate Christmas.”
  • “that baby has her Phd in posing” “do you think that baby’s gonna kill him after?”
  • first portrait attempt, first pick!
  • “it’s like when someone points out how you walk and then you forget how to do it”
  • great mood, great lines

Over to me for some questions for the crew:

  • jack o’lantern camera?
  • how to get your model relaxed for a portrait? Weed. Jk, be set up totally beforehand, have inspiration photos and a run sheet prepared, etc.
  • Best portrait lenses for Nikon DX and for Canon EF? Depends on your setting says Matt. Tony loves the Sigma 50-100 f/1.8.

Now to a portfolio! Get a more professional portrait of yourself! Don’t include multiple shots from the same shoot. Your horror shots are great, you have good range of styles. Maybe change up your cover page.

T&C and Matt are meeting up in Germany at Photokina! You can meet up with them too.

Now back to portraits:

  • “she’s got the same bra as Tony”
  • great color
  • “Is that Obi Wan or Hasan in a bed sheet”
  • unconventional composition
  • “Matt, could we do some cosplay stuff? Like I dress up as Pikachu and you take pictures of me?”
  • so many good babies this episode
  • lovely B&W
  • “I feel like this guy’s my dad and we went out to lunch and I told him something that disappointed him”
  • they just tear into the styling of this shoot and it cracks me up. “She’s wearing so much but so little.” Also the birth of the phrase “American teeth.”
  • portrait winner for the night

Matt’s connection starts breaking up, and it’s hilarious. The show devolves from here.

  • lovely portrait by Andrew
  • “I feel like they just got their faces painted at a carnival.” “that’s what you feel like? What makes you feel that?”
  • tips on group portraits, make a pyramid
  • story in the sunglasses

Chelsea channels me for more questions:

  • Photokina plans?
  • comment on this image on the screen real quick, lovely
  • how to make a model look taller? Put her next to short people, build small props, put her next to an innaccurate ruler, platform shoes, corrective surgery.

Back to portraits:

Back to me:

  • maternity shoot tips? Keep it classy. Just don’t do weird stuff.
  • how to keep in fresh and not get burned out? Collaborate, be grateful that you’re paying the bills taking pictures, switch genres, shoot for yourself in between paid shoots.
  • tips on the meteor shower? Night photography tips!

Here’s Matt singing No Scrubs, the thing you never knew you didn’t want.

Sharky James who is great posted a photo on Twitter of him with TLC. They were my favorite group in 5th grade.

Chelsea wants to be thanked for being here. Thanks Chels!

 

So again, no show next week, but in two weeks tune in for Landscapes! Byyyyye.