Tag: live show

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Live Show Recap: The Right Light

Hey y’all! We had an early show again this week, sorry if you missed it, but we’ll be back at the regular time next week (Thursday 5pm EST) reviewing your spoooooky photos. If you want to see what the next show is each week, check sdp.io/live or subscribe to our YouTube channel to be informed!

This week we covered “the right light” which were photos which capture the perfect light. We got a ton of great submissions and I’ll highlight our favorites in this post.

Only one bit of news this week, Kodak announced the Ektra, a smartphone that is made for photography. Tony is switching back to iPhones! 

Ok, let’s start looking at your photos:

Over to me for some of your questions:

  • will Chelsea sing a lullaby for a fussy baby? Nope.
  • why aren’t you drinking? Because we’re adults with jobs!
  • what cool gear did we see at the expos? Nikon 70-200, Sigma 85 Art Lens, radio triggered studio lights. Chelsea did try to steal some new Olympus gear, but they were just displays.

Ok, time for a portfolio. Add more pups. Great wildlife shots and portraits! But Robert, jeez. Lay off the drama in your artist bio. Add some pricing. “I’m slowly dying inside. Hire me.”

“I want to hear from Siobhan, remember her?”

  • shooting jpeg with the new X-T2? Nah, stick with raw.
  • blindfold your friends and make them try wine

Back to photos:

  • get a fog machine to make god-rays
  • orcas are crafty as hell
  • the hillllls are alive
  • creepy bus light

Back to me for some questions:

  • y’all aren’t funny
  • Profoto ocf flash systems? Yup. But Godox is cheaper.
  • what is the best tripod for self defense? Three-legged thing if you want to damage their ego.
  • favorite location for the perfect light? Ledgelight lighthouse.

Back to photos:

Last minute questions:

Blowing through photos at the end here, lots of good ones.

Ok, that’s our show! Spooky pictures next week, Thursday 5pm EST.

 

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Live Show Recap: Wildlife

Wildlife, ya’ll! Regardless of my personal failure at shooting wildlife, you guys really showed up for this show. Great job! There are a ton of great tips throughout the show as T&C edit and critique the submissions. For sure watch through this episode if you need wildlife tips like I do.

This month’s schedule is a little wonky, T&C have been traveling a lot. Next week our show will be at 1pm EST on WEDNESDAY and we’re reviewing architecture photos. Then the whole crew of us will be in NYC for Photoplus! 

Oh hey, it’s my birthday in a few days. Thanks for your well-wishes!

Ok, let’s get into your photos and I’ll highlight our faves below:

  • right off the bat, this mourning dove is beautiful and Chelsea makes great jokes “#dovelive”
  • spidey

Here’s a question from you, the audience:

And back to photos:

  • laying eggs
  • kingfisher
  • “what does he have, a little letter?”
  • “you made Justin laugh, it’s that cute”
  • turtle doing pull-ups
  • pretty bird
  • fox’s day at the beach
  • omg baby boar “I would hug it and keep hugging it and then throw it in the bag and bring it home”
  • “this is one of those wrestling death matches between butterflies”

Back to me for some questions:

  • what will Tony and Chelsea be drinking next week during the show? Water.
  • how do you choose portfolio photos? Crowd source. See what does well on social media, take time to reflect back on your photos.

Now for a portfolio review! Pare down your photos, keep the eye-popping ones on the first page, maybe ditch the staggered layout. Otherwise great job! Keep watching to hear great tips about building a portfolio and looking at your analytics.

Back to your photos!

Back to your questions:

  • crop sensor or full frame for wildlife? Tony likes a crop, Chelsea doesn’t.
  • do you color calibrate your monitor? Nope, but it won’t hurt to.

Back to your photos! Getting speedy now, there’s a lot to get through:

Some last questions from me:

  • Chit-chat?
  • how did studying art effect your photography? Composition, adding meaning to your photos.
  • wildlife baiting? Bird feeders are okay, roadkill for eagles okay, otherwise no.

Chit-chat! What are we doing anymore?

  • POS
  • Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy
  • Does photography have to be complicated? No.
  • more weird-ass flat earthers

Photoshop book is now officially out! Buy it.

Let’s go through one last chunk of pictures:

We did it! Thanks for your great submissions this week. Well done. Join us next WEDNESDAY at 1 for architecture photography. Or spot us in NYC at Photoplus, bring beer.

 

 

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Live Show Recap: Adventure!

Hey ya’ll! We looked at your adventure photos this week which was not nearly as popular as landscapes.

Folks: don’t somehow acquire Tony or Chelsea’s phone number and call or text them about photography. That’s terrifying.

We don’t have a live show next week, but the week after, September 15th will be on car photography with a guest.

SDP now has closed captioning on the videos, so if that’s something you need, there you go!

Some photo news:

  • Instagram now lets you zoom! Which isn’t great.
  • submit your “Stop It!” photos to us at sdp.io/stopit. We’ll make fun of your worst or most cliche photos.

“Bokeh that pepperoni.”

Let’s get into some Chit-Chat, Chelsea’s favorite segment where people say mean/weird/funny things to us and we give them positive reinforcement for some reason:

  • Tony should be the president because he’s nice
  • Annie Leibovitz, like Harry Potter, lived in a closet
  • this just in: men criticize talented women
  • Tony’s goatee makes him look like a crazy jazz musician
  • Smaakjeks is our favorite commenter
  • Also this just in: Tony is chill “I’ve never seen people rally so well to bust someone’s balls”

What should T&C do a video on with Chris and Jordan from The Camera Store TV? Give us suggestions. Chelsea’s is knife fight. “Canadian, too nice, learn to sharper a tooth brush.” “Cut me with your apologies.”

Ok, let’s look at some of your adventure photos! I’ll highlight some of our favorites:

  • “that’s the appropriate dog” “yeah, like if you bring a wiener dog to the top of a mountain, you’re out. Thumbs down.”
  • “oh no, this is a danger“
  • “was this taken by the front row of oxen?”
  • beach camping
  • “this is actually the devil“

Tony pauses to make everyone upset. He’s sciencing. He’s also B.F. Skinner’s kid.

  • efficient vacuuming
  • dirt run
  • flying kid
  • base jumper. Naturally, Justin knows what it stands for off the top of his head.
  • winner of the night! Cave diving.
  • lovely B&W
  • “I free dive now, wrestle a shark while I’m down there, get the bends eight times.”
  • “woah, this baby’s an adventure“
  • Krampus tradition “this is a true adventure, when your town dresses up like brooms.”
  • through the ice
  • poor bull

Over to me for some of your comments, questions, etc:

  • sun flare was real, diver was underwater

Now to a portfolio! Skip the landing page, put as much as you can on the front page. Ditch the watermarks, they don’t work. Someone called Annie a “rake.” “Is that a bad thing? Rakes have only ever been good to me.” Back to the portfolio. Pare down your images in the music section, focus your portfolio on what you’re trying to sell. Pick all your best photos and put them on the main page.

Back to me for your questions:

  • how can you add adventure to your photos if you live in a flat, boring place? Add an exciting element! Boring can be a good backdrop.
  • can you use a studio umbrella as a scrim? Yup!
  • setting the white point on photos; it can get too bright, should you sacrifice contrast? Depends on the image. You only need a tiny amount of black point and white point.

Let’s get back to photos! Tony was editing some while I asked questions:

Back over to me for some viewer questions:

  • the hay people are from Krampus celebration! They’re called Schab and they are holding whips
  • Chelsea seems to have made up a holiday tradition of beating your parents awake
  • Hubble space telescope focal length is insane
  • Photokina meet-up!

Bonus portfolio, ’cause all the cute animals.

Pre-announcement announcement! T&C are doing a photo trip to Thailand and you can join them! Stay tuned for info.

Tony flipped through the remained of your photos and highlighted a few:

  • down the barrel
  • train baby
  • swing chairs
  • pink sunrise
  • rodeo
  • desert sky
  • dunes
  • parasailing
  • “that seems unsafe” “they love hugs though” “no, that’s really not right”
  • was this one meant for Stop It? “I want this airbrushed on the side of my van.”
  • “horse in a shirt, what’s more adventurous than that? Dude’s fully dressed.”

And we made it through them all! (Except for the ones I didn’t let through.)

We’ll be back in two weeks looking at your car photos! 

If you were wondering, after the show ends and you hear Chelsea chastise Tony, it’s because of him breathing on the lens.

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Live Show Recap: Landscape

Holy hell you guys, this episode was bonkers. Jet-lagged Chelsea and weirdly tan Tony are on point. We had a record number of live viewers which led to a horrific live chat and so many photo submissions we crashed the site. All in all it was a blast.

Chelsea knows world politics, and the president of Kazakhstan is Subaru.

We start the show off with Chit-Chat, our favorite segment where we highlight the best and worst comments we get on our YouTube channel throughout the week.

  • Tony is chill af
  • Chelsea has nice front hair
  • no news here. Oh, except the 5D Mark IV, the worst kept secret in photography.

T&C talk about the 5D Mark IV and what cameras they brought to Ireland. “I really hope I don’t have a calendar when I’m dead.”

Ok, we get into your pictures here:

  • “what is that? Is that the little animal from the original Battlestar Galactica?” “Is that a baby holding a monkey?”
  • “uh oh, do you see why there’s only one set of tracks? It’s cause Jesus carried him.”
  • lovely reflection
  • rowers “they’re actually trying to row away from each other. But they’re not bright!”
  • duuuucks on the water. Fire in the sky.
  • edge of the earth
  • crepuscular rays
  • “let’s go on, this is crap“
  • barbed wire
  • purples
  • “simple, nice, makes me want to go golfing“
  • explain these horse heads to me

Over to me for your questions!

  • where in Ireland were you? Dead guy in a gutter with a Guinness can in his hand. “Welcome to Ireland!””Home of the dead guy.”
  •  tips or tricks to make a good image with bad light? Focus on composition, processing, HDR.
  • how often do you visit a location before you get your shot? Depends!

Ok, let’s look at a portfolio. Fix your layout! Pare down some images.

Now another one! More tiny dog, less everything else. Less sub-menus, pare it down to professional menus. “Get rid of that guest book because it’s not 1998 anymore.”

Back over to me because Chelsea loves to hear my voice. Oh, and your questions.

  • how do you wind down? Cry, eat too much. Make a list to make things more manageable, make a schedule or routine. Take a bike ride, play video games, gym, sports.
  • how to fix a dark sky when you have a complicated horizon? Graduated filter! But if not that, what? Nope, just that. The more natural the better.
  • how to shoot in a dark space indoors? Use a fast prime lens and a camera that does well with high ISO. Flash could be horrible in a dark space like that.

Back to photos:

Over to me for some more questions:

  • call me the troll killer. “Don’t give the trolls movie recommendations!”
  • best for depth of field? Small aperture or hyperfocal? sdp.io/fstop for more info.
  • 12 v 14 bit raw files? No one cares.
  • what do you listen to when you edit? Chelsea: Podcasts, Kendrick Lamar, classical. Tony: Marina and the Diamonds, Tov Lo. Judge John Hodgman for both.
  • words for bangs? So many penis words.

A few more photos before we head out (sorry for the keyboard banging, I forgot to mute myself):

Aaaand here is where the show falls apart in the best way. “How do you stay married to me, I look ridiculous.” “I love you so much, you’re so brown.”

“I can’t stop laughing. You look like a sausage.”

And there we have it, folks. Next week we’ll be reviewing your “Adventure” photos! So go out and shoot something fun. If you didn’t know, I’ve been blogging each week as I learn photography, and trying to shoot for each live show subject. So learn along with me!

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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.

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Live Show Recap: Photoshop My Photo!

Live show recap is back! This week Tony and Chelsea tackled Photoshopping your photos. Like what you see? Pre-order our book on Photoshop while it’s still super cheap! 

Chelsea made me laugh uncontrollably more than once this episode. 

We start off with some news:

  • Canon’s stock closet at the Olympics is bonkers
  • Tony bought an old Nikon F on eBay after they talked about the history of Nikon on the podcast

Now for Chit-Chat! Chelsea’s favorite part of the show where we give undue attention to people who bad-mouth us on the internet! And Smaakjeks making great jokes. This week is all nice stuff though!

  • old time-y shit talking
  • Tony’s beautiful voice
  • poo audio
  • Tony predicting the future
  • being called badass mutha*******
  • Chelsea trying to back TheCameraStoreTV into saying they love her

Don’t rank us against our friends! 

Ok, we start working on your photos here. We don’t go through a ton because the process is a bit more labor intensive this week. But watch, you might learn something! I’ll highlight some of our favorites below:

  • a man and his dog in ‘Nam
  • baby bear! Duplicate it. Dent it’s head.
  • slug removal

Let’s go to me for some of your questions:

  • what to do in Photoshop versus Lightroom, what’s your workflow between the two? Basic editing in Lightroom first, more advanced, detailed editing in PS.
  • Tif files, what are they good for?
  • how to name your photo business and domain? I say use your name, carry business cards. Chelsea says use alliteration or rhyming to have a memorable name.

Let’s look at Abi’s portfolio! Lovely shots, just add some more info on your prints. She’s one of ours, Tony, you can’t have her.

Back into your photos:

Chelsea threatened to murder Tony when she’s sick up updating the books

  • so… Chelsea says this bird is poisonous and then goes into how she constantly explains to Tony the plot of Home Alone when he falls asleep during any show or movie. This is my favorite thing ever.
  • Chelsea shows you how to edit out logos for stock photography, lazily
  • “what is that liquid?” “the other one is clearly urine”
  • oof, portrait editing with dappled light

Back over to me for some questions:

  • shameless plug for my blog coming back! Follow me as I learn photography finally.
  • rumors about the upcoming 5D Mark IV? Nope!
  • upgrading wildlife gear? We dunno, tell us what you’ve got.
  • shooting portraits under heavy rain? Go inside. If not that, capture the movement of the rain and light it well, use waterproof makeup, style for the weather. Cover your camera, obvs. Use storytelling.
  • next week! Matt Granger will be on the show reviewing portraits. Also, you can catch T&C at Photokina next month!

Tony jumps in with an edit of our nation’s phallus.

  • “your feet are too big, bird!
  • “Tony, it’s us!”
  • lovely shot, odd colors

Let’s talk about tablets! Chelsea loves her Wacom, Tony hates editing on tablets, he’s a mouse man. “I can do anything with a mouse, I’m a mouse master.”

Let’s get another question and comment from our friend Kyle Wolfe before we head out:

  • could you average multiple photos to even out camera shake? No, but good idea!
  • use a specific link on your business card that shows you how many people access your site from the cards directly! Or a QR code. You can use a site like bit.ly.

 

That’s all, folks! Join us next week with Matt Granger to review your portraits! And look out for my blog on portraits this Thursday. 

 

 

 

 

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Live Show Recap: Fashion Photography

Happy Cinco de Mayo! It’s not a real holiday. America loves to steal culture as an excuse to get drunk during the week.

Anyway! We’re looking at your fashion photos this week, and some of you nailed it! Some of you tried to sneak in regular portraits, or really nice shots that weren’t fashion! I didn’t let lots of those in.

PhotoNews:

  • The “affordable” Leica M-D
  • We are borrowing the Canon 1DX II sdp.io/1DX2 you’ll see our video on it soon
  • Phantom 4 quadcopter sdp.io/P4. We’ll be testing it out in California in a few weeks.

Ok, we get into your fashion photos here, these are our notable submissions:

  • garbage bag dress
  • contrast (good for next week!)
  • monster street fashion
  • great studio shot (by our friend and blogger Anushila)
  • fashion/product of ties
  • go see Best in Show. And by go see it I mean rent it somewhere because it’s old.
  • great catalog shot
  • “It seems like one thumb through the belt loop is the most you can do in a photo” “Sometimes you have to push the limits. That’s fashion!”
  • click here to hear Chelsea’s incredible British accent
  • great photo story “I’m gonna give it a pick. But tell her she can do better.”
  • lean back, lean back, lean back lean back lean back
  • this one is just crazy awesome

Let’s go over to me for your questions:

  • How do you pose for fashion? Frame the object/garment or post naturally? Depends on the model and what you’re shooting.
  • When would you use exposure compensation? When a subject is backlit, to expose for the subject. You should be using automatic shutter speed otherwise.
  • Where’d you get your shirt, Tony? You look fresh.

Okay over to a portfolio review. Great portfolio, Vladimir! No real feedback.

Now to Chit-Chat!

  • we got complimented!
  • Chelsea is into Tony! Ewwww.
  • Nathan For You is conflicting

Okay, back to photos:

And that’s our show! Next week’s topic is “high contrast!” So make it work, people.

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Everything You Need to Prepare for a Fashion Shoot

Image od a woman with a long dress
Image od a woman with a long dress
Bloom by Sarah Bowman

Here are a list of resources from Tony, Chelsea and our bloggers to aid you in setting up and executing a successful fashion shoot.

Video Tutorials:

  • In this first video we cover a glamour shoot in-studio. Chelsea will take you through her lighting and gear, challenges you may have, makeup and styling, posing, and post-processing.

You can see some more of our post processing tutorials here for Lightroom, and a video on how to add makeup in Photoshop here.

 

  • In this next video we follow Tony and Chelsea on a fashion shoot on the beach. They’ll show you how they set up test shots, shooting to make a composite, working with a model, and post processing the image into what became the cover for our Photoshop book!

 

Blogs:

  • Start off with 10 Tips For Your First Fashion Shoot by Anushila Shaw. In it, she gives you ten easy to follow steps on setting up you first fashion shoot; from finding inspiration, hiring models and stylists, to marketing. A must-read for everyone!
  • Our friend and blogger Sarah Bowman has written multiple tutorials on shooting incredible portraits. You can read those here:

  1. How to Composite a Dress is the tutorial that Tony and Chelsea followed to create the image in the Glamour Photoshoot posted above

  2. 10 Tips to Improve Your Portraits gives you simple and critical tips on shooting great portraits; lighting, posing, depth-of-field, perspective and more!

  3. Self-Portraits: How a Selfie Can Improve Your Portraits Selfies are a great way to practice shooting portraits before bringing in a model. This post will teach you how to get comfortable in front of the camera to improve your work behind it.

Live Show:

  • Our previous live show on fashion photography will give you some great tips and show you previous work from our talented viewers! You can read my blog on that show here for highlights.

 

We hope all that information leaves you prepared for a great fashion shoot. We’ll be reviewing fashion photos on our live show this week, sdp.io/live. Can’t wait to see what you came up with!

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Live Show Recap: Light Painting

Hey there! This week we looked at your light painting photos and we got some good ones. And a bunch that were in tunnels.

Click this for joy. Then this to hear Chelsea sing.

Ok, we get into your photos here, these are our faves:

  • Porche. Porsh? Porsha. “Tony Northrup, who pronounces it “Porsh” like an animal”
  • weird HDR ghost town
  • “she’s like the queen of raves“
  • Street Fighter
  • skull
  • don’t start a fire, don’t burn down boats
  • “you just said Greg is cooler?” “the cool judge”
  • abstract
  • Tron mask/light babe “when you find a woman like that, you keep her”
  • spooooky couch
  • grainery “You know what would have been great? If they’d light painted a chicken. No big deal, just a chicken.”

PhotoNews:

  • We tested the Sigma MC-11 adapter. It did not go well.
  • Nikon D500 is here! Might be the best camera of the year. Keep an eye out for our review.
  • Nikon 200-500
  • Canon T6. Meh. It’s a fine entry level. “Come on guys, you gotta keep up with my mom.”

Over to me with some viewer questions:

  • Why does the camera not like LED? We get that answered by a viewer later. Cheap LEDs blink on and off constantly, so it doesn’t give you consistent light.
  • What was the best food T&C had in Portugal? A sandwich with cheese on top soaked in gravy. Bacalhau. “You just offended all of Portugal”

Now let’s take a look at a viewer’s portfolio! Great images, great layout. Pare down your categories since you don’t have enough images to fill each. Less navigation the better.

Alright, let’s look at some more of your photos:

  • “parallelogram” “That’s a trapezoid you noob”
  • “this is what you see when you die”
  • Space Invader! ‘Would you rather have a Pixelstick or a pixie stick the size of a Pixelstick?”
  • “She blinded me with science” “I think it’s an illusion. I’m giving it five stars because I’m confused and disoriented.”
  • LEDsaber
  • FIRE ROPE (please use extreme caution) “You won. You won light painting” “Sorry to everybody else who doesn’t have fire rope.”
  • “sparklers are definitely an outside firework”
  • illuminated rocks
  • real estate

Ok, back to me for some questions:

  • Sony overheating issues? The a6300 overheated for us and wrecked a shoot. A7s has been fine though.

Let’s do some Chit-Chat! Our friend Elias-Emir Mahmood made this cool pop-art logo for us.

  • Tony showed up in a weird futuristic training manual. “Generic business guy”
  • Tony acted.
  • Andre Agassi wore a wig. But before that he had some serious neck beard.
  • Justin explains fire rope. ‘Ok, I sense a tutorial coming up and it’s going to be awesome and probably lethal.”

Ok, let’s blow through some more pictures before we end the show:

And back over to me for a few last questions, my house is very loud:

  • Does music inspire you? “Heck yeah!” “Eh.”
  • What is the connection between programmers and bird photographers? “Just nerds.” Patience, technical stuff. “I don’t believe in that brain stuff.”
  • What’s your experience with vintage lenses, are they viable for videography? None. But if it fits the mood of your video, try it!

And that’s a show! Next week we’ll be looking at fashion photos. Keep an eye out on our blog for some tips!

 

 

 

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How to Create Light Painting Photos

Want to submit your Light Painting Photo to Tony & Chelsea LIVE for review? Watch this weeks episode HERE. It airs Thursday nights at 5pm EST (check your timezone.)

Light Painting

Light painting is manually adding light to a long exposure. During a long exposure (say, 30 seconds,) you can walk through the frame without appearing in the final picture. This gives you the opportunity to walk around a picture and selectively add light wherever you’d like it. To help hide your movements, wear all black.

At its simplest, you might use light painting like a portrait photographer uses strobes—to improve the ambient light by filling in shadows. However, light painting is also a rapidly developing art form where people create amazing pictures using night landscapes and complex, custom-build light contraptions. Though he wasn’t the first light painter, Pablo Picasso showed the world light painting in 1949 when Life magazine photographer Gjon Mili visited him; Picasso had been inspired when Mili showed him his photos of ice skaters with lights attached to their skates, jumping in darkness.

F10-13

Light Painting Tips:

  • Long exposure Use bulb mode (learn how to set bulb mode on your camera here) and a remote shutter timer to keep the shutter open for minutes at a time. (Get a cheap remote shutter timer for Canon and Nikon here.)
  • Light source You’ll need something to “paint” with such as a flashlight, glow sticks, or glow wire.
  • Keep moving Whoever is doing the painting needs to keep moving so that they don’t show up in the shot.
  • Don’t set a fire Be responsible out there, kids.

This is a small excerpt from the Night Photography chapter of Stunning Digital Photography. Read more on night photography here.

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