Studio Portraits & Retouching

Here are 2 videos that will help me and beginners get better portraits.

How to light and the 5 different types of lighting for portraits


How to edit and touch up portraits


I know i have used the retouch video for one of my photos and it does an amazing job.
Try it and leave your comments below, or if you have better tutorials. Feel free to send them to me.

Latest Automotive Work.

You can find high resolution of all these photos on my Flickr
Feel free to share with those who might enjoy.

I use a DIY rig that I put together with the following parts.

I used the
2 Avenger F1000 Pump Cup with Baby Swivel Pin

3 Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp with 2908 Standard Stud - Replaces 2900 - Black

1 Manfrotto 196B-2 143BKT 2-Section Single Articulated Arm with Camera Bracket (Black)

2 10 ft pipes from Home Depot.

Etsy Store

Recently I have been talking to local hobbyist photographers about displaying their art and selling channels that are available to artists. The problem now days is, the market is saturated with amazing photographers. They are all competing for a decreasing number of buyers out there over 100s of channels each being flooded with great photographs.

Examples:

1. www.pixoto.com
2. www.500px.com 
3. www.etsy.com
4. www.flickr.com
5. www.instagram.com
6. www.dreamstime.com
7. www.fotolia.com

The list goes on.

One factor that plays into the low number of buyers out there is the affordability of digital cameras. Now days there is an increasing number of DSLRs in the average home. Yes most of them are entry level with kit lenses gathering dust. However it gives too many folks the false impression that they could easily get out there and take amazing shots like some professional photographers making them less inclined to purchase photographs available on the web.

The other factor affecting everyone, is the vast numbers of amazing photographers out there fighting in the same space. This is one of the outcome of the first factor. Affordable cameras, yields more people trying their hand at this craft and some of them being very talented and determined.

The moral of the story is: there are lots of ways to get photographs out for people to see, the problem is there are very many great photographers out there, so unless you have something special to show, it will be very hard to get anywhere.

That being said, there some really crappy photographers out there that manage to sell their craft and to get published. That being said, don't give up, don't let yourself be intimidated by the amazing photographers out there and give it your best shot.

I wont be giving up, I even set up and Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/monkifoto

Columbia Tower in Seattle

On Sunday after spending all morning working on automotive rolling shots I decided to go to catch the sunset at the Columbia Tower Sky View Observatory. I have been in Seattle for 16 years and I have never been up to the observation deck. I think this is a must see place for anyone visiting Seattle. Don't forget, bring your fancy camera with you.

If you do bring your other fancy camera, AKA not your iPhone make sure you get one of these wide angle lenses with you to capture the true beauty from up there. I used my trusted Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Digital Zoom Lens  Now if you do this at night, you will get glare because you have to shoot thought the glass and there are lots of lights on in the building. My recommendation to you is, press the lens against the glass and that is a last resort or in my case (Cheap/Lazy Man's solution). If you are not like me and you love DIY's, here is a great article from F Stoppers shoot through glass without reflections. Check out that article and you will find some great resources.

Posing People - Digital Camera World

Digital Camera World Has really great stuff.  I follow them on some of the media sites and these were some of the cheat sheets that they posted that interested me. Recently I have been more interested in portraits than all the rest. They really present a challenge, not only working your camera and the lighting setup, but also getting the model to work with you. 

Here are a couple of videos that i think would be helpful. 

Professional Portraits Outdoor.

Last weekend i was asked by a friend to go take some professional portraits of him. Well challenge accepted. I figured it would be a great way to test the tip the Matt Granger suggested. See my previous post for video.

I followed his advice. Shot everything with a B&W review and it made things a lot easier. I will be continuing to shoot this way. I can also confirm that you RAW files sill have the color data. So don't be afraid to use it.

Here are the samples:
(All of these were shot with Tamron SP 70-200MM F/2.8 DI VC USD and used a Nikon SB-28 Speedlight Flash to light up the shadows)

Getting Perfect Exposure

I have been shooting for more than a year now, and i always feel like my exposure is close. There are very few shots that that i felt that the exposure was dead on. Luckily today I found this video By Matt Granger that explains a little trick on how to improve that. I think everyone should try it out.

Doing it this way, it has another benefit. You can see right away if it would be an amazing shot in B&W. And lets face it who doesn't love B&W.

Slippers. Product Photography.

Being a beginner at photography, everything is a first to me. One of my college roommates I keep in contact with, asked me if I could help out one of his friends to start a business. A website that sells slippers to be exact. I never turn down a good challenge.
They reached out to me, told me it was something they needed done quick. So the next weekend, I got to it. Here are the results. Most of these were shot with the Tamron SP 70-200MM F/2.8 DI VC USD which happens to be my new favorite lens. It doesn't leave my camera anymore.

I shot these in the apartment. Lucky it had a big window with lots of light. Even so there wasn't enough light so i had to add a little artificial light. I used a Yongnuo YN-560 II Flash. I bought it last year and it's been in my camera bag ever since. For the price you can't go wrong with it. Heck I want to buy at least one more. I didn't use it as a on camera flash. I used Yongnuo RF-602 wireless flash trigger. Another bargain product that does an amazing job.

Initially I bought these to use with my Canon setup but they work just fine with my Nikon so i didn't bother selling them and purchasing the Nikon version for either the flash or the triggers. Enough with how and what. Let the photos speak for themselves.  Comments are welcome.

The hardest part about this, is coming up with a creative way to imply that they are comfortable and people love using them for indoor and outdoor. I envisioned people wearing these having coffee by the fireplace. But since they had no models, I did the best I could.  

Good Bye Nikon, Hello Tamron

I have always wanted to have a good portrait lens. Because I shoot with a Nikon D7100, I was unsure if i should go with 24-70mm f2.8 or to go to a 70-200mm f2.8. After comparing both the Nikon and the Tamron 70 -200 lenses, i decided to go with the Tamron. The quality of the photos and of the lens is amazing and the price is much easier on your wallet.

Yes i will admit that with this lens I shoot most of the portraits at 70mm focal length. 70mm on a crop sensor camera is equivalent to 105, which is a great focal length. It puts just enough distance between you and your subject where you are not invading their personal space.

The other reason that i chose this lens, is that in case in the future i decide to upgrade my DSLR to a full frame, this lens will work perfectly. Also it would work with a converter.

Now after using this lens for a few weeks I have decided to get rid of all my other lenses and get the Tamron 24-70mm. I was amazed by the quality and the Bokeh both of the Tamron lenses create so I will do away with my 18-140 Nikon which broke after 9 months of normal usage. I will also sell my Nikon 50mm f/1.4G as it's not getting the usage that I hoped for.

Here are some sample shots. You can see more samples on my Facebook or Flickr page.

Some non portrait samples.

I purchased my 70-200 from Midwest Photo Exchange via their Amazon page. Check it out here, and read up some of the reviews. Tamron SP 70-200MM F/2.8 DI VC USD Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon (FX) Cameras


Once I clear out my lens collection this lens is my next purchased. I'm already dreaming of the idea of having this in my bag.   Tamron SP 24-70mm Di VC USD Nikon Mount (Model A007N)

If you do decide to purchased one of these lenses, please use the link in my blog to help me further with my photography hobby.

If you have questions, leave them in the comments.