Georgia Focus November 2011
Content s President’s message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 About the Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Heather Smith Ty Fischer Seminar . . . . . . . . 9 Mitch Green
Georgia School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Get out there and shoot! . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Jeff Gulle, CPP
P
resident’s Message
Sally McCreery-Jackson, GFD, GSD
De-fen-es-tra-tion: (n) the act of
throwing a thing or particularly a person out of a window. On Thanksgiving weekend exactly 20 years ago, my dad, my brother Greg & I went down to a cold, empty storefront to begin building the framework for the walls of what would be my new studio. At the time, it was a studio unlike any other in Savannah: the camera room had a huge hi-key sweep, dedicated lighting in multiple shooting bays, and a bay window set for window light on demand any time of day. It had a projection sales room and a studio cat. It was ideally located smack in the middle of town and adjacent to compatible thriving businesses like a bakery, a ballet school, a florist, a beauty parlor & a party supply store. It was very on trend, and it was just the ticket for bringing in children’s portrait clients & making lots of money. But times changed and my studio didn’t. Every business has an arc, so we’re all advised to have a new trajectory in place before we come to the end of the original path. I knew this, but I just couldn’t quit doing “business as usual” – even though there was less and less business to do. I had a hard time coming to terms with what I knew (what we all know), that the door
was closing on the world of p h ot o g r ap hy that I was accustomed to, that I liked and understood. We’ve all heard the saying that God never closes a door without first opening a window. Well, thanks to my resources and connections in our association, I could see the window I needed to go through to get to a whole new world of photography where things were headed up again. Problem was, I didn’t want to go through that window, because I’d had so many good experiences where I was. Nope – not budging. I might want to, but I wasn’t going to. Famous last words. Turns out that sometimes after God closes that door and opens that window, He also gives you a shove when you really need to get moving. So in my case, I already knew I needed to get fiscally leaner by getting out of my rented strip mall space and into a home studio surrounded by green space. I already knew I needed to update my camera room by trading in that hi-key sweep for wood floors and artsy walls and that bay window set for lots of natural light. I knew it, but I just couldn’t make that leap.
So then I was pushed. A year ago I had a medical emergency come up that we immediately realized would put me out of work for several months. The logical thing seemed to be to schedule all those major changes in my business to coincide with my down time. It wasn’t the most time-effective change of business models, since I wasn’t functioning at 100%, but the end result is – I made the changes. Oh my goodness, I’m telling you the view is so much brighter from this side of the window. My checkbook is healthier, my clients love coming to the cheery new space, and best of all, my photography is SO much better because it’s all new again! My studio still isn’t back up to full speed even now, but it’s consistently making solid gains, and the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train these days! As you might expect, my only regret is that I didn’t make these changes years ago. Think of the money I’d have saved, the stress I’d have avoided! Not every business needs to make a physical move as mine did, but every business needs to keep moving. Maybe it’s time to make some technical or stylistic changes, maybe a change of product lines, price structure or means of promotion. If you’re feeling a draft from an open window in your own business, don’t be hesitant to go check out the view. And if the other side looks like the place you ought to be, go ahead and jump. And if you need a little push, this is it!
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About the cover The dog, Precious, was a 3-monthold American Bulldog, and I was commissioned to create a portrait of her by the family. After about 45 minutes, the session was wrapping up, and she was pretty worn out. I knew I had some great portraits of the puppy, but given her age and coloring, I wanted to try photographing her on the pink couch. We ended up with a great series of images in various stages on the couch before she finally fell into a deep sleep, where I captured “Barker Lounger,” an image that was accepted into PPA’s Loan Collection. Heather Smith, Cr., CPP.
Image Information: Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens at 80mm 1/125 sec at f/9.0, ISO 100 Studio with three Profoto ComPact monolights (one main light with an extra large softbox, and two on the background, each with a medium strip light softbox) a 72” Larson Reflectasol for fill white seamless paper for the background.
Editor’s Notes
Another year is almost in the bag. The GPPA has made through several events this year that have been great learning opportunities. Hopefully you have been able to take advantage of at least some of these events. These events (our seminars, convention and school) represent more than just a bunch of photographers getting together. In this era where everyone is a “photographer”, these events are your way to step out from the herd and differentiate yourself in the quality and the artistic style of your work. You can also pick up important and timely marketing information for your business. Educating yourself about the best ways to improve your work is never a bad investment. In addition tot the educational value in the events that the GPPA puts together you also have wonderful networking
opportunities. Being part of a statewide association gives you access to a wide array of different styles and business models to explore and get feed back from. When you can meet with photographers from different parts of the state they are still close enough to be facing some of the same challenges that you are but far enough away that you can share ideas and sometimes even equipment or labor efforts without the worry that you are helping them market to your own clients. The key to learning is sharing and you will find many people in this association who are willing to share what they know with anyone. Do you have an image you would like to see on our cover -send it to me. Include a short note about the image or write an article about how you created it. Submissions can be sent to kevjiminez@aol.com. Kevin A. Jiminez ,
M.Photog.Cr., GFD, GSD, CPP
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Marketing Seminar and Shooting Demo with Ty and Shannon Fischer AWESOME – I know that
word gets tossed around a lot – however, what an informational 4 hours of my life. Ty and Shannon Fischer of Fischink Photography in Springfield Ohio traveled down to Macon GA for a GPPA seminar – one word – FANATIC! I have always been a fan of their imagery – now I am a fan of their business. Facebook, many of us use it – these folks OWN it. The numbers are staggering – if y o u ’r e not using Facebook as a marketing tool – you are missing some incredible opportunities to gain new customers in the challenging marketing climate. Ty dedicated a good portion of his pre-
sentation on the effectiveness of social networking. The transition from a full time company employee to a full time photography business is practically impossible in today’s environment – the Fischer’s made it happen. Impressive outdoor lighting will separate you from other photography businesses. Armed with a beauty dish on the Elinchrom Quadra battery powered set up – Ty does just that. His images have a dramatic look with wide lenses and powerful lighting. Using creative and modern environments, he sets his
and how he would move around a location that his clients might choose to go to. While shooting Ty
imagery apart from some of the best in the business. Informative, fun, witty, and inspiring – just a few words to describe their presentation. Top it off with their charming personalities and you have a powerful afternoon! THANKS Ficshers! .. Mitch Green Southern Edge Photography In addition to the marketing portion of their seminar, Ty and Shannon treated us to a hands on shooting demonstration on the grounds of the hotel. Ty allowed participants to have an opportunity to shoot some images with his transmitter and light to see the difference for them self. Ty took this time to talk about what he looks for in a location
demonstrated the difference between working with and without a light in environmental portraits. He feels that using a beauty dish to light his outdoor images makes a huge difference in the final product and it shows in his finished portraits. After some outdoor images the group moved inside to see a demonstration of how they work with their clients at some indoor locations. They keep
their system relatively simple that they can concentrate on the posing and interacting with their client rather than fussing with gear. Ty also talked about the importance of calibrating your light meter to your specific camera and what he looks for in a portable lighting system. They are firm believers in getting it right in the camera and not spending a lot of time trying to correct your images in post processing. If you enjoyed the style of this seminar or would like to see more seminars set up this way let your area director’s know. They are doing this for you and with out your feed back they do not know what is or is not working for you.
Georgia School
For next year’s school we have put together an impressive roster of industry leaders for you to choose from. The current list of instructors includes: Doug Box, Tony Corbell, Suzette Allen, Ken Sklute, Lou Freeman, Louis Tonsmeire, Mike Fulton and Cody Clinton from TriCoast will be back this year, and I am working on one or two more classes for you to choose from. More on those class later. Our instructors represent the best that photography has to offer. These speakers have spent time in the trenches and have information with real value and techniques that have stood the test of time and are still commanding top dollar. This is sure to be a week that will impact your photography and your business. See you there!
School Dates Aug. 26-31
School is held on the Campus of North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville, GA. Our host hotel it The Helendorf Inn and Conference Center, right on the Chatahoochee River, in Helen, GA. Be sure to make your reservations for your room and come ready to learn!
Doug Box
Environmental, On Location, In-Home Portraits, using OffCamera Flash, Reflectors & Continuous Light plus Combining Stills and Full Motion Video With Doug Box M. Photog.,Cr., CPP
• Can’t always shoot during the “sweet light “ time? • Can’t find “Great Light” outdoors? • It is overcast and you can’t find any direction to the light? • Hate that “On Camera Flash” look? • Tired of taking too much equipment on location? • Want an easy system for twin lighting at weddings? • Tired of buying the wrong equipment ? • Want to better utilize the flash you already own? • Want distinctive lighting? • Want to add direction of light to your outdoor portraits? • Want an easy set up for In-Home sessions?
Some of the topics we will cover: Planning for light quality and light direction then a demonstration on window light, available light and using indoor constant lights. Students will practice their new lighting skills on each other to prepare for the next day of photographing with models. Every day there will be a image review period of the images shot that day. Techniques for using translucent scrims and reflectors to supplement available light for better portraits. Then step out for a breakout session to practice your skills with models before returning for your daily image review. We will go deep into Off-Camera flash techniques for creating dramatic portraits in nature and learn how you can combine flash and sunsets for stunning portraits. He will cover manual flash and TTL. You will become a better storyteller with still and full motion. Plus simple post production techniques that can offer you options to help you in your marketing and give you new exciting products to sale. We will also cover story boarding, shooting, audio, titles and post production. We will also cover my top thirty business tips along with discussions about connecting with your community to kick start your business. You will learn easy techniques for using continuous lights to create beautiful portraits plus learn how continuous light sources are the perfect answer for fusion sessions combining full motion video and still photography. Two weeks before class you will can join Doug at a special Facebook page to begin your education. The first information posted will cover the needed basics of F-stop Shutter speed, ISO and Metering. The purpose of this approach is to assure everyone is up to speed on the fundamentals so everyone can hit the ground running making professionally lit images on the first day.
KEN SKLUTE
Wedding Fusion
Combining Stills with Motion in Today’s DSLR’s
Ken Sklute has been honored as one of Canon’s Explor-
ers of Light, a designation shared by only 60 photographers worldwide. Ken has been named Photographer of the Year 27 times between Arizona, New York, and California. He has accomplished his Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from the PPA; Accolade of Photographic Mastery, Accolade of Outstanding Photographic Achievement, Accolade of Exceptional Photographic Achievement, Accolade of Highest Photographic Achievement, and the Accolade of Lifetime Photographic Excellence. Ken has been awarded Best in Show at the Western States Regional Print Competition, the PPA National Award, Photographer of the Year-Western States Regional Print Competition, and Photographer of the YearSilver Level from the PPA. Ken has received Wedding Photographer of the Year, and Photojournalist of the Year from the Professional Photographers of California, as well as the Heidi Mauracher Starlite award for Best Wedding Photograph. Ken has received 14 Kodak Gallery awards and 15 Fuji Masterpiece Awards. We are all searching for a way to attract new clientele and give our vision a jump start. In order to stand out in today’s photographic marketplace and in this challenging economy, Canon Explorer of Light, Ken Sklute has the answer. Come study with Ken to learn the techniques necessary to add FUSION to your portfolio. Ken will share everything that you need to know in order to capture moving images and present them to clients, in addition to your still photography that you are creating now. Ken will guide you through thoughts on shooting video clips, capturing audio, creative techniques in movement. Learn and produce time lapse imagery, understand DSLR workflow and asset management, as well as, editing techniques to complete the fusion presentation. You will see and get aquainted with the latest grip gear to help you learn what the easiest way to make this transition to shooting and producing moving images! If you are looking to learn how to think, see and execute new techniques that will raise you high above your competition, register promptly to study this hot new subject with Ken Sklute to change your vision to include moving images!
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LOU FREEMAN
The Art of Glamour
Boudoir and Fashion to spice up your style
Lou Freeman specializes in fashion, beauty and life-
style photography. From an early age, she excelled in many of the creative arts and showed most promise in photography and painting. By age 13, her school recognized her talent, and published her first photos. Lou has a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Georgia and has studied at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her career in Photography spans 25+ years, ensuring this visionary’s collection of work is as diverse as it is strong. Her goal is to consistently produce powerful images that engage the audience. As a result of her goals of excellence, Lou embraced a 12 year career with Playboy Magazine where she carved out her niche as only the second woman to shoot for Playboy since 1975. Lou’s passion for the visual arts has led her all over the globe. She has photographed commercially from Los Angeles to Chicago, London to Milan and Barcelona, honing her skills as a fashion, advertising and celebrity photographer. She has taught at the Maui Photo Festival, Creative Circus and Portfolio Center, and has been featured as a guest lecturer for the APA, PPA, and After Dark EDU. Lou will describe how her 25 years of experience as a Fashion and Advertising Photographer were enhanced by her experience with Playboy Magazine. She will show her work and talk about how to create strong, sexy and captivating images. In this class Lou will share lighting set ups, and tips on camera gear and sets. Lou will teach you to gracefully evoke the beauty and sensuality of Fashion and Glamour photography in this hands on workshop. Enhance your portfolio with stunning images of beautiful glamour models. This workshop will provide insights to understanding the delicate lighting procedures needed to better capture and control the set. Photographers will learn to bring out their passion for capturing subjects in Glamorous settings and clothing in this intense workshop and work with elaborately decorated sets, as well as, some on-location sets and paper backdrop sets.
Suzette Allen, Cr. Photog., CPP, API Jon Yoshinaga, Cr. Photog.
Photoshop Fashion 2012 Photoshop, of course, is the ultimate digital imaging tool [garment]—let’s call it our “basic black dress”. Gotta have it, can’t live without it. And we will explore all the amazing fashionable updates with CS5 like Content Aware Magic and the awesome new Mixer Brushes! It will paint and smear pixels just like Painter! OMG, it is awesome! CS5 is certainly sporting a totally updated silhouette these days! But even though Photoshop is pretty fashionable on its own, what about accessories? Just like dolling up your basic black for evening or sport, we can add a lot of functionality and style to Photoshop with great complimentary programs like Lightroom, and plug-ins like NIK and Topaz…. This fun class will take you through the core features of Photoshop CS5 and ALSO teach you how to integrate Lightroom , and Nik/Topaz plugins for not only speed and efficiency , but some really cool and stylish “looks” to keep you in the limelight with your imagery! We will learn how to make design accessories like brushes, templates, and overlays, and then how to streamline your workflow with template building and creativity. All of the “accessory” programs are available for demo downloads in case you don’t have them yet, including CS5. A wacom tablet is required for this class to utilize the CS5 Mixer brush capabilities, since we will be doing some paintings, on landscapes and also on Pinup Style images! Sign up early—Don’t try to be “fashionably late” and miss out!
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TONY Louis L. CORBELL
Tonsmeire THE POWER OF LIGHT
IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Tony has been involved in professional pho-
tography since 1979 when his first studio position was with his sister and her husband in West Texas. Since then he has moved through an almost inspired life that has included traveling and lecturing in more than twenty countries, has photographed three U.S. presidents, 185 world leaders at the United Nations, sports celebrities, Taco Bell menus, Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, almost 800 brides and grooms, and a handful of NASA astronauts. Tony spent four years teaching at the internationally renowned Brooks Institute of Photography and his Location Lighting DVD produced by Software Cinema has received great reviews Understanding and controlling light quality is at the core of all of Tony’s presentations. Attendees will take a look at some of Tony’s most effective and successful pictures and learn how to see a unique perspective and not be afraid to push the limits of their experience and talents. Corbell will discuss all types of lighting and its tools in depth. Lighting tools include portable flash, studio strobes, sunlight and ambient light. Lighting applications include additive, subtractive, reflective and transmission. Tony always spends time discussing Light Quality as well as Light Quantity and how Light Direction plays a significant role in the resulting mood of an image. Tony Corbell of San Diego, California is a highly regarded, well established professional photographer well known among pro shooters and students of photography from coast to coast. His specialty is taking pictures of people--incisive environmental portraits of everyone from musicians and celebrities to lawyers and bank presidents. But above all he is a master of light–it is his
brilliant use of lighting that distinguishes his work and defines his unique style.
Thomas and Photography TriCoast Mike Fulton and Cody Clinton Mario Munoz
Sexy Light – Wireless Flash and Strobe Tips and Tricks
Artists, authors and all around crazy international award winning
photographers, Mike Fulton, Cody Clinton and TriCoast Photography have gained world-wide popularity with their simple, fast, effective wireless flash techniques. Boasting a worldwide and editorial fashion style, TriCoast’s unique vision provides clients with a one-of-a-kind attitude that is very apparent in their final artwork. With an easy to follow and fun atmosphere, TriCoast believes in the NO SECRETS teaching attitude, giving the pros and cons of their lighting method which they have developed over many years of trial and error, capturing wedding day events around the world. Former Eastman Kodak’s “World Wide Photographers to Watch”, TriCoast Photography has shown that teamwork, passion for the arts and a sense of humor is the key to success. Learn simple-fast-effective methods of capturing images using Canon, Nikon and other eTTL/iTTL wireless flash without all the techno-geeky talk. Straight forward technique developed for the fast-paced, action world of wedding and location photography that can be also be used in many other situations. No need for a light meter or guessing at ratio settings, this technique will be a simple solution for almost every lighting situation one might face. Both outdoor and indoor lighting situations will be shown and explained, with simple pullback and final product images shown. Major trouble shooting problems and solutions to this simple yet effect aspect of lighting will be taught. Come learn the power of the “other” wireless flash technique, the IRmethd.
You’ll Learn:
1.You will learn simple, fast and effective tips for your flash units (mainly Canon and Nikon) that will take your photography to another level right away! 2.You will learn the pros and cons of the eTTL/iTTL method compared to other wireless flash methods. 3.Basis concepts in “flash placement”. Learning to use your flash as an outdoor, portable studio as well as simple light modifiers that won’t break the bank.
Mike and Cody will cover these areas in his class….
■Basic Tips and Tricks for Canon/Nikon and other wireless flash units ■Manually creating ratios the easy way – Pros and Cons to the IRmethod ■eTTL and iTTL settings ■Manual Mode ■Zoom ■Custom Functions ■Learn to travel light and capture on the go anywhere in the world
Louis Tonsmeire
Light it, Love it, Shoot it!
It’s all about getting it right in the camera. From Raw to JPEG, your lights, main and fill and a few ratios thrown in for good measure. Learn portrait and wedding techniques that will make you stand out from the crowd. REALLY. This class will put you on the right track making your customers looking their best, while spending LESS time on your computers. You can sleep again! Louis’ Class is designed for the beginning Professional Photographer and for the seasoned pro who wants a refresher course in the basic foundations of Portraiture. Whether you want help getting the most out of your equipment or your sessions this class is for you. You will start with fundamentals and move into some of the more advanced techniques that Louis has used in his business fo the last 30 years, Louis is a past president of the Professional Photographers of America and has built a wealth of knowledge that he will share with his students.
Get out there and shoot you may find inspiration Jeff Gulle, CPP
Recently I have been in a funk about my
photography. Usually that means I need a vacation unfortunately that is not going to happen. This past Sunday I had a few hours for myself and being inspired by the beautiful fall colors of the north Georgia mountains I went out and took some photos for pleasure. Not photos for a client but images that I wanted to take. I photographed an old barn in the distance with cows and tall grass in the foreground and a building on a lake with the colorful fall trees and sky reflecting in the still water. When I got home, I excitedly processed these images. Wow…
did I do that? I showed them to my wife and she said “you should get out there and shoot more”. Feeling inspired, I reprocessed them and pushed myself to try different filters that I do not normally use. Finally satisfied with the
images, I printed them. I was proud of these two scenes, so I matted them and put them out for sale with others in my retail store. To my delight and surprise several copies sold in varying sizes almost immediately. Now keep in mind, photographic artists that sell fine art prints are very aware that they are not typically hot sellers. However, I thoroughly enjoy shooting fine art and so I do this for my own pleasure, however, if I can sell a print here and there it is icing on the cake. Selling this type of photography also gets me exposure and gets my name out there. Now I realize that only the most special images will sell as quickly as these two did so I know that I have created something special. These images inspired me and caused me to step out of my little box of commonly used techniques. I know we are all different and it takes different buttons to push us to get inspired, but if you don’t go out there and shoot you will never feel the thrill of an exceptional image. There is a term I use often with my students, “Work it!”