Winter Camping Photography
This past weekend, my dad, brother and I decided to brave the cold and try our hand at winter camping. Armed with a few down jackets and sleeping backs, we loaded the packs and strapped on the snowshoes for a trek up to Boulder lake. After few exhausting miles of breaking trail, we were able […]
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Using the Sima Video Light for fill flash
In earlier blog posts, I’ve talked about shooting during the magic hour, when the sun starts to set and your ambient light is finally in balance with your sky. Sometimes you get epic sunsets, and sometimes you get a smooth blue skies to work with. Most of the time during this hour, we head out […]
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How is your production value?
Every photographer has been in this situation before. You’re standing in front on an epic sunset or a sureal series of events… and you begin to click away. Every few seconds, you glance down at your camera’s LCD, but the result is just mehhh. Something just isn’t right. And then it dawns on you… you […]
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Buying a refurbished camera or lens
You’re ready to make that big purchase and you happen to run across the same product in refurbished condition. Do you buy it? It really depends on who the seller is. Shortly after the Canon 5D Mark III was announced, I decided it was a worthwhile upgrade, so I set a price notification and let […]
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Is Canon Professional Services Worth It?
In 1977, Nikon released the 300mm f/2.8 ED-IF which was the start of a revolution. It was the first of its kind, being fast enough to capture action under stadium lighting and practical enough to lug around. Previous super-telephoto lenses were either too large in size or too slow (aperture) to keep up. Ever since […]
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Canon 5D Mark III Mini Review
Almost a year ago, Canon announced their plans for a EOS 5D Mark III, which was expected and highly anticipated among wedding photographers. At the time, the 5D Mark II was the most popular body being used by wedding pros, and it had them, including myself, banging our heads against the wall come reception time. […]
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Four things to help you feel better as a photographer
Spending 12 hours behind the camera on the day of a wedding can take a tole on your body. The day after, Stacy and I joke about how sore we are, but the thing is, we’re not joking. We’re masquerading the fact that moving around with cameras strapped to us is actually… hard work. Really though, each one of […]
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What a perfect time for DVDs
Usually, when six inches of white pow hits the ground, I strap myself to a board and see if I can avoid the ER or I fire up the ATV to plow the neighborhood sidewalks in hopes of getting fresh baked cookies from the old lady that lives a few houses down. The one thing […]
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Rim lighting explained
In a few short paragraphs, we’ll find out how to use a light source to create a rim light and what are proper uses of it. In order to rim light a subject, you need to position your light source somewhere behind your subject. As you vary the angle, you vary what gets highlighted . […]
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Using light to separate your subject from the background
While shooting headshots for several clients today, I had short breaks in between each appointment. During this time, I varied my secondary lighting to illustrate two methods for separating your subject from the background. Formal business portraits are commonly taken against a black backdrop, which can result in the subject looking like a cardboard cutout because of the black […]
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Three tips about going business for self
Last night after Stacy and I finished our short conversation about the presidential election, we started talking about small businesses, and how most of them fail to turn a profit in the first or even second year. If I had to take a guess, I’d say that most entrepreneurs understand this even before starting up. So […]
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Radiopopper JrX & Flash Gun in Tandem
Photographing a wedding, it’s important that you have equipment that works as fast as you. The same works in reverse. You need to be able to push your gear. Ask a seasoned professional why they use the gear they use, and you’ll get an answer pertaining to its speed and reliability. Pertaining to image quality, […]
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The 5D MKIII Noise Performance
Photographers hate image noise. So much in fact, that when they hear ISO 12800, they cringe. Those days are nearing an end. With the release of the 5D MKIII, we’re venturing to guess that our usable ISO range (if we had a 5D MKIII) is somewhere around the 25600 mark. Insane. DPreview, with their hands […]
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