Posts Tagged ‘Rick Sammon’
Friday, July 30th, 2010
 Here’s the first installment in a series I plan to post on quick lighting tips. Let us know if you want to see more stuff on lighting – indoors and out.
These pictures were taken by Vered Koshlano, the co-author of my book, Studio and On-Location Lighting Secrets.
In the top photograph, a remote flash, mounted on a stand and placed in a softbox, was used to freeze the action of the model jumping. Compare the contrast and detail in that image to the second image. That image looks flat, because the day was overcast, and overcast days produce flat lighting.
The pictures below (clockwise, from top left) show:
• flat, overcast day lighting;
• how a reflector can brighten up the subject…
• how a flash creates even more contrast;
• and the remote flash set up that Vered used.
Explore the light,
Rick
Follow Rick and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Check out Vered's website here.
Tags: Lighting, outdoor lighting, Portrait, Rick Sammon
Posted in Articles, Creativity, Lighting, Quick Tip | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Here is a very quick tip: See the light.
Look for the direction of light (above: back light), the contrast range in a scene (above: medium), and the color of light (above: warm).
In the opening shot for this post, back light, which created beautiful rim light, makes the shot more than snapshot. The back light also adds a sense of depth to the image, much like a background light adds a sense of depth to a portrait.
Compare the light in the opening picture to the flat light in the photo below – which was taken in the shade.
Explore the light,
Rick
P.S. I took these pictures of the cute Bambie in my backyard this morning. Another tip: Always have a camera ready.
Tags: Light, Photo Tips, Rick Sammon
Posted in Articles, Lighting, Quick Tip | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Much as been written on the web about waiting years and years for all the elements in a scene to come together for a “once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
That’s all well and good, and sometimes it’s true.
But sometimes a good shot is just dumb luck. Here is an example.
In the above photograph, the five subjects are completely isolated, the side lighting is wonderful, the reflection is perfect, the background is effective in adding to the “sense of place” of the image, the dog adds an extra element of interest, and the exposure is good.
I even like the way the cowboy has his leg slightly lifted, and the way we can see the cowgirl’s silhouette.
Now, I could say that I waited years for a picture like this one. But in fact, it was just a dumb luck shot.
You see, I was co-teaching a workshop in Oregon. One night during dinner, one of the participants said, “Hey, look out the window, there is a great shot.”
We all stopped chowing down, grabbed our cameras, walked out on the porch, grabbed a shot, and went back to eating our pork and beans.
This is one of my favorite dumb luck shots, and dumb luck stories – once of many such stories.
The thing about dumb luck, however, is this: you have to be prepared for when those dumb luck moments present themselves to you. Keeping your camera handy, and knowing how to use it, increases your luck. So does understanding light, compensation, and lenses.
Below is another dumb luck shot. I was just in the right place (Mongolia) at the right time (festival) in the right conditions (overcast and dusty) and in the right location.
Explore the light – and good luck 
Rick
Keep up with Rick and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: learning, prepare, Rick Sammon, Travel Photography, visualize
Posted in Articles, Commentary, Viewpoint, Vision | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Photograph © Rick Sammon. All rights reserved.
Here are some quick tips for portrait shooters. Enjoy
- Make a photograph — don’t simply take one. Work with the subject, props, posing and lighting to create a unique image.
- The name of the game is to fill the frame. In other words, crop out the boring stuff in a scene so that the viewer’s attention is drawn to the main subject — immediately.
- Crop creatively. More often than not, a picture can be enhanced with basic cropping in the digital darkroom. Experiment with different crops. Also try to see pictures within a picture.
- Remember that light illuminates; shadows define. That is the first step to lighting a portrait.
- Carefully light the scene. In this case, I used a combination of available light and the light from a flash to create a well-lit portrait.
- Choose your lens wisely. Think about how the focal length and f-stop will affect the end result. Use at least a medium telephoto lens (85mm) for head and shoulder shot. Wider-angle lenses are okay for environmental portraits (like this one).
- Carefully pose your subject. Pay special attention to where the subject is looking (toward or away from the camera). Also pay attention to the hands.
- Shoot RAW files because they are more forgiving than JPEG files – and because you can rescue more from overexposed highlight areas than you can from JPEG files.
- Use the lowest possible ISO for the cleanest (little or no noise) possible shot.
- Don’t over saturate an image in Photoshop (or Aperture or Lightroom or anywhere.) When areas of an image are oversaturated, details can be softened and lost. If the reds here had been over saturated, the detail and the folds in the dress could have been lost.
- Think selectively. Apply adjustments (especially sharpening) to select areas of an image rather than applying them globally (to the entire image).
- Always sharpen an image as the final step – before you save your file as a TIFF file or PSD files with all those adjustment layers (just in case you change your mind about how you enhanced your image.)
Explore the light,
Rick
Keep up with Rick at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: learning, Portrait, portraits, Rick Sammon, Tips and Tricks
Posted in Articles, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 31st, 2010
Photographs © Rick Sammon
Canon 15mm lens (above). Canon 24-105mm lens (below).
Both: Canon 5D Mark II.
Last month my photography workshop brought us to the Sister’s Meal Festival in a remote area of China. It’s truly an amazing experience: hundreds of women get dressed in heavy silver and cloth outfits and perform a dance in the hope of attracting a husband.
The outfits weigh more than 40 pounds. Dancing in the hot sun for hours can’t be fun.
Anyway, the light was bad: harsh, direct sunlight. Adding to the challenge, the silver head dresses reflected the bright light, and the subject’s faces were shaded by the headdresses. Aaargh!
To remedy that situation, we used our flashes for daylight fill-in flash, and a reflector and a diffuser – accessories that compress the brightness range of a scene so that it can easily be recorded by a digital camera, without blown-out highlights and dark shadows.
Because we were prepared for the worst, we were able to get evenly exposed images like the one below.
To help capture and convey the excitement and size of the event, I used my 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens and held it above my head and tilted it downward for a unique viewpoint. This lens is great for capturing large groups, because it enhances the way a scene is recorded – capturing an extremely wide scene and exaggerating perspective.
The idea today was to “tell the whole story” of the festival. Telling the whole story can easily be accomplished simply by taking wide-angle shots and close-up shots – and everything in between. Everyone did a great job. More story-telling photos to come.
If you are interested in joining my 2011 China workshop, shoot me an email at email hidden; JavaScript is required. DPE’s Juan Pons will most likely join the fun!
Explore the light – and explore telling the whole story.
Rick
Keep up with Rick and Juan at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: china, learning, Photo Tips, Rick Sammon, Workshops
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip, Workshops | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
If you are interested in Social Media Marketing (and in expanding your business), check out Rick's new iPhone App Social Media Marketing for Photographers (iTunes link).
Today, Social Media Marketing is marketing. Now, more than ever, photographers, as well as all those involved in creative endeavors, need to market their work, locally, nationally and internationally. That’s the focus of this comprehensive app. Juan Pons, the co-creator of the Digital Photo Experience, put this app together.
The app is an audio/video recording of Rick's Keynote presentation on social media marketing. It’s like taking a private 1.5-hour lesson on this all-important subject.
Movie times:
Part 1 – 24 minutes
Part 2 – 26 minutes
Part 3 – 17 minutes
Part 4 – 12 minutes
Part 5 – 11 minutes
Total: 90 minutes.
Rick recommends that you watch the movies in order to get the most out of the app.
Rick covers social media marketing tools such as Twitter, Tweetdeck, Google Analytics, Quitter and more. Rick gets you to think about marketing your work daily, and also touches on traditional book publishing and apps.
In addition, Rick has included a few of his favorite photography techniques!
The app is packed with marketing tips illustrated with Rick's photographs that relate to the tips given, to make learning fun.
This is Rick's second app. His first app, co-developed with Dr. Dave Wilson, is Rick Sammon’s 24/7 Photo Buffet. (iTunes link).
Keep up with Rick and Juan at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: DPE, iPhone, learning, Photo Tips, Rick Sammon, social media
Posted in Articles, Creativity, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
The path to greatness is along with others. – Baltasar Gracion
I am kinda big on quotes – because they drive home a point quickly. Lately, I have been having fun matching famous quotes with some of my wildlife pictures – as illustrated here by this picture that I took by the Mara River in Kenya.
If you are young and starting a business, or have been around and are looking to begin a new venture, perhaps the best advice any seasoned/sharing pro would offer is to do what the wildebeest and zebra are doing in this picture: working together as a team for a common goal (to get across the river uneaten in this case).
Find a trusting partner or partners that can help you along to the path of greatness.
Explore the Light,
Rick
Make sure and check out Rick Sammon and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: DPE, quotes, Rick Sammon, Wildlife
Posted in Articles, Commentary, Viewpoint | No Comments »
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The Dumb Luck Shot
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Much as been written on the web about waiting years and years for all the elements in a scene to come together for a “once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
That’s all well and good, and sometimes it’s true.
But sometimes a good shot is just dumb luck. Here is an example.
In the above photograph, the five subjects are completely isolated, the side lighting is wonderful, the reflection is perfect, the background is effective in adding to the “sense of place” of the image, the dog adds an extra element of interest, and the exposure is good.
I even like the way the cowboy has his leg slightly lifted, and the way we can see the cowgirl’s silhouette.
Now, I could say that I waited years for a picture like this one. But in fact, it was just a dumb luck shot.
You see, I was co-teaching a workshop in Oregon. One night during dinner, one of the participants said, “Hey, look out the window, there is a great shot.”
We all stopped chowing down, grabbed our cameras, walked out on the porch, grabbed a shot, and went back to eating our pork and beans.
This is one of my favorite dumb luck shots, and dumb luck stories – once of many such stories.
The thing about dumb luck, however, is this: you have to be prepared for when those dumb luck moments present themselves to you. Keeping your camera handy, and knowing how to use it, increases your luck. So does understanding light, compensation, and lenses.
Below is another dumb luck shot. I was just in the right place (Mongolia) at the right time (festival) in the right conditions (overcast and dusty) and in the right location.
Explore the light – and good luck
Rick
Keep up with Rick and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: learning, prepare, Rick Sammon, Travel Photography, visualize
Posted in Articles, Commentary, Viewpoint, Vision | 1 Comment »