Intro by Skip Cohen At the beginning of January, in a post called "Why I Love This Blog", I put out a request for an idea for a new weekly feature, "How I Got Started." Teri Hofford sent me her story. I want to thank Teri for this post, but there's a funny sidebar. The first image I opened is on the right. Since it was such an amateur looking shot, my first reaction was to not open any other images. It wasn't until I actually read Teri's story that I realized she was only twelve when she took this image. Seriously, how many of us actually have our first image or even remember what it was? If you'd like to find out more about Teri and her work, check out her site. In terms of future stories about how you got started, here's what I'm looking for. Who's been your inspiration? What made you fall in love with photography? This is real simple and meant to be fun, not feel like a homework assignment from when you were a kid. It's 200-400 words, (I'm happy to edit it for you) a head shot of you, a link to your website and 1-2 images you're most proud of. Images only need to be 5x7 equivalent at 72 dpi...and obviously YOURS! Send it all to my email, skip@mei500.com. Okay, so who's next to share how they got started? Growing up in a small town, my fashion inspiration as a child was the Sears catalogue plus my mom's sewing pattern books. I used to love looking through these and decided one day in grade 7 to take my awesome Kodak Point and Shoot to school, I put the grade one kids up on the play structures like I saw in the pattern books and took some "amazing" shots. I came across one the other day and have included it here. Fast forward to 2005 and I find myself 23 and in Busan, South Korea. I wanted to get into plus size modeling so I purchased my first "big" camera (Olympus E-Volt 500) and starting taking pictures of myself. I soon realized that I enjoyed being BEHIND the camera much more than being in front of it. Once I got back to Canada I started working as a part time photographer to grow my craft, doing weddings and portraits. It was within the last 3 years that I finally quit my full time job and launched photography full time. I now run a successful wedding and boudoir business and haven't looked back since. In fact, one of the girls in the first picture ended up being one of my brides! I like to think that both my work and fashion inspiration have improved significantly since grade 7. I love looking at my past work to see how far I have come and hope to continue growing. Images copyright Teri Hollord. All rights reserved.
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At every wedding Justin & I do, we try to make sure to get what we call “The Iconic Bridal Portrait.” This is a picture of our bride: young, in love, beautiful, and full of hope and promise for the lifetime ahead. Like we always tell our brides, we don’t really take these pictures just for her. We take them for her future granddaughter to find one day. Mary Marantz Every two weeks last year I posted a new episode of "Walk Through a Wedding" with Justin and Mary Marantz. About half way through the year, we added a new feature called "Walking the Talk", with images from real weddings, tying back to the topic of each Profoto "how-to" episode. All of the episodes are on the Profoto site, but just because the series is over doesn't mean we can't still share images from one of the strongest couples in photography and education today. After the "Mind Your Own Business" webcast last week I asked Mary and Justin for permission to share some additional images. What I wanted was iconic portraits, the ones that not only pay the bills, but build your reputation. I not only received some stunning images but a couple of terrific comment from Mary. Here's one that really puts it all in perspective. When we shoot, we shoot for the silver frame. Because we know every time we push the button, these images have to last a lifetime. Justin and Mary have a brand new website, just launched last week, and it's definitely worth your time to check it out. Plus, at the time of writing this post, they have just TWO spots left at their two-day April Walk Through a Wedding w/ J&M workshop in New Haven, CT. As a wedding photographer, no matter what your style of shooting might be, you need to understand how to capture a stunning traditional bridal portrait. Justin and Mary are just the couple to help you understanding lighting, posing and how to build a great relationship with your clients, so you get natural expressions to match the look and feel of each image. Images copyright Justin and Mary Marantz. All rights reserved.
It's Tamron Tuesday and time for another profile of a Tamron Image Master. Meet Mike Moats, who's in the spotlight today. Mike is an award winning, professional nature photographer from Sterling Heights, Michigan. As with all of Tamron's Image Masters, going through his galleries and picking out images to share with you in a spotlight post wasn't easy. Every image is stunning. Visit his site and see for yourself. On Tamron's Image Masters page Mike wrote... "I started shooting as a hobby in 2001 and it quickly grew into a full time business. To date I’ve had articles and images published in, Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Natures Best Magazine, Nature Photographer Magazine, Photolife, Whisper In The Woods, Michigan Game Finder, NANPA’s Expressions Books, Pure Michigan Book, and Fujifilms Newsletter (Cable Release). I have won numerous local and international awards, and in 2006 was asked to join the Fuji Pro Talent Team. In 2006 I started offering Close-Up/Macro Photography Workshops. My first book was released in October 2008 called Tiny Landscapes. This is a how-to book for macro photography in nature. In 2009 I began offering online macro workshops and just released two new eBooks, "Macro Workshop eBook" and "Running A Successful Nature Photography Business". You should put Mike on your radar and check out his macro workshops. Information is on his website and definitely pay attention to his blog. Mike's got an extensive workshop schedule, well worth your time to look into and study with one of the best! Mike's Tamron Gear Box 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (model B008) SP 60mm F/2.0 Di II Macro (model G005) SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC Macro (model F004) Images copyright Mike Moats. All rights reserved.
In early January I published a post called "Why I Love This Blog". That post started an idea for a new weekly feature called "How I Got Started." I'm just going to keep sharing them until I run out, but here's what I'm looking for: Stories about how you got started. Who's been your inspiration? What made you fall in love with photography? This is real simple and meant to be fun, not feel like a homework assignment from when you were a kid. It's 200-400 words, (I'm happy to edit it for you) a head shot of you, a link to your website and 1-2 images you're most proud of. Images only need to be 5x7 equivalent at 72 dpi...and obviously YOURS! Send it all to my email, skip@mei500.com. I want to thank Pete Wilson for today's post. He's a UK photographer, but there's a special twist on his story. Nikkie Tatton, his fiancé, sent in the first "how I got started" story. They're in business together and about to be lifetime partners, not just business associates. Pete and Nikkie are First Light Photography if you'd like to find out more about them and their business. I'm not sure if it's the stories I like the most or the fact that it's going to be fun following Pete and Nikkie's careers as wedding photographers. Okay, so who's next to share how they got started. My name is Pete Wilson. At 18 I started working in Jessops in Plymouth as a Saturday job. I had no idea about photography, but they took me on as I was studying computers so they thought I was technically minded. It didn’t take long to start learning the differences between the SLR cameras we sold, what aperture, shutter-speed and ISO were and how they affected the photo. After about 6 months I bought my first camera; an Olympus OM1 with 50mm f1.8 lens. Using black and white films I started to experiment. I was lucky if I got one decent shot out a role of film, but was also lucky I had plenty of people around me for advice. After a couple of years I was asked by my girlfriends' dad, Mike, if I’d like to second-shoot for his weddings. (He’d been a school photographer for a few years and was starting do a lot of weddings). Although nervous at the time, I saw it as a really good opportunity to have a go at what I considered to be the most difficult area of photography, as well as using my new Canon 10D. I was able to hide in the background and snipe the more natural/unexpected type of shots I had seen in magazines and loved, whilst Mike shot the formalities. I did around 20 weddings with Mike and learnt a lot, but after a split with my girlfriend I did not continue to shoot for him. Knowing that I’d done weddings and was a keen amateur photographer, I had close family members ask if I would photograph their weddings and christenings. As they were not paying, they didn’t expect ‘professional’ results and would be happy with whatever they got. This took the stress away and allowed me to further my experience without risk. When I met my now fiancé Nikkie, whilst she had no prior photography experience, I knew she had a very keen eye for a good photograph and was also technically minded. We borrowed my sister's Canon 450D and she came with me for a wedding. We got paid £100 between us. She was actually really good. We ended up with double the amount of photos to give the couple and they were pleased. We did a few more small gatherings and practiced a lot as a couple with her kids, the dog, family…etc…until she was more confident using the camera, knew what most of the features did and how they affected the photo. We had a web design business and decided to build a website, price ourselves at the low end of the market and see what work (if any) we could get using Google Adwords. Suprisingly to us both, we started getting enquiries straight away. We met with the couples and quickly learnt that it was our positive attitude (and cheap prices) that our clients liked and in our first year did 33 weddings and are now planning to discontinue the website business in favor of going full-time with weddings. We have learnt a MASSIVE amount in our first year about how to run a business, how to further our photography skills and also how to sell ourselves as professional, reliable and technically able photographers. We have had amazing reviews from all of our clients. We are very proud of not just our portfolio, but also what we have achieved as business people. We are getting married ourselves this June and are both very excited about our future careers together as full-time husband and wife wedding photographers. Profoto's "Walk Through a Wedding" series might have ended in December, but the content they shared, featuring Justin and Mary Marantz is an amazing body of work. The last episode of Walk Through a Wedding was all about the sparkler exit. Justin and Mary take you through their technique in the short video below. I've loved every video produced in the series, but the comment so often has been that they're not real world. They don't reflect all the challenges happening during a real event. Of course they don't. They weren't supposed to. These are all good solid technical "how-to" pieces, but that's why I started "Walking the Talk". The images below the video are all from real weddings...nothing scripted - just Justin and Mary doing what they do best...showing how they can walk the talk! A big thanks to Profoto USA for their non-stop support of education and incredible lighting equipment, especially the new B1, the off-camera flash so many people have referred to as a "game-changer"! ...and when Justin and Mary walk the talk! Images copyright Justin and Mary Marantz. All rights reserved.
It's a new year and time for a new Tamron Tuesday profile of another Tamron Image Master. David Akoubian is in the spotlight today. David is no stranger to SCU and shared a guest post with stunning images in July of 2013, with some great how-to help when it comes to dragging the shutter. Then he joined me on a podcast. What I personally enjoy most about David's work is his focus (pun intended) on the extremes, looking at the landscape in ways we don't see and then zeroing in on the macro world, showing even more of what we miss. It was no easy task visiting his galleries and picking out my favorite images, because there's pretty much nothing David can't photograph. Take a look for yourself and you'll see what I mean. This is about passion for every subject and every pixel! On Tamron's Image Masters page David is described as... David has been photographing for about 40 years and working as a nature photographer since 1993. He specializes in the grand and micro landscape. Having learned his craft from some of the legends of the nature field, his work is the combination of “old school” technical and draws the compositional aspect from his days training as an illustrator. David has been an instructor for 20 years as well, sharing his love and knowledge of photography and nature with students and camera clubs. David’s work has been featured in galleries, calendars, magazines and textbooks. His client list includes but is not limited to: Blue Ridge Country magazine, Nature Photographer Magazine, Birder’s World, PNC Bank, Scholastic Books, The Mountain Conservation Trust of Georgia, Vanguard Photo, and Tamron. His work has been used in advertorial pieces as well in Outdoor Photographer, Audubon Magazine, Shutterbug Magazine as well as other popular photography magazines. David lectures and leads photography workshops and tours across the US. David needs to be on your radar. Check out his website, follow him on Facebook and definitely pay attention to his blog. David's Tamron Gear Box 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III for Sony NEX (model B011) 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (model B008) SP 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II (model B001) SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC (model B005) SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC (model A007) SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di (model A005) SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC (model A009) SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC (model A011) SP 200-500mm F/5-6.3 Di (model A08) SP 60mm F/2.0 Di II (model G005) SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC (model F004) SP 180mm F/3.5 Di (model B01) Images copyright David Akoubian. All rights reserved.
Intro by Skip Cohen Just into the new year I published a post called, "Why I Love This Blog". The post was the short version of how this blog became a reality and a couple of the challenges along the way. Every photographer remembers the key points in how they got started, what drew them to photography and who were the people involved who helped them focus, not with their camera, but with their heart. So, this is going to be a new feature and we'll run a story a week until I run out. I'm looking for stories about how you got started. What was your first camera? Who's been your inspiration? Who planted that first seed about photography? It's 200-400 words, a head shot of you, a link to your website and 1-2 images you're most proud of. Images only need to be 5x7 equivalent at 72 dpi...and obviously YOURS! Send it all to my email, skip@mei500.com. A big thanks to UK photographer, Nikkie Tatton of First Light Wedding Photography, who was literally the first person to respond! What a kick to read her story...and for those of you who will be critical of her starting point and have forgotten what it was like when you first started, Nikkie has only been out shooting for a little over a year...she's definitely a newbie, but I couldn't be more proud to share her story, because she's passionate about what she's doing. She's focused on the effort it takes to never stop learning and paying attention to what her clients want and building relationships. The fun of a newbie's story like this will be following her growth with the hope that her passion keeps evolving in her skill set and future success. I’m Nikkie Tatton and I’ve been a wedding photographer for 15 months, going from zero knowledge of photography to co-running a successful business in that time. I’m the kind of photographer who takes a lot of stick from our Facebook group for how I started, but I’m proud of my background and what I’ve achieved. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am not a formally trained photographer in any capacity. My journey, at 32 years old, started 2 years ago when my fiancé Pete photographed a wedding for a friend. Pete had wedding experience, but I had never held a DSLR before - didn’t even know what one was! I knew nothing about ISO, DOF, shutter speed, aperture or any of the other strange words I heard. But I was just there as an extra and my photos were a bonus - Pete was paid £100 only. My images came out well - I had a natural eye for photography. But I discovered how much I enjoyed photography and wanted to learn more. I found it hard at first - photography was a foreign language to me & I thought I’d never understand it. But I learned by doing - photography came instinctively to me - I knew how I wanted my pictures to look along with how to achieve them long before I understood the technical terms for what I was doing. I bought a beginner's DSLR, a Canon 700D and took shots of the kids, friends, dogs – anything & everything. We decided that with Pete’s experience, wedding photography could become a part time source of income. We built a website, using the wedding we had done together plus one other of his for our portfolio. We didn’t expect much, but got our first enquiry & booking after 10 days. Our first paid wedding was 6 weeks later and I was hugely nervous. But the couple knew we had just set up & were happy. I planned that wedding in minute detail - visiting the venue, researching shots, deciding exactly where to take each of the posed shots. It was a massive success & many of these photos are still in our portfolio. Fast forward to now and we have shot 35 weddings. We are both primary shooters – specializing in different aspects. I learned Photoshop & Lightroom and I edit all our wedding photos, having developed a style we both love. I research photography techniques & styles every week. But I have learned the most ‘on the job’, by actually photographing weddings. I will always feel nervous when we send couples their photos and I will always feel proud when they tell us we have truly captured their day. I am also incredibly proud of the relationship we have with our couples - many of them are firm friends afterwards and these relationships are as important as the photography. It's the social side of "social media" that makes the world a smaller place and here's a prime example. I met Kevin Gilligan through Tamron USA. He's a Tamron Image Master and a short time ago I did a Spotlight Profile about Kevin. I always check with each artist being featured before their post runs, so I picked up the phone and called him. That led to a couple of follow-up conversations about his business and *poof* a terrific friendship was started. Seriously, when was the last time you picked up a phone and just had a conversation with somebody you barely knew? We text, we email, post and tweet, but NOTHING trumps actually talking to somebody. Well, ever talk with somebody and then feel like you've known them most of your life? That's what I felt in my conversation with Kevin, but I also had a chance to look at more of his work and I want to share some images that are simply out of the norm... Kevin's a diehard artist with a passion to dissect the world most of us see, but he looks for those moments we might miss. I was first drawn into his work with this image of a surfer, but during our last conversation he told me all about wanting to shoot part of the South Bay coastline from the air. So, off he went in a private plane with only one purpose, to photograph the coastline of Los Angeles from a Cessna. Over the last couple years you've heard a lot about special projects. In fact, both Matthew Jordan Smith and Kevin Kubota have talked a lot about them. Not every project has to have a direct purpose, at least not in the beginning. Now and then you need to just get out with a camera in your hands and shoot for the fun of it. You need special projects to get your blood flowing and push your creativity to the max. A big thanks to Kevin for allowing me to share his images and to Tamron who introduced us! The fun of this industry is about relationships and between Kevin, the other Image Masters and the staff at Tamron, I feel pretty lucky to have all of them in my network. A blog like this is limited on the size I can share these images. Take a look at any image at double the size just by clicking on it. Kevin's Tamron Gear Box
SP 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II (model B001) SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC (model A007) 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (model B016) 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD (model B008) SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC (model A011) SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC Macro (model F004) Intro by Skip Cohen I got the email below from good buddy Lou Jones the other day and I loved it. I've even shared it with you in the E.E. Cummings stye he wrote it in. Lou's definitely an artist...and an author too! He was in Chicago to photograph the Little League World Champions, but Mother Nature had her own idea of baseball. She threw him nothing but curveballs with some incredible fog. Stay tuned, more images coming! This is going to be a two-part guest post. We'll be sharing the images he did get and how he improvised, once the images are released for publication. A big thanks to Lou's right hand on this assignment, Mike DeStefano, who sent me the image below. There's a terrific lesson here...think about your biggest assignment, the one you loved doing, the one you felt was a signature for the way you'd always love to work. Now, think about what would have happened if something went totally wrong. What if your camera died on you? What if your flash just wouldn't sync? What if the subject was ill? What if there was a fire at the event location and you had to move? What if all your gear was stolen? What if YOU didn't feel good? Seriously, take the time to think through each question and then always have a backup plan. One of the things that makes a photographer like Lou, truly great, is knowing what to do when you have to implement "Plan B"...things don't always go the way you thought they would. Lou Jones should definitely be on your radar, check out his site and if you see him scheduled to be speaking anywhere on planet earth, run, don't walk to get a seat! You'll never be disappointed. dateline chicago by lou jonessinatra sang "my kind of town..." and sandburg cited "city of the big shoulders"...
bad weather has been plaguing us for the last seven weeks pain & snow here we are socked in by fog sandburg also declared it "comes on little cat feet" across the street i cant see the top of the hancock building, but holiday parties are visible through the lower windows we're here to photograph little league world champions having the biggest parade ever follow them through the streets they carried the weight of USA on their small shoulders last summer Every week we do another Tamron Tuesday post. Over the last few weeks we've been featuring Tamron's Image Masters. This week's spotlight profile is all about Erik Valind and it's a kick to share his work with you. He's been involved a few times on the SCU site with a guest post and a podcast. I enjoyed his approach to photography so much that I went to Amazon and bought his book, "Portrait Photography - From Snapshots to Great Shots". So, he's an artist, a photographer, an educator and a writer. Even more fun for me personally is the fact that he grew up in this area and I'm hoping we catch up on his next trip to Florida. On his Image Masters' page, Erik is described as: ...a freelance photographer, born and raised on the Florida beaches, now living in New York City. Specializing in commercial lifestyle photography and environmental portraiture - airy and energetic imagery defines the style and vision of this top pro photographer. Inspired by the form, activity and diversity of people, Erik has lent his expertise to shape the public image of numerous personas and national brands. Erik also shares his visual approach, techniques and passion for photography internationally as a speaker at major photo conferences, as an author, and online as a Kelby Training instructor. Make sure Erik is on your radar and visit his site and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You won't be disappointed. Erik's Tamron Gear Box SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC (model A007) SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD (model A009) SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC Macro (model F004) It's always tough to pick out images that represent the work of each Image Master, because they're such a diverse and talented group. I've done my best with Erik's, but to really appreciate his style you need to visit his website. Images copyright Erik Valind. All rights reserved.
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