Tamron Recipes - Photography with Taylor Brumfield

Images copyright Taylor Brumfield. All rights reserved.

F/16 @ 1/160, ISO 100, Captured at 68mm

F.8 @ 1/160, ISO 100, Captured at 50mm

Missed any of the previous episodes of Tamron Recipes? They're all just a click away.

by Skip Cohen
 
​When Chamira and I started the Tamron Recipes project, we completely underestimated the diversity of the "Chefs" who would be sharing their journeys with us. The analogy of comparing artists to chefs becomes more and more appropriate with each post and podcast. And just like great chefs, there's always a common denominator in their focus - their love for the craft. 

For May and episode twenty-nine in the series, we're moving to an entirely new cuisine with Chef Taylor Brumfield. Based out of Virginia and a Tamron Image Master, she's a photographer, retoucher, and educator. Passionate about growing her skill set and business, she started her journey in portraiture, fashion, and beauty, but as you'll hear her discuss in the upcoming podcast, the pandemic made it necessary to pivot into product photography and animation.
 
Contact with every Tamron chef always starts with a phone call and a conversation about the project. Talking with Taylor, it was so easy to find a great quote that matches her dedication and love for the craft. 

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If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can,
​and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you - like a fever.
Sam Walton

I'll admit it's a quote that coming out of a pandemic might seem inappropriate, but after that first conversation with Taylor, her love for the craft, Tamron, and the industry was contagious. She believes in education, expanding her skillset, and helping other photographers to do the same.

​About the Lead Image: I had already been experimenting somewhat with adding active elements to my photography in order to elevate and broaden my client offerings. But those initial experiments were mostly stop motion where the actual product or aspects of the product were in motion or engaging with the environment.

I decided to start playing with the idea of “portals” where I open up pockets of the scene or of the product and introduce a second scene that strengthens the visual concept of the scene but isn’t necessarily something that would or could happen organically without digital manipulation. I think it brings a fantastical element to the scenes and engages the viewers imagination in a way that leaves them wanting to see more and really stretches the possibilities of what I am able to do with my personal work as well as my client work.  

We hope you'll take the time to visit Taylor's website, and if you've got an interest in expanding your skills to retouching, check out her classes.  

​Ingredients

​​Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: SP24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC G2 
Lighting: Aputure Light Storm LS C120D LED 
​Exposure: f/8 @ 1/160, ISO 100 
Focal Length: 38mm
Teathered: To Capture 1 with Tethertools cord 
Retouching: Retouch and animation entirely in Photoshop 

Note: Lighting for the pair of images above was with a  Profoto D1 500 Air + Zoom Reflector Tethered to Capture 1 using a Tethertools cord

While Taylor has a number of favorite Tamron lenses, for all three images in today's post she used the SP24-70mm F2.8 Di VC G2 lens. Click on the thumbnail to the right for more information, and join us on her podcast next week when she'll talk about the importance of diversity in your skill set and knowing when to pivot.

Tamron never slows down in their programs to help artists raise the bar on the quality of their images. Check out their listing of local events, all within the appropriate safety and physical distancing guidelines.

While I'm looking forward to the day when I don't feel the need to mention anything about the pandemic, some of you are still missing the point. Business is slowly coming back and creating some incredible opportunities for photographers to demonstrate leadership in creativity and marketing.

Hunkering down has always been about your health, NOT about growing as an artist and expanding your skillset. Growth only happens outside your comfort zone. Now it the time for you to increase activity in social media and spend time with your camera in your hands every day, capturing images for your most important client...YOU!

There are eight different lenses featured in Tamron's new rebate program - going on now through July 4. Click on the banner below for more information.

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Chef Taylor's new podcast is just a click away!