It is FREE and so very entertaining

http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom

Over the past year or so I have wondered onto this site a number of times.  The entertainment value has been extraordinary.

You learn and get exposed to new things and it's all done with humor and simplistic approaches.


Here is what Zack Arias had to say about these folks on his own blog.

"I’ve been a big fan of these fine folks for some time. This is Lok, Kai, and Alamby who make up the DigitalRev team. It’s hard to describe exactly what they do but suffice it to say that they are the Top Gear of photography. Or should I say, Top Gear is the DigitalRev of cars. Kai (in the center) is the mastermind behind the most subscribed to photography channel on YouTube. He’s irreverent, hysterical, and completely brilliant. Lok and Alamby are perfect  and grounded compliments to Kai’s insanity. They are my favorite photography personalities ever. It’s the understatement of the year to say that I was honored to get to meet them and take part in their ongoing “Pro Photographer. Cheap Camera.” series.
I met up with the trio in the Mong Kok area of Hong Kong this week to find out what my challenge would be and what cheap P.O.S. camera I would be armed with to meet their challenge. Kai showed up with an old Kodak C142 point and shoot and an old Nikon flash. My challenge was to shoot people on the street but I had to use the flash. The first challenge was figuring out if I could get the flash to sync with the camera. Once we found a way to get that going then I had to find subjects in low light areas so the flash on the camera would fire. I could not force it to fire at all times. There was zero exposure control on that crap ass camera and zero control as to where it would focus. It was the kind of camera that makes you wonder how point and shoots ever progressed and was a good example of why Kodak failed in the Point and Miss category of cameras.
So here is the result of my challenge. It was so much fun. I sort of went all fan boy on them when I saw them! A selection of images follows the video."

The topics are limitless, and you can find review, challenges, and just about anything related to photography within the boundaries of this site.

Bookmark it and when you have some time, pick out a couple of videos and enjoy.

I think you will find their style and knowledge well worth the time investment.

 

Penn [4] is mightier than the Sword!

Irving Penn [number 4 for those keeping count]

An artist whose work I happened across this semester in my quest to find a homage candidate.

I do so enjoy a portrait session to pass the time of day.  And Irving Penn has done so many fine pieces of work to admire and learn from.

I discovered that a foundation exists to promote his work.  Always nice to see that efforts of this kind exist to help preserve art for all to enjoy.  I worry that some forms of art and music will continue to suffer funding and continue to fade away from our daily lives.  I firmly believe in preservation of classics in the art and music world.  I do what I can to help in several local charities.  The St. Louis Artist Guild is one.  Missouri Botanical Gardens another.   

http://irvingpenn.org/

One of my favorite images from Mr. Penn.  Simple but at the same time a complex construction of lighting and positioning to get these results. 

First Official Lab Time for me today

Needed to bring in all my stuff, paper, supplies that will be handy for working in the lab.  Set up both the BW and Digital Photo II lockers with those items.

Located, and I mean looked high and low for the original RAW files for those images I wish to present on Tuesday for potential use in the St. Charles County Art Council Exhibit.  I have only three days to now re-evaluate my choices, see if the original TIFF files are worthy or should I redo them.

Post production work is always a process that shows visible improvement over time.  Software improves, my personal learning of the use of the software improves [gosh I sure hope it does over time and repetitive use] and exposure to other's work and seeing what can be done is bound to sink in eventually.

What does not change I find is that if a photo is decent enough, it will hold up over time.  It's essential elements should be present.  It might be just a tweak of exposure in some dark shadow or a touch of vibrance or maybe a touch of dark vignette to frame the subject better.

My work is in front of me.  I hope and truly believe that my best work is yet to come.  I have seen good enough in the past when shooting to envision something and produce an image worthy of my vision.  As I improve as I believe we all do [different timelines, different paces] I trust my ability to see things and then produce an image that depicts that vision will work.

My goal is to enjoy the process, not to rush thru it.  Not that a grade is not important, I would not be human if I said it did not matter.  It does, but I really want to learn more about how I approach my photography.  Putting myself into my work. Finding the satisfaction in what I am doing and why I am doing it.

I hope this semesters classmates will share with me this passion and joy and we can have a great time doing what we all do best.  Photog!

Adam Marelli [3] - Classical Art and Photography

I encourage all to view this video.  It's topic of Classical ART and Photography is worthy of your time and effort.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/classical-art-photography/

I get a subscription from this site on nearly a daily basis.  The TIPS they provide are varied and very informative.  I find many that support my advancement in the world of photography.

Today, I took the time to watch this lengthy [nearly an hour and half long] video.  But it brought me back to my art days, when I had paint brushes, clay and other mediums in my hands.  Long before a camera.

I enjoyed the very specific manner in which Adam Marelli gives you his view on what the photographer can do to control his / her imagery, to produce outcomes that are better than just the average photo.

It was good to hear that lessons can be learned and practice and experimentation can result in an elevation of our work.

http://www.adammarelliphoto.com/


I will be exploring more about Mr. Marelli as time permits.  His approach to photography is a pleasant blend of the art and process.  His focus on using ones native skill and ability and knowledge to PRODUCE a piece of work is pointed and encouraging for me.

He  is a student of THE DECISIVE MOMENT

ZACK ARIAS: [2] Some one really new for me

I had found this person last week and made it a draft for this week's posting, not knowing we would have the class assignment for a presentation.  In my group, we discussed and reviewed a number of photog artists and I had proposed Zack as our person of interest.  And as it turns out, we look to be going with him.  Funny how things turn out sometimes.

So anyway......

If you do not know me well, suffice it to say I can stay up very late sometimes and do lots of work on various things photo related, taxes for my personal or business, or even take photos in my home studio.  This night in question, it was all things DPII.

I was following a path thru the the world wide web, seeking knowledge, pursuing my craft.

I happened upon a photographer out of Atlanta, GA area.

ZACK ARIAS.  I watched a video of him sharing his plight with Signal and Noise.  It had a soundtrack that was pleasant and being a lover of good music, I pursued that path, it turns out it was his wife and she is a professional and that led me further to another video of Zach doing a challenge of using a really cheap camera with an off camera flash with minimal functionality in a foreign land, with little common language available.

The path I took was simply exciting.

I happened upon the video that started my journey, liking it a lot.  It sets up the common issue most everyone will encounter when they get stuck, and he offers up some solutions to think about, to try.  His message is to find the right path to keep moving and not get stuck with too many details.

http://zackarias.com/uncategorized/signal-noise-produced-for-scottkelby-com/

This is five minutes well spent in my opinion.  And after watching and listening, I then needed to pursue the music that played during the video.  I do that a lot, watching a show and hearing a soundtrack is one of those hot pursuit paths I do a lot.  Many shows spend good money and effort to find that perfect tune to give the viewer a complete experience of audio as well as visual pleasure.

I find that when  tune sticks in my head, I will typically remember the event that occurred when I heard the music.  I guess that is what most producers are going for, to remember their show or product when you run across that song.

That led me to:  What is the song, and who sings it.

It turned out that Zack 's wife Meghan is the writer and artist singing the song.  And she has others that are equally compelling for me, at least.   Check her out.

http://meghanarias.com/

And her blog


http://meghanarias.com/blog/

the song posting is at

http://meghanarias.com/2013/01/16/polly/


And not sure how I got to the next level of fun things, but it happened on my iPad, and the junk at the bottom had a list of videos that might be of interest to me.  So I saw one, with the Zack man again, doing this challenge and it was as I have grown to love about the group that produces these videos.  Educational and truly enlightening about how you can do so much with so little if you have the talent and skill to SEE the image.  The gear can be of minimalist means.

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/23/zack-arias-attempts-pro-photos-with-a-cheap-camera/

All in all a bit of time that paid me back exponentially.  I have seen a number of this series, the host is a riot to watch, and seriously down to earth with practical advice on many topics and approaches.  This challenge series is just one of another of his genius offerings.

Zack's web site:

http://zackarias.com/

New Semester - MONTE ZUCKER [1]

School has finally started up again.  It was a long break, too long for those that have the itch for learning burning a hole in their brain.

Taking two courses this semester.  Digital Photo II and Black and White Film Photography I.

So This blog might have items that mix and match the courses, or I might start a new one to accommodate the Film course separately, we shall see how it goes.


Monte Zucker:  I do not remember if I had brought his name up previously, but even if I have, he is worthy of a new posting and mention.

http://www.montezucker.com/

I first got exposed to his work and his methods of portraiture almost 8 years ago.  I was attempting to complete course work in NYIP [New York Institute of Photography, a long distance learning group]  They had him as a keynote guest instructor on their videos.  I retook the course and completed it several years later [my first stint was cut short due to medical reasons, a couple of heart surgeries and cancer, but I am alive and doing fairly well these days]

The course was updated with DVD's and some online work, and I got to see Monte work his magic in setting up simple but stunning lighting for a person.  His concept was to evaluate the facial features first.  And decide which side was the better main light side to work from.  Then he would build his lighting from that point.  Most everyone has a better side.

As my skills as evaluating this are still being honed, I tend to shoot from BOTH sides during a shoot, just to cover all the bases.  I do see that his assessment of a singular good side is very true though.  I find very few people have both sides as worthy of final outcomes for use.

The one thing I learned most from Monte is that finding a style and using it to get consistent results is not a bad thing.  It can be limiting some might argue.  And yes I agree that as artist and practicing photographers we should be able to accommodate a variety of styles and schemes.  We are not hurt by the fact we have a specific concept to produce stellar results.  It is a challenge to get such results when the environment is not ideal for our lighting set up.  Using the tools available to get these results is where we can shine as artists and skilled photographers.

We might not have the strobes or speedlights.  Maybe only a window and a reflector or piece of cardboard.  Making due with the things around us.

The key to success is seeing the image, the fall of the shadows on the face.  The positioning of the subject.  These are classic elements to establishing a style that is fruitfully productive in terms of outcome and easily repeatable for us as technicians of our trade.

So my shot out to those reading this, do YOU have a fall back position for lighting that allows you to get great results time after time?  Do you know which way to point a person's face to get their BEST side?

If you do not or want to learn more about how to up your game in this area, then check out MONTE ZUCKER's educational opportunities.  His efforts are continued by his colleagues  He has passed on from our world, but his work continues through these folks.  They came thru STL last year holding a day long hands on seminar.  it was a very good program, well worth the time and money in my opinion.