Wendy Tokuda is a real star. Besides being an anchorwoman and reporter at KPIX (CBS) in the Bay Area, she’s a real advocate for the environment. But Wendy isn’t one of those “this is what should be done types”, but rather she’s a real go-getter. For her insatiable energy and religious devotion to the environment, she’s being written up in a Bay Area magazine.
So I went over to SF to walk around the park during the first game of the World Series. It was such an amazing scene there, alive with life and personality. Residents of SF really seem to love their city. I mean love it! Given the rates for room and board here, I guess you’d better like what you’re getting into, because it’s cheaper to live almost anywhere else in California… or the world for that matter!
This said, it was great to be around the energy of the place. I tried to catch some of the excitement in the next few shots. Go Giants!
I am excited to see the work DIY (http://www.diyphotography.net/) is doing on beauty dishes. I think that photographers are inherently do-it-yourself types, so I really enjoy the inspiration from this site in particular.
Notably, getting great light from a single strobe is HUGE. I mean really big. No one wants a photo shoot to require so much gear that a sherpa is needed. So the dish works wonderfully for environmental portraits, indoor portraits and even an occasional product shot. I highly recommend the terra cotta version which runs about $17 to make. Really, the key parts of this set up actually run under $10 if you can borrow some paint from Grandpas garage.
DIY did this great side-by-side comparison of two different builds. Here’s a link to the 2 beauty dishes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isayx3/2812691251/
I thought the results were pretty clear cut. The right photo is livelier, brighter and carries more detail. So I wrote about it. Well, the folks at DIY humored me and here are my 15 minutes of fame!
Funny 🙂
So I’ve been busy not posting since I’m redesigning my photography website. I want my site to be set up with room to grow. I wanted a “smart phone”, not just a phone booth of a site. Here are my thoughts on the topic.
If you view any of the better business sites out there they have the following features in common:
1. fast upload to viewers computer – don’t forget the 14.4kb set-ups out there!
2. clean, simple design with a reasonable number of places to click – little distractions are another possibility that someone will loose their interest in your site. keep the audience firmly planted at your site.
3. easy access to the most used pages right from the start – for example, its easy to get to the portfolio or blog with only one click from the homepage
4. easy to update with new material – not only on the blog, but also on the actual website so you can circulate out photos that don’t meet your standards/taste as you change and improve as a professional
5. content is king – your photos should be prominent and display your skill, style and dedication to the art and business
These 5 guiding principles are the cornerstone for my design. I’ll let you decide how it turned out for yourself when I publish the site!
Here are a couple of sites I visit regularly:
See local Oakland photography Maurice Ramirez’s site. He’s got a slick eye and presents as well as anyone.
I really like the Strobist blog for current posts, but man, does that mother get busied with information and too many distraction. This was something I was hoping to not duplicate (other than the amazing technical information). I know this is a “blog” and not a portfolio – but I think the key principles should apply – e.g. how long will it take you to find David’s contact? More than 2-3 clicks and you might get distracted!
Dan Winters – simple, amazing, awesome. Um, perfect… (can you tell I’m a fan)
I decided to set up my site with Wix.com, which had some nice templates and lots of room to grow. I must admit that the online interface is decent at best, very buggy often. I’m still working out some of those issues and hoping to finalize the site soon.
Oh yeah, I also did a little logo for the business – It was fun!
David duChemin lists “study the masters” as one of the best ways to improve your photography. Well, I’ve been trying to bone up on some portrait work and there is one Elder (or master) that really makes the subject pop. Dan Winters really has a way with painting light and color on a subject. He champions smooth lights – a silky feel – an angelic feeling to his work. His lighting is not over-the-top flash work as I sometimes feel that “strobist”-types like. It’s a bit more calming.
He has hundreds of photos on his website including a few of my favorites:
Most of these have more background and a larger sense of place. Many of his images lack that quality – being pure headshots. So in learning from this elder, I have also learned that I want to engage the environment because I believe the environment creates the person. For instance, the outstanding portrait of C. Walken would only be better if he had included environment. The other 3 contain strong elements of place. Something I think is integral to any good portrait.
Watch/Listen to Dan get spiritual here. He’s got a way with words too – sensibility over style.
Morse Mountain Preserve, Maine = Black = Heavy
So I’ve always enjoyed black in photos. That ultimate contrast color that often plays nicely with lots of white – which seems to be the most common color of webpages nowadays. Certain functions also cater towards increasing black, I found the “clarity” slider in Lightroom, for instance, tends to increase the prominence of darker shades, lines, thus increasing “shadows”.
Black is great but it is heavy. It can be overdone. It can weigh on a photo like an anvil. Heavy.
So here’s heavy on top of light (think of oil on water). This is Sitka Spruce from Maine’s Morse Mountain Preserve – the southern range limit of this species. Isn’t it amazing how one feels very serious, and the second photo much lighter – almost lively-er.
So I started thinking about the work I do – botanical photography – and I wanted to revisit whites. White is a light color. It adds nicely to many smaller forbes, grasses, smaller and lighter plants. Then I came across a really special site – Angie Seckinger’s A Macro Journey. Please do visit it. Her triptychs are amazing. Her eye is precise and well tuned. She’s also a phenomenally nice person immediately asking how she could help my non-profit – Golden Hour Restoration Institute.
So here’s my thanks to Angie – and a resurrection of a sense of lightness.
stumbling onward
a whisper of fall
I attended a wonderful wedding in Guerneville, Sonoma County, over the Labor Day weekend. Two friends, Brett and Ali, were getting married and it was truly a wonderful wedding weekend. I was only an “attendee”, but I clicked some 700 shots that weekend.
So knowing they had an outstanding photographer (Paul C. Miller) with a great vibe, I was in great shape to do whatever I wanted! Yay!
I decided to shoot the classic portrait arrangements that Paul set up – and got some great results from a slightly different angle. Also, more of a taste of photojournalism.
Then I also got to do a bit of photojournalism type shooting on my own.
After taking a look at the photos and the elements, I decided to try to combine a couple in double and triple exposures using Photoshop Elements 8, and final color balance with Lightroom 2.7.
Here’s what I came up with – a taste of non-traditional in the traditional wedding.
Great times – Thanks Brett and Ali for such an amazing weekend. I feel lucky to have been a part of it!
So I went on my first official, organized photowalk to the Sutro Baths site in San Francisco, CA. It was slightly overwhelming to be walking around with some 50 other (hunched over with gear) photogs. It was intimidating because of the sheer number of creative minds, but also because of the “interactive nature” of the event. Often I find that I like to shoot in search of solitude and peace, so you might say “then maybe a photowalk with 50 photographers isn’t the best choice for you”. Good point, and yes, I didn’t think of that until I got there 🙂
I found myself awed by the pure energy and excitement of the moody day and the hungry photogs. I think it took me some 30 minutes just to take my camera out of my bag. I loved watching all the little human forms crawl over the ruins like ants on some fresh Ritz cracker crumbs. Lots of perspectives, lots of just pure – well, shooting photos. I found that I probably changed lenses as often as anyone. I found myself also enjoying watching everyone as I noticed they were all focused on the task of taking photos. I can’t say how much I recommend this experience – for the social, and the technical aspects. Thanks for hosting us Jim Goldstein for organizing and leading this most excellent experience. Check out the photos from the entire group here.
I’ll be posting a few photos from this event on Flickr (see sidebar). The above photo is one long exposure I took there. Processed with Lightroom (LR2.7) with an emphasis of blues and whites (my blue and white preset).
Hi there,
My name is Lech Naumovich and I’m a photographer currently living in the Bay Area of California. Please check this site for updates and new projects I’ll be talking about. The main website is found at www.lechphoto.com
Thanks for your visit.
Sincerely,
Lech
Lech Naumovich Photography 