The Shutterzone Photography Blog

Wedding Bubbles

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:29:00 +0000

A shot from a recent wedding...

Zack Arias Creative Lighting Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:27:00 +0000

Zack Arias has just posted a PDF he used for a PDN virtual trade show. If you're interested in lighting it's worth taking a look at. The comments section of the blog post is a Q&A session on lighting as well. Read the blog here.

Camera Recommendations

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:07:00 +0000

A family member emailed me today asking what camera I would recommend for a beginner. This is a question I've gotten a lot over the years! I thought I would share my response this time with everyone. A disclaimer though, all of my recommendations here will likely be out-of-date in only a month!

The first site I point everyone to is http://dpreview.com/. They have the most in-depth reviews on the internet of every camera make and model imaginable. Besides the raw specs, you'll also want to know if the menus on the camera are user-friendly and see some sample pictures from the camera as well. http://dpreview.com/ has all of that.

Now, here are two entry-level cameras that I recommend. I'm not saying their cheap! But both of these are very good starting points if you want to seriously dig into photography.

Canon G10

I own the Canon G9 myself, and the G10 is its recent successor. The G10 packs many of the same features of an SLR into a compact camera. It's 14.7-megapixels and can shoot RAW files giving you complete control over your images. You can shoot on aperture-priority, shutter-priorty, and manual mode; or keep it one of the auto-scene settings. The 28mm wide-angle lens is also a huge plus for a camera this size. It has an E-TTL hot shoe as well if you decide to add a flash later. The gives you a lot of options, especially for portraiture, as you could later move your flash off-camera with a connecting cord to the hot shoe or a radio trigger attached to the hot shoe.

One thing I learned the hard way with the last compact camera I owned is to never buy one that doesn't have an underwater housing available. Even if you don't want the expense of buying it when you buy the camera, you want the option for later. Then in a few months when you're about to take a beach vacation you can pick-up the waterproof housing. I own the one for the G9 and highly recommend it for snorkeling or to keep your camera safe while out on the boat. At the time of this writing you can buy the underwater housing for the Canon G10 for $174.95 from B&H.

Buy the Canon G10 from B&H
or Amazon: Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm VR Lens

If you want to jump into the world of DSLR cameras for ultimate control over your pictures, then the new D5000 is a great way to go. The kit I'm listing here comes with a 18-55mm vibration resistant lens, meaning that you can hand-hold it at slower shutter speeds and still come away with sharp pictures. The great thing about owning a DSLR, whether its Nikon or Canon, is that you can add lenses, flashes, and other gear over time and the whole system will grow with you. One day when you're ready to dig deep into macro photography or underwater photography or sports photography, you don't have to scrap everything and start over with a completely new system.

The Nikon D5000 would last you a long, long time though. At 12.3-megapixels it's not going to be obsolete immediately. I huge plus is that it also shoots HD 720p video. This works with any wide-angle or zoom setting and with any lens you put on the camera too! The D5000 has 19 auto-exposure scene modes to help you make the transition to a DSLR, but as soon as you start learning more about photography you're going to want to stay in either aperture-priority (where I live most of the time), shutter-priority, or full manual.

Buy it from B&H
or Amazon: Nikon D5000 12.3 MP DX Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens and 2.7-inch Vari-angle LCD

Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector Product Review

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Looking to improve your photos? One of the most powerful and useful pieces of equipment you can buy, and also one of the cheapest, is a 5-in-1 reflector. In fact, a good quality reflector is an essential piece of equipment for every serious photographer. The Westcott 5-in-1 reflector is an extremely well-made product and very affordable at only $40 (at the time of this review). I own the 40" (1 meter) reflector and highly recommend it.

"5-in-1" means that it contains silver, gold, white, and black surfaces plus, with all of the covers removed, a translucent surface. Let's look at each of these:

White Reflector - Do your subjects have raccoon eyes? A white reflector can be used to bounce light into shadows. If you are using a off-camera flash you can also bounce light off of the white reflector itself to create a larger light source.

Silver Reflector - A silver reflector serves the same purpose as white but produces more specular highlights. The result is a higher-contrast image.

Gold Reflector - Light takes on the color of what it bounces off of. The favorite of photographers shooting bikini-clad bodies on the beach, a gold reflector will warm up an image giving skin tones the Bay Watch look. (Or add warm light to the bouquet of flowers on your dinning room table>) Tip: You can also use a gold reflector as an out-of-focus background for portraits.

Black Reflector - Taking away light is just as important as adding light. A black reflector can be used to make one side of the face in a portrait darker. It can also remove reflections.

Translucent Fabric - Do you want really soft light? The bigger your light source, the softer your light. Holding the translucent disc is one way to do it. You can also shot through it with an off-camera flash.

All of the above equally apply to still-life and food photography as well. The reflector collapses to 1/3 of its size and slips into a carrying case. It's light and easy to take with you.

At only $40.00, it's a great value and something that you will use often and for a very long time. However, if you can not afford one now, then go pickup some white, silver, gold, and black pieces of flexible poster board and/or rigid foam core. In a limited way they can serve the same purpose (other than shooting through them of course!). All pro photographers that I know of will still supplement their lighting gear, including reflectors, with basic white and black foam core as necessary.

You can follow this link to buy it from B&H: Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector.

Or buy it from Amazon here:

Oahu, Hawaii Panoramic Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:52:00 +0000

Until recently I would stitch together a panoramic and then crop it to whatever dimensions it happened to be. I've recently started cropping all of my panoramic shots to a 3 by 1 ratio. I really like the consistency it has added, even though some of my pans could be 5 to 1 or 6 to 1 ratio. The later is really too much actually. I will still shoot it as wide as possible, but then forcing myself to crop it to 3x1 makes me select the most important part of the image.

Hotels filling the skyline of Waikiki on Oahu, Hawaii

Kahanamoku Beach section of Waikiki Beach in Oahu, Hawaii

Hotel skyrises along Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head on the right in Oahu, Hawaii

Batteries Not Included

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:43:00 +0000

One of the things that David Hobby convinced me of in the Strobist DVDs is that I should mark each set of my rechargeable batteries that I use for flashes. I've always tried to keep the same ones together, but... it's much easier to do if they're marked. It's better to drain and then recharge them all together as one unit. It's also makes them darn pretty!

You can buy a set of colored electrical tape at Home Depot. Unless I find other things to color-code, my current tape set will last me a lifetime of pretty battery goodness.

I'm also now putting the year on them as shown on the red ones below which I bought this week. I couldn't tell you when I bought the others. I know one pair is more recent, but which? I drained all of them last weekend doing some shoots in my garage, and I know one pair is weaker than the others. Having them color coded can, in theory, help me to remember which set is to be avoided unless necessary. That is, IF you pay attention to which is which. Which, I didn't.

What I need next is a plastic 4 AA battery-holder pack from Radio Shack or out of an old toy at a junk store. Take out the end connections so that the batteries are not connected and you're left with a nifty backup battery holder which can easily slip into your pocket for shooting a wedding or location work. It also keeps them from rolling around in your camera bag.

Napali Coast Aerial Photography from Kauai, Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of beaches along the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Visit my Hawaii photography gallery for more Hawaiian punch.

Waterfalls of Kauai, Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Here are some waterfalls shot from a helicopter over Kauai. This first one has the nickname "Jurassic Park Falls", because it's the waterfall when the helicopter first approaches the mysterious island in the original movie.

Manawaiopuna falls waterfall otherwise known as Jurassic Falls on the island of Kauai in Hawaii

One of the many amazing things about the waterfalls in Kauai is how the cascades flow one into another into another, like Namolokama Falls:

Namolokama Falls cascading waterfall in Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii

Mount Wai'ale'ale is the wettest spot on Earth. Basically, clouds always cover the mountain, and it always rains. It's also one of the coolest places on Earth you can visit from a helicopter. Cool in both ways. The temperature drops several degrees as you enter the crater as well.

Cascading waterfalls inside Mount Waialeale crater, the wettest spot on Earth, on Kauai, Hawaii

Waterfall inside Waialeale Crater the wettest spot on Earth. Kauaii, Hawaii

This Kauai waterfalls link will take you to a search results page on my website where you can see more. You can also visit my Hawaii photography gallery.

Waimea Canyon, Hawaii Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Some credit Mark Twain with calling Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, but my guidebook, honest to the point of boredom, says he actually never visited Kauai. Oh well, it's still a big hole in the ground. This panoramic image shows the view from the public overlook:

Waimea Canyon on Kauai Island, Hawaii

To the left is Waipo'o falls:

Waimea Canyon State Park and Waipo'o Falls waterfall on Kauai Island, Hawaii

This an aerial shot of Waipo'o Falls from a helicopter.

Waipoo Falls waterfall in Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai, Hawaii

This shot of the canyon is one of my favorites from Kauai. I love the light and dark contrast looking down into the canyon.

Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai Island, Hawaii, USA

You can view more of my Hawaii photography by clicking the link.

Red Dirt = Nice Landscape Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:08:00 +0000

One afternoon on Kauai I set off in the rental car to do some landscape photography. Along the way up Waimea Canyon Drive I came across one of the many things Kauai is known for, it's red dirt. They actually dye and sell 500 T-shirts out of just one bucket of the stuff. My guidebook, in retrospect, said "Kauai's infamous red dirt has ruined many new pairs of Nikes in its time." That, I can attest, is true! In fact, there are still red dirt stains on my Nikes to this day.

Red earth of Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

Waimea Canyon Drive is a twisting, turning road straight up. It's also a fun ride back down, after dark, and driving as fast as you can. I squealed the tires on the rental car on more than one occasion.

By the way, this shot would look great with a red Ferrari digitally comped into it. If you're an automotive advertising image buyer, by any chance, give me a ring!

Vista across Kauai to the Pacific Ocean along Waimea Canyon Drive, Kauai, Hawaii.

I had pulled over to the side of the road and immediately heard the water from this little water fall (more like a tiny drip, drip by Kauai standards):

Waterfall and red earth in Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

I'll be posting images of Waimea Canyon and Kauai's waterfalls later this week.

Watch Your Coconuts

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:38:00 +0000

I finally wrapped all of my editing from Hawaii. I'll be posting Hawaii travel photography all of this week.

Caution Falling Coconuts sign at Salt Pond Beach Park on Kauai, Hawaii.

Sheraton Kauai Resort on Kiahuna Beach, Kauai.

Arkansas Winter Snow Scene

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:24:00 +0000

This Arkansas snow photograph is from this past February in Northeast Arkansas during a brief "blizzard", at least by Arkansas standards, which... mostly melted away the next day. The snow was blowing hard for awhile though. Look how it's sticking to the sides of the trees. The moment I saw the scene it looked so much like a great calendar shot that my heart and brain both were racing as I was composing the scene, checking all corners of the frame, and trying not to screw it up!

Arkansas winter snow scene with an antique rusty pickup truck and a snow-covered barn in the distance.

Is travel photography supposed to be fun?

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:31:00 +0000

I got back from Washington D.C. last Wednesday. I haven't blogged about it since then because I've been too tired. For that matter, I had plans to shoot some travel photography videos during the trip but I was too tired for that as well.

Several people have asked me if I had a good time. I know they mean well and it's a usual thing to ask, so I say, "yes". The truth is I didn't, nor did I mean to. For me there is a difference between a trip meant for fun and a work trip. I take some trips as vacations (though I'm always shooting during them anyway), but for a dedicated travel photography trip there is rarely any fun involved, especially with business money backing it and knowing I must perform to recoup it. There is just nothing about it that is fun really with the sole exception of when everything comes together and you can create some great photographs. That euphoria lasts until the next shutter click and then it's over.

In D.C. I walked almost everywhere. In fact, I think I walked more than on any other trip I've every taken, and if you were to know some of the things I've done before to get a photograph you would know that's not a goal to aspire to. I shot from sunrise to sunset every day. Most days I took a Subway sandwich back to the hotel for lunch and took a shower while my memory cards were transferring then it was back to it. Most nights I was in bed at 11 with memory cards or backups still transferring.

It was HOT in D.C. for those days. Luckily, I had great weather other than that though. It only rained the morning of the day I flew home, and I think I used it to my advantage during my shooting that morning.

A couple of days into it my travel injuries came back like they always do. My right calf hurt for several days. The middle toes on my left foot are still very sore. I couldn't move them for several days. The longer I walked on them each day the more the pain went away. Then there's the pain in my left ankle that first appeared after my kamikaze photo walk all the way around San Francisco, across the Golden Gate, through Sausalito, and back up the San Francisco hills to my hotel. That was several years ago. It comes back like travel's version of Santa Clause, just without the shiny bows.

I got some great material though, including some of a particular subject one of my editors had pointed out for me. It's really not covered by any of the major stock houses, and I'm hopeful that those images will pay for the trip themselves and sales from the rest will be profit. It's impossible to say though. The truth is it's entirely random. Of course, that's never mentioned in the photo books but it's reality. You create the very best pictures you can, but the reality has been for me that my best pictures by any aesthetic or technical standards rarely produce well. More often it's the totally unexpected or run-of-the-mill shots.

Out of all of pictures on my first trip to D.C., when I was an aspiring pro but still very much an amateur, I took one shot that has been licensed more times than any other during my still young career. I doubt it has produced more in total revenue, but it certainly has been licensed more times. There's nothing wrong with the shot, but if you were to ask me to assemble my top 1,000 photos I've every taken, irrespective of financial gain, that shot would not come close to making the list. I tried going back on this trip and making the same shot. I hoped to update it to a digital version from the original scanned 35mm transparency. It wasn't there. I thought about going back and trying again the next day, but why? Whatever magic that particular frame had has already come and gone as far, at least with me behind the lens.

I don't mean to give the impression though that traveling to D.C. for a few days as an American photographer is much of a hardship. It certainly isn't, not when you're in your own country. I don't believe your senses are quite as awakened either. Working in another country is always harder but more exciting as well.

I was reading Joe Morahan describe a photo safari trip to Africa in Rangefinder magazine today. I've never really known if all travel photographers work as hard as I do, or if I was just being stupid. I felt a lot parallels in Joe's statements though:

A photographer's day begins long before snrise and ends well after sunset. To paraphrase the old Irish proverb, "You can sleep when you're dead." Well, I was close; I was dead on my feet. But the beauty of Africa defies description.

The trip was an opportunity of a lifetime. The costs are high, and Africa's fragile political landscape is constantly changing, rarely for the better. As a result, there is no time to waste. Shoot, shoot, shoot--plan the shoot, shoot the plan. When not shooting, I was ready to shoot--you just never know what you will see next in Africa.

...How long does it take to cull, edit and prepare a month's work? A long time if you have 22,000 pictures to review. But what a trip it must have been for those relaxed campers. I now see in print what they were viewing live and I hope I captured the essence of the safari experience

A few days in D.C. is no comparison with a month in Africa of course. I identify with him though, especially the strenuous days and the feeling of not really experiencing any of a trip until you are back home. And with editing, it took me a year-and-a-half to edit my last trip to Europe and that trip was my honeymoon! I guess when you spend more time touching your camera on your honeymoon than your wife you are either mentally unstable, have an incredibly understanding wife, or... maybe both.

I shot a few thousand images during my short D.C. trip. With each day I shot more and more on "Continuous High" mode on my Nikon DSLR, otherwise known as "machine gun" mode. Just trying to guarantee I got the shot I wanted, often stretching what is possible when hand-holding a camera. Culling through my images this weekend I found that I shot 4 panoramics of exactly the same scene, each about 12 shots each. In all, I shot nine panoramics at that same location plus medium, wide, and telephoto shots all within a matter of a few minutes. I don't even remember all of it. I knew I shot a panoramic or two, but nine? In retrospect, I know what I was thinking. I will shoot panoramics on a tripod around home but when traveling I often shoot them handheld. If you don't pause completely between each shot you'll have one or more frames blurred, screwing up the whole pan in the process. I've done this often. So, if it's worth shooting once why not shoot it four times? Over the years this has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn really. In short, "Shoot it to death and ask questions later."

Looking back through all the pictures it's like I'm just know seeing them, where I'm not rushed and can study them. As I edit through the images, with each great shot I breathe a sigh of relief, but it's really all the missed shots and missed opportunities that I spend any mental cycles on. The shots that I got I don't really care about. Instead I think about the locations I didn't get to, when I should have gone to the trouble of hauling around a tripod but didn't, or when I should have hauled around my 70-200 2.8 but didn't, or when I should have gotten closer or gotten lower or held the freakin' camera more steady.

Most of all, I think about the next trip, and how I'll plan and shoot it all so much better the next time. As a travel photographer I think that is where the fun comes in--anticipating the next trip.

Into the Light

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:38:00 +0000

This is a great video on photography. You should watch it.

The video is by Ibarionex R. Perello who hosts The Candid Frame photography podcast where he interviews photographers. You should check it out as well. I listen to nearly all of them. Recent interviews include Douglas Kirkland and Greg Gorman.

Love Birds Wedding Shower Theme

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:38:00 +0000

My wife Jennifer recently designed and arranged the pieces below for a wedding shower. She arranged the flowers herself too. (She's like Martha Stewart, except sexy.) Before the shower I took some photos because, well, that's what I do.

Jennifer on the other hand does all kinds of stuff. She's a talented graphic designer, experienced marketing director, saleswoman powerhouse, event planner, and the art director on many of my shoots. (And to think I only married her for her body.) You can find Jen's designs and many more things at her company, Stunique.

Oh, and the Love Birds invitation is one of her original designs too:

Love Birds Wedding Shower Theme by Stunique

Photography of the USS Arizona Memorial in Oahu, Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:40:00 +0000

I recently finished up editing my photography from Oahu including these pictures from the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Hope you enjoy them.

USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii

Book Review of The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes by Joe McNally

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Joe McNally's The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes is one of the most in-depth technical how-to books on photography I have ever read.

Simply put, if you shoot with Nikon flashes you MUST buy this book. (Nearly all of it is applicable to other manufacturer's flashes as well.) This book is not a manual. You can not find this material in the manuals. I know. I've read them. As for other books aimed at small flashes, there are a tiny hand-full that are uniformly unenlightening (pun intended).

The double-truck on pages 6 and 7 is a photo of Joe's flash equipment. I count 16 flashes, but I could have missed one or two! I can think of some extremely great photographers who are currently shooting predominately with the Nikon flash system, but I do not know of any photography who has shot as extensively with Nikon flashes and for as many years with them as Joe has (and who has the extraordinary images to prove it). Now, what if someone like Joe were to do a brain dump and spill EVERYTHING he knows about shooting with small flashes? Well, that is what is in the book.

Besides the technical tips and equipment info, one of the things I like most about the Hot Shoe Diaries is that it has reassured me that different things I have been doing, or simply guessed at, are indeed the right choices to make. Since a lot of the information presented in the book simply has not been out there in the past, I have had to guess my way through some things. The popularity of Strobist has made this book possible, which Joe fully acknowledges, by creating the market for it, but even with all of the information on Strobist I still have been left feeling "un-assured". For me, this book has really reinforced my thought process when it comes to lighting setups and how to get from step one to the end goal of pre-visualized image.

As Joe best sums it up himself:

This is not a book of certainties. It is not a manual. It is, as the title states, a diary. It is an ongoing account of adventures and misadventures, of accidents--happy and otherwise--and of successes and failures. It is an irreverent (go figure) brain dump of accumulated knowledge, much of it hard won in the school of hard knocks, bad bonces, lousy exposures, and misguided notions

While I have highlighted the book extensively (hence, the five-highlighter rating at the top of this review), the best nod I can give any book is whether I will spend the time to read it twice. With this book, I will. Then I expect to use it as a reference for awhile and eventually read it cover-to-cover a third time.

Buy it now:

Click the link for a review of Joe's last book, The Moment It Clicks.

Digital Railroad Liquidation

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Fellow stock photographers might be interested to know that I just received an email from travel photographer David Sanger who is the ombudsman between SAA and Diablo Management regarding the liquidation of Digital Railroad. He said Diablo is sending out cashier's checks for payments that have been received since November, 2008 but is lacking some photographer's addresses. Mine was one of them. Hey, late money is better than no money at all! I made one sale after the DRR collapse to a buyer who had found the image through DRR before they went belly-up, but I didn't know I had any pending sales with them.

David's email went to five other photographers as well. I'm sure you'll either be getting an email or a check soon if you are one of the lucky ones on the list.

Traveling to Washington D.C.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:27:00 +0000

I'll be traveling to Washington D.C. in a few days and photographing from before sunrise to after sunset for 4 days (and a half excluding a sunset!). I haven't been in D.C. since before 9/11. If anyone has been there recently and has any travel or photo-related advice please email me or comment here. I would love to hear from you.

I've read in a couple of places that no bags thicker than 4" are allowed on the metro. If that is really being enforced, which I doubt, then it would make taking the metro from the airport to my hotel downtown rather difficult (unless I FedEx my luggage), not to mention going anywhere with a camera which is thicker than 4" even without a camera bag!

I've applied for a Congressional Park land photo permit and heard nothing so far. I'll apply for National Park Service permits next week when I can guess at the weather better. Washington! Bureaucratic red tape! I guess we should feel safer that they are protecting us from all those terrorists with cameras walking around everywhere...

The Eternal Flame at the John F Kennedy grave site. Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington, Virginia.

Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:51:00 +0000

I recently updated the Venice, Italy photography gallery on my website. Please go check it out. This image below was created after I had been shooting gondoliers for awhile and wanted to do something beyond just a standard shot in order to capture the motion of the gondoliers and the gondolas. Fortunately, I had found a canal that was a popular gondolier hangout with gondolas passing by every few seconds. Southern Americans might equate this particular canal to their local Sonic Drive-In on a Friday or Saturday night.

One of things I lucked out on was the combination of capturing the motion just as I intended and having a gondolier subject in the frame that was dressed, well, like a gondolier should be. If you've never been to Venice I don't want to spoil your idealized visions of it for you, but the truth is some gondoliers, certainly a minority, look more like teenagers at a Sonic Drive-In than gondoliers. This one though clearly has his gondolier wardrobe altogether.

Gondolier in Venice, Italy

Business Man Superhero

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:04:00 +0000

I recently shot some engagement photos for some friends. After the "lovey-dovey" shots were in the bag, the light-spirited groom-to-be burst into his SUPERHERO! pose:

Business man superhero

For the photographers out there, the key light was a 3/4 CTO-gelled strobe bounced on a black/silver umbrella about 7 foot high. The fill was a 1/4 CTO-gelled strobe shot through a shoot-through umbrella about 5 foot high, parallel to the floor, on the left. The background light was a very hot, literally, continuous tungsten light. It's actually on old GE movie light that I rarely use.

MIRA Homepage Gallery Selections

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Several of my stock photography images are included in galleries highlighted on MIRA's homepage. I thought including those images here would be a good excuse for a blog.

I still find it pretty amazing to have my images seen next to true greats like Ron Niebrugge, Galen Rowell, David Fleetham, and so many others. As I was assembling these images below, it also struck me that the oldest of them, the shot of the yellow rose at the bottom, is a shot that is over 10 years old. Hopefully it will remain a timeless image. I don't know that I'm a great photographer, but I'm certainly on a irreversible path on becoming an old one. :)

Seascape

Commercial fishing scene along the waterfront of Portland, Maine.

Conceptual

Dart in a dart board

Americana

Statue of Elvis Presley inside the Tennessee State Welcome Center on Riverside Drive in Memphis

Evening shot of the North Portico of The White House in Washington, D.C.

Spirit

Lit prayer candles inside Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France.

Catholic priest walking into a confessional inside St. Peter's Basilica. Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Details

Yellow Rose

Vernazza on the Cinque Terre, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:33:00 +0000

Vernazza is one of the most magical places in Italy. It's one of five sea-side (cliff-side more like it) villages that make-up the Cinque Terre. It's main economy is tourists these days, but the local fishermen still go out each good-weathered morning to keep up Vernazza's sea-faring heritage.

Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy

Fishing dog resting on a boat in the harbor of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Pastel-colored buildings of the village of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Sunsets are unbelievable in Vernazza. This kitty has the best viewing spot already staked out.

Kitty on a rooftop int he village of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Village of Vernazza and its protected harbor on the Cinque Terre in Italy beautifully lit by the evening light from the sunset.

No, it's not digital manipulation. The sunset really was this wonderful:

Sunset off the coast of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Sometimes you just get lucky and a fisherman has perfect timing to setup your composition:

Boater at sunset in front of the village of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Woman watching the sunset from the village harbor of Vernazza on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Vernazza at dusk on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

The Ligurian Sea off the coast of Vernazza at dusk on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Vernazza at dusk on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Vernazza at night on the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Business is Great

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:14:00 +0000

While the economy may be bad, clients are still licensing pictures. January marked my highest sales figures ever with image licenses across four different continents and several with worldwide rights. This includes sales made through agencies and direct sales.

I've been focused on other things so far this year, but I plan to start posting to this blog more soon and writing some book reviews, DIY articles, etc. during the coming weeks.

Interview with Copyright Attorney Ed Greenberg

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Smith Images) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:02:00 +0000

If you have enough interest in photography to be reading this photography blog, then I highly recommend that you watch this terrific interview with copyright attorney Ed Greenberg. I register every one of my pictures with the US Copyright Office, and Mr. Greenberg clearly explains why you are very foolish if you are not doing the same.