All Day I Dream About Photography

Photographer of the week: David & Myrtille

Antoine Khater — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:59:59 +0000

David & Myrtille is a duo of French photographers, based in Paris : David Pairé and Myrtille Vardelle are two professional graphic designers who have been working for several years in the publishing field.
In july 2011, they decided to explore photography in what they like the most : Cover Arts. In a creative style, their images capture different universes, from romance to thriller.

I leave you to enjoy 10 of their selected pictures – you can always drop by their website, 500px account or connect on google plus.

How did you shoot this? … is contagious

Antoine Khater — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:27:14 +0000

I took a long afternoon nap and I knew, from the moment I woke up, that I had done a mistake. I knew I was heading for a long sleepless night, so I decided to make something worthwhile of it and, since I was in no mood for work, I decided to play with fire (literally).

I’ve always wanted to take a pic of a match as soon as it starts burning but, since I couldn’t figure out how to do that, I tried something different and this was how I ended up with “… is contagious”

The Gear

Camera : Canon 5D MKII mounted on a tripod centered on the matches
Focus : Manual Focus using live-view, I always use live view focus for critical focus
Lens : 70-200 L F/4 at 200mm
Speed light: One speed light at the left of the matches about 1 meter away at 1/64 of its power
Picture Settings: Shot in RAW, Flash White Balance, F/11 at 1/160 seconds ISO 400

Why I picked up these settings? Well at 200mm you can expect the DOF to be thin and focus will fall out very quickly so I needed a relatively high F number to keep everything in focus including the flame and smoke. I also needed a high shutter speed to freeze the action when the match is picking up fire.
If it was a one match setup the speed light would have probably been useless but, in my cases, I needed something to light the matches and I doubt the fire light alone would have done that.

The setup

Click on the image above to see the annotations

First, since I was playing with fire, I wanted to take some safety measures so transparent the plate is filled with water in case a match falls or anything.
Second I needed an easy and fast way of lining up the matches, so I used a small recipient (the black one) and filled it with salt. Of course sand would have been great but it was past midnight and salt did a great job.
I set everything on a black piece of cloth that is used for background, and set my flash on the right one meter away, finally all I had to do was plug the matches in the salt.

Taking the shots

I started by taking a few shots to get the flash settings right and this is a full picture of how it looked with all matches off and speed light power set to 1/64, I was satisfied with the results.

The rest was easy… Set the camera to continuous shooting and used a remote trigger. Basically the camera was shooting continuously from right before I lit up the first match till everything was off again.

Post Processing

There is no editing done for the picture apart from square cropping and sharpening, other than this it is straight out of the cam.

Frustration Level

I often measure my shots by my frustration level, basically how many times I had to shoot or how long it took me before getting the shot I wanted. Well, in that case, the frustration level was pretty low.

I actually shot only 3 sets (a total of 36 matches burned) then picked up the picture I liked the most cropped it, sharpened it and the job was done. I could have easily picked 5 or 6 others out of tonight’s shots but I guess I will stick with that one for the moment.

First shot taken at 1:30 am, shot and tutorial ready by 4:30am. If you ask me that’s a night well spent …

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Photographer of the week: Serge Ramelli

Antoine Khater — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:56 +0000

Our photographer of the week is Serge Ramelli, a french photographer living in Paris. Serge does commercial work and teaches photography, Photoshop & Lightroom.
His influence are photographers like Joel Grimes, Moose Peterson and Jean Michel Berts. Serge has been doing a lot of HDR, but over the last couple of years, he finds that just using Lightroom with one good expose raw file gets a more natural and “punchy” result.

One of his most interesting photography series is an urban landscape series called “Paris cinema”, where he takes photos of Paris in beautiful lights. He’s been doing it for 7 years now and his collection consists of over 200 beautiful photos.
Sadly I can only share with 10 pictures of those in this post. I leave you to check out his website for the full dose of HDR photography.

The One System by UNDFIND

Antoine Khater — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:08:16 +0000

If you are a regular ADIDAP reader than you probably have already heard about UNDFIND.
UNDFIND has already closely collaborated with ADIDAP to give you excellent articles like Step into wedding photography with these 20 poses and Step Into Wedding Photography part 2 : Poses for the groom and groomsmen.

Well today we are here to present you the “One System” one of the company’s latest creations.

These days, we want everything to be cross-functional. Our phones are personal assistants, our cameras are camcorders and our cars have become entertainment centers. In the name of cross-functionality, UNDFIND has come up with a new Camera Carrying system called the One System.

It’s gained some hype after being successfully funded on Kickstarter, with features on Wired, Popphoto, Engadget and other magazines, so I guess it deserves to tell you about it here on ADIDAP as well and make you benefit from the exclusive discount UDNFIND is giving for ADIDAP readers.

The One System is a lens and camera gear carrying system that’s made up of two bags, the One Bag v2 and the Waist Shooter. The One Bag is a slim, neoprene laptop bag that can change into a camera bag with the use of a Photo Insert. The Waist Shooter is a belt bag for your lenses and camera accessories that can be worn from the hip or from the shoulder using a strap. Both feature covers that you can change up to alter the appearance of bag.

One Bag

I want to talk a little bit more about the One Bag beyond the basic features I mentioned above. A few things worth mentioning are:

The cover has zipper pockets for memory cards and other small accessories
The strap is comfortable
The One Bag has pockets sized your iPad or other tablet
The One Bag does not fit your camera with the lens attached
The One Bag fits up to 16″ laptops
The One Bag fits up to a Canon 70-200mm 2.8L lens but not anything larger

Waist Shooter

A few things worth mentioning about The Waist Shooter are:

Like the One Bag, the cover has zipper pockets for memory cards and other small accessories
Like the One Bag, The Waist Shooter does not fit your camera with the lens attached
The bag fits up to a Canon 70-200mm 2.8L lens but not anything larger
It’s meant to be used as a belt bag, but also comes with a strap for the shoulder

The Discount

Make sure to use the code “adidap12” for 20% off the One System at UNDFIND.com (Expires 12/31/2012), and enjoy remarkable versatility.

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Download ADIDAP Calendar May 2012 now

Antoine Khater — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:00:07 +0000

May’s Picture is Lounge by Aurelie

As usual the calendar is available in 2 themes: Classic and Retro for both US and UK formats. You can download it now at full size.

ADIDAP Calendar – May 2012 – US Format

Download links : Classic , Retro

ADIDAP Calendar – May 2012 – UK Format

Download links: Classic , Retro

Enjoy it and make sure to participate in our Flickr Round votes if you want your favorite photos to end up on our annual calendar!

Photographer of the week: Kai Michael

Antoine Khater — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:04 +0000

Kai Michael is a fine art photographer based in Bellingham, WA. His images, although highly altered in digital postproduction, begin as either medium or large format film negatives.
Much of his influence is drawn, conceptually, from a fascination with the reconstructive nature of memory, and formally, from the Color Field and Lyrical Abstraction movements

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his selected pictures that can be grouped into 3 main series:

Constructed Horizons series: These are constructed landscapes. Everything located above the horizon is not native to the original image, consisting of either walls or surfaces. By substituting the skyline with a finite surface, the image fluctuates between the physical and the infinite
Homes series: A study in the absurd, all of the windows have been removed.
Untitled – ultrachrome from film

For his full work, don’t forget to drop by his website.

Photographer of the week: Niklas Alm

Antoine Khater — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:00:21 +0000

Swedish still life and advertising photographer Niklas Alm started exploring the world of photography as a kid in his parents darkroom. Since 2001 he has been working with both editorial and advertising commisions, winning awards in Epica Awards, New York Festivals and Sony World Photography Awards among others.

His passion for creating interesting environments and images with a character of their own is seen in most of his work as he mixes his analog set design with the computer generated.

His clients include international brands such as Adidas, Amnesty, Bosch, Lucky Strike, Toyota and Samsung.

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his selected work, for his full portfolio, you can drop by his website.

Photographer of the week: John Kenny

Antoine Khater — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:00:30 +0000

Our photographer of the week is John Kenny, a fine art photographer living in London. Since 2006 his focus has been on traditional communities across Sub-Saharan Africa.
John is fascinated by the people that he photographed and the unique cultures to which they belong that still exist in Africa today. He hopes that his pictures and past shows help to emphasize the positive role that Africa and Africans play in the 21st Century, and also that the work highlights the many threats to traditional ways of life today.

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his pictures – don’t forget to check out his website or follow him on his very fresh new twitter account for more beautiful photography.

Photographer of the week: Iain Gilmour

Antoine Khater — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:00:40 +0000

Our photographer of the week is Iain Gilmour, a photographer based in Buckinghamshire, England, working mainly in monochrome with an emphasis on landscapes, preferring its ability to reduce a scene to its basic elements.

He draws inspiration from a number of contemporary photographers, however, the greatest influences on him have been the mastery of the pioneers of fine art monochromatic images such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston and Paul Strand.

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his selected pictures, for more you can check out his website or connect via Twitter

Download ADIDAP Calendar April 2012 now

Antoine Khater — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:00:31 +0000

April’s Picture is Natural History Museum by Neal Eiserman

As usual the calendar is available in 2 themes: Classic and Retro for both US and UK formats. You can download it now at full size.

ADIDAP Calendar – April 2012 – US Format

Download links : Classic , Retro

ADIDAP Calendar – April 2012 – UK Format

Download links: Classic , Retro

Enjoy it and make sure to participate in our Flickr Round votes if you want your favorite photos to end up on our annual calendar!

Photographer of the week: Peter Neill

Antoine Khater — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:00:10 +0000

Our Photographer of the week is a concert photographer from Ireland & has worked with amazing artists like U2, Coldplay, Royseven, Lifehouse and many more. He lives and breathes the unique challenges and buzz of music photography.

Peter took up concert photography as a migration away from wedding work a couple of years ago and although it was difficult to break into the music industry, the sheer creativity involved in this type of work was worth the effort for him.
This is why he released a free iPad ebook as an experiment in this area, this book is aimed mainly at other photographers, he shares how to get into the industry and make yourself known.
The book called “Shooting Sound” also includes an extensive gallery of work.

Free Download

You can grab your free iPad copy of the book “Shooting Sound” from here or visit the website

As for Peter, he is currently seeking to move his career to the USA in the near future. He loves his homeland but as a music photographer he believes the U.S. is the place to be!

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his selected pictures. If you enjoyed his work, you can get in touch with him personally via Facebook or twitter.

Step Into Wedding Photography part 2 : Poses for the groom and groomsmen

Antoine Khater — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:12:48 +0000

A little while back Chris Lin wrote his first guest post on adidap : Step into wedding photography with these 20 poses that focused on posing a couple during the wedding day.

Due to the huge success of this post, we have contacted Chris again and he agreed on writing another tutorial on wedding photography.

If, like me, you find posing the groom a challenge then I bet you are about to enjoy this article. The list may not be comprehensive; but it should give you a good base from which you can incorporate your own style and vision.

A big thanks to Chris who is also the editor of SLR Lounge, creator of Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Tutorials. All images are copyright Lin and Jirsa, Wedding Photographers in Los Angeles.

The classic casual look

The classic, must-have portrait of the groom has his body angled, hand(s) in pocket and a casual, natural smile. Make small adjustments in the angle of his body and face to find the most flattering look.

Looking off balcony

If the hotel room has a balcony, this is a great scene for posing the groom in a contemplative pose. With his hands on the railing and his body facing out, have your groom look off into the distance and contemplate his last few hours of freedom.

Looking out of window from the back

Windows make great frames for your compositions. A classic pose is for the groom to gaze out the window in anticipation for the big moment. The feel and story of this pose is very similar to the balcony pose above.

Groom sitting and looking up

Along the same lines as the pose above, make sure you utilize the nice, soft, dramatic window lighting and do a few more poses. Have the groom sit in a chair with his hands on his knees. He can look at the camera for a few shots and out the window for a few (see pose below).

Sitting while looking out window

As mentioned above, use this great lighting scene for a variety of looks and angles on the groom, including this one of him looking out the window.

Close up of tie

As the groom is getting ready, make sure you also focus in on the details. One of these poses is the adjustement of his tie.

Adjusting the cuff links

Similar to the pose of the groom adjusting his tie, you can also snap unique angles of other aspects of his attire. Another one of these would be his cufflinks (pictured below) or his shoes (not pictured).

Looking into mirror

Whether you’re catching the groom before he’s starting the getting ready process (as pictured below) or catching the final check before he heads out the door, using the reflection off of the mirror is a great angle for the moment. You can either catch it naturally or ask the groom to re-enact it (with a smile of course).

Classic Line Up

Moving on the groomsmen (group) shots, a must-have is the classic line up. Angle them all inwards, focus on expressions, and snap away.

Groomsmen jumping

Definitely not a must-have, but a good way to get some fun shots is to have them jump. To add interest and move away from the cliche, use unique lighting.

Human Swing

The idea behind certain groomsmen shots is often to get them out of their comfort zone so that fun expressions come out. Pick him up and swing him around and see what happens.

Bowling pins

Another classic pose is the bowling pin formation. Make sure you have all the guys lined up in near-perfect symmetry with identical poses.

Groomsmen against wall with leg up

For a casual shot, put the groomsmen up against a wall, have them kick a leg up and either look off or into the camera.

Random stagger

In boy-band-esque fashion, stagger your groomsmen haphazardly. The only rules here are to make sure that the groom is the center (and thus the focus) and to make sure nobody is covered by another groomsman.

The Secret service

A random pose we came up with is the secret service pose. This is where the groomsmen act like they’re blocking the camera, with a small space for the groom’s face.

Carrying the groom

Of course, picking up the groom can always lead to some fun.

Hugging in

There’s nothing like a super tight, uncomfortable hug to bring out big smiles, laughs and candid expressions.

We hope this list of groom and groomsmen poses helps with your wedding photography. Of course, we always welcome your comments below.

Step into wedding photography with these 20 poses

Photographer of the week: Juergen Buergin

Antoine Khater — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:10:48 +0000

Our photographer of the week is Juergen Buergin, an urban photographer from Berlin, Germany.
Juergen likes to tell some of those small, untold stories that are happening every day in our world and what the viewer might discover by seeing his photos, is something about people and their relationships to each other, something about arts and perception – but foremost he hopes that the viewer learns a lot about himself/herself.

So I leave you with 10 of his selected pictures, with the hope that you spend some time with his art and discover a few things as well.

You can view much more of Juergen’s work his website or get in touch with him on twitter

Photographer of the week: Doug Kaye

Antoine Khater — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:00:54 +0000

Our photographer of the week is Doug Kaye is a retired tech executive and now full-time fine-art photographer living in Marin County, California.
He is an occasional guest host on the popular “This Week in Photo” podcast.
You can check his full work on his website or connect with him on twitter and google plus

Here are 10 of his selected pictures to enjoy and share.

Photographer of the week: Olivier Du Tré

Antoine Khater — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:00:35 +0000

Our photographer of the week is Olivier Du Tré, a 34 year old photographer who was born and raised in Belgium.
Together with his wife, he immigrated to Canada 3 years ago and feels blessed that he was able to live in this beautiful country and loves every second of. It was a big turning point in his life and changed who he is and therefore it changed his photography.
Olivier loves simple compositions. He is always searching for things that are out of the ordinary. The simplest of photos can often convey a simple yet strong message. His work often shows scenery in a way that people can easily relate to because they pass or see it every day.

You can check out his full work on his website and connect with him on his twitter account or google+

I leave you to enjoy 10 of his selected work.