mike ricca photography

traveling (speed)light

mike — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:38:05 +0000

Just a quick note as I pack for a trip to San Francisco. I was packing my trusty Timbuktu of Holding when all the loose little bits and bobs started to bug me. As much as I love the portability and simplicity of speedlights, they always bring with them a retinue of necessary gadgets. Batteries and chargers and gels and light mods and everything. There's so much of it, and it's all so tiny. Eventually the clutter got too much and I grabbed the unused case for my portable softbox; lo and behold, everything fit perfectly.

O.P.P. #7 – Motorcycle

mike — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:05:43 +0000

Typically, car and motorcycle photography is a pretty involved affair. Combining product photography's attention to detail with studio photography's size and scale often results in needing lots of lights, gear, and help. But just because you don't have a lot of light (or any light, as the case may be) doesn't mean you can't still cook up a pretty cool shot of your ride with a little creative post-processing.

O.P.P. #6 – Outdoor Portrait

mike — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:39:49 +0000

The nice thing about doing post on landscapes is that you have a much wider margin of tolerance than you do with portraits. With people, it's easy to tell if the color temperature is off, or if you cranked the clarity a little too high in post. But with landscapes, the sky is the limit (har har); you want blurry purple mountains over super-contrasty blue grass below a foreboding red sky? Knock yourself out.

scenes from an occupation

mike — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:52:30 +0000

I was four or five paragraphs into a relatively meaty—and perhaps somewhat ranty—post when I realized that I'm probably better off sticking to the old adage of never bringing up politics or religion in polite company. Especially since my posts' comment threads are often such hotbeds of intense discourse, steeped in controversy and debate.

O.P.P. #5 – Puppy

mike — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:03:02 +0000

This week's episode brings a shocking twist ending when, after spending most of the time developing the image as a black & white, I change my mind at the last minute and decide to switch it back to color! And then I change my mind about something again, later on in the episode (see if you can spot it).

O.P.P. #4 – Concert Photo

mike — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:54:55 +0000

Another /r/pimpmyraw submission, this one a very punk rock shot from Shredfest 2009. As Iain doesn't have Lightroom, this week's retouching was done solely in Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw (which is little more than a less-frilly Lightroom Develop Module). Also touched on black & white conversion and the little nuances to getting a good image.

focus

mike — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:20:34 +0000

A buddy reached out to me earlier today on the google pluses, asking about lenses and improving autofocus performance, and my response started to get so long I figured I'd turn it into a post, especially as this is a question I've heard from a few folks over the years.

O.P.P. #3 – Wedding Candid

mike — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:19:21 +0000

When I first started the O.P.P. series, I publicized it on "The Front Page of the Internet," Reddit. Response was quick and favorable, and one suggestion was to start a Reddit subforum to effectively mirror the series. And thus /r/pimpmyraw was born. This week's submission comes from the subforum, and you can visit the original thread to see some great takes on the image.

O.P.P. #2 – Male Portrait

mike — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 07:09:36 +0000

Episode Two brings us a portrait submission and a few tips and tricks on how to make images shot in small studios not look like they were shot in small studios. Portrait and Head Shot photography is all about the soft touch and keeping things simple—making the subject look good while still looking like themselves—and hopefully this video will help you do just that.

You down with O.P.P.?

mike — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:43:21 +0000

After a few friends had asked me about my post-processing methods and techniques, I decided to cook up a little "This is how I do it" video that would walk them through my typical post-processing session. The idea quickly snowballed, and next thing I know, I'm starting what I hope will become a weekly video series. Welcome, then, to the first "episode" of O.P.P. (Other People's Processing).