Saving the World One Pixel at a Time

For years people have been asking if they could shoot with me. Now you can with a new program that’s called “Shoot with Joe” that will be going on during the months of June, July, August and September 2013. This is a one-on-one mini workshop, just you me and our model.

You can join me for a real two-hour model shoot for this blog or for magazine publication to see how I work, the lighting, cameras and lenses that I use to make some of the images that you see here each week as well as learn how I work with both experienced and inexperienced models. This is an informal session but you will be able ask questions at any time as well as shoot photographs for your portfolio.

“Shoots with Joe” are being held in my home/studio that’s located approx. 20 miles south of Denver, Colorado. Shoots are scheduled during normal business hours— Monday through Friday and during the day. The cost is $150 and includes a model release for all of the images that you make. If you want to “Shoot with Joe” click on the Contact button above to contact me to find a time that’s convenient and schedule your one-on-one session.

1/13 sec at f/1.8 and ISO 200

Shot in the Luxor in Las Vegas using an Olympus XZ-1 with built-in Dramatic Tone filter.

1/200 sec at f/4.5 and ISO 800

When it comes to photographing people it’s not just about the equipment, it is mostly about your interaction with a subjects. Many times I’ve seen photographers shooting portraits and expecting the subjects to do all the work. That may be true when you’re photographing experienced models but that may not be possible with new, aspiring models or retail portrait clients. Why? It’s because there are two basic types of photo subjects:

• Inner directed people are the Energizer bunnies of photo subjects. You just tell them to stand “over there,” point the camera at them, and they will change poses as fast as you can click the shutter. You will get lots of good poses, even some great ones, and a few that are not so good because when working like this the subject is not getting any feedback, except from themselves. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t. Another downside is that you will also shoot more photos, which in turn takes more editing time which, in turns, require bigger (or more) memory cards. The upside is that working with experienced models makes you look like a better photographer than you really are but it’s still you’re job to get the lighting right. Unfortunately, this type of subject represents only 20% of the models or subjects that the average shooter ever gets to photograph.
• Outer directed subjects represent the other 80% of photo subjects or models. They expect you to tell them what to do and may just stand tee and wait. Shooting this type of subject takes more time, patience, and maybe smaller memory cards  but if you take the time to communicate what you want with this kind of subject to do it will pay off. Some of the best ones will respond better if you show them what the photograph looks like on the LCD screen and big screens really help with this. One of my favorite tips is to show the kind of pose you had in mind by putting myself in the pose; they almost always will do it better, The bottom line is that it’s up to you to tell the subject how to pose and in order to do that, you need to know what you want.

Keep in mind that there is no one perfect way to pose every subject. Models an portrait clients come in all sizes, weights, and abilities to understand your directions, so keep it simple and if the subject is comfortable and the pose looks good, it’s a good one.

Joe is the author of “Posing for Portrait & Glamour Photography” which is available at your friendly neighborhood bookstore or Amazon.com.

It seems like just last year—wait, it was last July—that I was at California’s Sonoma Raceway for the introduction of the Panasonic Lumix G5. You can read my review of the G5 in the July issue of Shutterbug magazine, which should also be on-line soon. Here I was craving a G5, saving my pennies and Panasonic goes and announces, a key word, the Lumix G6. As I write this I’ve placed an order for the limited number of G6 cameras and new 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lenses that will be available in the USA sometime around June 21. I’ll update this if my place on the waiting list is high enough to actually get one of these cameras and will write a “First Impressions” post when I do. In the meantime, here’s a brief overview of what to expect:

The big news, for me anyway, is that the G6 has Wi-Fi connectivity with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, meaning that users can connect the camera to their smartphone/tablet with one-touch, which should makes sharing images easier. It will also be possible to use a smartphone/tablet as a remote shutter. With the G6’s Instant Transfer function, photos are automatically sent to the smartphone/tablet after shooting. All these flexible shooting/browsing/sharing styles are possible when using Panasonic’s Image App for iOS and Android smartphones/tablets.

First and foremost the Lumix G6 is a 16.05 megapixel Micro Four-thirds system camera that has a new Venus Engine image processor with advanced noise reduction that allows shooting at a maximum ISO of 25,600 (at its Extended setting.) The G6 offers burst speed shooting at 7 fps at full resolution and is ready to shoot in only 0.5 seconds after turning it on. The camera has lots of built in features such as Creative Panorama, Time Lapse, Stop Motion Animation and Clear Retouch in addition to 19 filter effects. Stop Motion Animation allows for stop-motion video and the Clear Retouch function lets you erase an unwanted portion of a picture after shooting and both operations can be completed in-camera.

The 1,440K-dot OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) Live View Finder is expected to offer “excellent color reproduction” with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. A new 3-inch, approximately, 1036K-dot high, monitor rotates 180° to the side and tilts 270° up and down boasting an approx. 100% field of view. The front panel is directly attached to the new In Cell Touch LCD without an air layer in between resulting in fewer reflections. In the USA, the G6 will be offered in basic black but I’ve seen white and silver models for sale on eBay through Japanese retailers.

Video? Lumix cameras have always been video stars and the G6 features full HD 1920×1080, 60p (60 Hz) high quality video recording in AVCHD Progressive and MP4 in stereo. Full-time AF and tracking AF is available in video recording as well. The full-HD 1,920 x 1,080 60p (60 Hz) video can be recorded in MP4 at 28 Mbps, to play back directly on a computer or other portable electronic devices without the need for conversion. I plan to use it to shoot the video for my new Kickstarter (watch for details) book/portfolio project.

So, I’m excited about the creative possibilities and look forward to actually owing a G6. Stay tuned for further updates from Mark Toal and myself…depending on who gets their hands on a Lumix G6 first.

The new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is part of their Art series developed “to meet the expectations of users who value a creative, dramatic outcome.” The new 30mm f/14 has an angle-of-view equivalent to 45mm and is designed for APS-C format digital SLRs like the Canon EOS 60D I tested it with. The lens has a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) and produces quiet (shooting video?) and high-speed autofocus. It has Sigma’s Super Multi-Layer Coating to reduce flare and ghosting and the company kindly includes a nicely made lens hood—and case—at no extra cost. The lens itself is constructed from Thermally Stable Composite Material (TSC) to reduce expansion and contraction of its internal barrel. The 30mm 1.4 has a minimum focusing distance of 11.8-inches with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:6.8. The $499 lens has a-blade rounded diaphragm that produces beautiful bokeh especially when shot wide open.

While I planned to shoot the lens outdoors for some nighttime shots, an opportunity came up to use it in the studio…

1/125 sec at f/5 at ISO 800

How low can you go? To simulate a low available light portrait in the studio, a Bowens Mosaic daylight LED panel was placed at camera left and set at one-eighth power. No reflector was used in order to simulate a real world lighting situation. To compensate for less light being available, I bumped the Canon EOS 60D’s (I was shooting with) ISO setting to 800 and attached Sigma’s 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM lens. Exposure was 1/125 sec at f/5. A Lastolite Distressed Paper collapsible background was used

The lens works with Sigma’s USB Dock that works with the company’s Mac OS and Windows compatible Optimization Pro software to update firmware and other parameters such as focus and depending on the lens, autofocus speeds, focus limiters, and optical stabilization.