1 in 5 teenagers will experiment with art. Know the warning signs…Love this new ad by The College of Creative Studies / Detroit, Michigan. Made me giggle, smile, and know that I had to share the humor!

1 in 5 teenagers will experiment with art. Know the warning signs…

Love this new ad by The College of Creative Studies / Detroit, Michigan. Made me giggle, smile, and know that I had to share the humor!

Title: Unsocial Media.Social networking aside, how many close friends do you have?www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/08/social-networking-close-friends  I’ve been thinking a lot about social media and friendships lately - I think this article sums up a very overlooked question. Thought I’d share this article from Guardian.

Title: Unsocial Media.

Social networking aside, how many close friends do you have?

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/08/social-networking-close-friends 


I’ve been thinking a lot about social media and friendships lately - I think this article sums up a very overlooked question. Thought I’d share this article from Guardian.

Title: Booking Agent.Will digital make me a better photographer? First, one needs to think clearly about what it means to be a good photographer. This entails having the artistic sense to understand and create good compositions, the equipment to capture the image, and the know-how to control the equipment properly. Simply purchasing a digtal camera will not impove your composition skills or increase your know-how. However, there are at least 3 ways that digital camera technology can help you:1) It can help you learn faster. The ability to see the results instantly, rather than waiting for film to develop, lets you experiment and see the results of your experimentation immediately.2) It can give you the opportunity to retake a bad shot since the ability to review the shot immediately will let you recognize and correct problems. This is related to, but separate from, the learning aspect mentioned above. Even a skilled photographer will sometimes have good shots ruined by the ocasional slip up or random event.3) They can help you get difficult shots. Digital cameras have features such as tilt/swivel displays that let you compose shots while holding the camera in an extreme position. Some cameras are very compact, which alone offers greater versatility than films designs. Some can be controlled by computer. Some have exceptional high ISO performance.All 3 of these points are helpful, yet can sometimes be a double edged sword to a professional photographer. While I fully agree a digital camera is far easier to master than a film camera - nothing can compete with a photographer who has “the eye.” I have coined the phrase “Anyone can take a photo but only a few can take a picture.” The key is training yourself and making sure you take more pictures than photos.LEARN, UNDERSTAND and APPLY are the key points that should be focused on when asking if digital will make you a better photographer.

Title: Booking Agent.

Will digital make me a better photographer?

First, one needs to think clearly about what it means to be a good photographer. This entails having the artistic sense to understand and create good compositions, the equipment to capture the image, and the know-how to control the equipment properly.

Simply purchasing a digtal camera will not impove your composition skills or increase your know-how. However, there are at least 3 ways that digital camera technology can help you:

1) It can help you learn faster. The ability to see the results instantly, rather than waiting for film to develop, lets you experiment and see the results of your experimentation immediately.

2) It can give you the opportunity to retake a bad shot since the ability to review the shot immediately will let you recognize and correct problems. This is related to, but separate from, the learning aspect mentioned above. Even a skilled photographer will sometimes have good shots ruined by the ocasional slip up or random event.

3) They can help you get difficult shots. Digital cameras have features such as tilt/swivel displays that let you compose shots while holding the camera in an extreme position. Some cameras are very compact, which alone offers greater versatility than films designs. Some can be controlled by computer. Some have exceptional high ISO performance.

All 3 of these points are helpful, yet can sometimes be a double edged sword to a professional photographer. While I fully agree a digital camera is far easier to master than a film camera - nothing can compete with a photographer who has “the eye.” I have coined the phrase “Anyone can take a photo but only a few can take a picture.” The key is training yourself and making sure you take more pictures than photos.

LEARN, UNDERSTAND and APPLY are the key points that should be focused on when asking if digital will make you a better photographer.

Title: Brew House.6 Tips for shooting Environmental Portraits.1. What is the purpose of your shoot/portrait? This is not only the number one thing you need to understand when shooting an environmental portrait - what are your intentions, where are the photos being used and what is the context of the subject matter? You need to have these answers clearly defined and understood.2. Get to know the person. It is so obvious that it hardly needs saying, in order to take a picture of the subject’s personality, you need to know something about them. This will also help you answer the questions in Tip Number 1. The worst thing you can do when taking an environmental portrait is to just show up and start taking photos.3. Posed or Natural/Candid? What a good question! Again Tip Number 1 will help define this and it really comes down to how the photo will be used. Having said that, I prefer a more candid approach. Candid photography is also the truest form of environmental portraiture. The moment the subject becomes aware of the camera, they are likely to be posed, likely to do things they wouldn’t normally do, likely to change their behavior for the sake of the camera.4. Let your subject talk while you are photographing. An advantage of photographing a person in their own environment is that it is easier to set them at ease. Get them talking and they will soon forget about the camera staring at them. People are also much more animated when talking about something which they love doing, which should make for great pictures.5. Make the background work. The key to good environmental portraiture is a good environment. Choose a place that tells you something about the model. For a chef, choose a kitchen, for a gardener, pick the vegetable patch. The background is an integral part of the image and should be well thought through. Every visible element should tell us more about the person in the picture. That does of course not mean that we should fill the frame to bursting point with clutter, what it means is that we may have to tidy up, to move things, to rearrange, to do everything possible to make the environment tell us something about it’s owner.6. Working with light. In studio portraiture, every aspect of lighting is at your mercy, every shade and every highlight can be placed for a reason. In environmental portraiture, this would defeat the purpose. Try to work with the available light, enhancing it with a little bit of flash where needed or bringing in a reflector to soften a shadow here and there, but refrain from overpowering the picture with an elaborate setup, because the light with which the subject surrounds himself tells us a great deal about him.

Title: Brew House.

6 Tips for shooting Environmental Portraits.

1. What is the purpose of your shoot/portrait? This is not only the number one thing you need to understand when shooting an environmental portrait - what are your intentions, where are the photos being used and what is the context of the subject matter? You need to have these answers clearly defined and understood.

2. Get to know the person. It is so obvious that it hardly needs saying, in order to take a picture of the subject’s personality, you need to know something about them. This will also help you answer the questions in Tip Number 1. The worst thing you can do when taking an environmental portrait is to just show up and start taking photos.

3. Posed or Natural/Candid? What a good question! Again Tip Number 1 will help define this and it really comes down to how the photo will be used. Having said that, I prefer a more candid approach. Candid photography is also the truest form of environmental portraiture. The moment the subject becomes aware of the camera, they are likely to be posed, likely to do things they wouldn’t normally do, likely to change their behavior for the sake of the camera.

4. Let your subject talk while you are photographing. An advantage of photographing a person in their own environment is that it is easier to set them at ease. Get them talking and they will soon forget about the camera staring at them. People are also much more animated when talking about something which they love doing, which should make for great pictures.

5. Make the background work. The key to good environmental portraiture is a good environment. Choose a place that tells you something about the model. For a chef, choose a kitchen, for a gardener, pick the vegetable patch. The background is an integral part of the image and should be well thought through. Every visible element should tell us more about the person in the picture. That does of course not mean that we should fill the frame to bursting point with clutter, what it means is that we may have to tidy up, to move things, to rearrange, to do everything possible to make the environment tell us something about it’s owner.

6. Working with light. In studio portraiture, every aspect of lighting is at your mercy, every shade and every highlight can be placed for a reason. In environmental portraiture, this would defeat the purpose. Try to work with the available light, enhancing it with a little bit of flash where needed or bringing in a reflector to soften a shadow here and there, but refrain from overpowering the picture with an elaborate setup, because the light with which the subject surrounds himself tells us a great deal about him.

Title: Love Affair.Best coffee in Detroit: Astro Coffee. Corktown - represent! I have made a personal goal to get coffee at Astro Coffee at least once every other week and yes, I will be traveling from Grand Rapids, Michigan to get my cup of coffee. One of the best Mochas I’ve ever tasted.Astro Coffee’s Blog:http://astrocoffeedetroit.blogspot.com 

Title: Love Affair.

Best coffee in Detroit: Astro Coffee. Corktown - represent! I have made a personal goal to get coffee at Astro Coffee at least once every other week and yes, I will be traveling from Grand Rapids, Michigan to get my cup of coffee. One of the best Mochas I’ve ever tasted.

Astro Coffee’s Blog:
http://astrocoffeedetroit.blogspot.com 

Title: Soulful.Another favorite shot of mine from Detroit’s TEDxDetroit… was honored to be asked to be part of their media/photo team. 

Title: Soulful.

Another favorite shot of mine from Detroit’s TEDxDetroit… was honored to be asked to be part of their media/photo team. 

Title: Perfect Fifths. What is Composition? Composition is the arranging of objects in a photo frame. As a photographer you need to train yourself into thinking when you look through the viewfinder you are actually seeing your subject as if it were in an actual frame. The contents within this frame are arranged according to where you stand and where you position your camera. A quick adjustment of your arm can turn an basic and unthought-provoking beginner photo into a smart, witty and professional shot for a magazine cover! I like to call these little adjustments and why professionals do them “Moments” and it is these moments that will take your photography to the next level. There are a handful of compositional techniques that you can learn. My favorite technique is simplicity - a simple rule, says to keep the photo simple. Avoid complex and cluttered images with too much information. Instead, find a subject and isolate it. For example: Instead of standing in front of your subject, zoom in to isolate the subject from the other objects nearby. Get low and shoot from below to remove background objects while using a small aperture to blur the background and isolate the subject.

Title: Perfect Fifths.

What is Composition?

Composition is the arranging of objects in a photo frame. As a photographer you need to train yourself into thinking when you look through the viewfinder you are actually seeing your subject as if it were in an actual frame. The contents within this frame are arranged according to where you stand and where you position your camera.

A quick adjustment of your arm can turn an basic and unthought-provoking beginner photo into a smart, witty and professional shot for a magazine cover! I like to call these little adjustments and why professionals do them “Moments” and it is these moments that will take your photography to the next level.

There are a handful of compositional techniques that you can learn. My favorite technique is simplicity - a simple rule, says to keep the photo simple. Avoid complex and cluttered images with too much information. Instead, find a subject and isolate it.

For example: Instead of standing in front of your subject, zoom in to isolate the subject from the other objects nearby. Get low and shoot from below to remove background objects while using a small aperture to blur the background and isolate the subject.

Title: Lil’ DivaOne of my favorite shots from last weeks TEDxDetroit… this photo pretty much sums up how awesome this event was - Detroit is still Rock City! 

Title: Lil’ Diva

One of my favorite shots from last weeks TEDxDetroit… this photo pretty much sums up how awesome this event was - Detroit is still Rock City! 

Title: 鯉I have always loved this particular image from Old Miami in Detroit, Michigan. It could very well be because I have a huge crush on koi fish/koi ponds. Enjoy the Zen and TGIF!

Title: 鯉

I have always loved this particular image from Old Miami in Detroit, Michigan. It could very well be because I have a huge crush on koi fish/koi ponds. Enjoy the Zen and TGIF!

Title: Blue Blooded. Bokeh + Slap Art = Nice

Title: Blue Blooded.

 Bokeh + Slap Art = Nice