iPad photo applications

An internet TV channel call TWIT (This Week In Tech) has introduced a new show called iPad Today and the first show has a review of photo apps. The apps featured allow you to stylize photos in you library CameraBag, Photogene, Diptic; transfer photos from your iPhone to your iPad, Photo Transfer; even tether your iPhone and iPad to take photos on your iPad using Camera A/B.

All this is in the first segment of the show but if you stick around you’ll learn how to make screen shots of your iPad. If you have some favorite photo applications for the iPad, the iPhone or other mobile devices, please share them in the comments.

iPad Today is available as an audio podcast and in a video format where you can see hosts Leo Laporte and Sarah Lane demonstrate the applications.

Mahmood Fazal-August 9 Second Monday Lecture

Join the Charleston Center for Photography in welcoming one of it's own, Mahmood Fazal, for the August rendition of the Second Monday Night Lecture Series on Monday, August 9, 2010 from 6-8 pm with an artist's lecture at 7 pm. Mahmood Fazal is a self-taught photographer based in Charleston for the last 15 years. He divides his time photographing weddings, portraiture and commercial and sometimes an occasional job from Bloomberg News. He also teaches classes in Digital Photography and Photoshop at the Charleston Center for Photography. Fine art photography has been an ongoing project for Mahmood. The current series 'Childhood Notions' has been a deliberate departure form 'pure' photographs by injecting a heavy dose of digital manipulation and digital content creation. The current series was part of a collaborative art exhibit called "Passing Notion?" for Piccolo Spoleto. Come in and experience these fascinating and whimsical pieces of art first hand, and get an inside look from the artist himself!

To see more of Mahmood's work, please visit www.moodphotography.net.

The Charleston Center for Photography is located at 654 D King Street, in Downtown Charleston, SC.


Please contact Alice at 720-3105, or alice@ccforp.org with any questions!

Environmental Portraiture at Hollywood's Gym

Today I took my Environmental Portraiture Class up to Hollywood's Boxing Gym. For those of you who have been up there with me, you know it is a treat! There is always something going on up there. Hollywood has been running the Charleston PAL Boxing Gym for 27 years, and is a great member of our community. As of late, Hollywood has been nominated for the Energizer "Keep On Going Award". He is one of 10 people in the finals, so if you would like, please vote for him here!

Photo by Chele Laney

For today's shoot, we used natural light for several shots, but because the natural light streaming in from the windows was so much more powerful, we opted to use the Elinchrom BX 500 RI strobe for a few shots as well. For diffusion, we used a deep octa bank to create some really soft light on the subjects. The best thing about this lighting system is that it is all so portable and easy to use! My students were able to pick up the basics right up after only a couple of quick tutorials! The Elincrom allowed us to find an equivalent exposure between the light outside and the light being produced on the subject. If this sounds interesting to you, be sure to sign up for one of the next round of classes! Please enjoy some photos taken by my students!
Photos by Whitney Bussio:











Photos By Tyler LaCross:










See you all soon! Alice

Quality lighting

Quality lighting is a key to great photography. The guys at Fstoppers prove it using sound lighting techniques to do an entire fashion shoot with an iPhone, and some cheap work lights.



If you're interested in learning more about lighting, Charleston Center for Photography is offering Studio 101 Workshop with Amelia Phillips Hale August 14th. For more information on Amelia's workshop check out the workshop page at Studio 101 Workshop

Restrepo Trailer - National Geographic

Adobe Photoshop: Black & White Conversion

F8PJ & Charleston Center for Photography

I want to share with you one of the many ways to convert a color photograph into black and white using Adobe Photoshop. Whether you use CS4 or CS5, it doesn't matter. You'll find the process is the same for either.

So, here's a picture of me from Morocco...

First, I open the color photograph in Photoshop. Then I go to the "Image" tab on top and activate the drop down. There I fine an option called "Calculations".

In the Calculations menu, there are several tabs. Don't get overwhelmed. There are many die hards who say that you should "do it this way" or "do it that way". I say you should do what you think looks good and what you think you can live with.

I flip through the various channels using the channel drop down to see what looks good. I also adjust the percentage of contrast and tone by manually dialing in the number in the opacity box.

For this image, I decide to isolate the red channel at 50%.

The image is still an RGB file. So, I go to the "Image" tab on top and open the "Mode" option box. From there, I choose to "Grayscale" the image.

A dialog box pops asking me if I would like to discard the other channels and I click "OK".

That's it. So, what is the difference between this process and just hitting "Grayscale" from the beginning? Well, I have an opportunity to chose the channel and vary the percentage of applied contrast. It gives me options.

There are other options to grayscale colored images in Photoshop. You could go to "Hue and Saturation", "Grayscale", "Black & White" or even "Desaturate". There's probably a 100 more ways that aren't listed. But, Calculations works for me.

Photographing Clouds.

Stacy and I live out in Goose Creek S.C. Lately we have seen beautiful cloud formations in the later afternoon early evening. So since I always have my trusty Nikon D3 at my side I decided to make some photographs. Here are my camera data or settings.

Model: NIKON D3

Lens (mm): 34

ISO: 200

Aperture: 5.6

Shutter: 1/750

Exp. Comp.: -1.0

Flash Comp.:

Program: Aperture Priority

Focus Mode: AF-S

White Bal.: CLOUDY

If you have any questions post a comment and we'll get back to you.

Thanks

Andy Dunaway

Sweet 'N' Soft

F8PJ & Charleston Center for Photography

I love little babies, but photographing them can be challenging. As you know, I love a challenge. My solution starts with my camera and lighting equipment. I use a Nikon D3s and 24-70mm Nikkor lens. I'm usually right over the baby, so I prefer a shorter lens.

As for lighting, I use two Elinchrom BXRi 500 heads with Elinchrom Rotalux Octa Softboxes. The light it produces is incredible soft and wraps the baby. There aren't any harsh shadows, which smaller light sources can produce.

I use the mother as much as possible, so that the baby relaxes. Having her smell and body heat acts as a calmer. By placing a neutral cloth over the mother, she becomes part of the background. Rarely can a person tell it's the mother who's holding the baby.

I shoot with the baby over the mother's shoulder so I can get a full face portrait. Then I'll have mom hold the baby in front of her and get a couple more shots.

I do my best to get as many detail shots as possible such as eyes, feet and hands.

I shoot everything in RAW, so my editing process starts with ingestion into Lightroom. I make minor changes to my overall images such as exposure, saturation and cropping. When I'm done, I export the files as high resolution JPEG's.

I launch an editing software called Photomechanic, which allows me to quickly move through all of the pictures. I can also plug in general IPTC data like the subject's name and the date of the photo shoot. It even allows me to launch an editing sweet like Photoshop.

From there, I use my actions and plugins to finesse the infant portraits. One of my portrait editing plug-ins is Imagenomic Portraiture. You can see what the program looks like below. It's very simple, however, can be over-used. I recommend taking editing very slowly and not over-work your portraits.

It usually takes me two hours to shoot babies. This gives me time to put both the baby and the mother at ease. Plus, it also allows time for a quick bottle break or the occasional diaper change. After the session, it takes an hour to edit. Photographing babies takes patients, but the end results are worth it.

The Charleston Center for Photography offers a one-day workshop called Photographing Your Infant. To learn more helpful tips and get hands-on instruction, be sure to sign up today!

Basic Wedding Photography Class wtih Alice Keeney

Here is a quick look inside one of my classes-we obviously have a good time! Tyler, one of our interns at CCforP shot the following video during my Basic Wedding Photography Class.

It's been raining a good deal lately here in Charleston, and we didn't want to risk messing up Whitney's dress just a few weeks before she walks down the aisle(good luck Whitney!!!)

We used the Elinchrom lights in the studio, building up from one light all the way up to four. The students got a hands on lesson on basic elements of the lighting and got to fire off a bunch of frames themselves. Great job tonight everyone! Here is a look at a couple that we edited very quickly!

Special thanks to Whitney, one of the students in the class, for being such a patient, and beautiful model!!!

Hope to see you all soon!
-Alice

Breaking the Ice

Having a moment to let your subject share their stories are important. This helps to put your subject as ease and gives you an opportunity to observe your subject's facial expressions.

Breaking the Ice: Photographer-Subject Relationships

We all have shared an awkward silence with perfect strangers on an elevator. We'd just assume stair at our feet then initiate a conversation. There's some unwritten elevator law that says no eye contact or talking is allowed.

I'm the wacky person, who actually says, "Hey there, how you doin'?"! I suppose it's my outgoing-no holds barred style, that helps break the ice. My husband, Andy Dunaway, thinks I'm crazy. I'm sure the people I engage in conversation think the same thing! LOL!

It's not that I am crazy. I'm just practicing.

I keep my body language relaxed and open, so my subject knows I am open to learning more about him. I also make sure I do not overpower the conversation. I let them talk and make sure that I am actively listening.

Here's the secret, I'm a bit shy. If you've ever met me, you'd probably think I'm pulling you leg. However, it's true. My heart rate races when I'm in a crowd of people, especially strangers. I'm even more uneasy when it comes to one-on-one.

Over time, I learned to control my nervous response to strangers. I decided that I had to take control of my social anxiety in order to take control of my photo shoots. Ritually before every shoot, I gear my mind up for the encounter. I remind myself that I have to give a bit of myself to my subject in order to get any return. This exchange is extremely important to obtain ease during my photo shoots.

Even when I am behind the camera, I am still engaging my subject. I make sure I peep over the camera to make eye contact. Sometimes I will walk over to my subject and adjust their shirt or hair. This physical contact conveys to them that I am there to make them look as best as possible.

Meeting and interacting with people for me is similar to running a race or a marathon. To counter my introverted nature, I expend energy reaching out to touch strangers physically and emotionally. I greet every subject with a firm handshake, direct eye contact and a sincere smile.

For me, there is nothing worse then shaking a limp hand. I associate a soft handshake as an insecurity or lack of confidence. I suppose my prejudice derived from my days in the military.

As for good eye contact, I find this paramount. We do a lot of non-verbal communication through our eyes. So when my subject is talking, I make sure that I engage him or her through continuous eye contact. I don't check my watch, cell phone or stare at my shoes. To me, this translates into boredom and disinterest. I want to make sure that my subjects know how important they are to me.

I find that my subjects will reflect the emotions I am exuding. So if I am smiling, they will smile. If I'm nervous, are nervous. With that said, I try not to get overwhelmed during my shoots. I keep my emotions in check. I try to remember to breath as much as possible. When all else fails - stop and take a deep breath.


I have found that the best way to break the ice is to let my subjects talk. If the initial introduction is stiff and forced, I will try and dig out a topic they may be interested in. For instance, on this shoot my subject loved to fish. I asked him about his boat and his fishing excursions. His eyes went wide and smile flashed across his face. From there, the conversational flood gates opened.

I let him talk and engaged him with other personal questions. However, I have found that the best results come when I just listen. I take note of facial expressions in relation to the conversation topic. I use these key topics to evoke emotional-facial responses from my subjects.

In this case, my subject smiled every time he talked about his years in the Navy. I was sure to prompt a smile by asking questions like, "Where were you stationed in the Navy?" or "What type of ships did you work on?". He would smile and I would get my shot.

Here is my initial ambient exposure test before adding supplemental light.

In most shooting scenarios, I only have a few precious minutes to break the ice and get my portrait. So all of my techniques are used from the moment I book the shoot to the time I get in my car after the assignment is complete.

Here is the frame with a properly exposed background and a supplemental light, which is equivalently exposed. However, the pose is static and boring. So I found a background that was more "telling".

He had a tractor he was remodeling, so I moved him next to that.

Happy subjects equal happy endings. So, bring your camera bag and your smile. Engage your subjects with sincere interest. Listen with keen ears.

Here is another example of establishing an ambient light exposure. In this case, I have actually underexposed the ambient scene. By adding a supplemental light to illuminate my subject, I pull him away from the background.

He looked toward the supplemental light and gave me a bright smile. Priceless.

If you are shy, don't despair. I have learned to engage strangers in a non-aggressive way. By the methods above, I have actually established many friendships for life.

Video Footage from the NPPA Convergence

Watch live streaming video from nppa at livestream.com

Picture Show Application Fun

Picture Show by Graf

Application for Your i-Phone

On July 12, 2010, Graf created a great photography application, Picture Show. As soon as it arrived on i-Tunes, I had to have it. I started snapping like crazy. It has the capability of adding several types of filters such as LomoGraphy, HolgaGraphy, Vintage, Vanished, Noir, Multi-exposures.... the list goes on. You can pick various frames, add textures and unique lighting effects


I have heard many heated debates about whether Canon or Nikon makes a better image. However, I stress to my students that it's not about the camera. What's most important is the operator behind the system. That's why I love making pictures with my i-phone. I can still make quality pictures, even though I'm only using a 5 megapixel 4G i-Phone camera.


The 4G i-Phone has a built-in flash, which I've been putting to good use. You can see that most of the portraits have detail in the shadows. That's because I'm using the flash. However, I don't let the flash fall straight on the subject's face. I try to use a piece of paper, Kleenex or my shirt to diffuse it. This isn't rocket science, I just prefer to have softer light.


Using my phone's camera has limitations. It doesn't zoom and has a very limited minimal focus distance. However, I love a challenge! Instead of a zoom lens, I use my feet. Yup, can you believe it? My feet work and I can get close to my subject by simply walking toward them! What a concept!


Since my phone pictures are on the fly, I am much more apt to take chances and try new stuff. I get new angles and unique portraits. People are less intimidated by a phone verses a DSLR too.

Also, I'm very conscious of my corners and extraneous distractions in my frame. Of course, I could bring the file into Adobe Photoshop but that defeats the purpose of the phone camera challenge. I can capture moments without my subjects even knowing. I love that.


Now that I'm consciously thinking about all of these things, I've improved my day-to-day paid photo assignments. When I take risks with my i-Phone shots, I have small successes. These translate directly into my paid photo assignments. I take note of what works and expound upon them with my big production shoots. Plus it's just plain fun. This application, Picture Show, has reinvigorated my impromptu photo sessions.

Goings On At CCforP...

CCforP instructor, Kenny McKeithan, reviews images taken by the students in his Wednesday morning Intro to Digital Class. One of the main focuses was on metering modes. To read more about metering modes, come in and take a class, and check out this article!

Check out the next set of classes being offered by clicking HERE!

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fundraiser at CCforP

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fundraiser: The Sale Soiree!at the Charleston Center for Photography

The Sale Soiree is a retail event to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Local boutiques and vendors will come together for a fashionable evening of shopping and music, many offering discounts of up to 75% OFF their retail prices. Tickets can be purchased for $10 Online or for $15 at the door. Sponsors include Posh&Savvy, MacKenzie Image Consulting, Social, hannesgreim photography, Yuduand O-Ku who is hosting the after party.

Today's Location Shoot at Trident Hospital

F8PJ & Charleston Center for Photography

Today I went to the Trident Hospital to create portraits of the surgical department staff. I brought my intern, Tyler, for help and some really great tools. The gear I brought was a Nikon D3s, Nikkor 24-70mm lens, Nikkor 70-200mm lens, Elinchrom Ranger Quadra with two heads, Elinchrom softbox, Manfrotto Stacker Light Stand set, Manfrotto backdrop system, black Seamless Roll Paper, and Kata OC-88 Oraganizer Case.

I put the Quadra, softbox and reflector dish in the Kata bag. It fits really good. However, I have my eye on the Kata OC-97. This will allow me to fit my light stands and backdrop system all in one bag! I can't wait until I get it.

I try to keep my gear very light, because the shoots are quick and we move through the whole hospital at lightening speed. Many of the staff only have a few minutes between meeting patients, so I spend my time getting the lighting right before they come for their portrait.

The Quadra is awesome for these sessions, because I don't have to plug it in. It's just one less thing to worry about - you know... finding an outlet. LOL! Since I only have a few minutes for each portrait session, not having to spend time trying to find an outlet is good.

I try to have a stand in, so that I can get a better sense of the light and position of the subjects. You can see the below picture of Tyler "standing in" for the surgeons.

I try to explore every angle of the room, so that I can have as clean a background as possible. I also try to adjust my light to better enhance dimension and drama. I know it's a simple staff picture, but I always find that I can have fun with them.

I usually go through my mental check list:

- Know photo objective & number of subjects

- Identify background distractions

- Find the best angle to enhance the environment

- Adjust lights so that everyone is lit and with dimension

- Pick the proper lens

- Meter lights

- Determine exposure

- Test and adjust

Below, you can see the doctors laughing and having fun. Nine times out of ten, I have never met my subjects before. So, I try to interact with them, joke and put them at ease. I snap some pictures, so that they get used to the pop of the flash. I talk to them with my camera to my face, so that I can capture the moment when it happens.

I take charge of every shoot and guide my subjects with clear and concise direction. This gives them confidence in my ability to make a good picture of them. Just as they are professionals, so am I. That's the difference between someone who "takes pictures" and someone who "makes pictures". If you want to be a true professional photographer, then you need to be a good leader and proficient technician.

In just a few short minutes, I can capture the portraits I need to complete the assignment. My client is happy, my subjects are happy and I'm happy.

Here's my final picture from the surgical room. It's simple and pleasant. It looks like it wasn't lit, which is what I aim for. Good lighting should be incognito. It should add dimension and drama to an average "light" situation.

Happy portrait making everyone!