VerveCast

There’s a new camera, which is (supposedly) revolutionary, and this time, it doesn’t come from RED.

The Lytro sounds too good to be true, sort of. I mean, they do use the word “magic” in their marketing copy.

Here’s a description:

Lytro lets you take pictures like never before. Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space.

Yeah, this sounds like magic. I know a lot about photography and I’m still not 100% sure what they mean by this. Luckily, you can read about the science they are using.

There’s some quotes on the web site from mainstream media and some tech blogs, but no photography sources. This one from the New York Times is interesting.

“For a photographer, whether amateur or professional, the Lytro technology means that the headaches of focusing a shot go away.”

I know a lot of photographers, and none of them consider focusing a shot a headache. In fact, a good photographer consciously chooses what they want in focus and what they don’t want in focus.

The Lytro method seems to assume that you can’t decide what should be in focus when you are shooting, so you should decide later, with software, or just let the viewer decide. This might be good for consumer cameras, but I just can’t see pro photographers jumping up and down with excitement over it.

In this butterfly shot, you can have the butterfly be in focus, or you can choose to have the flowers behind it in focus. You can check out the gallery to see how it works and try it yourself.

I’m still pretty curious about this camera. The simplicity of its reminds me of an Apple product, but I still can’t see anyone with professional Nikon or Canon gear dumping it to use one of these.

I really like photographers who share… not just their images, but techniques behind how they create their images.

Alex Koloskov (who I first discovered on Google+) has a nice blog where he gets into detail of his shots, and shows some of the setups he uses.

He’s got a good post about Professional photography without professional equipment, that shows how you can get some good shots with cheapo stuff.

Oh no! He’s giving away all the secrets! :)

I’m mostly kidding… In reality though, it really is the person behind the camera, and their years of experience, that contribute to the photo more than the gear. Our studio is full of stuff like foamcore boards, DIY diffusers, aluminum foil, and even 50 year old barn wood, as well as expensive lighting gear. We mix it up, and come up with what works.

It’s the “what works” that is the real secret… or maybe it’s no secret at all. It takes a lot of practice, so if you’re wanting better photos, don’t worry about the gear that gets you there as much as you worry about the light, and creative ways to manipulate the light.

For the past five years I’ve been working on a new lighting technique that I call light painting. Traditionally one uses strobes or even hot lights for photography. Well, my new technique instead involves a $5 flashlight from Ace Hardware. Be it large sets like buildings and landscapes or micro-sets like food or small tables, I’ve used my technique successfully.

It’s a process that requires visualizing what you want the final shot to look like, as well as a good amount of Photoshop work. Large outdoor scenes (like a building) as well as small tabletop scenes (like appetizers) both have the same challenge. The only difference is the size of the light you use. Without getting into too much detail, “painting with light” is just like it sounds.

As an example, take this shot below.

The above photo represents how the property actually looks. The sun was down and the camera was set to 0.4 second shutter speed, 200 ISO, and an aperture of f/6.3.

Now, here is the light-painted shot.

Both of the above photos are of a property out in California that I recently photographed. The challenge with this particular shot was to make it look different than any others of the house and also hide the things that you don’t want to see, like neighboring houses and drooping plants, all while highlighting other amazing details.

The final light-painted shot actually consists of 23 separate photos. We wanted to highlight the roses and grape vines on the left… so we painted them with light. We also used the technique on the fountain, the curved drive, roofline, sky, bushes, windows, etc. If you look closely, you will see no strobes and really no landscape lighting in the photograph. That’s because there isn’t any on the property. The effect comes from just my lighting technique.

Painting with light is an amazing way to highlight specific areas of a scene and capture images that the eye cannot normally see. Note: this is NOT a HDR effect.

Here is another shot done with the same light painting technique, but on a micro-set.

This shot was done for Marcus Hotel & Resorts at CLEAR inside InterContinental Milwaukee. This shot was actually made up of 13 different photos. Jim Rude, my food stylist on the shoot, helped bring it to life. He found it interesting on how we shot this; during the shoots, my technique can look kind of odd. I get a lot of, “is that a flashlight?” But hey, we—and our clients—always love the end result.

Z2 is very proud to announce that NOH8 (“No Hate”) will be in Milwaukee on Friday, August 12 at InterContinental Milwaukee from 4 – 8 pm.

What is NOH8? “The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with “NOH8″ painted on one cheek in protest.”

How do I get my picture taken? The photo shoot at InterContinental Milwaukee on Friday, August 12 is scheduled to begin at 4pm and end at 8pm. The photos are taken on a first come, first serve basis, but we assure you that the wait will be worth it! When you get there, you’ll receive a model release to fill out and then you’ll get a NOH8 temporary tattoo. You’re asked to wear a plain white tee to match the signature look of the campaign, and after the photos have been retouched, they’ll be made available on website, usually in 4-8 weeks.

What does it cost? The cost for the NOH8 portraits are $40 for a solo portrait and $25 per person for couple and group portraits. You can pay with cash, credit and checks. “Funds raised by the NOH8 Campaign will be used to continue promoting and raising awareness for marriage equality and anti-discrimination through NOH8′s interactive media campaign.”

We’re so excited that InterContinental Milwaukee is going to be hosting this event. We look forward to seeing you there!

Chase Jarvis is a damn good photographer, and I appreciate all the sharing and education he does in the area of photography, so I really like this story about getting the right shot.

There’s an old saying about photography: If you wanna get good at it, take a lot of photos. (Actually, I don’t know how old it is, but I’ve had people tell me that, and I’ve told it to others.)

One thing you might notice is, all of the shots Chase has are of people in action. So does this still apply to photographing “things?” I think it can… I know that when I set up to shoot an object or scene, I can easily end up with 20 or more shots, each one with slightly different angles and lighting, and I often don’t choose the one I use until later when I’m sitting in front of my huge monitor scrutinizing things. And yes… occasionally I end up using the first shot I took, which makes you wonder if the other 19 were just a waste of time. I hope not… Seeing the difference in light and angles often gives me ideas. Ideas about what to do, and what not to do.

Often when clients see what’s involved in a photo shoot, they’re amazed at the amount of planning, coordinating, and attention to details that goes into it. And this video doesn’t even show the planning, coordinating, or attention to detail that goes into making a shoot happen, it just shows the photos.

Of course, I’m one of those guys who often finds the “behind the scenes” stuff as interesting (or more interesting!) than the final product. :)