Master Photography

Jeff Harmon is joined at the roundtable by Brent Bergherm, Brian McGuckin, and Connor Hibbs to talk about the Out of Chicago conference, shooting reenactments, and a crazy new technology coming from NVIDIA that photographers should be excited about. Topic 1: Conferences Brian talks about his experience attending the Out of Chicago conference with Nick Page.  Out of Chicago has a pretty similar format to the Create Photography Retreat.  Held in Chicago every year, the format was one where there were several tracks of classes to attend along with rooms setup with different types of shooting opportunities and groups going out into the city to do different types of shoots. Check out light painting done by www.ericpare.com The retreat in 2019 is in Las Vegas March 28 through March 30th.  Ticket prices are a ridiculously low $387. Go and check it out at https://createphotographyretreat.com  and we hope to see you there! Topic 2: Reenactments Jeff is also super jealous that you and good friend of the show Mark Morris recently got to do a workshop centered around battle reenactments. Jeff saw Mark post on Facebook that he learned he really needed the full 10 frames per second of his Canon 7DM2 camera to capture the cannons firing.  Not canon cameras here, like war cannons being used in the reenactment. He had some really cool shots. Attendees of the workshop got a fire hose of lighting technique thrown at them.  At one point after Connor had finished some teaching the participants were provided one of Connor's photos and they had to re-create it without Connor assisting.  He was very impressed because they were able to replicate the photo without help and did it without needing to do some work in Photoshop that Connor had done.  So fun to see photographers learn and progress towards mastering their photography. The thing Connor learned as he hosted a workshop in a location he wasn't very familiar with was that no matter how many emails and phone calls were made ahead of time some of the logistics don't work as expected.  There was a challenge getting tickets to the reenactment where there were told numerous times by an organizer they had to wait to purchase them when they were there and it turned out they could have purchased them ahead of time Topic 3: NVIDIA Developed by researchers at NVIDIA, MIT, and Aalto University, really different from any other noise-reduction system. “Without ever being shown what a noise-free image looks like, this AI can remove artifacts, noise, grain, and automatically enhance your photos.” This is revolutionary because they can get these incredible results WITHOUT needing a clean image, which all of the other machine learning solutions require Adobe is very well positioned to become a tremendous partner here.  This is place where the Creative Cloud could be an important help. Adobe is pretty uniquely positioned to get this NVIDIA tech into their data centers and then offer a new option in Photoshop and/or Lightroom to send a noisy photo up to their cloud for processing and in a few seconds you get back a photo much better for use than the noise reduction built into the software running on your computer.

Jeff talks with computer building expert Matt Bach of Puget Systems about the best choices for building a computer to run Lightroom in 2018. They talk about all of the decisions to make to custom build a Windows computer, as well as the recommendations for where it is worth spending the money if you are buying a Mac or a PC from a big box store. Episode Sponsor: Duggal Visit Duggal Vision Solutions for all of your photo printing needs and support the show by going to https://ShopDuggal.com/master and use coupon code MASTER to get 25% off your first order! Episode Resources: Puget Systems Recommended Workstations for Lightroom: https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/content_creation/photo.php?utm_source=masterphotographypodcast.com%2Fphototaco&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=photo_taco Building a [$5,000] Lightroom PC: https://paulstamatiou.com/building-a-windows-10-lightroom-photo-editing-pc/ The Ultimate PC Build for Photography Needs: https://photographylife.com/the-ultimate-pc-build-for-photography-needs

Jeff hosts with Erica and Brent joining him at the roundtable to talk about the new softbox product line from MagMod called the MagBox and a very disturbing court ruling of fair use for a photo that was not properly licensed. Resources Mentioned MagBox on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spencerboerup/magbox-magshoe-magringrevolutionary-new-softbox-sy PetaPixel Fair Use: https://petapixel.com/2018/07/02/court-rules-copying-photos-found-on-internet-is-fair-use/ FStoppers Fair Use: https://fstoppers.com/business/court-rules-images-are-found-and-used-internet-are-fair-use-263567?utm_source=FS_RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=Main_RSS Photo Taco - Retreat 2017 Top Ten: https://phototacopodcast.com/2017/03/13/retreat-2017-top-10/ Master Photography Roundtable - $60K Stolen Photo Settlement (Copyright discussion): https://masterphotographypodcast.com/2018/05/31/60k-stolen-photo-settlement/ Topic 1: MagMod Softbox MagMod puts a huge emphasis on ease of use, accomplishing that ease of use with magnets. MagMod softbox system is made up of 3 components.   MagBox features: -MagMod is claiming their 24” softbox is the brightest softbox ever created because it doesn’t leak light due to a patent pending technology they have developed they call the FocusDiffuser. -Another feature I haven’t seen offered much with softboxes is a place to put gels. MagRing features -The MagRing is all about making attaching a flash quick and easy. MagShoe -This is MagMod’s take on the cold shoe adapter you can adjust with one hand This stuff looks and sounds pretty awesome.   Erica, is this something you are interested in? Yes! Ease of use of the Magmod system, cohesiveness with all of my current Magmod gear, and support of the Magmod company in general makes this a no-brainer for me. Brent, what about you? More interested in the MagShoe than the other pieces. Jeff: I would LOVE to get two of each thing here. I am leaning towards pulling the trigger and backing the project for one. Topic 2: Disturbing Fair Use It had been cropped but they had clearly taken the photo from his Flickr site and used it without permission or attribution. The case went to court and after hearing the arguments the judge ruled in favor of the company saying their use of the photo was fair use.  The judge ruled fair use based on a few criteria: -The photo was being used in a non-commercial way -The photo was used in good faith because it wasn’t clear the photo was protected by copyright and restricted and the company took the photo down as soon as they were asked. -The photo was cropped pretty significantly -There wasn’t any evidence that the use of the photo harmed the photographer Doodads: -Jeff: Fotodiox F60 Quick-Collapse Flash Softbox ($50) -Erica: #MagMod Community FB Group -Brent: Canson Infinity Paper Baryta Photographique($75) Reminders: -https://masterphotographypodcast.com is the new home for the show, you will want to go there and check it out -Facebook group is Master Photography Podcast, can search for it on Facebook or you can go to masterphotographypodcast.com and there are links there. -Find Erica’s work at http://ericakayphotography.com and on Facebook and Instagram under Erica Kay Photography. You can also check out the Portrait Session Podcast for everything portrait photography related. -Find Brent’s work over at http://brentberherm.com and listen to his podcast focused on travel photography at http://lattitudephotographypodcast.com -Find Jeff’s work at jsharmonphotos.com, phototacopodcast.com where you can subscribe to the Photo Taco podcast and enter a contest to w...

Brent talks with Brian Pex about his recent trip to the Palouse region of Washington State.

Brent has two big announcements and Greg shares his expertise regarding exposure blending.

In this episode, Erica and Connor discuss the best practices for putting together and curating a strong and effective portfolio that will help you put your best foot forward. Then on Sticking Points, Connor sits down with Aaron Taylor to discuss the ways in which he can improve his sales and customer experience with his in person sales process. Don’t throw every session you’ve shot into your portfolio. That is fine to start with, but eventually you need to get choosy. Having a great body of work is good and fine and will look great on social media, but it is a good idea to have a place to show off your work and a website is a fantastic/professional way to do so. Other items of branding, business cards, possibly print boxes, letterhead etc. Before making any of these things, be sure you feel confident you can answer core questions about your brand. What do you stand for? What kind of service do you provide? These questions have more to do with what your customer can expect from their interactions with you. Are you a brand that gives great looking photos at an affordable rate? Will your business model support that? What will that mean you are having to sacrifice to keep costs low in the long run?

In this Episode Connor sits down with Jeff Harmon and Brian McGuckin. We talk about the latest update of Lightroom and talk about the usefulness of new features then discuss how Brian got an amazing World Cup inspired photo of his son.  Topic 1: Lightroom Classic CC 7.4 June 2018 Update (Adobe Release notes: https://theblog.adobe.com/june-lightroom-cc-releases-preset-profile-synchronization/ and https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/whats-new.html#lr-classic-cc-7-4)   New features: (Support Jeff’s idea for a Cull Module http://bit.ly/cullmodule) Folder Color Labels Show/Hide Presets & Profiles Disable Large Preset Preview Automatically Stack after Merge (pano or HDR) Folder search performance HEIF support (Apples newer JPEG format) No more posting to Facebook using the Lightroom Publishing Service Updates to support new cameras and lenses Bug fixes Crash when disconnecting external hard drive (Windows only) Mac catalog backups Preset conversions 12+ bugs in the develop module (they only talk about the bugs reported by users as being fixed) Topic 2: HIGTS - Soccer Photo Just Do It! Have a vision - My kids’ passions - World Cup Triple Flash Set up. Shoot and Adjust. Small aperture. Shutterspeed around 1/200. Bright flash. ISO 1000. F/11. 1/250 Doodads: Jeff: Mpow H5 Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones ($45) Connor Boomerang for Gmail Free Brian Crib Mattress You get what you pay for? Reminders: masterphotographypodcast.com is the new home for the show, you will want to go there and check it out Facebook group is Master Photography Podcast, can search for it on Facebook or you can go to masterphotographypodcast.com and there are links there. Find Brian’s work at brianmcguckin.com, Facebook (brianmcguckinphotography), Twitter (@brianmcguckin), and Instagram (@brianmcguckin) Find Connor’s work at www.connorhibbs.photography, @connorhibbsphotography on instagram or at portraitsessionpodcast.com Find Jeff’s work at jsharmonphotos.com, phototacopodcast.com where you can subscribe to the Photo Taco podcast and enter a contest to win a 30 minute skype editing session with Jeff, and on Facebook (harmonjeff), Twitter (@harmon_jeff), and Instagram(@harmonjeff)

Event photography can be filled with much excitement and provide many unique opportunities. It’s also a horrible time for an error code to pop up on the back of your camera to find out the last 4-5 photos you took are now gone! This has been the past month for our host, Brian McGuckin.

Jeff walks through the details of XMP, what it is, why photographers should care, the pros and cons, multiple options to turn in on in Lightroom, and a couple of lesser known options.

Jeff hosts with Connor at the roundtable to talk about 3 point lighting.  They cover key/fill/hair lighting, how they should be positioned, how they should be powered, and why a photographer would want to use a 3 point lighting setup.

The redwoods area that we’ll be looking at today is in CA, but just barely. It’s right on the border with Oregon and a great place to use as your base, if you’re not camping, is Crescent City. It’s about 12 miles south of the OR border. There’s plenty of hotel options. The weather is generally mild, if you’re used to OR coast weather then you know what to expect. In short, it’s somewhat mild in the summer topping out at about 80 degrees and generally windy. As I look at my “All Stays” app on my iPhone there’s plenty of campgrounds to consider staying at if you like that kind of thing. I like camping, but the time I went to the area I took two of my boys and elected to stay in a hotel. Airbnb would also be a good option. The places I want to focus on are: * Jedediah Smith State Park * When we pulled in to the area we came through this state park which is cooperatively managed by the CA parks system and the National Park System. It’s about 10,000 acres in size and it contains 7% of all the world’s old growth redwoods. Also, the Smith River runs through it. It’s the longest free flowing river in CA. The park is a magnificent place to shoot. One place I went to was Stout Grove. * Comment on specific photos of Stout Grove. * http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413 * The Battery Point Lighthouse is kind of cool. It’s right along the coast at Crescent City. And there’s a breakwater you can walk out on. At the end there’s some strangely shaped items that the boys and I loved walking out on. It made for some interesting shots. * Talk about the shots * http://www.delnortehistory.org/lighthouse/ * Mystery of Trees is kind of a neat place. If you’re looking for purely awesome photography… maybe go elsewhere. But if you have kids in tow it’s a pretty cool place. They have an easy to walk trail that takes you to a sky tram gondola. You can then walk down the mountain or ride the gondola back down. My favorite spot in this area, though, was the trail that’s accessible right across the road from Mystery of Trees. Park in the hotel parking lot, far northern end, and there’s a trail that takes you out to the coast. It’s short, but a really great place to shoot. * Photos of the area * https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/maps.htm * https://www.treesofmystery.net * And finally there’s Fern Canyon. This is a rather easy to get to location that does not disappoint. I went in early summer and the river flowing through the canyon was already fairly low and easy to walk through. To get to the good stuff you should plan on getting your feet wet. But it was only about eight inches at the deepest part necessary to keep going. My only real problem here was my obsession with getting focus stacked panoramic images. I think I got some OK shots, but I neglected to get some with my wide angle. But the polarizer really helped here as well since the walls are coated with ferns and the polarizer blocks the glare off the moisture allowing the greenery to really come to life. But as an update here in early June 2018, there’s a logjam blocking the loop trail, a ¼ mile out and back is still possible and still quite worth it. * Talk about a couple of photos specifically * https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/hiking-trails-south.htm

Jeff hosts with Connor at the roundtable to talk about stolen photos, copyright, the $60K settlement that the Northrups recently talked about, and the steps to copyright your photos.

In this Episode, Erica and Connor Discuss The changes coming to the podcast's format before having a conversation concerning the overall steps a person interested in taking their portrait photography hobby and turning it in to a business. GENERAL STEPS FOR TURNING YOUR HOBBY INTO A BUSINESS: Step 1 Ask: What kind of Portrait business do you want? Step 2 Establish a legal entity. Step 3 Accounting & Finances Step 4 Portfolio Building and culling Step 5 Pricing yourself Step 6 Business Model/Customer experience Step 7 Portfolio Display and Branding Step 8 Building an Organic web presence Step 9 Develop additional marketing strategies Step 10 Finding Success: How to manage a transition to a job as a photographer STICKING POINTS During sticking points, Connor sits down with Kaden from 365th Street Photography to discuss his struggle with writing blog and social media posts that speak with a voice that feels genuine without being overly repetitive along with some general tips for finding effective keywords for blogging and hash tagging.

Jeff Harmon hosts with his friend Levi Sim joining him at the roundtable to do some listener Q&A about how Levi makes people comfortable in front of his camera, switching from Nikon to mirrorless, how an amateur can get pro gear, and more!

On this episode I talk about the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and their Seven Principles. Also, I've got a great gear giveaway for listeners. Leave No Trace In my circles, there's been a lot of talk lately about photographing the places we love and how, sometimes, photographers can do way more damage to a beautiful spot than they might expect. I'm not one to keep my locations to myself, but I do want to take this opportunity to encourage listeners to be respectful of the land we have come to love so much. If we're not careful we may end up trampling it to death. That's where the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics comes in. They have created their Seven Principles to help outdoor enthusiasts like us to take stock of our plans and the effects we have on those around us and the effects we have on the land too. Please note these Seven Principles are © 1999 by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org. They are... Plan Ahead and Prepare Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces Dispose of Waste Properly Leave What You Find Minimize Campfire Impacts Respect Wildlife Be Considerate of Other Visitors There's so much more information on their website. Please click on over and learn more for yourself. Or, listen and I'll talk about it in more detail as well ;) In my own words, I wish to add use a touch more. That is to also respect private property. I've missed out on countless images because an area is clearly marked "no trespassing." I'm not saying I'm a saint when it comes to this. Sometimes I've seen the sign on my way out! But still, if you know the land is private and it's clearly marked as such, please do respect the land owners' wishes and find somewhere else to create your next masterpiece. Gear Giveaway I'm thrilled to have this podcast back on it's own feed once again and to celebrate I'm having a gear giveaway. Click on this page for all the details, but in short, I'm very grateful to Mindshift Gear and ThinkTank Photo for sending some bags for me to review and also have in this giveaway. Also thanks to Greg Benz for giving away a copy of Lumenzia v5. And I guess I can thank myself for the gear rental coupon and the 30 minute Skype session. Be sure to listen or click on that description page/post for all the details.