Master Photography show

Master Photography

Summary: 5 photographers (Brent Bergherm, Jeff Harmon, Connor Hibbs, Erica Kay, Brian McGuckin) take turns covering listener questions, photography news, and the famous photography "doodads" of the week with each round table discussion episode. This is the podcast for enthusiast and professional photography nerds who want to level up and master their photography--without the fluff of a "talk show." The team has a special skill for covering advanced level photography techniques in a way that less experienced photographers can understand. They don't talk down to newer photographers yet provide tips that help advanced photographers. Come join us as we all work to master our photography together!

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 Red Hydrogen and White Balance with Don Komarechka | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 58:27

Red Hydrogen Phone and White Balance With Don Komarechka Episode Sponsor * Squarespace: Get a free trial by going to squarspace.com/improve and when you are ready to launch use the offer code IMPROVE to save 10% your first purchase of a website or domain. Episode Resources Photo Taco – DPI with Don Komarechka: https://phototacopodcast.com/dpi-with-don-komarechka/ Red Hydrogen One Phone: http://www.red.com/hydrogen Petapixel: Plumbers Tape is a Cheap Way to White Balance Photos: https://petapixel.com/2018/09/08/plumbers-tape-is-a-cheap-way-to-white-balance-photos/ FastCameraRaw Blog: DIY White Balance Reference: https://www.fastrawviewer.com/blog/diy-white-balance-reference Fstoppers – Magic Bokeh Results of Reversing an Element Inside Vintage Lens: https://fstoppers.com/nature/see-magic-bokeh-results-reversing-element-inside-vintage-lens-275013 Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of photographers listening to this show who are all on the same journey to master their photography.  I am Jeff Harmon, the host for this episode and joining me at the roundtable is a hero of mine, Don Komarechka. Don, none of my fellow round tablers were able to be on with me this episode, so thanks so much for coming on the show with pretty short notice so that I wasn’t alone. Don: Jeff: For those of you who may not know of Don, he is a mad scientist with a camera.  He does some incredible things with a camera that very few people on the planet are doing.  He is probably most well known for his snowflake photography but the work of his I love the most right now is his podcast called Photo Geek Weekly that we will make sure to talk more about at the end of the show.  How about we dive into our two topics for today? Red Hydrogen Phone Jeff: Our first topic is a phone.  Not the one everyone might be expecting since as we are recording Apple is unveiling their next generation iPhone in September 2018.  This phone is from Red, the manufacturer of some really high end, really expensive cameras. They call their phone Hydrogen One and I have heard Don gush with excitement like a kid on Christmas Eve about this phone for some time now.  It is an Android phone that has a very unique feature in a holographic display. There were two pre-order models offered, one called Aluminum for $1,200 and the other called Titanium for $1,600. Don, I never heard of this phone until you mentioned it on your podcast.  I want to know how you find out about it and what about it made you decide to commit to it over a new iPhone – especially when you committed to it so early with a pre-order?. Don: Jeff: You finally got the phone a couple of weeks ago, right?  So tell me about it what is like. Has it lived up to your expectations? Don: Jeff: Now that we have gone through some of the details with this phone, where do you see this kind of thing going?  Do you expect holographic displays to be something Apple and Google would be likely to provide in their phones? Don: Jeff: Last thing on the Hydrogen One phone, what do you think this means for photographers?  Do you think we are headed to a place where photographers need to pay more attention to stereoscopic imaging,

 Canon EOS R System in-depth | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:19:51

Brent and Jeff welcome Nick Page back to the show to talk about another mirrorless announcement, the Canon EOS R system. For full show notes: https://masterphotographypodcast.com/canon-eos-r-system-in-depth/

 Let’s Talk About Specialties in Portrait Photography – Portrait Session Season 2 Episode 1 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 49:05

Erica and Connor take an overview of the subject they are talking about throughout the second season of Portrait Session: The different specialties in portrait photography. This is just an overview of all the different types of photography a person interested in portrait photography can focus on and specialize in as they master their photography. We by no means feel we have compiled a total and complete list of potential specialties in photography in this list, but this list will be the general guide for us through this second season of Portrait Session. If you feel like we may have missed something, feel free to join our facebook group and post in there to let us know! Throughout this season we will be bringing on a number of experts who have mastered their specialty in the field of portrait photography. We will be focusing on our expert’s abilities, experiences, and advice for those interested in digging in to their specialty in photography while making efforts to highlight the key factors a person should be aware of that might make any particular specialty different from others. Specialties in portrait photography Headshots Newborns Weddings Seniors Dance Boudoir Fashion Street Families Glamour Sports Corporate/Commercial Lifestyle/Documentary Conceptual Retouching

 Reaction to Nikon Full Frame Mirrorless | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:23:09

Jeff Harmon is joined by Nick Page at the round table to talk about his conversion from Canon to Sony and our combined reaction to the official announcement of Nikon's first full frame mirrorless camera bodies.

 Off Brand Lenses, Are They Good? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 58:10

Jeff Harmon hosts with Erica Kay and Connor Hibbs joining him at the round table to talk about how branding impacts us as humans, branding affects photographers, and what we think about off brand lenses.

 Latitude: Photo Bags call-in show part 1 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 39:47

Bags call in where Brent talks with listeners about their photo bag choices. From Shimoda, Peak, MindShift, LowePro and more, we talk about the ins and outs of various bags and why we like them, or maybe dislike them.

 What We Want in Mirrorless and 5 Signs You’re Progressing | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:06:11

Jeff hosts with Connor at the round table to talk about what they want in a mirrorless body and 5 signs that you are progressing as a photographer. Resources: Nikon Rumors: Nikon mirrorless camera rumors: THE BIG RECAP https://nikonrumors.com/2018/07/27/nikon-mirrorless-camera-rumors-the-big-recap.aspx/ Photo Taco: Histogram Explained https://phototacopodcast.com/histogram-explained/ Photo Taco: AFMA Explained https://phototacopodcast.com/afma-explained/ Photo Taco: AFMA Revisited https://phototacopodcast.com/afma-explained/ Photo Taco: How To ETTR (Expose to the right) https://phototacopodcast.com/how-to-ettr/  Petapixel: 5 Signs You’re Progressing https://petapixel.com/2018/08/15/5-signs-youre-progressing-in-photography/

 Lightroom Selection and Adjustment Syncing | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 52:13

Jeff Harmon answers a listener question about how it is that adjustment syncing between two or more photos should work in Lightroom. He describes some important details about how photo selections work, the role of the "active" photo in selections and adjustment syncing, and some reasons why it may be that adjustment syncing may fail. Episode Resources Photo Taco: Fast Lightroom Editing Tips (https://phototacopodcast.com/fast-lightroom-editing-tips/) Photo Taco: Large Lightroom Catalogs (https://phototacopodcast.com/large-lightroom-catalogs/) Photo Taco: Lightroom Solo Mode (https://phototacopodcast.com/lightroom-solo-mode/) Photo Taco: Lightroom Computer 2018 (https://phototacopodcast.com/lightroom-computer-2018/) Photo Taco: Embedded Preview Workflow (https://phototacopodcast.com/lr-embedded-preview-workflow/)

 Camera Bans, Shooting the Football Hall of Fame, and Prime Lens Selection | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 45:01

Topic 1 “Professional” Camera Bans: Jeff Brentlinger Brought to our Attention the fact that the Indiana State Fair Banned cameras with lenses larger than 3 inches. When are bans like these legitimate ones and when are they just silly? Why do you think places put bans like this in place? Is it a safety issue or some other reason? It is similar to places that have tripod bans, but in this instance, I really don’t understand why they would do so. The fair has since repealed their rule on the cameras due to public outcry, but it begs the question why that would happen in the first place. How do you feel about the assumptions made by average people about what constitutes “Professional” gear? Topic 2: Brian’s Lessons Learned from Photographing the Professional Football Hall of Fame Expect the unexpected. Have extra time. Be kind! Bring more than necessary. Snacks. Topic 3: Recommendations for purchasing prime lenses. Tanja Hansen having a hard time deciding between the 35mm f/1.8G and the 50mm f/1.8G. I have heard so much about the 'nifty fifty' but am concerned that I'll have a hard time fitting everything in the frame (I very rarely use my kit lens at 50mm). However, I've read that the bokeh on the 35mm doesn't compare to the 55mm. Which one should I purchase? I primarily photograph families and children. Thank you! https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/battle-for-bokeh-the-best-50mm-lens-for-a-canon-dslr/ Doodads: Connor: Audible Subscription Erica: Snapseed app Brian: Canon 1.4 Telephoto Extender 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, brianmcguckinphotography on Facebook, @brianmcguckin in Instagram, and @brianmcguckin on Twitter Find Erica’s work at 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 Connor’s work at @connorhibbsphotography on instagram, on the web at connorhibbs.photography, and find the Portrait Session Podcast on itunes or at portraitsessionpodcast.com

 How To Headshots and Light Paint Portraits | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:06:32

Topic 1: Minimum Gear for Headshots * Jeff: * We have had a good thread going in the Facebook group this week about gear for headshots.  By the way listeners, if you aren’t in that group you are missing out on a really fun community of photographers helping each other out and you should consider joining by searching for “Master Photography Podcast” in Facebook and asking to join the group.  You have to answer a question to join and provide the name of a host so Erica, Connor, Brian, or Jeff will all work. * The thread was All 3 of you at the roundtable can speak from more experience here than I can.  I have done full body shots with the high school mens and womens basketball teams where I use an Impact backdrop stand and a 10×20 muslin, but that is overkill for headshots by a lot.  Eric, let’s start with you. Besides flashes what would you recommend for a photographer who is interested in doing some headshots spending as little as is reasonably possible? * Erica: Besides flashes, a good portrait lens and a reflector. Choose a 5-in-1 reflector (https://amzn.to/2AxdaQG $12) so that you have a variety of options to work with. For lenses, the most popular headshot lenses are 50 mm, 85 mm, and 70-200 mm because of their lack of distortion and their delicious bokeh.  Use reflector for fill light. * Brian: The sun. Reflector – car pop-up sun shield thingy. Assistant w/ white shirt. To me, the minimum is just your camera and playing with any natural light. * Jeff: * Initially my advice was a c-stand and a popup gray background, but looking at it as we were getting ready to record I would go with Fotodiox 5×7 collapsible black/white backdrop kit with stand (https://amzn.to/2n37IeC $80) as the least expensive option I could find that would get you going.  May not last too long, but would get you going for only $80. * That option is also black and white and I would prefer a gray backdrop so that I can get lots of backgrounds by changing the lighting, so maybe consider the Fovitec StudioPro 5×6.5 gray/blue collapsible backdrop (https://amzn.to/2v5Emk6 $60) combined with the Fovitec StudioPro Pop Out stand and reflector clip (https://amzn.to/2vtrQdR $26) that sets you back $86 in total and the stand is something that may last a little longer. Topic 2: Headshot Technique * Jeff: I want to get more technique discussed on the show, so now that we have given advice on the gear to invest in to get started into headshots, I want each of you to share how it is you got going with them.  How did you start getting clients paying you to do headshots. First though, I wanted to ask Erica to walk through technique on doing headshots. Let’s assume you are hired to go onsite and do a few hundred corporate headshots.  You just arrived, you setup your backdrop, walk us through step-by-step how you setup your camera in relation to the backdrop, where you are putting lights, what settings you are dialing into the camera, how you determine the power of the flash, etc. * Erica: * One light clamshell setup.  Light on the right with reflector on the left, or vice-versa.  Have the model face the flash * Can do clamshell with the light above and the reflector below too * May take a couple of shots with different lighting so that the customer can choose if there is time. * Jeff: Now Brian, you have done some paid headshots too right?  How did you get those paid jobs? * Brian: Most of it is word of mouth or previous clients/brides/grooms needing a headshot for their job. * Jeff: I have had some success from family and friends asking if they could have me take a good shot of them for their social media profiles.

 Guilin Photography Tours with Mia Beales | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 53:46

Brent talks about travel to China, specifically Guilin, and gets all the details on the photo tours offered by www.guilinphotographytours.com See all the show notes here: http://latitudephotographypodcast.com/episode/guilin-photography-with-mia-beales/

 2018 MacBook Pro Update, Mobile Backup, and Ps on iPad | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 53:45

Jeff Harmon hosts with Brent Bergherm at the round table to discuss an update to the mid-2018 MacBook Pro in the week since the last episode, a mobile backup solution Brent is happy with, and full-fledged Photoshop coming to the iPad in 2019 Topic 1: 2018 MacBook Pro Update Jeff: In the previous episode we went over Apple’s refresh of the mid-2018 MacBook Pro, offered suggestions on where photographers who are buying the new model should spend their money and where they shouldn’t. As we predicted, we had a lot of feedback from our incredible community who love their Macs.  They very much disagreed with some of the things that were said, which is great. So glad we have an audience engaged enough to tell us when they disagree with something. I needed to have an item on here to update things because Apple changed something significant and I wanted to make sure we covered that, but first Brent, did you want to take a moment and clarify your position on the refresh of the MacBook lineup as a Mac enthusiast? Brent: Yes, I just wanted to reiterate or maybe clarify my remarks. I will probably always be a mac user. The specific question about this machine was “will we update” and at this time, no. I won’t I just bought one about seven months ago. If my computer was needing an update I’d definitely do it. But, I wouldn’t see the value in the i9 processor nor the 4TB or storage. I just don’t need that and it would be too much. But also, while I often complain about Apple’s RAM prices, in this computer, $400 more to add another 16GB isn’t all that bad, it’s still more than it should be, but it’s way better than the $600 that was required to take the previous generation computers to 16GB which is half what this machine will do now. So things are moving in the right direction. And as a tangent here, Black Magic has released a GPU which for video editors would be great. You can effectively add to the power of your MBP and do great video. It’s also a hub for connecting all sorts of devices. My only wish is that it were in a nice high quality display. LG makes some good thunderbolt type displays now that are 5K resolution, add GPU into that and I’d get very interested since I’m starting to increase the amount of video I do. Jeff: I also need to add that even though I think the prices are inflated some over some Windows options, I didn’t make it very clear in the last episode that if you really think you absolutely must have a laptop for your photo editing needs then I do recommend the MacBook Pro over Windows options.  We won’t go into the details here but I am pretty convinced that costs and lack of user upgradeability aside, Apple makes the highest quality laptops available for photo editing. Now I am going to get the Windows people mad at me? (yes, you are

 SEO and Building an Organic Web Presence for Your Business – Portrait Session S01 Ep09 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 1:11:43

In todays episode Connor and Erica talk about building an organic web presence to allow people to find your business on the web without you having to pay for advertising. This can be done through the channels of social media, google business/pages, and strengthened through your blogging capabilities on your website.

 Mid-2018 MacBook Pro Refresh, Handheld Focus Stacking, and Advanced Workshop Attendees | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 51:49

Topic 1: New MacBook Pros After 527 days, Apple refreshed the MacBook Pro line in mid-July 2018 -15” now has 6-core CPUs with Core i7 and Core i9 options, up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to 32GB of RAM (woohoo), and AMD graphics up to 4GB of VRAM.  Maxed out it sells for $6,700! -13” updates to Intel’s most current Core i5 and i7 processors, including 4-core options, still only 16GB max RAM (boo), a max of 2TB of SSD storage, Intel Iris Plus 655 with 126GB of eDRAM. Maxed out it sells for $3,700. Connor and Brent, what do you think of the new options?  Are you going to spend the money to buy one? Jeff’s recommendation on the upgrades that are worth it in order of priority: -15” Start with the higher cost model to get the Core i7 6-core processor (don’t upgrade to the Core i9 due to heat issues), upgrade the RAM to 32GB for a price of $3,200. -13” Get the touch bar model (not because the touch bar is that cool, but the higher CPU is only available in the touch bar model), upgrade the CPU to the 2.7GHz quad-core for $300, the ram from 8 to 16GB for $200, and the storage to 512GB for $200 for a price of $2,500. Early Problems? -Heat - early tests have shown that Apple didn't update the heat dissipation to go along with the newer, faster, and HOTTER chips.  If you buy the Core i9 processor you may never be able to have it run at full speed because the computer doesn't get rid of the heat fast enough and has to throttle it down to keep things cool enough. -Keyboard - Jeff really dislikes the keyboard since they changed it in 2016.  No experience yet with the updated version here in mid-2018, but the early reviews have said it feels mostly the same.  Apple did add some plastic covers under the keys to make them more dust/crumb resistant, a major problem with the 2016 MBP line. Topic 2: Listener Q&A Brian Duncan asked about focus stacking hand held, specifically macro work. -Brent: My basic thought is to say, not on macro. If you’re focus stacking with macro there’s just too much that can go wrong if you’re not on a tripod. If you’re doing it with a wide angle lens, then you possibly have some options given your subject. I would look for areas that are plain and bland and can easily be a transition area from one to the other areas. -I have some YouTube videos I’m producing right now that deal with Focus Stacking. They’ll be out on Aug 2, that’s the goal. It’ll be after I rebrand my Lens company YouTube channel to my personal and podcast branding. Gary Aidekman: What are the attributes of a good intermediate/advanced workshop participant? Describe the participant who seems to get the most out of a workshop. Describe one who gets the least. -Jeff: best is one who is willing to engage with everyone, help others where they know something, being willing to learn and not approach the class like they know everything.  Worst is someone who signed up only to have the host of the workshop get them to the spot and then does their own thing without engaging with the rest of the participants or the host.  Be careful not to be the "know-it-all" who the rest of the group dreads hearing from. Doodads: -Jeff: eufy [BoostIQ RoboVac 30 ($270, Roomba is more like $450 to $630) https://amzn.to/2LlnYW8 -Brent: Barcode Reader, Global Entry (free meetup July 23) -Connor: Neewer Dual LCD Battery Charger for Canon LP-E6 Batteries Compatible With Canon 7D 6D 5D II III 5Ds R 70D 60D 6D a 80D(US Plug + EU Plug + Car Charger Adapter) ($25) https://amzn.to/2O0dgTx 

 Larger formats with Stevan Tontic | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:51

Shownotes link: http://latitudephotographypodcast.com/episode/larger-formats-with-stevan-tontic/ Photography can be loads of fun when you mix it up with various formats for your capturing device. Brent and Stevan talk about taking cameras to various places as well as some of the logistics in dealing with larger formats for film photography. Links for this episode: www.stevantontich.com www.theitaliancamera.com http://www.stevantontich.com/blog/2018/5/23/china-in-spring-2018 http://www.stevantontich.com/blog/2017/11/19/street-scenes-from-shanghai-china-bw-edition Look him up on YouTube, 500px, Facebook and more.

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