Master Class WPPI 2007

Thanks to everyone who attended our sold out Master Class. We extended the class for 30 minutes as there were so many great questions. Special thanks to Tamrac for their door prizes and for their support. Many asked about which camera bag it was that I had there and use. I use the Tamrac messenger bag and Jennifer prefers the Velocity 9. I like the Messenger bag because it will hold my 17 inch MacBook Pro when we need to shoot destination weddings.

This wrapped up our speaking engagements and we are now free to enjoy Las Vegas for a day or so before flying back to New York. It has been an incredible week filled with sharing ideas, seeing friends from around the world, and networking with great companies. Thank you to all the kind people that came up to us and said such nice things about our message to the industry. We aren't sure what to say in those moments, but we just hope that our classes and ideas make a positive impact on peoples lives and their businesses. We are so honored to be asked by WPPI each year to return and speak. We want to take a moment to personally and publicly thank Bill Hurter, Skip Cohen, Steve Sheanin, Arlene Evans, George Varanakis, and all of the WPPI staff for their support and trust in us to deliver a positive industry message that helps to shape the entire industry.

International Champagne Shootout 2007

The Champagne shootout here in Vegas was incredibly fun. 2000 photographers attended as myself and Jennifer along with 3 other photographers did live fashion shoots with models on 4 separate stages. I want to thank LexJet, Epson, Profoto, Canon, Apple, and Tamrac for helping out. LexJet was our official sponsor and I want to take a moment to especially thank them for their support and for simply being such an incredible company to work with. Our images were showcased as a gallery at their trade show booth and all of the images were printed on LexJet papers.

The shootout was two hours long and we took almost 300 images. For those photographers that were there, we should recap a little to fill you all in on what we were doing. We captured the images with the new Canon 1D MarkIII and were sending the images directly to our Apple MacBook Pro laptop via a WIFI wireless connection. So, no strings attached, images were showing up on the screen in Apple's Aperture software.

The way the images populate into Aperture is through a special hot folder script that can be downloaded from the Apple website. Then, we would choose our favorite images and simply transfer them over the the Mac Pro where Tom, from LexJet helped us out by choosing the right paper profile for the LexJet paper we were using and printing out 11x17 inch prints directly from the RAW files in Aperture. As you could see, the color integrity was second to none in the prints that were coming off the Epson 3800 as we continued to shoot.

The lighting we used was very similar to our studio setup. We use Profoto exclusively because they have so many light shaping tools. I know everyone saw that our setup was the opposite of the other three photographers. We don't use giant softboxes because if you take the time to compare the quality of light from softboxes to other light shaping tools like Giant reflectors, grid spots, parabolic reflectors, beauty dishes, and Ring lights, the visual difference is very distinguished. It is tough to see the difference without comparing prints side by side, but a quick visit to the Profoto website to see how light shaping tools differ and you'll see that giant softboxes create average flat lighting. These other tools have edgy qualities that shape facial features much better, and have smoother hightlight to shadow gradation in most cases.

On stage we used a Giant 5 foot Profoto reflector as our main light complimented by a grid spot to highlight the faces of the subjects and a pair of barn doors to light the background and sometimes the subject. We were using Profoto compact 600 monolights. The only difference in our own studio is we use the Acute 2 2400 watt second power pack and a 7 foot Giant Profoto reflector instead.

So many photographers took the time to come up and say that our corner was by far the most informational, educational and unique. We appreciate the kind words of those that took the time to let us know how they felt. The companies mentioned and used are the products and companies we prefer, use, and recommend because they are all about quality and are in the best in class categories.

International Print Competition Observations

Print and Album competition was interesting to say the least. There were over 2200 entries in the competition. We all know that digital photography has impacted the photography industry in positive ways. However, we are also seeing some negative impacts as well. There is such a huge difference between good photographers and extraordinary ones. I think that is why it is becoming so popular for affluent couples to import their photographers for their wedding.

Some couples can see the distinction and have to have it. Others, miss out because they don't know any better. And, it seems that photography is sometimes low on the budget list before the wedding sometimes only to become the most important aspect after the wedding. Engaged couples should really take this to heart. Even many party planners and event designers are clueless as to the importance of photography and often under budget. A good rule of thumb is to budget at least 10% of the total budget on photography.

Extraordinary talent is so few and far between. The truth is that this level of talent is so hard to come by that it is like finding a needle in a haystack. There may be just a few artists in your major markets, a handful scattered around the country in remote areas, and then it goes overseas.

We travel globally for events quite often, and when you watch every image come through an International competition like this, you start to see and understand why affluent couples seek out extraordinary talents. The difference in what we saw was simple. Too many photographers aren't taking the time to learn the qualities of light. They are looking at the back of their digital camera and seeing a well exposed image, but that is it. Extraordinary images have more than perfect exposure. They have impeccable lighting. They have been captured and printed by a designer artist that has impeccable taste. They have been mastered in Photoshop to have maximum visual appeal and the results of this blend of talent are remarkable.

As the head judge for the album competition, the only thing I need to comment on is the lack of photojournalism and non-fiction in the album competition. There is a lot of fashion work coming through that is stunning and bold to look at. I love high fashion wedding photography as much as anyone, but, the client has to painfully know that the photographer is present to get those types of images.

Secondly, there seemed to be a lot of cliché' books or style plagerism coming through in which they lack originality and most of all reality. I am not saying they aren't off the charts beautiful to look at, I am just stating that truth, history, and realism are the core of what we feel weddings are about because they are timeless qualities. It is important to remember that we must evolve beyond these looks. Points were being taken off for lack of originality.

Photographers copying these high fashion styles should be careful. Fashion is easily dated, so these albums will probably look dated in just a few short years. I don't think anyone wants to look at their album in 2020 and say to themselves "that was sooo 2007". I think they want to see a timeless quality that remains classic and classy.

So, as a print chair and a print judge, the conclusion is that stars really shined bright. But the difference between 98% and the 2% that were remarkable was apparent and dramatic.

WPPI Plus Class

Wow!..
What and exciting couple of days so far in Vegas. Jennifer and I want to take a moment to thank all of the professional photographers who were in our Plus class. Our Plus class was full and we truly enjoyed sharing our ideas and concepts. We were very humbled at how many people took the thank us with such kind words. Many had stated that it changed everything and they were excited to go home and implement the ideas.
So, thank you.. thank you.. thank you...

Our Plus class was a lot of fun 16 hours of education and we packed it with as much information as we could. Camera techniques, lighting techniques, workflow, a live shoot, and marketing. There was a lot to take in, but everyone kept up which was great. It was so cool that we had people from so many directions like Hawaii, St. Croix, Dallas, Canada, New York, Indiana, and more. Quite a meeting of the minds I would say. Some had just started their business and others had been professionals for decades.

Our live shoot was wonderful. It is so funny that we worked with models that we worked with in Vegas before. I want to thank Eddy and Vera. They were so great together and willing to do anything we asked. We shared lots of techniques including how to use window light effectively, how to use recessed lighting, blend on and off camera optical TTL flash both indoors and out, and natural light. The live shoot was both traditional and fashionable and we were psyched to hear photographers comment on how cool the posing concepts were.

I think most were surprised to see how we use Apple's Aperture software for post production processing and client experience. This is an amazing software that has truly revolutionized our studio workflow. One of the main reasons it is so powerful is that it has dual monitor support allowing us to share full screen images with clients.

We closed the class with some serious marketing concepts on how to build lasting relationships based on trust. Our studio works completely by referral. We don't advertise. Instead, we have become a best kept secret by doing the best we know how. Jennifer and I are judges at the International Photography Awards, so we look forward to posting some thoughts on what we see come through. Images from the live shoot during the Plus Class are posted online at http://maring.rlabonline.com/mp_client/pictures.asp simply choose weddings and then choose WPPI Plus. There isn't a password to get in, so enjoy. These images will go offline April 30th. Thanks again everyone!

Snow Storm and other things

It's been a while since my last blog, but a lot has gone on over the past week or so. We had the first, and probably last, major snow storm here in New England over the weekend. My nephew and I took off at 5am for Mount Snow, VT in the thick of the storm and arrived to almost two feet of fresh tracks. A phenomenal day of snowboarding to say the least.

Over the past week we got some new studio lighting in as we made a leap towards Profoto. Their light shaping tools go far beyond other companies. The one thing digital photography didn't change was that great light is irreplaceable. Our vision is to create studio lighting that has more lifestyle and mood to the imagery, so we made purchases that go well beyond the giant softbox that seems to have been the setup that has taken over the industry for the past 5 years. We tend to run from the pack on most everything, and never followed that trend as we find it kind of dull and flat or boring. And, now we feel it is time for even a new change in studio photography that can only be had with light shaping tools that give detail control.
Our main light source is now a 7 foot Giant reflector. It is the most stunning light source we have ever seen. It is soft because it is so big, yet very specular because it is lined in silver. We also added a Profoto Ring light for some new high fashion looks, a beauty dish, and many other light shaping tools. I did some test shots with Jennifer and creating a cool new bio photo among other things. Part of our goal on DigitalGURUtv is to share how we use light shaping tools to create unique looks.

We have been working hard behind the scenes gearing up for the WPPI conference in LasVegas. We have so much work going on out there that it is pretty much insane. We are giving a Plus class for two days, then judging print competition, then giving a Master Class, and then doing a live shoot for the Champagne shootout which is kind of like an Iron chef scenario which should be fun. We are psyched each year to attend the International Photography Conference though as we meet up with friends from around the globe and share ideas. We always come away excited and pumped for the busy season. We'll try to blog from Vegas to fill everyone in on how it's going.

Personal Fine Art

After coming back from photographing an assignment in Italy, I was completely inspired to created some new personal artwork. My new DreamScapes collection goes beyond reality to showcase that feeling caught between the dream state and the real world. Most of these limited edition art pieces are printed as 40x60 inch canvas images, but a few are watercolors as well. Printing is limited to 2 or 3 at most so that they retain their value. Each one comes with a signed certificate of authenticity as well.

They are mysterious and wonderful to look at as each viewer finds hidden meaning, images, and messages allowing them to draw unique conclusions about each piece. These images are themed as well. Some themes are very narrow and others a little wider such as; West 23rd Street in Manhattan, 5th Avenue in Manhattan, Florence Italy, and specific Islands and Cays in The British Virgin Islands. I welcome all to visit a special online presence to view most of the collection by clicking here.

We are currently speaking with some galleries in Manhattan about representing this collection, but a so now anyone interested can contact myself or Jennifer personally for any questions or for a private viewing of the collection.

Save a Life... 90 minute mentoring auction

Jennifer and I will be donating a 90 minute mentoring session at the WPPI conference in a benefit for Thirst Relief International. Every 15 seconds someone dies of a waterborne illness. That's 4 people every minute, 240 people every hour, and 5760 people every day, as a result of one thing - they don't have clean drinking water.

Worldwide water projects in the Amazon, Zambia, Indonesia, Tanzania and others are funded by Thirst Relief International. The highest bidder will receive a 90 minute one on one mentoring session during the WPPI conference in Las Vegas Feb. 24-29th.

The auction to bid on 90 minute mentoring sessions will be live on March 1st - March 8th at midnight PST. The link to bid on the mentoring session will is at thirstrelief.blogspot.com
Please join us in supporting a worthy cause. 100% of all proceeds will go directly towards Thirst Relief and only $5 can save a life. Visit www.thirstrelief.org for more information as well.