Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L IS, 1/320th second at ƒ/4, ISO 100

Last week I went to downtown Salt Lake City to meet up with some friends and visit some of the street-side taco stands. We started at one, but they ran out of tortillas and so we had to find another one … then it became a “let’s visit all the taco stands on this block” game and we all ended up eating way more than we should have (they were sooooo tasty!). I’m trying to bring my 7D around with me pretty much everywhere I go and so I got some neat looking (and some very scary-looking) photos.

My friend Ann has a full account of the taco-visits on her blog here.

Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L IS, 1/15th second at ƒ/4, ISO 1000

Last week I went to watch the Salt City Derby Girls scrimmage, and they let me in the rink to take some photos. It was my first time at a roller-derby event so I didn’t know what to expect, and ended up leaving with some pretty cool photos. I found that I had a lot more fun with slow shutter speeds and panning than I did when I tried to freeze the action. This is one of the panning ones that I like best … it’s a little bit “unconventional” for a sports shot but I really like the fact that it’s kinda “artsy” and generic.

I have a few other good shots from that night and I’ll post them here throughout the week.

Here’s another “Two Minute Tip” on how to selectively sharpen images with the high-pass filter using Photoshop.

When I choose images to upload to my stock portfolio on iStockphoto, I do my best to not upload images that are too similar. Sometimes (in the eyes of the inspector) I do, and those images don’t go through … but my philosophy is that if I can see something significantly different in the image then I will upload it. My guess is that if a designer likes the look of an image (the model, setting, subject, lighting, etc.) but are looking for a composition or element in an image then it’s always better to include as many variations as possible.

The two images above are an instance where I made my own judgment call and was wrong. In March 2008, almost two full years ago, I uploaded the image on the left. I had assumed that the other image, the one on the right, was too similar to the one on the left because the only difference was that the boy is in focus on the first image, so I figured that would be more “sellable”. I also assumed that one of the images would have been rejected for being “too similar”, and so I picked the one that I like the best.

Fast-forward 1.5 years to September 2009 when I received and email from a designer who absolutely loved the image on the left but wondered if I had the same shot with the baby chick in focus. After going through my old files I was able to assure him that yes, I did, and I even edited it and uploaded it to iStock for him to download. If he had not emailed me then it’s possible that he would have moved on to find a different image that maybe wasn’t exactly the one he wanted but worked for his design, and I would have lost a sale.

Because I shoot stock and don’t work with art directors or designers who have a precise idea in mind for how they want the image to look then it’s up to me to think of what potential buyers might want. I do my best to shoot from as many angles as possible and also include/exclude things in the images to give as several options to the buyers. So my question to all the designers out there who use photographs in their designs is … how much variety do you want to see? Do you want several variations to choose from, or would you prefer that the photographer only selects their favorites (which might mean only a handful of photos from each shoot)?

Please feel free to leave your comments below … gaining insight from people who actually search for and use images on websites like iStockphoto.com is very valuable information and usually ends up helping out both the photographers and the designers. IMO win-win scenarios are always the best outcomes. :)

Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L IS lens, 1/30th sec @ƒ/4, ISO 100

When it comes to food photography crisp, clean images are always nice, but sometimes it’s good to mess it up a bit. Get some crumbs on the plate, use that fork/spoon/knife and make the image look like it’s being enjoyed. There are ways to do this and still make the image look tasty.

I am very particular about the styling in my images, so the placement of every crumb, garnish, or droplet was placed there either on purpose or was left in place because I noticed it and liked the way it looked. My ultimate goal is to make the image look like it wasn’t on purpose, but still look tasty enough to eat.

Last night I dusted off my HTML & CSS books, sat down at my computer for a few hours and finally put together a splash page for my business. I’ve been meaning to create one of these for a while, just to have a nice landing-page where I could post all of the links to my main websites and contact info. I also needed a place to redirect the dozen or so domain names I own that didn’t have an index, er, home yet.

I tried to keep it pretty simple … it’s still a work in progress but I think I’m off to a good start. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think! :)

One of my photos, this time not from iStock, was used in a book by Peachpit about the G10/G11 camera called “Canon PowerShot G10/G11: From Snapshots to Great Shots“. They ran a Flickr contest and chose from the images submitted, and one of mine made it in the book … I had to use a borrowed G11 to get the shot, but I think it turned out pretty nice. :)