To say I’m excited for today’s show is a huge understatement.

I first met today’s guest 6 years ago, when our mutual friend Adam Elmakias asked us both to help him with his Live Music Photography Workshop. I’m sure you know that feeling of “if this is their friend, then they must be a good human” – that’s what I felt that whole day in San Diego. Looking back, I don’t think I knew at that first meeting just how good this person is at what she does. I’d suggest that she is one of the absolute best photographers working today, both in the live music & touring world, and in the commercial & editorial world.

Anna Lee is someone I have wanted to get on the show for a long time. Anna is a Los Angeles-based music and portrait photographer, with a specialty in touring, and she has done a lot of touring! She has been touring since 2013 with artists in the alt, rock, and pop categories – from small clubs to stadiums. As the current tour photographer for Coldplay, I think she has been creating some of the best work out there, and in both her live music and commercial work, like the campaigns she’s shot for Tom Delonge’s To The Stars, I think her eye for composition and angle is second to none.

Anna did mention to me a project she is working on for a possible fall date in LA, and while I can’t get into it here yet, trust me, you’ll want to follow her so you’ll hear about it as soon as the details are locked in.

Please join me in welcoming tour photographer Anna Lee to the show to break down what she told me is her personal favorite Coldplay image from tour, and as we dive into her style of shooting both live music and commercial images, on this Behind the Shot.

Portfolio: annaleemedia.com

Best of 37: annaleemedia.com

Skyler Barberio: skylerbarberio.com | @skylerbarberio

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to have the agency Wonderful Machine suggest a few photographers for the show, and every single time I’ve been blown away by the level of artists that they represent. Today is one of those times.

Today’s guest is Ben Girardi, and his work, across all areas from active lifestyle to landscapes, and portraits to sports, is stunningly good.

On Ben’s website, he refers to himself as a professional commercial and editorial outdoor photographer who tells stories in the outdoor world. Yeah, that’s a spot-on description of his body of work, yet… it’s so much more than that. His images seem to jump off the page. I’ve actually spent a good deal of time going through every image on his site, trying to figure out what that magic sauce is, what the common thread is, and I think it’s a combination of things. He clearly has a passion for his subjects, and his love of the outdoors allows him to present each image in a way that tells such a concise story. There is also a wonderful, subtle processing that brings emotion to his images. His passion has elevated his craft to a level where he is working with elite athletes, and top global brands.

Ben found photography back in high school, and he was instantly hooked. That love for photography, combined with his passion for snowboarding as he started capturing riding with his friends. For a lot of kids that age, that interest would fall off after awhile, being replaced by the next dream, but not for Ben. He graduated from RIT with a degree in photography, and then was off to Utah, looking for bigger mountains. After meeting his Canadian wife in the Argentine Andes he moved to Pemberton, BC.

Splitting his time between British Columbia and Utah allows him to work on projects in both of those spots, and anywhere in between.

His client list is a Who’s Who of outdoor life and sport, working with companies like:

Pelican Sport      Whistler Resort      GORE-TEX

Join commercial and editorial outdoor photographer Ben Girardi and me as we discuss dive into how you can up your game with your nighttime outdoor adventure images.

Portfolio: bengirardi.com

Isami Kiyooka: ikiyooka133.myportfolio.com | @isami_kiyooka

For this show, we have a returning guest, night photographer Ken Lee. I’ve known Ken for awhile, and the way he ended up as a guest for the show Capturing the Slowing of Time is one of my fave Behind the Shot stories.

Ken Lee, along with being an accomplished photographer, is also a regular watcher, or listener, of Behind the Shot. Years ago, when I was giving away Red River Paper Sample Packs, Ken was one of the winners. He also won the How to Build Real Influence e-course from Trey Ratcliff and Lauren Bath.

As I did with every winner, I checked out Ken’s work at that time and made a mental note I wanted to get him on the show, but I got sidetracked. One of the downsides of only doing a show on your own is that potential guests back up quickly.

Then, when I was at The NAMM Show in Anaheim CA back in 2020, I met up with another Behind the Shot watcher (or listener – I really need to find an easier way to get through that variable), Mike Martin of Casio. Mike is great guy, and we had fun chatting in-between him actually working. Next thing I knew, Mike tagged me in a tweet to tell me about a friend of his that he thought would be a good guest on the show. This friend had just released a new book, and the cover image was awesome. When I saw the name on the cover I had to do a double take, it was Ken’s book!

Well, Ken has another new book out, Abandoned Roadside Attractions: Under a Southwest Moon (Abandoned Union), and once again we need to chat about the cover shot.

I introduced Ken above as a “night photographer”, which isn’t a genre you hear often, so let me let him explain:

“I drive long hours in a dusty car listening to weird music, stay out all night creating photos, get dirty, hang out with other creative sleep-deprived weirdos, see the stars drift across the sky, and always find the best taco stands.”

Let me interrupt Ken for a second. I need to know the names of some those taco stands Ken. You need to write that up somewhere. Sorry for the break… back to Ken…

“I have been exploring the Southwestern United States as well as parts of the East Coast for over nine years, brandishing a camera, tripod, and colored flashlight. I especially love creating night photos of abandoned historical places, unique features, and beautiful landscapes. These are experiences that I absolutely cherish.”

I mentioned Ken is an accomplished photographer, and I meant it. His images have appeared in outlets like NatGeo.com, National Geographic Books, Omni Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Westways Magazine, and numerous other publications. He’s also won numerous awards.

Join Light Painting, Long Exposure, Night Sky, and Abandoned Site photographer and author Ken Lee to discuss the cover image from his new book, on this episode of Behind the Shot.

Website: kenleephotography.com

Abandoned Roadside Attractions: Under a Southwest Moon (Abandoned Union): amazon.com

Lance Keimig: Flickr.com

I sometimes wonder, while writing these guest photographer posts, how many listeners or viewers actually read them. The truth is it doesn’t matter to me, I write them for myself more than anyone else, and I find that trying to put someone’s talent into written words really helps me distill my thoughts about their work.

Take today’s guest, Melody Mellinger, for example…

I think my first introduction to Melody’s work was back in February of 2020, for Episode 4 of the monthly Behind the Shot Critique shows I used to do with Don Komarechka – damn I miss doing those. After that, I think Melody must have had an image in at least 7 of the critique shows. What she doesn’t know is that in every critique show, 28 in all, I always tried to have a mix of shots, so that there would be a few that we might have a lot to contribute to, and others that could work as a reference point, a baseline for what a great shot looks like. Her images were part of that later category.

One image I distinctly remember was in critique show 5. It was called Open Wide, and it is a magnificent shot. My first thought was that I wouldn’t have anything to say about it – yeah, it’s that good – but when I brought it on screen during the show a few things came to mind, and Melody actually went and redid the image with our suggestions. Here’s the BEFORE and AFTER for you. Since those first introductions to Melody’s work I have become such a fan.

What I find fascinating is that Melody’s adventures in nature photography didn’t begin until 2015, with her first DSLR, a Canon Rebel T6i. What led her to bird photography? Her children. She knew they were going to get tired of being models much faster than she was going to master that Canon, so she moved on to flowers and butterflies, before moving on again to the challenge of backyard songbirds.

Since 2022 she has used a Canon 5D Mark IV, and for her bird photography she pairs it with a 100-400mm and a 1.4x extender. Yes, you read that right… a DSLR, not some new mirrorless body, and the shots she is making with it will blow your mind. Next time you think you need new gear, go browse Melody’s Instagram. You’ll quickly realize that you probably don’t, and you can thank her for saving you money.

Back in January, Melody posted that she’d won something from FStoppers, and the shot that was featured in their Best Images of 2024 Critique show stopped me in my tracks. I mean, wow… just wow. I knew right then I needed to get her on the show.

Join nature and wildlife photographer Melody Mellinger and me as we discuss her amazing bird photography, and as we take a deep dive into the shot that she had featured in the FStoppers Best Images of 2024 Contest.

Portfolio: melodymellingerphotography.mypixieset.com

Best Images of 2024: fstoppers.com

Issac Grant: isaacgrantphotography.com | @isaacagrant

NOTE: This is not an official Canon USA show. This is a podcast first and foremost, available in both audio-only or video, and the video is also placed on YouTube. My hope is that by going through all of the AF options one-at-a-time, in extreme detail, you will be able to get more out of the camera system you have.

My first show with Rudy Winston, a Technical Marketing Consultant for Canon USA, was back in February of 2022 for “Canon Auto-Focus Explained“, so almost exactly 3 years ago. To date, it’s still one of the favorite shows that I’ve done.

I find that as photographers our relationship with auto-focus isn’t always a great one. It’s so easy to say “the camera missed focus”, or “it front or back focused”. The problem is that’s not the case more often than not. Don’t misunderstand me, these issues are real – that’s why micro adjustments exist. Cameras and lenses are not perfect, and the software that runs anything today can have issues, but focus issues often relate to the end user not having the AF system configured correctly, or not understanding how the system really works. That’s how the first show with Rudy came to be, and to say that was popular is an understatement:

To date it’s had roughly: 453,000 views on YouTube, in addition to all the views in the video and audio-only podcast feeds.

But when we recorded that show the R3 was brand new, and it wasn’t widely available. So I used my R5 for the menu examples in that show, and while we did talk about the AF settings unique to the newer R3, I almost immediately had people asking for an updated video. Since then, we’ve seen the R6 Mark 2 and the R5 Mark 2 come out, and again, lots of people have requested an update to cover all of the newer Auto Focus features.

My thing is, it doesn’t make sense to do a video specific to each camera model, there’s too much overlap, so I wanted to wait until the R1 had actually been released – and it was in November of last year, it started hitting stores in Nov of 2024.

So today, we are going to do basically the same thing that we did 3 years ago, we’re going to go through all of the AF menus, and describe every single command and option for you in detail.

For this show I am going to use the new Canon R1 for the menu examples, which needs a little explanation. When I used the R5 last time I had some people complain that I was using a body out of their price range, while others complained I wasn’t using the R3. So, let me try to explain my decision making process…

The higher end bodies have features the lower end bodies don’t – but they also have most, if not all, of the features on the lower end bodies – so to cover as many settings as possible, spanning bodies in all price ranges, the best choice is the higher end body, which today is the R1.

Unfortunately, I don’t own an R1… so a HUGE thank you to Canon USA for getting me one to use for this show.

Now, if you’re not a Canon shooter.. DON’T RUN AWAY!

While we are using the Canon EOS R1 for the examples today, whatever brand you use:

Nikon

Most of today’s cameras will have some equivalent to the settings we talk about… AF option names will change between brands, and even between models in the same brand, some may be more or less granular, or in different places in the menus EVEN for the same brands, but understanding these AF concepts will still help you get the most out of your camera, regardless of the brand.

One last disclaimer:

I also had some people comment on the last video that they wished I had inserted some B-Roll showing the features in action through the viewfinder, so you could see the AF moving and changing for something like a person running, or a bird in flight etc.

Thank you to everyone that made suggestions, but again, with this video, I have made an intentional choice to not do that. There’s a few production reasons for that choice, but the biggest thing for me is that I want this video to be as generic as possible. In a perfect world this could be a replacement for the manual, and I’m hoping that you might have your camera in hand as we go through these options and settings, and then, once you better understand them, that you’ll take your camera out and test them yourself to find what works best for your genre and style of shooting.

Join Rudy Winston, Technical Marketing Consultant for Canon USA, and me as we take a deep dive into the amazing auto-focus systems available in the current line of Canon cameras, using the Canon EOS R1 as the example, on this Behind the Shot.

00:00:00 – Intro

Website: usa.canon.com

Canon R5/R6 Fast Eye Autofocus Switching: youtube.com

LA based photographer Ian Spanier has been on the show a few times, with the first being back in 2019 for a conversation about Classic Portraits & Classic Lighting, discussing a portrait of actor Jeff bridges. Next up was the 2022 show talking about his Favorite Light Setups, which was fitting since Ian is an Ambassador for Westcott as a “Top Pro”.

In all the years I have been doing this podcast, Ian is absolutely one of my favorite interviews. He’s always happy to share any of his techniques or the details of his process. I have even watched his workshop a few times, when he was a guest presenter at Cal Baptist University. Simply put, he is a top level creator, and a fantastic educator.

I was emailing back and forth with him recently, and he mentioned he had a new book coming out next year, titled Cigars: A Biography. Keep in mind, Ian already has had three successful books. His first full book of published work, “Playboy, a Guide to Cigars” arrived in cigar shops in November 2009. The book is a collection of his photographs made in six countries, and spanning two and a half years. His second book project was a different subject altogether, and “Local Heroes: America’s Volunteer Fire Fighters,” came out to critical acclaim in the Fall of 2012. This year saw the arrival of book three, Arturo Fuente: From 1912 by Assouline books. This one is a two-book series that features all of Ian’s images in their $1200 US Retail version as well as the limited edition smaller version packed with 20 exclusive Arturo Fuente cigars retailing for $2500 US.

While we’re chatting about the newest book, Ian said something that struck me as a great idea for a show. He talked about “how a long term personal project helps one grow as a photographer”.

I think that as creatives we all have a different path for growing as an artist, and I feel like I have heard this one often. Personal projects lets us play, and explore not only our subject matter, but our entire approach to the art. I’ve done shows about personal projects before, and I have always been fascinated by the personal projects I see photographers take on, but this one was different. This personal project is the result of 17 years of Ian’s work.

As I mentioned above, Ian is an Ambassador for Westcott as a “Top Pro”, and he’s also a brand ambassador for companies like ThinkTank Photo, Spider Holster, Hoodman USA, Sekonic, Naroo Global Masks, and CamRanger. So, I asked if he’d wanted to come back and talk about how a project like this, spanning so many years, helped him grow as a photographer.

Join photographer Ian Spanier and me as we take a look at how personal projects can help you grow as a photographer.

Personal: ianspanier.com

Westcott Deep Umbrella: fjwestcott.com

Playboy: The Book of Cigars: amazon.com

Albert Watson: albertwatson.com | @albertwatsonphotography

Social media today can be so draining, but almost daily I am reminded of the wonderful connections I’ve made there, and today’s guest is a perfect example. Jenn Devereaux is a New Orleans area concert and event photographer, and while we’ve never met, we have kind of known each other, or at least of each other, for years.

I think I first discovered Jenn when Todd Owyoung mentioned her, or tagged her in a post, and I have been a fan ever since. Jenn is probably mostly known in the music photography community as a festival photography team member for some of the biggest festivals, like the iHeart Radio Fest in Vegas. Her work from those festivals, some examples of which are in the last gallery below, is just plain fantastic. That, in combination with her work at venues in the New Orleans area, sets her well above a lot of the talent out there.

For today though, we aren’t going to focus on her live music work. Jenn was one of the photographers at this year’s When We Were Young Fest, and when I saw her post some of her backstage artist portraits the idea for today’s show jumped into mind. Working as a festival team member is very different than shooting a show as media, and the pressure of shooting band portraits in a cluttered backstage area, often with very little time and less control of the environment, isn’t for people without confidence.

I think a lot of people are confused about how to pull off that kind of run & gun shoot. They worry about lighting, location choices, working with rock stars, and just getting the shot. So, I invited Jenn to stop by and share her experiences with us. Hopefully, after this show you will have more confidence to just go out and try a shoot like this.

Jenn is such an accomplished photographer, with clients like Uber, Live Nation, Showtime and iHeartRadio, and her work has been seen in publications such as Rolling Stone, Rock Sound, People

Join Music and Event photographer Jenn Devereaux and me as we dive into how she handles the job of getting backstage portraits of bands, on this Behind the Shot.

Websites: jenndphotography.com

Women In Music Photography You Should Know: ishootshows.com

Angler Fastbox 24” – compatible with Godox V1: anglerlights.com

Skyler Barberio: skylerbarberio.com | @skylerbarberio

I’m a Canon shooter… I shoot an R6 and an R5. So, I have been curious about the new Canon R1, and a little less so about the R5 Mark II. Still, I had written off watching the announcement, because it was at something like 3am my time… but, I happened to be up anyway so I watched it, and I ended up with some serious opinions on both the new gear and the presentation itself.

There’s no question these cameras are in demand, even though the R5 Mark II retails for $4,300 and the R1 for a whopping $6,300. The R5 Mark II is already backordered to early Sept, and B&H says the Release Date for the R1 is estimated as Nov 26th.

Very few people have had the chance to try out the R5 Mark II and R1, and those that have didn’t get much time with them. A few photographers were given pre-release bodies to use at the Olympics, and luckily for us one of them is a friend of the show.

I knew Jeff was going to be using the R5 Mark II and R1 at the Paris Olympics, it was semi-public knowledge, so before he left I asked if he would come back on the show to give us his thoughts. He agreed to do a recap, and so today we will dive into his experiences under the real world pressure of photographing the Olympics for Team USA.

Jeff has been on the show a few times before. First for the episode Capture the Action, and then to talk about his experiences at the Tokyo Olympics for the show on Real World Use of the Canon R3.

On the chance that you didn’t see either of those shows, let me introduce you to my friend Jeff Cable…

Photographing the Olympics has got to be the pinnacle of a sports photographer’s career, and for Jeff Cable it’s one he’s reached many times, having now photographed the last 8 Olympics for Team USA.

I am always amazed by how many photographers either come from, or are in some way involved with, the tech industry. For more than 25 years, Jeff was a marketing executive at companies like Symantec, Magellan, and Micron, but while traveling the world for his corporate job, his interest and passion for photography grew quickly. He left the corporate world in 2016 to dedicate himself full-time to his photography.

Since then, Jeff has earned respect around the globe for his creative images, and for sharing his love of photography with others. He’s best known for capturing photos for the US Olympic Committee, photographing the last eight Olympic games, in Beijing, Vancouver, London, Sochi, Rio de Janeiro, PyeongChang, Tokyo, and Paris.

As an educator, Jeff also leads photo tours where he teaches photo enthusiasts and professionals around the world. He has taught in Africa, Australia, China, Europe, Central and South America, and across the United States, and has upcoming tours, through 2024 and 2025, to San Francisco, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, Tanzania (African Safari), Japan, Botswana, and Alaska.

Join me in welcoming Sports and Event Photographer Jeff Cable back to the show, as we talk about his real world experience at this year’s Paris Olympics with a pre-production Canon EOS R1 and pre-production R5 Mark II, on this episode of Behind the Shot.

CORRECTION: Thanks to Mike in the YouTube comments for pointing out that I was incorrect when I referred to the R5 II as having cross-type AF. The R1 does, but the R5 II does not. Sorry about the mistake.

Jeff’s Real World Review of the Canon R1 & R5 Mark II: blog.jeffcable.com

Website: jeffcable.com

Chris McLennan: chrismclennanphotography.com | @chris_mclennan1

I have always been fascinated with the education side of photography. I don’t have a formal photography education myself, and I am very aware of what skill sets I wish I had been exposed to earlier in my photo journey.

I have been around a lot of the continuing education side of photography, like KelbyOne, or various workshops that a lot of the top photographers do, and in fact teach workshops myself, but I do appreciate what many of the more traditional photography programs provide for the next generation of photographers.

A few years ago I even teamed up with Red River Paper to spotlight some students from the schools they supported with the EDU programs.

All of this is to say, I think some of the absolute best creatives shooting today are a great representation of where this craft I love is headed.

A case in point is Cal Baptist University, in my hometown of Riverside, CA. The photography program there is run by Christopher Kern, and he has put together such an amazing program. I have been there a few times, usually to see my buddy, and past guest, Ian Spanier do his guest workshop, but also to visit with Christopher and see what they are doing at CBU. This program has even helped another past guest, Art Streamer, with interns for some of his shoots.

A few weeks ago I saw an Instagram post from CBU, and had me thinking…. what are some of the current students in this wonderful program shooting these days? I asked Christopher for a recommendation of a student he thought might make a good guest on the show, and he suggested Josiah Grant.

Josiah is the perfect example of what I was talking about up above. An amazing photographer that just sees things differently than most anyone I know. Looking through his portfolio you are struck by his use of depth, and I don’t only mean only depth-of-field. Josiah uses light and shadow, softness and sharpness, foreground and background, subtle or bold, to define what he wants you to see. His understanding of directing the viewers eye seems to be much more experienced than his still being in college would imply.

I am so excited to learn from the student today, and the image we will be discussing has won a few awards!

From over 7,000 entries, a Jury selected just 317 images, including Josiah’s, to appear in the “2024 American Photography 40”, a book representing the best pictures from 2023. It also won an Award of Excellence in the one of the most prestigious competitions for creativity in photography, the “2024 Communication Arts Photography Annual 65”.

Join photographer Josiah Grant and me as we dive into how he creates such amazing and creative portraits, on this Behind the Shot.

Websites: josiahvisuals.com

Miguel Esparza: miguelesparzaphoto.com | @miguelesparzaphoto

This is a show I have been thinking about doing for a while, and that I believe is an important subject for both new and veteran music photographers…. BUT even if you’re not a music photographer, this subject should matter to you. I think it applies to anyone negotiating prices.

I have strong opinions on what the ASMP has referred to as “Predatory” Releases, and there’s no question that I have an opinion on the message I want to get out on this episode, but, it is my show, so I get to do that.

If you’re not a Music Photographer, and have never heard of photo releases – note that these are NOT model releases – then don’t worry. I explain what they are, and why they exist, in the show. Then I am joined by two other music photographers…

My buddy David Bergman is a Canon Explorer of light, and hosts the show Ask David Bergman on Adorama TV. There are few people I know of that know more about photography than David, from his days shooting for the famed Miami Herald newspaper, to having 13 Sports Illustrated covers, David is a big deal. He has been Luke Combs’ full-time tour photographer since January 2019, and Bon Jovi’s tour photographer since 2010. So glad that we get to benefit from his years of experience in media and music photography for this show. Oh yeah… David’s workshops, like Shoot From the Pit and his upcoming Italy trip, are great chances to hang out and learn photography.

Also on the show we have Montreal based Music Photographer Marie Demeire. I have followed Marie on socials for years, but today is my first time meeting her face-to-face. Known around the net as “Marie Goes To Shows”, she has been published in Complex, EDM.com, Bandcamp, iHeartRadio Canada, Canadian Beats, 99Scenes, Sors-Tu, the MUHC Foundation, Secret Melbourne and BP Arts Media. Having been a fan of her work for years, I am thrilled to be able to get her perspective on this subject.

Join Canon Explorer of Light David Bergman, and Montreal Music Photographer Marie Demeire, as they join me for a serious, and fun, chat about Concert Photo Releases, on this Behind the Shot.

00:00:00 – Intro

Website: davidbergman.net

Website: tinyurl.com/mariegoestoshows

Aubrey Wise: aubreywisephoto.com | @aubreywisephoto

Susan Moss: susanmossphotography.com | @susanmossphotography

Predatory Contract Clauses: Music Edition: asmp.org

Playlist on YouTube: Music Edition: YouTube.com/@behindtheshot