Take & Talk Pics

By Rob KruegerBusiness Education

Take & Talk Pics episodes

May 13, 2016 182 Whats In My Bag part 17
Whats In My Bag part 17

I'm still on this kick of photo gear and breaking down my equipment list. I have to say it is amazing what you can do even when you do not have all the gear you dream of. I have wants of an 85mm f1.5 prime as well as a 200-400mm f4. If I had an extra 9k laying around I would get those lenses. I have had a dream list of gear since the day I realized I love photography. After 7 years I am happy to say that list is almost completely checked off. However, with the advances in technology I find myself always adding and updating the list. I am sure many of you have this process of wants and building up your gear and then wanting something new. Well today's Whats In My Bag episode features the gear that puts the gear envy to rest.

LIGHTING! I'm talking about the Paul C. Buff AlienBees B1600. I have three of these studio strobes and a vagabond mini to give me power on the go. Having the right light will extend the life of any camera, automatically improve the possibility of any lens, and teach you to be a better photographer. I rave about my light because these are what make the shots.

Happy Shooting!

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2015 © Take&TalkPics
16 min
May 11, 2016 181 Get It Right In Camera
Get It Right In Camera
Photo World, this fast paced digital age we live in has really been a great advantage to beginning a photography careers. However, many newer photographers depend on the LCD screen as a way of knowing their exposure adjustments rather than understanding their camera meter and how to make creative and/or specific choices to better an image before the even begin. I am all for making adjustments because thing look off on the LCD but I am more for knowing how to meter, understanding what you want, adjust beyond the better judgement of your camera meter, and creating something that looks great rather than something that looks average. It is so much more fun raising the bar from great to awesome rather than average to better. As a wonderfully difficult test I would urge every new photographer to get a hold of a film SLR and shoot a 36 exposure roll and see what it is like to take a picture. Not practice a picture like digital but actually capture and see later if you got what you wanted to take. I understand the power of instant gratification with digital but true knowledge is within. Honing in on your skills and real world practice will help you Get It Right In Camera. So many people rely on tools like Photoshop to solve the problems of their photography mistakes but Photoshop is just that, a tool. You can't really fix bad work with a tool like Photoshop or Lightroom. I know the latitude of RAW files are very rich and informative files however that is not a solution to an originally poor capture. I find it odd how many of my students are content with mediocre work when they were so close to the more appropriate choices for their work. Practice make progress.

Happy Shooting!

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2015 © Take&TalkPics
14 min
May 09, 2016 180 Your Gifts as a Gift
Your Gifts as a Gift
Fist off, yesterday was Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Do you ever approach a holiday or birthday thinking "Oh no... I have no idea what to get for them." This happens to me all the time. I found a simple and meaningful way around this annoying problem on what kind of gift to get for Mom or Dad, any friend on their birthday, a significant other, or when your a guest at a wedding.

1: know that this gift idea will not always be the perfect solution

2: understand that if this approach is over used you will look like a thoughtless idiot

3: this is not a work around to the traditional gift ideas that would fit "this" particular occasion in question

It's you. or your abilities rather... I am talking about giving your gifts as a gift. Using your photography to create something special for someone. Maybe offering your photography service as a gift itself. I get that this is a business and we need to make money but giving the service you place value on is often more than you would have spent anyway.

Happy Shooting!

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2015 © Take&TalkPics
9 min
May 06, 2016 179 Whats In My Bag part 16
Whats In My Bag part 16
Continuing, but winding down, on the Friday Whats In My Bag episodes is a phenomenal light I use at every wedding, every portrait, engagement session, and family portraits. It is the Flashpoint Streaklight 360. This light has the compact feel of a speedlight, though it is sufficiently larger, and the power of a studio strobe. Not quite the power of your average 400-600 Watts studio light but near that being a 360 Watt light. Compare that to a top of the line speedlight at about 60-90 Watts and you have a portable powerful light source to be implemented anywhere you need it as you need it. The specific version I purchased is a Manual function only. Although they do make a Nikon Compatible version, as well as, Canon and Sony versions. Those have the option for TTL (Through The Lens) metering function. I could see the benefit in TTL with this power house that is so mobile. However I am a manual kind of guy. I only shoot in full Manual (M) exposure so unsurprisingly I like the same level of control with my lights as well. Plus you save the Green stuff with this lower function version.

Happy Shooting!

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2015 © Take&TalkPics
16 min
May 04, 2016 178 Exposed Photography Showcase
Exposed Photography Showcase
There are countless ways to get out there and network or show
your work to others. One local event is the Exposed Photography
Showcase at the College of DuPage. It was held last night
(05/03/2016) with approximately 500 people in attendance. The
Exposed Photography Showcase is a juried contest for both college
students as well as surrounding area high school students. We had
11 high schools submit work and I was on the panel of judges for
them. The COD student's work was looked at by three local
professional photographers. Some of the prizes were subscriptions
to the Adobe CC, subscription to ASMP, and even a Canon 70D kit was
awarded. This was only the second year for the Exposed
Photography Showcase and it was a huge success. Networking was
fluent throughout the evening and I even heard a couple students
landed internships. Other students were able to sell some work and
even book a few sessions. The reality is, when you attend a
networking event, any networking possible event, you never know who
else may be there or what good can come of it.
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
8 min
May 02, 2016 177 I Love NO!
I Love NO!
No... There's a word we don't hear enough. Yeah right. Some
times it feels like the only answer people know how to give. It can
be upsetting hearing No over and over but maybe there is another
way to look at it. In this episode I break down the word No and
unfold a few ideas on how to handle hearing it. It isn't something
we really ever get used to but most of us still seem to have a lot
of trouble dealing with moving past No. In my personal life I have
had a tough time moving past many NO's. However, I haven't really
had much of an issue letting "No" go when it came to my work
environments. Between the ages of 15-19 I had a dozen or so part
time jobs. Two or Three at any given time to keep me overwhelmingly
busy, though I had more opportunity than most learn and grow for
all the No's in my life. On a personal note, I do find great value
in looking back over the No's but I never spent much time indulging
the idea of sadness or fear because of it. No is motivation.
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
12 min
April 29, 2016 176 Whats In My Bag part 15
Whats In My Bag part 15
The last couple weeks were all about speedlights or at least the
two I have in my bag for just about every job I go to. With this
portable lighting any time I want I need the best way to power
them. First off I don't know if the batteries I choose to use are
the best choice but I know they have worked really well for me.
Secondly you may find something that works better for you and your
lights. If that is the case I would love to know what you use for
your setup.
For me I go to the Eneloop
AA and AAA batteries. They can withstand up to 2000+ charges and
the hold their charge much longer than most other batteries. When
they first came out they were developed by Sanyo however they were
missing from shelves for a year or so after Panasonic bought them
out and redeveloped them. It was a good thing too... when I first
found out about the eneloop batteries they were $70 for 4 AA's and
a charger. The price has come way down since then.
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
10 min
April 27, 2016 175 What is HDR
What is HDR
It seems like every time we go to capture an image we have to
choose between the highlights and the shadows. Traditionally with
film you would expose for the shadows and then develop for the
highlights. With Digital we must expose for the highlights and
bring up the shadows. The problem is images are limited by the
extreme ends and they don't match what we had seen at the time of
capture. This is where High Dynamic Range (HDR) comes in. HDR is a
technique to create an image with details from the deep shadows
through the bright highlights. True HDR is a set of multiple
captures of the same scene at different exposures and using
software to composite elements from each image and overlaying
separate elements to create one photograph containing highly
detailed information from 0-255 in all shadows and all highlights
as long as that information was available from any of the original
images. There are many HDR-like photos being made from singular RAW
files where the highlights are brought down, the shadows are pushed
up, and the whites and blacks move similar directions. I find those
types of "HDR" images are not true to the form of the multi photo
HDR's. I have two images here one is from a single RAW file (the
fake HDR-like edit) and then another made up from 11 RAW
images at varying exposures. Can you tell which HDR is which?
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
18 min
April 25, 2016 174 Perfect Picture Every Time
Perfect Picture Every Time
Henri Cartier Bresson
Hey Photo World so toady's Monday Message is about creating a Perfect Picture Every Time. Now we could argue the idea of perfect forever. 1, I don't have the time and 2, I don't like confrontation so let's skip past this part of the discussion. Today's episode is more so an introduction for a free PDF I am giving away. If you haven't subscribed then brows my site and the popup will appear and then you have the chance to get this free PDF as a thank you for joining the Take & Talk Pics community. I don't send many emails but when I do you always have the option to unsubscribe if you would like. This is more of a theoretical discussion on a very hot topic and that is how do we know if a photograph we create is good or not, let alone perfect. There are many ideas about correct exposure and even more about proper composition, but we also have that "X" Factor (for lack of a better term) where you just like or dislike something and you can't quite place why.
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
13 min
April 22, 2016 173 Whats In My Bag Part 14
Whats In My Bag Part 14
On to the big guns. Well... as far as speedlights go this is a big gun. The Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight i-TTL Shoe Mount Flash is a power house of light in a compact system. A speedlight is a large flash unit that can be attached to the hot shoe of the camera or be used wirelessly. The biggest speedlight in my bag also has one of the biggest setbacks for a speedlight. The SB-900 has a tendency to overheat when used at high power for multiple shots and/or the zoom is at its widest of 17mm. Zoom that bad boy to 200mm and dial down the power and you have no overheat problem. I have a love hate relationship with this particular flash unit because it has a lot of power and then falls short for some shots needing a bit more; then it is too powerful for other shots where I wish I could bring it down to 1/256 power rather than the still awesomely low 1/128 power option. In the end though I do like the flash a whole lot.
Happy Shooting!
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2015 © Take&TalkPics
16 min

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Take & Talk Pics is a podcast created for you: the photography business owner. If you are looking for a new resource that doesn't require your visual attention, Rob Krueger brings you just the…

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