TWiP Talks

In this interview I sit down with veteran broadcaster, concert photographer and now podcaster Steve Brazill. Steve and I discuss his evolution from broadcasting into the wild frontier of podcasting. We also discuss his love of concert photography and how it continually proves to be one of the most challenging genres of photography out there.

Steve is a Southern California based Music Photographer, and the host of the Behind the Shot podcast on the This Week in Photo Network. Along with being the past House Photographer for San Manuel Casino, Steve shoots for rock radio station 96.7 KCAL FM, where has also been on the air since 1987. Steve is a past IEPPV (Inland Empire Professional Photographers and Videographers) Photojournalist of the Year, and does a popular presentation on his Concert Photography.

Razz, as he’s known on-the-air at KCAL FM and to friends, captures those defining moments that happen during a live performance – whether on stage or behind-the-scenes. His images have been seen in newsprint; the Duesenberg USA Guitar catalog; in TV productions, such as MAVTV’s “Les Paul Kids Rock Free Concert Series” at the Fender Center; and recognized online in features such as in Mashable’s “16 Concert Photos That Will Bring Music To Your Ears”.

Steve is also the host of various local TV shows in Southern California, such as In Studio, where he interviews various local musicians, and Riverside Monthly where he hosts a roundtable on local issues.

 

 

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In this interview I speak with Sacramento California based portrait photographer Christine Alward. We discuss her journey into professional modeling and her subsequent transition into running her own photography business. Christine is a photographer with an affinity for making portraits.

Her path to photography was winding. It started at a young age with a foundation in dance which allowed her to travel to New York and Italy. She also had a strong interest in landscape photography and a great fondness for Yosemite and the California Coast. There as no denying that a love for the arts had a strong hold on her.

Her photographic style and connection with her subjects has made Christine’s work desirable across many genres of photography. From family and senior portraits, to corporate headshots and commercial branding, Christine’s ability to put her clients at ease has been the driving force behind her continued growth.

In this interview I sit down with New York City based photographer, educator and marketer James Maher. James and I discuss some of the tips and suggestions for photographers just starting to think about building a business.

James is a lifelong New Yorker, and like many Manhattanites, he is a terrible driver and cook; however, he is an excellent navigator and knows where to find the best Chinese takeout. James has devoted himself to his photography business in New York since 2005. His fine-art photography has been sold and licensed to collectors and companies globally, he works with various businesses as a portrait and studio photographer in New York, he is a regular contributor (both photographic and written work) to a variety of websites and magazines, and as a certified New York tour and workshop guide, he frequently leads photography workshops. He has also had a multi-year regular feature for the NY Daily News reporting on different neighborhoods of the city through street portraits and interviews with locals.

James has also been working on a documentary project since 2012, which consists of nearly 200 portraits and in-depth interviews primarily with long-time residents, business owners, and employees in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. The project has become a historical account of the mid-to-late 20th Century of one of the most vibrant and lively neighborhoods in the city.

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In this interview New York City based portrait photographer Chris Knight joins me to discuss how he has developed his personal style, the importance of disregarding gear, and also his thoughts on post-processing vs “real photography”.

Chris Knight was born in Wiesbaden, Germany and hardened by the sweaty, nearly chewable, humidity of Florida. He combines his unconditional love of art history with his conditional love of technology, topping it off with a flare for the cinematic and an uncompromising eye for detail.

His work has appeared in or on Vogue, People, MSNBC, ABC, Ocean Drive, GQ and others.

Chris is an instructor at Pratt Institute as well as the New York Film Academy.

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In this interview, Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography sits down with me to discuss his new book, and also provide some invaluable tips on some little things you can do to improve your photography today. We discuss the importance of internalizing the four main controls on your camera; ISO, f-stop, shutter-speed, and focus and when it’s OK to break the “rules”.

About Marc

Marc Silber is an author, photographer, filmmaker,and producer of the very popular Youtube series Advancing Your Photography, where he has interviewed scores of some of the biggest names in photography.

He started out learning darkroom skills and the basics of photography at the legendary Peninsula School in Menlo Park, CA, in the ’60s, and moved on to hone his skills to professional standards at the famed San Francisco Art Institute. Marc moved into teaching photography in workshops all over the country, he became renowned as an engaging and helpful speaker and coach, as his greatest joy comes from helping others.

What B&H Photo has to say

“Having just published his handbook Advancing Your Photography, we invited Marc to be a guest on the B&H Photography Podcast, to discuss the book, but also to talk with our hosts on a range of photography topics. Marc was very comfortable behind the mic and added greatly to our conversation. Whether it was prepared remarks or improvised commentary he brought interesting and insightful points to the table, blended well with our show’s style and made valuable content for our listeners. I would recommend Marc as a speaker in any context but certainly as a guest on an audio podcast.” – John Harris, Senior Producer, B&H Photography Podcast

 

 

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The advent and popularity of digital imaging has made our lives simpler, more sharable, and in many cases brought our families closer together.

The ability to instantly share what’s going on in your life with nearly anyone in the world is quite literally a game-changer. But what about all of those photos that were taken before the digital revolution?

In this interview, I speak with Peter Krogh — the man behind the wildly popular “The Dam Book”; a resource that tackled the subject of organizing and backing up your digital images. This time Peter focuses his attention on the issue of digitizing and archiving your PHYSICAL images.

About Peter

Peter Krogh is a digital imaging expert, working with photographers, people who hire photographers, and the folks who make digital technology.

This new book presents a comprehensive method for scanning slides, negatives, prints and documents with a digital camera. Drawing on Peter’s experience helping organizations like the Library of Congress and the National Archives, this book shows how scanning can now be done in a fraction of the time – and at a fraction of the cost – of traditional scanning methods.

Connect with Peter

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Updates on projects within Trey’s gravitational influence.

Intrepid globe-trotting photographer Trey Ratcliff updates us on what he has been up to over the last several months. As it turns out, quite a lot! Trey has been collaborating with the Plotagraph team on making software to add motion to still photographs. He’s also in cahoots with MacPhun, refining and defining the next generation of HDR processing software. Trey also gives us a sneak peek at how he uses Plotagraph to add motion to his images.

About Aurora HDR 2017 / 2018

Aurora HDR 2017/2018 was designed from the ground up to be a powerful and easy way to create amazing looking HDR photographs. As Trey mentions in the interview, though using Photoshop is an option for creating these types of images – software like Aurora was single-mindedly designed from the ground up to create impossibly beautiful high dynamic range (HDR) photographs. Trey is an authority on the HDR art form, and was one of the key forces behind bringing this popular technique to the forefront of mainstream photography. Trey took his knowledge, frustrations, wants and desires over to the MacPhun team and collaborated with them to create what Trey feels is a “best of” tool for photographers wanting to create professional HDR images.

Click here for more info on Aurora HDR 2018.

About Plotagraph

“…Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. —Arthur C. Clark

This quote is particularly appropriate when you see a Plotagraph image. The magic of this software is that it can generate realistic looking video and moving images from a simple still photograph. When you think about it, this capability opens up a bazillion possibilities for artists and storytellers. And because the images seamlessly loop forever — they’re completely mesmerizing when you look at them. This inherent uniqueness exponentially increases the time a viewer spends admiring your image.

Click here for more info on Plotagraph.

Created with Plotagraph

See a bazillion more of Trey’s Plotagraphs here.

Created with Aurora HDR

Trey’s European Photo-Walk Highlights

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Could this be a new art form, entirely?

The technique of adding motion to still photographs has been around for quite some time now. Many of us will recognize the art form in “Cinemagraphs”, or even some animated GIFs.

However, one of the inherent limitations has been that the original image typically must be shot as video, then frozen, and then using software a select area (or areas) are “released” to animate. The popularity of 4K video and the ubiquity of cameras that can record it (including some phones) has made the “stills from video” workflow much more tenable, considering each still frame in a 4K video is roughly 8 megapixels — big enough to print. However, the original video must be created with post-production animation in mind, or if it’s a random clip — serendipity. Meaning you have to find a clip that “works”. And that means a clip that was shot on a tripod, and has an area that “makes sense” to animate.

But what if you could grab almost any of the photos you’ve shot over the years, and add selective animation to areas within the the photos? For example; what if you could make the waves move under that awesome Golden Gate bridge” photo you snapped back in 2011? Or what if you could make the clouds move over Half Dome in Yosemite – from a shot you snapped on your iPhone last year? Or what if you could make the sidewalk move and appear to scroll?

All of these things are now possible with the advent of a piece of software called Plotagraph.

Invented by co-founders Sascha Phoenix and Troy Christopher Plota, this remarkable tool allows you to animate almost anything — quickly, easily and in a seamless loop. The results are both convincing and natural.

In this interview I speak with Sascha and Troy about the origins of their software, and where it might be going. Troy also gives us a short tutorial on how easy it is to add animation to your still photos.

Try PLOTAGRAPH for FREE!

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Exploring California’s biggest small town

Having just discovered the Sacramento Valley, I sit down with one of Sac’s best commercial and fashion shooters, Tim Engle. Tim and I discuss his career, stealthy Sacramento, and much more.

It turns out Sacramento, California is one of those “hidden gem” towns of Northern California. Sac happens to be the capitol of California — though most people call San Francisco or Los Angeles the “unofficial capitol cities” of the massive state. I would guess that most people think of the Sacramento area as a relatively boring government town surrounded by agriculture. And yes, on the surface that is PART of what Sacramento is about.

However, as I’ve recently discovered, there’s an entirely different side of Sac — a vibrant, life-filled, youthful and rapidly growing city-town that happens to be roughly just 90 minutes away from the San Francisco Bay. 90 minutes may not seem like much, except for when you factor in the steep decline in housing prices when you exit the “event horizon” of the Bay Area real estate market. That 90 minutes can mean a lot, in terms of quality-of-life.

A born-and-raised Sacramento native, Tim Engle gives his thoughts on his home town — from a photographer’s perspective.

About Tim

Sacramento commercial photographer and native Tim Engle cultivated a passion for photography in his early teens and has since successfully turned that love into a full time career. Flowing seamlessly between portraits, fashion, avant-garde, and commercial photography, KVIE PBS selected him as one of California’s Master Photographers in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

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High perspectives for high dynamic range.

In this interview I had the opportunity to dive into an in-depth discussion with roof-top photographer Daniel Cheong. Using techniques he has refined over the years, Daniel has created a body of work containing some of the most stunning images ever taken of Dubai.

We discuss his techniques for shooting vertical panoramas aka “Vertoramas” as well as his thoughts and reasoning behind manually blending images, versus using automated HDR software.

In his own words…

‘Straight out of the camera’ is a concept which I am not familiar with. I don’t pretend to show reality, but an idealized version of it.

I was born in Mauritius, originally of Chinese descent, and French by nationality.  My job in the telecom industry requires that I travel frequently to multiple destinations including France, USA, Japan, Singapore, though I live in Dubai now.

I’ve always loved photography, but only became serious about it when I bought my first DSLR in Singapore, back in 2006. I joined Flickr around that time, where I discovered the world of High Dynamic Range photography.

I then aimed to perfect the technique of Digital Blending, which consists of manually blending multiple bracketed exposures in order to obtain the maximum dynamic range, while trying to keep a very natural look and avoiding the common mistake of many ‘overcooked’ HDR images. This slight element of the surreal, or hyper reality often found in painting is what I am trying to achieve.

I find the city most appealing when it is shot from the highest vantage points, and specially at the ‘Blue Hour’.

Connect with Daniel…

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