TWiP Talks

Trey Ratcliff — photographer, artist, writer and adventurer.

Trey’s images capture the beauty of exotic travel destinations while exploring the tension between what is real and what is a fiction. And his stories share the humor of the bizarre situations he often finds himself in.

Each day, Trey posts a new photo to his website, StuckInCustoms.com, which receives over one million monthly page views. His photos have been viewed over 130 Billion times, his YouTube videos 8 million times and has amassed an audience of over 16 million people on social media.

Trey is best known as a pioneer in HDR photography. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, a technique whereby multiple levels of light are captured for a particular scene and then combined into a single photograph. The resulting images are richly detailed and more closely resemble what you recall of the scene in your mind.

Trey grew up blind in one eye, which changed the way he has come to experience and visually map the world. This, combined with his degree in computer science and math, has shaped his unique, algorithm-like, approach to capturing a scene that evokes more palpable memories.

Trey’s photo, “Fourth on Lake Austin”, was the first HDR photograph to hang in the Smithsonian. He has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the BBC, and his photos have accumulated more than 100 million views. His best-selling book, “A World in HDR” sold out on Amazon in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Trey has taught many thousands of people the secrets to his techniques via his free HDR tutorial and a more detailed video tutorial, both are available on his website.

Kickstarter:  http://www.StuckInCustoms.com/links/kickstarter

Plotagraph:  http://trey-ratcliff.squarespace.com

The Arcanum:  http://www.TheArcanum.com

The Untethered Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379

A New Earth

In this interview I chat with Hasselblad’s Pontus Arvåsen about their hot new mirrorless camera, the Hasselblad X1D.

Pontus Arvåsen is a product designer and photographer working in the design team at Hasselblad HQ Gothenburg. He started his career as freelance designer in 2004.

Parallell to this he was a keen hobby photographer and after two years in the design business, following a successful photo exhibition he went full time as photographer. Initially mostly fine art nature and floral photography with several exhibitions and a successful card collection. Gradually the work shifted to more commercial work, portrait, product and fashion photography with clients such as H&M, Weekday, Volvo among others.

The combination of these two careers caught the attention of Hasselblad who hired him as a product specialist and technical investigator. Shortly there after he shifted to his current role as Product Designer. He’s a part of the design team in Gothenburg involved in all aspects of the design of the entire product range. Available products he’s been a part of until now is the aerial A6D, the H6D and the recently released X1D camera.

http://www.arvasen.com

http://www.instagram.com/pontusarvasen

A closer look at the Hasselblad X1D

Portfolio shots from Pontus

Brooks Institute, a visual arts school whose alumni include Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winners announced last week the end of their 70-year run.

After years of declining enrolment, tighter federal rules on for-profit schools and efforts to move the school to downtown Ventura, California – representatives announced the doors will permanently close on October 31st, 2016, and that all classes in the fall semester have been cancelled.

I was acting Chairman of the Board for the school up until last week, when myself and the remaining board members made individual and unanimous decisions to resign from the board – following the termination of the school’s president, by the parent company.

In this interview, I sit down with Jeffrey Burke, a former Chairman of the Board at the school to discuss the impact of this closure, what’s next for the students, faculty and the for-profit education industry in general.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

* The Rise & Fall of Brooks Institute

* Brooks Institute shutting down after 70 years

* Brooks Institute closes after 70 years of photography education

* Washington ArtWorks & Washington School of Photography declares bankruptcy

About Jeffrey Burke

JT Burke uses the mad photo skills that he has accumulated throughout his working life to create glimpses of a personal Paradise. His visions are cobbled together using vintage costume jewelry, each piece individually photographed and cataloged and then digitally collaged into ornate compositions that straddle the boundaries between representation and abstraction.

His inspiration is drawn from many sources including Hieronymus Bosch, Dr. Seuss, Byzantine iconography, 20th century modernists and 12 years of Catholic school education. His tightly editioned, digital compositions have been exhibited in Barcelona Spain, Bristol UK, New York City, throughout California, and have been featured in various publications including Juxtapoz and Huff Post Arts.

JT Burke lives and works in South Pasadena, CA.

In this interview Giulio Sciorio joins the show to discuss with me the rising importance and viability of mobile phone photography. Specifically, how the iPhone continues its dominance over point-and-shoot cameras.

The iPhone, helped along by Apples “Shot on iPhone” campaign, is showing that professional-level results can be accomplished by using a device many of us carry with us everywhere.

What’s next for mobile photography? And how can you start taking more than just food pics and selfies with the powerful device you have at your fingertips?!

About Giulio:

Giulio is a minimalist photographer who creates content for the small screens in a social world.

G’s photographic roots began in film so he creates as much of my work as possible in camera. In a digital world this authentic way of creating gets the work online fast.

Websites: http://www.giuliosciorio.com and http://www.CreatorsPath.org

Aurora HDR is a joint project by Macphun and Trey Ratcliff, the world’s most renowned HDR photographer. This photo software brings together into one application what previously took trips to several other applications.

Jim Nix is an Austin-based traveler, photographer and wanderlust sufferer. He specializes in “high dynamic range” photography, also known as HDR. He is inspired by travel and enjoys creating dramatic and expressive photos that represent the places he discovers.

In this interview, Jim and I connect in a Google+ Hangout to discuss his workflow using MacPhun’s new Aurora HDR software. Jim shares his screen to demonstrate his workflow ,and also reveals how he uses the software as his default image editor — in place of the outstanding tools already present in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

 

 

Website: http://nomadicpursuits.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jimnix17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimNix17

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimnix/

Aurora HDR tutorial: http://nomadicpursuits.com/hdr-tutorial

 

In this episode of TWiP Talks I speak with Jake Hicks. Not only does Jake have amazing style and talent, but he’s a master of the art of using colored gels. In this interview you’ll be “exposed” to how Jake manipulates his background, shadows and highlights in both exposure and color. And learn now he developed his craft over the years, and came to become a highly sought after photographic artist.

Exploring the colorful world of colored gels with Jake Hicks. Learn about this fascinating and classic technique and add a splash of color to your work.

Jake has been shooting commercially for over ten years within the fashion and portraiture industry and now spends most of his time teaching and educating others interested in photography through my articles and workshops.

His work is known for its bright and bold creative lighting and he enjoys specializing in keeping the skill in the camera, not just on the screen.

James’ Links

Main Website, Facebook, Workshops, Coloured Gel packs

A ton of free information on taking better studio shots.

In this interview I chat with photographer and photographic educator Marc Silber.

Marc began taking black & white photographs in the 60s, beginning his photographic career at the legendary Peninsula School, avidly learning composition and darkroom skills. He seemed to always have a still or movie camera in his hands.

He honed his skills at the celebrated San Francisco Art Institute—one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of higher education in art and photography in the United States.

Today Marc loves to produce compelling videos, such as his widely acclaimed series “Advancing Your Photography” which began at Ansel Adams’ home and darkroom, he then moved on to interview scores of top photographers capturing their insight and tips.

Check out Marc online…

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/marcsilber

Website: http://www.silberstudios.tv/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcsilbershow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aypshow

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcsilber/

A few of the videos he’s produced…

Ansel Adams’ story of Visualization

Bob Holmes Composition

Imagine

A New Perspective

In this interview I chat with my friend David duChemin about underwater photography, book publishing, and keeping your creative juices flowing.

David is a world & humanitarian assignment photographer, best-selling author, digital publisher, and international workshop leader whose nomadic and adventurous life fuels his fire to create and share. David is based in Victoria, Canada, but normally he leads a nomadic life, chasing compelling images on all 7 continents.

David is the founder and Chief Executive Nomad of Craft & Vision, Editor in Chief of PHOTOGRAPH Magazine, a contributing columnist to PHOTOLIFE, and an ambassador for Maptia.com.

David’s Site: http://davidduchemin.com

Craft & Vision: http://craftandvision.com

Photograph Magazine: http://photographmag.com

David’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrCj4BerLCMsHV3QT6OBB_A

Maptia: https://maptia.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_duChemin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidduchemin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/David-duChemin-302995442741/

In this episode of TWiP Talks, it’s all about 360 photography… and as we learned in this session the proper term for this is actually “photosphere”, at least according to Google!

This technique and genre of photography is essentially the art of creating immersive experiences in photographs by capturing the entire environment, then by using some magic software, the photographer stitches it all together to create the final “sphere”. It is this sphere that the view then experiences from the INSIDE.

You may have experienced this type of photo before, especially if you’ve ever seen a QuickTime VR movie, or have used Google StreetView. All of these are essentially photospheres. There are some fantastic uses for this technology, but as with any technique, it takes some practice and mastery of basic (and some advanced) photography skills to pull off a professional-looking final piece.

Marc Charette has created hundreds of photospheres, and is also a Google StreetView Trusted photographer in his local area. Find out how he does it by watching this interview, then explore the links he’s provided below.

About Marc – in his own words…

As a Google Trusted photographer living on the Central Coast of New South Wales, my focus is on taking pictures of workplaces, people at work and the products and services they provide, mostly in 360° photospheres. With an extensive background sales, marketing, tourism, advertising, retail, training and services industry, I have have always found myself being the guy behind the gear, helping others tell their stories.

Going back to my first camera, a 1950’s Airies range finder to today, photography has always been in my life. With the new push towards 360° images and all things that look and feel VR, it was the right time to make the full time move and setup Work Pics. It’s about asking people… “So… what do you want people to see?”

You can see my work on www.workpics.com

or contact me at [email protected]

You can also follow my on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPics360/

Interested in creating your own photospheres? Here are a few useful links that Marc has provided…

http://www.360cities.net

https://round.me

http://www.viewat.org

http://www.spinattic.com

https://www.flickr.com

https://www.google.com/maps/streetview

ricoh theta S

Software for stitching 360 images and video along with some publishing capabilities (create the html5 code / or other content players

https://www.ptgui.com/

http://www.kolor.com/autopano/autopano-features/

http://www.easypano.com/360-panorama-software.html

Tomshot360: http://www.tomshot360.com/

Last week I dropped in on Tim Engle in his Sacramento California studio. Tim was just finishing up a shoot with a fantastic new model named Nicole Williams. So, of course I had to take the opportunity to bring out my trusty DJI OSMO and record a quick interview with her. Specifically I wanted to find out how brand new and aspiring models perceive this new adventure they are embarking on. Nicole had a great look and attitude and chatting with her was a pleasure!

Give this interview a watch/listen then follow Nicole on Instagram!

All photos by Tim Engle Photography Also, follow Tim on Instagram.