Discovery Channel's "Frozen Planet" is Fantastic

March 19, 2012 in Frozen Planet

Did you guys see "Frozen Planet" last night on the Discovery Channel? It was awesome. Tune in for the series!

Above is a shot I took on one of my Antarctica workshops. Recognize any animal?

Below is a shot I took in the sub-Arctic. Look familiar?

See more images in my SmugMug gallery.

When shooting in the snow, a polarizing filter is a must.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you plan on shooting in cold conditions, check out these cool gloves, which will keep your fingers warm.

Havin' Some Photoshop Fun - via Scott Kelby

March 17, 2012 in Composition, iPad apps

I'm sure you know about my friend Scott Kelby's best-selling book: Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It. If you want to learn about about portraiture, Scott's book is a must.

Today, while I was working on some of my wildlife photographs from a recent trip to Kenya, I was thinking about the importance of tracking an animal, photographing the animal, and then enhancing the image: a three-step process - just like Scott's process, which makes good sense.

So, to take a break from my serious work, I had some Photoshop fun - creating a dummy home page for an iPad app: Track It. Photograph It. Enhance It.

It's not an actual app! Again, I just created the image for fun.

Scott: thanks for the fun idea.

Now it's time to get back to serious work - if you can call enhancing wildlife images in Photoshop work.

To enhanced my leopard image, I used the Paper Toner filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. Click here to get a discount on Nik and some of the other plug-ins I use.

Speaking of serious and fun, if you want to have some serious fun learning about composition, check out my latest class on Kelby Training: Composition - the strongest way of seeing.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Click here to see my app - the real ones!

Stellar Shot of a Stellar's Jay

March 17, 2012 in Bird Photography, Stellar Jays

I saw this shot and had to share it with you. It was taken by my friend Alex Morley, with whom I am leading a workshop on the Oregon Coast later this year.

Alex: "Stellar's Jays are found only in western North America. They are closely related to the blue jay found on the rest of the continent, but have a black head. Steller’s Jays are bold, inquisitive, intelligent, and very noisy!! And their color – unreal! They are one of my favorite birds and always remind me of the beautiful deep forests of the Pacific Northwest where I live."

Alex - I love the framing, background, focus, rain – and catch light in the bird's eye. Truly a stellar shot!

Explore the light,
Rick

Gearing Up for My 5D Mark III

March 16, 2012 in : Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 580EX II

SOLD.

I'm selling my Canon 5D Mark II with grip. I'm gearing up for my Canon 5D Mark III.

Includes:

Body
Grip
One Battery
One Charger
SmugMug cool strap
Brand new 16GB Lexar card
and
DVD on how to shoot HD videos - $50 value.

Click here to read about the awesome new camera.

If you are interested in my 5D Mark II, please give me a call at 914-271-6132 - or shoot me an email.

US shipping only.

Explore the light,

Rick

Play with Light - and Walk Like an Egyptian

March 16, 2012 in Home Lighting, studio lighting

Here's a fun idea for playing with light. Place a speedlite directly behind a subject (hide the stand with the subject's body) and point the speedlite toward the back wall. Fire the flash remotely. I used Pocket Wizards.

Use a Honl Grid over the flash head to focus the light. Place a Honl Gel over the flash head to add color to the white light.

I took this photograph in Parish Kohanim's Atlanta studio last week during our lighting workshop. I added lens flare effect in Photoshop - where I also created my mirror image of model Kimberly Askew.

My camera gear for this shoot:

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 24-105m IS lens... my favorite lens.

Have fun with the ligh this weekend.

Explore the light,

Rick

For more lighting and photo tips, see my apps. Or, come on one of my workshops.