There seems to be this cycle of topical blog posts that are put out by some of the heavy-hitter photo pundits out there.  These topics usually result in galvanized readers who further stoke the flame by leaving their own comments, all of which translates into a spike in traffic to that particular site.  I often joke with my friends that a surefire way to boost traffic to one’s site for a day or two is to post a thread about why HDR is or isn’t photography.

But the topic that most often interests me is the one where you are being told that photography isn’t about the gear.  Most interestingly enough, I notice who it is that preaches this.  Usually, the authors who are offering this sage advice really don’t have an issue with getting the gear for themselves or they already own it.

I will agree with one unequivocal and indisputable truth: no amount of gear can be a substitute for raw talent and vision.  Just because you have the newest camera with the sharpest lens will not give you a guarantee that all of your shots will be memorable or provocative or even marginally good.  But, I can guarantee you that it will help.  I recently had a positively fantastic conversation about this topic with one of my closest friends, Chris Halford.  He mentioned that the gear you invest in will not automatically yield better shots but it will certainly help remove a lot of the obstacles.

Take this example as a way for me to illustrate my point:

You are standing in a breathtakingly gorgeous expanse of nature.  The elements are perfect, the light is just right, and you want to share this moment with everyone that you know.  About a foot in front of you, there is a fantastic boulder that would make for an ideal foreground element.  You have a vision of exactly how you want to frame the shot and how you’d like to separate your foreground from your background.  But you don’t have a camera.  And it isn’t about the gear?

Granted, that is a bit hyperbolic but I plead you to follow along.

So, now you have a camera.  It’s a basic point-n-shoot.  So you take the camera, hold it at that awkward arms-length position, and press the shutter button.  You now have a picture of the scene.  But, because of the limitations with the camera’s focal length and the total lack of aperture and shutter speed control, you are left with a ‘marginally ok’ shot.  It’s not anywhere near what you had envisioned.  Still not about the gear?

Ok, you know that you need more control over the image.  You now have a basic dSLR with a kit lens.  It affords you some versatility with camera control but the shot that you took is really noisy and the focal length of that kit lens is actually not true to spec because you have a cropped sensor, so you’re still not getting quite as wide as you’d like.  Plus, the lens doesn’t have an aperture that is large enough to get you just the right separation that you had envisioned .  You also notice all sorts of soft edges and chromatic aberration throughout the contrasty parts of the image.  But everyone says that it isn’t about the gear, right?

Fine, you decide that in order to really capture the shot exactly how you had envisioned it, you get yourself a beefy full frame camera that provides a nice, clean, noise-free image.  The high-end glass that you also bought is ultra-wide and has a large aperture, allowing you to create the exact amount of separation to make that boulder pop right off of the screen.  So, what was that you were saying about the gear?

Notice one constant theme throughout this example.  The photographer had a vision of how the image should be crafted.  Technically, you could have achieved a photo of the scene with any functional camera.  No one would dispute that.  But, to be fair, having the optimal gear with you will contribute to you realizing your particular vision much easier.  It is for this exact reason that Canon has three different types of 50mm prime lenses ranging from $100 to $1500.  It’s why there is ‘L’ series and Tilt Shift glass.  It’s also why there are $17,000 medium format digital-back cameras.  Sometimes, you simply cannot achieve your vision in a shot with ‘just anything’.

And it’s not a criticism of the photographer at all.  A lot of this gear is very, very expensive and can be difficult to justify as an expense.  What I take umbrage with is when photographers who seemingly have all the gear in the world tell you that it really isn’t necessary.  That is a bit of slanted truth, a good dose of doublespeak.   I see it simply as this: To be a [great] photographer, you must have vision.  This is non-negotiable.  To realize that vision, you must have gear.  As you use your gear, and eventually start to plateau with its capabilities (and limitations), you will reach an impasse.  You will hit a point where your vision can no longer necessarily be realized with the gear that you have.  This is when you will decide whether it is worthwhile for you to invest in better gear.

I’ll end this Ed. Op. post with my own personal experience.  I’ve been shooting for a long time now.  I am not an academically trained photographer – I’ve learned to use my experiences and failures to shape my vision.  I started with a very basic film-based point & shoot, moved to a basic digital point & shoot, and onto the entry level Canon Digital Rebel (300D) w/a kit lens.  I used that kit to the point where I had the camera serviced twice for exceeding the max rating of actuations.  One day, I realized that it was time to invest in some better glass, a more capable camera body, and a tripod.  The direct result?  I was able to foster my vision and allow it to grow.  Later on, I realized that I loved shooting architecture.  Non-stop.  But, the glass that I had wasn’t giving me what I wanted in terms of clean, straight lines.  So, I invested in what is now my most expensive piece of gear, the Canon 17mm Tilt Shift lens.  In doing so, that single lens blasted open the doors for my own creativity.  It allowed me to take my sandbox of fun and expand it 10-fold.  I was ready for the gear and for what it could help me achieve.

And the more that I thought about it, the more I understood that the gear is really a lot of what it’s about.

Cheers,

Brian

So you’ve gone ahead and created your very own Twitter account.  You’re hoping to spread the word of your work and boost traffic to your website, blog, and maybe even cash flow.  A few days, some weeks, a couple of months…  they all go by but nothing is really happening.  What should you do?  Write Twitter off as a failure?  Chalk it up to a misfired experiment?  Nah.  I think there is an interesting dynamic when you first create your Twitter account and the time shortly thereafter.  That is to say, there are some noticeable phases or progressions that one goes through as they try to establish themselves as a resource for other photographers.  I’ve gone through these phases in my attempt to be viewed as a credible HDR photography resource and I’m sure that everyone else has gone through similar paths to get to where they are.

Along the way of wading through your own Twitterverse field, you pick up slivers of ideas that either jive well or don’t.  The key to navigating through this field is two-fold: the first revolves around how well you can actually pick up on these slivers and the second revolves around how effectively you deal with and manage them.

So, this is my attempt to share some of the practices that I religiously follow and wholly attribute to getting to where I am now and to how I have been able to meet, and shoot with, some of the most talented, fantastic, and generally great people in the industry.

Content Is King

Before you find your sea legs in the vast ocean of Twitter, you’ll want to make sure you have some content you can provide.  The content is what will lend credence in establishing yourself as a reputable and reliable resource.  In my case, the content that I offer every day revolves around my experiences with learning and shooting HDR photography.  I have several years worth of brackets that I’ve taken on my journey to mastering HDR.  The quality ranges from god-awful to not bad.  But, I make it readily and consistently available to anyone who is kind enough to spend their time viewing it.

On top of that, I try to share the content of knowledge.  I had the pleasure of recently meeting and chatting with the venerable Selina Maitreya, who was so open about sharing her experiences, her knowledge, and her trade.  My good ol’ buddy, Jack Hollingsworth, says it best with ‘It takes a village’.  If you are trying to thrive in a community-based media outlet, it is paramount to help others and, in turn, help yourself.

Use Hashtags Effectively & To Your Benefit

Twitter incorporates a very novel way of searching for trending/popular subject matter by adding a Hashtag (the # symbol) before a word (or single-worded phrase).  Doing so renders that word searchable and, when used effectively, can really increase how wide your net is once cast.  Most of my tweets have something to do with HDR photography.  So, I usually tag #HDR in line with my message so that it will appear to anyone who is searching for the term ‘HDR’.  My friend, Scott Wyden, once told me that the tag #Photog is one of the most popular search terms on Twitter and attributes it to a bump in clickthrus to his website.

A word of caution, though, with overusing Hashtags (this is something that I am certainly guilty of).  Remember, you have 140 characters to work with.  Hashtags eat this counter up and when someone attempts to ReTweet (RT) your message, you do run the risk of overextending their message beyond 140 characters.  This can turn some people off from helping to spread your information.  So, when composing your message, try to put some foresight into making it easy for others to share your words.

Respond To Queries

One of the most natural and expected reactions of being seen as a resource of any kind is that people will generally seek out your advice.  They’ll ask questions, solicit your opinion, or just point you to something that they think may be of interest to you.  What it boils down to is that people are taking the time to ask for your thoughts.  The best thing you can do is to actually respond.  You can do it publicly via Twitter or privately via a Direct Message or email.  The key is to promote your accessibility.  Two photographers who sincerely impress me with their response rates are David Nightingale and Trey Ratcliff.  For as busy and as popular as these guys are, I can’t recall a time when either of them did not respond to a message that I had sent them.  This goes a long way with me and makes it a joy to promote their work wherever and whenever I can.  It’s how the game is played, friends.

I cannot tell you how many photographers I’ve reached out to for their opinions or thoughts only to never hear a word back.  I’m most disappointed with those photographers out there who solicit help from the general public only to ignore even sending a ‘Thank you’ to those who offer that help (more on that a little later).  The result for me in these situations is a general, and unfortunate, lack of interest in that photographer.

Now, I totally and fully understand that we are all busy in life.  I am not necessarily advocating that you should be responding within minutes of a query.  But, by taking 30 seconds to reply back with something as basic as ‘Thanks for your comment. I’m crazy busy at the moment but will do my best to get back to you in a few days‘, will go a long way with your followers.  Just do your best to actually follow up with those of whom you commit to doing so.

Maintain A Consistent ‘Voice’

The best way to build your brand, your fan base, and your reputation, really, is by maintaining a clear and consistent voice.  By voice, I am referring to the general tone, subject matter, and vernacular that you use in your tweets.  Some people take it very lax with what they say and how they say it.  Others have a more structured code that they use when they are speaking their minds.  There is no right or wrong here, there is just your brand.  One surefire disruption in how you are perceived is if you present yourself as one type of person and erratically offer up a different side… sort of like a Jekyll/Hyde.

I would also recommend that if you enjoy opining about any range of topics, do so intelligently and without the aim to offend.  Unless, of course, that is your brand. 

Always Follow The High Road

If there is one truth that I have come to accept, it is that you will have your detractors.  I have come to expect this as I enveloped myself in as polarizing and galvanizing of a medium as HDR Photography.  On one hand, I find myself fortunate to be a part of a subject matter that is so widely talked about these days, but on the other hand, it certainly brings out those who are not exactly tolerant of HDR… and they are more than happy to share their thoughts on the subject and on the quality (or, in their case, lack thereof) of your work.

I see these situations as a very clear presentation of a fork in the road.  You can either retort and, in doing so, put yourself in a defensive posture or you can simply acknowledge them, respect their opinion and thank them for sharing it.  I really, really do try to follow the latter trail.  I know that it can often be very difficult to swallow the mouthful of razor blades that you may be primed to launch at your detractor(s) but trust me when I say that doing the opposite shows class, composure, and character.  And I can promise you that others will pick up on that.

ReTweet Meaningfully

One of the most potent aspects of Twitter is its ability to disseminate information with blazing velocity and ultra-wide scope.  The most effective way of doing this is by reTweeting a message, or taking someone’s Tweet and rebroadcasting it to your followers.  They, in turn, can RT this message to their followers.  The result can be viral.

However, as we commoditize what we share, an opportunity opens up to ‘how’ we do so.  I have found a lot of success in taking the information that is shared by someone who I follow and applying my own editorial comment to it while still crediting the source via the RT.  I love seeing someone RT my message and apply their own ‘take’ on what is being shared.  It’s almost like re-personalizing the original message and it’s groovy.  Editorializing a RT is also a way to circumvent the problem brought up in the previous section when too many hashtags bring you over 140 characters.  You can prune the message to taste while still being virtuous in spreading the word.

Commit Random Acts of Selflessly Promoting Others

Sure, getting your name out there is a critical reason why you’re on Twitter.  But there is something genuine and special when you randomly pick a photographer, be it a friend or total stranger whom you admire, and give their work or their website a shout out.  I know that when I see others do that, I get a warm feeling in me and I’m sure that others do, as well.  And know that you’re probably making someone’s day by sharing their work with your followers.  I bet you’ll make at least one new contact by doing so and, if you believe in karma, you’ll be making a nice little deposit in that account.

One of the best ways to promote others is by utilizing the hashtag ‘#togsfollow’.  It has a really great followership and can aid you in your attempt  to spread the word of other photographers’ works.

Don’t Forget Your ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’

‘What’ you present truly goes hand-in-hand with ‘How’ you present it.  There is no formula to this.  It is an extension of how you wish to be perceived.  People relate to certain personalities and it is a fool’s journey to think that you can appeal to every type.  With that said, I was raised with the lesson that politeness and courtesy will always be safe horses to bet on.

I strive to present myself as a kind and approachable resource.  I always do my best to say ‘Please’ when asking something of someone as well as give thanks to anyone who is kind enough to help me by either re-Tweeting (RT) one of my posts, adding me to a ‘Follow Friday’ (FF) list, or just saying something kind about me or my work.  And, please believe me that this is totally genuine.  I also make every effort to answer questions that are posed to me on Twitter and on my blog.  I’m just another guy with a camera who loves HDR… no better than anyone else and if I have a piece of information that can help you out, I’ll be there to share it with you.  No ifs, ands, or buts.

Through it all, I cannot express just how amazed and thankful I am at the responses and opportunities that have presented themselves through Twitter.  I wish the same success to all of you and I hope that this post helps you achieve it.  Thank you, everyone.

Cheers,

Brian

I am very proud to announce that I now have a monthly column on ProPhotoResource.com.  Each month, I’ll be providing new tips, tricks, and information around getting the most out of HDR Photography.  I really look forward to this opportunity!

The official announcement can be found here.

So you have a shiny new iPad in your hands.  You’ve gone ahead and loaded your apps, music, and some flicks.  Now, the last thing is to get your home and lock screens stylin’!  What better way to do that than by loading up these free high-res HDR Wallpapers already formatted for the iPad?

Clicking on an image will show you a full-res preview.  If you want to save a copy locally, just right click on the thumbnail image and select ‘Save Link As…’ for whichever browser you’re using.  From there, add them to whatever photo folder you currently sync via iTunes and there you go.  You can set the custom backgrounds for the Home Screen and Lock Screen from the Settings App under ‘Brightness & Wallpaper’.

Make sure to keep checking back often, too!  I’ll be adding new images quite regularly.

Just click HERE to get your free HDR iPad Wallpapers!

A few weeks ago, I was asked by the great people at Lensflare35 if I would be willing to do an interview about HDR Photography, and the industry in general.  I was really moved by the offer and graciously accepted.

The interview was conducted a few weeks ago by the very talented and funny Dave Warner.  During the interview, we discussed a broad range of topics currently surrounding Photography and Social Media.  Dave’s questions were very poignant and thoughtful.  I had a blast rapping about this stuff with him.

You can check out the interview, in its entirety, along with watch/listen to a slideshow of some of my favorite HDR work by clicking on the link below:

Lensflare35 Podcast Interview – Brian Matiash, Architectural & Commercial Photographer

I’d love to hear from you with what you thought of the interview and slideshow.  Please feel free to leave your comments!

Let’s say you really love shooting bracketed images so that you can tone map and process them to see all of that glorious high dynamic range.  Let’s also say that you have spent a lot of hard-earned money on a great camera, that beautiful lens you’ve always wanted, and a solid tripod.  Now you’re set.  You are ready to be an HDR-shooting machine.  You have even scouted out this really awesome abandoned structure and you go to shoot inside of it at high noon because, who cares, you welcome that massive shift in tonality.  So, you get there, compose, and shoot.  But wait.  Your camera only fires three exposures.  This isn’t right.  Even though you auto-bracketed at two full stop intervals, you still haven’t captured enough detail in the shadows to properly get a good tone mapped image.  And, because you are limited to three exposures, you missed out on some exposure value within that two stop range that you just skipped to.  What are you left to do?  Who will come along to save you?

The answer lies with the good folks at Promote Systems and their product, the Promote Control.  I was first turned onto this product by my good friend, Peter Zielinski.  As soon as he told me about it, I did as much research as I could on it.  I really needed to know if this was the product that I had been waiting for.  And with the help of some video reviews put together by the extremely talented HDR photographer, Michael James, I knew that I had found my solution (Michael does a great job reviewing the unit from a Nikon perspective).  Links to Michael’s video reviews are at the bottom of this post.  The Promote Control is much more than a shutter release controller.  Yes, it has the all of the features that you’d expect to find in a $300 remote (including a timer-based exposure release, an intervalometer, and a time-lapse mode).  But, the real joy for me is its High Dynamic Range mode and that is what I will focus on exclusively in this review.

While I had dramatized the opening of this review, the reality is that if you are a Canon shooter, it is not altogether very easy to get the series of bracketed exposures necessary to compose a good HDR image.  I am not saying that it is impossible to get great HDR images (quite the opposite), I am simply saying that there are limitations.  Due to software restrictions imposed by Canon, notably limiting you to three exposure auto bracketing and a max exposure interval swing of 2 stops (you would have to invest in the Canon 1Ds Mark III to jump these hurdles), you are cornered into what you can expose for without having to touch your camera and fumble around to change settings.  And if there is one cardinal rule in HDR photography that I do my best to abide by, it is to not touch the camera at all during a bracket sequence.  This is where the beauty of the Promote Control becomes apparent.

When you set the Remote to the HDR mode, you are greeted with three very simple and evident settings:

• The first setting is your mid-range exposure.  This is your ’0′ exposure and the remote will calculate the remainder of the bracket sequence based on this value.  I almost always use my Live View display to meter off of a neutral portion of the scene and find my mid-range exposure value based on the aperture that I have set.
• The second setting is the stop interval that you wish to increment up and down in your bracket series.  You can bracket by 1/3, 2/3, full stop, 2 full stops, etc.  This is invaluable for HDR photographers, especially if you are intending to bracket a scene that has a HUGE dynamic range shift like, say, a dark abandoned structure with windows exposing the high-noon sun.
• The third and final setting is the number of brackets in your series that you wish the remote to expose for.  With Canon, you are limited to three Auto Exposure Brackets.  With the Promote Control, you can shoot 29 images, should you so desire.  While this is a bit hyperbolic (but functional), I usually shoot between 7 and 9 bracketed images.

The combination of these three settings gives the Promote Control the information it needs to instruct the camera on how to expose for each image in the bracket sequence.  One of my favorite features is that it will also display the exposure time range from the fastest to the slowest images in the sequence.  This is indispensable when you are trying to budget your time and each minute counts.

When you purchase the Promote Control, you are supplied with the actual unit, a pair of AA batteries (for which you will need a flathead screwdriver or a coin to remove the battery door to install), and a USB cable that connects the unit to your Canon camera.  One HUGE recommendation that I will make is that you spend the extra $15 and get the optional shutter release cable for the Promote Control.  It will significantly reduce the time to fire off your bracket sequence and is worth its weight in gold.  You’re much better off with it than without it.

In the few months that I’ve used the Promote Control, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the quality of my HDR images has increased notably.  That is not to say that it has made me a better photographer.  No piece of hardware can do that.  But, it has given me the ability to feed my HDR Tone Mapping software (in my case, Photomatix by HDRSoft) with so much more exposure information.  This has translated into less noise, more shadow detail, and removed just about any trace of chromatic aberration (that funky, sci-fi blue color that appears when you don’t have enough exposure information in your shadow areas).

In spending all of this time with the Promote Control, I have also come up with some best practices and some limitations that potential buyers should be aware of.  I hope it help you make a more informed decision to purchase and help you get the most out of it.

Best Practices

• When shooting your bracketed images with the Promote Control, make sure your camera is in Manual mode.  Set your Aperture and ISO setting and adjust your shutter speed until you reach a ’0′ exposure metering on the spot of the scene that you have chosen (either through your optical viewfinder or on your rear LCD with Live View)
• Make sure that your lens is set to Manual Focus before initiating the bracket sequence.  You do not want your camera re-adjusting focus in between brackets.  Either visually focus using Live View or auto focus on a specific part of the scene, recompose, turn off the Auto Focus, and then execute the bracket sequence.
• If you do buy the optional shutter release cable, make sure you go into the settings section of the Promote Control (Hold the Left and Right arrows of the Direction Pad simultaneously) and selected ‘Yes’ to the option of “Use a separate cable for shutter release”.  Until you do so, the Promote Control will not know that the shutter release cable is there.
• Ensure that the camera’s drive mode is set to Single Shot (not timed exposure or rapid fire).  Failing to have it set to single shot will likely lead to misfires by the unit (I can pretty much guarantee it)
• If you use Live View to compose and focus your scene, absolutely make sure that you turn it off before beginning your bracket sequence.  Failing to do so will lead to skipped exposures in your sequence.
• If you are bracketing a scene that is very dimly lit, I strongly recommend that you utilize the Mirror Lock-up function with the Promote Control.  To do this, you first have to activate Mirror Lock-up in the Custom Functions section of your camera.  Then, select the M-Up option on the unit and toggle it to ‘On’.  This will further reduce any shake introduced by the camera mirror slapping up and down.

Limitations

I am truly happy to report that Promote Systems has released a firmware update for the Promote Control that directly addresses the Hardware Bulb limitation found on the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D. The current process with the new firmware is: when the Promote Control detects that the next bracket in the series exceeds 30 seconds, it will pause the sequence and display a message instructing you to switch to Bulb mode and press any key to resume the sequence.  It is the most elegant solution that I can think of and it was implemented quite nicely… plus it finally gives me the flexibility that I have been waiting so long for.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: When you switch your camera to Bulb mode, make sure that your aperture matches what you had it set to in Manual mode.  The habit that I’ve gotten in to when I know that I will have to switch to Bulb mode during my sequence is to pre-set the Aperture in Bulb before I start firing. This way, all I need to do is switch to Bulb and resume the sequence.

So, there you have it.  The good and the bad, the ups and the downs.  Overall, I could not recommend this product enough.  If you are remotely serious (get it… get it? ) about HDR photography, then you owe it to yourself to at least consider the Promote Control.  Again, it won’t make you a better photographer (an HDR one or otherwise) but it will help you get what you need as you are on your way.

I hope that this missive slash review was useful to you, especially if you made it this far along.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about the Promote Control.  I am a huge evangelist of theirs and would be glad to drive business their way.

Cheers,

Brian

PS -- As promised, here are the links to Michael James’ Video Reviews of the Promote Control:

Part 1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMTWLDvQB74

Part 2

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4MOQbWMPk

It all started with Twitter.  Well, to be more specific, it all started with acclaimed photographer, Jack Hollingsworth, embracing Twitter and seeing the potential of its marketing power.  Jack shares his knowledge and insight around the professional photography and marketing industries within the confines of 140 characters and with such tenacity that it is nearly impossible not to be pulled into his orbit.

After some time, I started corresponding with Jack about all sorts of items involving the aforementioned topics.  And here is what makes Jack such a fantastic person to know… he always responds with insight.  For as busy as he can be, he takes care in acknowledging you.  And this struck a chord with me.

So, it was no surprise that when Jack asked if there were any Boston-based photographers who would be interested in assisting in a demo shoot for him, I immediately threw my name in. And so, Jack asked me to join him for a weekend-long shoot at his Cape Cod studio.  In his own words, it was a photography love-fest at its finest.

Jack had assembled a veritable A-Team of photographers and a videographer to assist with the shoot.   The team included our Director of Photography, Ben Eckstein, his grip, Chris Conti, our social media assistant, Keegan Hobson, and myself as the tech grip.  We were also joined by some veterans of the game, all friends of Jack, including Michael Skeggs and Glenn Bacci.

The details were straight forward.  We would chronicle the behind-the-scenes happenings of this commercial demo that Jack had orchestrated.  We had everything that you’d expect to find in a professional shoot – both studio and on-location sets, beautiful and handsome models, props, and enough photography gear to stock one of B&H’s supply rooms (thanks hugely in part to LensProToGo, Westcott, and Calumet)

Out of the 48 or so hours that I was there, I slept for about 10.  The rest of the time was spent either setting up, breaking down, or making some sort of adjustments to the sets.  We had our DP, Ben, shooting DSLR video the entire time w/his Canon 7D.  Keegan was letting the world get a look inside the production via Twitter, TwitPic and TwitVid.  Chris assisted with the overall production.  I was involved with the lighting and technical setup.  And Jack, well, he was the man with the camera.  He conducted his set with the precision and care that I assumed, but never actually saw, of a seasoned pro.

About a week before the shoot, Jack reached out and asked if I would shoot some HDRs of the sets, both indoor and outdoor.  He expressed interest in using the final results as part of this demo shoot.  Immediately, I knew that this was going to be a rock solid weekend.  Jack was very kind when he introduced me to the various people who showed up, each time playing up my HDR work.  It was very humbling and it made me want to knock these images out of the park.  Between the studio space and the various beach locales that we shot at, Jack provided me with plenty of ways to get creative with my brackets.  There was even some downtime in between wardrobe changes for me to show some of the other photographers how I go about processing my HDR images.  In the end, I think I came away with some great shots (I hope!), all of which will make their way on the blog and, hopefully, within Jack’s final products.

Now, you may be wondering what Jack is like to work with.  Let me try to answer that by telling you about the first 10 minutes of my arrival.  I park my car, knock on the door, and am greeted by a handshake and a warm smile.  Jack and I sit down and within two minutes, he is asking me about my photography.  My goals.  My aspirations.  My HDR.  He is asking about me.  And, he is listening, synthesizing, and fashioning a rapport.  He is one of the most approachable and structured people that I’ve ever met.  There is no pretense to the man.  He is a master photographer and marketer.  He doesn’t pretend to be better than anyone else and he wholly understands the importance of aligning himself with those who are better at certain tasks than he may be.

By the end of the 2.5 day shoot, I felt like I had known Jack for years.  And when I asked myself how that could be, it really boiled down to this: Jack is a guy who takes photography, and not himself, seriously.  It really is just about the love of photography and I can relate to that.  He’s been in the game for 30 years and the love of his craft has only grown.  He understands that photographers as a whole… we are greater than the sum of our parts.  Collectively, it takes a village to make wonderful things happen and I am proud to be one of the villagers.

All in all, I am very fortunate.  I got to meet and work alongside some extremely talented folks, all of whom I would be happy & lucky to shoot with again.  I also got to learn from a photographer whom I greatly admire.  Not bad for a random winter weekend, I say.

I look forward to more adventures with Jack.

To Ben’s, Keegan’s, and Chris’ experiences from this shoot, check out their blog entries below:

Ben’s Entry

Keegan’s Entry

Chris’ Entry

Cheers,

Brian

I’m not sure if you know this, but your lenses have feelings.  Real emotions.  Take care of them, they’ll take care of you.  They like attention and do not like to be neglected.  So, I figure what better way to lavish attention on my lenses than to shine a spotlight on them?  And that is how the Lens Profile series was born.  I love every lens that I own.  I am far too fortunate to own as many as I do and I try to give each one some attention over the course of my shoots.  Some are wide, some long, some very niche – but each serves a great purpose: to be able to take the vision of the photo that is in my head, capture it on the camera sensor, and eventually share it with you.  These profiles are not intended to be functional reviews of the lenses.  There are plenty of resources out there for that.  Just hit up My Gear page… I have linked every piece of gear that I own to a review, in case you were interested.  What I envision for this series is to show you how I apply my lenses to my photography.  Hopefully, you will see the versatility, creativity, and performance that each piece of glass offers.  If you own the lens, maybe it’ll help you see its application from a different perspective.  If you’re considering buying a lens, maybe it’ll help you click the ‘Place Order’ button.

The first lens that I would like to profile is probably the funnest lens that I own.  It oozes with creative potential and is the perfect medicine to bust you out of a photo-funk.  It is the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens.  Physically, this lens is tiny.  It barely juts out of the camera body but let me tell you, it packs a wallop with its capabilities.  What you have is a 1-2 punch of an ultra-wide 15mm focal length coupled with a near 180-degree angle of viewing.  This gives you a new way of looking at just about any scene.  The fish goes with me everywhere.  Period.  My friend, Chris, and I joke that it is such a small lens that there really is no excuse for not packing it in your bag.

I bought my Fisheye lens about nine months ago.  Someone at the Canon POTN forums had a mint copy, sold it to me for a great price, and with that, I entered the world of fishiness.  Any time you slap on a new lens for the first time, you see things through the viewfinder in a different way, but with the fish my point is even more pronounced.  Let’s say that you have walked down a particular street a thousand and one times. You could swear that you know every little crack in the pavement and every swatch of graffiti.  But, boy, you slap on that fish and all bets are off.  I say, if you can’t find a new shot on that same block with the fish, then you must have mounted it on backwards.  This lens is very much about experimentation.  It’s totally about throwing conventional ideas of composition down the pooper and letting your inner kid go nuts.  It’s that eccentric friend that you have, the one who isn’t afraid of making a scene.  Forget Mentos.  The fish really is the fresh-maker.

One of my favorite applications of the fish is on objects or subjects that are already curved.  The fish helps over-accentuate the curvy lines that are already there, providing a Hitchcock-like bulbous quality.  Anything in the center of the frame tends to bloat and objects in the edges of the frame tend to stretch like Mr. Fantastic.  One of my guilty pleasures is using the fish while waiting for trains in the various subway stations that I travel in.  There is one particular HDR shot that I took in the DC Metro (and previously posted in that blog entry) of a train that was whirring by.  I love how the fish took the train and turned it into a pod-like alien craft.  Add to it the famous metro ceilings that DC is known for, and the way that they curve under the might of the fish, and you are left with a pretty crazy looking image with some funky symmetry.

The fish is also very adept at taking structures, buildings and general architecture and turning them into these crazy, looming objects.  It is like a circus mirror.  With the fish, a huge component to using the lens effectively is exploiting over-accentuation.  I find myself looking for objects, buildings, or just about anything anything that has unique characteristics, lines, and angles and then I approach it with the fish.  It is rare that I do not walk away happy with the shots that have presented themselves to me.

Overall, I am extremely thrilled with having this lens as part of my arsenal.  It has really opened up my eyes in the way that I look at certain scenes.  Once you get used to taking in 180-degrees of visibility, new photographic opportunities just start popping up everywhere.  I would recommend this lens to anyone who doesn’t have one already.  Just go get it.  You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers,

Brian

As I sit here basking in the afterglow of taco night, I find myself still relentlessly thinking about food.  Whether you’re celebrating or mourning or doing something in between, food seems to be the great equalizer.  Well, good food that is.  I am a firm believer that crap food can lead to wars between two or more countries.  And all the while, as these baby-back rib shaped sugar plums go dancing around my head, I find myself thinking about my favorite moment in SNL history – apt because it involves food… well… you can see for yourself:

Now that I have you in the proper mood (that would be the mood for food… sigh, I apologize), I would like to tell you about my two favorite places to eat at.  I hold the first establishment with fierce devotion.  The second restaurant is a newcomer for me but has easily become a front-runner as one of my favorite places to gorge myself.  I am referring to:

1. Dinosaur BBQ (flagship in Syracuse, NY with locations in Rochester and NYC)
2. East Coast Grill (Cambridge, MA)

Folks, let me tell you- for your money, you will be hard-pressed to find two better locations to dine at (well, I suppose vegetarians and vegans need not apply).

Let’s put aside the obvious criteria that a great restaurant must have great food and focus on another factor that can be just as critical, and that is ambiance or vibe.  It seems blatant but it is something that appears to be so lacking in 99% percent of dining establishments.  I’m not talking about the hackneyed Guinness posters or the tacky license plates that seem to adorn most places these days.  And I am not talking about the $150,000 chandelier slash abstract art piece that hangs over your dimly lit table holding your porcelain charger plate that seems to serve absolutely no purpose.

I am talking about the electricity in the air that can’t be manufactured or purchased.  The anticipation of what you’re soon going to be tasting as you stand by the bar with beer-in-hand, waiting to be seated.  It is the kind of stuff that only comes from the devotion and love of a restaurant’s loyal clientele.  The people who dine there on a Tuesday night, not on the frenzied Saturday evening rush hour.

These are the kind of places that actually evoke emotion from those who find themselves dining there.  It’s the kind of place that makes you really look forward to your food.  It’s where food is less of a utility to fill your stomach and more of a multimedia experience.  Like a PowerPoint slide deck that you can smell and touch and taste, just minus the terrible power phrases like ‘synergize’, ‘collaborate’, or ‘gel’.

And, of course there is the food.  These kind of places do not adhere to the dewey decimal system of menu items.  It’s not about the cheeseburger or chicken fingers or french onion soup.  It’s the kind of place where spicy means spicy.  Where events like ‘Hell Night’ are actually literal.  Bottom line- it’s where the establishment takes its food seriously and lets its loyal diners take care of the rest.

So then, what about the food?  I should note that I love barbecue.  Everything about it appeals to my palate and that is why my two favorite restaurants are BBQ joints (well, Dinosaur is and ECG is a fusion of BBQ and seafood fare).

Dinosaur BBQ was recently voted as the #1 BBQ joint in the US by Good Morning America.  They are right on the money.  Whether you get the ribs, the pulled pork, the AK Chili, or any other of their delicious meats, you will be presented with a heaping plate of culinary goodness.  It’s the combination of how tender the ribs are as they slide off of the bone and the sauce that Dinosaur is quite famous for.  It also happens to have that indelible atmosphere that lives up to its moniker of ‘A Genuine Honkey Tonk Rib Joint’.  As you drive up to the Syracuse location and are greeted with a row of Harleys parked in front, you’ll see what I mean.

A friend of mine introduced me to the East Coast Grill about a year ago.  Billed as a one-two punch of delicious BBQ and seafood, the creations that are presented to you are really remarkable.  I follow ECG on Twitter and am always impressed with the on-the-fly creations that they whip up with the freshest of ingredients.  Their North Carolina style pulled pork makes me cry (in a good way) with every fork full.  There is also something very comforting about being presented with a literal brick of deliciously moist cornbread.  And, I am proud to say that I had recently enjoyed my very first oyster from their extremely capable raw bar.  Suffice it to say that it won’t be my last.  But one of the things that I really love about the ECG is its sense of community.  If you are fortunate enough to get reservations for one of their recurring Hell Night events, you will see what I mean.  The people who prepare the food truly care about the people who eat the food and vice versa.  It is totally palpable.

So, if you happen to find yourself near either of these two very fantastic restaurants, do yourself a favor and take a step in, sit down, and prepare to have a good time.

Cheers,

Brian

It has been a long time coming, that much I can tell you.  For a while now, I have been toying with the idea of being able to not only share my images but to accompany them some context.  For the past few years, I’ve used Flickr as a primary vehicle to share my work.  About a year ago, I launched my portfolio, where I display a selection of my work.

However, as the ways to share photography constantly reinvents itself, I found that there is a certain richness to accompanying images with more context around them.  This was something that I felt I was lacking.  Hence, the decision to build this photoblog.  I am hoping that I can provide a more robust experience when viewing my work and, in turn, increase your enjoyment of it.

So, I hope you like what you see.  Please feel free to leave your thoughts/comments/critiques!

Cheers,

Brian