A photo workshop can be a spectacular adventure. While being a vacation from one’s normal daily routine, the better photography workshops are not a vacation from hard work. Learning how to execute good photography is not easy, nor does the knowledge come quickly with such a complex subject. All art forms can take a lifetime to master. […]
I’ve been playing with some different print finishing techniques, intending to meet necessary print protection requirements while avoiding the use of heavy cover glass and those annoying reflections its use introduces. Beeswax Lavender Oil seems to be the best among them. Most coatings I’ve found don’t work. Obnoxious, sticky, some introduce more glare, all obstructing […]
OK, you probably know I don’t like ultra-long lens names. I don’t like lenses that are expensive (who does?). So when you throw out a 50mm lens with a long name, like the Sony FE Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 ZA, and price it at $1,500 I’m a bit predisposed not to like it. Seriously, that’s a […]
Yep, I’m cutting my Summer Vacation from writing here short and covering the Democratic Convention if the DNCC will kindly provide me with Press Credentials to access the inner sanctum sanatoriums. Keep your fingers crossed for me, and hey, if you know anybody now would be a great time to give them a call on […]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually shoot a feature length motion picture using only a Sony mirrorless body? Wonder no more, The movie is called Three Days In August! This first feature film shot exclusively in 4K on a Sony Alpha mirrorless camera premiered on the big screen April 19th, 2016 at the […]
The story progresses forward! I’ll let you enjoy our first release of the Married Young trailer, and talk more about it in my next post. Any questions, please ask them in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.
Every lens has a personality and a usage. Certain lenses are good for close-ups, certain lenses are dynamic for emotional moments and certain lenses work for action. I have even had an Executive Producer who encouraged me to use the “funny” lenses – in his world, anything that was a short/wide lens was built for […]
At the core of Western Narrative Filmmaking is an unspoken contract that filmmakers make with the audience. It is called “A Willing Suspension of Disbelief.” What that means, is that I, as a filmmaker, am going to do everything possible to make the image look natural. I will do everything possible to create and further […]
Once again, the first hints of Spring in the air, the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International show, WPPI 2016, beckons me to Las Vegas. This conference is one of my annual favorites. I love the focus on up close and personal education, the intimate setting of the MGM Grand Ballroom & Conference Center, and having […]
Are you an Artist? Are you familiar with American photographer Roger Ballen or his work? If not, you should be. Do you think before you shoot? This and 7 thoughts from world-renowned artist Roger Ballen on what the differences are between the way an artist sees life and the ways many photographers view the world. These […]
The Dillon Markey story: In 1989, Nintendo released the Power Glove for its Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2015, Dillon Markey modified a Nintendo Power Glove, turning this humble Nintendo relic of a bygone generation into the most awesome stop motion animation tool ever made. Dillon Markey is an animator for Robot Chicken and PES, among other […]
Life in Western Mongolia is an adventure. Training eagles to hunt, herding yaks, and racing camels are just a few of the daily activities of the nomadic Kazakh people. Global nomad filmmaker, Director, DP, and editor Brandon Li spent a few weeks living with the nomadic Kazakh people. To really understand a culture and people well […]
When it comes to a subject as complex as choosing what particular set of expensive video lenses to use, nothing substitutes for actual hands on experience. The experience a Professional like Jem Schofield has acquired over his many years of using the various lenses and lens combinations, gives Jem a level of understanding few of us will ever […]
In my last installment, we completed the color work grading our movie. Unfortunately, as I have learned the hard way, nothing in life is free. It is not that Paul or Mark or Michael were anything but the kindest, most generous people – they are. The issue is that at that point no film had […]
Sony today unveiled their latest “consumer” level camera, the a6300. Although the distinction between consumer level and Pro level are getting harder and harder to tell. The successor to the already excellent Sony a6000 brings almost all of the high end video features of the latest a7 series Sony cameras, and places them into this consumer level APS-C sensor […]
(G Master Lens Discussion starts at 4:10 in the above video, after the discussion about the exciting new a6300) G Master. Now there is a name that instills confidence. And rightly so from a look at the specs of the new lineup of Professional highest quality glass for the Sony E mount. Apparently, Sony has […]