Poppaz's View

Don’t throw it Away

poppaz — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:05:16 +0000

I couldn’t sleep last night. So, I worked on another blog, decided to look at some old photos and came across these images from a day trip to China many years ago. I was not very good back then, and the slides showed it. And to make it worse when we first started scanning slides there was not a lot of info about how to do good scans, let alone to anticipate the need for larger files later. A couple years ago I would have just closed these files and put them away. But now with the advent of Adobe Lightroom and the use of some great WOW Presets I was not only able to restore colors but to also use it (LR) to see different renditions of the same files. While not advocating it as a replacement for creatively looking while shooting I do think it helps open your mind to new ideas. Now it’s time to get some shut eye……

more of my travel photography can be seen at: www.zwink.com and wwww.bigstudioz.com

Do you Shoot Food?

poppaz — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:40:11 +0000

I market myself primarily as an architectural photographer. It’s hard. Experts say to have people take you serious and pay decent money you have to be a specialist. So do you? I was trained and worked my early career as a photojournalist. A good photojournalist is good at shooting a lot of subjects and an expert generally at none. So what do you do? I don’t want to be tied into just one thing so I do niche marketing. Most of my work is photographing properties, new construction and aerials of those projects. To those clients I market myself for my architectural work. To a few others I’m known for my environmental portraiture. I market them differently. You get the picture. In this economy you need to diversify within your business and marketing. But to each your a specialist they need. btw, yes I do shoot food……

The image: Taken with a Nikon D3 and a 80-200. Processed in Adobe Lightroom.

The Food: Bully’s East, Mission Valley, San Diego, Ca. Great place. Yes, we enjoyed some of it when we were done . The benefit of being a food photographer.

My Marketing: www.zwink.com , my other diversified work, www.bigstudioz.com

Not so quick Fix

poppaz — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:38:16 +0000

Being a smart shooter is knowing when to ask for help. I was recently asked to photograph this interior at UCSD for the builder. The primary use was to enter in a competition. The big problem was that the location was not going to be finished until the following Thursday, with the deadline that Monday. Thursday would be too late. So after a fair amount of negotiating my assistant Abbey and I decided to remove the cardboard off the desktops in the whole auditorium. After a quick call to my retoucher, Holly of Spitting Images we decided to remove temporarily the plastic off three rows of the chairs. That would give Holly enough of a sample to clean up the image. Additionally we shot a section of paneling which she also layered on top of the black wood to complete the retouch portion of the project. I then lightened the top projection screen and wal la……. image done, ready to send to the client.

As a pro you need to be a problem solver. When someone say no as the project manager answered when we asked to clear all the plastic we came up with another solution. Develop and utilize your resources.

Techy stuff: camera: Nikon D3, lens 14-24, image processing in Lightroom 3, Photomatrix and Photoshop 5. Additional retouching by the wonderful Holly Nelson-Kramer.

More of my work…… www.zwink.com

THE MORE YOU KNOW……….

poppaz — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:47:34 +0000

………. THE MORE YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH MORE THERE IS TO KNOW

Striving for a high level of success in any profession is a quest of all passionate driven people. As you get better you start to separate yourself from the pack and the growth becomes part of the process. It becomes easier to learn as your experience and education builds. Knowledge becomes gold. The more you have, the richer you are.

BUT…. you eventually realize that even as you get better there is so much more to know. You may be good at what you do but you can get better. Once you accept this premise your growth will continue. No matter how good you are you will always be learning.

I’m pretty good at what I do. I feel I can compete with about 90% of the other architectural shooters out there. I want to be part of that other 10%. It will be hard as they are constantly improvising and improving, growing in their craft to make their work more amazing.

ABOUT THE PHOTOS: taken at an Asmp-SD underwater photography workshop in San Diego. Taught by local master diver and underwater photography expert Al Bruton. All images shot with a Nikon D70 camera in a Nexus underwater housing. Model: Rachel

More of my images are on: http://www.zwink.com

Cruising to recharge

poppaz — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:02:12 +0000

Patti and I have two different agendas when we go on a cruise. She loves to chill, dress up on Formal Night, try new culinary dishes, go to the shows and nap, nap, nap. I like to read books, go diving if we’re in the Caribbean and just spend time alone with Patti. But, and here come the photog in me, I like to take long walks around the ship while she’s napping and work on my vision.

We’ve been on a lot of cruises and I never get tired. I love the colors, design and the people. Each ship is it’s own unique subject and has a story to tell. It’s just my chance to share it. When I’m traveling I go for the boldness of the color and the shadows displays at different times of the day. It’s a time to play with new techniques or rarely used ones that are almost forgotten, that somehow are pretty interesting.

One key approach I’d suggest to someone that wants to make good images on a cruise ship is to slow down and look first. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the color and people engaged in all the shipboard activities. Stop, watch and see what really grabs your attention. Then start shooting. Be selective, you don’t need twenty shots of a the same subject.

And the most important thing…….. don’t neglect the person you came with.

The Techy Stuff: I only take one camera with me on cruises lately. This was a D7000 and the primary lenses I used were a 12-24 mm nikkor and a 80-200 2.8 nikkor lens. All images processed initially in Adobe Lightroom 3. This was our 10th trip on the Carnival Cruise Lines. The cruise was from Long Beach to Catalina to Ensenada, Mexico.

More of my work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com

When building your Brand do it Right

poppaz — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:27:31 +0000

I was recently hired to help create new images for Holland Cycles of Alpine, Ca. For Bill Holland, a master cycle builder, this was a big investment to make his mark on the cycling world with a new website presence. These titanium and carbon fiber bikes are not cheap. They are custom hand built to the specs of their future owner/rider at a cost of about $10 – 20K. My job was to show the beauty of the process and help create the perception of the artistry in the detail. The challenge became a great project to achieve our goals and enjoy the process of the studio shoot. Robert Bingham who made his impact on the internet, a former creative director and avid cycle rider himself was chosen to head the project. The decision was made to do most of the shooting in the studio showing the elegance of the craftsmanship, design and the quality of the materials artistically through the use of our lighting featuring multiple softboxes, grids on one “detail” light and reflectors to kick light back into the shadows.

Normally I do all my post production work but this time we brought in digital artist Holly Nelson-Kramer of Spitting Images to refine our main “beauty shots”. When you want it right, go to the experts. Bob and Bill were both pleased with the results and now Bill has a strong website presence to showcase the work they do. An investment in the photography will now benefit his business image.

Techy stuff: primarily shot with a Nikon D3 & D700 using a combination of 60 2.8 macro, 24 – 70 and 70 – 200 lenses. We use a mix of Profoto and Q flashes in the various softboxes. Images were initially processed through Adobe Lightroom 3 and then the beauty selects were enhanced by Holly. Holland’s Cycle website: http://www.hollandcycles.com/ For more or my work check out http://www.zwink.com

GOALS………

poppaz — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:09:02 +0000

Are you still scoring?

Well…… the first quarter of the year is over and it’s time. Time to do spring cleaning, pay quarterly taxes and review and finishing your yearly taxes. Missing anything? How about your NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS????

Did you make any resolutions for 2011? Do you remember them? Seriously. For once I actually decided to follow through on them. My office is getting cleaner, my marketing is exploding and I’ve made some great images for my current and new clients. All were part of my new goals for the year. Experts will tell you to write them down so you can refer to them and have a statement to be accountable for. Sort of like a yearly business plan. But it has to be fluid for those new opportunities.

Now if only I can loose weight……

Techy stuff: Archived images of the San Diego Sockers originally shot on 35mm film and scanned on an Epson flatbed scanner and adjusted in Photoshop5. More of my work can be seen at: www.zwink.com

It’s good to be an Aztec for Life

poppaz — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 03:26:05 +0000

SDSU Aztecs celebrate winning a share of the Mtn. West basketball league title.

Saturday night was a great night to be:

a SDSU student
a SDSU alumni
a long suffering Aztec fan
a member of the SDSU’s 29-2 basketball team
SDSU President Stephen Weber

More game and celebration photos can be seen at: http://zwinkftp.com/csusdsuhtml/ My website is: http://zwink.com

Take 5 and be Alive

poppaz — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:14:51 +0000

Take a five minute break each day and renew your vision and creativity. The only way you’ll get better is if you shoot. The more you shoot, the better you will get. The more you shoot the more your vision and creativity will evolve. Five minutes a day, that’s all you need. So you don’t carry your dslr everywhere everyday with you? Good.

Pull out your Iphone (At&t or Verizion, it doesn’t matter) and start searching. It doesn’t matter if your subject is a landscape, saturated color or a detail item, the important thing is you do the exercise. You can do it at home, on a walk or in the office. The beauty of the Iphone, or Blackberry, is that it’s basically a limited camera with minimal control. The main control becomes your eye. Learn to see with limited resources and watch your vision grow. Learn how to be good with this camera and then watch what happens when you pick up your “real” camera. Watch how you start looking at things different. You will change. Change is good. Have fun, turn your snapshots into art.

More of my work can be seen at www.zwink.com although there aren’t any Iphone photos on it. They will be on a Iphone gallery soon which I will share.

Mozart is still Alive

poppaz — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:19:32 +0000

: SDSU Cast of “A Walk in the Clouds”

When I was working part time at the San Diego edition of the L.A. Times I was introduced to the world of theater photography. I got to cover the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe to name a few. What a great time. I got to see world class performances by known and unknown actors while getting paid to cover their shows. Most shoots were done during dress rehearsals meaning I was allowed to move around the theater with silent impunity.

Nowadays I still get to work with the SDSU Theatre department and Stone Soup Theater. At SDSU it is a wonderful experience as I not only get to hone my low light craft but I get to watch the development of the future professional actors. It not only is a time to watch the character development but it allows you a chance to study the body language and emotional interactions that can be transferred to shooting portraiture and getting that little special extra into your work. After all good photography is just capturing the day to day live theater we live in.

techy stuff: D700 with a 28-70 lens. Shot ISO 1600 at f4.0. Postproduction in Photoshop 5.