Workshop Details

Portofino Coast and Cinque Terre - September 23-28, 2012

Experience six truly beautiful days on the Mediterranean, exploring the coastal towns of the Northern Italian Riviera. Headquarter in charming Camogli, a fishing village with lots to photograph and a terrific 4 star seaside hotel. Here you’ll rarely find english speaking tourists, and you’ll be immersed in local flavor.

Visit the famous Cinque Terre, five colorful villages that cling to the cliffs, connected only by train and hiking trails. Photograph the the ideal port town of Portofino, and boat to the quiet monastery of San Fruttuoso. How about a little swimming in the crystal blue water if the weather is warm?

The seaside location offers super-fresh seafood and the regional specialties, pesto and focaccia that might be remembered as much as the scenery.

Workshop Package Includes

• 5 nights in 4 star accommodations
• breakfasts
• 3 dinners
• All transportation during the workshop
• $1,500 airfare credit supplied by pictureline.com

For more information on the workshop, including class format and daily schedule, please visit the workshop page on italyworkshops.com

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

STEP 1: Like pictureline on facebookVisit facebook.com/pictureline and click on the “Italy Workshop Giveaway!” tab under our profile photo. if you aren’t a fan already you’ll have to “Like” pictureline to gain access to the contest.

STEP 2: Enter the drawingFill out the contest entry form with your name, email address, and which of our mailing lists you would like to subscribe to (optional).All email lists can be unsubscribed from at any time.

STEP 3: Share for extra entries! Better your odds!After you enter the drawing, you will be able to share this giveaway with others. Each of your friends that enters the drawing because of you will automatically give you an extra entry!* You can return to our contest page at any time to check on how many referrals you’ve gotten.*There are no limits to the amount of extra entries you can receive.

STEP 4: Reward & bonus prizes!Once you’ve gotten 10 of your friends to enter the contest, return to our contest page and you will be able to “UNLOCK” a special reward, as well as our bonus prize drawing for 1 of our 3 great bonus prizes.

STEP 5: Win!On June 13th we will be selecting our winners by random drawing. After selection we will be contacting our workshop winner on, and the winners of our bonus prizes as well, to let you know you’ve won. We will also announce our winners on our facebook wall, so be sure to check our wall and your email inbox on  to see if you’ve won! Announcement will be held at 11:00am MST on June 14th.

Go yourself or send a loved one!The winner is allowed to transfer the workshop package to a friend or loved one if they cannot make it themselves, or if they wish to give it as a gift.

visit facebook.com/pictureline to enter

Contest ends June 13, 2012. No purchase necessary. Workshop dates are September 23-28, 2012 and are non-transferable. A purchase will not increase a contestants chance of winning. U.S.A. and Canada only. Contestants must be at least 18 years of age to enter. pictureline will not verify receipt of entries. Incomplete entries are void. pictureline is not responsible for entries that are lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, incomprehensible, illegible, damaged, undeliverable or delayed. We reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event that the original promised prize becomes unavailable. Grand prize valued at $4150.00, bonus prizes range from $100-$900. The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries. Unless otherwise noted, all contests and giveaway prizes are awarded via random drawing. Winners automatically grant the use of their name and likeness in the promotion of this and other pictureline contests. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. If a resident of Canada is selected as a winner, they will be required to correctly answer, without assistance of any kind, whether mechanical or otherwise, a timed, mathematical skill-testing question, to be administered by pictureline inc. either by mail, telephone, e-mail, or fax (at its sole discretion) before the awarding of the prize.

THE ETHICS OF LIMITED EDITIONS by Guy Tal

Photographer Guy Tal

Guy Tal:  “Some time ago, I referred to photography as a field “fraught with cognitive dissonance.” One such example, in my mind, is the strange practice of limiting print editions. Try as I might, I cannot reconcile the notion of edition limits with what to me are some of the most compelling and advantageous reasons to pursue photography as art, or art via photography.

In this post I’d like not only to articulate my thoughts on this touchy topic, but also to solicit opinions from readers on the practice.”

Motivation

“When asked about the reasons for limiting editions, the responses invariably have to do with marketing — the notion that scarcity increases value, that gallery curators insist on it, and that doing so appeals to collectors. All true, but I have to wonder why so many artists who hold themselves ethical in every other respect never question the morality of what is essentially a marketing ploy having little to do with quality, creativity, beauty, or so many other reasons many of us do what we do.

Photograph by Guy Tal

My views on the practice of marketing are no big secret. I engage in it reluctantly and only to the extent I have to as a professional artist who needs to generate income from my work. I could never understand why so many proudly self-apply terms such as “marketing consultant,” “social media advisor,” “SEO expert,” etc., in addition to just being artists, photographers, or other professionals. After all, marketing is really the practice of exploiting some of the least flattering traits of the human psyche.

There’s no argument that limiting editions works to inflate the value of a print. The topic many may be embarrassed to acknowledge is why it works. If two prints are identical in every respect other than edition limits, what accounts for the difference in value?”

The Medium and the Message

“Marshall McLuhan famously said that “the medium is the message,” indicating a binding relationship between content and the media used to deliver it. Photographers are usually quite emphatic about the unique characteristics of their medium: speed, accuracy, realism, etc. If one indeed takes pride in their chosen medium, why ignore one of its most distinctive (and, in my opinion, advantageous) qualities: the ability to produce multiple prints of identical quality?

And, if the medium is the message, what do such mixed messages say about the medium and about the artist? When your message is “yes, I can make enough for everyone, but I choose not to so only a small elite can afford to possess them,” how can I then claim that my goal is to inspire, to share, to make accessible, to celebrate, and other noble causes often associated with photography of natural things?”

Photography by Guy Tal

Real vs. Manufactured Scarcity

“On a recent discussion about this topic, I mentioned that photographers such as Edward Weston and Ansel Adams did not limit their print editions, yet their prints sell well and are much sought after. In response, a friend quoted a gallery owner who said “well, there is only one Ansel Adams.” To me, that is perhaps the best argument against edition limits. Of course there is only one Ansel Adams, just like there is only one of each of us. The reason an Adams or Weston print sells well is not the arbitrary and artificial limits deliberately placed on their editions; rather, it is the fact that their availability is limited because they are no longer around to make more of it. There are few of them, not because the artist chose to impose a limit, but because they really are rare.

From an ethical perspective, should artificial scarcity be considered the same as real scarcity? This doesn’t hold in many other situations, and for very logical reasons. When a manufacturer chooses to limit supplies in order to boost profits, we complain about price gouging and other derogatory terms. Can we then turn around and apply the same practice in our own work just because “everyone does it”?

What’s in a Number?

“A quick perusal of photographers’ web offerings reveals edition limits ranging up to the hundreds, and sometimes more. In my admittedly unscientific estimate, only a fraction of a percent of such “limited” editions ever even come close to selling their editions. When a photographer offers a “limited edition of 500,” it almost always means the same as saying “limited to the number I can sell.” Some buyers may be vain, but they are not stupid. They know good art and they know good investments.

If you are honest about wanting to limit your print editions, why not set a true limit?”

Accessibility vs. Exclusivity

“As many of you know, I do not believe in the greater social value of limiting editions. To me, such practices are incompatible with the social value of art. The history of art recounts many stories of artists rebelling against the co-opting of art by the wealthy and powerful. And for good reason. In an enlightened and equitable society, art should never be the exclusive privilege of the few.

Perhaps another way to look at it is that all prints made by me and signed by me are of a limited edition, by virtue of my own mortality. The only difference is that I can’t tell you the edition size in advance.

Art should be accessible and available to anyone who may benefit from it. Choosing the life of an artist is a noble path, not a guaranteed path to riches. Artists survive by what is good and honorable about humanity: generosity, sharing, gratitude. We rely on our patrons to pay us not because we are cutthroat businesspeople, but because our work serves to enrich and elevate their lives, bring solace in difficult times, open hearts and minds to those things in life that are beautiful, hopeful, and meaningful, beyond the cynicism and violence and unfairness that characterize so much else.

Let our work be accessible. Let us not use the same tactics in our business as those who perpetrate price bubbles and economic collapses. We are better than that; our work is better than that; our reasons for making art are more honorable than that. How can we ethically justify limiting it?”

Stay connected with Guy: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+

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Lightning Over Sonoran Desert by Jack Dykinga

Jack:  “My goal was to record an intense summer ‘monsoon’ storm in the Sonoran Desert near my home in Tucson.  Easier said than done. Storms are fickle in both direction and intensity. After several unsuccessful attempts, a massive storm rolled in from the Southeast, and I felt my luck had changed. I fired up my truck and ran straight toward the dark grey clouds.  My problem was, that in order to get the lightning image I wanted, I had to drive through the storm, set up my camera, and let the storm come to me. The sun was setting as the rain began in ernest with the flashes of lightning marking the storm’s direction.  I set up quickly using the “Lightning Trigger” to capture several flashes with the multiple exposure function on my Nikon D3x.  Rain pelted the camera and between flashes I swabbed the lens to keep rain drops from the front element.

It ended as quickly as it began. Only one image had the lightning flash behind the saguaro cactus. I finally caught my storm.”

JACK’S EQUIPMENT FOR THE SHOT

Camera: Nikon D3x
Other: Really Right Stuff tripod, ballhead

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Photographer and Cinematographer David McLain

David McLain (www.davidmclain.com) sharpened his skills the old-fashioned way shooting feature-length assignments around the world for National Geographic Magazine.  While the stories varied greatly, the mandate was always the same: create timeless images for a client with the highest visual standards on earth. More recently, he has become absorbed with cinematography and is actively adapting his eye and skill-set toward shooting motion. Together with colorist and post production expert Jerome Thelia he co-founded Merge, a boutique production company.  Business is booming and after finishing a major global campaign for Sony, Merge just received full funding to shoot a feature-length documentary based on the forthcoming book by Harvard anthropologist John Fox entitled, “The Ball:  Discovering the Object of the Game.”  

Pictureline:  David, thanks for talking with us.  Will you tell us about your expansion into moving images from a long career of doing spectacular editorial work at National Geographic?  When did this occur and what has been your method of embracing and learning motion?

David McLain: I got into “new media” with Jose Azel at Aurora Photos almost 15 years ago.  Ever since then, I’ve been exploring new ways to use my skills as a visual storyteller with new tools and technology as they arise.  In this sense, the move to cinematography was very organic.  I’ve been doing it for a long time now and have enjoyed the learning process which I think is a lot harder than still shooters realize.  Some of the skills of being a still photographer crossover into motion (composition and the ability to see and use light for example), but a lot of them don’t (understanding sound, thinking in sequences rather than single moments, post production, and editing).

Pictureline:  When did you decide that you needed someone to handle post-production and how did that partnership with Jerome Thelia develop to create your production company Merge?

David McLain: From day one.  I learned early on that filmmaking is more about collaboration than the “lone wolf photographer” thing.  Every time I shoot motion, it is in collaboration with Jerome.  He has taught me a ton over the years.  Jerome and I have been working together for over a decade.   We met in Australia.  It was kind of weird because even though his background was in motion, he loved the still image.  My backgropund was in stills, but I was really interested in motion.  We were a great match this way and Merge, at its core, is really about combining the best of both of these traditions.

Pictureline:  When someone takes on a full-length documentary, it’s no joke.  You need to be committed to the idea for a long-term relationship with it.  Tell us about your documentary “The Ball:  Discovering the Object of the Game.”  How did you discover John Fox’s book, decide that it was your project, and find funding for it?

David McLain: No joke is right.  The amount of work that goes into making a feature-length documentary is humbling.  John is a colleague and an old friend.  Jerome and I read his manuscript last year and thought it would make an amazing film.   Merge put in about one-third of the budget, and we found an amazing and very enlightened investor to put in the rest.   Sounds easy but about two months of non-stop work from both Jerome and I went into those last two sentences.  We are working under a self-imposed deadline that is really tight.  We WILL be done by the end of this year.  Documentaries can drag on forever, and we’re too old to fall victim to that age-old trap.

Pictureline:  Tell us about a few scenes in this wonderful trailer for those who are enjoying their HDSLRs.  What is the basic technique for creating slow motion, such as the scenes of the men waiting for the ball?  In addition, you are moving through some trees, I assume with a handheld stabilizer for smoothness?

David McLain: All of that footage is 5k and was shot at 96fps which can’t be done with a DSLR right now.  That’s what gives it the slow motion effect.  The images where the camera floats or moves were shot with a Zephyr Steadycam which is about a $15,000 piece of equipment that takes a lot of practice to use.

A still from the documentary "The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game"

Pictureline:  What does your equipment list look like for this project?  How have you decided to capture sound for the documentary?

David McLain: It’s pretty serious cinematography gear designed to shoot high-end motion pictures.  It really shares little in common with DSLR’s.  Basically, we’re shooting everything with a 5k Epic camera, Zeiss glass , a Zephyr Steadycam, and Sennheiser mics.  We’re in the field with about 150K worth of gear and have about another 200K of hardware and software for post production.

Pictureline:  Tell us about your main inspirations on a daily basis.  Do you follow other photographers’ or directors’ work in stills or in motion?

David McLain: I’m a big Neil Young fan, and I read a long time ago that Neil does not listen to that much music.  It’s completely counterintuitive, but it makes sense to me.  I’m a voracious reader of the New Yorker, New York Times, and books.  In my opinion, ideas have always been the most important currency in photography.  I think nowadays, this is more true than ever.  So I guess my visual inspiration and ideas come from looking at words rather than pictures.  The exception to this is National Geographic.

Pictureline: Thank you so much for this, truly.  There are so many things to learn, and your project is very inspiring.  We can’t wait for it to come out.

Stay connected with David:  Website  | Aurora Photos | Merge on Vimeo | The Ball:  Discovering the Object of the Game

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Leica M Monochrom

• Newly developed monochrome CCD sensor with a native resolution of 18 million pixels
• 100% sharper imaging thanks to direct processing of raw data with no interpolation
• Extremely low, fine-grain image noise up to ISO 10,000
• Raw data histogram and parameter clipping warning
• Various tones programmable
• Top cover and bottom plate in black chrome finish
• New leatherette body covering
• All-cowhide carrying strap
• Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software supplied in addition to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
• Exclusive access to the Leica Monochrom Print Service in cooperation with Whitewall
• Original fiber barite print of a Magnum photo from the Leica M Monochrom campaign by J.A. Sobol supplied

Pricing and Availability:
The Leica M Monochrom will be available in August 2012 at an estimated price of $7,950


Leica V-LUX 40

• Leica DC-Vario-Elmar 4.3 – 86 mm / f 3.3 – 6.4 ASPH ( 24 – 480 mm equivalent) zoom lens
• Newly developed 14.1 MP 1 / 2.23“ CMOS sensor
• Simple and intuitive handling, plus manual setting options for more ambitious users
• Fast burst shooting and 3-D photo feature
• 3“ touch screen display with a resolution of 460, 000 pixels
• 1080 p-AVCHD full HD video and internet friendly MP4 storage format
• GPS module for the registration of geographical data for the location of every shot including detailed maps on separate DVD
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10 – the software package for image an video processing, archiving and display.

Pricing and Availability:
The Leica V-LUX will be available mid-May 2012 at an estimated price of $699


Leica X2

• Newly developed APS-C CMOS Sensor with an effective resolution of 16.1 MP
• Leica Elmarit 1;2.8/24 mm ASPH (35 mm equivalent: 35 mm)
• Simple operation and manual adjustment possibilities
• High quality materials
• Connection for high resolution electronic viewfinder for new photographic perspectives
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, the comprehensive solution for modern digital photography
• Made in Germany

Pricing and Availability:
The Leica X2 will be available Late-May 2012 at an estimated price of $1,995

Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm/f2 ASPH lens

• High speed standard lens delivering outstanding imaging performance
• Supremely soft rendering of blurred image areas (Bokeh)
• Integrated lens hood, extendable by rotating
• Product package includes milled brass lens front cap
• Exclusive presentation packaging box

Pricing and Availability:
The Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm/f2 ASPH lens will be available in August 2012 at an estimated price of $7,195


Leica S-Adapter H

• The Leica S-Adapter H will allow the Hasselblad H-lenses the following functions:
• Autofocus and manual focusing with focus indication
• Automatic diaphragm
• Central shutter upto 1/750s

The Leica S-Adapter H supports the following H-system lenses:

• HCD4/28mm
• HC3.5/35mm
• HC3.5/50mmII
• HC2.8/80mm
• HC2.2/100mm
• HCmacro4/120mmII
• HC3.2/150mm
• HC4/210mm
• HC4.5/300mm
• HCD4-5.6/35–90mm
• HC3.5-4.5/50–110mm

Pricing and Availability:
The Leica S-Adapter H will be available late-May 2012 at an estimated price of $1,950

Blaine Deutsch, Studio Director/Producer for Corey Rich Productions, on the boom

Think the best job in the world is being a professional photographer?  You may be right.  Most don’t realize, however, the time and energy combined with creative motivation that it takes to work to the top.  Commercial and editorial photographers (and now videographers) need a crew of individuals who are just as dedicated and skillful at their crafts to make the photographer succeed.  When a position for a studio director/producer opened up at the Corey Rich Productions office (www.coreyrich.com), we jumped at the chance to ask Blaine Deutsch, who recently took a faculty position in printmaking, to explain just what the job entailed, and as he says, “The Job is Available.”

BLAINE:  “I have spent over 2,000 days working as the Studio Director and Producer for Corey Rich Productions. This has provided over 2,000 different answers to the question, “What does your typical day look like?’ Each day may start with coffee and end with a beer after a bike ride, but for everything in between, there is nothing typical. On a given day, I may be called on to be some combination of the following: estimator, contract negotiator, politician, prop master, travel agent, baggage handler, stylist, location scout, caterer, animal wrangler and meteorologist. I may be applying for a Chinese visa one minute and booking helicopter time in Argentina the next. Ultimately, I need to make certain that all the details, large and small, are in place.

THE STATS ON THE MAKING OF NIKON’S “WHY” 

Behind-The-Scenes shot at Corey Rich Productions from the viewpoint of Blaine Deutsch

It’s unrealistic to think that any one person can enter into any given project with the needed experience for all potential contingencies. Many skills translate well from one task to the next, but the best asset above all, is to be adaptable, stay alert, and think on the fly. Our recent project “WHY,” shot for Nikon to launch the D4, was the surest test of this approach. Only the ability to perform under pressure and a sense of adventure will get you safely and successfully through stats like this:

11 crew members, 3 professional athletes, 2 countries, 3 states, 2 federal permits, 1 National Park, 13 days of travel and shooting, 2 hours of sleep per night, 3 days spent in Mexico (trying to remember the Spanish I learned in high school), 9 flights, 3 TSA pat downs, 22 cases of gear, 6093 miles flown, 6 airports, 8 lost bags, 5 rental cars, 4704 miles driven, 6 cases of Clif Bars, 4 cases of RedBull, 2 trips to the Emergency Room, 1 Helicopter crash, 1 Birthday, 1 Anniversary, 1 Thanksgiving dinner, 3 Police cars, 0 speeding tickets, 3 prototype cameras, 21,342 still frames, 1.5 TB of footage, 19 hours of audio

In the end, all the hard work pays off when the final and most important stat is realized – Over 1.5 million views online. Check out the link below for a look behind the scenes to see how the production played out.

Given the rare opportunity that there is a gap between productions, there is still plenty to do. I take advantage of these times to catch up on my responsibilities as Studio Director. This could be a full time job unto itself, managing a team, archiving over 300,000 still frames a year, thinking about marketing and looking for the next great project. After reading the above, most people are very thankful for the “normal” pace of their daily routine. I know that a rare few have read this and thought, “I want to be a part of that.” If you fall into this second category, you’re in luck. This job is available. After many great years working side by side with Corey, it’s time to move on. This was a tough decision to make. This was the best job I’ve ever had, working with the most amazing group of people imaginable.”

IS THIS JOB FOR YOU? PRODUCER/STUDIO DIRECTOR AT COREY RICH PRODUCTIONS

“Looking for a passionate, hard working, extremely organized team player to be part of a small but very busy and successful photo/video studio in beautiful South Lake Tahoe, CA. This position often demands long hours in a fast paced environment to meet deadlines, yet is very rewarding. The company mantra is ” work hard – play hard”. We make frequent use of the kegerator in the office and hold meetings on the back deck overlooking an evergreen forest, from the seats of our mountain bikes or on chairlifts, depending on the season. Come with a desire to live in the mountains and work damn hard!

Corey Rich Productions from the viewpoint of studio director/producer Blaine Deutsch

Primary role of this position is to see shoots through from start to finish – engage with client in early dialogue, estimate fees and expenses, coordinate all scheduling and logistics, oversee crew, manage post production & delivery of final products and all associated billing. Additional responsibilities include the management of internal staff and freelancers, communication with clients and artist’s representative, collaboration with the team on marketing strategy and management of the day to day operations in the studio. Required experience: Still and/or video production, client management & communication, marketing/brand development, and office administration. Knowledge of action sports/outdoor adventure and familiarity with Apple systems are a major plus. Position requires occasional travel. Salary is dependent upon experience. Visit http://www.coreyrich.com/ and http://news.coreyrich.com/ to see some of our work and learn a bit more about the studio. Please send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you’re the right person for this position to info@coreyrich.com. No phone calls please.”

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THE DROP ON DROP TECHNIQUE

“The basic “drop on drop” technique works with two drops. The first drop falls into the water and forms a crater, then a crown, and finally a column. The second drop must be timed so that it lands on the column.  The collision then forms the varying shapes such as mushrooms, hats, or flying discs. When the distance between the first and the second drop is prolonged, the shapes can change even further.  When the distance is shortened, the shapes turn more into hat-like structures. At a rate of ten drops per second, mushroom shapes are common.  At fifteen drops per second, flying shapes form, and with six drops per second, the hat-like shapes appear.  To get smooth shapes with fewer water droplets around them, i increase the viscosity with guar gum.  It´s more work to mix the water and filter the grain out, but the results are worth the extra work.

Photography by Markus Reugels

STARTING OUT

“A few tips will help you get started making excellent water droplet images. You can start with a simple bag with a small hole, a tripod, and a remote trigger.  The best way to light the droplets is through an external flash which can be regulated manually. You must set the power of the flash lower than 1/16 to get sharp pictures. With such settings, the flash duration is higher than 1/16,000. This is the reason why the shutter speed is less important in this situation.  The action in high speed photography is frozen by the light and not by the shutter. A good hint is to catch the falling drops into a cup and release the drops into the tray by moving the cup out of the way. This way, you have a calm water surface, and you can control the timing of the shutter release better than just relying on luck.

NEW TECHNIQUE – DOUBLE PILLARS

“I have found a way to produce extra large splashes.  They are very popular, and many water droplet photographers worldwide produce them.  I have discovered a new technique with the drops, which I call the “Double Pillar.”  On top of two pillars, I place a third drop to achieve a shape as well.

Photography by Markus Reugels

INCREASING VISCOSITY OF THE DROPS

“Normally, I thicken my water with guar gum to increase the viscosity (thickness). I want a similar viscosity to milk or cream. This helps to make smoother shapes, and they hold longer together before they collapse. Sometimes, I use only milk, as I find this is the best fluid for the droplets. You can bring color into the water droplet pictures without coloring the water. With milk you can bring color into the splash with the light, so you must only use gels on the flashes.  Check out a light setup here.

Photography by Markus Reugels

EQUIPMENT FOR SHOOTING DROPLETS

“I use a Sony alpha-700 with a Minolta 100 mm f/2.8 Macro lens. For flashes, I use only the old Vivitar 285 with a little modification.  I set the power lower than 1/16. As timing device, I use a homemade device called “GlimpseCatcher.” [We have to give props to the people using or inventing their own devices.]  I usually use a small aperture such as f/16.  I find this is the best compromise between sharpness and diffraction blur. The shutter speed is not important in high-speed photography, as the action is frozen by the light from the flashes. The flashes have a flash duration fasten than 1/16,000 at low power settings. No camera has a shutter faster than the light from the flashes. I usually choose 1/160th of a second for shutter speed. My ISO settings are usually between 160-320, depending on how dark the gels are that I am using or what type of lighting I am using for the shot.”

Stay connected to Markus: Website | Flickr | Facebook

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Photographer Kamil Tamiola

Born in Poland, but living and working in the Netherlands, Kamil Tamiola is a commercial adventure photographer specializing in photography and storytelling from remote locations. His main area of interest include alpine climbing and extreme outdoor sports. Aside of artistic curriculum, Kamil works as a doctoral researcher at University of Groningen. Kamil’s multimedia work is represented by America’s leading outdoor photo agency Aurora Photos. His photographic works are widely published in major outdoor magazines including National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Climber Magazine, Koktejl Everest Magazine, Urban Climber and many others. Kamil is a contributing writer for the major Polish Outdoor Magazine: GORY, as well as Seattle Backpacker Magazine.

Kamil Tamiloa: “Recently, I was given an assignment to take a photograph of Mont Blanc for the most prestigious and the oldest Dutch museum, Teylers, in Haarlem. My contractors were very specific, expressing a need for a photograph that could serve as a focal point for scientific exposition about the highest summit in the Alps and its early exploration. I was informed that the required print size was16 feet by 10 feet. Obviously, I devoted a great deal of time researching gear and possibly the most optimal location for taking the photograph.

PLANNING THE SHOT

“Rather than treating the assignment as a purely artistic endeavor, I decided to approach the photograph in a completely scientific and analytical way, considering numerous factors related to the gear, location, and weather conditions for the photograph of Mont Blanc.  The most important aspect to capture was the essence of Mont Blanc, its superiority in height and size with respect to the surrounding mountains. I surveyed numerous photographs of the Mont Blanc Massif, and it was clear that there was a small number of optimal locations that would allow for this type of composition. Only by photographing Mont Blanc in the context of the nearby town of Chamonix with its prominent summits can one clearly demonstrate the enormity of Mont Blanc. With this in mind, I switched to Google Earth and performed several Field of View (FOV) calculations, trying to simulate a field of view from a 70 mm f/2.8 and a 200 mm f/2.8 lens (which are known to have a negligible barrel distortion at the long end). It become very clear that the most optimal location was situated at the end of the Chamonix Valley, next to a well-known skiing resort Argentiere. Furthermore, the optimal line of sight was predicted to be at approximately 10500 feet (3200m). After a quick map survey, combined with a study of helicopter aerials, I decided that the most optimal position to take the photograph was an exposed snow ridge line called Aiguille a Bochard, which is relatively easy to access.

Mont Blanc Project by Kamil Tamiola

TAKING THE PHOTOGRAPH OF MONT BLANC

“On March 3rd, 2012, all forecasts were suggesting CAVOK (Celling And Visibility OK). The visibility was perfect, and the air temperature of -7C was making the air dry, yielding more than 20 miles of visibility. The conditions were perfect for shooting with a telephoto lens.  After a few hours of glacier traversing, my team and I arrived at the location. It took me five minutes to calibrate my GPS unit (a GARMIN Vista HCx) and mount it on a hot shoe of my Nikon D3s. I have registered the heading of each photograph as reported by the electromagnetic compass of my GPS unit, in order to use it in post-processing. For the final shoot, I used a Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8G and a Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8G VR II lens with B+W circular polarizers.  I always shot at the longest focal lengths of the lenses to minimize barrel distortion. All of the photographs were taken at ISO 200 with the exposure bracketing set to 5 steps with 1/3 of a stop increments. I acquired approximately 34 GB of photographs, among which processing and further inspection yielded a final selection of eighty-five 14 megapixel HDR images.

COMBINING IN POST-PROCESSING

“Planning and acquisition of the photographs were only one part of the story. The difficult part was combining the photographs. To do that, I used an open source software Hugin, for which I wrote my own extensions for pattern matching, geometrical distortion correction, and exposure compensation. I relied heavily on statistical methods which I have developed for my PhD dissertation, which won several awards in the scientific community and were published in the Journal of American Chemical Society. I used Singular Value Decomposition heavily, a method which allowed me to capture the essence of a photograph with few numbers and which is heavily used in pattern detection, weather forecast modeling, and medical CT scanning. The final processing required a 12 CPU micro-supercomputer with 32GB of RAM memory. The photograph is available in a 4 x compressed form (bandwidth limitation) at my photo portfolio under the following link http://www.alpine-photography.com/mt-blanc/. The file does have 1.4 gigapixel resolution and consumes 7.44 GB of disk space as a Photoshop Large Format document.  The massive photograph is also available as wallpaper.

Kamil Tamiola in post-processing

FUTURE OF THE MASSIF PROJECT

“At this point, I have sent the final image of Mont Blanc to my contractor, Teylers Museum, and it is now being prepared for a large format print. I can’t wait to see it. Obviously, a project of this type and scale attracts attention. I decided to contact Discovery Channel International and suggest a documentary program about the making of this visual. I am very happy to announce I am right now putting together a script and a budget plan for a documentary for Discovery Channel and if everything goes according to the plan, we should start shooting the footage in Chamonix very soon about the project.

“My intention is to show, how cutting edge science, which is normally believed to be a domain of a very specific group of people, can greatly benefit the art, and in this case, photography. We are surrounded by software and hardware solutions, which come from completely different backgrounds. Yet, many of these fancy devices have found their applications in photography. My goal is to encourage people to learn more about the fundamental knowledge behind photographic devices and techniques, so they ccan push their creativity even further!”

Stay connected to Kamil:  Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+

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MARC MUENCH (Landscape Photography)

“I did not notice the light leak in either of the two bodies of the Canon 5D Mark III that I used over the past two weeks in Alaska. However, since I was not using it often in low light, this may not have been an issue. I will be testing more soon. I did notice that the Nikon D800 liveview was extremely grainy especially in low light and was probably a tad green too. What was interesting is how the grain made it easier to focus in very low light!  I’m not sure that was their intention, but it worked for me.” Website

JASMINE STAR (Wedding and Portraits Photography)

“I love the Canon 5D Mark III…I know there’s been rumored issues of light leak, but I haven’t experienced it, and i hope i never do! But the new focusing system?!  UNREAL.  I almost died from how happy it made me, but then I revived because I wanted to shoot some more!” Website

Portrait in Dubai by Michael Clark on the Nikon D800

COREY RICH (Outdoor Adventure Photography)

“We are enjoying our new Nikon D800′s and can honestly say that we haven’t had any problems with a “green tint” on our LCDs.” Website

MICHAEL CLARK (Outdoor Adventure Photography)

“I have been shooting with both the new Nikon D4 and D800 and I have not experienced any of the problems reported on the web. I have been completely blown away by the color fidelity of both cameras. With the Nikon D4, the lack of high ISO noise is astounding, especially with the resolution bump and I also love the 10 fps framing rate for shooting adventure sports. With the Nikon D800, the 36 MP resolution is astounding. I have shot with the Hasselblad H4D (and was even considering buying an H4D system late last year) and the D800 has very similar image quality in a much easier to handle camera format – and with a much faster framing rate as well. Needless to say, I won’t be buying the H4D because I have all that I need and more in the Nikon D800. The 36 MP resolution of the D800 is something I never knew I needed or would have wanted, but not that I have used it quite a bit (on a recent shoot in Dubai) I can’t imagine not shooting with it. Also, in my testing the 1080p HD video quality is better than any other DSLR on the market. All in all, Nikon has two phenomenal cameras they have just released. As a result, I have sold all of my old Nikon cameras because the new ones are just that much better.” Website

DAVE BLACK (Commercial Photography, Flash Photography)

“I am currently using the NEW Nikon D800 and will have some examples in my presentation at Picturline in Salt Lake City on May 24th. I’m currently using the NEW Nikon D800 and find the detail of the files to be fantastic. This camera will be used primarily for my projects where my Elinchrom strobes or Nikon Speedlights are used, and also for my Lightpaintings. In the short time I have had been using the D800 I have learned that keeping the Sharpen level in the camera’s Picture Control setting at the default setting, or even one “click” higher is important to maintaining the image sharpness with this camera’s morie’ filter. I see a future of beautiful and extremely detailed images being added to my portfolio with the NEW Nikon D800.” Website

Have you had issues on your Nikon D800 or Canon 5D Mark III?  Let us know the good and the bad in the comments below.

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International Wedding Photographer Jasmine Star

Jasmine Star is an Orange County, California-based wedding photographer who travels the world to capture the big day of so many clients.  Voted one of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers by American Photo Magazine, Jasmine’s work has been included in magazines such as Comsopolitan, Professional Photographer, TheKnot, Inside Weddings, Santa Barbara, and Rangefinder.  She took a few minutes to share with Pictureline why her photography and approach to the wedding has garnered so much attention.  We found her attitude and personality as lively as her website.  For those who are breaking into the wedding photography market, Jasmine is an excellent resource for style and business.

Pictureline: Tell us about your background.  I could see you successful in many different fields, not just photography.  How did you get into photography and develop yourself as a creative?

Jasmine Star:  “I was actually in law school, and I got a scholarship to go to UCLA here in Los Angeles.  At the end of my first year, my mom had a relapse of brain cancer.  At that time, she had battled cancer for five years, and her diagnosis was made when I was in college earning a degree in business administration.  It was just a really hard time in my life, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of law school but just thought that was what I was supposed to do.  I asked for a medical leave, promising to return the next year to finish off the semester.  They were gracious about my departure, and I really thought that I would return,  but my boyfriend of eight and a half years proposed.  It was a really bittersweet time in life because we really weren’t sure about my mother’s condition, and doctors had stopped giving her treatment.  It was during that time when I picked up a camera and started documenting life, and then planned a wedding in about six months so that my mom could be there with us.

The Knot Cover by Jasmine Star

“The wedding planning process was really cathartic for my mother and against all odds, she was able to walk me down the aisle with my father during my wedding ceremony.  It was a really great moment, and we had a really amazing wedding photographer who documented it all, and when we got home I was like, “That guy has the best job ever.”  He documented a miracle!  I loved that he was able to be passionate about what he did.  When it came time to go back to law school, I just thought, “I just don’t want to go back.”  My husband asked me, “If you could do anything you wanted for the rest of your life, what would it be?”  I said, “I think I want to be a wedding photographer.”  And that hit him completely out of left field because I didn’t even own a camera at that time and had no professional aspirations and no professional training. He said, “Ok, you have five years to go back to UCLA and reclaim your scholarships, so why don’t we try pursuing photography for a year?  I would rather see you fail at something you loved rather than succeed at something you hate.”  I booked my first wedding October 2006, and I booked 38 weddings in 2007, and things took off.  That was the start. (And by the way, my mother called me to the carpet.  With her being so ill, it forced me to reconcile what I desired and what I thought I was supposed to do.  She was 50 years old, and I was 25 years old.  Dealing with the notion that I wasn’t promised any certain years in my life, I really thought that I was having a mid-life crisis.  I thought, “If I die when I’m 50, do I want to die a lawyer? Do I want to die happy? What do I want to do?”  Having my mother be with me on the biggest day of life and then having her be one the biggest champions of the business is just really, really cool.  She will always have health complications, but she has far exceeded anyone’s expectations, which is very, very cool.)”

Pictureline:  You’re obviously very successful. What should wedding photographers be thinking about when deciding to take their photography to the next level?  And their businesses to the next level?

Jasmine Star:  ”Up to this point, most of the conversations I’ve had wtih photographers addressed leveraging a personal identity online.  This really helps separate the photographer in a saturated market, and if you are able to do this online, then the market is no longer limited to Chicago or Salt Lake City or Los Angeles.  It’s so much broader than that.  My clients–anyone’s clients for that matter–are around the world.  Before someone thinks about running a high end business, it’s important to go back to the basics, making sure that the photography is intact and that the business model is sound. Having said those two things, I would then go back to the foundation, making sure the photographer’s online store front is really representative of not just what they are producing, but also who is producing the work. We deal with clients who are very emotional, and they are making a big decision, but they are largely uneducated. We are trying to sell them an educated service for a largely uneducated audience.  In light of this, we need to make sure that we become the face of our business. We need to gain our clients’ trust, while simultaneously asking them for the permission to be artistic and have control. I think that’s beneficial in growing the business.”

Engagement Photography by Jasmine Star

Pictureline:  What are your thoughts on marketing for the wedding photographer?  What are the most important aspects to focus on for a wedding photographer’s marketing?

Jasmine Star:  ”I basically want to do two things with prospective clients:  I want to attract or I want to repel.  So many times I think photographers in general are really afraid at turning people off, and I believe it should be the complete antithesis.  I actually want to turn people off if necessary because if they don’t like me from the outset, I feel like I’m saving them time in helping them realize that I wasn’t perhaps the best fit for them to begin with.  In light of that, I put so much of myself into my website, adding in personal components and revealing myself as a person, not just a photographer.  Some photographers take issue with that. They think that it’s absolutely ridiculous that I talk about my dog and my obsession with chocolate on my website or on other social media.  I  think that’s fine.  The more people know about me, the more distinctive their opinion will be of me. The stronger this feeling is in a positive way, the more likely I will book that prospective client.  The complete opposite as well.  The more they don’t like, the more likely it is that they won’t contact me. That’s awesome!  It saves me time, and it saves them time.  It’s a win-win.”

Pictureline:  Tell us about your editorial work.  There is a recent article in PDN about wedding photographers branching out into other areas of photography.  Have you specifically gone after editorial work or have you been sought out for extensions on your wedding/portrait work?

Jasmine Star:  ”I specialize in wedding photography; however, I have a proclivity to editorial style shooting, so I shoot a wedding editorially.  I think that helps in regards to getting my work published in print and online media.  I love W Magazine, I love GQ, I love Vogue, and I love Vanity Fair.  I saw a lot of that fashion/editorial type posing and imagery, and I didn’t see that so much in the wedding world. Instead, I saw a lot of “Here’s the groom and bride by a brick wall and here’s the couple in a field holding hands” and that’s beautiful and that’s lovely, but I wanted to do something different.  Shake it up, merge both of the worlds.  Do I think it’s for everyone?  No, I do not. However, I think it’s a very good fit for my clients and my clients’ friends, which have become feeders for new clients. Definitely, this style has been in demand the past few years, and I’m very happy with it.

Professional Photographer Cover by Jasmine Star

Pictureline:  For someone of your status in your genre, your personality and positive attitude seem to come through the website, through your emails, and through your phone calls.  Have couples or editorial commercial clients commented on this?  I can imagine this is a very positive thing when someone is considering hiring you for a first, second, third time.

Jasmine Star:  ”I book 50% of my clients in person and 50% online.  This means that roughly half my clients are booking me “blindly.” After booking, I usually shoot an engagement session with most clients, and I get to spend about an hour and a half with them, we have a great time, and the situation is overall positive.  The bride is feeling great. The groom is looking good.  They have a great time.  And then they go and have champagne at dinner later on.  We really get to know each other then.  It is important that they have this confidence in me because everything is going to get emotional and sometimes tense on the wedding day.  For example, one of my last weddings, the bride was two hours late and the ceremony was slated to start on time.  She rushed in and was very apologetic, and I had only one option:  still be positive.  Sure, it could have been easy to become frustrated with the situation, but I knew if I remained in control and kept the bride happy, it’d do more good…both personally and professionally.  She called me after the wedding and said that she was sorry everything was out of control, but was so appreciative that she had someone there who was very positive and kept things going and was still able to keep the day beautiful in a way that she didn’t feel like she lost out on any photos. So do I think my clients notice my upbeat attitude?  Yes, I do, especially on the wedding day when things are emotional.  When the wedding planner wasn’t there, I felt the responsibility fell on me to keep everything going and keep people on time.   In these instances, I also try to manage expectations, saying, “OK, we were going to do this, this, and this, but now we should probably take a deep breath and a sip of champagne to ensure we’re still having a good time.”  I just stay upbeat and happy.

Pictureline:  OK.  We ask all the pros…Do you have a favorite camera and lens?

Jasmine Star:  I shoot with the Canon 5D Mark III, and I love it!  My favorite lens is a Canon 50 mm f/1.2. I shoot with that lens so much, and it’s truly defined my style.  Right behind it would be the 35 mm f/1.4.”

Jasmine Star:  Website | Facebook | Blog | Twitter

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