She's a Dirty Dirty Girl "DSLR"

I love my camera and I know I am guilty of  babying it sometimes. But I do have a guilty pleasure of rolling around the floor and getting a little bit dirty just to get the shot or angle.

Most DSLR are built to last for all kinds of environments so you should limit your self from traveling or getting a amazing shot just because you are a little scared of getting dirty. 

Just go out have fun and shoot away. 

After all that fun make sure to keep it clean this is what I bought to make sure of it.

Working in unison

I had a great time shooting this music video where  I learned a lot about people. 

In particular them being accounted for to do their part before and after the video shoot...

For photographers and videographers the work doesn't end when we wrap up the shoot it really just begins. So everyone has to do their part to make sure that all the shots fall in to place in post. So everyone from the Grip hand, Editor, Talent, Cinematographer and even the gopher that gets us some of that amazing coffee that kept us awake... 

Everyone has a part and all parts are important so to come together and work in unison before and after Shooting a music video will insure that  the video comes out amazing.. 
Please check out the 

Music video below and tell me what you think

I want to thank Space between words, Daisy and Grace Paulus for coming together to make this video great...

and for you that been asking I shot this with a Canon 7D with a 50mm 1.4 at about 1600 ISO to be able to get the clean noise on the video

Links to the talents pages

Daisy :)

Dreamer of Nights

Space Between Words

The Holocaust Memorial

I would be driving around Miami Beach and I would always see the sculpture of a giant hand. I had lived in Miami my whole life but never took the time to see it.

One day I was short with ideas of what to photograph so I went to the location where I would always see the giant hand just for a few shots to add to my portfolio. The second I entered I realized what this please was. It was a Holocaust Memorial. Really not knowing the rules of shooting in a place like this I ask the security guard that was working at that time if it would be OK if I would take a few shots around the location. Very politely he said yes and handed me a brochure.

I have no words to describe how impress I was with this Memorial . I am not Jewish but you didn't have to be to feel how intense of a feeling I got from just being there and looking at the statures. The expression on the sculptures were amazing so life like. The pool around the memorial is so peaceful and beautiful, with flowers floating on the water. To conclude I would recommend this Memorial to anybody that needs to be inspired. I would like to take amazing photography.  But in reality I went it to this location for just a free good shots, But in stead I left with a lot more....

Location The Holocaust Memorial
 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139



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The Photographer In front of the Lens

Everyday I ask a model to stand in front of my lens.... I tell them to relax and to feel comfortable, but it is not as easy as it might seem to some. A few weeks a go I had the pleasure to be part of BrandNamePunk's Music Video... I was greeted by the Producer then Director as well as the other cast and crew. Who showed me a side of my business that I have never seen before. Where the tables were turned and I the photographer was now the Actor/Model the person in front for the lens....My part was small but I learned a lot from the crew and cast so I thank them from giving me that chance to see what the other side feels like.

Check out there Video
and there fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/BrandNamePunk

How to shoot Artistic Nudes.

By this, I don't mean making your model look like a porn star. Sometimes less is more. 

Lets get started.

 Knowing what you are looking for before you start shooting.

The photo above is of my good friend. What ended up happening with us is that we started taking photos and we quickly realized that we didn’t really have a clues when it came to posing for nudes.

("We both didn't want Hustler Magazine style posing")

The first few shots I took were quite bad and we quickly realized that we (or I) were not prepared. So we decided to take a break and I pulled out a few of my photography magazines and books where I knew there would be good examples of some poses that we could aim for. After a few secounds I found a shot that to me looked like it was made for her.  A shot of her setting with her back to the camera  where the focus being her back. I lit from the side to accentuate her curves. We saw this ‘classic’ nude shot in a couple of different books and thought it’d be a good place to start. Knowing what we wanted to achieve in this shot helped a lot. Taking nude shots is not as simple as grabbing a camera and getting naked.

 

Make the model Comfortable.

Warm up the room. Yes, its  a practical tip and perhaps an obvious one. Make sure the heating is on! I actually didn’t notice the coolness of the room (I had my clothes on after all and perhaps had a bit of adrenaline at the thought of messing up the shoot) but my friend certainly did. It’s hard to pose and look relaxed when you’re shivering!

 

And more importantly ...

Keep the mood relaxed and fun 

I had the advantage of the model being my friend and having my girlfriend there with me. However  even with those two advantages it was a somewhat never wracking experience for both of us. Being naked in front of another person and being that other person can be quite confronting. Although it can also be quite funny if you let it be. We took the ‘funny’ approach and spent a lot of the time giggling and joking around and I think it helped us move beyond the initial awkward stage. I also had a couple of sheets and blankets handy so that between shots my friend was able to coverup and keep warm. We also used them to keep her covered when we were taking some of the close up shots later on where they couldn’t be seen.


Over all the experience of photographing a naked person was one that was a great learning experience. And if its done right and with good taste you would be able to capture you model in a way that even her has never seen...

 

 Happy Shooting everyone :)

Hey, Just put the camera down!

I know it's weird coming from a photographer, But if you are feeling frustrated and you are not liking your photos. Then sometimes I think the best solution for a creativity block is to just put the camera down for a few days. Don’t force yourself to take photos just to do it. From my experience,  I started to question why I was even wanting to be a photographer. What I found was, that  I wasn’t taking pictures because I wanted to but because I felt I should. Once I took some time away and picked up my camera because I wanted to I went outside and just took pictures. I didn't think about what I was doing or what i was trying to get I just took the picture, and everything felt so much more natural and I started to get better photos. Just something to think about if you are having Photographer's Block.

Happy Shooting :)

The story Behind two Military Photos

Staff Sgt. Rulberto Qjendismiranda, 20, of Seaside, Calif, with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion 27th Infantry Regiment based in Hawaii, looks at a photo of his son Marziano, 11 months, on his mobile phone aboard a military transport flight Monday, July 11, out of Forward Operating Base Fenty in Kunar province, Afghanistan.-Photo by David Goldman / AP

I am not a man of the military, nor would I ever be able to compare my self to what these brave young men and women of the Military have seen and gone through. There's a lot to be said about this photo, but when I look at it. All I can wonder is how long it's been since Staff Sgt. Qjendismiranda has seen his son. Weeks, months, I don't know, But among everything around him. I can see a small proud grin on his face as he looks at his young son picture on his cell phone.

Everyone has seen this photo right?

V-J Day in Times Square is a photograph that portrays an American sailor kissing a young nurse in a white dress on V-J Day in Times Square on August 14, 1945. The Kiss that that celebrated the end of World War II. The image captured an epic moment in U.S. history and became an iconic photo marking the end of the war after being published in Life magazine.

Just some quick facts 

• The couple didn't even know each other at the time of the kiss. 
• The Sailor in the picture ran around randomly kissing any of the women on the street.
• The Photo was shot by Alfred Eisenstaedt A Times Magazine Photographer.
• Alfred shot 4 pictures of this famous couple kissing on the street, Only released one of them for Times.