Posts by: Tony

Why take a photography class?

0 Comments April 11, 2013||Education, General, Training

Congratulations, you’ve recently purchased a new Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera.  You look over the manual and realize you may be in over your head but at least it has a program mode for use as a point and shoot camera with which you’re familiar.  After a bit you begin to think that taking a photography class to learn how to use the new DSLR wouldn’t be a bad idea.

There are a number of reasons why someone would take a photography class and creating better pictures is the end result of all of them.  That new camera is just a tool that is used to create pictures but if you don’t know how to use that tool properly, your pictures won’t get better…in fact they may get worse.  So let’s discuss a few reasons to take a photography class.

Downtown Tampa, Fl. from University of Tampa park.

One is learning photography from someone who is in the business.  They can provide valuable feedback on the pictures you make so you can improve.  You can ask them generic or specific questions to aid in your understanding of photography, use of the equipment, and various techniques to capture images.  Essentially gaining knowledge from their experience and expertise.

Another reason to take a photography class is to learn about the tools you use to take pictures.  Why is it called a digital single lens reflex camera?  What kind of lens is used for shooting sports, portraits, landscapes?  What is the shutter, aperture, ISO or white balance and how are they used?  How to compose a shot that has that WOW factor people like to look at.  How do I hold this big camera?  Learning the basic science and techniques of photography can help you to take better pictures.

In a classroom or workshop environment there is the opportunity to learn from other classmates about how they made a particular photo.  If they use a technique that no one else is doing, or may be using one that you are having trouble with, they may be able to help.  Plus most discussions are open and can range far and wide from the material being presented.

Finally to have fun!  When you understand the basic principles of photography and composition and can use them without thinking, then you can expand and start breaking these principles to make new, interesting, and just plain fun images.  And you’ll have a lot more fun with your camera because you’ll be taking better pictures and having many more keepers!

“Introduction to DSLR Photography and Creating Better Photos” is a class designed for the new to almost intermediate use who has moved up to a DSLR camera.  At the completion of this class,  you’ll have a good grasp of the basic principles of photography and composition.  You’ll understand more about which lens to use to gain the effect you’re looking for in a picture.  And you’ll have a introductory knowledge of using workflow tools to find and manipulate the pictures you’ve taken.  So check out the class on the DSLR Photography Class page on this website and register soon.

An HDR Image for the Client

0 Comments November 30, 2012||Commercial, Product

I’m in the middle of a project for Electro-Optic US, a die-cutting manufacturing company based in Alpharetta, GA.  One piece of this project is to create a exterior image of the US headquarters of the company.  Sounds easy right?  Not necessarily so.  Creating an exterior image of a building takes more work than you may think.

The entrance to Electro-Optic US is on the north elevation and because the sun is so far south at this time of year, there would be very dark shadows on that side of the building.  No matter what time of day the shot would be taken, if the sun was above the horizon, the dynamic range of the image (that’s the difference between the brightest part of the image compared to the darkest part of the image) would be too large to correct in post-processing.  And since Markus, the president of Electro-Optic US, wanted the focus to be on the building and not any cars that may be in the parking lot, I created the images below when they were closed and during that 20-30 minutes between dawn and sunrise when daylight first appears early on a Saturday morning.

Creating an Image

I captured the five small images on the right side of the image above just after dawn using five different exposures to capture the brights of the lights, the darks of the shadows and everything in between. You can see them better by clicking on the image to enlarge it in your browser.  I then merged them together in software to create the High Dynamic Range (HDR) image in the lower right of frame.

This created a very workable image but there were things that needed to be fixed before I would call it a finished image, ready for delivery to the client.  For instance the dull sky needed to be replaced and distractions like the signpost removed, the brown grass made to look greener, replacing missing pine straw around the bushes and straightening the crooked window shades all needed to be fixed.  There was even some foliage added to the three bushes at the front so they would look healthier.  That’s an image I’m proud to present to a client.

If you are or if you know a business owner who wants their building to be seen in the best light, even if the images were taken before the sun came up, tell then you know someone who can create that image, point them to this post and introduce us in an email or over coffee.  Thanks for visiting the blog, and remember, I don’t just take pictures, I create images.

More Executive Portraits

0 Comments October 23, 2012||Commercial, Portraits

Over the past month or so I’ve had the pleasure of creating  executive portraits for friends who have now become my clients.

Debra Scott, a registered representative of Vining Financial Services, Inc., a financial investment firm located in Marietta, GA, needed to update her portrait.  Debra enjoys educating clients about investment planning when she’s not having a good time with her family.  She had been telling me that she was going to come see me and after a few weeks, and she finally did!  We had a fun time creating her portraits.

 

Another friend, W. Wright Dempsey Jr., is an attorney providing full legal services with emphasis on estate planning and probate, construction, personal injury, commercial, and cultural conservation matters in Dunwoody, GA.  A person with diverse interests, it isn’t everyone who can sport a bow tie and look great doing it!  He even taught me how to tie one,  yes, that is a real bow tie, not a clip-on.

I’ve known both of these folks for a couple of years now and I occasionally have a breakfast with them.  I’m happy that they chose me to update their portraits for both online and collateral usage.  If you happen to need their services or know of someone who does, Google them to find their contact information.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to shoot as  I love to create executive portraits!

Companion Reference for Intro to DSLR Class

0 Comments October 13, 2012||Education

Updated version for the companion to the Introduction to DSLR Photography and Taking Better Photos course. Included with enrollment in the class or can be purchased separately by clicking on the red button below.

For more information on photography classes in Roswell, visit our training page.

Intro to DSLR V2.0

By Tony Fiorda

80 pages, published 10/13/2012

A companion book for the Introduction to DSLR Photography and Creating Better Photos class created and taught by di Sogno Photography, designed to be used as reference after taking the course. The first and second sections cover common camera features and functions and the basic technical aspects of photography such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus modes, depth of field, lenses and their effects. The third section…

Interdev Executives

0 Comments September 28, 2012||Commercial, Portraits

I’m happy to announce another successful shoot of some local executives.  The folks over at Interdev, LLC, a Managed IT and Security company, needed portraits of their management team for their website.  It took some planning to get everyone together but as you can see from the images below, it happened and everyone is pleased with the results.  You can see the images here on their site and I really appreciate that they entrusted me to create their images.

An executive portrait is just one of my services I enjoy creating for my clients.  From products, to specialty images, I enjoy talking to my clients and getting to know them and their business.  That enables me to create the images that let them shine!

Peruvian Sweaters and Caps

0 Comments September 19, 2012||Commercial, Fashion, Product

During the last week in July, I again found myself  doing product shots for children’s clothing and/or accessories.  The company for which I was shooting this time, Chirimoya, is still in start-up mode, and Charlie, the owner, recognized the need for professional images when he couldn’t create images that matched the quality level the products he wants to sell.

The products, hand made sweaters and caps are imported from small villages in the mountains of Peru.  Hand knitted and embroidered with landscapes of flowers, lambs, and alpacas, ensures that each item is unique and I can tell you the quality of these items is exceptional.  During the shoot, I had to keep an eye on the samples because everyone who saw them tried to take a sample home with them.  Including me, because I have a new cousin being added to the family in a couple of months and one of these would make a great gift!

My other task, besides looking out for the samples, was to create images that could have the backgrounds in different colors sampled from the items themselves and then to have the backgrounds easily changed out if so desired.  I used a technique where I place the item on plexiglass and then lit the background and items separately so there are no shadows on the final image.  This makes it extremely easy to cut the item out of the background and place it on its own Photoshop layer.  The image below is composite of the results I achieved for Charlie and Chirimoya.

So if you know of someone who has children in the 0-4 year old range and you could use a very unique gift for the holidays, check back here every so often.  I’ll post a link to the website when it goes active you can see more and maybe order a few items.

OyToy Products

0 Comments July 5, 2012||Commercial, Portraits

Last month I had the opportunity to shoot products for OyToys.com.  This website sells clothing items, toys and puzzles to a very large and specific market.

When RuthE, the owner of the site, accepted my bid, she said she was bringing not only the items for the shoot, but  the models also.  After the models in the images below arrived at the studio with their mothers, I was able to sit back and enjoy taking photos because their mom’s corralled the little ones, and got them dressed in the different items that RuthE wanted to shoot.  I also used RuthE as a designer for the accessories on the ‘modelettes’ so they looked the way she wanted them shot.

Reagan is wearing a bib embroidered in Yiddish.  Originally, she was to model a baby blanket but she didn’t like being wrapped up in it.  When we put her in this bib her face brightened.  Can you imagine, having an attitude at that age?!  :-)  The bib was obviously something she enjoyed modeling!

Eliana, pictured below, was having a great time in front of the camera, so much so that it was difficult to show the embroidery on the blanket.  But, she was so cute that I just had to shoot images of her with the blanket wrapped around her even though you can’t see the embroidery.  Yes, we did get images with the embroidery showing, so we were successful.

This is one of many puzzle products that OyToys.com sells.  Our oldest model, Daniel, no more that 4 years old, enjoyed solving this puzzle.  He also like mugging for the camera!

A fun shoot with little models full of personality, we just had to find what worked for them.

Till the next time!

Tampa Bay Hotel

0 Comments June 28, 2012||Commercial, General, Travel

While travelling, I often shoot images to use in my portfolio and I shoot them in the way that would I shoot images to be used in industry publications and location websites.

While in Tampa, FL a couple of months ago, I had some free time and I visited the Henry B. Plant museum that was at one time known as the luxurious Tampa Bay Hotel.  It was a resort built by Henry B. Plant, a railroad magnate, containing more than 500 rooms to host the elite of society around the turn of the 20th century.  The grounds cover more than 150 acres and the hotel itself covers 6 acres and is a quarter-mile long.  It was equipped with the first elevator ever installed in Florida and that elevator is still in use today, making it one of the oldest continually operational elevators in the nation.

During the Spanish-American War, it was the base of military operations.  It housed officers and wives in the hotel and enlisted men were encamped on the spacious grounds.   Even Teddy Roosevelt, his wife and his Rough Riders stayed at the hotel prior to embarkation to Cuba.

Today, the hotel (which is part of the University of Tampa campus) hosts the museum in a portion of the first floor.  The rest of the building houses administration offices and classrooms for the University of Tampa.

This view, from the hotel’s garden (now called Plant Park), overlook the North River with downtown Tampa in the background. 

This view is the reverse of the one above and shows more of Plant Park as well as the Tamp Bay Hotel and its Moorish Revival style of architecture.

Here’s another view of the museum entrance and the unique architecture of the building.

I highly recommend a visit to this museum if you have some free time when in Tampa, FL.  It will give you a fantastic perspective of the Gilded Age of America around the turn of the 20th century.

The Power of an Image

0 Comments May 7, 2012||General, Portraits

Believe it or not, images speak.  They can say many things and be very powerful.  An image can say “I want you!”, “I’m in charge here!” or “Come on in, we’re glad to see you!”  It takes a collaboration between the subject and the photographer to create an image that says the right things.

When Pierre came in to the studio for his executive portraits, he had a challenge for me.  He wanted images that were friendly and casual but conveyed a tone that said “I’m the expert.”  As a successful franchiser, they had to convey his friendliness, approachability and confidence; images that could be used in magazines and newspapers or in corporate communications.

By finding a pose that fit the criteria and having him change only his expression we captured images that expressed those messages.

 

Successful people like Pierre come to me for their images because they want them to say many things and I can help them create the images that express exactly what they want say.

Large Product Shoot

0 Comments April 12, 2012||Commercial, Product

A corporate client of mine, Metcam, Inc. a metal fabricating company, has started fabricating pedestals for Steelcase tables and chairs and Bruce Hagenau, Metcam’s president, wanted to distribute press releases and newsletters announcing their new contract with Steelcase.  Remembering that I shot his Tyco Supplier Excellence award a couple of years ago, see below, he contacted me to create the images of the new office furniture.

Metcam - Product shoot

With the deadline to get information to the printer just a week away, he asked if I could do the shoot in the next day or two.  Luckily I was able to fit that in to my schedule and when I arrived onsite, I spent a few hours straightening up the desks prior to creating the images.  After all, you don’t want to have a messy desk when you’re showing off the furniture!

Here are a few of the 12 fully edited images I delivered two days later so he could beat his deadline and get the information to the printer for release.

Steelcase Pedestal Table and Chairs

The image above shows the table and chair pedestals that Metcam is now fabricating for Steelcase Furniture.

Steelcase Cubicle Desks

These cubicle desks allow the employee to stand and work.  The desk section elevates and Steelcase has supplied soft foam mats for the employees to stand on to prevent foot and leg fatigue.

Steelcase Standard Cubicle Desk

I enjoy working with manufacturers like Bruce who are excited about their company and want show the world what they produce.  They’ll want to talk to me because I’ll work closely with them to create the images they’re visualizing and deliver them in time to beat a deadline.

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di Sogno Photography
1005 Alderman Drive
Suite 101
Alpharetta, GA 30005

ph: 770-817-0945
e: info@disognophoto.com

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Introduction to DSLR Photography
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3. Frustrated using your Digital SLR as a point and shoot only?

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