Behind the Shot

I have always been fascinated with the education side of photography. I don’t have a formal photography education myself, and I am very aware of what skill sets I wish I had been exposed to earlier in my photo journey. I have been around a lot of the continuing education side of photography, like KelbyOne, or various workshops that a lot of the top photographers do, and in fact teach workshops myself, but I do appreciate what many of the more traditional photography programs provide for the next generation of photographers. A few years ago I even teamed up with Red River Paper to spotlight some students from the schools they supported with the EDU programs. All of this is to say, I think some of the absolute best creatives shooting today are a great representation of where this craft I love is headed. A case in point is Cal Baptist University, in my hometown of Riverside, CA. The photography program there is run by Christopher Kern, and he has put together such an amazing program. I have been there a few times, usually to see my buddy, and past guest, Ian Spanier do his guest workshop, but also to visit with Christopher and see what they are doing at CBU. This program has even helped another past guest, Art Streamer, with interns for some of his shoots. A few weeks ago I saw an Instagram post from CBU, and had me thinking…. what are some of the current students in this wonderful program shooting these days? I asked Christopher for a recommendation of a student he thought might make a good guest on the show, and he suggested Josiah Grant. Josiah is the perfect example of what I was talking about up above. An amazing photographer that just sees things differently than most anyone I know. Looking through his portfolio you are struck by his use of depth, and I don’t only mean only depth-of-field. Josiah uses light and shadow, softness and sharpness, foreground and background, subtle or bold, to define what he wants you to see. His understanding of directing the viewers eye seems to be much more experienced than his still being in college would imply. I am so excited to learn from the student today, and the image we will be discussing has won a few awards! From over 7,000 entries, a Jury selected just 317 images, including Josiah’s, to appear in the “2024 American Photography 40”, a book representing the best pictures from 2023. It also won an Award of Excellence in the one of the most prestigious competitions for creativity in photography, the “2024 Communication Arts Photography Annual 65”. Join photographer Josiah Grant and me as we dive into how he creates such amazing and creative portraits, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Josiah Websites: josiahvisuals.com Instagram: @josiahvisuals YouTube: YouTube.com Josiah’s Photographer Picks Miguel Esparza: miguelesparzaphoto.com | @miguelesparzaphoto Nico Carrillo: nicocarrillo.com | @nicocarrillophoto Austin Elliott: austinelliottphoto.com | @austinelliottphoto

This is a show I have been thinking about doing for a while, and that I believe is an important subject for both new and veteran music photographers…. BUT even if you’re not a music photographer, this subject should matter to you. I think it applies to anyone negotiating prices. I have strong opinions on what the ASMP has referred to as “Predatory” Releases, and there’s no question that I have an opinion on the message I want to get out on this episode, but, it is my show, so I get to do that. If you’re not a Music Photographer, and have never heard of photo releases – note that these are NOT model releases – then don’t worry. I explain what they are, and why they exist, in the show. Then I am joined by two other music photographers… My buddy David Bergman is a Canon Explorer of light, and hosts the show Ask David Bergman on Adorama TV. There are few people I know of that know more about photography than David, from his days shooting for the famed Miami Herald newspaper, to having 13 Sports Illustrated covers, David is a big deal. He has been Luke Combs’ full-time tour photographer since January 2019, and Bon Jovi’s tour photographer since 2010. So glad that we get to benefit from his years of experience in media and music photography for this show. Oh yeah… David’s workshops, like Shoot From the Pit and his upcoming Italy trip, are great chances to hang out and learn photography. Also on the show we have Montreal based Music Photographer Marie Demeire. I have followed Marie on socials for years, but today is my first time meeting her face-to-face. Known around the net as “Marie Goes To Shows”, she has been published in Complex, EDM.com, Bandcamp, iHeartRadio Canada, Canadian Beats, 99Scenes, Sors-Tu, the MUHC Foundation, Secret Melbourne and BP Arts Media. Having been a fan of her work for years, I am thrilled to be able to get her perspective on this subject. Join Canon Explorer of Light David Bergman, and Montreal Music Photographer Marie Demeire, as they join me for a serious, and fun, chat about Concert Photo Releases, on this Behind the Shot. Chapter Timestamps 00:00:00 – Intro 00:03:47 – Overview of Music Photography Photo releases 00:05:08 – Chapter 5 00:08:18 – Getting to Know of Marie & David 00:14:38 – David & Marie’s Overview of Releases 00:24:51 – Common Reasons People Say They Sign a Release 00:37:34 – Replying to Comments from Instagram 00:56:13 – What About the “Cross Out the Parts You Don’t Like and Return It” Argument? 01:09:07 – Anything the Guests Want to Add? 01:18:22 – My Final Thoughts on Concert Photo Releases 01:21:58 – Speed Round Q & A 01:25:41 – Marie and David’s Photographer Picks 01:26:51 – Where to Find My Guests? 01:28:26 – Outro Connect with David Bergman Website: davidbergman.net Italian Riviera with David Bergman: trovatrip.com Instagram: @davidbergman Facebook: @DavidBergmanPhoto X / Twitter: @davidbergman LinkedIN: @davidbergman Connect with Marie Demeire Website: tinyurl.com/mariegoestoshows Instagram: @mariegoestoshows X / Twitter: @mgoestoshows   David’s Photographer Pick Aubrey Wise: aubreywisephoto.com | @aubreywisephoto Marie’s Photographer Picks Susan Moss: susanmossphotography.com | @susanmossphotography ASMP Article Predatory Contract Clauses: Music Edition: asmp.org Copyright for Photographers Playlist on YouTube: Music Edition: YouTube.com/@behindtheshot

I will never forget growing up hearing my dad talk about his days flying P-51 and P-40 planes. His walls were covered in model planes of classic war birds, as though he was trying to relive his youth. When he passed away, I inherited a bunch of model planes he’d never gotten around to building. He was in the Air Force his entire life, retiring as a Lt. Colonel, and talking with today’s guest has brought back so many memories. Brett Schauf, the owner of T&J Studios, in Wichita, Kansas, is a commercial, portrait and fine art photographer, but in addition to his commercial and portrait work Brett has been able to produce a collection of fine art prints featuring Landscape, Travel, and Aviation photography. Since 2015 Brett has been the lead photographer for the B-29 Doc, a restored World War II B-29 bomber, and man…. it’s a beautiful plane. This gig has given Brett the opportunity to travel as a crew member, documenting the plane, crew, visitors and the many veterans who visit Doc on tour. So, while I started by introducing Brett as a commercial, portrait and fine art photographer, today’s focus will be the Aviation photography. From aviation manufacturers and publications, to industry leaders, businesses and entertainers, Brett’s commercial client list keeps him pretty busy, so I am so grateful he was able to set aside some time to talk to us about how he captures these rare classic warbirds. And a quick thank you to Dr. T from Platypod for introducing us. Join commercial, portrait. fine art, and arial photographer Brett Schauf and me as we talk about how he captures his stunning images of classic warbirds, like the B-29 Doc. Brett shares his passion for capturing dynamic lighting and vibrant colors, whether in landscapes or mid-air. He also provides insights into the technical aspects and creative process behind his aerial shots. Join us for a conversation that offers valuable tips and inspiration for photographers at all levels, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Brett Websites: brett.photo | tjstudios.com Instagram: @brettphoto Facebook: @bschauf X / Twitter: @brettphoto Brett’s Photographer Picks Travis Heying: travisheying.com | @theying Seth Miranda: lastxwitness.com | @lastxwitness Joel Grimes: joelgrimes.com | @joelgrimesworkshops

One of the things I love about the podcasting world is the instant camaraderie you sometimes feel when talking with other podcasters. It’s hard to explain the connection you get when you have something creative in common with someone, but it’s a pretty cool feeling. So, when a few months back I got a text from Kersten Luts, of the ‘Camera Shake Podcast‘, to see if I wanted to join him and Dave Clayton, of the ‘He Shoots, He Draws Podcast‘, for a joint podcast I answered with a quick “YES PLEASE!”. Their idea was that we do a show on podcasting – a casual chat about how we got started, the ups and down, and why we still love doing our shows. We would record the show as a video, even though He Shoots, He Draws is normally audio only, and then we would each release the same show, on the same day, on each of our podcasts. I loved the concept as soon as I heard it, and the chance to do a show with these two friends made it even better. I have had the honor of being on both Kersten’s and Dave’s podcasts. I was the guest on Episode 93 of He Shoots, He Draws, and I have been on the Camera Shake Podcast twice, for Episode 134: How To Take Great Music Photos,  and on Episode 178 talking about how to Instantly Improve Your Photos, plus I was recently on Kersten’s live streamed Coffee Time. For today’s show we went pretty long, it’s tough to stop when you’re just having a fun chat with friends about a topic you love. Join podcasters Kersten Luts and Dave Clayton and me as we talk about podcasting, shoe phones, the Royal Family, and birthdays, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Kersten Luts Website: kerstenluts.com Instagram (Personal): @kerstenluts Instagram (Three Heads In A Row): @threeheadsinarow Facebook: @kerstenlutsphotography X / Twitter: @kerstenphoto Camera Shake Podcast Website: camerashakepodcast.com YouTube: @camerashake Instagram: @camerashakepodcast Facebook: @camerashakepodcast X / Twitter: @ShakeCamera Connect with Dave Clayton Website: itsdaveclayton.com Instagram: @itsdaveclayton Facebook: @itsdaveclayton X / Twitter: @itsdaveclayton LinkedIN: @daveclayton He Shoots, He Draws Podcast Website: heshootshedrawspodcast.simplecast.com YouTube: @heshootshedrawspodcast3209 Instagram: @heshootshedraws Facebook: @heshootshedraws X / Twitter: @heshootshedraws  

The photographers I am exposed to by doing this show never cease to amaze me. Recently, my buddy Ian Spanier told a friend of his that he should be on the show, and gave him my contact info. At that point, Jason Gardner reached out to me, and when Ian, who has been on the show a few times himself, suggests someone I need to pay attention. Jason is an interesting photographer. He has galleries on his site for Editorial, Events, Personalities, and Lifestyle, and the work is fantastic. Honestly, there were a few of his lifestyle images I really wanted to cover on the show, and hopefully we get to revisit that subject one day. For this show though we look at a project Jason has been working on for years, a lot of years. For over 15 years, throughout 15 countries, Jason has documented the ritual and festival of Carnival, focusing on traditional, folkloric, and community celebrations. The resulting images, which are the subject of his second book, We the Spirits, and a window into how humanity, worldwide, celebrate life, tradition, and folklore. Photographs from We the Spirits were displayed in the exhibition Costume and Masquerade: at the Stadhaus in Ulm, Germany, and the project was selected to be exhibited at the Mois de la Photo OFF Photography festival in Paris, and that’s just two of the many exhibitions that Jason’s work has been displayed at, and in fact the images from We the Spirits will be on display again for an exhibition at Ted and Nune Studio, Street Hastings-on-Hudson, NY from April 6 – May 19. With a client list that includes Con Edison, HBO, TED Talks, Dassault Systèmes, Electrolux, Grand Central Station, Samsung Corporation, N-Y Historical Society, Freshworks, Ogilvy & Mather, Direct TV, Pfizer, Big Brothers Big Sisters NY, and Human Rights Watch, it’s no wonder Jason has seen the success he has. Seriously, go check out his Lifestyle / Editorial work, or his Personalities gallery. So good. Getting back to that term “Visual Anthropology”, Jason describes it this way: “In my practice, I document visually various aspects of a culture, and how it is celebrated, both venerating traditions and looking forward. I am interested in what constitutes cultures and most especially how they are celebrated, from honoring traditions to envisaging the future. By focusing on cultural manifestations such as music, dance, festival, and spectacle, as well as symbols, street art, glyphs, costumes, or shrines in a closet, I capture the intangible, visually translating the symbolic connections of what might not be visible at first glance. Placing my photographic practice within the framework of Visual Anthropology, I hope to tell stories by focusing on cultures, traditions and practices which often happen behind the public’s view. I capture things that build up to define the cultural milieu and community’s regional identities. I look for that ineffable moment of transformation in a ceremony, the traditional song or costume epitomizing regional pride and identity, a symbol representing a culture, these all combine to reflect the culture. I wish to reveal some of the diversity of the spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional landscape of a community. Making the connections among the various manifestations, to show their relationship with each other, and how they interlock, helps to form my view of the culture I am documenting. These displays of culture are significant, to me, in that they represent one of the more profound ways that humans can express themselves.” And I think all of that comes through in his work. Join documentary photographer Jason Gardner and me as we talk about his “Visual Anthropology”, and as we dissect one of the images from his travels documenting the ritual and festival of Carnival throughout 15 countries, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Jason Website: jasongardner.net Instagram: @visualanthropology1 Facebook: @jasongardnerphoto X / Twitter: @JGardnerPhoto LinkedIN: @ jasongardner Jason’s Book We the Spirits: jasongardner.net Jason’s We the Spirits Exhibition – April 6 – May 19 Ted and Nune Studio, Street Hastings-on-Hudson, NY: tedandnune.com Jason’s Photographer Pick Roberto de la Torre: roberdelatorre.com | @rober.delatorre

I never used to go to photography conferences. It’s not that they didn’t interest me, it’s just that none of them cover my genre of music photography. WPPI is all about weddings and portraits, and while Imaging USA seems to cover a bit more, it doesn’t go anywhere near concerts. Still, a few years ago I went to WPPI with a friend, to cover it on the show, and I found out that I didn’t care what the conference covered. What I enjoyed the most was meeting other photographers after hours to talk shop. Since then, I have been to all but one WPPI, and a few of the old Photoshop World conferences – which I really miss. That is all to say that no matter what you think of conferences, the networking side is almost always worth the trip. This past January I decided to try out my first Imaging USA, partly because it was in Louisville, KY, the home of the Bourbon Trail. The conference, for me, was a huge success. I was able to hang out with some old friends, and meet a few new ones, like today’s guest. While at Imaging I stopped by to say hello to my friends at the Platypod booth, and while there I met fellow Platypod Pro Lenworth Johnson. Lenworth is a commercial fashion and beauty photographer based in Houston, TX, and originally from Jamaica. We talked a bit at the conference, and I browsed through his site, and knew right then I needed to get him on the show. My original thought was to cover one of his amazing fashion or beauty shots, since that’s what he’s mostly known for, but that would have been obvious. Instead I decided we should focus on a tangential part of his work. Lenworth also shoots fashion related product photography, like perfumes and makeup, and I have never really had that genre on the show before. The challenges of product photography are quite varied, from holding highlights on reflective surfaces, to subject separation and color accuracy, and Lenworth tackles these challenges so well I thought he could help you and I get a better sense of this difficult subject matter. His work has been honored with multiple awards: 2019 Guru Awards Photoshop World Award 2020 Silver Advertising Award MIFA Award 2022 Gold Commercial Photography-Product MUSE Awards 2023 Gold People Photography-Portrait MUSE Awards 2023 Gold Commercial Photography-Fashion MUSE Awards As a KelbyOne instructor, Lenworth teaches a few classes, including Fashion & Beauty, lighting, and getting published. Join commercial fashion and beauty photographer Lenworth Johnson and me as we talk about his fashion and beauty work, and as we dissect his product shot of Chanel makeup, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Lenworth Website: lenworthjohnson.com Instagram: @lenworth.johnson Facebook: @photographyLJ X / Twitter: @LJ_Photography1 LinkedIN: @lenworth-johnson-2966a319 Lenworth’s KelbyOne Classes KelbyOne: KelbyOne.com Lenworth’s Photographer Pick Mary Bel: marybelphotography.com | @marybelphotography

One of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is that I get to discover and meet some amazing photographers, and L.A. based Nikon Ambassador Joey Terrill is a perfect example. We’ve all joked about a photographer we know being able to “shoot anything”, but in reality very few people can truly shoot any subject matter. There are a few out there though, Joe McNally comes to mind, that just get it. Their photography seems to breath it’s own air, and be alive. Joey is one of those talents. His career has included a range of specialties including architecture and interior design, advertising and corporate photography, golf course landscapes, and editorial portraiture, and his macro photography is fascinating. Joey’s website has three galleries, Portraits, Scenes, and Macro, and if you spend a little time there you’ll get some insight into how Joey sees the world. Perhaps this quote from his website sums it up best: “My camera is the window through which I experience life” From extreme close-up or a vast valley, to a portrait of a corporate CEO made to look like a star, Mr. Terrill just seems to understand what we are doing when we take a photo. He understands how to make a viewer feel something, as though they’ve been invited into the scene. That, my friend, is a skill I wish I had. Joey has worked with clients like American Express, Coca-Cola, Disney, Golf Digest, Major League Baseball, Nikon, Red Bull and Sports Illustrated. As an educator he teaches workshops and speaks at seminars including PhotoPlus Expo, WPPI, CES, Imaging USA, and of course Nikon School. Join photographer and Nikon Ambassador Joey Terrill and me as we dive into the artistic world of his macro photography, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Joey Website: joeyterrill.com Instagram: @joeyterrill Glass: @joeyterrill Facebook: @joeyterrill X / Twitter: @joeyterrill Joey’s Photographer Pick George Hurrell: georgehurrell.com | @hurrellphotos

I find guests for Behind the Shot in a number of ways. Sometimes it’s a referral from a friend, sometimes it’s a cold email I send after seeing an image I just need to know more about, and now and then it’s through a photographer’s PR company. Regardless of how I find them, more often than not I end up being introduced to an amazing artist I wasn’t familiar with beforehand. That is the case today. Jiří Lízler was brought to my attention by the folks over at Wonderful Machine, a company I think of as a PR firm, but that describes itself as “an art production agency with a network of 559 photographers in 44 countries”. Whatever you see them as, they have a pool of talent that includes some of the best of the best, and they’ve brought me awesome guest ideas in the past. When they brought Jiří up to me two things jumped out… one was that I had never, that I recall, had an architectural shot on the show before, and the other was that Jiří’s work is insanely good. I am so glad this show worked out. If, like me, you were not familiar with Jiří Lízler, let me introduce you… Jiri is a renowned Award-Winning commercial photographer from the Czech Republic, with a portfolio that features luxury hotels and high-end residential interiors. His work has been featured in international media fixtures like Conde Nast Traveller, The Telegraph, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, The Times, Archilovers and more. From a clientele perspective, I am not sure you will find bigger names, with clients that include Microsoft, McDonald’s, Chanel, Warner Bros Discovery, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Six Senses, The Luxury Collection, and Hyatt. As I am writing this, I have the Tear Sheets page of his website in front of me, and wow. Jiri’s work is truly fantastic. Join Czech based commercial photographer Jiří Lízler and me as we discuss his world of photographing hotels & resorts, travel & tourism, architecture and interiors, and more, while taking a deep dive into his photo of the pool at the Corinthia Hotel Prague, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Jiří Website: jirilizler.com Instagram: @jirilizler LinkedIN: @jiri-lizler-hotel-photographer Jiří’s Photographer Pick Rupert Peace: rupertpeace.com | @rupertpeace  

One look at the client list at the bottom of Paul Mobley’s About page and it’s quickly apparent that he’s one of the best commercial, advertising, and editorial portrait photographers working today. It’s a list of A level celebrities & musicians, and Fortune 500 companies, that speaks volumes about the type of work Paul creates. Whether it’s a celebrity promoting his or her latest project or a 100-year- old farmer celebrating his family’s legacy, Paul has that rare ability to direct as well as photograph his subjects, to create some connection with them that puts them at ease in front of the camera. They seem to trust him at an almost uncanny level. The result? He creates portraits that are authentic, and timeless. In addition to his corporate, advertising, and editorial work, Paul is an accomplished author, having  published four books of his photography with Welcome Books: American Farmer (2008), Everyday Heroes (2012), If I Live to Be 100 (2016), and American Firefighter (2018). For all four books, Mobley traveled around the country to meet the subjects in their hometowns and photograph these ordinary citizens leading their extraordinary lives. Mobley has also put together a traveling exhibition of his American Farmer photographs that will tour museums and colleges around the United States until 2025. You’ll find links to his books and exhibition below. Join commercial, advertising, and editorial portrait photographer Paul Mobley and me as we talk about his portrait work, compositing portraits, and as we dissect his multi-shot image of comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Paul Website: paulmobleystudio.com Instagram: @paulmobleystudio Facebook: @PaulMobleyStudio X / Twitter: @PaulShoots LinkedIN: @paulmobleystudio Traveling Exhibition Website: eusa.org/exhibition/american-farmer/ Paul’s Books Amazon: amazon.com Paul’s Photographer Pick Ruvén Afanador: ruvenafanador.com | @ruvenafanador

Zoe Rain is one of those photographers in the rare group of artists that was born to do what she does. Some people can learn to become amazing artists, while others, people like Zoe, seem to have a natural gift for seeing the world through a lens. At the young age of 20, Zoe was already touring with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and that work brought a bit of notoriety, to say the least. Since then, her work has graced the cover of Rolling Stone, appeared on subway car ads, and been plastered on billboards across the world. Working with some of the biggest names in music, including Chance The Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Christina Aguilera, Ke$ha and Vic Mensa, has brought Zoe into the world of successful commercial photographer – a leap many people in music photography dream of. From multiple opportunities as an Apple keynote speaker, to being on industry panels hosted by agencies including Soho, Havas, & Leo Burnette, Zoe is now a sought after artist, and speaker for some of the largest brands in the industry. Zoe’s love of travel has led to her photojournalistic projects, involving intimate collaborations with nonprofits such as the 30-30 project & Construction for Change. This work includes Rain’s portraiture series “Woman of Togo”, which has been featured in galleries across the US. After over a decade of success, Zoe is at the top of her game. Join commercial photographer and filmmaker Zoe Rain and me as we discuss everything from her life on the road with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, to her wonderful portrait work, and as we examine her portrait of Ed Sheeran, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Zoe Website: rainstudio.com Instagram: @ZoeRainPhoto 

Back in June I did a review of the StellaPro Reflex line of lights titled “Is This My New Favorite Light?“. Well, today I’ve got an update. StellaPro has upgraded the hardware. The StellaPro Reflex lights are “Continuous Strobe Hybrid” LED lights. They allow you to do constant light, as you might do for video, or using digital burst mode you can use the lights like you would a flash. Technically, these are not flashes, they are LED lights, but they allow you to over-charge the LED and release all of that charge as a burst of light, a burst that can be up to 1 stop brighter than the constant light. And that constant light isn’t just some weak modeling light, like you might have in a standard studio monolight. These are bright, very bright. After doing that deep dive review I was impressed. I mean, no product is everything we want, and there’s definitely a wishlist I have in my head for these lights, but for me the pros outweighed the cons. And now StellaPro has made some interesting changes… First, they consolidated the Reflex line into one model, eliminating the standard Reflex (no S), and leaving only the Reflex S. There is a Reflex Studio too, but the light head in that model is the Reflex S. Secondly, they’ve increased both the continuous and burst power 50%, doubled the runtime, and made the light 50% faster – now delivering 30 fps of full power bursts without missing a burst. How much more do these upgraded lights cost you ask? Well, it’s not more expensive. It’s not even the same price. The upgraded lights are almost $250 cheaper! It actually feels weird writing that. An already good product is made better and they charge less? What the hell is the world coming to. The StellaPro Reflex S lights are now $849, and with the added power they’re a pretty damn good deal – that is if they live up to the claims. Today we are going to test this new upgraded hardware, which comes in the form of a larger battery handle, and a firmware update to the light head. The Reflex Lights I will be using in this show were sent to me by Stella Pro Lights for the purpose of that original review show back in June, and the upgraded battery handles were sent to me for the review of the upgrade. Let me be clear though, they have not paid me further and this is not a sponsored review. I am free to have and state any opinions that I have, and StellaPro doesn’t get to see this show before it goes live. This is just my honest opinion based on what I might look for in a portable light. As always, If you want a crazy technical review – that’s not me, but there are a lot of those out there. Here are the various sections in the show, so feel free to jump around to the areas that interest you. 00:00 – Intro 01:21 – Disclaimers 03:11 – What is the StellaPro Reflex S? 04:09 – What Changed? 04:38 – The Upgrade 06:35 – Old vs New Battery 09:11 – Updated Specs 10:58 – Testing Intro 15:16 – Black Background Tests 19:45 – Block Wall Test 20:56 – Portrait Tests Intro 21:43 – Portrait Tests 24:30 – Light Falloff Test Intro 25:21 – The Falloff Setup 25:53 – Light Falloff Tests 27:01 – Wishlist 30:57 – Final Thoughts 32:33 – Outro Join me as I take a look at the recent update to the StellaPro Lights Reflex S. We’ll take a look at the upgraded hardware, and check out the claim of 50% more power. Original StellaPro Reflex Review Mentioned in the Show (June 2023) Is This My New Favorite Light? A Review of the Stella Pro Reflex:YouTube.com Inverse Square Law Video Mentioned in the Show Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 59: Inverse Square Law:: Adorama Photography TV on YouTube Connect with StellaPro Lights Website: stellaprolights.com Facebook: @stellaprolights Instagram: @stellaprolights YouTube: @stellaprolights Connect with Steve Portfolio: stevebrazill.com Facebook: @SteveBrazillPhotography Instagram: @stevebrazill Twitter: @stevebrazill Mastodon: @stevebrazill StellaPro Reflex – Black Background – 3 Feet – Old Battery StellaPro Reflex – Black Background – 3 Feet – New Battery StellaPro Reflex Outdoor Portraits of Steve StellaPro Reflex Light Falloff Tests – Old Battery StellaPro Reflex Light Falloff Tests – New Battery StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Pool Side at Dusk

There are times when I see a photographer’s work that I have an emotional response, a feeling that I am seeing something special. That’s what happened the first time I browsed through Victoria Will’s website. Photo after photo there was something…. with impact. That doesn’t happen very often. Victoria’s career in photography began as a photojournalist, but has now moved to a focus on celebrity portraiture, editorial, and commercial assignments. That beginning, however, is readily obvious. Her images feel spontaneous, like she just happens to be there with a camera while some A List actor, or Hall of Fame musician. happened to be posing. Victoria’s portraits just feel honest and authentic. Victoria’s images have appeared in the pages of some of the top publications, including Vogue, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, ESPN and W Magazine. Commercial campaigns for brands like Carhartt, Levis, Netflix, Hulu, Epix, AT&T, Bose, Samsung, Ralph Lauren, and Miller High Life have also used her work. Her About Page says that her approach is “rooted in collaboration and meaningful connection where she seeks intimacy, authenticity, and elegance with a thoughtful eye and composition”. I would probably just describe her work as magic, but I guess her wording is probably better for the website. You don’t get to this level of success, and talent, without other people noticing, and she has a crazy collection of awards. Victoria has been recognized by American Photography, PDN Photo Annual, and Communication Arts, and her imagery has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions internationally. Her first monograph, Borne Back, a collection of tintype portraits, was published in 2017 by Peanut Press. Tintype photography is something I know very little about, or more accurately, nothing at all. Luckily for all of us, Profoto has a video on their YouTube channel documenting the process. You can check out “Victoria Will Shoots the Stars at Sundance” here. In 2023, Victoria became one of the newest members of the Canon Explorer of Light program, an honor I will say is so very well deserved. She is one of the best working today. Join Canon Explorer of Light Victoria Will and me as we explore tintype photography, and discuss her tintype image of famed actor Sam Shepard, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Victoria Website: victoriawill.com Instagram: @victoriawill Twitter: @vwillphoto Victoria’s Book Borne Back: peanutpressbooks.com Profoto Video on Victoria Shooting Tintypes Victoria Will Shoots the Stars at Sundance: youtube.com Victoria’s Photographer Picks Dana Scruggs: danascruggs.com | @danascruggs Benedict Evans: benedictevans.com | @benedict_evans

Regular watchers / listeners of the show will know Dave Williams. He’s a great friend, and amazing photographer, and he has a skill I value… an eye for great guests. In fact, he has connected me to more potential guests than I think anyone else. Because of that, when Dave sends me someone, I pay attention. Today is the result of that process. Dave described Paul Kober’s work to me, and I was immediately struck by how unique the concept was. Paul is what most would call a wildlife and nature photographer, but I have never seen his subjects photographed in quite the same way before, or since for that matter. All of Paul’s photos are taken in his backyard, and he places various string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments hanging from the trees or sitting on the ground. Next, he smears jelly, peanut butter, or birdseed in strategic places on the instruments to attract wild animals. Then, he waits…. and waits, sometimes for many hours. When the squirrels, birds, deer, or other wildlife come into the scene he has created, he grabs the shot. Catching the wildlife in artistically pleasing positions is the key, and somehow he does exactly that. It’s also important to note that no animals are photoshopped into position, it’s all about the patience he has to wait for just that right moment. His interest in photography only started about twelve years ago, and over the years he has experimented with doing portraits, landscapes, and architecture images, before finding his niche. Paul is very passionate about music, and in fact made a living as a professional jazz saxophonist for a number of years.  He’s also passionate about animals – he and his wife currently have five shelter cats. In this relatively short period of time, Paul’s photography has garnered him a great deal of recognition. He has been showcased in Photoshop Magazine, and AirSpeed Magazine. He won the prestigious international GURU award, and nine awards in the London Photography Awards. One of his pictures was even used as the cover for a flute composition. Join photographer Paul Kober and me as we explore his musical wildlife photography project, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Paul Website: paulkoberphoto.com Instagram: @paulkoberphoto Facebook: @paul.kober.52 Dave William’s Post About Paul on DIY Photography This Photographer Shoots Cute Animals Playing Musical Instruments: diyphotography.net Paul’s Photographer Pick Kaylee Greer: dogbreathphoto.com | @dogbreathphotography Chapters 00:00 – Intro 00:38 – Intro to Paul Kober 14:12 – Photo Discussion 42:52 – Speed Round Q & A 47:44 – Paul’s Photographer Pick – Kaylee Greer 51:19 – Outro 51:41 – Remembering Terrell Woods

It never surprises me how often Scott Kelby’s name comes up when I am talking about photography with someone. I remember, back when I started out in photography, how much I learned from watching his videos with “The Photoshop Guys”. Scott, to me, is photography education personified. Scott has been on the show a few times, for Insights From Scott Kelby and Timeless Photography,  but I still remember the first time I met him in person. It was at a Photoshop World in Vegas, and I was at the hotel bar where everyone from the conference hung out. Scott walked in and the room seemed to gravitate slowly towards him. I recall thinking “it’s gotta be weird to be him right now” at the same time as thinking “I should go introduce myself”. Clearly, I am part of the problem. Still, I walked over and before I got to him he spotted me and walked towards me to say hi. Since then I have had the pleasure of seeing him at a few conferences, and hanging out for a few hours at the NAMM show in Anaheim, CA, but one of the most amazing things is to just sit in a session Scott is teaching and watch him work. Scott Kelby was born to do what he does, and I’m not talking about the business side of Scott here. Sure, Scott is an icon in the photography world. He’s the founder and namesake of KelbyOne, the gold standard in online photography education, and the creator of Photoshop World, but the teaching… that is where Scott shines. His knowledge is up there with the best in the business, but his pacing, speech patterns, and demeanor, all make absorbing that knowledge so easy. He has authored numerous books, and he shares a lot of his knowledge on his blog at scottkelby.com.  I’d argue that his Guest Blog Wednesdays are one of the most amazing resources out there for photographers, and twice now I have been honored to write a post there, for Five Lessons Learned from Hosting the Behind The Shot Podcast and The Joy of Live Music Photography. Scott’s Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk – the world’s largest social photography event – just seems to get bigger each year, and he’s more than just well versed in photography by the way. Scott is an accomplished musician, playing guitar (what an amazing guitar collection he has), bass, drums, and piano. Plus, he is one of the few photographers that seemingly can photograph anything – Any. Thing. Travel, fashion, beauty, people, the great indoors, automotive, sports, anything he points his camera at seems to crop itself for him, and that is one of the things I love about Scott’s work. His eye for composition, and what makes a shot work, is amazing. That is what brings him here today. Scott does regular photo critique shows, usually blind photo critiques, on his show The Grid, usually with Erik Kuna, and his insight is amazing. I firmly believe that one of the best and fastest ways to improve your photography is to get fair honest critiques from a trusted source, and that’s what Scott is doing. I also did a series of image critique shows, with my buddy Don Komarechka, for two years, but that stopped when the war broke out in Ukraine, and then Don moved to Bulgaria. At some point while we were doing those shows Scott wrote a blog post titled “What to expect from a photo critique“, and it was so damn good that I started mentioning it at the start of every critique show I did with Don. Let me explain… Often I would get an email from someone who’s image Don and I critiqued trying to explain the image, and in doing so trying to let me know why we were “wrong” with what we had said. The same thing happens when I judge one of the image competitions I do periodically here in California. People feel that if we judges and critique people only knew the hardships they went through to get an image, or what the crowd was like, or what the music sounded like, or insert your explainer here meant, that we would understand how amazing their image was. We just didn’t understand their art! But here’s the deal, We were not there. We didn’t hear the music, and it doesn’t matter that you only had 30 minutes at 12 noon free during the family vacation to capture it. We are critiquing / judging your photo based on what a random viewer that sees your image for the first time would get from it… oh, and your image title… it’s not helping if it brings no expectation or relationship to our mind. Calling your amazing landscape image “Run Puppy, Run” when the dog in it is so small that I didn’t even see it actually detracts from it. It’s a letdown. Sorry, back to Scott’s post. This week I shared his latest call on Twitter for Blind Critique image submissions, and then it hit me. I ran to my wife saying “I’ve got it! I know the perfect show for Scott Kelby”!!!! Join Scott Kelby and me as we try to help you better understand the benefits of getting image critiques, and while we break down his blog post “What to expect from a photo critique”, on this Behind the Shot. Scott’s 1-Day Workshop Scott Kelby’s 2023 Ultimate Photography Crash Course: kelbyonelive.com Connect with Scott Personal: scottkelby.com KelbyOne: kelbyone.com KelbyOne Live: kelbyonelive.com KelbyOne Insider: insider.kelbyone.com Facebook (Personal): @SKelby Facebook (Business): @KelbyOneOnline Instagram (Personal): @scottkelby Instagram (Business): @kelbyonepics Twitter (Personal): @ScottKelby Twitter (Business): @KelbyOne YouTube (Personal): @scottkelby YouTube (Business): @kelbymediagroup Pinterest: @kelbyone Photoshop World: photoshopworld.com LinkedIn: @kelbyone Scott’s Class Mentioned During the Show How to Critique Your Own Photos: kelbyone.com Scott’s Podcast The Grid: kelbyone.com Scott’s Books rockynook.comamazon.com Scott’s Photographer Pick Dan (Dano) Steinhardt: @dano_steinhardt Steve’s Guest Posts for Scott’s Blog Five Lessons Learned from Hosting the Behind The Shot PodcastThe Joy of Live Music Photography

10 Questions with… Don Komarechka I have had a lot of guests on this show, but few I know as well as Don Komarechka. Don is a great friend, which seems odd considering we have never met in person. We did our critique shows together for about two years, in honestly, chatting with him is always a blast. for that reason, I figured he was a perfect guest for my new “10 Questions” series. Don has been on the regular show too, a few times. The first was way back in February of 2018, for “The Art of Snowflakes”, next was July of that year for “Improve Your Macro Photography”, and the last time was for “Water Droplet Refractions” in 2019. I need to get him back for a regular show soon. I’d had the “10 Questions” idea for awhile, and while recording a show with Toy Photographer, and Platypod Pro, Jesse Feyereisen. I decided to give it a shot. I asked him last minute if he wanted to try it, and lucky for me, he said yes! Now, Don has agreed to to doing the show again, and this isn’t a “normal” show at all. It’s a rapid fire 10 questions ranging from photography to any other subject, and some are just off the wall. From auroras to pollen, insects to infrared, much of Don’s photographic adventures help us to see how the universe works. Exploring a world we cannot see with our own eyes is a common thread in Don’s career as a professional photographer. Always science-minded but never formally trained, Don uses photography as a way to explore and understand the world around him. Photographing something unusual or unknown is the perfect excuse to learn something new. Don’s work often pushes up against the technical limitations of modern camera equipment and the physical limitations of light itself. It’s in that space between photography and geek that Don seems to be most at home. He even hosts a podcast called Photo Geek Weekly, which I have had the honor of being a guest on a number of times (and it is honestly one of my favorite things to do). When you browse through Don Komarechka’s work you may have the feeling you are not doing enough with your photography. I know I do. His work is something unique and special. Part photography, part science experiment. One of the things I truly love about Don is his total openness to the process. He will share anything to help people understand his craft. He shows behind the scenes shots often, and on the macro episode we did he even shared his raw files to convince someone that the bee was alive and real. Don is honestly one of the coolest photographers I know, and I hope you enjoy today’s special show with him. Join Macro Photographer, and Platypod Pro, Don Komarechka and me as we dive into 10 random questions – some photography related, and some are far from it. Connect with Don Full Portfolio: donkom.ca Snowflake Portfolio: skycrystals.ca Photo Geek Weekly Podcast: photogeekweekly.com Workshops: donkom.ca/workshops Facebook: @donkomphoto Instagram: @donkomphoto Twitter: @donkom Flickr: @donkom 500px: @donkom

My guest today most likely needs no introduction. As Vice President of Operations for KelbyOne, Erik Kuna has been around the photography world for a long time, and he’s been on the show before, for the episode titled Shoot for the Skies. His specialty is photographing rockets and spaceflight, but make no mistake, Erik could teach you a lot about almost any genre of photography. From behind the camera, Erik photographs launches for organizations like NASA, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Orbital ATK. Whether he’s working for a media outlet, a magazine, or for an actual space agency, his goal is to create images that help educate people on the space industry. The educator side of Erik is where many people know him from. Working for KelbyOne, has led to him being the regular co-host with KelbyOne founder Scott Kelby on their show The Grid. Erik’s 20+ years of experience serve him well there, and around the photography world, teaching seminars, workshops and classes. From landscapes, travel and nature, to night photography, twilight and rockets, Erik is as knowledgeable as it gets.  He’s also worked with partners such as Adobe, Google, Canon, B&H Photo and many more to produce training videos and corporate events to help their customers and clients unlock their full potential via education and inspiration. Join rocket and spaceflight photojournalist Erik Kuna and me as we try to better understand what goes into creating his amazing images, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Erik Personal: erikkuna.com KelbyOne: kelbyone.com Photoshop World:photoshopworld.com Facebook: @erikkuna Instagram: @erikkuna Twitter: @erikkuna Erik’s Prints Prints on SmugMug: erikkuna.smugmug.com Erik’s Workshops with Jay Grammond Dakota Adventure: Light Painting Under The Stars: jgrammondphotography.net Erik’s Photographer Pick John Kraus: johnkrausphotos.com | @johnkrausphotos Apps Erik Mentioned Adobe Lightroom: adobe.com Adobe Photoshop: adobe.com PhotoPills: photopills.com Flight Club: flightclub.io Astrospheric: astrospheric.com Erik’s Agency SuperCluster: supercluster.com Behind the Scenes Images Shown During the Show

A few years ago I was walking around the WPPI Expo floor with a friend, when he suggested we stop by the StellaPro Lights booth. This friend does some work with StellaPro Lights, a division of Light & Motion, and he thought I might be interested in seeing their new product – the StellaPro Reflex. As the staff there showed me the lights, I immediately thought that these might be a game changer for some people – maybe even me. Since then, I’ve been able to see the lights, and meet the people from StellaPro a few times, including at NAB 2022. Every time, I was struck by how kind the staff were, and how passionate about this product they were. Yeah, they’re supposed to be passionate about their product while showing it at a conference, but this felt so honest to me. While I was handling these lights it felt like I was holding something different than any other light I’ve played around with… in a very cool way. If you’re not familiar with the StellaPro Reflex, let me summarize for you. The StellaPro Reflex is a “Continuous Strobe Hybrid”, meaning it does both Constant Light or Digital Burst. These LED lights allow you to do constant light like any LED, and I am not talking about a simple modeling light like you have in a standard studio monolight. These are constant LED lights suitable for video use. The Digital Burst mode allows you to use the lights like you would a flash, but these are not flashes. Again, they are LED lights, but they allow you to charge the LED and release all of that charge as a burst of light, a burst that can be up to 1 stop brighter than the constant light. Hopefully the phrase “Continuous Strobe Hybrid” makes a bit more sense now. After meeting the StellaPro Lights folks, they offered to send me some of the gear for a review, and I jumped at the chance. They ended up sending me a 2 Light Kit, including 2 Stella Pro Reflex S lights along with various accessories and cables, and today we are going to put them to use. I do want to make a few things clear for this show… This is an honest, unsponsored review. The Stella Pro Lights I’m using in this show were sent to me by Stella Pro Lights (and Light & Motion) for the purpose of this review, but this is not a paid ad. I am free to have and state any opinions I have, and Stella Pro doesn’t get to see this before it goes live. Also, If you want a crazy technical review – that’s not me. I’m not going to measure actual Kelvin, CRI, and TLCI, etc. If you want technical reviews on any gear, I’d suggest checking out Photo Joseph, Curtis Judd, Gerald Undone, or one of the many people that do that way better than I ever could. I don’t know if any of those YouTubers have reviewed these lights, but they do great content. What I want to see is how these lights work for someone like me. I’m not a person that uses constant light or flash daily. I am a concert photographer. I do shoot Meet & Greets, Portraits and Promos, but I don’t normally use studio type lights. I have been able to get by on my Canon Speedlights, and even then I’m not a person that uses constant light or flash daily. So, these are just my opinions based on how I shoot. This show will divided into 3 parts: Getting to know the gear, the unboxing and gear details, and shooting with lights. Finally, I’ll close it out with my thoughts. Join me for a review of the StellaPro Lights Reflex S, and let’s see if I have a new favorite light, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with StellaPro Lights Website: stellaprolights.com Facebook: @stellaprolights Instagram: @stellaprolights YouTube: @stellaprolights Connect with Steve Portfolio: stevebrazill.com Facebook: @SteveBrazillPhotography Instagram: @stevebrazill Twitter: @stevebrazill Mastodon: @stevebrazill StellaPro Reflex – Black Background – 3 Feet StellaPro Reflex – Block Wall – 3 Feet StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Black Background – 6 Feet StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Block Wall – 1, 2, 3, Stops Under Exposed – 1.5 Feet StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Pool Side at Dusk – 9 Feet StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Digital Burst Test – 25 Shot Burst StellaPro Reflex with Steve – Digital Burst Test – 3 Clips 25 Shot Sequence with StellaPro Reflex at 1/6 Sec Per Image 14 Shot Sequence – No Lights 25 Shot Sequence Again at 1/3 Sec Per Image https://behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/StellaPro_Reflex_Burst_Movie_1280x720.mp4

My guest for this show is none other than my buddy Dave Williams, making his third appearance on the show. On the chance that you haven’t seen the other two shows I did with Dave, “Aurora and the Night Sky” and “The Traveling Photographer“, let me take a moment to introduce one of my favorite creatives. Dave is a travel photographer based out of London, or wherever his tricked out van happens to be parked. Yeah, you heard that correctly. Dave lives in a van called “Kofifernweh”, and this van is insane – you can read about it here. He documents his travels, while photographing and writing, on his popular YouTube series “Due North”, and his Aurora images from these adventures are amazing – which isn’t a surprise considering he literally wrote The Complete Aurora Guide: for Travelers and Photographers. There’s no question about it, Dave is one of the most adventurous people I know. Dave’s work has been featured in publications and campaigns for clients including Time, National Geographic, Forbes, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, Triumph, Conde Nast, and Shell to name a few. He also works closely with several companies within the photography and travel industries, including Platypod, Wandrd, Litra, Drobo, Blackrapid, Passion Passport, and Lonely Planet. What has always stuck out in my mind was Dave’s ability to teach others, and you can find his tutorials and writings in various places, and I have the links below, but many will know him the same way I did, his work over at KelbyOne, along with his writings for Photoshop User Magazine and ScottKelby.com. He also writes journalistic and inspirational articles for DIY Photography. He’s also presented at Photoshop World Conference, The Photography Show, Russell Browns Art Directors Invitational Masterclass. Recently, I was talking to Dave and he mentioned he was doing a new workshop with another past guest and friend, Kersten Luts, who was on the show for the episode on Creative Portraits and Headshots. He calls this workshop the “Lofoten Islands Viking Photography Workshop“, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a portrait and landscape hybrid photography workshop deep within the Arctic Circle. There will be a Viking, epic landscapes, rugged mountains, majestic fjords, beautiful reindeer, world-renowned food, traditional red cabins, dancing aurora, and Dave and Kersten as your photo guides. I have to admit, I REALLY want to do this workshop, and I even have had other friends of mine tell me they’ve already signed up. Not sure I can swing it, since I already have a big vacation planned this year, but yeah, I am looking at it. Dave and Kersten were kind enough to share a discount code for you, so you can take 5% ($250) off when booking with DAVE5. The mantra Dave lives by is ‘once in a lifetime as often as you can’ and so far, that’s working out pretty well Join renowned travel photographer Dave Williams and me as we chat about photographing deep within the arctic circle, and his workshop in Lofoten, Norway, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Dave Website: idavewilliams.com Instagram: @idavewilliams Facebook: @idavewilliams Twitter: @idavewilliams YouTube: @idavewilliams Dave’s Workshop with Kersten Luts Lofoten Islands Viking Photography Workshop: idavewilliams.com Dave’s Due North Series YouTube.com KelbyOne Dave Williams on KelbyOne Dave’s Aurora Book Amazon: The Complete Aurora Guide: for Travelers and Photographers Dave on DIY Photography diyphotography.net Dave’s Photographer Pick Kersten Luts: kerstenluts.com | @kerstenluts

So, funny story… I get people pitch themselves for my show very often. It’s usually some bizarre pitch, for a subject matter that has zero to do with what my show actually is about. Sometimes it’s the potential guest emailing me, and sometimes it’s their “representative”, but it’s almost always some “motivational speaker” that wants to help my listeners. In almost every case, when someone pitches themself it’s not a fit, until the other day on Twitter. I had tweeted that sometimes the onboarding process for guests can be…. difficult. I didn’t mean that as a dig at my guests at all, just a statement that picking a shot, getting the stuff I need to write the show notes and blog post, and coordinating schedules can be time consuming. Well, I got a reply from Jesse Feyereisen saying  “If you ever want to chat with someone about Toy Photography, I’d be more than happy to talk!”. As soon as I saw his name I knew who it was… we both have a connection to Platypod. I also already of his work, and he’s fantastic! So today, I bring you the Elevated Toy Photography of Jesse Feyereisen. Calling Jesse a “Toy Photographer” doesn’t really cover it. He is a photographer, graphic designer and digital creative based in Wisconsin. While he went to school for Visual Communications, and Television Production, he is sort of visual, jack of all trades, working on everything including websites, print ads, video, photography, and nearly anything digitally creative. At some point, his love of photography brought him to try all sorts of genres, from outdoors and wildlife, to astrophotography, macro, and product photography. When he “accidentally” discovered toy photography he instantly fell in love with it. Accidentally or not, his ability to bring toys to life in his photography ended up catching the attention of the folks at Platypod, and he is now a Platypod Pro. Join toy photographer, and Platypod Pro, Jesse Feyereisen and me as we look at how you can elevate your toy photography, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Jesse Website: jessefphotography.com Instagram: @jessefeyereisen Facebook: @jessefeyereisen Twitter: @JesseFeyereisen YouTube: @jessefeyereisenphotography LinkedIn: linkedin.com Jesse’s Print Shop: jessefeyereisen.smugmug.com Toy Photography Book for Charity Stop Wars: A collection of photos produced by over 50 Toy Photographers from across the globe: amazon.com Jesse’s Photographer Pick Harry Nguyen: @_cinematoygrapher_ Steve’s Whiskey Pick Barrel Craft Spirits – Vantage: barrellbourbon.com  

I get guest suggestions sent to me regularly, and this show is the result of one of those. Dave Kallmann messaged me on Twitter to suggest a few motorsports photographers, and that instantly intrigued me. Dave is a sports reporter for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and he is one hell of a photographer himself. If he was suggesting someone then I knew I had to take a look, and man, I am so glad that I did. Jamey Price is a motorsport and automotive photographer from Charlotte, North Carolina, and he is in a league of his own. If you’ve watched or listened to show for any amount of time, you’ll know that I spend a lot of time looking through my guest’s work to try and find common threads, those things that seem to connect all of the shots together. Many photographers have these fine threads that seem to weave from image to image, a way that they tell their story that is unique to them. For Jamey it’s motion. Let me explain… As a motorsports photographer, of course Jamey is photographing things in motion, and when I say motion I mean speed, but that’s not the thread I am talking about. Jamey has an ability to coney to the viewer a feeling of actual motion. Through the use of panning, a creative depth of field, or a dragged shutter, Jamey makes you feel like you are along for the ride. I’m not sure if you can motion sickness from a photo, but if you can then you’d be advised to view Jamey’s work carefully. I am left wondering if Jamey’s early career choices played a role in the resulting images I see. Jamey was a thoroughbred steeplechase horse racing jockey and exercise rider in the United States, England and Ireland. He rode in more than 50 races, and notched 11 wins in the saddle, all the while taking photos between his races. He eventually self published a book titled “Chasing: Racing Life in England & Ireland.” In 2011, Jamey’s photography career path switched from horses, to horse power. Since then, his images have been published around the world in magazines, newspapers and websites including The New York Times, HotRod, Hagerty, MAXIM, Car&Driver, CycleWorld, Road&Track, Autoweek, RACER, MotorTrend, Autosport, F1 Racing magazine, Motorsport Magazine, Formula1.com, Lamborghini.com, TopGear.com, Blackbird Automotive Journal, Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated & ESPN and many others. Named Motorsport Photographer of the Year in 2019 by the National Motorsports Press Association, Jamey currently does freelance work supplying racing and marketing imagery to some of the most respected automotive brands, photographers, agencies and racing teams and drivers across the world including: Lamborghini & Lamborghini Squadra Corse, Ferrari, Ducati, Audi Canada, Acura, Red Bull, Ford, Bentley, Goodyear, PUMA, MOTUL, RM Sotheby’s, Aston Martin Racing, Manor Racing F1 team, Force India Formula 1 team, Renault Formula 1 team, Alpine Formula 1 Team, Williams Formula 1 team, Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Macau Grand Prix and many more. Though primarily sticking to the motor racing and automotive world, Jamey has photographed a diverse range of sporting assignments from professional swimming, to the Kentucky Derby & Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing World Championships, NFL games, US Women’s National team soccer, and of course the fast-paced world of NASCAR, World Endurance Championship, Formula E, IMSA Weathertech Championship, NHRA, Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Indycar & the Indy 500, MotoGP, 24 hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Nürburgring, more than 35 Formula 1 races, and a little bit of everything in between! Jamey has been the staff photographer for successful Charlotte based luxury print magazine, QC Exclusive and Discover the Carolinas since 2014 and is a sponsored LEXAR Elite Artist. Join award winning photographer, and LEXAR Elite Artist, Jamey Price and me as we peek into his world of F1 Motorsports Photography, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Jamey Website: jameypricephoto.com Instagram: @jameypricephoto Facebook: @jameyprice Twitter: @jameypricephoto YouTube: @jameypricephoto Jamey’s Book Chasing: Racing Life in England and Ireland: jameyprice.photoshelter.com Jamey’s Photographer Picks Chris Burkard: chrisburkard.com | @chrisburkard James Moy: jamesmoy.com | @f1photographer  

Today is a new type of show, its: 10 Questions with… Jesse Feyereisen I have been thinking a lot lately about doing some shows that are a bit different from the normal format. Something just for fun, and shorter than the usual style of shows. I’ve had the “10 Questions” idea for awhile, and while recording a show with Toy Photographer, and Platypod Pro, Jesse Feyereisen (for release on May 4th) I asked if he wanted to be the first guest on this new format. Lucky for me, he said yes! Calling Jesse a “Toy Photographer” doesn’t really cover it. He is a photographer, graphic designer and digital creative based in Wisconsin. While he went to school for Visual Communications, and Television Production, he is sort of visual, jack of all trades, working on everything including websites, print ads, video, photography, and nearly anything digitally creative. At some point, his love of photography brought him to try all sorts of genres, from outdoors and wildlife, to astrophotography, macro, and product photography. When he “accidentally” discovered toy photography he instantly fell in love with it. Accidentally or not, his ability to bring toys to life in his photography ended up catching the attention of the folks at Platypod, and he is now a Platypod Pro. Join Toy Photographer, and Platypod Pro, Jesse Feyereisen and me as we kick off a new series where I ask my guest photographer 10 random questions – some photography related, and some are far from it. Connect with Jesse Website: jessefphotography.com Instagram: @jessefeyereisen Facebook: @jessefeyereisen Twitter: @JesseFeyereisen YouTube: @jessefeyereisenphotography LinkedIn: linkedin.com Jesse’s Print Shop: jessefeyereisen.smugmug.com Toy Photography Book for Charity Stop Wars: A collection of photos produced by over 50 Toy Photographers from across the globe: amazon.com

I first heard about wedding and portrait photographer, and wedding videographer, Andre Brown through my buddy Ant Pruitt’s show “Hands on Photography”, when Andre was on for a Photographers’ Go-To Tip. I knew I wanted to get him on the show, and once I realized he was an Ambassador for StellaPro – an amazing line of lighting – I worked my contacts there to help get him on Behind the Shot. Here’s the thing, Andre’s work is different, it’s unique in a number of ways. The post “Finding My Success by Exploring Light“, for Sal Cincotta’s Behind the Shutter, is a great read, and really helps to understand Andre as a creative.  His overall approach, as he has described it, is “…a high-fashion, editorial photography style. Showcasing my clients, and my culture with style and opulence. Creating drama with light and the absence of light”. What struck me was how he described that he had been “replicating what I saw on the popular wedding blogs. High Key light, light and airy, kind of whimsical”, but that his realization that the presence of black culture on some major sites, and in mainstream publications, was fairly non-existent outside of predominantly black publications like Essence and Ebony. As I read that it was like I was seeing the process of finding yourself – creatively – explained, step by step. We all start by re-creating, or emulating, what we see, or like, or think will work, but at some point (at least for the best out there) we have to find why we are doing this at all, what makes us pick up the camera. Seriously, go read that post. Andre is so talented that he has won awards that I know many have tried and never won. For example, the image we are talking about on this show won the 2019 WPPI Silver Distinction Award, and the 2019 WPPI Wedding Division, Bridal Party Award for Second Place. If you’ve never seen a WPPI competition, it’s tough, damn tough. Oh yeah, that was his first competition! Since then he’s racked up more than I can list. As an educator, Andre is a sought after speaker, and workshop leader. He has been published in outlets including Essence Magazine, Huffington Post, The Knot, Munaluchi Bride, Black Bride, The B Collective Magazine, and Huffington Post, and his work has also appeared on ABC News, and Good Morning America. A few things in Andre’s bio intrigue me, and one in particular makes me think we might be good friends. Andre got his Bachelor of Science in Recording Arts, and at 19 he was the manager of Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Ric Rude. Whoa. His work through that relationship with Ric Rude included, most notably, “Cater 2 U” by Destiny’s Child and hits for other artists including Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Bow Wow, Omarion, Redman and Method Man, to name a few. I am so curious about this part of his history. The part that made me think we may already be friends is the fact that in his spare time he binge- watches episodes of Law and Order. I record re-runs of the original show regularly. Almost 500 episodes over 20 years means I still come across shows I haven’t seen. Join award winning photographer, and Ambassador for StellaPro, Andre Brown and me as we dive into his high-fashion, editorial approach to wedding photography, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Andre Website: AndreBrown.com Instagram: @andrebrownphoto Facebook: @andrebrownphoto TikTok: @andrebrownphoto YouTube: @andrebrownphoto Andre’s Workshops Bokeh Academy: BokehAcademy.co Andre’s Photography Marketing and Sales Solution SnapFlow: snapflow.co Andre’s Photographer Picks Joshua Dwain: joshuadwain.com | @joshua_dwain Karl Taylor: karltaylor.com | @karltaylorphotography Steve’s Whiskey Pick Jack Daniel’s Triple Mash: jackdaniels.com

PRODUCTION NOTE: I unfortunately had some issues with the guest audio on this show, so you will hear some echo at times. My apologies to my guest, and to you – the viewers and listeners. Tim Gerard Barker is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based in Hanoi, Vietnam, who I met through the folks over at Wonderful Machine. As soon as I saw Tim’s work, I knew I needed to get him on the show. When you look at Tim’s portfolio you’ll see photography categories for Hospitality I Hotels and Resorts, Lifestyle, Corporate, Industrial, Portraiture, Travel, Landscape | Aerial, and NGO | Documentary, and trust me…. he’s amazing at all of those. Looking through his work I was immediately struck by some of his commercial lifestyle shots. The detail in how he structures a scene for a client just blows my mind. His understanding of where the goals of a client and the craft of photography meet is next level. He writes about some of his shoots, and reading the post about today’s image was very enlightening. You can find that here, or at the link below, under the subhead “Male Financial Professionals | Hanoi Train Street“. Of course, none of that is surprising. Tim has extensive experience working throughout Asia on a wide range of photography and videography projects. His results are not cookie cutter images either. His ability to capture real people and real places, and the uniqueness of a culture, is refreshing. He manages to convey his stories with a colourful, graphic style that has resulted in numerous awards over the years, with citations in the International Photography Awards, Australia’s Top Photographers and Travel Photographer of the Year. His client list is a who’s who of corporate giants, including Nike, Forbes, Novartis, Discovery Channel, CNN, BBC and more. Please join award winning photographer Tim Gerard Barker and me as we dive into his approach to commercial lifestyle photography, and how he creates the scenes his clients are looking for, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Tim Website: tgbarker.com Instagram: @timgerardbarker Facebook: @tgbarkerphotographyandfilm Twitter: @timgerardbarker Vimeo: @timgerardbarker YouTube: @timgerardbarker4886 Blog Post About This Episode’s Shot: “Lifestyle Photography for a Financial Technology Company” Under “Male Financial Professionals | Hanoi Train Street”: tim-barker-uuum.squarespace.com Tim’s Photographer Pick Andrew Quilty: andrewquilty.com | @andrewquilty Steve’s Whiskey Pick Nikka From the Barrel: nikka.com

Today’s guest, former White House photographer Pete Souza, is a bucket-list item for me. I started Behind the Shot because I am a fan of great photography, or more specifically great photographers. Through the over six years I have been doing the show, I have had a range of guests, in a range of genres, from legends, to people I wasn’t aware of before asking them to be on the show. While I have discovered many amazing creatives through doing this podcast, when I started there were a few specific people I hoped would someday be on the show. Joe McNally checked off one of those boxes last year when he came on for the show Master of Light, and again when he helped with the show on the Best Photo Advice You’ve Been Given. Scott Kelby has now been on a few times, with Insights From Scott Kelby and Timeless Photography. Trey Ratcliff stopped by twice, for Raise Your Dynamic Range and Documenting Burning Man, Christie Goodwin did Fireworks, Ed Sheeran: Memories We Made, and also helped with the Best Photo Advice You’ve Been Given show, and Rick Sammon, David Bergman, and Don Komarechka each have been here too many times to list. Well, today checks off the name I never thought I would get, and excited doesn’t begin to cover what I am feeling. Often described as the White House photographer for the eight years of the Obama administration, Mr. Souza’s career, and influence on the industry, is so much more than that. Pete Souza is a best-selling author, speaker and freelance photographer. His actual title during the Obama years was Chief Official White House Photographer and the Director of the White House photo office. That job alone would instill fear in most photographers, but Souza has done it more than once! He was also the Official White House Photographer for Ronald Reagan. As an author, Pete has written some of the definitive books related to White House photography. His book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, was published in 2017, and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and to date it is one of the best-selling photography books of all time. His 2018 book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions. His most recent book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency, was published in September 2022. This book lets us behind the scenes of the West Wing — and into the Oval Office, the Situation Room, aboard Air Force One, and beyond — in intimate detail. Based on his best-selling books, Souza became the subject of a documentary film, The Way I See It, in November 2020.  If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it enough. It is absolute fantastic. The film takes an unprecedented look behind the scenes of two of the most iconic Presidents in history, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, as seen through Souza’s eyes and camera. As Official White House Photographer for both these Presidents, Souza was an eyewitness to the unique and tremendous responsibilities of being the most powerful man in the world. The film also reveals how Souza transformed from a respected White House photographer and photojournalist to a searing commentator on the importance of having someone with empathy and dignity in the office of the Presidency. In addition to the national political scene, Souza has covered stories around the world. After 9/11, he was among the first journalists to cover the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains by horseback in three feet of snow. While at the Chicago Tribune, Souza was also part of the staff awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for explanatory reporting on the airline industry. As an educator, Pete Souza is Professor Emeritus of Visual Communication at Ohio University, and as a lecturer he is in high demand. He has lectured on his photography at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Carnegie Hall, Harvard University, FaceBook, and in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, India and the United Kingdom. He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, ABC’s 20-20, NBC Nightly News, Morning Joe, Face The Nation, Fox News Sunday, The 11th Hour with Brian Wiliams, All In with Chris Hayes, and The Today Show. His photographs have also been part of group exhibits at the National Archives, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Newseum, and the 92nd Street Y in NYC. He currently has two traveling exhibits, “Obama: An Intimate Portrait” and “Two Presidents: Obama and Reagan”. Pete Souza is one of, in my opinion, the most important photographers of our day, and his award list – that’s too long to include here – backs me up on that. His work is the dictionary definition of storytelling, and capturing that precise moment in a way that lets us all feel like we witnessed something important, or special, or just plain amazing. I will most likely be so nervous during this show that will forget to say this to him, so let me say it here… Pete, thank you. Your work inspires us to be better photographers, to better understand the craft and process, and to see our collective world differently. It’s an honor to welcome acclaimed photographer Pete Souza to the show to discuss his life as a White House photographer, and his image “Hair Like Me”, which he described to me as “a candid and unexpected moment of an ordinary situation but now is symbolic of the Obama presidency”. Connect with Pete Website: petesouza.com Instagram: @petesouza Twitter: @PeteSouza Pete’s Books The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency: petesouza.com Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents: petesouza.com Obama: An Intimate Portrait: petesouza.com Documentary Film Based on Pete’s Books The Way I See It: focusfeatures.com Pete’s Photographer Pick – Look through who he follows on Instagram: @PeteSouza: instagram.com/petesouza Steve’s Whiskey Pick Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel 2021 Special Release Coy Hill High Proof: jackdaniels.com

I often talk about how much I love being a part of the photo community. I have made such amazing friends being around this world of creativity, and today’s show is the product of those friendships. There are times that this community starts to feel like “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, and I love that. A few weeks ago I had Kersten Luts on the show to talk about Creative Portraits & Headshots, and that show happened because of our mutual friend Dave Williams. Dave has been on my show a few times, and introduced Kersten and I because he knew his two friends, both of whom have podcasts, would enjoy chatting.  Well, within a day of recording with Kersten he emailed to introduce me to Nina Welch-Kling, saying he thought she would be an amazing guest on Behind the Shot. That chain of introductions is what made today’s show possible, because as soon as I saw Nina’s work I knew I had to try and get her on the show. Nina Welch-Kling is a New York City-based photographer, originally from a small town in southern Germany. Her background in fine art and architecture combined with a love for roaming the city streets inform her photographic depictions of everyday life. ​ ​She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Master of Architecture from The University of California, Los Angeles. Now living in New York City she continues to explore creative outlets defined by her passion for photography. Looking at her portfolio, her fine art background shows. Her work has feeling, and emotion, built-in. One of her projects, Duologues, instantly jumped out at me. She describes the project this way: I love to wander the streets and observe people. My series, Duologues, records fragments of these encounters. It is a play between two images creating meanings belonging to neither— a discovery process each viewer interprets differently. Reminiscent of the idea of synchronicity, an idea that describes meaningful coincidences, my pairings intentionally produce uncanny relationships. Shooting intuitively and spontaneously, my eyes lock onto the unusual, the outstanding, and even the mundane. Frequently, dramatic lighting shapes the photographs. I collect the unrelated pieces like stems in a wildflower field – disconnected, yet bound together by their place of origin. The visuals seem familiar but particulars will distinguish them from the common. I match the images by playing a game of Memory: finding in each image shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. The rhyming may occur within the major elements in the image, such as the subject, or in minute details that otherwise might go unnoticed. By pairing two photos that occurred at different moments in time, the story that emerges can bring them together. The final sequence feels deeply connected, even though the encounters on the street were random. The idea of doing diptychs based on the connection of shapes, gestures, and symbols in two images is wonderful, and she is a master at these pairings. So much so that choosing the subject for today’s show wasn’t easy. There are some sets that just connected to me on first glance, with color, or movement that draws the eye. Still, after much thought, I asked if we could discuss todays Duologue because the use of shape, shadow, and composition really stuck with me, for days after seeing it. On this episode, I’m joined by New York based photographer Nina Welch-Kling to talk about her Duologues project – a set of images displayed as diptychs with shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. Connect with Nina Website: ninaklingphotography.com Instagram: @ninakling Facebook: @nina.w.kling Twitter: @NinaWK Nina’s Book Duologues: ninaklingphotography.com Nina’s Photographer Pick Harry Gruyaert: harrygruyaert-film.com Steve’s Whiskey Pick The Prideful Goat 6 yr Rye: gianttexas.com Bourbon Real Talk: bourbonrealtalk.com | @bourbonrealtalk

One of the best parts of doing this podcast is getting to see the amazing photography community at work. I mentioned this a few weeks ago when I had Kersten Luts (Creative Portraits and Headshots) on the show. He had been suggested as a guest by my friend, and past guest, Dave Williams ( The Aurora & The Night Sky, The Traveling Photographer). Kersten then referred me to Nina Welch-Kling (Duolougues). Well, we are here today because of another connection. A few months ago I received an email from someone named Aurora, who works with photographer Chris McLennan. They had received a few inquiries after Jeff Cable’s most recent appearance (Real-World Use of the Canon EOS R3, Capture the Action) aired, because Jeff had made Chris his Photographer pick. They were reaching out about possibly getting Chris McLennan on the show. Once again, it’s the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon… if Kevin were a photographer. Getting Chris on the show is pretty exciting for me. He’s a Nikon New Zealand Ambassador, a Lowepro Bags Loweprofessional, a Rab Equipment Ambassador and a Lexar Elite Photographer, and he is widely recognized as one of the best travel pros out there, which makes sense looking at his career. After all, he has been photographing professionally since 1988! Having grown up around adventure sports, Chris spent the early part of his photography career working mainly in the ski industry. That evolved into tourism promotional photography for tourism authorities and operators around the globe. Today, after working in over 60 countries throughout more than 30 years, Chris is also an educator. He organizes and hosts photography expeditions in many exciting locations, such as Alaska in Winter for the Northern Lights, dog sledding and Arctic landscapes, Alaska during Summer for grizzly bears, Botswana wildlife safaris, Mongolia for its vast array of wildlife and nomadic eagle hunters, the many cultures of Papua New Guinea and chartering a private ice breaker in Svalbard to photograph polar bears. Any of these would be such a wonderful adventure. Join Nikon New Zealand Ambassador Chris McLennan and me as we talk about how he made his image of a Mongolian Eagle Hunter, and to talk about travel photography, workshops, and expeditions, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Chris Website: chrismclennanphotography.com Instagram: @chris_mclennan1 Facebook: @Chris.McLennan.Photography YouTube: @ChrisMcLennan Chris’ Workshops and Expeditions New Zealand Workshops: chrismclennanphotography.com International Photo Expeditions: chrismclennanphotography.com Chris’ Photographer Pick Eric Esterle: ericesterle.com | @ericesterlephoto

I am so excited to have David Dewhurst back on the show again! David is one of those legends that I could talk to everyday. His work spans through multiple genres, and has consistently stood the test of time. The first time he was on was for the show on Getting Your Photos Up To Speed. When I learned he was creating a book about his days photographing the golden era of motocross I asked him to come back on the show once it was finished, and here we are. David has been at photography for most of his life. By the age of 15 he was already a working pro, getting paid by national magazines to shoot what he loved – motorcycles. While that was a lesson on it’s own, David loved photography so much that he pursued a formal education as well. He attended a three year course on Industrial and Commercial photography at Blackpool College of Technology in Northern England, and that’s where he learned the subtle art of capturing controlled images. That combination of real world and formal training took David to his first full-time job, as the beat photographer for a regional newspaper. In those days prior to TTL Metering, or TTL flash David learned to be prepared for anything, and in those days we didn’t have autofocus either! Thinking carefully about his exposure, learning how to get the most out of a flash by bouncing it, and taking control of a shoot were just a few of the on-the-job lessons. Always having a plan was another. David knew what he really wanted to photograph, he wanted to get back to motorcycles, so he convinced the newspaper’s owners to actually start a national weekly newspaper about off-road motorcycling. They did, and he was the technical editor, bike tester, and photographer for five years. That drive would land him at Cycle Guide magazine in California. Today, David is a sought after pro, with a successful business in LA, shooting what he has always been passionate about – motorcycles and cars. That passion, and understanding of the subject, informs his every shot. David has had magazine clients that included Car and Driver, Cycle World and Cycle, and his corporate clients included all the major players including Honda, Toyota, Lexus, BMW and Yamaha. These days, David is back at his passion, and has released his new book “Motocross: The Golden Era”. This is the biggest and most in-depth book ever written about the amazing sport of motocross. Four hundred eighty pages about one of the most demanding sports on the planet. Illustrated with six hundred original images by the author and some of the best photographers in the business, that have been beautifully reproduced on heavy paper stock. Join legendary motorsports photographer David Dewhurst and me as we talk about his new book “Motocross: The Golden Era”, while discussing the cover image of Roger De Coster, on this episode of Behind the Shot. David’s Book – Motocross: The Golden Era Website: motocrossthegoldenera.com Facebook: @motocrossthegoldenera Instagram: @motocrossthegoldenera Connect with David Portfolio: dewhurstphoto.com Facebook: @dewhurstphoto Instagram: @daviddewhurst Twitter: @dewhurstphoto David’s Photographer Pick Fran Kuhn: linkedin.com

Rick Sammon has been referred to as the Godfather of Photography, because he is one of the best there is. He jokes that he “specializes in not specializing”, but the reality is that he understands light, his gear, and his subjects so well that he can photograph pretty much anything at a world class level. I’ve learned so much from this guy over the years, and I still learn something almost every time I talk to him. It’s no wonder he is so in demand. His classes on KelbyOne are detailed, and yet easily absorbable. He does workshops around the world, is so popular on this podcast that today is his seventh appearance! Rick Sammon is a legend, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Every time I talk with him I am amazed at how much he enjoys what he does, his photography, educating others, from amateurs to pros, and living life. Along with his wife Susan, Rick is honestly one of the best working today. An award winning photographer, Rick is a Canon Explorer of Light. A tireless, prolific and inspirational image-maker, he is one of the most active photographers I know. His enthusiasm for digital imaging is contagious, making photography fun, creative, exciting and rewarding for others. He even does private coaching.. Rick is also an author, with more photography books than anyone I know to his credit. I even have a small bit in a few of his books. Rick is an avid podcaster, and has built his Photo Therapy Facebook Group into a wonderful resource for photographers of all levels. I asked Rick once how he describes his photography, and he answered “evolving,” I kinda dig that description. He even hesitates to categorize his work. He does it all, and enjoys the freedom of not specializing. With as much experience as Rick brings to the table, this self-taught photographer has many accomplishments – and as Rick suggests, “When you are through changing, you are through”. As many times as Rick has been on the show, I always want to remind people that Rick’s partner is his wife Susan. While Rick seems to get the bulk of the attention, Susan deserves her own. Behind every successful person there is often a spouse, or special person that helps push them, guide them, and in many ways drive the success. I know that is the case for me, and in Rick’s case that is Susan. She is there on his workshops, and she is often a co-author on his books. On this episode, Canon Explorer of Light Rick Sammon returns to talk about how you can get better wildlife photos, as we dive into his photo of the Zebra and Wildebeest crossing in Tanzania. Connect with Rick Personal: ricksammon.com Instagram: @ricksammonphotography Facebook: @RickSammonPhotography Twitter: @ricksammon YouTube: @ricksammon Rick’s Workshops, Seminars, and Coaching ricksammon.com Rick’s Books on Amazon All of Rick’s Books on Amazon Rick’s Classes on KelbyOne KelbyOne Rick’s Photographer Pick John Issac: johnisaac.com

Jefferson Graham is a Manhattan Beach, California based writer-photographer, educator, and the host/producer of the travel photography series “Photowalks with Jefferson Graham”, which streams on YouTube, Tubi and the Roku Network. I first met Jefferson the same day I met Frederick Van Johnson. I drove out to watch him record his Talking Tech podcast, a show he did for USA TODAY when he was one of their tech columnists.  His guests that day were Frederick and tech journalist Mark Gurman. Right away it was obvious that there was much more to Jefferson than just being a tech journalist and podcaster. His photography knowledge was front and center. Fast forward a good number of years and Jefferson is busier than ever. His popular PhotowalksTV newsletter marries tech/photo and travel in weekly installments. As an educator, he is an instructor and frequent speaker for the KelbyOne website (I have a discount code for a KelbyOne subscription on the Discount Codes Page). Jefferson has authored of nine books, including the recent Video Nation, a DIY Guide to Planning, Shooting and Sharing great Video, as well as tomes on infomercial king Ron Popeil, the late TV legend Aaron Spelling and a history of Sin City, Vegas: Live and In Person. He has written and/or photographed for a host of publications, including Rolling Stone, People, Us Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Easy Reader, Esquire and TV Guide. A working photographer, a writer, a podcast host, a video creator, and a darn good guitarist – and that is just the start of knowing my friend Jefferson Graham. On PhotowalksTV he takes viewers to wonderful places, from Southern California to great locations like Dana Point Morro Bay, Cannon Beach, Oregon, Port Townsend, Washington, Madrid, Lisbon, Paris and even all the way to Tokyo. I even had the pleasure of hosting Jefferson for one of his Photowalks series in my home town in Southern CA a few years ago, and it was a blast. I was born and raised here, and yet I learned so much by doing the walk with him. Recently I saw a post Jefferson did, where he talked about using nothing but an iPhone, a few of them actually, for his photowalk in Paris. That connected with me, because years ago I decided that I didn’t want to be “that dad” on family vacations that made everyone stop while I took photos. Starting way back with the iPhone 6, all I have taken on trips is my phone. Have there been times I wished I had a “Real Cameras”? Sure, but overall the experience has been great. I decided to invite Jefferson on to talk about the pros and cons of mobile photography, often called iPhoneography, even though you could use any phone. Join all around creative Jefferson Graham and me as we chat about using nothing but a phone as your camera while traveling, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Jefferson Website: jeffersongraham.net Newsletter: jeffersongraham.substack.com YouTube: @photowalkstv Twitter: @jeffersongraham Instagram: @jeffersongraham Facebook: @jefferson.graham Jefferson’s Podcast iPhone Photo Show: Spotify PhotowalksTV Paris Episode Photowalks in Paris: YouTube PhotowalksTV Episode with Steve Riverside California things to do (2020): YouTube Jefferson’s Photographer Picks Russell Preston Brown: @dr_brown Christopher Michel: christophermichel.com | @chris_michel Jefferson’s Fireworks Video Shown in the Show https://behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Jefferson_Fireworks_Clip_1080.mp4

To introduce the guest on this show I’d like to start by giving a bit of background… The first time I met Troy Miller I was doing a presentation at a local photo group, Inland Empire Professional Photographers and Videographers. I had never been involved in groups like IEPPV, but they had asked me to speak at one of their monthly meetings. The way it was explained to me, after years of having landscape, wedding, and portrait photographers speak, was that they wanted something different. As a music photographer, I knew most of the people there would have no connection to my genre, but within 5 minutes something odd happened. While I was setting up, someone walking in said “Hi Troy” to me. I assumed they’d simply gotten my name wrong, until it happened again. Come to find out, Troy Miller was a real person, and like me he always wore a black beanie. These two people though I was Troy. I wouldn’t know until later what an amazing compliment that was. I met Troy later that night and, in all honesty, my life changed at that moment. Over the years since, Troy has become one of my closest friends, I’d argue… family. That may color my opinions a bit, but much of what I do today has a direct link to Troy. I ended up joining IEPPV because of that friendship, and ended up on the board. I started entering image competitions, and then judging them, at his suggestion. I was able to speak at the PPC Convention and Expo, because Troy told them about me, and that led to me liking the education side of things so much that I now regularly teach workshops. When I left the old network I was on, I had decided that I was done with podcasting. I was not going to re-launch Behind the Shot on my own. In fact, I had zero desire to manage the backend of a podcast. When I mentioned that to Troy his response was straight to the point… “you have to do it”. In fairness, he had to say that about 10 times before I decided to give it a try, but Troy Miller has been encouraging and supportive throughout almost my entire journey in photography. Most importantly, I see images in my head differently than before I met him. So, why did I need this back story before talking directly about Troy? Because he does this for everyone he knows. He helps, mentors, teaches, and encourages people. He is passionate about photography at a level I am not sure anyone else is. That brings me to Troy Miller, The Photographer… Troy is a wedding photographer for a living. Along with his wife Marjorie, they run Imagery Concepts, a successful wedding photography business based in Southern California. He is also a fine art photographer, that loves photographing the world around him. His site spicyjello.com is home to his fire, ice, water, and kelp images, but this is a guy that can shoot anything. I have walked down the Las Vegas strip with him confused at what he’s photographing… I actually couldn’t “see” what he could. I am baffled at the way he sees light. Troy is an educator, lecturer, image competition judge and PPA Master Photographer. He has done a few online classes for my old network, This Week in Photo, and recently released his Capture One 21 Complete course for TWiP Pro members. He has also racked up an impressive list of awards: PPA 2nd Place Grand Imaging Award in Wedding PPA Image Competition Gold Medalist Image chosen to represent the USA in the PPA World Photographic Cup PPC Wedding Photographer of the Year PPC Commercial Photographer of the Year Images in the PPA Loan Collection PPC Expo Digital Café Chair and lecturer IEPPV Wedding Photographer of the Year IEPPV Photographer of the Year My first introduction to Infrared photography was also through Troy. We were at Photoshop World, and Rick Sammon suggested we all head out to Red Rock the next day. I of course asked “what time”, and Rick suggested we pick him up at 4:30am. As a side note, 4:30am is hell to me. I would rather stay up until 4:30 than get up at 4:30. Still, that chance to shoot the sunrise with two of my favorites creatives won, and we went out early the next day. I was fascinated by IR, and I have watched him since as he has created some amazing IR images. Join my friend Troy Miller and me as we explore the world of infrared photography, from the gear required to the different way you need to see the world, and as we take a look at the making of his image Moonrise Over Hearst Castle, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Troy Personal: Fine Art Portfolio: spicyjello.com Twitter: @Jonzinator Instagram: @SpicyJello YouTube: @SpicyJello Glass: @SpicyJello Business: Website: imageryconcepts.com Facebook: @imageryconcepts Instagram: @ImageryConcepts Online Capture One 21 Course Capture One Complete: thisweekinphoto.com Troy’s Photographer Pick Galen Rowell: wikipedia.org Infrared Conversion Site Mentioned by Troy in the Show Spencer’s Camera & Photo: spencerscamera.com (Use the code spicyjello25 for $25 off anything over $200)

When describing Blair Bunting’s photography there are few way to approach it. First of all there is the website bio version, which starts: “Blair Bunting is an advertising photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona specializing in portraits of professional athletes for commercial sports campaigns.” That’s such an understatement, accurate yes, but it doesn’t begin to cover what Blair creates. While known for his portraits of athletes for commercial photography, Blair also creates amazing art from subjects ranging from celebrities to trains. Blair’s career began back in high school with his father teaching him about photography, and early on there was passion for the art. It was his father that gave him his very first camera, a 1972 Nikon F, a piece of history that still sits on Blair’s desk at home. Blair has had the good fortune to shoot campaigns around the globe for a diversified list of clients that range from television shows shot for The Discovery Channel to athletes photographed for Muscle Milk. That early passion for the art still exists today, and leads to opportunities at every turn. In August of 2008 he decided to have his hand at photographing autos, not out of a quest for work, but in an attempt to create some images to put on his walls… He began shooting for Chevrolet two months later. All of this has led to Blair being named as a Canon Explorer of Light, putting him at the absolute top of his field. That early beginning learning photography from his father, for a career that has seen so much success, is mirrored by a quote from Blair on the Canon Explorer’s of Light page: “I am grateful everyday I can go out and take photos, and I consider myself fortunate to have made photography into a career” Even with the success and recognition that Blair has received in the photographic world, he still holds true that his most important legacy will be helping other photographers to be successful in their careers. This is one of the many reasons I am so excited to have Blair on the show. Before recording, or even scheduling the show, we chatted on the phone for a bit. The plan was to discuss picking the image we would talk about, but the conversation was about all things photographic, and talking with Blair felt so natural, like we’d known each other for a while. On set he constantly pushes the idea that everyone is equally important, from the assistant to the photographer. This demeanor and approach towards comfortable shoots has made for clients that return for years. Often describing his own life as, “quite a random existence,” many of his accomplishments have come outside of the photographic field. From being chosen as the honorary commander of a US Air Force fighter squadron to being recognized as an ambassador in the watch industry, his life has been anything but ordinary. However, he says his greatest honor is that of marrying his wife, Erin. Join Canon Explorer of Light Blair Bunting and me as we discuss how he sculpts with light, his image of boxer Mike Tyson, lighting ratios, and a favorite drink recipe of his, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Blair Website: blairbunting.com Blog: blog.blairbunting.com Instagram: @blair.bunting Facebook: @BlairBuntingPhotographer Twitter: @blairbunting Canon Explorer’s of Light: usa.canon.com Blair Around the Internet FStoppers: fstoppers.com Profoto:  profoto.com Adorama: adorama.com Blair’s Photographer Picks Ami Vitale: amivitale.com Robert Capa: magnumphotos.com/photographer/robert-capa Show Mentioned by Blair The Genius of Photography, Episode 3 – Right Place, Right Time: archive.org Blair’s Old Fashioned Recipe Maker’s 46 – 3 Shots Carpano Antica Vermouth – 1/2 to 1 Shot Luxardo Cherries Orange Slice Hand Pressed Sugar Muddle it all together

Let’s start here… Cliff Mautner’s career in photography spans 38 years. Think about that for a minute… 38 years ago Nikon released the world’s first SLR with Matrix Metering, the Nikon FA, and the world’s first camera with a 1/250 sec. flash sync speed, the FE2. Man, we’ve come a long way, and Cliff has been there for all of it. Cliff’s career has included multiple genres. After 15 years and 6000 assignments as a photojournalist with the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as shooting for an eclectic array of commercial clients ranging from Comcast to Subaru, Cliff launched his wedding photography career. After about 1100 weddings or so, he still brings the same passion and intensity with him to each event with an emphasis on creating authentic moments in some of the most difficult light imaginable. His ability to blend his lifetime of experience in photojournalism and commercial photography with his wedding photography is amazing. Browsing through his portfolio quickly reveals a journalistic approach to capturing his client’s most important day. Experience like Cliff’s, and more importantly talent like Cliff’s, comes with recognition. Cliff is a very proud Nikon Ambassador to the United States, and an Ambassador for Light & Motion. He was named one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world by American PHOTO magazine, and has received the Nikon WPPI Photographer of the Year award. He has also has been honored with the International Photographic Council Leadership medal at the United Nations, presented with the WPPI Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a two time WPPI Grand Award winner for photojournalism. Like I said…. talent like this gets recognized. Join Nikon Ambassador, and Light & Motion Ambassador, Cliff Mautner and me as we explore the challenging world of wedding photography, and the art of light painting, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Cliff Website: cmphotography.com Instagram: @cliffmautner Facebook: @CliffMautnerPhotography Facebook Group: Cliff Mautner Education Twitter: @cliffmautner The Lighting and Skillset Bootcamp Website: cmbootcamp.com Nikon Ambassadors: nikonusa.com Light & Motion Collections: lightandmotion.com/collections/camera Ambassadors: lightandmotion.com/blogs/ambassadors Cliff’s KelbyOne Classes Website: kelbyone.com Cliff’s Photographer Picks Dave Black: daveblackphotography.com Mark Edward Harris: markedwardharris.com Larry Price: larrycprice.com Elliott Erwitt: elliotterwitt.com Diane Arbus: fraenkelgallery.com Sebastião Salgado: icp.org Sebastião Salgado Documentary: The Salt of the Earth

I have writer’s block because of my guest. In fact, describing William Snyder is so difficult that I’ve been waiting to write this for two days. I’m ready to give it a shot now, but let me say up front that there is little chance I will be able to convey in writing the talent of William Snyder. Professor William Snyder – yup, he’s a professor – is a four-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and editor. A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, William returned there 27 years after graduating from the Professional Photography program to chair the Photojournalism program. Now, as the Director of the Advertising Photography Program, he continues teaching, and has been chosen as an RIT Outstanding Alumnus, selected for the The Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing, and has won the Frank J. Romano Endowed Prize for Publishing Entrepreneurship. In between his graduating and then returning to RIT in 2008 William had a legendary career in journalism. After a few years at The Miami News, he moved on to The Dallas Morning News. For 15 years he was a staff photographer, winning many top photography awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1989 (along with a DMN reporter and artist) for their special report on a 1985 airplane crash, the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his pictures of ill and orphaned children living in desperate conditions in Romania and, along with fellow photographer and RIT grad Ken Geiger, the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News photography for their photographic coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Moving up the ranks, Snyder served as the Night Photo Editor, Assignments Editor, Metro/Suburban Photo Editor, and Assistant Director of Photography in the DMN’s aggressive Collin County bureau. I hope you are starting to see why telling Williams story is difficult…. his career path is amazing. In 2005 William was named The Morning News’ Director of Photography. In 2006 the DMN staff won numerous awards, including: The Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina; 12 awards in Pictures of the Year International including Photographer of the Year; Four awards in NPPA’s Best Of Photojournalism; and APME Texas Star Photographer of the Year. Again, William Snyder is one hell of a talented photographer, editor, and now professor. I was lucky enough to meet William during this past year’s pandemic. Our mutual friend David Bergman, who’s been on the show himself for the episode Composition, Creativity, and Workflow , and who does the Adorama show Ask David Bergman, along with his Shoot From the Pit workshops, has been doing regular Zoom Happy Hours with his friends. Whenever there is someone there I don’t know I look them up, and when I looked up William I noticed something that stopped me cold… William is the photographer for the legendary band The Who! Holy crap. Looking through his music photography I was in awe. It wasn’t just The Who, it was every damn band I loved growing up. His book, “Join Together (with the band)”  I need to get still, but I will for sure. With clients like Time Magazine, Life Magazine, Sports illustrated, The Sunday New York Times, USA Today, Holiday Inn and more, I could do more shows with William than perhaps anyone I have ever met. I wanted to start strong, and had every intention of talking about a shot from his storied career with The Who, and then something happened – I saw a photo I knew very well. When I mentioned today’s image to William he replied “I have regrets about the situation – I shoulda, coulda, woulda if I had I been really smart”, and right then I knew I wanted to know, no, needed to know, what a “really smart” William would have changed. Join photographer, journalist, editor, educator, professor, and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner William Snyder and me as we dive into what it took to photograph what would become a classic album cover – Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “The Sky is Crying” – on this Behind the Shot. Connect with William Website: williamsnyderphotography.com Instagram: @jointogetherwiththeband William’s’ Book Join Together With The Band: jointogetherwiththebook.com William’s’ Photographer Pick Carol Guzy: Meet a Pro: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist Carol Guzy, via Adorama

It’s the return of Moose Peterson! The first time Moose Peterson was on the show I was pretty nervous. Usually I am trying to calm guests that are nervous about being on a show, but this was different. Moose is a legend in every sense of the word. He’s a Nikon Ambassador, the recipient of the John Muir Conservation Award, a Research Associate with the Endangered Species Recovery Program, and that’s just a partial list. Luckily, my nervousness faded quickly. Moose is such a down-to-earth guy that I was feeling great by the time I hit record. Shortly after that first show, I was at PhotoshopWorld in Las Vegas and saw Moose at a speakers booth. I decided to say hi in person, but I know that sometimes, at shows like that, speakers of Moose’s caliber can be very busy. I was prepared for him to either not remember me, or be too rushed to chat for any length of time, but neither was an issue. Moose remembered me, and we had a great chat about the old warbirds – planes like my Dad flew, like a P40 or a P51D. I grew up with my Dad telling me stories about these classic aircraft. That conversation is part of the reason I have wanted to have Moose back on the show. He’s mostly known for his wildlife, landscape, and nature photography, but Moose is one of the most amazing aviation photographers I have seen. I have had aviation photography on the show before. My friend Scott Dworkin was on for the show “Top Gun Photo Tips“, but Moose photographs a totally different kind of aircraft, classic warbirds. He was the creative producer/photographer of his acclaimed film: Warbirds and The Men Who Flew Them, and his images take you back in time. His use of light in this genre is so special. As an educator he shares his knowledge through his writing, being published in over 143 magazines worldwide, and having authored 29 books. He also lectures across the country to thousands of photographers every year. His current education project is the Moose Peterson Aviation Seminar, and as usual Moose is living on the edge of technology. He will be teaching this seminar both to a live in-person audience, and streaming the seminar at the same time! This seminar is happening just a few days after this show goes live, on July 31, 2021, so act quickly if you’re interested in attending. Join Nikon Ambassador Moose Peterson and me as we take a close look at how he creates his beautiful aviation photos, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Moose Personal: moosepeterson.com Portfolio: moosepeterson.myportfolio.com Aviation: warbirdimages.com Normandy Bound: normandybound.com Facebook: @MoosePeterson Instagram: @MoosePeterson Twitter: @MoosePeterson Moose’s Aviation Seminar The Moose Peterson Aviation Seminar: moosepeterson.com

Everybody loves a good meal, and it seems like everybody is posting photos of their food, but when food photography is done right you can seemingly taste it. That&#8217;s where Freddy Clark comes in, and when he gets his hands on a nice cool adult beverage you will want a drink. Freddy is a New Jersey based beverage and food photographer, and his images will make you hungry and thirsty. I have been lucky enough to get to know Freddy over the past few years. Rick Sammon suggested him as a guest awhile back, and we did a show on food photography, titled &#8220;Tastier Photos&#8221;. Getting to know Freddy has been somewhat of a flashback for me. I have been in radio for about 40 years. When Freddy was fresh out of college he took that same path, as both an on-air personality and production director. After a decade of radio Freddy made a change, he went into tech, which is weird because I am an I.T. consultant &#8220;for a living&#8221;. The parallels between Freddy and myself keep going. His move to photography came with the birth of his daughter, while for me it was when my son was in high school. Freddy tried out various photographic genres, including portraiture, landscapes, street photography, and even wedding photography, before finding his passion in food and beverage. Through Santé Beverage &#38; Food Photography Freddy is now living his dream. He has also moved into the education space, teaching for outlets like Princeton Photo Workshops. I did a class for Princeton earlier this year, thanks to an introduction from Freddy. Along with doing workshops with legends like Rick Sammon, Freddy has also created his own workshops, and his latest is the workshop you may have heard me mention on the show. Freddy can explain it better than me, but the Wanderers Photographic Cultural Experience is designed to be a recurring event. I have described it as an opportunity to experience the people, history, music, and food of a destination city… ALL IN ONE WORKSHOP The first Wanderers Workshop will be Sunday, October 10th, through Thursday, October 14th, 2021 in New Orleans. Freddy will be joined by three other instructors: Ant Pruitt, the host of the Hands on Photography Podcast; Andrew Scrivani, another food and beverage photographer that is a New York Times contributor; and me! This workshop includes a lot, and has very limited space, so check it soon if you are at all interested. Join food and beverage photographer Freddy Clark and me as we grab a drink and examine the refreshing world of beverage photography on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Freddy Website: freddyclark.photography &#124; santephoto.com Twitter: @santephoto Instagram: @santephoto Freddy&#8217;s Classes Website: princetonphotoworkshop.com New Orleans Workshop &#8211; Wanderers Photographic Cultural Experiences Website: wanderersphoto.com Cookbook with Freddy&#8217;s Photos on Amazon A Meal for All Seasons: Anton’s at the Swan Freddy&#8217;s Photographer Pick Rob Grimm: rggphoto.com <img width="150" height="150" src="https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#38;ssl=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#38;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?zoom=2&#38;resize=150%2C150&#38;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?zoom=3&#38;resize=150%2C150&#38;ssl=1 450w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" data-attachment-id="3016" data-permalink="https://behindtheshot.tv/the-alementary/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?fit=864%2C1080&#38;ssl=1" data-orig-size="864,1080" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&#34;aperture&#34;:&#34;11&#34;,&#34;credit&#34;:&#34;Frederick Clark&#34;,&#34;camera&#34;:&#34;Canon EOS 5D Mark IV&#34;,&#34;caption&#34;:&#34;The Alementary&#34;,&#34;created_timestamp&#34;:&#34;1615912782&#34;,&#34;copyright&#34;:&#34;@Freddy Clark 2021&#34;,&#34;focal_length&#34;:&#34;100&#34;,&#34;iso&#34;:&#34;100&#34;,&#34;shutter_speed&#34;:&#34;0.005&#34;,&#34;title&#34;:&#34;The Alementary&#34;,&#34;orientation&#34;:&#34;0&#34;}" data-image-title="The Alementary" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="&#60;p&#62;The Alementary&#60;/p&#62; " data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/behindtheshot.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC-BTS-Gallery-Redo-2.jpg?fit=819%2C1024&#38;ssl=1" />

Damian Strohmeyer is a Boston based photographer that&#8217;s just as comfortable photographing a Super Bowl, as he is shooting a portrait. His body of work spans from fast action sports, like The World Series, The World Cup, The Stanley Cup, The Olympics, and 27 Super Bowls, to commercial or editorial work. I have had a lot of world class photographers on this show, and Damian takes that to the next level. Damian&#8217;s career is like a highlight reel. Throughout his over 25 years at Sports Illustrated magazine he worked on over 2,000 assignments and produced 72 covers. I thought that was a typo the first time I read it. Having 72 SI covers on its own puts you head and shoulders above your peers. It&#8217;s no wonder his work is exhibited at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Damian is a member of the exclusive Canon &#8220;Explorers of Light&#8221; program, a group that includes some of the world&#8217;s most influential photographers. I am always fascinated by the common threads in a photographer&#8217;s portfolio, and in Damian&#8217;s case I am awe struck by his ability to capture the perfect moment. His sense of photographic timing is some of the best I have seen. While in the midst of a live, fast action moment, he has the ability to seemingly slow the moment down, and allow himself to freeze time with his camera at the perfect instant. It&#8217;s amazing. As a live music photographer I have to capture these types of fleeting moments regularly, and yet I feel like I&#8217;d miss the majority of the same moments Damian captures, were I in that situation. On the education side of things Damian does group and individual photo lessons, along with various speaking engagements through the Explorers of Light program. Join photographer, educator, and Canon Explorer of Light Damian Strohmeyer and me as we explore the keys to improving your photographic timing, and discuss his image of a slide into home plate during a game between Oregon State and North Carolina, on this Behind the Shot. Connect with Damian Website: damianstrohmeyer.com Facebook: @damian.strohmeyer Instagram: @damianstroh LinkedIN: @damianstrohmeyer Damian&#8217;s&#8217; Photographer Pick Atiba Jefferson: Atiba Jefferson

St. Louis wedding photographer Sal Cincotta, and his award winning studio, take photography to a level few will ever achieve. Traveling the world to document their client&#8217;s most cherished moments, Sal and his team push the envelope with every shoot. Don&#8217;t take my word for it&#8230; One Eyeland named Sal the #1 Wedding Photographer in the world! When I first saw that I wanted to write more about it, but whatever I wrote seemed to fall short. Being named the top in any field is amazing, but number one in the competitive world of wedding photography? Let&#8217;s just let that speak for itself. While often referred to as a Wedding Photographer, Sal is just as well respected for his work in Fashion, Headshot, and Senior photography. Sal is a Canon Explorer of Light, putting him in an elite group of creatives. He&#8217;s also a double Master of WPPI, a PPA Photographic Craftsman, and a PPA Master of Photography. Profoto named Sal a Legend of Light for his outstanding skill and contribution to the American Photographic Community. When you have a resume like that, your clients tend to match that level. Sal&#8217;s client list includes Microsoft, Proctor &#38; Gamble, the St. Louis Cardinals, and even photographing President Obama at the White House. Contributing to the community, as referenced in the Profoto recognition, is a key part of Sal&#8217;s work. He&#8217;s an author, educator, and the publisher of Shutter Magazine, a source for cutting edge technical and business insights from leading photographers. Join Canon Explorer of Light Sal Cincotta and me as we talk about using perspective and composition to create stronger images, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Sal Website: salcincotta.com Facebook: @salcincotta Instagram: @salcincotta Twitter: @salcincotta Shutter Magazine Website: behindtheshutter.com ShutterFest: shutterfest.com Evolve Edits Website: evolveedits.com

One of the best parts of doing this podcast is the never ending inspiration I see from amazing photographic talents. Sometimes, the guests I get on the show are photographers I stumble upon while browsing the web, sometimes they are part of some bigger organization that introduces me to them, and on a rare occasion they are a suggestion from a someone that watches the show. That last one is the case today. M L Adelman filled out my contact form and wrote: &#8220;Please consider interviewing two time Pulitzer Prize winner, Essdras M Suarez. He retired from photojournalism several years ago and is now giving back teaching others to take their photography to the next level. He is a delightful personality and a very giving photog.&#8221; One look at his website and I knew I needed to get Essdras on the show. Essdras Suarez is a two-time Pulitzer Prizewinning photojournalist, and being a photojournalist isn&#8217;t what many people think. In one interview, Essdras explained that &#8220;as a newspaper photographer you were expected to wear many hats. In addition to being a photojournalist, you were expected to be a travel photographer, documentary photographer, food and product photographer, and a portrait photographer, among other things&#8221;. With that background, he can shoot pretty much anything. If you ask him though, his favorite overall subject is people. It&#8217;s in that space I think his superpower lies. He has an ability to make that which is normal look extraordinary. His career has included covering the war in Iraq, the Columbia Shuttle disaster in 2003, a U.S. backed military coup against Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide, the Indonesia Tsunami in 2004, the Gaza Strip Evacuation in 2006, the Newtown Elementary school shooting in 2012, and the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. Essdras has seen a lot in his over 20 years in the field. He continues to work for outlets such as the Washington Post and ZUMA Press Agency, and his images have been published in publications such as Mother Jones, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Boston Globe, New York Times. Essdras&#8217; list of awards is long, and fully reflects his talent in telling a story in a very special way. This also explains the two Pulitzers. As a sought after speaker and educator, he now also shares his knowledge with others through his EMS Photo Adventures LLC, where he is focused on creating and leading educationally geared, on-site and virtual custom photo programs including educational webinars, and short- and long-term mentorship programs. Join photographer, photojournalist, educator, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Essdras Suarez and me as we discuss his captivating image of Islamic Jihadists in Gaza City, and as we chat about the challenges of photojournalism today, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Essdras Website: essdras.com Facebook: @essdras.m.suarez Instagram: @essdras_001 Twitter: @essdrasmsuarez Essdras&#8217; Photographer Pick Dominic Chavez: dominicchavez.com

If you&#8217;re here then I will assume you are, at a minimum, a fan of good photography. Perhaps it interests you as a craft, or an art, or more likely you are a photographer that wants to improve their skill set. That means you and I have something in common. I love the art of photography, the skill it takes to not only freeze a moment in time, but to know what moment to freeze and how best to freeze it. I am constantly trying to learn more about photography, and in that endeavor I watch a lot of videos and read a lot of articles, only to be disappointed in the quality of both the content and the person delivering it. So, when you find someone that consistently delivers fantastic content, and delivers it in a way that it can be understood by photographers of every skill level, that is special. That is Ant Pruitt. It seems like a recurring theme that an I.T. Pro gets into photography. That describes me, and so many others I know, and I am not entirely sure why it happens. Still, I have an idea. As a geek myself, I often say that if I&#8217;d known photography was geeky when I was younger I would have gotten into it way sooner in life &#8211; and I wish I had. Photography is tech, and if you don&#8217;t believe me just check out my friend Don Komarechka&#8217;s Photo Geek Weekly podcast. I met Ant because I am a fan of podcasts. The first podcasts I every subscribed to, and some of the ones I still never miss, were This Week in Tech, or TWiT, and MacBreak Weekly. In fact, when I started podcasting my dream was always to be on tech podcasts like those. These are two of the many podcasts on the TWiT network created by &#8216;The Tech Guy&#8217; Leo Laporte. Early on it was obvious Leo was into photography. He has a photo segment on his radio show, and when I started taking pictures I used to join in the weekly challenges. Years later the TWiT network started a show called Focus on Photography, and knowing the network I had to check it out. The host was Ant Pruitt, a technology professional-turned photographer, videographer, and content creator. Immediately there was something different, a calmness in the storm that is photography education in the tech age. Over time that show was retired to make way for TWiT&#8217;s current photography show Hands on Photography, where Ant shares tips, tricks, and techniques that can help creatives at every level. Again, it&#8217;s hard to describe a show beyond the content, but if I could explain the brilliance of this show it would go to Ant&#8217;s ability to share knowledge in a way that can be absorbed. Ant was born and raised in South Carolina, and was an enterprise I.T. pro for more than ten years in North Carolina, where he spent most of his adult life. I don&#8217;t know if his ability is tied to his Southern Charm, but everything about Ant feels like home, like family. Eventually, he turned his creativity into a small business, providing writing, photography, video, and post-production services. He handled a range of assignments, including portraits, event photography, social media marketing, and interview videos. He also worked as a freelance writer for TechRepublic, covering consumer tech, enterprise IT, and tips for beginner content creators. A few weeks ago I was editing a show and, having recently had Ant on a Behind the Shot critique show as a panelist, started thinking about the normal Behind the Shot episode he had been on&#8230;. except there wasn&#8217;t one. I emailed him about 30 seconds later to correct that mistake, and here we go&#8230; Join photographer, I.T. pro, writer, blogger, YouTuber, educator and all around creative Ant Pruitt and me as we dive into one of his long exposure images, and the life of being a creative, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Ant Website: antpruitt.com Instagram: @ant_pruitt Twitter: @ant_pruitt YouTube: @antpruitt Hands on Photography Podcast Website: twit.tv Wanderers Photographic Cultural Experiences Workshops &#8211; New Orleans Website: wanderersphoto.com Ant&#8217;s Photographer Picks Joseph Akbrud: josephakbrud.com Bryan Minear: bryanminear.com Merelyjim: @merelyjim

I have been trying to count the number of guests I&#8217;ve had on this show that mentioned Scott Kelby, and each time I lose count. Seemingly everyone I know, and most of those I don&#8217;t know, have learned something from Scott. I know I have. When I first started in photography I watched Scott’s videos, read his blog posts, and absorbed as much as I could from him. His Guest Blog Wednesdays are one of the most amazing resources for photographers, and twice now I have been honored to write a post there. I have had some amazing photographers on this show, people I admire and look up to, but this is different. Scott Kelby is an icon in the photography world, at least to me he is. Yes, I do realize I used the word “Icon”, and I mean it. If you are seriously into photography then you are most likely familiar with KelbyOne, the standard by which all online training is judged. Well, Scott puts the Kelby in KelbyOne. You may also be aware of the Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk – the world’s largest social photography event. Did I mention PhotoshopWorld, or Photoshop User Magazine? He is the force behind those as well. Photoshop Guy, speaker, educator and businessman, Scott built a photography education empire. The first time Scott was on the show, back in 2018 when I was still on the TWiP network, I was so nervous. That show still stands as one of my favorites, aside from the horrible production I had back then. I have wanted to get him back on the show ever since. So many “educators” start to teach and stop creating, but not Scott. He is a creative person, and not just in photography by the way. Scott is an accomplished musician, playing guitar (what an amazing guitar collection he has), bass, drums, and piano. Plus, he is one of the few photographers that seemingly can photograph anything – Any. Thing. Scott’s portfolio includes sections for Travel, Fashion and Beauty, People, The Great Indoors, Automotive, Sports, and Football. Anything he points his camera at seems to crop itself for him, and that is one of the things I love about Scott&#8217;s work. His eye for composition is amazing. Last year, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I had the pleasure of hanging with Scott at NAMM in Anaheim, CA. It was fun to watch a passionate musician walk around and see so many toys. Well, when I asked him to do the show again he said yes, and I am so honored to welcome him back. Join Scott Kelby and me on this episode of the Behind the Shot Podcast as we discuss his approach to Travel Photography, and as he shares some tips that can help you improve your photos, no matter what genre you photograph. Connect with Scott Personal: scottkelby.com KelbyOne: kelbyone.com KelbyOne Live: kelbyonelive.com KelbyOne Insider: insider.kelbyone.com Facebook (Personal): @SKelby Facebook (Business): @KelbyOneOnline Instagram (Personal): @scottkelby Instagram (Business): @kelbyonepics Twitter (Personal): @ScottKelby Twitter (Business): @KelbyOne YouTube (Personal): @scottkelby YouTube (Business): @kelbymediagroup Pinterest: @kelbyone Photoshop World: photoshopworld.com LinkedIn: @kelbyone Scott&#8217;s Books rockynook.com amazon.com Scott&#8217;s Photographer Pick Dan (Dano) Steinhardt on Instagram: @dano_steinhardt Steve’s Guest Posts for Scott&#8217;s Blog Five Lessons Learned from Hosting the Behind The Shot Podcast The Joy of Live Music Photography

The odds are that you&#8217;ve seen Simon Bruty&#8217;s work before, but on the odd chance you haven&#8217;t let me help you understand what you&#8217;ve missed. When discussing the best sports photography today, Simon is one of those photographers that has to be included on any list &#8211; and he usually is, but more on that in a minute. While photographing everything from World Cup Soccer, to Super Bowls and the Olympics, Simon has traveled  the world making iconic images. Sometimes he captures that action shot that makes you feel the moment, other times it&#8217;s a portrait of one of our times most memorable athletes. Simon Bruty is a Canon Explorer of Light &#8211; that&#8217;s one of the most amazing achievements you&#8217;ll find in professional photography. Add to that a client list that includes Rolex, Nike, Reebok, the International Olympic Committee, the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and of course Canon, and you&#8217;ll start to see just how sought after Simon is. In 2016 Simon  was the recipient of the Lucie Award for Achievement in Sports Photography. He has also received awards from the World Press Foundation, Pictures of the Year, and the International Olympic Committee. Circling back to the comment above about lists, The London Observer even chose one of Simon&#8217;s shots for their list of the World&#8217;s 50 Greatest Sports Photographs. That is an achievement that may say more than anything else, Simon Bruty is one of the best there is. While picking the photo for this show Simon sent over an image from the final round of the 2020 Master Golf Tournament, and you&#8217;ve ever watched golf you&#8217;ll know that silence during a shot is key. The announcers whisper, and the fans are treated with &#8220;Quiet&#8221; signs. I have shot on the set of video productions before, where the camera can&#8217;t make any noise at all, and pros that shoot with DSLRs on TV and movie sets regularly use a device known as a blimp to keep their shutter clicks silent. All of that got me thinking about the silent shutter feature that exists in today&#8217;s modern cameras making blimps are a thing of the past. It ends out that the image Simon sent over was shot on a Canon EOS R5 using the silent shutter feature, and as usual, that means I have lots of questions. Join award winning sports photographer, and Canon Explorer of Light Simon Bruty and me as discuss photographing without being heard, and as we take a deep dive into his photograph from the 2020 Master Golf Tournament, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Simon Website: simonbruty.com Instagram: @simonbruty &#124; @anychance_ LinkedIN: linkedin.com Simon Bruty on Canon USA usa.canon.com Simon&#8217;s Photographer Picks Walter Iooss: walteriooss.com Patrick Smith: patricksmithphotos.com Donald Miralle: donaldmiralle.com

I have met more photographers through Twitter than any other platform, and Jeff Harmon is one of those photographers. The wonderful part about Twitter to me is that I can reach out to people I might have never met before social media. It&#8217;s like being able to text someone whose number you might never have. In the case of Jeff, that social media conduit has led to me learning a lot about photography, and the tools and processes behind it. Jeff Harmon is a Utah based &#8220;hobbyist photographer&#8221;, along with his wife Suzie, but the term &#8220;hobbyist&#8221; is clearly mis-leading. Like so many other photographers I know, Jeff is an I.T pro, with a degree in Computer Science to prove it. He spent 20 years as a developer, and for the past 5 years he&#8217;s been doing Information Security &#8211; designing controls to keep the bad guys out of systems. Photography is his passion, and as you will see below, Jeff seems to attack his passion with&#8230;.. ummmm&#8230; passion. Since 2015 he has been podcasting about photography, sharing the things the processes and technical info he&#8217;s learned along the way. This &#8220;hobbyist&#8221; knows more about photography, and the systems we use to create our art, than many of the pros I know that call me for tech help. Today Jeff is involved with two photography related podcasts. Master Photography is a weekly show he does with a few other photographers, and the Photo Taco podcast where he breaks down technical topics into a language an average photographer can understand. I was honored to be a guest on Photo Taco in April of 2019. Join photographer and podcaster Jeff Harmon and me as we dive deep into how captured this 40 image stack of the Milky Way, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Jeff Portfolio: jsharmonphotos.com Instagram: @harmonjeff Twitter: @harmon_jeff Facebook: @harmon.jeff Photo Taco Podcast Website: phototacopodcast.com Steve on Photo Taco: Concert Photography Tips With Steve Brazill Facebook Group: @phototaco Discord: discord.gg/QhQ4zcT Instagram: @phototacopodcast Twitter: @phototaco Master Photography Podcast Website: masterphotographypodcast.com Facebook Group: @ImprovePhotographyListeners Instagram: @masterphotographypodcast Jeff&#8217;s Print Store Deep Herriman Sky: jsharmonphotos.com/landscapes/eec4b5247 Jeff&#8217;s Photographer Suggestion Nick Page: nickpagephotography.com Apps Mentioned in the Show PhotoPills: photopills.com Sequator: sites.google.com/site/sequatorglobal Starry Landscape Stacker: Mac App Store

I&#8217;ve been doing Behind the Shot for a few years now, and I am constantly being introduced to artists that just blow be away. Kelly Robitaille is one of those artists. After my recent &#8220;Pixel Alchemy&#8221; show with Renee Robyn, who is hands down one of the most talented people I know, Renee suggested I get Kelly on the show. Renee has suggested guests to me before, and she&#8217;s never been wrong. The first time was Anya Anti, another amazing digital artist, so when Renee names someone I listen. Kelly Robitaille is an award winning Canadian based commercial retoucher and photographer. It&#8217;s her deep skills as a retouching artist that first struck me, and that has her working for clients around the globe. She has done the retouch work on portraits of some Hollywood&#8217;s biggest stars. As I was looking through her work I came across her own work, from tradition to creative portraits, but the &#8220;Whimsical Waif&#8221; series leaped out at me. It&#8217;s photography meets digital artistry, meets retouching, all on a level I&#8217;ve rarely if ever sen. The series features portraits with exaggerated body form and large eyes, and yet somehow, on the most amazing level, they look real. I wanted to explore one of these images because they show not only great composite skills, but what can be done once you truly understand the elements, skills, and tools used in commercial retouching. Kelly has created a tutorial showcasing how she creates her work, as well as a texture pack with PRO EDU, and has had her artwork featured at the Gallery at KelbyOne. Her goal is to inspire others to step outside the box and to create work that pushes boundaries and tells a story. Join Photographer, artist, and elite retoucher Kelly Robitaille I me as we take a deep dive into her image &#8220;Fork You”, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Kelly Portfolio: kellyrobitaille.com Facebook: @kellyrobitaillephotography Instagram: @kellyrobitaille Kelly at PRO EDU Surreal Retouching with Kelly Robitaille Master Collection: 100 Custom Photoshop Textures

I first met Colin Smith a few years ago at WPPI in Las Vegas. We were both at an after hours party and starting about podcasting and YouTube. Colin&#8217;s PhotoshopCAFE page has over 143,000 subscribers that watch his Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials, which are honestly some of the best you&#8217;ll find.  Mixed in with those lesson you&#8217;ll find his done photography. A best-selling author, and award-winning digital, Colin is known as a pioneer of HDR photography and aerial drone photography. Colin is founder of one of the world’s most popular Photoshop resource sites, PhotoshopCAFE.com, which boasts over 30 million visitors, and he has been nominated 2x for the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Colin&#8217;s skill set makes sense when you look at his background. He was formerly Senior Editor and Creative Director for a magazine, and has over 20 years of experience in the creative industry. As a commercial artist, his clients include Satcchi &#38; Satcchi, Proctor &#38; Gamble, Toyo Tires, Microsoft and several Hollywood entertainment companies. Colin&#8217;s official affiliations include Adobe MAX Master, DJI expert and X-Rite Coloratti Master. He is a regular columnist for Photoshop User magazine, and has been featured in most major imaging magazines including, Computer Arts, Macworld, Advanced Photoshop, Photoshop User, Shutterbug, After Capture, PSD Photoshop, Photoshop Creative, Digital Photographer, Web Designer magazine and a host of others. He has also consulted such companies as Adobe Systems, Edison International, Apple and Disney Studios. When it comes to his digital imaging work, he has been recognized with numerous awards, including, inclusion on Time Magazine’s 12 most beautiful photos of 2017, MacWorld Digital Design and 3 Guru awards at Photoshop World 2001 and 2002. He’s authored 20 books, including the best-selling How to Do Everything with Photoshop (McGraw-Hill/Osborne) and the award-winning Photoshop Most Wanted, as well as being prominently featured in the Hall Of Fame book, New Masters Of Photoshop and New Masters of Photoshop 2 (The only artist featured in both editions). His latest book is The Photographer’s Guide to Drones. As mentioned above, Colin is a fantastic video educator, and as such is also creator of the PhotoshopCAFE series of videos. In high demand across the United States, Colin has presented his Photoshop techniques to photographers and graphics professionals across the nation. He&#8217;s been a speaker at such conferences as Adobe MAX, Photoshop World, WPPI, Imaging USA, PPE, creativeLIVE Photoshop week, Flash Forward, NVision, PIDE, DL Expo, Creative Suite Conference, Cre8, Create Chaos, Deviant Art Summit and many more. In 2012 and 2013 Colin was the featured speaker and producer of 2 Multi-City Tours (Route CS6 and Destination CC) Sponsored by Adobe. Join PhotoshopCAFE&#8217;s founder, drone photography artist, and educator Colin Smith and me as we venture into HDR drone panos, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Colin Personal: photoshopcafe.com YouTube: @photoshopCAFE Facebook: @photoshopCAFE Instagram: @photoshopCAFE Twitter: @photoshopCAFE Colin&#8217;s PhotoshopCAFE Video Servies Personal: photoshopcafe.com/video

On this episode it&#8217;s the return of one of my most popular guests, Don Komarechka. Don is a nature, macro and landscape photographer from in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, and this will be his third appearance on Behind the Shot. In his first appearance we covered the topic Don is probably best know for, his snowflake photography. Yeah, you read that correctly&#8230; actual Snowflakes. You can see that show here: The Art of Snowflakes. For the second show he was on we decided to focus on a more common style of photography Don does, Macro photography. You can find that show here: Improve Your Macro Photography. From auroras to pollen, insects to infrared, much of Don’s photographic adventures help us to see how the universe works. Exploring a world we cannot see with our own eyes is a common thread in Don’s career as a professional photographer. Always science-minded but never formally trained, Don uses photography as a way to explore and understand the world around him. Photographing something unusual or unknown is the perfect excuse to learn something new. Don’s work often pushes up against the technical limitations of modern camera equipment and the physical limitations of light itself. It&#8217;s in that space between photography and geek that Don seems to be most at home. He even hosts a podcast called Photo Geek Weekly, which I have had the honor of being a guest on a few times (and it is honestly one of my favorite things to do). When you browse through Don Komarechka’s work you may have the feeling you are not doing enough with your photography. I know I do. His work is something unique and special. Part photography, part science experiment. One of the things I truly love about Don is his total openness to the process. He will share anything to help people understand his craft. He shows behind the scenes shots often, and on the macro episode we did he even shared his raw files to convince someone that the bee was alive and real. Don is honestly one of the coolest photographers I know, and I hope you enjoy the direction we head today. Join macro photographer Don Komarechka and me as we explore his image &#8220;Essence of Reverie&#8221;, a water droplet refraction image using a small wildflower seed, and a flower, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Don Full Portfolio: donkom.ca Snowflake Portfolio: skycrystals.ca Photo Geek Weekly Podcast: photogeekweekly.com Workshops: donkom.ca/workshops Facebook: @donkomphoto Instagram: @donkomphoto Twitter: @donkom Flickr: @donkom 500px: @donkom

I can&#8217;t believe this is actually happening. Renee Robyn is finally on Behind the Shot. Since most people already know who Renee is, I could probably stop here and call a day. I wouldn&#8217;t need to write anything long, or detailed, or praise her talent at all, and the odds are good you&#8217;d still understand how cool this is. But here&#8217;s the thing&#8230;. I want to write about Renee. The reason I am so excited about having Renee on the show is because I almost had her on once before. In fact, a few years ago we even recorded an episode. Unfortunately that show never made it to release, but now she&#8217;s back! Renee Robyn is a Canadian photographer, and a damn good one, but she also happens to be a master of compositing. I have heard the term Digital Artist, but I like one I found while researching her better&#8230; she is a Pixel Alchemist. A brilliant Pixel Alchemist. Renee travels the world photographing amazing places, as though she is chasing the perfect backdrop for her art. She&#8217;s a treasure hunter, looking for those special scenes to use in her composites. All the while she seems to be studying her surroundings&#8230;. what angles are the clouds at, how does the atmosphere of the scene change as the water or mountains fall into the distance, and how is the light unique. I actually think Renee sees the world differently than anyone else, and it shows in her art. Those real world backdrops become a small part of the uniquely cinematic worlds she creates, and once you&#8217;ve seen Renee&#8217;s work you&#8217;ll recognize it every time. She can merge fact and fiction with a digital precision that few others can, which is why she has worked with industry leading brands like Adobe, Wacom, Corel, Capture One, and Intel. Let me paint a picture of how Renee works&#8230;. she can be in a gale force wind, climbing a fog-shrouded mountain and still make magic. Just as easily she can be in a studio working with one of the world&#8217;s top musicians, and in both cases my guess is she&#8217;d be in her happy place. An expert retoucher, her mastery of color theory, editing, light and shadow is just plain next level, and I am so excited to have her as my guest. Join one of the most talented creators I know, Renee Robyn, and me as we discuss all things compositing, and take a deep dive into one of her amazing images, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Renee Website: reneerobynphotography.com Facebook: @reneerobynphotography Instagram: @reneerobynphotography Instagram Side Quests: @noodlesontheside Twitter: @reneerobynphoto

Last week in Las Vegas was WPPI 2019, and I had the chance to check out some new software, some new hardware, and to make some new friends. If you have never been to WPPI, it’s a conference in Las Vegas focusing on Wedding &#38; Portrait Photography. Before you say something like “I don’t do Weddings or Portraits” let me explain. While it focuses on those two specialties, the conference and Expo offer something for virtually any photographer. I’m a concert photographer and yet I always learn something to improve the band portraits or promo images I make, not to mention I always look for ways to improve my use of flash. For the last few years WPPI has called Mandalay Bay home, and I find it a much better location than the past venues &#8211; with the exception of the old days at MGM Grand.  As usual, the conference had classes on a variety of subjects, from Wedding topics, to posing, lighting, and business practices. While in general the conference gets a great selection of instructors, there were some things I saw this year that I was not a fan of. In doing the video I was torn between really going deep into those areas that bugged me vs just pointing them out and moving on. I opted to go with the later. There were some instructors this year that honestly were not good, but I didn&#8217;t want this to become the &#8220;Presentation Critique&#8221; show. Critiquing someone else&#8217;s performance is a tricky thing, as I am sure people could rip me up sometimes after I have a done a presentation. I really don&#8217;t want the issues I do mention to take over the narrative here. Every conference has some issues, and the main takeaway for me is that WPPI is a very worthwhile conference. The social networking part alone is awesome. That said, if you are reading the majority of your presentation off of your computer then yeah&#8230;. you need some work. If the person I am talking about in this video sees it and realizes it&#8217;s them I am talking about &#8211; even though I do not mention names &#8211;  then please feel free to reach out. I&#8217;d love to share with you some tips for improving the presentation you did. The Expo was big enough, and well lit, but did feel more crowded this year. The vendor selection was varied enough, but not as wide as past years, but as always some of the best instruction comes at the Expo. Every major vendor has a stage and some great presenters. The best of any conference is the networking, and WPPI is no exception. I had the opportunity to run into to old friends, hang out with some great talent, and make new friends. If for no other reason go to WPPI for the social aspect. This year I visited the Canon booth to chat about the new EOS RP Full Frame Mirrorless body, which started shipping the day I was there, and to talk about the Canon photo community RAISE. I am actually really glad I was there to talk about RAISE, because within a week of coming home a friend saw a complaint in another photo community and sent me a copy of that post. The complaint was about the Terms of Usage and shared a quote that looked pretty bad. Luckily, because I had the opportunity to ask some of these questions, I knew it didn&#8217;t look right and researched it myself to find out the entire quote was wrong. It ends out that the person that had posted the complaint about the ToS had copied text from some other ToS and was out there telling people the RAISE ToS said these things &#8211; which it didn&#8217;t. Yup, the text was no where to be found in the RAISE ToS, but it was in the more general Canon Global Services ToS, which wouldn&#8217;t apply here. Once again this proves that the internet will be wrong every time you don&#8217;t check it yourself. Sigma was there as usual too, so I stopped by to talk about the ART series lenses, and in particular a lens I had tried out &#8211; the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM. One of my favorite pieces of software is Camera Bits Photo Mechanic, so I also chatted with the Camera Bits team about the software, and why people to try it. Again, it is a major part of my workflow and I am looking forward the release of Ver 6 on March 25th. Lastly, one of the big parts of WPPI is their Print Competition. While I have never entered, I know a few people that have and I am a huge fan of image competitions. I even judge some here in So Cal on occasion. I think image competitions are one of the best ways to improve your photography, so I asked my friend Kristi Elias to give us some thoughts. Kristi is an award winning photographer, and past judge at the WPPI competition, and her insight may help push you to stepping out of your comfort zone. Go enter a comp, you will glad you did. Join me on this special Behind the Shot as I look back at the 2019 WPPI Conference and Expo, and talk to a few of the key companies.

Marco Larousse is a fine art, street, and documentary photographer based out of Hamburg, Germany. With over 30 years of experience his work encompasses the subtle touch only a a seasoned pro can capture, and I find a common thread in much of his work always reminds me that Marco is an accredited journalist. In many way, photojournalism is the art of telling a story based on a single moment in time, and that is where Marco crafts his work. Marco is a member of FREELENS, a professional organization of photojournalists and photographers, an award winning author, and along with Scott Bourne co-founded PPN &#8211; the Photo Podcast Network &#8211; with he serves as an editor, host, and producer. It was in fact PPN where I first learned about Marco and his work, after being on the PPN Camera &#38; Inspiration show back in the summer of 2018. I knew back then I needed to get him on Behind the Shot. Marco is a passionate photographer, and he can appraise the power and importance of preserving a moment in time, our visual memories, for future generations. As I mentioned above, with Marco story telling is second nature, and the ability to tell a story with a single image is what made photography his preferred outlet to express himself.  With a focus on capturing posed, unscripted moments, and documenting our daily lives he has no trouble staying motivated. His affection and respect for his subjects, influenced by the work of Mary Ellen Mark&#8217;s style, shows in every image. Join photographer Marco Larousse and me as we take a look at how sometimes a shot you can see in your mind may take a while to find in the camera, and how persistence can pay off. Connect with Marco Personal: marcolarousse.com Facebook: @MarcoLarousse1 Instagram: @marco.larousse Twitter: @hamburgcam PPN &#8211; Photo Podcast Network photopodcasts.com iTunes / Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts

This is our second of a continuing series in conjunction with Red River Paper. Red River Paper’s Education program helps photography students by providing high quality photo papers to photography education programs around the U.S. On each of these special shows my guest will be a photography student from one of the Red River Paper Education partner schools. Tied to each of these education episodes we will also do a limited time social media based giveaway of 10 Red River Paper Sample packs, with one of those winners also receiving a 13×19 print of the student’s image from that show. Details on the giveaway, and how to enter, can be found here. For this show we head to New York, and the photography program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, to introduce you to Loise Eisenhart. Loise was born in Switzerland and graduated from High School there with a minor in Arts. She has always been interested in the power of an image and her attraction to photography started pretty early, taking her first photography class at age 9. For Loise, photography became a serious goal when she moved to New York City and began to study it at the Fashion Institute of Technology. From then onwards, she has been constantly shooting to create herself a strong fashion fine art portfolio. Take a look at Loise&#8217;s Instagram account you will see such a strong creative artist. She brings such a fresh look to the Fashion Fine Art genre, with not only unique angles and processing, but a fun and dreamy vision. Join Fine Art Fashion photographer Loise Eisenhart and me as we take a look at her path through photography education and dissect her wonderful abstract image of a fashion model, on this episode of Behind the Shot. Connect with Loise Portfolio: loiseeisenhart.com Instagram: @loiseeisenhart Fashion Institute of Technology Photography Program: fitnyc.edu Red River Paper Premium Photo Paper Catalog: redrivercatalog.com

When I first saw Ian Spanier&#8217;s portfolio I immediately noticed one thing&#8230; he has a complete understanding of light. Ian began taking photographs at six years old, and that early start lead him to majoring in photography in college. He ended up working in publishing as an editor, but making pictures never left him. Having only known 35mm, he taught himself medium and large format as well as lighting. Today Ian is a respected and published artist. His first full book of published work, &#8220;Playboy, a Guide to Cigars&#8221; arrived in cigar shops in November 2009, with the public version hitting retail stores in the Spring of 2010. The book is a collection of his photographs made in six countries, and spanning two and a half years. His second book project was a different subject altogether, and “Local Heroes: America’s Volunteer Fire Fighters,” came out to critical acclaim in the Fall of 2012. &#8220;Right Next Door,&#8221; his latest personal project has been featured on Huffingtonpost.com (here and here), The Daily Mail, and the Platypod Blog, and he&#8217;s not even finished shooting! Along with the books, Ian is a monthly contributor to PDN&#8217;s Photoserve where he shares advice and stories about his experiences. As an educator, he loves to share his experience as a lecturer for Canon, PPA and the NY Photo Expo, B&#38;H, The Sante Fe Workshop (2019) and The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Ian is Westcott Lighting “Top Pro,” a long-time member of LowePro Bags &#8220;Loweprofessionals&#8221; Team, as well as a Brand Ambassador for Hoodman USA and Platypod. The original “Masters of Photography” have always inspired Spanier as they shot what they saw. For him, there is no “one” subject that he photographs; he shoots what he sees. This approach has certainly paid off too. Ian is a regular award recipient of major photo competitions, including Communication Arts, American Photography, SPD, The International Color Awards, The International Black &#38; White Spider Awards, PDN&#8217;s World in Focus, Best of ASMP, Planet Magazine, and Seeing the Light, to name a few. Join photographer and educator Ian Spanier and me as we take a deep dive into his portrait of actor Jeff Bridges, and talk about classic portrait lighting. Connect with Ian Personal: ianspanier.com Facebook: @ianspanierphoto Instagram: @ianspanier Twitter: @ianspanierphoto Ian&#8217;s Books Playboy: The Book of Cigars: amazon.com Local Heroes: Portraits of American Volunteer Firefighters: amazon.com