The Digital Photo Guy

Tips About This Website

Hover your cursor over the home page slideshow until the cursor turns into a double-headed, slanted arrow and click the mouse to maximize the photo. The image won’t be as sharp because they’re compressed and resized to smaller dimensions. You can also go forward or backward by clicking the cursor near the  left or right edges.

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Cloud Photos

I stepped outside the other day and was amazed at the clouds above the house. I don’t often see clouds in San Diego and I especially don’t see unusual or interesting cloud formations.

All these were taken within moments of each other but because I faced different directions, the light shifted, causing the colors to be different in each.

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Lessons from a Pin-Up Shoot

These are the best from a “pin-up-style” photoshoot with Tylor yesterday. My personal favorite is the first one in the ’57 T-bird with the red interior (all cars courtesy of Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum). A blue 1950 Studebaker is featured in the 2nd and 3rd photos.

All were lit with 3 strobes. The key light was on a stand and bounced off a Westcott 32″ umbrella. A fill light was set low to emphasize her hair in the T-bird and her legs in the Studebaker. The third strobe was used to add “pop” to the interior of the cars.

All 3 photos were touched up with Topaz Labs Adjust 4 to smooth the skin (not like she needed it) and add “pop”. Readers can try Topaz Labs plug-ins for free and, if they decide to buy, use the discount code “digitalphotoguy” for 15% off.

(I have no financial ties to Topaz Labs, they extend this discount to my readers because I am a recognized Photoshop Elements instructor)

I plan to offer a Pin-Up Shoot Workshop in the Fall. If you’re interested in a 4-hour posing and lighting class for $99, post a comment or send me an e-mail to be notified when it’s ready. I need a minimum of 8 students to schedule the class and book the venue.
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The Good – San Luis Rey Pow Wow

The Mission San Luis Rey Inter-Tribal Pow Wow was a small event but I managed to get some good photos. Having attend a number of pow wows, I had a good sense of when, where and how things would unfold. That allowed me to pick out the best sight lines and backgrounds. Here are some photos:

I used my fallback lens, the Canon 28-135 with a Canon 550EX in manual mode at 1/16.

Also in the Good column, I met Dave Plunkett, the Arena Director who will also be the Arena Director at the Pechanga Pow Wow on July 3-4. Pechange is a huge event with nearly 1000 dancers so knowing Dave will help me get the inside scoop. I also met Al Footracer, the Head Gourd Dancer who allowed me to enter the arena and photograph the Gourd Dance. This is the first time I’ve seen a non-Native American allowed inside the arena so I was thrilled.
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Close but No Cigar

Once again, not all of my entries were accepted for the San Diego Fair. This year, 4 of 5 entries were accepted and the fifth was rejected. See if you agree with the judges. Here are my entries. Post your guess as to which was rejected in the comments section (below).

On the other hand, the number of entries were up slightly from last year. I believe there were 4000 entries this year, up from 3800 last year. About 1/3 were accepted so I guess I’m ahead of the odds. Based on random chance, only 1 or 2 would have been accepted. Of course, being accepted is just the beginning. Now, I wait until June 11 for the results. Someday, I’d like to think I may be in the running for Best of Show.

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Topaz Labs Adjust 4 for Portraiture

This weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph two perfectly delightful sisters at the Deer Park Winery Auto Museum. Nicole works at the winery and brought her older sister Paola. We only had about 40 minutes so it was a bit rushed but, for a POC (proof of concept) shoot, it turned out well. My idea was a hip-hop look to complement their dark Latina complexion, dark eyes and dark hair. Being 20 somethings, the concept worked well for them.

Keep in mind, we didn’t have a MUA (make-up artist) and we were in a dark, cavernous barn-like building crammed with dozens of vintage American convertibles. I wanted to show some of the background but not enough to distract. In the middle photo of Nicole, my fill light, for some reason, didn’t create a catchlight in her eyes. I may try to add one with PS. Tell me how I did overall. Click here to read more