The day before the evacuation we took a ride down to see (and climb) the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This icon of the Outer Banks of North Carolina is a must-have shot if you spend any time in the area. What started as a beautiful sunny day quickly turned overcast as the outer bands of Irene made their way into the area. This three-shot HDR image processed in Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2.0 and Apple’s Aperture shows the ominous skies only a couple days before the storm made landfall.

As the kids and I walked to the entrance to climb 12 stories to the top of the lighthouse, I shot this…

This is a single exposure processed in Aperture and converted to black and white with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2.0. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better black and white conversion package.

On the way back from the lighthouse, Jen spotted one of the smallest buildings on the island. I turned around to take a look and found one of the smallest post office buildings in the United States.

The Salvo Post Office was one of the smallest in the country. Established in 1901, the original post office was destroyed by an arsonist in 1992. This is the replacement building! I love the little plastic mailbox in the foreground. This image was created from five images and processed in HDR Efex Pro.

Although our time in OBX was short, we had a great time and hope to return next year (probably a bit earlier in the season to avoid future storms).

Hurricane Irene caused significant damage all over the East Coast. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the people affected by the storm.

My iPad

The iPad is an fascinating device and I’m interested to see how the technology world at large will accept this device.  At an entry point of $499, it’s not a no-brainer decision for most.  Of course it depends on your need.  As a photographer, I see this as a must have piece of technology.  Why?  I get to show my work on a beautiful, portable device, to anyone that wants to look.  Remember, everyone we meet is a potential client.  When I’m sitting in a Starbucks with the iPad drinking a Grande Latte waiting for my son’s preschool to let out and someone asks me about the device, I’m going to show them my photography.  When reading a book on the train to visit a client in Philadelphia and someone asks to see the device, I’m going to show them my photography.  In fact, whenever I have the iPad with me and I have the opportunity to show it to someone, I’m going to show them my photography.  I know this works as I’ve been doing it with my iPhone for years.  In Aperture (or iPhoto) I can rate my images.  My portfolio pieces are the only images that get a five star rating.  When I sync my iPhone (now iPad) to my computer, it syncs all my five star images.  I now have an album of all my portfolio pieces.  I can’t tell you how handy this is while teaching a class or meeting a perspective client.  I know that it has intrigued people enough that I’ve gotten new business from it.  Now, I have a screen that blows the iPhone’s screen away (in size anyway).  I’m really excited to start showing the iPad (i.e. my photography) off to anyone that asks.

Sure, there are a number of other reason this device will change my work-life.  I do a great deal of technology consulting and this device is a fantastic way to keep in touch with email, log on to client computers remotely, browse the web, etc.  For my photography business, this will be a part of my higher end wedding package.  I’m going to include a custom engraved (assuming Apple starts doing this) iPad with some of my wedding packages loaded with all of the proofs and final images selected by the bride and groom.  Talk about a high-tech wedding album!  There are some other things I’m working on too, but you’ll have to wait for that.

Well, back to my iPad.  I haven’t had much time to play with many of the features yet so it’s going to be a fun day.  Let me know your thoughts about the iPad or any other technology that is making a difference in your photography in the comments section.

To start off the year we’re pleased to offer a significant discount on our wedding collections.  From now until February 14th (yeah, Valentine’s Day) anyone booking a wedding will receive 15% off the price of one of our wedding collections.  While I recognize a general discount on our services isn’t exactly a new idea (maybe not even a good one!), I think the current economic condition is affecting everyone and a little help certainly can’t hurt.  We’ll give it a try and see how we do.  Please, help us spread the word and let your friends and family know about us, our products and services and how they can contact us (right here at www.RobertTruemanPhotography.com!).  The biggest compliment we can receive is your recommendation.  It means a lot to us and we thank you for spreading the word.

For the blog, I’m hoping to continue to show some of our work, talk about various topics regarding photography and provide a little insight into our lives at RTP.  I love seeing how many of you tune in to read what I have to say.  It’s a little scary!  I’m hoping to continue building interest in the blog and create some good feedback and conversation.

Thanks for a great 2009!  Stay tuned as we have a lot of stuff happening in 2010!

Interesting stuff, but nothing that Earth shattering.  I’m not sure how I personally feel about movie modes being added to SLR cameras.  I’ve never been interested in video,  but that could change with some of these new cameras.  It’s certainly intriguing to use an SLR with fantastic Nikon lenses on the D300s and/or D90.

Thoughts?

Topaz Labs has a great set of inexpensive Photoshop plug ins allowing you to get crazy with adjusting the image (Topaz Adjust), reduce noise (DeNoise), etc.  They recently released Topaz Fusion Express allowing you to use these Photoshop plug ins with Aperture.  Yep!  It’s really cool.  Just right click on your image in Aperture and select Edit…  Topaz Fusion is in the list of editing tools.  Select it and you’ll be prompted for the Topaz plug in you’re looking for.  When done editing, you’re dropped back in to Aperture with a new version of the file.  Pretty slick.

I think the Adjust tool is the most interesting.  With it you can create wild adjustments to your images giving them an unreal look.  I’ve just started playing with it so don’t criticize my images too much!   Here’s a quick example:

For the second shot, I just went wild with exposure adjustments and noise reduction.  I also cranked up on the detail tab.  It’s interesting, but some of their sample images are much nicer.  I’ll keep learning the tool and post something again after I get some practice.

The Topaz Fusion tool is free and there’s a 15% off coupon for their Topaz Suite.  Use coupon code “NEWFUSION” at checkout.  I’d love to see some images so feel free to leave links in the comments below.

That’s it for now!

The day started with introductions to his staff, the models and a couple industry folks followed up with a presentation on his work and a couple good stories.  Without a doubt, Joe is a storyteller and he’s got a million of them!  In fact, The Moment It Clicks, his award-winning, coffee-table/classroom text book is full of them.  The day would be filled with photographing the various models using different types of lighting.  In each case we are shown Joe’s technique for starting with simple one or two lights and building up to more complex lighting.  Each photographer would have the opportunity to shoot the set.

Much of the day used small flash units like the Nikon SB-800 and 900s.  Using various light-modifiers (umbrellas, shoot-throughs, snoots, etc.) we built up the shot.  It’s interesting to see how easy (well, Joe made it seem easy!) it was to get fantastic results from these little units.  I’ve done a bit of work with them myself and have been pleased with the results.

What was really exciting was getting exposure to the big stuff.  Joe’s “bible”, as he calls it, are the Elinchrom Ranger sets.  These powerful lights in combination with various modifiers are extremely versatile for both in studio and on location shooting.  I’d never shot with these before so I had to step up to the plate.  It was surprisingly easy to control the amount of light coming from the Rangers as they have very precise controls for varying the amount in 1/10th f-stop increments.  We were using the Skyport system which replaced the cords going from the camera to the strobes.  Very sweet.  And the light?  You decide…

The next set was another Ranger setup, but using a giant octo box and white seamless background.  The large light source provided by the octo bathes the subject in a beautiful, soft light.  When you need something done, it’s hard to screw up with a giant octo!

Normally with this type of background, I’d remove the darker area at the bottom of the frame.  In this case, I kind of liked the way it provided a reference for her jumping in the air.  Either way, I loved this type of setup.  I’m planning on doing a lot more of this type of photography in the home studio with my SB units and smaller studio lights.  I like the look of the seamless paper.

After more instruction I teamed up with a couple other photographers, a couple SB units a model, Natalia, and set out to make some interesting shots in the old building where the studio was located.  There was an old elevator in the basement that looked fantastic.  After a near-death experience when Natalia leaned on the controls of this old elevator making it rise a few feet (I’m terrified of elevators… yeah, go ahead and laugh!), we took a few shots.  Lighting here was provided by two off camera SB units.

Here, I let a little shadow creep into her eyes giving it a little darker feeling…

Of course, during one of the breaks I found Lauren standing by the windows and couldn’t resist a couple of natural light shots…

The rest of the day was Joe working his magic in different lighting situations.  I’d have loved to shoot more, but the time crunch prevented us from shooting using the lighting equipment.  I took a number of shots of the action, but none that used the set lights.

Unfortunately, the photographer (not me) failed to focus his camera on us, but I still wanted to post this final image of the day.

If you ever get the chance to work with Joe, don’t pass up the opportunity.  It was well worth it!

I’m currently looking to continue this type of lighting study in my home studio.  I’m looking for male or female models that are willing to do TFP/TFCD work.  If you’re willing to spend some time together, I think we’ll both benefit from the images.  Drop me a note at Rob@RobertTruemanPhotography.com.

On another front, the website updates have stalled.  I really want to give the site a new look, but haven’t found anything I like more than what’s currently up.  I’ll probably keep it the same for now and just get more portraits up and expand the galleries sections.  I also need to add the wedding pages.  Fall wedding season is going to be packed!  I’m booking up fast so if you’re interested give me a shout.

Thanks for looking!

In the meantime I wanted to discuss a new little addiction I have – iPhone photography.  Since getting the iPhone, I’ve used the device for everything from phone calls to showing my photo gallery.  I love it, but would I use it over my big, beautiful Nikon with a giant, high-speed lens for photography?  Ummm, yes!

Having a pro-level DSLR camera is fantastic, but it’s not always practical to carry everywhere.  After some nudging from some photo-friends, I started using my iPhone for more and more photography – mostly snapshots.  Now, I’m addicted!  Since the iPhone is always with me, I’m shooting with it all the time.  Snap, snap, snap!  I use it to remember prices of products to shooting the kids doing something unexpected.

What I really enjoy is making the iPhone snaps look different from my standard images.  In steps the application Camera Bag.  This app allows me to take a picture on the iPhone and save it using various presets.  I’ve been using the Instant setting which makes my photos reminiscent of Polaroid snaps.  Neat stuff and it’s always with me!

So remember, it’s not the camera that makes the photographer…

Settling in to the new place has been exciting.  We’ve moved to Skippack, PA, a nice little artsy town with many small shops and restaurants.  Skippack also has the propensity to draw large crowds to stroll its streets during the many festivals it hosts throughout the year.  Surprisingly, there’s only one photographer in town with a shop on the main walk.  Perhaps the town could stand another…

The more weddings I shoot the more I like them.  Sure, it’s really hard work, but there’s something about the atmosphere – nervous energy and excitement.  I have another one or two this month (waiting for confirmation on the second) and I’m looking forward to them.  I’m very much a people person and if you get a fun group for the wedding, the day is a real joy.

[EDIT: Wow, did I post the wrong picture!  Not sure what happened, but the image I posted did NOT look like I expected - completely my fault!  I'm replacing with two of my favorites from that day.]

I’ve done a significant amount of printing over the last month both in house and outsourced.  I’m still extremely impressed with the color and quality my Epson 3800 provides.  It’s just a dream printer for the type of printing I’m doing.  The problem came in when I needed to print multiple size prints.  I use QImage to print.  This software arranges multiple size images on paper in a way that optimally uses the print media.  The prints look great, but my paper cutter destroyed the prints.  Ughhhh.  After a little research I found that the best paper cutters are made by Rotatrim and they’re not cheap!   Now what?

With a bad paper cutter and a short delivery time on the prints, I went to a new online friend – White House Custom Color.  WHCC prints everything from proofs to books to posters all at reasonable prices and with fantastic results.  After a quick couple of test prints (they deliver second day mail!) I was able to reprint my entire order, package in a beautiful box and receive in just two days.  I was really impressed and, best of all, so was my client.  From now on, WHCC gets my printing business.  I still love my 3800, but for multiple size orders this is going to save a lot of time and money.

On a technical note, I recently converted my Mac Book Pro to dual boot with Windows 7.  “Dual booting” allows me to choose which operating system my Mac Book uses upon start up – Mac OS X or Windows 7.  For those of you that aren’t familiar, Windows 7 is the next version of the Microsoft Windows operating system after Vista.  Microsoft has provided a pre-release copy on their website for free download.  You’re able to use this “release candidate” until July 2010.  Be warned!!! After the expiration of the release candidate you need to reinstall Windows 7.  There is no upgrade from this to the released version.

Suffice it to say, I’m LOVING the dual boot option.  While I’ve totally mostly converted to OS X, there are still some tasks with which I need Windows.  While my experience with VMWare Fusion for running Windows virtually has been nothing but positive, sometimes you need all the horsepower a real machine provides.  I’m really exited that my Mac hardware supports Windows 7 extremely well.  If you find yourself a Mac user with a need to run Windows from time-to-time I really like the Boot Camp option for a true Windows environment.

Lastly, I’m working on better defining my communication.  Currently, I have one Facebook and Twitter profile.  I’m going to divide this into a person profile and a photography profile.  I’ll provide more information via Twitter and my Facebook fan page as soon as the changes are complete…

Like the images we display, music is a copyrighted work and can’t be included in a presentation without the appropriate licensing.  Using music without permission is like having someone use your photos in a presentation, ad, or other work without your permission.  I do not allow my images to be used without license or permission so I don’t use copyrighted music.

But that’s hard!  It’s so easy to go to iTunes and find an MP3 from my collection of thousands of songs to use in a presentation.  Since I can’t do that, what do I do?  There are a number of online resources that offer royalty-free music.  I sell some of my work through stock agencies and noticed that iStockPhoto is now offering royalty-free music.  Doing a Google or similar search will find a number of places offering this type of music licensing.

I recently became aware of a new site – Stock20.com.  Stock20 has broadcast-quality music of all types available with royalty-free licensing – you buy a song and you can use it over and over again in your presentations, PowerPoint, broadcasts, websites, etc.  You simply can’t resell, sub license or remix any of the songs.  The pricing is straightforward too – $20 a song.  That’s even a little inaccurate as you get multiple versions of the song in various lengths.  That makes it a lot easier to fit into your work without needing to edit down the length of the song.  In fact, most “songs” contain 10 – 15 versions of the same piece.  Their stuff is good too!

If you’re looking for something like this use this referral link and you’ll get a free song when you sign up (a $20 value!).  There’s no credit card or purchase required to get the free song and there’s no commitment.  There’s also no telling when they’re going to end this promotion!  For full disclosure, I get a free song too when you sign up.  Even without this, I’d recommend the site.

Let me know what you think!

If you’re a landscape photographer and haven’t been to the national parks in the Western United States then make it a priority.  The beautiful rock formations, soaring peaks and big skies are worth every penny you spend to get and stay there.  Utah is especially interesting as it is home to five national parks – Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Capitol Reef National Park.  Utah also claims the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, since it is best accessed through southern Utah. In addition, Mesa Verde National Park is just across the border in Colorado, Great Basin National Park hugs the Nevada border and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park straddles the Utah/Arizona border.  It’s easy to see why Utah is one of the premier places to explore some of the amazing natural resources of this country.

I am lucky to have a good friend in John Clark.  John has logged many hours in the national parks making stunning images and acquiring a deep knowledge to the best places and times for shooting these landmarks.  Up before sunrise and out until after dark, we cruised the roads of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse Point, a Utah state park.  At each turn, John knew exactly what was ahead, where the best vantage points were and how to make the “classic” shot.  I couldn’t ask for a better guide!

Here are a few of my favorites from the trip:

Sunrise from Dead Horse Point – Utah State Park

Mesa Arch – Canyonlands National Park

Green River Overlook – Canyonlands National Park

Tree Near Mesa Arch – Canyonlands National Park

Skyline Arch – Arches National Park

Courthouse Towers – Arches National Park

Shooting the Moon Through North Window – Arches National Park

Hopefully, this gives you a feel for the type of photography that is so prolific in this part of the world.  I’m already thinking about taking a couple weeks to explore this area and the rest of Southern Utah in the near future!