It is always a blast shooting Kevin Burdick (www.pianorockstar.com). He’s wildly expressive, has no inhibitions and is just an all around great guy. And I’m not just saying that. We’ve been friends since high school, made music together then and even some very screwy home movies and music videos. One of them included a scene that almost resulted in Kevin’s death, but instead, thanks to Kevin’s strong neck muscles, and our quick response, we ended up only with a massive rope burn around his neck. Come to think of it, I think we continued filming for a while before we realized he was in trouble. Flailing legs and a red face can either mean great acting, or eminent death…
I’m glad he’s still with us. He has made some great music since then and he’s always been a great friend.
So, this is a fun little set of images to wet your whistle. We first shot a few studio shots and Kevin went to town with the facial expressions. The best way to see them is in connection with each other. Tomorrow I am posting the fantastic images we got from the on-location portrait session, which include Kevin, various umbrellas, lots of wind and a vast empty landscape. Until then, enjoy this funny little set of photos and go listen to some of Kevin’s music at www.pianorockstar.com.
My workshop on the 13th of February in Phoenix sold out in three days. That’s great for me, but there are a lot of people who still want to come, so I have opened up 5 more seats. I think that is all we can fit. If I still get more inquiries about it, then we’ll have to mover the venue to somewhere much larger. So sign up, if you are interested and it you get to the store and can’t find the workshop, then that means it sold out. Send me an email and let me know you are still interested and we’ll look into changing the location.
Thanks to everyone who has already signed up. I am looking forward to this one. Because it is being filmed, I have to be on my best behavior…
I shot portraits of Golf’s Long Ball Champion, Sean Fister on the ASU Kasten Golf Course. He hits a very long ball. He uses a drive he designed called the Punisher and hits Dixon Golf Balls, which are the world’s first recyclable golf ball and a really long ball. If you have been keeping up with my posts, you have already seen the video of my golf lesson with him. Here are a couple shots from our photo session.
Sean can throw the ball up in the air and hit it like a baseball right out of the air. It is absolutely amazing. He has a lot of control over that club and apparently a healthy dose of hand eye coordination.
Did I mention we shot these in the winter. I love Arizona!
Just thought you might want to get brushed up on your golf game.
While I was shooting a portrait of Long Ball World Champion Sean Fister, he offered to give me a little golf lesson, which the film crew got on camera, and now it is in the Dixon Golf You-Tube Promo. Sean Fister is a funny guy. I had a lot of fun shooting the portraits. Now I just want one of his Punishers (his driver) . I hit it, it is a very nice club! My drive was long!
Dixon Golf makes the Earth Ball. It is a long hitting ball that also happens to be the worlds first and only completely recyclable golf ball. Oh, and did I mention that it is a LONG ball? It’s a long ball. Put that Punisher together with the Earth Ball and you’ve got a long drive. (Yes, I golf).
My golf lesson is at 2:20. Let me know what you think of my form.
I just received my copy of Professional Photographer Magazine where I wrote an article on burning and dodging in Photoshop. It is a great article with a great photograph. The reason the photograph is so perfect for the article is that it didn’t need a lot of retouching or manipulation, but still opening it in Photoshop was worthwhile. There are so many subtle shadows and tones that can be enhanced by the process of burning and dodging, a photograph is just better once it has been burned and dodged. My philosophy is very simple: I do not burn and dodge to change the photograph, but rather to enhance the natural shades and highlights that are already there. You can see the final enhanced photograph below and on my portfolio web site at PlattPhotography.com.
Look for the magazine on the racks now. If you don’t know how to burn and dodge your images in Photoshop, or if you are currently burning the actual image layer, you need to read the article. If you are not a photographer and don’t know what I am talking about, it might get a little technical, so let’s just say, Jared wrote a cool how-to-article in Professional Photographer Magazine and his photographs are really great!
The photograph I chose to use for the article was one of my favorite images I shot on a wedding in Rome, Italy. We woke up very early in the morning to get out before all the tourists. This was the first image of the day, the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps are so crowded with tourists and locals during the day that there is no way to take a great photo. So we hit the them just as the sun was rising, as the vendors were preparing for the day, and the carriage operators were preparing their horses. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation to take a beautiful photograph. And let’s face it, who wouldn’t want a wedding portrait on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy?
When looking at this photograph, pay close attention to the incredible detail on the walls and the shutters. All of these details, the stains and the cracks exist on the buildings naturally, but it was the process of burning and dodging that brought them out and made them so vivid. This is the kind of detailed attention that every one of my “Art Prints” receives as I prepare them for my clients. I personal work on every “Art Print” myself and each one is printed under my careful supervision.
