I’ve had an open ended project of photographing Rochester, MI. Open ended because Main St. in the downtown area has been under construction since the weather warmed up, and I still need pictures of the main drag. For this project I’ve experimented with various HDR processing. This is what I have so far.

Or view here: http://www.mhicks.me/rochesterset

The second Free Portrait Session has come and gone. Thank you to everyone who came out, and thank you again to The Lunch Cafe for allowing me to use their backroom. It was a little more causal than the first, and twice as fun.  Here are my favorites from the day.

I am planning on having the next one outdoors, sometime in late May. Stay tuned.

Now with more props!

Thanks to the fine folks at The Lunch Cafe I’m able to offer another Free Portrait session, this time on a Saturday. Also, I went out and picked up a variety of fun props to incorporate if you’d like. Looking for a professional portrait, don’t worry, I’ll be packing a solid white background as well.

Here are the details:

I will be taking photos and emailing web resolution (400px X 600px @ 72dpi) size jpgs, for you to use however you’d like. Everyone will receive at least one photo, more if there is time.

When: Saturday, March 24th, 2012 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Where: The Lunch Cafe, 3116 12 Mile Rd, Berkley, MI 48072 - Map

The Lunch Cafe will be open and serving food if you’d like to have lunch or a beverage. Larger sized digital files and printed photographs will be available for purchase after the event. I will provide pricing when I email you your photo(s).

I may choose to use the images in future portfolios, promotional materials, and photography tutorials, both online and/or in printed media. I will NOT sell the images to any third party!

Download the flyer, PDF.

Leave me a comment below with any questions. Hope to see you there.

In case you missed the first one, I’m going to offer another Free Portrait Session. This time I’ll have props and a few different backgrounds, so prepare for a silly good time . Also, I’m looking at having it on one of the last Saturdays in March to accommodate more schedules. More info will be available as I lock in all the details. Stay tuned.

Over the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of “On White” type work. Last week was Free Portrait at The Lunch Cafe, thank you to everyone who made it out. If you missed it, don’t worry, I will be having more in the future. Just follow me here, Facebook, or G+.

The basic to shooting on white are a white seamless background (roll of paper), and at least 2 light sources (3 light sources make it easier). The main light source, which in my case was a 60″ Softlighter II, is used to properly expose my model. The second (and third)  light source is used to brighten the background. Typically having your background light 1 Stop brighter than your main light is a good starting point. So assuming all your lights are the same make and model, and your main light is set at 1/4 power to properly expose your model, setting your background light at 1/2 power will make your background bright white. This is only a starting point, you will probably have to tweak power settings and the distance of the light to the background until you get the results you want.

Here are some of my favorites along with the lighting diagrams to go with them.

Future portraits on white will be in my Portraits flickr set.

I will be taking photos and emailing web resolution (400px X 600px @ 72dpi) size jpgs, for you to use however you’d like. Everyone will receive at least one photo, more if there is time.

When: Thursday, January 19th, 2012 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Where: The Lunch Cafe, 3116 12 Mile Rd, Berkley, MI 48072

The Lunch Cafe will be open and serving food if you’d like to have dinner or a beverage. Larger sized digital files and printed photographs will be available for purchase after the event. I may choose to use the images in future portfolios, promotional materials, and photography tutorials, both online and/or in printed media. I will NOT sell the images to any third party!

Download the flyer.

Leave me a comment below with any questions. Hope to see you there.

…and a Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone’s 2011 was amazing, and may your 2012 be even better.

See you next year!

Yesterday was the first real snowfall for the area near me. I’m not a fan of snow or winter for that matter, but when the snow is fresh, it sure looks beautiful. Not to mention all the Holiday lights everywhere right now.

So I’ve decided to venture out more this winter. I’m not accustom to shooting winter scenes, I expect a lot of mistakes and crap frames. When I do get pics that I like, you’ll be able to find them in my Winter Wonderland Flickr set.

One quick tip that usually works for me when shooting a snow scene. I set the exposure dial +0.7 or  +1.0 stops to keep my snow whiter than gray. Otherwise I’m lightening the file in post.

What is it about instant Polaroid cameras and the images they produce? For me it’s the knowledge that the picture won’t be technically perfect, that allows me to relax and just have fun. Thankfully companies like FujiFilm and The Impossible Project continue to produce film for vintage Polaroids, otherwise I’d have paperweights instead of cameras.

I currently use 4 different vintage Polaroid cameras, each has it’s own charm.

1. EE100 Special
   Folds closed into it’s own protective case.
2. Colorpack II
3. BigShot
   Supposedly a favorite of Andy Warhol. No batteries needed. Takes only head shots, we’ll see about that.
4. One Step Close-up
   A variation of the traditional Polaroid camera everyone had, check your home or the neighbors, bet there is one not to far away.

The first 3 cameras listed use 100 type film. FujiFilm makes color and black & white film that replaces 100 type film for certain Polaroid Land Cameras. This is important, since there are a lot of Polaroid Land Cameras that took 80 type film, and the FujiFilm will NOT fit inside. FujiFilm can be found at Adorama and most other large camera stores. You will want film style FP-100b (iso 100, black & white film), FP-100c (iso 100, color film), or FP-3000b (iso 3000, black & white film) depending on your model.

The Impossible Project makes new 600, Image/Spectra, and SX-70 films. As well as sells some vintage film and refurbished camera. They are constantly developing new formulas and improving the quality of their film.

If you are still not sure what camera or film you might have/want. A great resource for determining which camera takes what film is: Polaroid Passion. They have put together an amazing site that helped me when I first began and didn’t know what I was doing. Their site helped make sure I didn’t buy a Polaroid off eBay that I might not be able to find film for.

Back to the pictures. I’ve created a set of my instant film images on Flickr, a portion of which can be seen below, or you can visit the entire set at: Instant Film / Polaroid / FujiFilm

Enjoy and remember you don’t need to shake your Polaroids.

Happy Veterans Day to all the brave men and women who have served this great country. Thank you!