Over the weekend, I was on a shoot on the Brooklyn waterfront. It was very windy outside so I had Alice help secure the light stand so as not to be blown away. While we were changing things up, I thought I’d fire a quick shot of Alice adjacent to the umbrella and have it appear as if she was popping out of the blackness, even though there was plenty of daylight. I set the shutter speed to 1/2000 and wham-o! The ambient was killed and we got the shot. This was greatly facilitated with the aid of the Pocketwizard FlexTT5′s high speed sync capabilities, however there are other ways around this if your flash cannot sync past 1/250th. Just a fun quick shot and I hope you guys get out there and experiment with your speed lites too!

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I met Barry Yanowitz a few years ago thru Flickr and a local group of Brooklyn photographers. Barry’s work thru that time has always been inspirational to me thru his ode to the greatest city on earth, New York City, and the people that he seems to magically capture in his photos.

Barry exercises extreme patience. He scopes his locations and makes a point to return when the light is just right. He waits for those decisive moments where there’s just enough to add to his photograph that takes it from good to great. He understands composition and loves the interplay with lines, shapes, shadows, light and reflections. He’s also not afraid to shoot in the extreme cold or rain.

A native of Coney Island, much of Barry’s work is in and around that part of Brooklyn, however he’s got a bit of a love affair with New York City and it’s diverse neighborhoods, which he exhaustively and beautifully documents in what are times tributes and odes to places that time’s forgotten.

Please enjoy this fascinating conversation with Barry where he candidly discusses his process both in conceptualizing and creating his photographs. We discuss street photography as a art form, the importance of always challenging yourself, how to be patient, the importance or sometimes lack of importance of what gear you use and a whole lot more.

This interview and discussion is for anyone looking for inspiration whether it be in street photography, documentary photography. Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, Barry is someone to watch.

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A couple of months ago, I was approached by Mary Washington University’s Alumni Magazine to shoot the cover and 2-page inside spread of acclaimed New York City Beat Poet, Hettie Jones. The editor and I spoke at length about Hettie’s reluctance to be photographed and that even though I was being hired to do the assignment, she was not certain the piece would even run. Ah, a challenge! How do I win over Hettie and make her not only feel good about being photographed, but also have her look good. I was fortunate to schedule a call with Hettie and we had a great chat. She told me straight out that in all the years of being photographed, she’s hated pretty much every photo of her and much prefers being photographed on the street with her bicycle from afar rather than up close and personal. I mentioned that for the cover and inside spread how some nice environmental portraits of the artist in her workspace would really drive the piece home and and she agreed. It also worked out that she scheduled me to shoot on the same day as the writer would be visiting so as not to demand any more of her precious time.

I got to Hettie’s Bowery apartment building and carried my gear up the 4 narrow flights of stairs to her apartment where I was greeted with all 5 feet of her! I hadn’t accounted for my subject to be so, well vertically challenged, however I knew I would have to do my best to de-emphasize her stature as I wanted to portray this strong, powerful woman in all respects.

Hettie welcomed me in to her home that’s she’s lived in since the 1950′s. Sparse, yet tasteful decor with a very warm feel. This apartment is one of those drool-worthy spaces that location scouts would be all over, however considering how private Hettie is, it’s apparent that I was of the very few that made it across the threshold.

I noticed in her kitchen an incredibly stunning polaroid enlargement that turned out to have been shot in the early 70′s of her kids on their rooftop – which she also has exclusive access to. I toured around the apartment looking for different locations that may be suitable for the portraits. The skylight over the nook by the kitchen table, yes. The long narrow hallway with skylight, yes. The book case with antique lamp, yes. And then I saw her writing desk. Like a command center for someone who’s truly in command of their craft.

Hettie mentioned all of her concerns with being photographed and I took them to heart. I used a small shoot-thru umbrella on a boom to get nice soft light and balanced that with the ambient light in her apartment. We got into talking – about her craft, her kids, her career and she told the most amazing stories as well as read poems from her work and others.

I felt honored to have spent the afternoon with Hettie and thankfully she not only enjoyed the session, but she very much liked my photos. In fact, she told me that I’m the second photographer to ever have photographed her in a way she felt flattering. That was one of the best compliments ever and I felt I had done my job and risen to the challenge.

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I didn’t fully account for the film to “cook” as much as it did and got extremely saturated results. I found it a bit challenging trying to check the polaroid exposures in the bright sun and next time round will split the difference to account for more saturation while the images cook. Either way, I love the tones from the Fujifilm FP100C and nothing beats the look and feel you get with a Polaroid Land Camera.

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I had the great pleasure of chatting with fine-art, fashion photographer, Natalie Dybisz aka Miss Aniela via Skype from across the pond. I first discovered Natalie’s work about a year and a half ago thru her Flickr stream which is filled with amazingly intricate self-portraiture with a twist in addition to her newer fashion experience work. Her imagery takes on an other-worldly look and feel that beside the obvious beauty, leaves a lot to the imagination.

Natalie’s developed her signature style thru Miss Aniela. Her work features beautiful and elaborate visual landscapes involving the human form in what looks to be a theatrical backdrop. Her images blend the real with the surreal, and at times the fluidity of the two are seamless. One really needs to do a double take to fully immerse themselves in her images. There is also a painterly feel to the images – a softness and subtlety that can only be achieved by someone who carefully attends to their craft in the post process.

Please enjoy this fascinating conversation with Natalie where she candidly discusses her process both in conceptualizing and creating her photography. We discuss photography as a business, the importance of social media, balancing personal work and commercial work, the importance of what gear you use and a whole lot more.

This interview and discussion is for anyone looking for inspiration – whether it be commercial photography, fine-art photography, or hobbyists. Natalie aka Miss Aniela, is someone to watch. She defies convention and is carving her own path. This is never the easy route, however nothing great has ever come easily to anyone.

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Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | G+

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In this video, I discuss the killer develop presets in Lightroom 4. There is such a variety of amazingly robust presets ranging from stunning black and white enhancements to incredible color and many in between.

I’ve discussed creating Lightroom presets in the past, however the ones bundled with LR4 should not be ignored. Even if you don’t decide to use them exactly, it’s fun to see how they can be used as a starting point for creatively editing your photos. You can even bundle presets as well as editing further and then creating your own presets based on where your edit takes you.

Lightroom 3 also came bundled with fantastic develop presets, however with Lightroom 4′s new processing engine, the LR4 presets just seem to have that extra oomph.

I find that presets can enhance workflow and help to expedite editing – especially when you are editing multiple images of similar look and feel. I also find that certain presets can be applied universally to specific types of images so it’s handy to hold on to them for those occasions.

Overall, there is no right and wrong to being creative with your edits. I try to not go too far overboard, however sometimes when you push the limits you end up with incredible unforeseen results. So have fun and don’t be afraid to not only try the new presets in LR4, but create some of your own as well.

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