Canon 5D MKIII – Sigma 24-70 F2.8 EX

Upcoming Presentation NFRCC 2013 – March 15,16 & 17

“A Fashion Shoot, from Conception to Final Image”

There are countless variables to go into the making of a great fashion image;  Concept and Theme, Location, Lighting, Model; hair, make-up, clothes and posing, Styling, Post-Processing & Retouching, Photographic Composition and Creativity.  The photographer has to create everything that ultimately appears in the picture. Basically starting with an empty studio or location – a blank canvas.

In this presentation, Garry intends to demonstrate how the use of light can create form, dimension and contrast. As with every other field of photography it’s all about the light. He will also cover model posing/composition and will offer some post-processing tips.

http://www.nfrcc.org/convention/speakers/garry-black

to blog or not to blog

The year is off to a fantastic and a hectic start – Busiest. Winter. Ever!  I have already had several photo shoots, prepared a new program and gave a presentation to the RA Photo Club, organized and booked 3 more Studio Portrait Lighting Workshops,  and of course spent far too many hours in front of the computer. However, one of the things that I haven’t done is post very much to this blog. So much so, that several people have written asking what happened. While I do post often, very often, on my Facebook pages – it is usually only photos.   I have always left my blog for articles, announcements, tips and techniques or reviews.  But I am curious, what would you like to see here? Photos? What other information can I share with you?  What do you want more of?  Drop me a line, either in the comments below or email.

Hope your year is starting off great!

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

http://www.raphotoclub.ca/

Canon 5D MKIII - Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX

This coming Saturday, November 10th, I will be giving the presentation “Seeing the Picture” to the Orleans Photo Club. The presentation will cover: How to use light, tone, shapes, colour, composition and—most important—how to see your subjects with a different eye. It is aimed at developing an awareness of the elements that are required to create images that are emotional, artistically and carefully crafted. Hope to “see” you there!

Spring in London

Every time that I post a photo or an article either on Facebook, Google+ or here, there  are usually some people who will comment or “Like” it.  However, there are also a large number of other people who never comment, which is Okay…but I now know that you are out there.

This past week I was in London Ontario giving a presentation and a 2 day workshop for the London Camera Club. I noticed that quite a few people were using the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX lens. I mentioned to them that I was one of the Canadian Sigma Pro Photographers. To my surprise, everyone already knew that and they had also seen my post about how I loved the bokeh (out-of-focus blurring) that this lens produces.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Greece where I will meet-up with my photography workshop group, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be going back!  Usually, in the past when I have been away teaching I rarely post any photos. But now that I know, YOU are out there I will try to post a few of the photos from the trip.

I have been posting some photos on my two Facebook pages HERE and HERE. If you haven’t already, add me as a friend or “LIKE” my Fan page. If you are not on Facebook, here are a couple of the photos that I have recently posted to those pages.

Sunrise Cabo San Lucas - Mexico

Scotland Workshop - September 2012

Ottawa Spring Workshop 2012

Just Processed - From last year's France Workshop

Studio Photo Shoot Workshop

Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada

The London Camera Club is pleased to have Garry present his seminar “Exactly How I Had Pictured It!” on Saturday April 28th. As a bonus event Garry will lead a casual “Photo Walk”  in the London area on the afternoon of Friday April 27th.

Garry Black is one of Canada’s top selling stock photographers and is widely published. Noted as one of CAPA’s distinguished professionals, this Ottawa photographer leads workshops to destinations around the world as well as in Impressionistic, Landscape, Travel and Fashion Model Shoots.

“Just before you release the shutter what do you see through the viewfinder on your camera (or the LCD screen)?  Are you capturing the feeling, mood, interaction, experience that has occurred between yourself and the subject/scene? Creative photography is about using your vision, the elements of visual design and all of the photographic tools at your disposal to create the image that you see in your mind.

Everyone’s vision is different but there many techniques and visual principals that are common in creating images that help you capture “Exactly How I Had Pictured It!”  In this workshop we will cover the essentials that will help you to create the image that you see. We will discuss composition, visual design, light, angle, lens, perspective and subject matter. As well as Photoshop techniques that will help to make your photograph!”

Limited number of Tickets now available:

Friday afternoon April 27th  “Photo Walk with Garry Black” and  Saturday April 28th Seminar 9:00a to 4:00p $75.00 – Saturday Seminar only $65.00

Friday location – TBA

Venue Saturday:

Free Methodist Church

402 Commissioners Road West

London On

For ticket purchases and payment options please email with subject “tickets” to email:  londonCCImages@gmail.com

6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6. 6.0

I was going through some of my old images, for a presentation and also a photo workshop that I will be conducing for the London Camera Club in late April. When I came across this image. The year was 1984, I shot this on Ektachrome 400 pushed to 1600, and back then there was no such thing as an autofocus camera. They received perfect 6.0’s – do you remember who they are??

Canon 5D MKII - Sigma 85 f/1.4 EX DG

Last Friday, I went on a model photo shoot along with Dave Cross. Dave was back in Ottawa for a couple of days visiting family and also for his “Photoshopotography: Work Smart” presentation at the RA Camera Club. About a week before the shoot, Dave and I were going back and forth with messages about meeting up and getting together for an outdoor photo shoot. Which at the time seemed like a good idea, the weather in Ottawa had been much warmer than normal for this time of year.

Our model for the day was Tania, she has been one of the incredible models that we have had on the Model Photo Shoot Workshops this year.  Accompanying and also driving us around was another Ottawa photographer, Denis Duchesne – thanks Denis! After breakfast we headed up to the Wakefield Covered Bridge, it was cold, freezing cold. There was ice forming along the shore of the river. The warm weather that we had the week before, was now a distant memory.

After braving the cold for a while we then decided to go and shoot in a warmer location, so we headed off to a nearby stable. As we were going inside Dave just happened to mention that he was extremely allergic to horses, and that the only other thing that he was allergic to was cats. I snapped this photo of Dave as we entered the barn, hoping that a horse wouldn’t rub up against him and that a cat wouldn’t jump up on him.  Neither happened, though there were a couple of close calls. It was a great day of shooting and hanging out with friends!

Blue Domed Churches - Santorini, Greece

If there is a secret to taking better photos – This is it!

For nearly 30 years I have earned my living by taking pictures while travelling the world. I have also taught many photography workshops at home and abroad. This has put me in contact with quite a few people and as a result I have had many phone calls and emails asking for my advice on a range of photographic topics. These topics range from where to go in Namibia,  to which camera, lens, tripod or accessory to buy, to how to become a professional photographer. I can understand why people ask me, whether you are a beginner or have been taking pictures for years, the sheer volume of photography information that we need to know and process is quite intimidating.

Now with the information overload from the internet we have access to everyone else’s opinions, thoughts and endless debates about camera equipment, lens resolution, sensor sizes, Photoshop, RAW converters – the list goes on. It is so easy to get lost in all of this information and forget the reason you are taking photographs in the first place. Personally, even though I work with it every day, I find it all very daunting. I can certainly understand how “amateur” photographers feel.

I have one piece of advice which will definitely help in taking and creating better pictures, but it is going to take a major commitment from you. Ignore all of the talk about equipment; it really doesn’t matter what you use to take pictures, the important part is for you  to get out there and shoot. Just keep on shooting, practice in different situations and lighting conditions, review the images then go out and shoot some more. The more you practice the better and stronger your images will be, you will eventually become more observant which in turn improves your photographic vision.

So what does it take to make a strong compelling picture? There are a lot of factors, some of the most important ones are; exposure, composition, the light, the location, the subject, your vision and your imagination. Did you notice there was no mention of equipment or software?