A souvenir (omiyage) shop in Takayama.

Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO

Yeah, I know, I've been the slacker blogger lately- now you can see why!

We got the keys to start work on our new space at the start of February- after about a year of the owner's renovations to the building itself. So, for the past four months, my amazing brother Jeremy (designer/builder) has been working tirelessly to create this masterpiece. He did all the work except for the electrical. Jeni did almost all the painting (walls and floors) and had the vision of the final look and feel of the space- love her!! I did all the cleanup:) and did some of the planning with the city and others involved. I would've loved to be down there every day working too but Stef and I have had to keep the biz going back at the office.

A shot I made last night outside looking in.Jeni and Jeremy finished the floors last night- so cool!
The front area.
The shooting area:


The production room:
The consultation area:
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Written By T. Michael Testi

Most people know of Bryan Peterson's 2004 bestselling book Understanding Exposure in which he explores in detail the relationship of aperture, shutter speed, and how to achieve successful exposures in difficult situations. In his new companion volume, Understanding Shutter Speed, he takes on one of those aspects in depth: shutter speed.

Unless working with still life, every moment offers up the movement of a subject. How that subject is captured brings the moment back to us. In every situation there will be a number of ways to capture that image. The goal of Understanding Shutter Speed is to give you the knowledge to make the best choice. The book 160 pages and is contained in five chapters.

"Shutter Speed Facts & Myths" begins by explaining that within most picture-taking situations you have six possible combinations of f-stops and shutter speeds that will result in correct exposures. This does not mean that each will take the same image, but rather will result in six quality images, each with a different look and feel to it. Also discussed is the affect of ISO on images and how it applies to action photos.

"Fast and Moderate Speeds" examines how to freeze action and how shutter speed affects what you see in an image. Here the author takes you through a number of shutter speeds from 1/100 to 1/1000 and shows you what they really mean in relation to your picture.

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Author: Rich Goldman

Digital illustration is big business these days. A quick look at roadside billboards, club flyers or magazine covers should be enough to convince anyone that the art of the digital designer has never been in higher demand, and its popularity just keeps on growing.

But defining exactly what digital illustration is proves tricky. We all know what the words mean, yet the myriad of ways in which illustration can be applied makes it one of the most versatile of the creative arts and as such, it's pretty difficult to pin down.

With a strong creative vision and the right software, concepts can be articulated in limitless ways; each style opening new doors for expression. The one crucial skill that ties it all together is the need for some innate artistic ability. You don't need to be a virtuoso with a pencil to be good at computer art, but there's no doubt that most professional illustrators are proficient with traditional art techniques.

The basics of image structure are the same across mediums, after all, and with software increasingly able to mimic traditional drawing methods, the transition to digital has become almost seamless. Let's take a closer look at the main branches of digital illustration and discover a little more about how the experts put them together.

Vector art: It's no great accident that vector illustration is currently one of the trendiest and easily recognisable of the digital art disciplines.

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Written By T. Michael Testi

 

After you deal with the technical aspects, the crucial elements that determine the quality and strength of an image are the organization of the elements and their content. It is these elements that make up the art of the photograph. Creative photography is built upon the mastery of these elements.

In The Photograph: Composition and Color Design, Harald Mante, a distinguished teacher of the photographic arts in Germany, explores the principles of line, shape, color, contrast, and design. His goal is to explore composition and design at a much greater depth than is available in most books to date. The Photograph is an oversized book with 280 full color pages and is divided into six chapters.

"The Point" refers to a means of organization in which the relation to the image plane is small or relatively small. A point is static and maintains its location. In this chapter you will explore various arrangements involving the point within an image. These points may be defined by an object, a color, a shape, or even multiple points, but they all draw you in. You will explore the point's simplicity, arrangement, repetition, texture, pattern, and more.

"The Line" is a method organizing an image in an active arrangement. By using lines, you actively draw the viewer's eye through the image, clearly creating movement. Here you will study how forces acting on a line force the eye to something in the

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Written by T. Michael Testi

The amount of power and capabilities in today's digital cameras give you a lot of technical sophistication, but all of these features alone will not guarantee the capturing of a compelling image. To do that, you have to have more than just technology, you must have skills. To do it well you must be one part photographer and one part digital artist.

In Practical Artistry: Light and Exposure For Digital Photographers, Harold Davis' aim is to present the best practices of the craft of photography in the context of the digital era. A great photograph begins with the photographer's understanding of light and proceeds with a good and creative exposure. Practical Artistry is 176 full color pages that are divided into six chapters.

"Understanding Exposure" begins with the exploration of what is an exposure, especially with regard to the capturing of light. Here the discussion is about the relationship of aperture, shutter speed, and light sensitivity - also known as ISO. Here you will learn about the exposure equation, measuring light, and intentional over- and under-exposing of images.

"Working with Aperture" provides you with a solid foundation of understanding what f-numbers are and how f-stops work. You will see how aperture and depth of field relate, how to work with selective focus, when aperture does not matter, and how it relates to macro photography.

"Selecting Shutter Speed" is all about time and how shutter speed is really

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This past week I got the itch to upgrade my old Nikon D70 to a newer model. I get very impetuous sometimes and shop impulsively. This is an example of that as I got swept up in the buzz over the new Canon EOS 450D Rebel XSi. In an impulse I went and bought an XSi and two lenses. From the get go I had problems. It didn't fit in the hand as well as my Nikon. That I could overlook because it is after all a much smaller body. But then I started experiencing many of the focus issues that I now see...

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That's right, I'm a digital shooter too. I think there are plenty of areas where digital and its instant feedback are useful, for example, still life. You can check lighting, composition, focus, depth of field, all within a second and adjust. The more you play with it, the more likely you are to get good results on the first try. No more bracketing shots!

And for learning off-camera lighting, a la Strobist, digital cameras are a godsend. Pop off a few shots and check them to see if your flash is at the right angle and power, and you're good to go. Honestly, I'm lost trying to do bounce flash with a film camera - it's an insurmountable task for me. With digital, just pop a few shots to get it dialed in.

Some people think its lazy, learning via trial and error like this, and not making the attempt to learn the math behind lighting and focus. They may be right, I don't know, but in this era I think you would be insane to use film in many circumstances. I think the shot of Morel mushrooms I've posted here would have been quite difficult to get right on the first try with my big Mamiya camera, but using the instant feedback of digital, I dialed it in.

Now if I wanted to reshoot the shot...