The folks at Pictage have a new product offering that blew my wife and I away – Acrylic Prints. I sent Pictage a photo of our daughter to have them print on acrylic so I could see how it would look. I’ve seen these kinds of prints before and they’re always showstoppers. When we opened the box we were very impressed with the 20×30 presentation. First of all, the colors were spot on. Second of all, the acrylic was clean and cut nicely, no sharp edges, easy to handle. And the hardware was included for easy mounting on a wall. For something as nice as this with “wow” factor, I recommend this creative photo product as an art piece to sell to clients or a wall display you can light up in your studio. It’s beautiful, it jumps out at you, it makes a bold statement. It’s definitely not your usual wall print and something I believe clients will want. A huge thanks to the folks at Pictage for their continued awesome service and support – Jim, James, Craig, and the whole crew, thank you!

Here’s a video of the actual unboxing we took:

Here are some details about these acrylic prints–

Acrylic Prints let your room’s natural light bring out the rich color and intricate detail of the image. A giclée print is face-mounted to a crystal clear acrylic substrate. This process maximizes image clarity and crispness, resulting in an overall effect that’s vivid and modern. All acrylic prints receive polished edges, and can be either floated on a recessed mounting bracket or finished with aluminum stand-offs.

Product Highlights

• 1/4″ thick crystal-clear acrylic substrate with glossy smooth surface and flame polished edges
• Available in 15 different sizes
• Each Acrylic Print is individually packaged in a specially-designed box to ensure safe delivery
• Brushed aluminum standoffs in each corner hold the print 1″ off the wall and give it a sleek finishing touch

Some quick shots of this fantastic creative photo product:

It’s been two years since Alison & Dustin’s awesome wedding at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club.  Since then they welcomed their adorable son Max to the world. Full of curiosity and not wanting to miss anything, Max wanted to explore the open space of Yards Park in DC during his photo shoot with mom & dad. Incredible weather was at hand for the Ranneys’ pictures, although it was quite windy! We had a great time catching up and got some great moments on camera. Enjoy some of my favorites.

The mission of my new blog site, MyPicDaddy, is aimed at educating and inspiring new photographers, particular new DSLR owners. Parents with cameras, camera enthusiasts, and aspiring photographers, MyPicDaddy is for you!  Consumers not only want a nice entry-level SLR, they want to know how to get the most from it.

This is also an effort to separate my “how-to’s” from this blog and keeping my missions on point.  While MyPicDaddy‘s mission will focus on the “how do you do that”, ARMINBLOG‘s mission will continue to share my latest work.

So if you got a new camera and want to know and understand lighting, what accessories to get, where to find good deals, and how to get the most from your camera gear, visit MyPicDaddy to help get you up and shooting!  PLEASE let me know what kind of topics you’d like me to cover to ensure the content stays as relevant as possible.  See you there!

I AM A CAMERA DAD, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT

Yes I am a professional photographer. I am also a dad…. THAT dad. Call me “dad-with-a-camera” or “camera dad”.  My female counterparts may be known as moms-with-cameras.  You know who we are, you know who YOU are. Of course one of our most photographed subjects are our children. We have the fortunate ability to cement the priceless moments on a tiny memory card thanks to the growing popularity of affordable digital SLR cameras (Single Lens Reflex). These great things are more accessible these days and within reach of more and more parents. It’s no surprise that parents happen to be one of the largest market segments of entry-level DSLRs.

MY THREE GOALS WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING MY KIDS

Photography is greek for drawing with light. It’s no surprise then that photography is all about the light, available light or artificial light, it always comes down to the light and understanding the concept and using your own creativity to shape the light.

1. Plug-and-play operation of my camera and flash. Fast setup for faster shooting.
2. Capture them in action because I’ll only have a few minutes of their attention if I am lucky.
3. Use off-camera flash for a hint of dramatic lighting and shaping the direction of the light hitting the subject. But in this shoot, I am mostly using the flash for fill light. On-camera flash is fine but requires certain settings. More on that in another blog.

THE “WHAT” AND “WHY” – PREPARING FOR THE SHOOT

There’s a method to my madness for the shoot, with some equipment you can purchase at B&H Photo & Video online:

• DSLR: Canon 5D Mark II, but any DSLR will do, they’re all quite fast these days.
• For advanced photographers shoot in manual mode. Otherwise “action” or a similar mode will do.
• Use your AF or Auto Focus button, self-explanatory.
• I shoot in manual mode. But for most beginners, your entry-level SLRs have Picture Style Auto, Automatic Lighting Optimizer, Automatic White Balance, Autofocus, and Automatic Exposure. This lets you concentrate on your subjects while he camera does most of the rest for you.
• Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L – wide angle lenses are your friend in most cases ensuring you’ll keep the action in frame. When the kids start running you can capture some great smiles and put back lots of energy in the photo. The more of the scene you can frame, the better you can run with them and shoot! Many DSLRs come with kit lenses like the 18-55mm.
• Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro – long focal lengths from 85mm and up have less barrel distortion and compress the image better, hence why I favor them for portraits. Barrel distortion is a lens term describing images that look inflated, especially at the lens’ widest focal length (e.g., 18mm). My favorite focal length for portraits is 200mm, but that requires you to step back quite a bit. Not conducive to what I’m trying to accomplish with my kids where I need to be closer and give “commands” lol. If you don’t have a long lens, just use the longest focal length you have. For example, just zoom your 18-55mm all the way to 55mm. The more compression you can get the better.
• Lighting: One Canon 580EXII Speedlite or for the Nikon users one of their awesome Nikon SB Speedlights
• Sandisk 8GB compact flash memory card, or if your camera requires it, a Sandisk 8GB SDHC card
• Canon E1 hand strap – if the camera feels too heavy to operate one handed, a hand strap will aid you immensely when you’re shooting one-handed.
• I also use a Canon off-camera shoe cord so I can hold the flash with my non-shooting hand.

As you can tell I am preparing for action with camera in one hand and a flash in the other. When your three kids range in ages 15 months to 9 years old, you have to be ready to move. Especially with my kids who are wise to my ways and will do anything to get pictures over with. Luckily my daughter is still a little vain and will throw in a pose or two for me.

LOCK AND LOAD!

• Attach flash to the hotshoe of the camera with the off-camera shoe cord. This means the flash will fire and operate as if it were on-camera. Technology is great isn’t it? Even my mom could probably do this!
• Set the flash to TTL metering mode, or eTTL for fellow Canon shooters. Then I leave it alone.
  • TTL means “through the lens” meaning the camera measures the light coming through the lens, takes that information to select proper exposure, and control the amount of light emitted from the flash. In short, it is like your flash is in “AUTO” mode.
• Now that everything is connected it’s time to shoot!

I like to shoot wide shots (e.g., the widest focal length on your lens, such as 18mm or 24mm) and tight shots (e.g., zoomed to 55mm or 70mm or I use my fixed 100mm lens). Typically the wide angle is used for the action shots. For the still portraits and head shots I zoom in… IF you can get them to sit still.  Keep in mind I’m referring to my children.  I’ve worked with many other children that are little angels and models, but they too can have a short attention span after 10 minutes or so.  I try to make the shoot fun, talk about their favorite cartoons, talk about my kids and things they or I might have in common with them.  It gets some smiles going and makes me seem like a pretty rad dad that takes pictures for a living

HOW I HOLD AND AIM MY FLASH

Simply extend your flash hand outward and up at an approximate 45 to 90 degree angle to their faces. For the little ones I hold the light and camera low, sometimes in an upward angle to ensure coverage.  Here are some of the photos I shot around outside the house:

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In the next few weeks I will have another parent with me who is inexperienced with this method, or with photography in general.  I hope to have a video demonstration of what I just described her so stay tuned!

- ARMIN

We recently stopped by the National Arboretum so I could see if anything was in bloom. Unfortunately it appears funding and political issues have impacted the upkeep of this usually beautiful place. Nonetheless, I snapped away as the kids had fun running around the famous Capitol Columns.

The harsh shadows from the high sun called for some fill light.  While I usually prefer off-camera lighting, I attached the Speedlite onto my 5D Mark II, switched it to Manual mode at 1/2 power, and adjusted the Speedlite zoom to narrow its beam (e.g., 80 to 105mm).  I also had my Hoya PRO1 Circular Polarizer Filter

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In light of my photography reality show SHUTTER WARS that’s targeted at new photographers I thought it’d be fun to do a little “blind-eye-test” by shooting some comparison photos with a Canon EOS 60D entry-level SLR

I think the 60D is an excellent SLR, especially under $1K. I would choose it over the Rebel T2i/T3i because of the built-in wireless off-camera flash capabilities. But if you’re not interested in wireless control of your flash, the  Canon EOS Rebel T2i

In the photos above it’s hard to tell the difference between the 60D (LEFT) and the 5D Mark II (RIGHT) as far as image quality is concerned.  My reflecting light was a little off in the 5D image but that’s my fault lol.  The image quality from the 60D straight out of the camera is excellent in my opinion. The only drawback for me is that the 60D is still a crop sensor. I am spoiled by the full frame sensor of my 5D where the viewfinders is “WYSIWYG”.  Let’s take a look at the next set of photos….

There’s really not much more than I can say about the 60D. It’s a very capable and affordable SLR.  The fruit bowl test shots show the differences in framing due to the different image sensors, but the image quality looks great in both.  However, I find it odd how similar the 60D is to the Canon Rebel T2i or T3i, and even the 7D.  While they all use the same image sensors resulting in great image quality, other differences are minor to some, but major to others.  The Rebels are more “plasticky” feeling, the 60D more solid, and the 7D even more hefty and larger with some weather sealing to protect it from the elements. If I were to choose a still photo SLR, I’d go for the Canon EOS 7D

Here’s a short video sample taken with the 60D:

If you’re looking for an affordable “entry-level” SLR that produces high quality images, shoots fast, & has full HD 1080p video, the 60D is well worth the investment. But so are the others close to it – the T2i/T3i and the 7D.  It will all come down to what features are important to you as a consumer.  Not everyone will care for the swivel LCD or the extra heft of the 7D.  In the end, the SLR is just a tool, something for anyone to enjoy and learn about photography.  But that’s what you have to do to get the most out of any digital SLR – learn and understand exposure (e.g., aperture, shutter speed, ISO), learn how to maximize your camera’s features, and get the most out of your investment.  After all, the SLR is a tool for your mind’s eye, your imagination.  Run with it!  I hope this mini-review was helpful.  Enjoy a few more photos straight out of the Canon EOS 60D!

You might remember the beautiful Reanna from her wedding at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Which by the way is a fun resort to check out if you haven’t already! While we were there we did spend time enjoying some of the sites. Ah it sure beats the latest freezing temperatures we’ve been dealing with in the DC area lately. Speaking of which….

It was below freezing as we stayed toasty warm inside Union 206 Studio in Old Town Alexandria. But the 25 degree temps did not stop Reanna from wanting the photos on the bay we’ve been talking about since last year. I didn’t want to do the typical maternity shoot and I warned her that there’s a bit of a walk from the car to the little beach, and it was freezing outside, literally. But I was still game and so was she! So after the studio we headed to cliffs in Calvery County, MD to finish up. The water’s edge was frozen ice and the uprooted trees and cliffs almost looked surreal. Thanks to Megan for assisting on location as my grip, hair and wardrobe =)

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It was a fun time in Davidsonville, MD where we took the kids to see Santa Clause at Homestead Gardens just down the road from our house. The kids told Santa to buy me a new lens for Christmas… just kidding! I think they were just happy to chat with the jolly man =)   Homestead Gardens is not only a great nursery but has some of Denise’s favorite Holiday ornaments and decorations. Not to mention the amazing train set they setup for the holidays. Check out the iPhone 4 video that includes stills also taken with the iPhone 4.

Now for some iPhone 4 photos: