Please visit us at our new address:
www.briansmith.com/blog
And our new website:
www.briansmith.com
Monday, October 12, 2009
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sony Launches Pro Photographer Program
"The Artisans of Imagery" at PhotoPlus Expo
Brian Smith has been named as one of five photographers to launch Sony’s new professional photographer program, The Artisans of Imagery, which showcases five top professional photographers who have been using their Alpha A900 DSLRs and lenses from Sony. Smith joins Andy Katz, David McLain, Christina Mittermeier and Matthew Jordan Smith. Their photographic works were on display at the PhotoPlus Expo held in New York October 22-24.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Launch - September 23rd
Adobe will be officially launching Photoshop CS4, along with the rest of Creative Suite CS4, on September 23rd.
Any of you sitting on the edge of your seats for the details about nextest version can sign up to view the live webcast at: www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant
Any of you sitting on the edge of your seats for the details about nextest version can sign up to view the live webcast at: www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant
Sunday, August 31, 2008
University of Missouri Centennial Celebration
I'll be speaking at the University of Missouri School of Journalism Centennial Celebration on the topic of Carrying Photojournalism's Practices to the Marketplace
- Time: 3:45-5:00 p.m.
- Date: Thursday, Sept. 11
- Place: 110 Lee Hills Hall
Monday, April 28, 2008
30,000 Miles in 60 Days
Our business has been up in the air the last two months...
Literally.
I just took a look at our latest air miles statements from America, Delta, Northwest and US Air and realized that we've flown over 30,000 miles in the last 60 days.
For fans of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" we've passed the earth's 24,900 mile circumference with plenty of time to spare.
Ah...just like the good old pre-911 days, well except of course that the lines at TSA add an extra 30 minutes or so to each flight...
Literally.
I just took a look at our latest air miles statements from America, Delta, Northwest and US Air and realized that we've flown over 30,000 miles in the last 60 days.
For fans of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" we've passed the earth's 24,900 mile circumference with plenty of time to spare.
Ah...just like the good old pre-911 days, well except of course that the lines at TSA add an extra 30 minutes or so to each flight...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
WPPI - Las Vegas
I'm in Vegas speaking at the WPPI Trade show for Sony Cameras. I recently had a chance to put the Sony Alpha 700 to the test on a few jobs. I can tell you that I like the lenses a LOT. The Zeiss glass reminds me of the medium format lenses that I've used for years. Sony definitely has the right idea. It's ALL about the glass. The Zeiss 24-70mm/2.8, 85mm/1.4 and 135mm/1.8 are all razor sharp, but what's hard to quantify is that not only are they sharp, but they have a great "look" that I've only seen from medium format glass.
I shot Hideki Matsui the with the Sony Alpha 700 a couple days after I got my hands on the camera. We were set up for a portrait shoot and waiting for Hideki when the Yankees PR came up to say he was doing the interview "now" and we might not get him later. Rather than tearing down one of the lights from our big set-up and dragging lighting across the stadium, I simply grabbed the Sony Alpha 700 and the Zeiss 85mm/1.4 and 135mm/1.8 lenses. These were shot in open shade under the stadium with the 135mm/1.8 wide open at 1/60 handheld at ASA 100. For the best quality, I always try to shoot at ASA 100 yet with the camera's image stabilization it was easy to keep every shot razor sharp.
I shot Hideki Matsui the with the Sony Alpha 700 a couple days after I got my hands on the camera. We were set up for a portrait shoot and waiting for Hideki when the Yankees PR came up to say he was doing the interview "now" and we might not get him later. Rather than tearing down one of the lights from our big set-up and dragging lighting across the stadium, I simply grabbed the Sony Alpha 700 and the Zeiss 85mm/1.4 and 135mm/1.8 lenses. These were shot in open shade under the stadium with the 135mm/1.8 wide open at 1/60 handheld at ASA 100. For the best quality, I always try to shoot at ASA 100 yet with the camera's image stabilization it was easy to keep every shot razor sharp.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Dec/Jan Latina Cover - Juanes
The Dec 07/Jan 08 Double Issue of Latina featured my photos of Colombian singer Juanes, who became the first male celebrity to grace the cover of the magazine.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Leaf User Profile
Leaf Digital rolled out their new website last week with a brand new look and they pimp me out with a proile on their Testimonial Page where I talk about the color and look of Leaf Digital files and the advantages of true 16-bit digital capture. I'm a big fan of Leaf backs and their Aptus 75S is like having a handheld scanner that cranks out a 200mb scan every 1.2 seconds...
from Leaf User Profile:
Brian Smith Celebrity and Star Athlete Portrait Photographer
Brian Smith’s 25-year career definitely hasn’t been dull. His broad range of work was honed during his 10 years as a news photographer, culminating in being awarded the Pulitzer Prize. “That was my training ground,” he reflects, “Newspaper photography lets you shoot a lot - a lot of times that means three assignments a day. It was almost like grad school. But I realized during these years that I wanted to spend more time with the people I photographed.”
Converting to Digital
He made the move into magazine shooting and advertising, which gave Smith more time to put into his assignments, while also offering him more resources. He was shooting medium format film with a Mamiya RZ, Mamiya 7 and Fuji 680. He recently made the switch to digital, and has been using a Leaf Aptus 75 for about a year. “I was a tough sell on digital because I wasn’t a convert to digital until I could get the look I was used to from medium format film,” he says, “It wasn’t until I started shooting with Leaf that I felt the same results. You’re back to a shallower depth of field. The sensor size plays a big part in this.” Smith finds that Leaf’s full 16-bit capture more accurately matches the subtle gradations of film. Plus, compared to even high-end 35mm digital, there’s no anti-aliasing filter so the raw captures don’t start out as mush. “I actually dial down sharpening to next to nothing because the sharpness is amazing.”
Speed and Quality
The two biggest things Smith was looking at in considering a medium-format digital back were speed and quality. When working with busy people every second counts. When it comes to capture rate fractions of a second can make the difference between catching and missing a shot. “I tried everything side by side,” Smith says, “and the skin tones were much more realistic with Leaf than with anything else. Other backs had a much more ‘digital’ look. Leaf images were more film-like, which matched the look I wanted to achieve without having to fight the files every time.” He adds that, in terms of bit depth, he can take the file and do amazing color adjustments and that the file integrity holds up well under re-touching. “I’m able to get a lot of
the look I was used to in fi lm without degrading the image.” He uses a Leaf digital back because of the quality it delivers. “It’s a case of when it’s even more important to me than to some of the clients,” he confides. “In general, photographers can see a huge difference even if clients can’t. I use my Aptus to get the quality I want.”
Perfect Partner for Realizing Your Vision
Smith is almost always called for bold, dynamic, and colorful images. When doing a celebrity or an athlete, they’ll dictate the time of the shoot, so he’s found ways to light up his shots, often adding a strobe light. “A lot of what I’m trying to do is somewhat more humorous and playful. Depending on what I’m shooting.” For this he relies on his Leaf back to get the results he needs, even under extreme conditions. Take for example last year’s shoot in the British
Virgin Islands for Time Magazine to photograph flamboyant Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand empire and who’s now expanding into commercial sub-orbital space travel with Virgin Galactic. “With Branson dressed in a spacesuit, we were able to shoot really quickly just as the sun came up,” Smith describes. With rapidly changing light, the Leaf Aptus 75 kept the rhythm going, adding a lot to the speed and the amount of material they were able to shoot. Smith experienced the same when photographing professional athletes, where just as in sports, fractions of a second make the difference between success and failure. When Smith was assigned by ESPN the Magazine to shoot last year’s Home-Run King, Ryan Howard, before a game against the Florida Marlins, he was told that he had only 10 minutes to shoot before batting practice, and had to be packed up and out of there before any other players took the field. “Shooting with a Profoto 7B strobe, the Leaf Aptus 75 outpaced the recycle of the strobes, and I never had to slow down to wait for the back to catch up,” he explains, “so, when my 10 minutes were up, I had everything I needed and more - tight, medium and loose shots of Howard holding his bat and action shots of his home-run swing and follow-through. The quality was incredible. The 33MP back captures even the finest detail - every thread in his uniform. The gloss of the lacquer on his bat looked like glass. Everything the magazine could ask for - priceless.”
Download PDF
from Leaf User Profile:
Brian Smith Celebrity and Star Athlete Portrait Photographer
Brian Smith’s 25-year career definitely hasn’t been dull. His broad range of work was honed during his 10 years as a news photographer, culminating in being awarded the Pulitzer Prize. “That was my training ground,” he reflects, “Newspaper photography lets you shoot a lot - a lot of times that means three assignments a day. It was almost like grad school. But I realized during these years that I wanted to spend more time with the people I photographed.”
Converting to Digital
He made the move into magazine shooting and advertising, which gave Smith more time to put into his assignments, while also offering him more resources. He was shooting medium format film with a Mamiya RZ, Mamiya 7 and Fuji 680. He recently made the switch to digital, and has been using a Leaf Aptus 75 for about a year. “I was a tough sell on digital because I wasn’t a convert to digital until I could get the look I was used to from medium format film,” he says, “It wasn’t until I started shooting with Leaf that I felt the same results. You’re back to a shallower depth of field. The sensor size plays a big part in this.” Smith finds that Leaf’s full 16-bit capture more accurately matches the subtle gradations of film. Plus, compared to even high-end 35mm digital, there’s no anti-aliasing filter so the raw captures don’t start out as mush. “I actually dial down sharpening to next to nothing because the sharpness is amazing.”
Speed and Quality
The two biggest things Smith was looking at in considering a medium-format digital back were speed and quality. When working with busy people every second counts. When it comes to capture rate fractions of a second can make the difference between catching and missing a shot. “I tried everything side by side,” Smith says, “and the skin tones were much more realistic with Leaf than with anything else. Other backs had a much more ‘digital’ look. Leaf images were more film-like, which matched the look I wanted to achieve without having to fight the files every time.” He adds that, in terms of bit depth, he can take the file and do amazing color adjustments and that the file integrity holds up well under re-touching. “I’m able to get a lot of
the look I was used to in fi lm without degrading the image.” He uses a Leaf digital back because of the quality it delivers. “It’s a case of when it’s even more important to me than to some of the clients,” he confides. “In general, photographers can see a huge difference even if clients can’t. I use my Aptus to get the quality I want.”
Perfect Partner for Realizing Your Vision
Smith is almost always called for bold, dynamic, and colorful images. When doing a celebrity or an athlete, they’ll dictate the time of the shoot, so he’s found ways to light up his shots, often adding a strobe light. “A lot of what I’m trying to do is somewhat more humorous and playful. Depending on what I’m shooting.” For this he relies on his Leaf back to get the results he needs, even under extreme conditions. Take for example last year’s shoot in the British
Virgin Islands for Time Magazine to photograph flamboyant Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand empire and who’s now expanding into commercial sub-orbital space travel with Virgin Galactic. “With Branson dressed in a spacesuit, we were able to shoot really quickly just as the sun came up,” Smith describes. With rapidly changing light, the Leaf Aptus 75 kept the rhythm going, adding a lot to the speed and the amount of material they were able to shoot. Smith experienced the same when photographing professional athletes, where just as in sports, fractions of a second make the difference between success and failure. When Smith was assigned by ESPN the Magazine to shoot last year’s Home-Run King, Ryan Howard, before a game against the Florida Marlins, he was told that he had only 10 minutes to shoot before batting practice, and had to be packed up and out of there before any other players took the field. “Shooting with a Profoto 7B strobe, the Leaf Aptus 75 outpaced the recycle of the strobes, and I never had to slow down to wait for the back to catch up,” he explains, “so, when my 10 minutes were up, I had everything I needed and more - tight, medium and loose shots of Howard holding his bat and action shots of his home-run swing and follow-through. The quality was incredible. The 33MP back captures even the finest detail - every thread in his uniform. The gloss of the lacquer on his bat looked like glass. Everything the magazine could ask for - priceless.”
Download PDF
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Does EVERYONE in New York Drink Veuve-Clicquot?
Holy Crap, does everyone in New York drink Veuve-Clicquot???
Wednesday night after my gig at SVA my wife and I end up at Linda Troeller's apartment at the Hotel Chelsea drinking Veuve-Clicquot with her and my good friends Keith Green and David Lehman. An unforgetable esperience hearing about the Chelsea from one of its longest residents. Walking down nine floors to check out the amazing art collection beat any museum in the city.
Then Friday after returning fom Michigan, I had an late afternoon meeting with the leading style magazine which ended in...you guessed it...Veuve-Clicquot...so I gotta ask, does this stuff come in six-packs in the city???
Wednesday night after my gig at SVA my wife and I end up at Linda Troeller's apartment at the Hotel Chelsea drinking Veuve-Clicquot with her and my good friends Keith Green and David Lehman. An unforgetable esperience hearing about the Chelsea from one of its longest residents. Walking down nine floors to check out the amazing art collection beat any museum in the city.
Then Friday after returning fom Michigan, I had an late afternoon meeting with the leading style magazine which ended in...you guessed it...Veuve-Clicquot...so I gotta ask, does this stuff come in six-packs in the city???
ASMP - Michigan - October 25, 2007
ASMP Michigan presentsBrian Smith, President of Editorial Photographers
THE ART AND COMMERCE OF EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Lansing Michigan
The latest stop of Art and Commerce was Lansing, Michigan for the Michigan chapter of ASMP where we drew photographers from three states. Thanks to ASMP chapter president Brendan Ross for chauffeuring me back and forth to the Detroit Airport so I could make my 6 AM flight back to New York...
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