Posts by: Tony

Training Now Available

0 Comments October 26, 2011||Education

For the past few years, people I’ve met have been telling me that if I had a class on digital photography, they would attend.  I’ve listened to them and I’m pleased to say that I have added a new service to my business, training.

I am now doing personalized individual or small group (up to 5 students) training.  This training is fully customizable for the student’s needs and is targeted at the beginning or intermediate photographer who cannot find time for a regularly scheduled class but wants to better their skills.  Click on ‘TRAINING’ in the main menu to find out more info and pricing for this training.

I have also developed and published a new classroom style training course called ‘Introduction to DSLR Photography & Creating Better Photos’.  This course is a hybrid of a digital photography 101 class and a photographic composition class.  It’s designed to be given in four (4) evenings over two weeks and covers some of the technical aspects of photography, what the camera’s buttons and functions do, how to compose images to make them more interesting and what to do with those images after you capture them.  This is presented at a fairly high level so the student won’t get lost.  Click here for more information and to register.

Additionally, I’ve made the book for that course available for purchase by anyone who wishes they could get a copy for reference or self study, including those who can’t find the time in their busy schedule to attend.  Click on the image below to see a preview and to purchase a copy of the book.

That’s it for now, but don’t forget, if you or someone you know has a DSLR or will be getting a new DSLR for the holidays, this course is an excellent opportunity to learn more about digital photography and how to create better photos.  It makes a great holiday gift, too!

 

Shooting for a Class

0 Comments September 23, 2011||Education, Portraits

In the next month or so, I’ll be starting up a beginners course in using a digital SLR camera and how to take better photos.  I’d have thought that with all of the images I’ve taken in and around the Atlanta area, I’d have everything I needed to visually demonstrate the various concepts outlined in the course.  But that wasn’t the case.  To fill in the holes, I placed a casting call on a popular modeling site; Rachael Boone answered the call and the shoot was scheduled.  Two of the concepts we shot were lens perspective and the effects of aperture on the image.

We started in a small square in the Roswell Historic District that’s quiet, has fairly low foot traffic and shops that show in the background. Rachael posed so the shops were to her back and I started across the square from her using a long focal length lens.  The lens perspective effect is seen by keeping the subject, in this case Rachael, the same size in the frame and shoot with a consecutively shorter focal length lens.

This series demonstrates the effects lens perspective has on images.  At 400mm, the image shows the effects of lens compression and it looks as though Rachael is directly in front of the shops.  As the focal length decreases, the images start to show depth and finally at 24mm, it looks as though the shops are very far away.

The lens aperture used to create an image has large effect on the image too.  It creates the depth of field, the area in the image that is in focus, in the image.  Depth of field can bring the total image in to sharp focus or allow the photographer to keep only the subject in focus and thus keep the viewers attention there.

In these images, at the shallow depth of field an aperture of f/2.8 creates, the foliage behind Rachael has a pleasant blur and the viewers attention is drawn to her great smile.  An aperture of f/27, creates a large depth of field and adds the probability that the viewer will glance at Rachael but then start scanning the image to see what else may be in it.

These are just small tastes of what will be covered in the class.  I’m looking forward to starting it up and transferring some of the knowledge I picked up as commercial photographer over the years.

I also want to thank Rachael for helping me in creating these images.  She made my job much easier!  Stay tuned for more info about the “Introduction to DSLR Photography and Taking Better Photos” class.

 

 

 

Looking for an Atlanta photographer…

0 Comments September 12, 2011||Commercial, Education, Portraits

“I ‘googled’ using terms like ‘Atlanta’, ‘Alpharetta’, ‘head shot’ and ‘photographer’ while looking for someone to create my image.  You came up in the search.  I looked at a couple of other websites prior to viewing yours and compared to those sites, I thought yours was very professional, well done and easy to navigate.  When I looked at your images, I knew you were the photographer I wanted to create mine.”  Steve said that when I was curious and asked how he had found me.  Because he’s a salesman at a technology company, I wasn’t surprised when he answered using search terms instead of just saying “Google”.

He’s been with his company for a while now and they’ve long asked him to get a professional head shot done for their website, marketing and sales collateral, and to have something to use for speaking engagements.

The images were created on a standard white background to make them as generic as possible.  Steve, being a bit more discerning, wanted his images to stand out more.  Working some Photoshop magic, I exchanged the standard white background with a mid-grey color and added a gradient to separate him from the background.

Backgrounds make a new image!

Both images are fantastic and although I’ve been doing this for a while now, it sometimes surprises me how a change like this creates a different feel to the image.  Steve decided to go with the image on the right.  What do you think?

As an Atlanta photographer I strive to separate myself from the pack and it’s always nice to hear when people notice.  I want to thank Steve for being so detailed in his answer to my query and for choosing me to create his executive portrait.

How can I use a virtual tour?

0 Comments August 31, 2011||Commercial, General

Lately, the people I’ve talked to have asked me this question when I mention virtual tours.  To provide one answer, I’d like to use the advertisement and the story of how a new client of mine, Garrett Backman owner of Rubicon, LLC, is using them on his upcoming new website as an example.

When I met Garrett, he told me that he was updating his company’s web site and wanted unique images of his Gainsville, GA office property.   Because  Gainsville is a pretty good hike from his corporate offices in Roswell, GA, he wanted the ability to show the property when potential tenants were interested, any time of the day or night.  He settled on virtual tours as the solution to his problem.

His building offers a fantastic view of Lake Lanier, and after shooting one of  the virtual tours, I captured a panorama image showing its proximity to the lake.  You can see in the ad below how Garrett is using that image in the Gainsville Times newspaper.

Rubicon - Gainsville Times Ad

Although his new website is not up at this time, I’ll show a couple of his virtual tours using the hosting service option that my clients have when I create a virtual tour for them.

As seen in the ad above, the patio area and the offices on the back of the building have a great view of the lake. Click on the image below to enjoy a popup virtual tour of that view. While viewing these tours, be sure to use the cursor to move back and forth or up and down to see a total view of the space.

 

This virtual tour is of the impressive two story atrium. Again, click on the image below to enjoy a popup of that virtual tour.


So how can a business owner use a virtual tour?  They can use them to:

  • Wow customers
  • Offer immersive viewing experiences of their properties
  • Expand their buyer universe
  • Help them sell more
  • Be available even when they aren’t – 24/7/365

Any business owner, property developer or architect, and hotels and resorts can use virtual tours to differentiate themselves from their competition and provide outstanding views of their locations to potential clients.

Visit the Virtual Tours page under the Services menu to find out more about di Sogno Photography’s virtual tours product.

 

New Site-New Blog-Great Development Team-Gratitude

0 Comments August 2, 2011||General

New Web Site and Blog

As you can see,  I had the site converted to a format that is much easier to modify, post and add as many image galleries as I want.  It’s based on WordPress and I am extremely pleased with the usability of this format.  Why I didn’t move to this format earlier, I don’t know, but I’m glad I did and I won’t be moving back to a standard HTML site any time soon.

Look for more frequent updates to the blog and the site itself.

Great Development Team

I want to put in a good word about the development team that put this together.  I met Joel Quinn of Quinn Companies a few months ago when he came in for an executive portrait and convinced me to go with his team of companies to create this new site.  He has roughly ten different companies under his direction, all of which work in some area of the web, IT resource management, backup services, data warehousing, SEO optimization and even cell phone and printer repair.

Joel Quinn

Joel introduced me to Derek Dirks of SEO Blink.  Derek, is doing my SEO optimization and was my point of contact between the developers and this WordPress rookie.  He is very knowledgeable, easy to work with and, at times, had the patience of Job with some of the questions I was throwing his way.  For me, he directed a team of people to not only answer all of my questions, but they were able to handle a very difficult conversion issue along the way.

We ran in to an issue converting the original blog to a compatible format.  The original blog was built on a propietary system and even though I was able to supply the team a database of my blog entries, it wasn’t an easy task to perform the conversion because it was a custom database.  I’m not sure of the database programmers name, but he did a fantastic job of converting it so that I wouldn’t have to do it the hard way…copy from the old, and paste to the new.  Essentially manually recreating 3 years worth of blog posts or losing them.  This saved me about 8 hours of work.  Many cudo’s to the team on that one!

I’m happy to say that without Derek and the rest of the team, this site would not be up and running in it’s current form and I’d still be flopping around like a fish out of water trying to do the conversion.  Derek, thanks for all you did during this process.

And thanks to everyone who was invovled with converting this site and educating me in how to keep it updated.  I look forward to a long relationship with this group of people!  Joel, you were right, your people can do just about anything!

Starting the year running!

0 Comments February 22, 2011||General

I’m happy to say that 2011 has had a very good start with two shoots submitted for publication in trade magazines and numerous executive portrait sessions being done! Well enough about us.

Early in January, the franchise owner of Fresh 2 Order (F2O) contacted me because Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine wanted to do a story about him and F2O. We spent an afternoon capturing images at one of his locations and then sent them off to the art department of the publication for inclusion in the next issue.

I took home a couple of the dishes you see in this picture for dinner and I’ll say they were delicious. I highly recommend you stopping by for lunch or dinner to check them out sometime.
Shortly after completing that assignment, I received a call to create a set of images for Southern Waste & Recycling a turnkey solution provider and management firm specializing in waste and recycling services. They announced in a press release that they had recently won an exclusive contract with Fieldale Farms in Baldwin, GA to recycle all of their office and paper waste at all of their processing plants and HQ. In case you were wondering, Fieldale Farms supplies chicken under numerous private labels as well as their own label. They control the process from egg to freezer. Waste Age Magazine saw the press release and was doing a story about them both.
Although I was not permitted to take photos in the processing plants, it was interesting moving through the different areas and seeing the processing lines as we were heading to the various offices to capture the images for submittal.

I did get one image of a chicken…okay, technically it’s a rooster. Although it’s not as big as the Big Chicken in Marietta, it’s definitely the 2nd largest one I’ve come across…and it makes a pretty good prop for pictures!
I’m happy I could help both companies complete their magazine articles with the images we made.
Among the executive portraits I’ve shot so far this year, Hank was very interesting. After saying to me at the start of his portrait session that he NEVER took a good photo, Hank looked over the table at me during his sales session and said “You don’t play fair. I can’t decide on JUST two, there are too many images that I like!” I just smiled back because I like hearing it. It means I did my job well!
He was so pleased that he asked me for a contact sheet of all his images in order to show his wife, so she could make choices for additional images for herself!
That wraps up this post. I hope the run continues, as the year progresses. Remember, I shoot more than just business and commercial work. I photograph anything from fire and ice, artistic or fun, to sultry and seductive. If it gets added to a portfolio, hung on a wall or put in a little black book, be assured, they’re all unique images you’ll treasure. See you next time!

How was your 2010 Holiday Party?

0 Comments January 28, 2011||General

Okay, we’re almost done with the first month of a new year and expect a few more months before there is another official day off.  That thought, had me thinking back to last month and all the fun involved with the holidays and I was wondering…How was your holiday party?

If you worked for MedAssets, “fantastic” would be your reply.  I had the opportunity to shoot this party held at the Country Club of the South.  Designed by Paul Brummer of Rooms in Bloom, the theme of the party was “Moulin Rouge”.  The guests didn’t have to dress in costume, but all of the service personel, myself included, had to wear a beret to help set the Parisian mood.  I’ve seen (and been to) some fancy parties before, but this one easily topped all of them.

The entire clubhouse was decorated, and there was food and h’orderves on all levels and in multiple rooms.  Entertainment consisted of a Monte Carlo room for Texas Hold’em, a Casino room for other Vegas style games, an open bar and two dining rooms.  A live band, two caricaturists, two mimes roaming around doing what mimes do, and Liz and Rebecca of Wild Horse Studio painting the panels in the entryway, and sometimes a guest or two!  (see the last image)  Additionally, there were two traveling musicians playing a guitar at various locations during the evening.  All in all, a fantastic party!

Here are some images from that night.  Now don’t get jealous…

This is what greeted the more than 600 guests as they arrived at the clubhouse entrance.

A live band playing classic rock tunes, mimes, caricatures, and general fun throughout the venue.
(I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the ladies posing for a photo.  I was just too good!)

The facilities and food at the Country Club of the South are fantastic.  And so were the event decorations!

A good time was had by all involved!

So…How was YOUR holiday party?

Christmas 2010

0 Comments December 24, 2010||General

It’s that great time of year when we all take some time to gather with friends and family.  And I’m looking forward to taking a bit of time off too.

With Christmas upon us, I thought you’d like an image that epioimizes the holiday.  Enjoy!

I want to wish the best to all of my friends, family and followers of this blog this holiday season.  I hope that you have a fantastic day and Santa brings you what you were hoping for.

P.S. In case you were wondering, this tree is not our’s.  It belongs to Paul Brummer of Rooms in Bloom.  Yes there are over 860 ornaments on that tree!

And for now…Ann and I wish y’all a

All Hallows Eve!!!!

0 Comments October 27, 2010||General

Hello all!  I’ve just got to tell you about a new client and something strange.  It’s really spooky. 

I was scanning through the images I’m using this week at my networking meeting and I noticed something strange about them. They were taken at multiple locations around the country, and they’d never shown anything odd about them until this week.

‘Thump-thump.’

As I examined them closer, I noticed that two of the images now showed ghostly figures that weren’t there originally.

And I kept hearing a noise.  ‘Thump-thump, Thump-thump.’

Even Mr. Bones was doing strange things and appearing in ways and places he’s never been.  

‘Thump-thump.’  Did you hear that?   It’s spooky I tell you!

Well in any case, last week I started working with a new client named Edgar, he’s a story teller and he keeps looking down at the floor and threatening to tear it up.  When he contacted me, he told me he’s on a tight schedule and he’s thinks he’s going insane trying to illustrate his short stories.  After our consultation, I assured him that I have a ‘Vulture-like eye’ when it comes to creating images and I’ll get them done on his schedule.  He didn’t say anything after that…he just looked at me really odd! 

‘Thump-thump…THUMP-THUMP!’

I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll just leave Edgar to his own manifestations!

Have a safe and scary Halloween everyone!  🙂

End of October

0 Comments October 21, 2010||General

Hi all!  I said I’d be back in a couple of weeks to talk about a couple of enjoyable visits and a few shoots, so here I am!

Enjoyable Visits
If you didn’t already know, a few months back the High Museum in Atlanta had a very eclectic car exhibit that featured numerous one-of-a-kind cars. If you didn’t get downtown to view this show, you’ve really missed something special.
One of the best things about that exhibit was that they allowed photography! With the number of milling around the cars, it was difficult to capture images showing just the cars. But with a bit of patience, I was rewarded with a lot of great images. Equipment alert!…Having a large camera helped stop folks from walking in to my shot, so there are some benefits to carrying that heavy gear around with me!
 
With that being said, I was a gracious guest and made sure I didn’t cause a commotion and get myself kicked out of the museum.  Something I’ve seen done to other photographers for not following the museums photography regulations.
Another exhibit I visited was up in Cartersville at the Booth Western Art Museum. A total of 120 prints are currently on display there through February 20, 2011. These prints, created by Adams himself, were given to The Friends of Photography to represent his legacy. These are now in private hands and are displayed once or twice a year with a six month rest in total darkness between exhibits.
 
They allowed photography as long as you didn’t use flash, so I captured just a few images of the exhibit. It was great seeing images that I’d only seen online or in print and knowing that Adams actually printed them himself made it even more special. In addition, there was a lot of great western art. Enough that I’ll make a return visit to see more.
Shoots
Boudoir
Across the summer, I’ve been involved in few large shoots. One was with a well known commercial photographer who at one time shot for Playboy. He held a workshop on lingerie photography and because I have a boudoir product called Curtain Call, I attended to continue honing my skills at this style of photography. It’s not as easy as you might think and there are many things to keep in mind during one of these sessions. The most important thing is to make sure you flatter the subject, no matter what their figure may be. Every woman has that inner sexy and if they’re doing a boudoir session, they want to see it!
I brought along some wardrobe and megan was generous enough to pose for me. I concentrated on learning technique at this workshop and these are just a few images that I feel met that requirement.
Portfolio
Next up was a portfolio shoot, not for just one model, but for 3, on the same day! These were shot around Marietta Square, early on a Sunday morning. The experience level you see here ranged from new to very experienced. Because traffic was so light at that time of day, we even had the opportunity to use the center line for some added interest!
We got some great shots for everyone before the skies opened up and forced us to wrap things up.
Commercial
I had the opportunity to work with Rob Burgner and Maureen O’Rear of Bleeding Edge on a video shoot they were doing for the doctor’s at Premier Care for Women in Sandy Springs. The doctors were updating their web site and needed executive portraits in addition to the video services.  I know Rob and Maureen through Powercore, a networking group of which we are members, and I highly recommend their web services whenever I can.
I can say it was interesting being the only men in their office. Aside from the puzzled looks that Rob and I received as we moved around their office, the doctors rotated through our makeshift studio and the video and portrait captures were completed in just a couple of days.
That’s it for now. As always, I’m willing to talk a bit of technical stuff or just answer some questions.  If there is anything you’d like to ask or if you have suggestions for a future post, feel free to drop an email to info@disognophoto.com. Bye for now!

 

Contact us

di Sogno Photography
e: info@disognophoto.com