Atlantadi Sogno Photography | di Sogno Photography

Posts tagged: Atlanta

Actor Headshots – Liz Harrison

0 Comments July 22, 2013|Tony|Commercial, Education, General, Training

Now a days in Atlanta, there seems to be a production company on every corner shooting the next release for a famous Hollywood actor or a plethora of Zombie’s skulking around an abandoned warehouse or factory looking for brains. Unless you’ve been living a really sequestered life, you realize that Atlanta has become Hollywood southeast and a lot of people wanting a shot at getting on camera. To do this, they’ll need a portfolio that shows their diversity and brings out a bit of personality.

Portfolio image.

When Liz contacted me, she was happy to make it past the first round of eliminations in a fashion model reality show shooting here. Even with the success of landing on that show, she thought her portfolio needed new images so she could get additional work. On the day of the shoot, she brought a number of different outfits and we worked together on different concepts to capture.

Reminiscent of Goldie Hawn…maybe!

Liz is a lot of fun to work with and very adventurous in what she is willing to do for the camera. Both good things when looking for work in the entertainment industry. Knowing Liz, I know she’s already used them in her acting endeavors. If you know a budding actor that wants to get on camera, tell them you know someone who can help them create a portfolio that just might help them get discovered and send them my way. At least they’ll have some good images to show!

A Little Technical Information

Both of these images were shot on a white seamless background using one strobe with an 8′ Octobox as a light modifier. The Octobox creates a very large, bright and soft light for the subject. The light fall off allowed let the background turn a light grey and that created a good separation from the background. Although make-up and hair were very well done by Liz herself, my standard post-processing was done to this image. That includes brightening of her eyes, blending and smoothing of her skin, doing a bit of teeth whitening and removing stray hair.

Bond, James Bond

0 Comments July 11, 2013|Tony|Commercial, Education, Training

The James Bond theme, you know, the one played on guitar while you view Bond through a gun barrel as he’s walking across the screen, is all I could think about for the entire time I was onsite to create the images you see below.

Motor Cars of GA – Aston Martin Showroom

I received a referral to call Rob at Dealer Publishing. He needed pictures for an article to show the remodeled Aston Martin showroom (not the cars themselves) at Motor Cars of GA in Sandy Springs. There was a catch, though. Rob had a short publishing deadline that needed to be met.

I accepted the assignment to make contact with Brandon at the dealership and clandestinely capture images of the showroom without disrupting their day-to-day operation or impacting their client’s movements. Then to make my way out, leaving no trace that I was there.

To make these images, I decided on an approach where I didn’t have to bring in a lot of extraneous equipment to get in the way. I set up with a tripod and created multiple exposures of the showroom and then combined them in post processing using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) technique. HDR is a technique that captures a greater range of the lightest and darkest areas of an image than the camera can capture normally. The images were processed using a combination of Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Photomatix Pro. Although this is not a technique I normally teach in my photography class, an advanced amateur can learn the steps necessary to create images similar to these in a private lesson.

Rob was pleased to receive the finished images and was able to meet his deadline with time to spare. And I completed another critical assignment for my client. Who am I? My name’s Bond, James Bond…errrrr, make that Tony Fiorda!

Why take a photography class?

0 Comments April 11, 2013|Tony|Education, General, Training

Congratulations, you’ve recently purchased a new Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. You look over the manual and realize you may be in over your head but at least it has a program mode for use as a point and shoot camera with which you’re familiar. After a bit you begin to think that taking a photography class to learn how to use the new DSLR wouldn’t be a bad idea.

There are a number of reasons why someone would take a photography class and creating better pictures is the end result of all of them. That new camera is just a tool that is used to create pictures but if you don’t know how to use that tool properly, your pictures won’t get better…in fact they may get worse. So let’s discuss a few reasons to take a photography class.

Downtown Tampa, Fl. from University of Tampa park.

One is learning photography from someone who is in the business. They can provide valuable feedback on the pictures you make so you can improve. You can ask them generic or specific questions to aid in your understanding of photography, use of the equipment, and various techniques to capture images. Essentially gaining knowledge from their experience and expertise.

Another reason to take a photography class is to learn about the tools you use to take pictures. Why is it called a digital single lens reflex camera? What kind of lens is used for shooting sports, portraits, landscapes? What is the shutter, aperture, ISO or white balance and how are they used? How to compose a shot that has that WOW factor people like to look at. How do I hold this big camera? Learning the basic science and techniques of photography can help you to take better pictures.

In a classroom or workshop environment there is the opportunity to learn from other classmates about how they made a particular photo. If they use a technique that no one else is doing, or may be using one that you are having trouble with, they may be able to help. Plus most discussions are open and can range far and wide from the material being presented.

Finally to have fun! When you understand the basic principles of photography and composition and can use them without thinking, then you can expand and start breaking these principles to make new, interesting, and just plain fun images. And you’ll have a lot more fun with your camera because you’ll be taking better pictures and having many more keepers!

“Introduction to DSLR Photography and Creating Better Photos” is a class designed for the new to almost intermediate use who has moved up to a DSLR camera. At the completion of this class, you’ll have a good grasp of the basic principles of photography and composition. You’ll understand more about which lens to use to gain the effect you’re looking for in a picture. And you’ll have a introductory knowledge of using workflow tools to find and manipulate the pictures you’ve taken. So check out the class on the DSLR Photography Class page on this website and register soon.

More Executive Portraits

0 Comments October 23, 2012|Tony|Commercial, Portraits

Over the past month or so I’ve had the pleasure of creating executive portraits for friends who have now become my clients.

Debra Scott, a registered representative of Vining Financial Services, Inc., a financial investment firm located in Marietta, GA, needed to update her portrait. Debra enjoys educating clients about investment planning when she’s not having a good time with her family. She had been telling me that she was going to come see me and after a few weeks, and she finally did! We had a fun time creating her portraits.

Another friend, W. Wright Dempsey Jr., is an attorney providing full legal services with emphasis on estate planning and probate, construction, personal injury, commercial, and cultural conservation matters in Dunwoody, GA. A person with diverse interests, it isn’t everyone who can sport a bow tie and look great doing it! He even taught me how to tie one, yes, that is a real bow tie, not a clip-on.

I’ve known both of these folks for a couple of years now and I occasionally have a breakfast with them. I’m happy that they chose me to update their portraits for both online and collateral usage. If you happen to need their services or know of someone who does, Google them to find their contact information.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to shoot as I love to create executive portraits!

Interdev Executives

0 Comments September 28, 2012|Tony|Commercial, Portraits

I’m happy to announce another successful shoot of some local executives. The folks over at Interdev, LLC, a Managed IT and Security company, needed portraits of their management team for their website. It took some planning to get everyone together but as you can see from the images below, it happened and everyone is pleased with the results. You can see the images here on their site and I really appreciate that they entrusted me to create their images.

An executive portrait is just one of my services I enjoy creating for my clients. From products, to specialty images, I enjoy talking to my clients and getting to know them and their business. That enables me to create the images that let them shine!

Peruvian Sweaters and Caps

0 Comments September 19, 2012|Tony|Commercial, Fashion, Product

During the last week in July, I again found myself doing product shots for children’s clothing and/or accessories. The company for which I was shooting this time, Chirimoya, is still in start-up mode, and Charlie, the owner, recognized the need for professional images when he couldn’t create images that matched the quality level the products he wants to sell.

The products, hand made sweaters and caps are imported from small villages in the mountains of Peru. Hand knitted and embroidered with landscapes of flowers, lambs, and alpacas, ensures that each item is unique and I can tell you the quality of these items is exceptional. During the shoot, I had to keep an eye on the samples because everyone who saw them tried to take a sample home with them. Including me, because I have a new cousin being added to the family in a couple of months and one of these would make a great gift!

My other task, besides looking out for the samples, was to create images that could have the backgrounds in different colors sampled from the items themselves and then to have the backgrounds easily changed out if so desired. I used a technique where I place the item on plexiglass and then lit the background and items separately so there are no shadows on the final image. This makes it extremely easy to cut the item out of the background and place it on its own Photoshop layer. The image below is composite of the results I achieved for Charlie and Chirimoya.

So if you know of someone who has children in the 0-4 year old range and you could use a very unique gift for the holidays, check back here every so often. I’ll post a link to the website when it goes active you can see more and maybe order a few items.

Looking for an Atlanta photographer…

0 Comments September 12, 2011|Tony|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|Tony|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|Tony|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|Tony|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 2^nd 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!

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