Chris & Cami at Family Circle Cup

Photo by Chris&CamiSports Photography has been one of my most favorite subjects to work with. I'm drawn to portrait photography but I suppose it has been the anonymity that has made me more successful shooting sports, it is just more to my nature, the shy side of me moves me in that direction.

So it is what draws me to the work of our friends Chris and Cami that I'd like to point you too this day. They are down working the Family Circle Cup a huge tennis venue,  the link will bring you to some of the shots of the first day.

What I liked about Chris' work on this first day (I'm dangerously assuming it is Chris behind the gun, Cami is a photographer too), is the fact that much of it is about the background activities. I think that this is as important as the BIG action that happens down on the courts and which is most often shown when we think of Sports Photography. It is great to see all the action that is happening behind the scenes which we often do not see.

Also what caught my eye was the use of a wide angle lens, very appropriately used to bring a different angle... different perspective to some of the shots (i.e. the shot above, click to enlarge it). Great professional work and what we've come to expect for Chris and Cami Photography.  Great job guys and we'll be watching in the coming days!

Chris and Cami and Tanzania

Chris and Cami PhotographyChris and Cami Smith, who came here last November and put on their flash course called "Bending the Light: 411", returned from Tanzania and posted some of the photographs on their blog. All I can say is WOW-WE!

The photographs are wonderful! I'm particularly drawn to the portrait work. The first shot (shown here) is their typical blending of flash and natural light, that I wish I could duplicate. Great job guys!

When you get to their site, Chris and Cami Photography, go to the blog to see all of the photographs from the trip, the post is from Wednesday August 10th, 2011.

If you are interested in any trips like this, head to their Bending the Light site (above) and see what they've got planned.

If They See Imperfections

Photo by Aaron Wallace, used with permissionIf someone looks at one of your photographs and sees imperfections, others might suggest that the photograph isn't that good. We normally don't see imperfections in a great photograph. Of course there are exceptions to this... Shooting at ISO 5 million (I know impossible) might produce excessive grain and make the photograph unusable.

The photograph shown here by Aaron Wallace is a great photograph and was taken with an Olympus EPL-1, a pocket-able 4/3rds camera. The lens used was a Zuiko 14-35mm f2.0, a really great lens. I saw an EPL-1 down at Staples yesterday with two kit lens for under $500... ($400 at Amazon). Take away the cost of the kit lens and what would be the price of the EPL-1, say $300? Chris Smith and I looked at one when he and Cami were up doing their course "Bending the Light: 411" in November.

I'm sure that if we looked at the the full resolution version of this photograph we might possible find some imperfections. And if there were imperfections I bet someone would have to point them out because we'd all be going WOW! I don't think we'd notice any imperfections in this shot even if Aaron had used one of the kit lens!

(Please note that this copy of the photograph is poor.. it is only 98k in size.. I snipped it with permission from Aaron's Flickr page).

Which one of us wouldn't want this shot to to be part of our portfolios. I would! In fact give me a couple of thousand like it!!!  I'm sure Aaron is making a living at this based on his skills... 

Some times we all do to much "pixel peeping" I think. It is fun.... It might be right.... but in the end there are many other factors, most importantly our skills as a photogapher that make for a great photograph. It isn't the equipment, it is the photographer.

To see more of Aaron Wallace's work head to his Flickr page, I personally think he is a very, very good photographer.

Bending the Light: 411

Chris and Cami's name came up at our last meeting and I emailed him a note about a great shot that I saw on Flickr right along the lines of what he taught us last November. 

What came out of the conversation was their new website for their course "Bending the Light: 411". It not only includes the course information, but their associate trips that Chris and Cami will be doing over the next few years.

I understand that they are working on courses in Ohio and in Denver this year.

It was fun to read the comments about the course from last November and revisit that experience in thought. What a fun and educational day for us. Go check out the site for yourselves.

Where is the Light?

The photograph to the left was taken from "Chris & Cami Photography",  friends of the club, Chris and Cami. The photograph is of the Bessinger family, as in Bessinger BBQ, down in Charleston. You can look at the complete set of session photographs at the link above on the blog.

Take a few minutes to study it and comment on it here. Take a chance, stick your neck out and take a guess! Try to determine the number of lights that Chris and Cami used and where they positioned them. After this is done and Chris and Cami slow down a bit, maybe be we can get Chris to explain the actual setup.

And as if on cue, Scott Bourne put up a great blog entry this morning on 'PhotoFocus' called "What can you do with one light? Plenty!" about single light photography. We should follow this one too as he writes a book with Bami Cantrell on lighting.

Bending the Light: 411 Completion

Updated on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 11:30AM by Tom S.

The course came off yesterday incredibly well and all the feed back I heard was great. Certainly I think we all learned a lot. Even the most experienced of us picked up TONS of tips and further grounded what understanding we had, being self taught, in some theory.

But most importanlly I think most of us learned what good lighting looks like and what a difference it can make in the our final photographs.

Many of the more experience photographer spent much of their time helping the beginners understand their cameras and with the help of Chris setting the stage for each session they, at the very least, got to photograph the models with the best of us.

Click to read more ...

Bending the Light 411

The Aroostook F-Stops will be sponsoring the Creative Lighting Course called "Bending the Light 411" by Chris Smith.

Creating beautiful images has been a passion of Chris' since 10th grade when he won his first international photography award! Today, Chris and his wife, Cami, run a highly respected photography studio in Charleston, SC. They both have Professional Photography degrees and have been photographing professionally for about 15 years. They have photographed politicians like Mayor Joe Riley and Senator John Kerri, celebrities like the B-52s and Steve Harvey, sports legends like Dr. J and Maria Sharapova, business leaders like the CEO of GE and the president of Crayon, and even former Mr. President himself, George Bush. They have been featured in a wide variety of publications including Sports Illustrated, Tennis Magazine, Family Circle Magazine, Charleston Magazine, Clean Run Magazine, Super Lawyers, and Great Backyards. And they are truly honored to have received BOTH the coveted WeddingWire Bride's Choice Award AND The Best of The Knot Award.

"Everytime I hear Chris Smith give a workshop, I learn something new that I can use to make my photography better. He knows how to use light and portable flashes like a true master of the craft, and he truly wants to pass that knowledge on to improve the work of other photographers. His enthusiasm for great lighting and great photography is inspirational!" - Patty Hallman, CPP, AFP"

To see more of Chris and Cami's work go to Chris and Cami Photography.

The course is now full, but their could be cancellations. If you've missed this event keep in touch, we've got more planned!