I want to say thank you to all who support my work, artistry, and this website! In America we celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. You can read about the significance and origin of Thanksgiving holiday here.

Thank you to all my current clients, you are the reason I enjoy what I do!
Thank you to all my new clients! You become the reason I enjoy what I do!
Special Thank you to Jeremy & Newblood crew, Nina & Gorgol Productions, Anthony J, and the entire Pilot Imaging crew! You all are my team!

And thank you to the so many people who have continually supported Ancient City Photography! One day I am going to make a giant post and just list everyone!

Thank You.

Some recent food images I shot for a client are being displayed The 1820 Gallery at the Art Institute of Washington. This is the third annual, “YUM, a celebration of food photography” exhibit.

The exhibition will run from November 5, 2011 to December 30, 2011

The the address is:

1820 Gallery
Art Institute of Washington
1820 N Ft Myer Drive
Arlington, Virginia 22209

This was part of Fotoweek DC. There is some fantastic work being displayed by several photographers at this exhibit! You will definitely love it. Or just get really hungry! Thanks again to everyone for their support! Let me know if you stop by the gallery!

So this week I have “photo of the week” over at the TaxiDinner Blog! This photo is featured over there along with a write up. This image was a Leica M8 shot. In the write up I also discuss the techniques used to make this image and my upcoming book that is Leica exclusive based on the same technique.

TaxiDinner is a relatively new photography blog that has some interesting reflections of photography, features creative photographers, and will have an educational section shortly. The difference at TaxiDinner however is that the photographer behind the blog is an extremely accomplished photographer with fantastic work. Craig Litten will definitely have some fantastic material coming on his blog! I definitely recommend watching his site regularly! I have already added his RSS stream to my reader. (and this plug is purely honest based on my enjoyment of his work and quality of images!)

So, click on the image or the link above, or click here to check out the TaxiDinner!

Being somewhat biased towards a certain brand of German car myself, I was looking forward to this photo shoot! IMA Motorsport has earned their reputation as one of the best in the business. IMA is a full equipped service center that handles anything from an oil change and scheduled services to full blown race preparation and complete restorations. Their quality of work, staff, and care for their clients truly sets them apart from the rest.

Your website gets no traffic and looks like it was designed in 1994. (if you still use frames and rotating gifs, I’m talking to you!) You still think “social media” means watching the news with friends. You think you need to reach out to the whole world to make your business successful but feel overwhelmed no matter how you try and market. You need to stop what you are doing right now and check out Rhea Brown’s website.

Rhea is an expert in social media marketing, branding, and getting you seen by the people that matter most, Converting Clients. No that doesn’t mean they change their religion to follow your business. It means you get people that come to your website and actually follow through with something. They become your client. They purchase your service or your product.

Social media is here to stay. The web has changed. Our interaction with clients has changed. If you want your business to be successful, you need to be aware of what you have to gain by embracing new ways to reach your market. Rhea can help you do just that.

Rhea has a fresh new website and some new photos to go with it! We had a blast making these. Make sure you check out her new website and give her services a thought. She is here to make your business visible!

I also want to throw a plug in here for OnOne Software’s Mask Pro. When using images for twitter backgrounds, headers, and other uses, I often need to knock the background out of an image. MaskPro makes removing backgrounds a breeze. You can remove backgrounds between leaves, hair, eyelashes, etc… with precision! It just works and makes this kind of work so easy. In fact I don’t know how it can be done so well with out this program.

I love shooting real estate. Here are a few highlights from a recent property shoot.

I shot a project at the recently renovated Fairfield Inn & Suites located in Chinatown, Washington DC. This place is just awesome. They have a very comfortable and relaxing atmosphere with loads of fun textures and patters. Everything was very well thought out. The space is never busy or overwhelming despite such variety. All the decor was carefully planned and corresponds with the elements in very creative ways. If you are visiting DC, or just need to relax for a weekend, be sure to stop in at the Fairfield! Their staff is top notch. You are also within walking distance to the metro-rail system. You will love your stay!

There is a lot happening when photographing a dance team. There are can be a lot of people on a stage, a lot of interesting action, and a lot of changing lighting conditions. Pretty overwhelming when trying to decide what will make a key moment and strong image. When photographing this kind of work, decide what speaks to you visually about what you are seeing and focus on that. Don’t forget to get any necessary group shots and specifically required shots of the performance, but try to focus when shooting. The shoes in the above shot are what caught my attention. Each dancer’s shoes were different. Being a step routine, the foot work was also important. It makes sense to focus on the feet.

This shot made me think of the sun as being right there on the stage dancing with her. The orange light surrounded her and followed her. The simple color pallet of orange and gray adds to the strength of the photo. I chose to follow her closely and make the shot with as much orange glow as I could.

This photo was all about mirrors. The lights to me looked like windows, or mirrors. I shot to see a “mirror image” of the front dancer in the background from another dancer. Adjust yourself move around until you can get the perspective you need and wait for the action to be right. Get the shot!

Dance is not easy to capture when you have a dark stage and have not been given a chance to preview the routines. Know your camera’s control instinctively and just go with the flow of the dance. Anticipate where the performance is going if you can and create the upcoming shot in your mind. Your shots will become stronger over time. If the anticipated shot doesn’t happen its ok too, just be ready for something even better or unexpected!

I always try to do some portrait work with the dancers I work with. Remember to keep the sessions light and fun. It’s always entertaining to allow everyone to play around a bit at the end of a session too. You can see below the lighting setup for some group photos.

If you happen to live in the Cle Elum area of Washington State then this post is probably old news. Otherwise…you can now see my work on the cover of the 2011/2012 Cle Elum Phone Directory! Here is a photo of the cover that I shot with my phone:

I am actually thrilled that this is the cover for Cle Elum. I really fell in love with that area when I got a chance to spend some time out there. Landscape photographers are used to seeing amazing scenes all the time. Us city folk don’t get the exotic locations quite as often. I was seriously inspired on this day and this shot was my favorite from a whole slew of work I created while out there. It just really captured everything I remember about Cle Elum. Oh, and the air was the cleanest I have ever found in my life! I really noticed a difference when I got back to DC.

So, thank you Cle Elum! I love you all! I look forward to my return!

I recently shot this newly constructed bar and lounge. It is on private property, so I can’t disclose it’s location. However, I did get to spend time with Canon’s new TS-E 17mm and 24mm lenses. Verdict….AMAZING! The 24mm TS-E II lens is hands down their best 24mm lens ever. I didn’t have time to shoot side-by-side comparisons, but will eventually. The 24mm makes their other 24mm lenses look completely inferior, especially in the corners.

Warning:
DO NOT COMPARE YOUR 24MM LENS TO THIS LENS IF YOU DON’T INTEND ON BUYING ONE!!!!

Trust me, just don’t do it!

The 17mm is just as awesome. I much prefer the 17 TS-E to the 14L. I feel if you are going to have a lens that wide, the ability to correct perspective when needed is a must. The 14mm is great…but I just find I need control over the lens more often than not. 17mm is massively wide, especially if you are stitching shifted shots together. I prefer the 24mm lens however. The ability to use filters is definitely key in my decision.

When shooting architecture, don’t just stick to the safe room shots. Remember to use a macro lens and get details. Get close, get far, shoot panoramas. I shoot both panoramas for print view and for 360-vr movies. Here are some samples from that shoot. Enjoy!