» Fro Knows Photo Blog
Who wants to SPIN the NEW Wheel Of FRO??? Postman FRO
Last year I randomly had the idea to start spinning a prize wheel on each episode of RAWtalk. I talked to a few companies and they agreed smartly to allow me to put their name on the wheel and if it lands on their space someone wins a prize from them.
Well the old wheel sucked, it was cheap, junky, wobbly and not very good. It served it’s purpose but it was time to step of the Wheel Of FRO game and that’s exactly what we did.
When I was at PPE this year AdoramaPIX had a huge spinning wheel so I walked around the back of it and found out who made theirs.
I called the company Spinning Wheel Designs and started the process to purchase two new wheels. One wheel is 48 inches and is the main wheel for shows at the loft. The other one is meant to be a travel wheel for when we hit the road.
Remember this, when it’s time to purchase something purchase the best of the best because it’s going to last and last just like this wheel. Between the two wheels I beilve I spent around $1,500 for both wheels.
Which Canon Camera Should You Buy: 1D X, 5D Mark III, 6D, 7D Mark II
When it comes to purchasing a Full Frame Canon DSLR you are left with a select few options plus one cropped sensor camera. Canon’s current lineup of Full Frame cameras can be considered to be on the old side. The 1D X, 5D Mark III and 6D all are at the end of their life cycle and should be replaced as we move into 2015.
So you are deciding on picking up a new full frame camera where should you start, what questions should you be asking?
Is this your first full frame camera or are you upgrading from a current fx camera?
What is your budget?
Do you already have quality glass?
What will you be shooting?
Are you a hobbyist or a professional?
Are you interested in stills, video or both?
The big question always becomes if you are looking for a Canon Full Frame what should you buy? Should you venture out of full frame into the NEW Canon 7D Mark II or wait for the next generation replacements?
(more…)
5 Min Portrait – Photographing Fighter Jets at an Air show “Thunderbirds”
How many of you have ever gone to an Air Show? I personally had never been to an Air Show before Stephen set up a few photo passes to shoot “Thunder” over the boardwalk this summer in Atlantic City.
Any time I go into a situation where I am shooting something I have never shot before I like to do as much research as possible. In this case I have a longtime friend Matt Ciao who grew up shooting fighter jets and air shows.
CLICK HERE to download two RAW Files from this shoot.
Click Here to view the FULL RES Exported Files.
I asked him to give me his Top Tips for shooting photos at an air show. One of the main tips is don’t freeze the props. What he said is when you are shooting air planes one of the biggest mistakes is freezing the propellers. I would have thought I set my shutter speed high and just let it rip and freeze the action. It’s a good thing I spoke to Matt before hand to get a better understand about what I should be looking to capture.
(more…)
Would you have turned down this shoot and $500?
One of the hardest things to do is turn down a job and that’s exactly what I had to do in this case. I got a call from a friend from a large company who produces concerts very last minute.
He asked if I was free to rush out to the venue to shoot a well known older artist and get all access. I would be the only photographer there is what he said. The shoot paid $500 and I would shoot and give them the images.
That sounds great and all but what are the particulars I asked. Where are the images being used, what do they expect from me, what can I do with the images? These are the hard questions we have to ask and I think he had pause and was thinking why are you asking me these questions.
So he said he would get back to me and with some answers in a few minutes. When he did he said heres the deal. They need you to shoot and they will use these images for their archive. And when I here archive that means they can use the images for anything they want. That’s not a deal breaker to me but the deal breaker was “you can’t do anything with the images”.
Right there what’s the point, if I cant share them or use them in any way there’s no reason for me to shoot. The second deal breaker is that I would have to turn the images over right there, ALL THE IMAGES. That means no editing no tweaking no doing what I do to make my images POP.
I reluctantly had to say sorry I can’t. If they simply said you can deliver us the keepers tomorrow I probably would have done it. It wasn’t about the money, the money was nice, nothing to sneeze at but it’s the principle of the matter.
I always question my decisions, should I have taken it because something cool could have come out of it? Or if I did take the job would they think they could take advantage of me because I turn all the files over and give them all the rights.
What would you have done?
One of the best Marketing and Branding tools for your Photo Bag: Fuji Instax Share
As you know I am huge into branding and marketing and when I find a tool that can help me make an impact I share it. This time around I have the Fuji Instax Share which is a personal wireless printer for your phone or Fuji WIFI enabled cameras.
When Fuji announced this printer a little while ago I wasn’t sure who or what it was for. It was announced that it would be $199 plus the cost of each picture. But when I started to see it in action like I did in Germany when Zack Arias printed photos directly from his X100T I was fascinated. I reached out to FUJI and asked if they would send me a unit to play with and they did.
The APP for the phone is simple and really got the gears turning in my mind. When I saw I could bring in any photo from my phone, add text, add some pre installed graphics and finally print 1 or 101 or more of the same image, I was hooked.
(more…)
