From the category archives:

Celebrity Portrait Photography

New Seminars at PhotoPlus Expo 2010

by Brian Smith on August 30, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,People Photography,Seminars & Speaking

PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo is always the can’t-miss-event in the Photo Industry and this year is no exception. There are a bunch of cool new seminars at this year’s PhotoPlus Expo this October 28th-30th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC. Here are a few I got circled… including my first solo appearance on their big stage. Registration is open now.

Thursday, Oct 28, 2010 – 8:45 AM to 11:45 AM
Extreme Web site Makeover: Putting Your Website to Work for You
Speaker: Grover Sanschagrin, Vice President & Founder, Photoshelter Inc.
There’s not another company that freely provides as much good information to photographers as Photoshelter. Grover really knows his stuff!

Thursday, Oct 28, 2010 – 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM KEYNOTE
Chase Jarvis Live: Creativity and The New Social Art of Photography
Speaker: Chase Jarvis
Chase is the only guy with more energy than the X-treme sport athletes he photographs and always a great and motivating speaker.

Thursday, Oct 28, 2010 – 1:15 PM to 3:15 PM
Publishing Your Photobook
Speakers: Darius D. Himes, Consultant, Publisher, Author, Radius Books
Mary Virginia Swanson, Consultant and Educator, M. V. Swanson & Associate
Swanee is THE Authority on the Fine Art Photography marketplace and she knows everyone in the photo industry. She and Darius ‘Sir Books-a-Lot’ of photobooks will be rolling out their new book. Can’t wait..

Thursday, Oct 28, 2010 – 3:45 PM to 5:45 PM
Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Speaker: Brian Smith
Shameless Plug…I know, but I’m very excited for the chance to do a whole new presentation and spill all the secrets I can about shooting great portraits…

Thursday, Oct 28, 2010 – 6:15 PM to 7:45 PM SPECIAL EVENT
Legacy: Portraits of the Environment
Speaker: Colin Finlay
I love Colin’s work and he’s quite worthy of Special Event Status.

Friday, Oct 29, 2010 – 8:45 AM to 11:45 AM
The Big Picture: Editorial Photography Behind the Scenes
Speaker: Art Strieber
OK, OK…This is actually a repeat performance..What can I say…Art Rocks!

Friday, Oct 29, 2010 – 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM KEYNOTE
Strip Search: Albert Watson in Conversation with Laurie Kratochvil
Speakers: Albert Watson and Laurie Kratochvil
I got this one double-triple circled! A can’t miss event!!! Albert is one of my favorite portrait photographers and Laurie is an icon of the industry who gave me one of my first big breaks when she was at Rolling Stone.

Friday, Oct 29, 2010 – 3:45 PM to 5:45 PM
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Portrait Photographers
Speaker: Katrin Eismann, Chair, SVA
Katrin is the Pixel Diva. I learn stuff from Katrin just walking past her…

Friday, Oct 29, 2010 – 3:45 PM to 5:45 PM
New Media Marketing for Next Generation Photographers
Speakers: Jack Hollingsworth, Jason Moriber, Lindsay Adler and Rosh Sillars
Rosh and Lindsay really now this stuff. Jason does EP’s Social marketing and @photojack has more people followers than anyone in the photo industry…except for Polaroids’ Creative Director Lady Gaga...

Friday, Oct 29, 2010 – 3:45 PM to 5:45 PM
Institute Presents: New Directions in Storytelling
Speakers: Elisabeth Biondi, Visuals Editor, The New Yorker, Gillian Laub, James Longley an d Lauren Greenfield, Photographer & Filmmaker
Photojournalism isn’t dead – it’s just moving in different directions.

Saturday, Oct 30, 2010 – 8:45 AM to 11:45 AM
Mark Seliger: Icons & Images
Speaker: Mark Seliger
I’m not sure who is more of an icon – Mark or the people he shoots, but this is bound to be good.

Saturday, Oct 30, 2010 – 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM KEYNOTE
Avatar: The Struggles of Indigenous People in a Modern World
Speaker: Cristina Mittermeier, Photographer & President, International League of Conservation Photographers
My Sony Artisan sister is the Mother Theresa of the photo industry – Saving the World One Pixel at a Time…

Saturday, Oct 30, 2010 – 1:15 PM to 3:15 PM
Platform Building: Using Online Video Sharing to Attract an Audience, Establish Creativity and Network
Speakers: Blake Whiteman, Director of Community and Product, Vimeo, Philip Bloom, Ryan Koo and Vincent Laforet
I don’t really need to hype this one, you know you want to see these guys.

Saturday, Oct 30, 2010 – 1:15 PM to 3:15 PM
Demystifying DSLR: Beyond the Green Box!
Speaker: Me Ra Koh

Me Ra is loaded with energy. If you shoot kids, families or weddings stop by and hopefully some of that will rub off on you.

BIG THANKS to Kayla Lindquist and everyone at Sony for sponsoring my talk and Lauren Wendle and Moneer Masih-Tehrani of PDN for giving me the stage to talk on. Hope to see you all there!

Tagged as: 2010, Brian Smith, PhotoPlus Expo, Portrait Photography, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography

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Secrets to Great Portrait Photography
Adorama Special Event: July 29th NYC

by Brian Smith on July 25, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Editorial Photography,Seminars & Speaking

My lecture this Thursday July 29th about the ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at Adorama in New York City is nearly sold out, but I’m holding half a dozen seats for any of my blog or twitter followers. So if you’re can’t get in, let me know and I’ll try to get you in.

This is a new lecture with focus on all aspects of what it takes to create a great portrait, from concept to execution to post. Ways to give your portraits extra polish with production value that looks more expensive than it is. Emphasis will be placed on the ‘concepts of lighting’ that you can apply to your own work.

Hope to see you there…

Secrets to Great Portrait Photography

An Evening with Brian Smith
Thursday, July 29, 2010 5:30PM – 7:30PM
Price: $25.00
Registration deadline for this Special Event July 28, 2010

Each attendee will receive a $25.00 coupon at the Seminar in exchange for a copy of their registration receipt. The coupon will be valid for 30 days towards the purchase of any merchandise when presented at either Adorama’s retail store at 42 West 18th Street, New York, or for an online purchase at www.adorama.com

Event Description:

Great portraits capture the soul and spirit of your subject. This Special Event with celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith will focus on ways of breaking down barriers and secrets of working quickly to capture the great portraits, whether you have minutes, hours, or days to get the shot. Brian will share the lessons he’s learned over the past 30 years as a top magazine portrait photographer capturing the faces of the famous, infamous and even the un-famous. He’ll break down the approach he uses on editorial, commercial and personal projects from concept to execution to post, on productions large and small. Simple choices in lighting can affect the mood of an image, so during this evening’s presentation, he will detail his problem-solving approach to lighting and how he customizes his lighting to a particular situation, using light to create bold iconic portraits on location. Brian will show you ways to remain fresh and passionate about your photography, and the evolutionary steps you can take to allow your personal style to evolve as you move your photography to the next level.

Special Event Sponsored by Adorama and Sony

Tagged as: Adorama, Brian Smith, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography

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Emerge Photography Symposium – Miami Sept 10-12th

by Brian Smith on July 16, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Miami Photographer,Photography,Seminars & Speaking,briansmith.com

I’ll be one of the speakers at the Emerge Symposium in Miami this September 10-12th at the fabulous Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove. I’m going to be speaking and working with participants all day Saturday, September 11th.

Emerge Photography Symposium is geared towards photographers who advance best through small group, hands-on collaborative learning.

This event provide learning channels via three components:
– Instruction lectures by award-winning industry professionals
– Intensive hands-on photo shoot sessions
– Round table critique discussions of your images

Emerge Photography Symposium provides value by way of intimate interaction and a personalized experience. Listen to the the stories and experiences of industry professionals. Learn about how they developed their careers and ask questions about key pieces of information they wish they knew when they were starting out, or advice on how you can improve your craft and techniques.

Let me repeat: There will be no large conference room hall. Brian Smith, Tony Yang and Norman Chow certainly will not have microphones. It’s personal. It’s about you, me, your future new friends, a wealth of knowledge, and an awesome weekend in Miami, FL.

Come with your brain ready to soak, a prepared trigger index finger and a laptop to show off your new skills.

Early-bird registration will close Friday, August, 6, 2010. Hurry! Save $150 if you register before July 30, 2010!!!

Tagged as: Brian Smith, Celebrity Portrait Photographer, Emerge Photography Symposium, Photography

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Digital Photo Pro Interview

by Brian Smith on July 15, 2010

in Art & Soul,Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Magazine Photography,Miami Photographer,Press,Sony Artisans of Imagery,briansmith.com

Fantastic article in the July/August 2010 issue of Digital Photo Pro magazine by William Sawalich with a behind the scenes look at my about my ‘Art & Soul’ project!

Tagged as: Art & Soul, Brian Smith, Digital Photo Pro, Interview

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Rangefinder Magazine Interview

by Brian Smith on July 2, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Interviews,Photography

Lynne Eodice of Rangefinder magazine wrote a very nice profile of me in the July issue of Rangefinder where we talk about my approach to portrait photography and how I got to this point.

Tagged as: Brian Smith, Interview, Magazine, Photography, Rangefinder, Sony Artisans of Imagery

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500 Photographers

by Brian Smith on May 31, 2010

in Blogs,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Miami Photographer,Photography

BIG THANKS to Pieter Wisse for featuring me as today’s photographer on his 500 Photographers blog. Peter is profiling five active photographers a week for 100 weeks. It’s a very clever way of compiling the work of 500 photographers and shucks, I’m very honored to be Photographer #041…

500 Photographers has spotlighted the work of a number of familiar names like Todd Hido, Dave Hill, Marc Hom, Nadav Kander, Benjamin Lowy, David Maisel and Michael Wolf, but it’s even more fun to “discover” the work of someone you might not have been familiar with.

Pieter Wisse is a photographer based in Rotterdam. He’s owner of Four Eyes Photography & Art, a gallery and bookstore that publishes Four Eyes Photography Magazine and recently published his book ‘I believe in 88′. When Pieter is finished, 500 Photographers will be an amazing archive of photographers of the 21st century. Thanks for making me a part!

Tagged as: 500 Photographers, Benjamin Lowy, Blog, Dave Hill, David Maisel, Marc Hom, Michael Wolf, Nadav Kander, Photographers, Pieter Wisse, Todd Hido

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Ritz University Special Event – Dallas – May 15, 2010
Celebrity Portrait and Location Portrait Photography

by Brian Smith on May 11, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Editorial Photography,Miami Photographer,Seminars & Speaking,Sony Alpha,Sony Artisans of Imagery,briansmith.com

Photographing People with Sony Artisan of Imagery Brian Smith this Saturday, May 15th in Dallas, Texas. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith has been photographing with the famous and infamous faces of celebrities for magazines and advertising for the past 25 years.

Ritz University Special Event
WHERE: Embassy Suites – DFW Airport North
2401 Bass Pro Drive, Grapevine, TX 76051
(972-724-2600)

Space is limited Sign up early!
Cost: $25 Per Person, Per Session
Visit any the Ritz/Wolf Camera & Image to register
No phone registrations – You must register in person.

Session one: Saturday, May 15, 2010 (10:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
THE CELEBRITY PORTRAIT: 15 MINUTES WITH FAME
Smith will share his favorite celebrity portraits and the stories behind them and he will discuss the importance that lighting, styling, hair & make-up and location play in adding production value in producing better environmental portraits that can make your work stand out. Smith will show how photography can give everyone their 15 minutes of fame whether they are famous or infamous globally or just famous in your world.

Session Two: Saturday, May 15, 2010 (3:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
PORTRAITS ON LOCATION: CAPTURING PERSONALITY AND PLACE
Great environmental portraits capture both personality and place. Brian photographs noteworthy and notorious celebrities in the locations where they live, work and play. Smith will show how he photographs subjects on location so that the environment adds another dimension to the shoot citing examples of how he approaches shooting on location whether it’s a large production shoot of a famous subject or simply the someone he runs into on the street while traveling. The seminar will discuss location lighting and tips on selecting the best location to add visual interest to your photographs.

Whether you are a professional photographer or just want to shoot like one, join us for either of both of these informative seminars.

Tagged as: Brian Smith, Celebrity Portrait Photography, Dallas, environmental portraits, Location Portrait Photography, Portraits on Location, Ritz University, Sony, Sony Alpha, Sony Artisan of Imagery, Special Event, Texas, The Celebrity Portrait

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Art & Soul Goes to Congress

by Brian Smith on April 20, 2010

in Art & Soul,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Editorial Photography,Exhibits,Library of Congress,Miami Photographer,Sony Artisans of Imagery

The Creative Coalition will host an exclusive one-night-only sneak preview of my portraits of performing artists from the entertainment industry with an exhibit of the ‘Art & Soul’ project in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress on April 29th. ‘Art & Soul’ is the cornerstone of The Creative Coalition’s arts advocacy campaign to focus national attention on the need to secure federal funding and support for the arts.

Entertainment for the evening’s star-studded event will be The Creative Coalition’s one-night show by the same name, ‘Art & Soul’. The show, written and produced by multiple Emmy Award-winning producer Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide: Life on Street) starring Co-Presidents of The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly (Private Practice) and Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives); directors Barry Levinson (Rain Man) and Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing); actors Adrian Grenier (Entourage), Omar Epps (House); Marlon Wayans (White Chicks, Scary Movie), Ashley Greene (Twilight), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm); Steven Weber (Brothers & Sisters); Wendie Malick (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Just Shoot Me); Richard Schiff (The West Wing), CCH Pounder (Avatar) and legendary news anchor Morley Safer (60 Minutes) among others to be announced.

The portraits of artists including Anne Hathaway, Samuel Jackson, Alyssa Milano, Zooey Deschanel, Tony Bennett and Kerry Washington are accompanied by handwritten personal testimonials from each individual, expressing the positive impact art has had on their lives which will appear in a book to be published by Filipacchi Publishing, the book division of HFM U.S. The exhibition is sponsored by Sony and Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. and it will showcase 20 photographs from the project printed by Duggal Visual Solutions.

“We are proud to enlist the members of The Creative Coalition to bring arts to the top of the American agenda,” said The Creative Coalition Executive Director Robin Bronk. “Art & Soul is The Creative Coalition’s initiative that brings together today’s greatest artistic voices and storytellers to illuminate the importance – to every American — of support for the arts and efficacy of arts in education.”

Tagged as: actors, Adrian Grenier, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, Art & Soul, Art and Soul, Barry Levinson, CCH Pounder, Cheryl Hines, Congress, Dana Delany, directors, Entourage, Harry Belafonte, Kerry Washington, Library of Congress, Marlon Wayans, Morley Safer, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Richard Schiff, Robin Bronk, Samuel Jackson, Spike Lee, Steven Weber, The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly, Tom Fontana, Tony Bennett, Wendie Malick, Zooey Deschanel

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SVA Hosts PDN 30 April 15th – 6:30pm

by Brian Smith on April 2, 2010

in Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Editorial Photography,Magazine Photography,Miami Photographer,Seminars & Speaking,Sony Artisans of Imagery,briansmith.com

PDN’s 30 2010: Our Choice of New and Emerging Photographers to Watch

Thursday, April 15
Seminar: 6:30 – 8pm
Reception: 8 – 9pm
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street
Free and open to the public

I’ll be appearing in a panel moderated by Holly Hughes, editor of Photo District News, with photographers chosen for the 2010 PDN’s 30 will offer their perspectives on getting started in the photo industry, how they go their first jobs and paid for their first promotional efforts, as well as what they learned in school and what they wish they had been taught. Panelists include three photographers from PDN’s 30: Adrian Mueller, Elizabeth Weinberg and Wayne Lawrence plus Men’s Health deputy photo director Jeanne Graves and Sony Artisan of Imagery Brian Smith.

Presented by the BFA Photography Department at SVA, Sony, Kodak and the ASMP.

Tagged as: Adrian Mueller, Brian Smith, Elizabeth Weinberg, Holly Hughes, Jeanne Graves, PDN, Photo District News, Sony, SVA, Wayne Lawrence

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‘Art & Soul’ Back at the Oscars

by Brian Smith on March 6, 2010

in Art & Soul,Brian Smith,Celebrity Portrait Photography,Organizations,Sony Alpha,Sony Artisans of Imagery,Sony a900,The Creative Coalition

Back in LA to shoot ‘Art & Soul’ for The Creative Coalition during Oscar Week. Takes me back to where the project started a year ago. HUGE thanks to Kayla Lindquist, director of Sony’s Artisans of Imagery program, for dropping a little 3-day shoot in my lap and then helping every step along the way as it grew into something much, much bigger. In the last year, we’ve now shot 18,563 images of 153 celebrities and counting…

DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3: Took our usual 8:35am flight to LAX. Love flyin’ Business class in the Triple Seven. Yeah! Just traded seats so I could sit with my wife. The guy I swapped with didn’t mind. He got to sit next to Anna Kournikova. Though my wife is is probably the only woman on the plane who is hotter. Fired out a few more invites for our shoot. Terrill Owens is sitting a few rows behind us.. Oscar-bound T.O.? Mimosas before takeoff…Decide to watch The Blind Side first to get in a Oscar mood followed by Couples Retreat and The Invention of Lying...flight smooth…landing on time. Picked-up our car, circled back for Kayla Linquist landing from JFK. The we all head to the Andaz Hotel on Sunset to check-in and set-up our shoot. Then just enough time for dinner at El Cholo before Wednesday night’s event at our hotel was a party for The Cove so I got to see my college buddy director Louie Psihoyos making his third stop of a busy pre-Oscar evening. Very proud of you, Louie! Then we caught up with The Cove co-director Fisher Stevens and celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch from last year’s Art & Soul shoot. Between drinks, Robin Bronk corralled Evan Handler (Californication) and Domenick Lombardozzi (The Wire) and dragged them down the the studio.

DAY 2 – THURSDAY, MARCH 4:

Our day started off with Joel Warren and Edward Tricomi of Warren-Tricomi Salons who have provided our 20 hair & make-up artists through out this shoot. Brian White, James Kyson Lee of Heros, Adrianna Costa Hollywood 411, Summer Altice, Bitchslap’s Erin Cummings, Grey’s Anatomy McHeartthrob Jesse Williams, Gilles Marini, Melissa Manchester, Aaron Staton of Mad Men, an incredible shoot with the irrepressible Alan Cumming, followed by Iceland Actress Anita Briem.

Grabbed a quick bite at the Hotel the set up again to get ready to catch stars from that night’s party for “Precious” which thanks to great celebrity wrangling by Georgi Page and Dennis St. Rose brought us comedian Eddie Griffin, Jr., Oscar-nominated Costume Designer Sharen Davis, Obama-classmate Hill Harper (a former Iowan…who knew?),”Precious” director Lee Daniels, Elise Neal, 24‘s Best President Dennis Haysbert, we talked about my favorite photographer Irving Penn with J. “Miss J” Alexander sporting rings by Penn’s daughter, Oscar-winning songwriter Siedah Garrett, The Blind Side‘s larger than life Qunitin Aaron looking very dapper and Geoffrey Fletcher, Oscar winner for Best Screenplay for “Precious”

DAY 3 – FRIDAY, MARCH 5:

Feeling drained from the night before when we started the day with Jason “Wee-Man” Acuna of Jackass fame, Desperate Housewives’ Kathy Joosten, 90210‘s Greg Vaughn, Scott Krinsky Chuck, TCC founder Stephen Collins, then just enough time to sit on the couch for an interview with premiere.com‘s Red Carpet Roxi Manning, back to it with CCH Pounder, Charlayne Woodward, Portia Doubleday lovely in Youth in Revolt, then we staged a Wings‘ reunion of Steven Weber and Tim Daly, Nia Verdalos and Ian Gomez My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Camryn Manheim, Richard Kind of A Serious Man, Chazz Palminteri, Dash Mihok, dragged Dana Delany and Rachael Leigh Cook from previous shoots back in for more shots simply because they both looked sooo good, then on to Masi Oka of Heros, Bond villain extraordinaire Rick Yune, Kathy Najimy, Ty Burrell, Richard Schiff, Mekhi Phifer and Aaron Paul

CREDITS:
My Biggest thanks as always goes to my lovely wife, stylist Fazia Ali who makes sure everyone always looks great! Thanks once again to Sony Artisans of Imagery director Kayla Lindquist for finding and supporting this wonderful project and Sony’s Linda Barger and Paine PR’s Krys Grondorf for getting the word out and lining up so many interviews to talk up the project, The Creative Coalition executive director Robin Bronk along with TCC’s Barbara Horvath, Briana Mulherin and Dennis St. Rose, Al Silvestri and Georgi Page of Hachette Filipacchi Media and to David Manning and Gia of A-List Communications once again put together a great lounge.