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
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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!!!
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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.
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The Celebrity Portrait
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.
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Brian Smith,
Elizabeth Weinberg,
Holly Hughes,
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PDN,
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Wayne Lawrence
Back in The OC to speak at the 2010 PMA convention. Brings back a lot of memories of great times of my days as a staff photographer for the Orange County Register in the ’80s. Of course back in the day, Orange County was always said in italics…
DAY 1 – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20: 6:55am flight through Dallas. John Wayne International Airport is much bigger and better than I remember. Blue Pixel’s Kevin Gilbert picks us up and we head straight to the Anaheim Convention Center. Hand off updates of the presentations to Jamie Horton for run through of my three talks that I’ll be doing at the Sony booth. Sony Senior Product Manager for Digital-SLR Cameras, Mark Weir gives me the first glimpse of the new Sony prototype lenses the CZ 24/2 and 500/4 G. Sony Alpha product manager Kristen Elder shows me the super-cool new super-compact APS-C concept camera. A smaller camera that I can take everywhere. Can’t wait to get my hands on one of them. El-Deane Naude shows off Sony’s new VX2000 camcorder with dual card slots and XLR inputs. Gotta get one of those too. Then run-though of the product launch I’m doing tomorrow at the press event to kick off PMA. I really dig the new and improved intelligent sweep panorama on the Cybershot TX5 and product manager Hiroyuki “Tommy” Tominaga tells me it actually stitches together up to a HUNDRED images to create a panorama image on the fly. Whoa! I’ll be on stage in between announcements by Brennan Mullin, Senior VP of Sony Electronics’ personal imaging and audio business and Masashi “Tiger” Imamura, Sony President of Personal Imaging. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE!!! Director of the Sony’s Artisans program, Kayla Linquist is kind enough to lie to me and say I was funny. My wife Fazia is mortified. I think I’ll have to go with my wife’s call on this one…
DAY 2 – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21: Started out the day making the product launch announcement for the Cyber-shot LX5 Showing off it’s rugged good looks by breaking it out of a block of ice, sticking it in a dust chamber, dunking it in a tank of water and dropping it from five feet onto the stage. Why they thought of me to do that…well, I guess you can figure that out. Managed to nearly hit Sony’s CMO with a chunk of ice, yet I somehow didn’t have to hitchhike home from the show or use the ice pick on myself. Gave two talks on Location Portraits and the Art & Soul project in between fellow Sony Artisan’s Andy Katz, showing Images of India and Wine Country and Matthew Jordan Smith, showing his Polar Bear Fashion and Fashion Week in New York. American PHOTO’s Russell Hart stops by to introduce me to their new photo editor Chelsea Stickel and we talk about an upcoming project. Then did two lighting demos with models Yuki and Stephanie and then headed off to a Sony press dinner. Great dinner. Got to talk with a lot of people about the projects I’ve been doing over the last year.
DAY 3 – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22: No press event today, whew! Gave three talks today and two model shoots. Yuki is really amazing (a great discovery by Matthew Jordan Smith) Cristina Mittermeier joins the fun, Saving the Planet One Pixel at a Time. My wife Fazia helps transform Yuki into and Indian bride for Cristina’s shoot. Kayla Linquist and I talk with Sony’s Linda Barger and Erin Georgrieff of Paine PR about ideas to promote the ‘Art & Soul’ project. Derrick Story, Tim Grimmer and Yvonne Petro of Lowepro show me their cool new line of bags. Andy Katz surprises us a lovely gift of a bottle of 2007 Katz Cabernet. Sony Artisans dinner at Napa Rose with Steve Sommers, Veronica Garcia, Mark Weir, Michael Kenny III, Kayla Linquist, and the rest of the crew from Sony.
DAY 4 – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23: Finally got a good night sleep, so I’m feeling great for the final day. The day flies as I give all three talks again and more lighting demos with Yuki as a super-hot version of “Minnie Mouse” and surfer Glen channeling ‘Jeff Spicoli’ even though he wasn’t born with ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ dropped. Gary Pageu from PMA stops by to check out my talks. Dinner at Roy’s.
DAY 5 – WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24: Flying home today. On my way to LAX, I drive down Sunset from the 101 past the Andaz Hotel where I will be shooting ‘Art & Soul’ for The Creative Coalition next week at the Oscars. They already have a giant Moet Oscar Week ad covering the entire side of the hotel…I know what I’ll be drinking next week. Just enough time for a final lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Cholo with our friend James Russell before heading home on our flight to MIA…
PMA 2010 at Anaheim Convention Center
Sony President of Personal Imaging Masashi Imamura, kicks off PMA to a full house
The New Sony Zeiss 24/2.0
The New Sony 500/4.0 G
Super-compact Sony APS-C Concept Camera
Press photograph the new Sony Lenses
Press Photograph the New Sony Concept Camera
Lovely Model Yuki as Minnie
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Sony LX5,
Yuki
I’ll be speaking about the Future of Editorial Photography to students at Brigham Young University on January 20th.
The lecture is free and is open to any professional photographers in the area.
The Future of Editorial Photography
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Time: 7:00PM
Location: Room 3108 JKB (Jesse Knight Building) Brigham Young University, Provo Utah
Seminar Topics:
• How to get and keep the attention of photo editors and art directors at top magazines
• How production value can make your work stand out
• How to charge properly for digital processing
• What are the best things you can do in a slow economy
• How to maximize re-licensing, syndication and reprint revenue
• How will the shift to online content will affect rates
• What you should know about editorial that nobody told you
Editorial Photography is undergoing rapid change, yet the death of magazine photography has been greatly exaggerated. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith, President of Editorial Photographers, will discuss how to maximize the creative and commercial rewards while avoiding bad contracts, stagnant rates and rights-gobbling appetites of multinational media corporations.
Thanks for generous support provided by:
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If you’re attending the PhotoPlus Expo in New York, come see me at the Sony Booth
Thursday, October 22:
10:00 am The Celebrity Portrait: 15 Minutes with Fame
1:45pm Art & Soul: Celebrities Support the Arts
4:00pm The Celebrity Portrait: 15 Minutes with Fame
Saturday, October 24:
1:15pm The Celebrity Portrait: 15 Minutes with Fame
2:45pm Art & Soul: Celebrities Support the Arts
by Brian Smith on August 5, 2009
in APA,Art & Soul,Brian Smith,Celebrity Photography,Editorial Photography,Education,Miami Photographer,Seminars & Speaking,Sony Alpha,Sony Artisans of Imagery,Sony a900,The Creative Coalition
APA|NY Image Makers Lecture Series
Featuring: Brian Smith: Advocacy for the Arts
Wednesday, August 12, 6:30-8 p.m.
Admission: Free (seating is limited)
SoHo Apple Theater, 103 Prince St at Mercer
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith will speak about his latest project, ‘Art & Soul’ for The Creative Coalition. The project features Smith’s portraits of celebrities along with personal messages from each artist on how exposure to the arts inspired them and positively impacted their lives.
Over 100 celebrities including Anne Hathaway, Ellen Burstyn, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, James Denton, Jamie Kennedy, Alyssa Milano and Taye Diggs have been photographed for ‘Art & Soul’ with the goal of producing a coffee table book aimed at raising the public awareness of the importance and impact of the arts by allowing creative artists to use their celebrity to shine a spotlight on the importance of the arts and arts education.
In May of this year, Tim Daly, Dana Delany, Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington and Barry Levinson of The Creative Coalition presented the Art & Soul to The White House and Congress as part of their successful effort to lobby for increased funding for the arts and arts education. Smith will discuss the story behind the commission, his approach to the shoot and the significance of being able to use his photographs for arts advocacy.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
SONY
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THE CELEBRITY PORTRAIT: 15 MINUTES WITH FAME
with Sony Artisan of Imagery Brian Smith
When: 3-5pm, July 7, 2009
Location: B & H Photo, 420 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith has been photographing with the famous and infamous faces of celebrities for the past two decades. Smith will share his favorite celebrity portraits and the stories behind them. He will discuss the importance that styling, hair & make-up and location play in adding production value to his shoots and ways to maximize the re-licensing value of the images.
He will also show his latest work for The Creative Coalition’s book “Art & Soul” which features portraits of celebrities alongside their hand-written thoughts about the importance of the arts. Through the sponsorship of Sony, Hachette Filipacchi and American PHOTO magazine, Smith photographed a series of 85 celebrity portraits over 6 days in Los Angeles and New York. In May of this year, members of The Creative Coalition took the book to the White House and Congress to lobby for support of the arts. Smith will discuss the story behind the commission, his approach to the shoot, and the significance of being able to use his photographs for arts advocacy.
Brian Smith is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and President of Editorial Photographers. His work can be seen at www.briansmith.com
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Brian Smith – The Future of Editorial Photography
May 12th Time: Social hour & Food: 6:00; Program: 7:00
Location: EP Levine, 23 Drydock Ave, Boston MA 02210
617-951-1499
Editorial Photography is undergoing rapid change, yet the death of magazine photography has been greatly exaggerated. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith, President of Editorial Photographers, will discuss how to maximize the creative and commercial rewards while avoiding bad contracts, stagnant rates and rights-gobbling appetites of multinational media corporations. Smith will discuss the need to charge properly for the time and expense of digital capture and processing and why photographers and agencies may be to blame for unreasonably low caps that some magazines that some magazines have placed on digital fees. Photographers, when united, have been able to affect positive change to the industry for fair contracts paying higher fees and space usage and how photographers unwilling to turn down bad deals can send it all tumbling down.
Seminar Topics:
• How to get and keep the attention of photo editors and art directors at top magazines
• How production value can make your work stand out
• What are the best things you can do in a slow economy • How to maximize re-licensing, syndication and reprint revenue
• How will the shift to online content will affect rates
• What you should know about editorial that nobody told you
EP President Brian Smith’s first magazine photograph appeared in Life Magazine when he was a 20 year-old student at the University of Missouri. Five years later he won the Pulitzer for photographs of the Los Angeles Olympics. Based in Miami Beach, his work has won awards in World Press Photo, American Photo, Pictures of the Year and Communication Arts Competitions and has appeared on hundreds of magazine covers including Time, Forbes, Business Week, Sports Illustrated, and New York Magazine. Smith is a Sony Artisan of Imagery. His work can be seen at: www.briansmith.com
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