Photography

PhotoShelter Showcases ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography: Photographs of the Famous and Infamous’

by Brian Smith on May 12, 2012

Big thanks for my friends at PhotoShelter for these kind words about my new book on celebrity portrait photography ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography: Photographs of the Famous and Infamous‘ coming this fall from New Riders Press.

“The result is Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, filled with all of Brian’s tips and tricks to make every person who comes in front of your camera feel like a celebrity. It’s a sexy, inspiring book that’s a must-have for any portrait photographer or fan of Brian Smith.” — Lauren Margolis/PhotoShelter

Thanks for the love, Lauren. It’s mutual! I’ve depend on PhotoShelter to house my online photo archives and they’ve never let me down. They’ve saved my bacon many times over when I’ve been on the road an an editor needs a photo two minutes ago…

I learned a lesson a few years back, when the IT department a a major magazine routinely cleared off their FTP servers before my editor could download the HiRes final selects from a shoot. After that I started posting all my shoots to private password-protected archive galleries on PhotoShelter – ensuring they are always there. Then once the shoot is published I can make the gallery visible with one click.

Click here to save with a PhotoShelter discount code.

‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at WPPI 2012

by Brian Smith on February 14, 2012

in Talks

I’m heading back to WPPI 2012 in Las Vegas to speak about my favorite subject – capturing great portraits. WPPI is always a great show for the portrait and wedding photography industry I’m looking forward to bringing this talk back to Vegas after packed crowds at PhotoPlus Expo and Estudio Brasil in Sao Paulo.

New for WPPI, I’ve added a lot of new images to my talk including photos from my shoot on The X Factor. I’ll be speaking about everything from how to connect with your subject to ways that hair, make-up and styling can add production value to your shoots and all the things that go into the decision making process on a shoot from concept to location to lighting to refining the final look in post.

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Tuesday, February 21, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
MGM Conference Center – Room 318
sponsored by Sony

Celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith will share the lessons he’s learned over the past 30 years capturing the faces of the famous, infamous and unknown as a top magazine portrait photographer. Brian will discuss his approach to editorial and commercial assignments from concept to final images, and detailing his approach to lighting and problem solving on productions both small and large. He will also share secrets about how to quickly capture the personality of the people in your photographs. He will also discuss how personal projects can be used to generate editorial and commercial assignments, and allow your personal style to evolve and grow while generating assignments you love to shoot.

We’ve got some great raffle giveaways from:

LOWEPRO: One DSLR Video Fastpack 250 AW (a $149 value)
PHOTO SHELTER: One Free 1 Year Standard account (a $329 value)
SONG FREEDOM: Two Free Bronze Packages (valued at $360 each)
Each one gives the winner 10 songs to use over the next year.
TETHERING TOOLS: Tether Pro USB 15ft High-Visibility Orange Tethering Cable plus JerkStopper Tethering Kit – Camera Support JerkStopper and Computer Support JerkStopper (USB option)

Great crowd at 'Secrets of Great Portrait Photography' with Brian Smith WPPI 2011

'Secrets of Great Portrait Photography' WPPI 2011

Golfer Graeme McDowell photographed in Horshoe Bay, Bermuda

The X Factor winner Melanie Amaro photographed in Los Angeles

Marcus Canty photographed on The X Factor

Be sure to stop by the Sony booth on the WPPI show floor where I’ll be speaking and doing lighting demos each day.

Monday February 20, 2012:
Noon – 12:45pm CAPTURING PERSONALITY – BURLESQUE (LIVE SHOOT) – Sony Booth 421
1:30pm – 2:15pm THE NEX BIG THING: SMALL CAMERA – BIG RESULTS – Sony Booth 421
3:00pm – 3:45pm CAPTURING PERSONALITY – BURLESQUE (LIVE SHOOT) – Sony Booth 421
8:00pm – 10:00pm SONY SHOOTOUT MGM Conference Center, Level 3, Rooms 312-320

Tuesday, February 21, 2012:
8:00am – 10:00am ‘SECRETS OF GREAT PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY’ – MGM Conference Center – Room 318
Noon -12:45pm THE NEX BIG THING: SMALL CAMERA – BIG RESULTS – Sony Booth 421
1:30pm – 2:15pm CAPTURING PERSONALITY – BURLESQUE (LIVE SHOOT) – Sony Booth 421

Wednesday, February 22, 2012:
11:15am – Noon CAPTURING PERSONALITY – BURLESQUE (LIVE SHOOT) – Sony Booth 421
12:45pm – 1:30pm THE NEX BIG THING: SMALL CAMERA – BIG RESULTS – Sony Booth 421
2:15pm – 3:00pm CAPTURING PERSONALITY – BURLESQUE (LIVE SHOOT) – Sony Booth 421

Stop by to say hello to me and my fellow Sony Artisans of Imagery Matthew Jordan Smith, Me Ra Koh and fab photographers Sarah France and Daniel Boswell. It’s going to be an absolutely great show – hope to see you there!

Tagged as: Daniel Boswell, Great portraits, Las Vegas, Matthew Jordan Smith, Me Ra Koh, Photography, Sarah France, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, Sony, Sony Artisans of Imagery, Speaking, WPPI, WPPI 2012

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iLeica this iPhone Concept Camera

by Brian Smith on December 23, 2011

in Gear

iGotta say iLeica this i9 Concept Camera from Black Design Associates. Way cool way to trick out iPhone Photography… Make it happen!

Tagged as: Black Design, i9 Concept Camera, iLeica, iPhone, iPhone Photography, Photography

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ASK BRIAN: How do you Light?

by Brian Smith on March 24, 2011

in Ask Brian Smith

Q: I am in love with your Anne Hathaway photo. Is the beauty dish really the only light source in this shot or is there reflector fill underneath? I’m amazed at how even the light is on her face.

A: What’s not to love about Anne Hathaway? She’s a dream to photograph and she has the most expressive eyes I have ever seen. The lighting was quite simple. The key light was a Profoto Beauty Dish from the left with a touch of fill directly behind the camera. I rarely fill from below because I want the chin to fall into shadow. Instead, I try to get the key light in just the right spot. The great thing about simple lighting is that you can forget about the light and just concentrate on interacting with the person in front of your lens and when that person you’ve photographing is Anne, that’s a VERY good thing…

Q: Brian I am Partha from India I am really impressed to see yr works, I think u r very comfortable both indoor & outdoor, I hv few questions to ask re indoor shooting, mainly back drop, lighting setup etc

A: Hello Paratha, Indoors or out, always start with a single light and don’t add another until you’ve gotten every drop of beauty out of that one light.

Q: Brian, do you have a small series of photos that a underfunded college art gallery could have on loan. We can fund shipping and printing for mailers but not much else. We are starved for really good stuff. c. 70 lineal feet. rthomas@virginiawestern.edu. asked by radsue

A: I might have just the thing if you can wait until October: http://amzn.to/saveart

Q: Can I assist for you? asked by jasongrow

A: Only if I can be your official White House Photographer. Ladies and Gentleman, meet my dear friend, former councilman Jason Grow – soon to be the junior Senator from Massachusetts…

Tagged as: Anne Hathaway, Ask Brian Smith, Lighting, Photography

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‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at WPPI in Las Vegas

by Brian Smith on February 7, 2011

in Talks

I’ll be speaking about my favorite subject – capturing great portraits – at WPPI on February 22nd in Las Vegas. WPPI is always a great show for the portrait and wedding photography industry I’m looking forward to taking the show to Vegas after a full house when I gave this talk at PDN PhotoPlus Expo. I’ve added a lot of new images to the talk that will be shown for the first time including the latest photos from my project on burlesque. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the project from my friends at X-Rite:

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Tuesday, February 22, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Room 313 – 316 in the MGM Conference Center
sponsored by Sony

Be sure to stop by the Sony booth on the WPPI show floor where I’ll be speaking and doing lighting demos each day.

Monday February 21:
11:00-11:25am ‘Live Shoot: Studio Portraits’ – Sony Booth 421
2:30-2:55pm ‘Location Portraits’- Sony Booth 421
3:30-3:55pm ‘Live Shoot: Studio Portraits’- Sony Booth 421

Tuesday, February 22:
11:00-11:25am ‘Location Portraits’- Sony Booth 421
3:30-5:30pm ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ – MGM Conference Center Room 313 – 316
Pre-register: CLICK HERE!

Wednesday, February 23:
11:30-11:55am ‘Live Shoot: Studio Portraits’- Sony Booth 421
1:00-1:25pm ‘Live Shoot: Studio Portraits’- Sony Booth 421
2:00-2:25pm ‘Location Portraits’- Sony Booth 421

It’s going to be an absolutely great show – hope to see you there!

Tagged as: Burlesque, Las Vegas, Photography, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, Sony, Speaking, WPPI

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ASK BRIAN: What did you have in your first portfolio?

by Brian Smith on January 3, 2011

in Ask Brian Smith, Photography

Q: Really enjoy your work. Can you give some insight into your first encounters with editors, what did you have in your portfolio, did you have celebrities in there from the start. Do you think that good portraits of ordinary people impress editors enough? — portraitphoto

A: Thank you for that. I started off as a newspaper photographer, so the first portfolios I showed to the magazines had a few celebrities and athletes in them, but mostly regular not-so-famous people. Most editors are more impressed if you can pull off a great, compelling portrait that speaks about your subject’s personality – be they famous or not.

Ask me anything about Photography!

Tagged as: Photography, Portfolio, Starting Out

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COOL GEAR: NEX, NEXBABY

by Brian Smith on September 8, 2010

in Gear

One of the truly cool things I love about the Sony NEX cameras is their adaptability to many different lenses. One of the very easy adaptations is using the Sony NEX to Alpha mount adapter to pop an Alpha-mount Lensbaby Composer on the Sony NEX-5 camera for a very compact camera that lets your vision run wild…

Tagged as: lensbaby, New York Photography, Photography, Sony NEX, T/S, tilt/shift

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PhotoShelter WordPress Plugin

by Brian Smith on July 29, 2010

in Photo Industry News

My good friends at PhotoShelter have created a super-slick-gotta-have-plugin-for-Wordpress-blogs which allows photographers to post photos from their PhotoShelter account directly on their WordPress blog. A great way to simplify your workflow!

Simply Select an image from a gallery and select “Insert Image.”

and then in the words of one of the greatest poets of our generation: “BAM!”

Or it you prefer more security, you can choose to upload a flash image:

Tagged as: Blogs, Photographers, Photography, PhotoShelter, Plugin, WordPress

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Emerge Photography Symposium – Miami Sept 10-12th

by Brian Smith on July 16, 2010

in Talks

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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Rangefinder Magazine Interview

by Brian Smith on July 2, 2010

in Interviews

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.