Secrets of Great Portrait Photography

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.

We’ve got some great raffle giveaways from:
PHOTO SHELTER: 1 Free 1 Year Standard account (a $329 value)
SONG FREEDOM: 2 Free Bronze Packages (valued at $360 each.) Each one gives the winner 10 songs to use over the next year.

The X Factor winner Melanie Amaro photographed in Los Angeles

Golfer Graeme McDowell photographed in Horshoe Bay, Bermuda

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Tuesday, February 21, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
MGM Conference Center
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.

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

'Secrets of Great Portrait Photography' WPPI 2011

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 Last year’s WPPI smash hit back by popular demand!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012:
8:00am – 10:00am ‘SECRETS OF GREAT PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY’ – MGM Conference Center
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!

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Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil where I’m speaking today about the ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at Estudio Brasil. Looking forward a fun and lively discussion about portrait photography with all my new Brazilian friends…

Brian Smith at Estudio Brasil 2011

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I’m very excited for the chance to do a completely updated presentation of the ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at this year’s PhotoPlus Expo on October 27th in NYC.  PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo is the U.S. version of Photokina – it’s a trade show and learning experience. I’ll pass along all my tips about photographing people and shooting great portraits.We had a full house last year and this year’s talk will be even better with lots of new photos and tips.

Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 1:15 PM to 3:15 PM
Secrets of Great Portrait Photography

Speaker: Brian Smith
sponsored by SONY
Javits Center, 655 West 34th Street, NYC – ROOM 1A23

Seminar Description: 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 un-famous as a top magazine portrait photographer. He will discuss his approach to editorial and commercial photography assignments from concept to final images, detailing his approach to lighting and problem solving on productions large and small. He will also share his secrets for working quickly to capture the personality of the people he photographs. Finally, Smith will discuss how personal projects can be used to generate commercial and editorial photography assignments and to allow your personal style to evolve and grow while generating assignments you love to shoot.

Register for PhotoPlus Expo before 10/25 for discounts to seminars and free admission to the tradeshow.

In addition to this seminars, I’ll be speaking and doing shooting demos along with all of the Sony Artisans at the Sony booth on the PhotoPlus Expo trade show floor – Booth 818

Photographer Elliott Erwitt

Photography Legend Elliott Erwitt photographed for 'Art & Soul'

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Action-Packed Month Starts Today

by Brian Smith on October 14, 2011

in Seminars & Speaking

My next month is N-U-T-S!

Nuts in a good way like everything together at once – in a very good way. I’ll be making two West Coast swings, three trips in New York and flying down to Brazil. Hope to see you all somewhere along the way, but if I seem a bit punchy, my apologies in advance…

October 14, 2011: ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY ‘Future of Editorial Photography’ San Francisco
October 15-16, 2011: PHOTO ASSISTANT BASIC TRAINING – APA San Francisco
October 20, 2011: BOOK & BOOKS: Coral Gables, Florida ART & SOUL BOOK SIGNING
October 23, 2011: SONY DIGITAL DAYS – KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Unique Photo – New Jersey
October 25, 2011: SONY STORE – NEW YORK: ART & SOUL VIP BOOK LAUNCH
October 27, 2011: PHOTOPLUS EXPO ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’
October 27-19, 2011: PHOTOPLUS EXPO – Sony Trade Show Booth: Featured Speaker – New York
November 2, 2011: SONY STORE – CENTURY CITY: ART & SOUL VIP BOOK LAUNCH
November 2, 2011: W HOTEL WESTWOOD: ART & SOUL EXHIBIT & BOOK SIGNING
November 9, 2011: ESTUDIO BRASIL 2011 – Sao Paulo, Brazil
November 12-13, 2011: PHOTO ASSISTANT BASIC TRAINING – APA New York

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I’m looking forward to speaking to the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Professional Photographer of America about the Secrets of Great Portrait Photography. Thanks to everyone from PPGBA for the invite.

We have a special door-prize: OnOne Software will be giving away a copy of Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 to one lucky attendee.

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Thursday, July 21, 2011
7:00 PM: Networking and hors d’oeuvres
7:30 PM: Program starts…

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 un-famous as a top magazine portrait photographer. He will discuss his approach to editorial and commercial assignments from concept to final images, detailing his approach to lighting and problem-solving on productions small and large and share his secrets of working quickly to capture the personality of the people he photographs. Smith 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.

Grosvenor Best Western Hotel
380 S. Airport Blvd, San Francisco, CA
650.873.3200

PPGBA members – no charge
Non-members – $25 at the door
EP, APA & ASMP members – $10

Special Event Sponsored by:

Sony Electonics

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Fantastic WPPI 2011

by Brian Smith on February 23, 2011

in Seminars & Speaking

Speaking at WPPI 2011 has been a fantastic experience thanks to the amazing positive energy off everyone in attendance! Massive thanks to the great crowd at my platform talk ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ – you guys made this trip wonderful! My deepest thanks to everyone from Sony & Blue Pixel for a great trade show booth where I spoke on Location Portraits and did a live shooting demo of Burlesque dancer Miss Redd. Thanks to George Varanakis and Kate Volpe of WPPI for making this such a great show.

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

Great crowd at 'Secrets of Great Portrait Photography' WPPI 2011

Las Vegas Burlesque dancer Miss Redd with 30"x40" prints from our live shoot at WPPI Sony Booth

Las Vegas Burlesque dancer Miss Redd with 30"x40" prints from our live shoot at WPPI Sony Booth

30"x40" prints at the WPPI Sony Booth from our live shoot of Las Vegas Burlesque dancer Miss Redd

30"x40" prints at the WPPI Sony Booth from our live shoot of Las Vegas Burlesque dancer Miss Redd

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Big Week at WPPI 2011

by Brian Smith on February 19, 2011

in Seminars & Speaking

I’m headed out to Las Vegas tomorrow morning for a big week of talks and meetings at WPPI. It’s always a great week and this year looks better than ever. If you’re headed that way, please stop by and see me. Hope to see you there!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 – WPPI Las Vegas
2-5pm – WPPI LAUNCH PAD & @RFWPPI TWEET-UP sneak peek at all the new products being launched at WPPI
7-10pm – SONY OPENING NIGHT PARTY and Runway Show with Nigel Barker from America’s Next Top Model
MGM Grand Arena

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21 – WPPI Las Vegas
11:00-11:25am LIVE SHOOT: ‘Studio Portraits’ – SONY Booth 421
2:30-2:55pm TALK ‘Location Portraits’ – SONY Booth 421
3:30-3:55pm LIVE SHOOT: ‘Studio Portraits’ – SONY Booth 421

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 – WPPI Las Vegas
11:30-11:55am TALK ‘Location Portraits’ – SONY Booth 421
3:30-5:30pm PLATFORM TALK: ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ MGM Conference Center Room 313 – 316
Pre-register: CLICK HERE!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 – WPPI Las Vegas
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 TALK ‘Location Portraits’ – SONY Booth 421

NEXT STOP:
SOCIETY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EDUCATORS – Atlanta, GA
Thursday, March 10: 10:30am – 11:45am ‘Celebrating and Supporting the Arts through Photography’
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel – Capitol South

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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

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.

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!

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I’m extremely happy to announce that I’ll be speaking at WPPI 2011 about the ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at the MGM Las Vegas on Tuesday, February 22. I’m looking forward to taking the show to Vegas. We had a full house when I gave this talk at PDN PhotoPlus Expo and I’ve added a lot of new images to the talk that will be shown for the first time in Vegas. WPPI is always a great show for the portrait and wedding photography industry and I get to talk about my favorite subject – capturing great portraits. I hope to see you there.

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
MGM Conference Center Room 313 – 316
sponsored by Sony
Pre-register: CLICK HERE!

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.

Brian Smith photographs Anne Hathaway for 'Art & Soul' with The Creative Coalition

Brian Smith photographs actress Anne Hathaway for The Creative Coalition's 'Art & Soul' project

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I’ll be speaking on ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ and ‘Marketing & Commercializing Your Photography’ plus doing portfolio reviews at the Sony World Photography Festival in San Francisco on November 20th and 21st. The Festival also offers an great opportunity to hear from and meet legendary Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt along with my fellow Sony Artisans David McLain and Andy Katz.

The World Photography Festival runs from November 18th-21st at Left Space Studios, 2055 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA Tel: (415) 285-5338 Open from: 10:15 AM – 7:30 PM daily.

Saturday, November 20, 2010 – 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Portfolio Review Sessions [SOLD OUT]
A photographer’s most important marketing tool. Come and show your portfolio to experts in the photo industry, from curators, gallery owners, book publishers, established photographers magazine and newspaper editors who will offer constructive critique and advice.

Sunday, November 21, 2010 – 10:30 PM to 12:00 PM
Marketing & Commercializing Your Photography
Speaker: Brian Smith
Identify how to succeed as a photographer within your local and international markets. A panel of industry experts review a photographer’s instrumental assets such as a website, awards a portfolio and the range of styles needed to commercialize your photography.

Sunday, November 21, 2010 – 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
The Sony Artisans Series: Brian Smith

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 un-famous as a top magazine portrait photographer. He will discuss his approach to editorial and commercial assignments from concept to final images, detailing his approach to lighting and problem-solving on productions small and large and share his secrets of working quickly to capture the personality of the people he photographs. Smith 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.

Burlesque Dancers Evil Hate Monkey and Violet Eva photographed in Las Vegas

Burlesque Dancers Evil Hate Monkey and Violet Eva

Be sure to check out my fellow Sony Artisan’s of Imagery while you are there:

Friday, November 19, 2010 5:30 – 7:30 PM
The Sony Artisans Series: Andy Katz presents ‘Sonoma’

Worldly travel photographer, Andy Katz presents his newest book Sonoma and shares his journey through photography. Following the presentation, enjoy a wine tasting with Rodney Strong Wineries.

Saturday, November 20, 2010 2:30 – 5:00 PM
The Sony Artisans Series: David McLain

Acclaimed editorial, commercial and National Geographic Photographer, David McLain leads a workshop on combining still photography with video and illustrates how a photographer’s work can reach new audiences.

The Festival also features conversations and book signings by Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt and Ken Light.

Saturday, November 20, 5:00 – 5:45 PM
Book Signing at SF Camerawork: Elliott Erwitt & Ken Light
Location: This event is at SF Camerawork Gallery on 657 Mission Street.

Be one of the first to pick up these renowned photographers brand new books. Celebrated Magnum photographer, Elliott Erwitt new book ‘PARIS’ is sure to transport to this magical city. With a keen eye for the real city, Erwitt sees beyond the tourist clichés. Whether the mightiest of monuments or the charm of la vie quotidienne, this master photographer chronicles it all. Alternating intimate details with grand vistas, Erwitt captures the true flavor of la metropole.

Social documentary photographer Ken Light’s newest books are ‘Coal Hollow!’ and ‘Witness in Our Time’ which gives readers a rare glimpse into the minds of some of the most talented contemporary documentary photographers and provides personal accounts by photographers such as Sebastião Salgado, Mary Ellen Mark and Eugene Richards.

Followed by:
Saturday, November 20, 6:00 – 7:00 PM
In the Photographer’s Studio Ken Light in conversation with world-renowned photographer Elliott Erwitt.
Location: This event is at SF Camerawork Gallery on 657 Mission Street.

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