Sony

Sony World Photography Festival – San Francisco Nov 18-21

by Brian Smith on November 3, 2010

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

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.

Tagged as: Brian Smith, Celebrity Portrait Photographer, magazine portrait photographer, Marketing Photography, San Francisco, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, Sony, Sony Artisans of Imagery, World Photography Festival

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Schneider-Kreuznach new tilt-shift lenses at Photokina 2010

by Brian Smith on September 17, 2010

in Gear

Schneider-Kreuznach is launching new tilt-shift lenses for digital single-lens reflex cameras with full-frame image sensor: Super-Angulon 2.8/50 mm HM and Makro-Symmar 4.0/90 mm HM in mounts for Sony A-Mount, Nikon, Canon and Pentax K-Mount at Photokina 2010. A third T/S lens the APO-Digitar 5.6/120 mm HM Aspheric will be available for Mamiya/Phase One medium-format systems.

Schneider 50mm/2.8 PC-TS Super-Angulon

Schneider 90mm/4.0 PC-TS Makro-Symmar

Put me on the list for the 50mm/2.8 PC-TS. I love the look of a normal lens with some tilt to throw the plane of focus and you know that Schneider glass will be SWEET!

Tagged as: Architectural Photography, Canon, lenses, Nikon, Pentax, Photokina 2010, Schneider, Sony, Sony Alpha, tilt-shift

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

by Brian Smith on July 25, 2010

in Talks

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 of 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, Celebrity Portrait Photographer, Great portraits, magazine portrait photographer, New York, Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, Sony

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Sony Launches NEX-VG10 E-mount HD camcorder

by Brian Smith on July 14, 2010

in Gear

Sony has launched it’s E-mount NEX-VG10E camcorder, the worlds’ first consumer-grade HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses. Although appearing under Sony’s Handycam brand, rather than Alpha, it retains a lot in common with the Alpha NEX series. It features the same 14.6MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor but is capable of recording 1080i video at a higher, 24mbps, bitrate. The NEX-VG10E also features an electronic viewfinder and ‘Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone’ that uses four microphone elements to provide better channel separation and cancel unwanted noise. In every other respect it is essentially a NEX 5, featuring the same user interface (though with more external controls) and both SD and MemoryStick storage. It will sold as kit with image-stabilized E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens and will be available a suggested retail price of $2000.

* 14.2 effective megapixel ExmorTM APS HD CMOS sensor (19.5 times larger than conventional camcorder) for stunning HD movies with beautiful background defocus
* Accepts E-mount interchangeable lenses plus A-mount α DSLR lenses (via optional adaptor)
* High quality audio with Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone and external mic input
* 7.5cm (3 inch-type) Xtra Fine LCD and electronic viewfinder

Tagged as: Camcorder, Camera, E mount, Sony, Sony NEX, Video

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Sony NEX-5: This Small Camera is going to be HUGE!

by Brian Smith on May 21, 2010

in Gear

Sony NEX-5 with 18mm/2.8 lens

I finally got my hands on the new Sony NEX-5 digital camera this morning, when FedEx showed up with a pre-production model. Though I saw prototypes at PMA this year, it’s shocking to hold it your hand and try to figure out how Sony was able to fit an APS sensor into such a small a package. The NEX-5 has the same size sensor that’s in Sony and Nikon APS-C DSLRs and it’s actually larger than sensor in Canon 7D, yet it easily fits into the palm of your hand like a cybershot – making it the smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera in the world and the first APS-C camera in the world to offer Full HD video recording with continuous auto-focus.

I love this camera because it’s small enough that I can carry around all the time. It won’t replace my DSLRs, but I can keep it with me all the time for a grab shot that I might have otherwise missed. Best of all, for street photography it allows you to shoot without attracting attention. This camera really raises the game.

Sony NEX-5 with 18-55/3.5-5.6 zoom

Next-5 Skull Candy Remix

Tagged as: digital camera, Sony, Sony Alpha, Sony NEX

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The NEX Big Thing

by Brian Smith on May 16, 2010

in Gear

Can’t wait to get my hands on the new Sony NEX-5 that puts an APS sensor into a tiny point-n-shoot body. With the 16mm/2.8 lens, it’s got the makings of a perfect walk-around camera…

The 1080 HD Video is very impressive as well…

Sony also announced this cool new E-mount interchangeable lens HD camcorder

Tagged as: E mount, HD camcorder, NEX-5, Sony

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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 Talks

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 Exhibits

Mr. and Mrs. Smith Go to Washington

A beautiful day in Washington at the Library of Congress

Anne Hathaway in the Library of Congress 'Art & Soul' Exhibit

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); director Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing); actors Adrian Grenier (Entourage), Omar Epps (House); Marlon Wayans (White Chicks, Scary Movie), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm); Steven Weber (Brothers & Sisters); Wendie Malick (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Just Shoot Me); Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and CCH Pounder (Avatar) among others to be announced.

The portraits of artists including Anne Hathaway, Samuel Jackson, Alyssa Milano, 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 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, Books, CCH Pounder, Cheryl Hines, Congress, Dana Delany, Duggal, Entourage, Harry Belafonte, Kerry Washington, Library of Congress, Marlon Wayans, Omar Epps, Patricia Arquette, Richard Schiff, Samuel Jackson, Sony, Spike Lee, Steven Weber, The Creative Coalition, Tim Daly, Tom Fontana, Tony Bennett, Wendie Malick

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SVA Hosts PDN 30 April 15th – 6:30pm

by Brian Smith on April 2, 2010

in Talks

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, Sony Artisan of Imagery, SVA, Wayne Lawrence

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ART & SOUL back at the Oscars

by Brian Smith on March 6, 2010

in Celebrity Portrait Photography

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.