The blog has moved....This site will no longer be updated....Please this address from now on:
http://marcussmithphoto.com/blog
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Very LONG time
Oct 10, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
Ok, so it has been ages since I have made a blog post. I would like to send out a big apology to all those that check my blog for updates. It was all for good reason though. I have been working harder than I have ever worked in my life on projects with Gary Land. I've been travelling, spending countless hours in the studio retouching, assisting, and problem solving. I'm at a really exciting time in my life and everything is going pretty well. I have a shoot coming up for myself very soon, and will be sure to post the images from that. Due to most of our advertising jobs having disclosure agreements I have not been able to post any of the behind the scenes material I've been collecting. I have some really great stuff I think you all would dig, but I have to wait until those campaigns are released to actually release the behind the scenes stuff. All in due time though. In the meantime though I will get better about posting some material that I am allowed to have up. All that coming VERY soon, bear with me people! I'm back!.
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Behind the Scenes!!!!
Aug 30, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
I know it's been a while since my last post but I have been hard at work at the studio. Last week we had two big shoots we were working on. One was for Coke's global point of purchase and billboard photos. This was my first official shoot on the job. It was a great way to break me in with 15-20 hrs/day that week. It was a really exciting experience knowing I had a part in something that will be seen around the world. There were actually two sets built, one was simulating a kitchen and the other was simulating a living room.
For my photographers out there that may be wondering about the lighting. It was set up in order to emulate a kitchen in the daytime backlit by a window. The four magnums are pointed into the ceiling to create a huge soft light. The two lights in the front are primarily lighting the people. The octabox coming from the back is creating the effect you would normally get from a window, and then there are grids pointed at each coke bottle.
The concept of the next shoot was supposed to be a 1950's/60's pin up girl poster like the ones Miller used as advertisement back in those days. I actually worked on some retouching for this shot, and I'll post the final version later. It came out pretty dope. Check out the photos, and leave a comment. LA and Utah next week for some really exciting shoots.
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For my photographers out there that may be wondering about the lighting. It was set up in order to emulate a kitchen in the daytime backlit by a window. The four magnums are pointed into the ceiling to create a huge soft light. The two lights in the front are primarily lighting the people. The octabox coming from the back is creating the effect you would normally get from a window, and then there are grids pointed at each coke bottle.
The concept of the next shoot was supposed to be a 1950's/60's pin up girl poster like the ones Miller used as advertisement back in those days. I actually worked on some retouching for this shot, and I'll post the final version later. It came out pretty dope. Check out the photos, and leave a comment. LA and Utah next week for some really exciting shoots.
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Switching Gears
Aug 15, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
As some of you may know, I have finally made my move to Boston. Shortly after graduating photography I am blessed to have a job in this economy. And not just any job, but one where I will learn more about the business and the art of photography than I ever did before. It is a full time assisting position with Gary Land.
CLICK PIC TO VISIT SITE
As you can see from the image below, his style is creating a very surreal environment mixed with action and movement you might see in a big budget film. The shoots often star some of the hottest athletes or celebrities shot for the biggest brands in the world. This means that I will have the opportunity to travel and experience the world in ways I never thought was possible.
With that being said. It is important to me to make a full commitment to being the best assistant I can be and working on myself in order to be a better photographer. So, for a while I will be stepping away from the camera, and focusing on learning as much as I can. I know that this is about to be a great experience and can't wait to get started. The blog will temporarily be switching gears on subject matter. I will be blogging less about MY own pictures and more about the job and things I learn from day to day. I may be able to also feature some of the light setups we use and explain what's going on. New material should be up starting next week, thats when I'll be hitting the ground running with the new gig. Wish me luck ya'll!
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CLICK PIC TO VISIT SITE
As you can see from the image below, his style is creating a very surreal environment mixed with action and movement you might see in a big budget film. The shoots often star some of the hottest athletes or celebrities shot for the biggest brands in the world. This means that I will have the opportunity to travel and experience the world in ways I never thought was possible.
With that being said. It is important to me to make a full commitment to being the best assistant I can be and working on myself in order to be a better photographer. So, for a while I will be stepping away from the camera, and focusing on learning as much as I can. I know that this is about to be a great experience and can't wait to get started. The blog will temporarily be switching gears on subject matter. I will be blogging less about MY own pictures and more about the job and things I learn from day to day. I may be able to also feature some of the light setups we use and explain what's going on. New material should be up starting next week, thats when I'll be hitting the ground running with the new gig. Wish me luck ya'll!
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Light Setup
Aug 7, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
Here's my light set up for todays shoot. Photos of the actual shoot should be up sometime next week. More stuff from today's shoot coming soon!
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Photographer Essentials Pt. 2
Aug 6, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
So, in today's commercial photography market, a question often asked by new comers such as myself is if it is still necessary to have a print portfolio as well as a website. It's almost obvious that today you NEED a website in order to be a professional photographer, but it isn't so clear whether or not you should have a printed portfolio. In this post, I will briefly discussed the importance of having a printed portfolio as well as where you can buy one and about how much to expect to spend. CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE....
If you don't think you need a printed portfolio, you are sadly mistaken. Maybe one day this will be true, but in today's market the transition away from print has not fully happened. When I have meetings with modeling agencies they always ask to see my book. A good statistic to think about is this: 80% of photography is still viewed in print whether it be magazines, books, billboards, etc. While attending Hallmark during portfolio review, Greg Heisler spoke about how everything should be done with the final print in mind. If your photo does not print well, it is worthless and won't stand the test of the time. Back in the days before digital, printing was more of an art form and more valued as a skill. Today, often times because of digital, a young photographer such as myself can really miss the impact a well printed image can have. I had been shooting for at least a year and a half before I ever had the opportunity to see my image printed well. Before that, I had only seen my images on a computer screen.
We've seen why a printed image in general is important, but how does that translate specifically into a printed portfolio? Some of you may be thinking, I can get work with my website and images print perfectly fine when they need to be. Well, the advantages to having a printed book outweigh the disadvantages of NOT having one. When you have a book, a potential client is able to share your images with others a lot easier in a meeting area where they may be discussing who should shoot what. People can pass or gather around a book much more easier than they can gather around a 13 in. computer screen. Also, technology has not advanced enough where your portfolio is accessible where-ever, whenever. If the internet connection somewhere is down or slow, then so is your portfolio. Let's not also forget that a client has the opportunity to see how your images will print and be sure and not have to rely on faith. I've been told that it's best to give potential clients as little to question as possible when it comes to your skill.
You might be thinking now, I know I need a book, but where do I get one? There are several online portfolio companies that can take your order, and have a custom book made for you within a couple weeks. I got mines (pictured above) from House of Portfolios. It is made of Wax Skin, which feels pretty similar to leather. HOP has plenty of different materials and colors to choose from. I didn't want anything too crazy, so I went with the classic look of the black book, and got it customized to me by having my name embossed in the front cover in silver lettering. The size of my book is 11x14 so clients can really see the detail in my images. I started out by having 15 pages in my book which leaves me with 30 slots for images which is plenty for me at the moment. More pages can always be added in later if need be. The book is flush, bound by a screw post in the middle. In total my book ran me about $130 + $8 shipping. Hope this post helped clear up some things for some people. If you have any ideas for the next topic, let me know. Read More!
If you don't think you need a printed portfolio, you are sadly mistaken. Maybe one day this will be true, but in today's market the transition away from print has not fully happened. When I have meetings with modeling agencies they always ask to see my book. A good statistic to think about is this: 80% of photography is still viewed in print whether it be magazines, books, billboards, etc. While attending Hallmark during portfolio review, Greg Heisler spoke about how everything should be done with the final print in mind. If your photo does not print well, it is worthless and won't stand the test of the time. Back in the days before digital, printing was more of an art form and more valued as a skill. Today, often times because of digital, a young photographer such as myself can really miss the impact a well printed image can have. I had been shooting for at least a year and a half before I ever had the opportunity to see my image printed well. Before that, I had only seen my images on a computer screen.
We've seen why a printed image in general is important, but how does that translate specifically into a printed portfolio? Some of you may be thinking, I can get work with my website and images print perfectly fine when they need to be. Well, the advantages to having a printed book outweigh the disadvantages of NOT having one. When you have a book, a potential client is able to share your images with others a lot easier in a meeting area where they may be discussing who should shoot what. People can pass or gather around a book much more easier than they can gather around a 13 in. computer screen. Also, technology has not advanced enough where your portfolio is accessible where-ever, whenever. If the internet connection somewhere is down or slow, then so is your portfolio. Let's not also forget that a client has the opportunity to see how your images will print and be sure and not have to rely on faith. I've been told that it's best to give potential clients as little to question as possible when it comes to your skill.
You might be thinking now, I know I need a book, but where do I get one? There are several online portfolio companies that can take your order, and have a custom book made for you within a couple weeks. I got mines (pictured above) from House of Portfolios. It is made of Wax Skin, which feels pretty similar to leather. HOP has plenty of different materials and colors to choose from. I didn't want anything too crazy, so I went with the classic look of the black book, and got it customized to me by having my name embossed in the front cover in silver lettering. The size of my book is 11x14 so clients can really see the detail in my images. I started out by having 15 pages in my book which leaves me with 30 slots for images which is plenty for me at the moment. More pages can always be added in later if need be. The book is flush, bound by a screw post in the middle. In total my book ran me about $130 + $8 shipping. Hope this post helped clear up some things for some people. If you have any ideas for the next topic, let me know. Read More!
Lips
Aug 5, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
I took this shot last night, and I like it....Hope you do too. No editing, just b/w conversion.
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Photographer Essentials Pt. 1
Jul 31, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
Ok, I have been thinking lately how I can make my blog more informative about photography, and not just be another showcase for my work. So, this was something I came up with that I'll start doing from time to time. Through my experience, I have found that there are LOTS of little nick knacks that photographers need outside of just a camera, lenses, and strobes.
I see lots of people blogging about the latest cameras and the newest lenses but no one really talks about the little things that make their jobs that much easier. I'm still getting some of the things I need myself as I've only begun in my photography career BUT as I acquire new things I think are cool OR think of something I have already I'll post it up complete with pics and a write up of how it helps me do my job. So, let's begin with the first thing on the essential list after the jump! Click the READ MORE link below.
Ok, so last week I picked up a Intuos 4 Wacom Tablet. Having one of these is essential if you are doing any type of beauty or fashion retouching. It allows you to have a level of control unrivaled by that of a mouse when it comes to precision dodging and burning. Any professional high end retoucher worth their salt will tell you you'd be doing yourself a favor by getting one of these. It feels a little weird at first but after you get used to it I can't begin to tell you how much easier retouching your photos will become. This particular model has 2048 levels of pressure, and allows you to control the opacity and hardness of your brush strokes in real time by how hard or soft you press down with your pen.
I bought the medium sized model so it ran me about $350. The small sized one is $200, and maybe better for those on a bit of a tighter budget but still in need of this tool. If you would still prefer the bigger tablet area but don't have as much to spend I would suggest tracking down a used Intuos 2 or 3 on amazon or Ebay.
Please let me know if this is a series you'd like to see continue... Read More!
I see lots of people blogging about the latest cameras and the newest lenses but no one really talks about the little things that make their jobs that much easier. I'm still getting some of the things I need myself as I've only begun in my photography career BUT as I acquire new things I think are cool OR think of something I have already I'll post it up complete with pics and a write up of how it helps me do my job. So, let's begin with the first thing on the essential list after the jump! Click the READ MORE link below.
Ok, so last week I picked up a Intuos 4 Wacom Tablet. Having one of these is essential if you are doing any type of beauty or fashion retouching. It allows you to have a level of control unrivaled by that of a mouse when it comes to precision dodging and burning. Any professional high end retoucher worth their salt will tell you you'd be doing yourself a favor by getting one of these. It feels a little weird at first but after you get used to it I can't begin to tell you how much easier retouching your photos will become. This particular model has 2048 levels of pressure, and allows you to control the opacity and hardness of your brush strokes in real time by how hard or soft you press down with your pen.
I bought the medium sized model so it ran me about $350. The small sized one is $200, and maybe better for those on a bit of a tighter budget but still in need of this tool. If you would still prefer the bigger tablet area but don't have as much to spend I would suggest tracking down a used Intuos 2 or 3 on amazon or Ebay.
Please let me know if this is a series you'd like to see continue... Read More!
Beauty Retouching
Jul 28, 2009 | Published in | View Comments
Beauty retouching can be a really time consuming activity. Doing it well really is an essential component to having a good end product. On this shot I am about to show you, I have been working it over for about 4+ hours now. I still have some very minor nitpicky things to do but I thought I'd show this to demonstrate the contrast between an original beauty image and a retouched beauty image. A lot of people that aren't involved in photography don't really know what kind of time it takes to finish an image like this, and a lot of photographers that do their own retouching often times look for shortcuts or filters to help them finish faster. This retouch took so long in part because I very thoroughly dodged and burned on the pixel level while also using the healing brush. Check this out, and tell me what you think of the transformation.
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