A chick & bunny PSA announcement while I freak out about the Northeast District deadline…

  Today is March 15th. By 5PM I should have all my print competition entries, finished, registered, entered and sent. Sure, I’ll pause while you wipe up the pop you just spat out. Since I don’t have time to write a lot, I’ll just leave you with a few thoughts… I see that some of …

Photography Critiques – part 1

It’s tough, that first time you put yourself out there and post an image and request a critique. Generally it seems that this event happens on a photography forum, where certain abbreviations may be used in regards to critiques. Usually “CC” is the term that’s used, which I interpret as “Constructive Criticism.” In some photography …

Confessions of a print competition junkie…

I’m sick. I’m “oh.em.gee. I just dropped my $3500 body on the cement floor and watched it smash to pieces!” ready to hurl. I’m waiting on a comp print to arrive from the lab. I ran some tests, I ordered 8x10s and different finishes until I thought I’d made the correct choice for how to …

You Should Know Who Monte Zucker Is

Some interesting names get bandied about the photography world. There always seems to be wave after wave of “celebriity” names in the industry that are the flavor of the day. When I started, Sandy Puc was just starting with her Bellies to Babies tour. Newborn photographers were pretty popular across the board. Then, there was …

Perfect Photographic Backgrounds

Oh for the love of all that is holy, let’s get this background thing straightened out once and for all. I am of the old school thought process: “GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA!” More work now, means less work retouching. And since no one bothers with the retouching backgrounds, it seems, it’s VITAL to remove …

Custom White Balance is Your Friend – Part 2 How to Synchronize CWB in Adobe RAW

Finally! Yes, I know. This was promised last week & I’m just now getting to it. Well, Wootness doesn’t pay my check, my clients do and I was taking care of them. So sue me. Anyway… I said that I would come back and tell you how to USE those calibration shots that I say …

Yours is Bigger Than Mine. I’m Fine with That.

Some people just can’t get past the whole gear thing. For a long time, I was tempted to do as a friend of mine does – cover up all the identifying marks on my camera with black electrical tape. You’d know I shot a Nikon, but that’s about it. For the past few years I’ve …

Custom White Balance is Your Friend

In addition to getting photographers away from shooting on Auto – I’d also like to shoo them away from the “auto” setting on their white balance section of the camera menu. I know it’s tempting to just put the camera on auto everything and go for it – but that’s how non-professionals do it and …

About those Shadows: It’s Groundhog Day and Your Name Ain’t Phil

Oh good morning Wootness fans! Happy Groundhog Day! Phil did NOT see his shadow, so I guess that means we’ll have an early spring. Yeah, right. When I start relying on a rodent to forecast the weather, there’s issues at play. So, today we’re gonna talk about shadows. Specifically, shadows from your clients that are …

But, Seriously: Just buy a light meter, will ya?

When I teach classes to new photographers, I have a “learn with what you already own” philosophy. I know how it is. You excitedly take your camera, bag and manual to the first class that will get you on the road to becoming a pro photographer and you’re suddenly faced with an excruciatingly long list …