Meet Austin Artist, Shakti Sarkin

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to photograph my artist friend and previous photography student, Shakti Sarkin. I was invited to do so with some of her new abstract art in progress. She is developing a very interesting theme around trees and water. In the images may also be found additional forms that really stimulate the imagination.

As my followers may know, this is a big departure for me as my work is predominantly natural science. Never the less, I got a big thrill in making this portrait. I must admit I had a little preconceived idea as to how I wanted to work.

The portrait is in front of a window to our left with indirect light from an overcast day. In addition, I place a much diffused Nikon SB-910 Speedlight on a stand high and to the camera right using a lot of the ceiling as fill.

I believe these types of images must be created with much care to reproduce the artist’s colors and skin tones accurately. I used a Color Checker Passport to get white balance, color and exposure values down correctly. This is a tool that I use regularly in my natural science work and it makes great sense to do so with this type of work as well. The image was post processed primarily in Lightroom and in Photoshop CC.

To see more of Shakti’s inspirational art, visit her web site at: shaktisart.com.

Copyright © 2015 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.
Artwork © Shakti Sarkin.

Do you know what this is?

You should!
It’s a Color Checker Passport (or CCP) !

If you are not familiar with this device you are missing a great tool for calibrating exposure, white balance and accurate color with one or two clicks in the computer. And in any light. Never more do you need to guess at how the subject looked at the time of exposure.

It works in two ways: First, it may be used to establish a camera, lens, light profile for use in Photoshop, Lightroom or other software. You may establish these profiles for standard lighting situations that you may encounter such as daylight, studio flash or your favorite Speedlight and/or softbox combination.

When first photographed it may look like this:

In the computer software, use the ACR eyedropper tool to set white balance then set mid-tone, black and white values using the palette squares provided. Then save the file as a camera profile in your preferred post processing software. A bit of software is provided by the CCP from Xrite to do this.

Once the profile is loaded into your software, open the set of images you wish to adjust, click on the profile and voila, one or many more images can be simultaneously set.

Second, without a profile, white balance, tone values and color may still be set using the standard palette squares for any image and synchronized to a batch photographed in the same conditions.

With one click, this image:

Can be processed into this:

And with a little cropping, dust removal, dodging and burning you are all set! And the good thing- white balance, tone values and color are all standardized. No guessing or trying to remember how the subject and scene looked. Because our eyes play tricks on us and because people don’t see color the same, this makes our photography accurate.

If we want true-to-life accuracy, this is the tool to use.

Copyright © 2015 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.

Photograph South Texas Specialties & Fall Migrants

Workshop Dates:  October 30 – November 1, 2015

Image by participant, © Richard Goluch.

Join noted photographer Brian Loflin for a highly instructional, hands-on bird photography workshop in the heart of the South Texas flyway. The workshop features a half-day of full, hands-on instruction and three half-days of shooting in some of the best South Texas birding habitat available where the neotropical South Texas varieties abound. Take a moment to view participant images from previous workshops here:

The workshop will be held at the Laguna Seca Ranch north of Edinburg, Texas in the heart of the lush Rio Grande Valley. Features of this 700-acre ranch are purpose-designed for photography and preserved with all-native plants and animals. It features four constant-level ponds, each with permanent photography blinds oriented for the best use of light. Each location has been hand-crafted, and they all provide outstanding birding and photographing opportunities. Nearly eighty species have been listed on the ranch. Laguna Seca Ranch clearly offers a unique South Texas birding and photography adventure!

At Laguna Seca Ranch we bring the birds to you! We will set up natural perches considering the best photographic light possible. Most photography of the best scenarios is just 12-15 feet from your lens! Birds have water, dripping attractions and are fed year-round so attraction of the best species is stress-free.

Image by Participant, © Dolph McCranie.

This workshop is designed for serious photographers who are competent in the use of their camera and equipment, yet may not have experienced the thrill of producing bird photographs of the highest quality. Copious instruction will include hands-on demonstrations in bird photography, understanding best exposures and camera settings, and the use of flash. Instruction will also include how to set up in a blind and shooting etiquette, setting up perches, best management of backgrounds and light and much more.

“Brian put so much work into this workshop, it was amazing! He took care of absolutely everything that you could imagine, meals, lodging, bird attracting set up, and always making sure that we were comfortable. At times there were so many birds around us, you didn’t know which shot to take first. We all had a great time, and I am ready to go back again! ” –C.C. – Austin, Texas

For more information see:  RGV Bird Workshop
or, Email direct to:   bkloflin@austin.rr.com

Copyright © 2015 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.

Three-day Intensive Nature and Macro Photography Workshop

Here’s short slideshow of typical images from nature. The Nature and Macro Workshop will guide you in the tools, techniques and skills required to make great images like these.

To read a previous post on the workshop see: Nature and Macro Workshop

For more information see: www.thenatureconnection.com
Or Email me directly at bkloflin@austin.rr.com

Copyright © 2015 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.

Nature & Macro in the Texas Hill Country

Brian Loflin - Natural Science Photography

Join me at Mo Ranch in the very heart of the magical Texas Hill Country for a three-day nature and macro photography workshop geared to shooting in field settings and indoors. Dates are Friday-Sunday, September 18-20, 2015.

This workshop will be packed with hands-on instruction to help you grow your photographic abilities with new found skills, techniques and proficiency. Two nights lodging and six meals provided.

The historic, 500 acre Mo Ranch is located in a beautiful setting on the North Fork of the Guadalupe River. Here, habitats include: aquatic, riparian areas, grasslands, oak-juniper woodlands, and limestone hills. We will make use of all of them.

  

The workshop will feature classroom instruction, hands-on learning, and computer demonstrations  with native flora and fauna of the area. A computer lab is available for all participants for processing images. The workshop will cover many subjects including discussions on:

•    Equipment for getting…

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Nature & Macro in the Texas Hill Country

Join me at Mo Ranch in the very heart of the magical Texas Hill Country for a three-day nature and macro photography workshop geared to shooting in field settings and indoors. Dates are Friday-Sunday, September 18-20, 2015.

This workshop will be packed with hands-on instruction to help you grow your photographic abilities with new found skills, techniques and proficiency. Two nights lodging and six meals provided.

The historic, 500 acre Mo Ranch is located in a beautiful setting on the North Fork of the Guadalupe River. Here, habitats include: aquatic, riparian areas, grasslands, oak-juniper woodlands, and limestone hills. We will make use of all of them.

  

The workshop will feature classroom instruction, hands-on learning, and computer demonstrations  with native flora and fauna of the area. A computer lab is available for all participants for processing images. The workshop will cover many subjects including discussions on:

•    Equipment for getting close   •    Wide Angle Close-Ups
•    Backgrounds   •    Tools to make macro work easier
•    Lighting with Flash & High Speed Flash
•    High Key and White Box     •    Macro Panorama
•    Extreme Macro   •    Focus Stacking

For more information, visit my website: Nature-Macro Workshop 
Or, E-mail me direct: bkloflin@austin.rr.com  .

Copyright © 2015 Brian K Loflin. All rights reserved.