Tallisphoto.com

Ponte Vedra Beach Buddy

2011-12-26T04:50:00.000-08:00

Bryan was a bit frustrated starting and stopping his new bike. I put an old 100-300 Canon lens on the camera because my new Canon 70-200 f.28 lens is sometimes too heavy for my hand held style of shooting.

The good news is that Bryan will grow into his new bicycle. The other good news is that my old lens still does the job...

Visit our website for a clear idea of what we do professionally.

Ponte Vedra Photography

2011-12-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity a while back to photograph William Gottlieb, noted photographer who photographed all of the jazz greats in the 40's. Mr. Gottlieb very much enjoyed talking about Mr. Gottlieb and was happy to share his shooting techniques. In today's world, it's pretty easy to set up one light and control the shadows. I copy his style when I'm shooting black and white. I love the drama of the shadowing.

Ponte Vedra Florida Holiday Portrait

2011-12-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

Photographing Angela was a lot of fun because she came to the shoot prepared to smile and have fun. I set up very basic lighting and concentrated on making her feel comfortable. I used two Canon 580 EX electronic flash units using them with two 42" umbrellas. I had them set on manual exposure, 1/4 power, one light two feet further back then the other and had my camera set at an iso of 400 with a shutter speed on 1/60 of a second at f.8.

A picture that speaks volumes...

2011-12-03T05:15:00.001-08:00

I took this shot using a 35-105mm lens set at 5.6, with an iso of 800. To keep to my rule of simple shooting, I used only one 580ex electronic strobe with a Fong difusser. My shutter speed was 1/60th of a second. No additional work was done to lighten the background.

New Skills

2011-11-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to grow my shooting skills for quite some time now but have not budgeted time to do so. For all my working years, outdoor shooting was done for the cleanliness of the shots with flash fill. Truthfully, I was/am able to shoot outdoors with flash, in my sleep. It's second nature. Now that there's more time in my life, I very much want to master available light exposures so that they too will become second nature.

Living in Ponte Vedra Beach and being so close to St. Augustine will afford me the opportunity to grow and explore as much as I want. I'm looking forward to it.

The first roadblock that I encountered is the balancing of background lighting conditions with the subject back lighting condition. I've very quickly learned that in order to have a great shot, the background has to be at least the same exposure as the foreground. I've found that darker backgrounds work best--although I'm not sure how this will work on the beach--which is my next step. For this shot, I used my new Canon 70-200 f.28. I set my iso at 400, guestimated the exposure to be 125@f.5.6. I got lucky. The shot worked.

Ponte Vedra Beach Based Photographer

2011-11-11T03:36:00.000-08:00

Remember Rodney Dangerfield in the movie "Easy Money" Well, he never photographed Buddy!!!

It's great being a Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl phtotographer

Ponte Vedra Beach Energizing the Creative Side

2011-11-11T03:24:00.000-08:00

I've been bored to tears over the past two years with the shooting end of my work. My professional growth was tilted toward the production end of assignments.

The idea of keeping the technical side of the work simple, neat and clean is still where I want to be but I wanted that "something else" in my shots. This shot shows that for me, I've found it...

Still preaching and using the most simple lighting, I took the strobe off of my camera and put it on a light stand either to my right or to my left. I triggered the light with a simple electronic radio unit. I'm thrilled with the results! The stationary strobe gave me the freedom to move around while keeping a constant exposure. While still using the indirect lighting techniques that I've loved using for so many years, now seems to look even richer. I'm looking forward to this coming weekend's assignment.

Living in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl for the past two or so months has not only helped me free up my thinking but it's also helped me lower my blood pressure from 138/80 to an amazing 103/80. Wow, professional growth and more relaxed arteries.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

2011-10-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Relocating to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is certainly a big change of lifestyle for this born and raised New Yorker. But, it's great! There's been only one commuting to NY issue (so far) which was Hurricane Irene. In addition to my flight (and most others) being canceled, the wedding that I was supposed to shoot also got canceled. The big issue then became getting my gear to Dallas for the following weekend's shoot. UPS got the gear to Dallas right on time, safe and secure. Thank you UPS. I'm looking forward to the next three weekends shooting in NY.

Bryan will have to squeeze Teddy a little tighter...

Visit the Tallisphoto web site www.tallisphoto.com

Long Island Cares--Canstruction

2010-06-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

It is my pleasure to be part of Long Island Cares (Long Island Canstruction) This past November, more than 40,000 cans of food were donated to food banks on Long Island.

This year I shot stills. In previous years I shot video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjKsVaZUcy4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60dNezX7Qog

New York Wedding Photographer

2010-06-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Years ago I decided for what rent on an office was costing me that I could be driving a Porsche...

The license plate reads "8 X 10's".

New York Wedding Photographer

2010-06-27T12:51:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

Just like a little kid, I was very excited to come home with two new Canon 5D mk II cameras and a just released 70-200 f2.8 Canon lens--and couldn't wait to take my first shot with them. Out of the box, memory card formatted, lens attached and the camera set to full automatic (something I would never do on an assignment). There was window light on the left side of Bryan's face and another window directly behind him.

I'm lucky to have such a willing test subject. His bath and potty-training shots will not be posted.

Visit my website
New York Wedding Photographer
The Perfect Portrait

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

I hadn't set up studio lights or a background in a very long time and was nervous about going on assignment without knowing exactly what to expect. I got up early on a Sunday morning and set everything up in my kitchen... What a scene! When Sarah and Bryan woke up, all I had left to do was a test shot. Not bad for a first try. Needless to say, the next day the shoot went very well.

Please view my website
New York Wedding Photographer

2010-06-27T12:50:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

2010-06-27T12:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Making It Easy

Every time I sit down to blog, I think of what my aim is with my work. Simply, it is to have the sophistication of a well balanced photograph while keeping the shooting simple. I want to keep the integrity of the background and balance the foreground to give a dimensional look to a one dimensional image. The task is always how do I achieve this look with one light on the camera?With this image, I pumped the iso up to 1000, set my camera to 1/30th of a second at f.5.6, bounced the camera light at 90 degrees with a kicker card on the back of the reflector. This is what I captured... I'm noticing that since I started using Quantum's 5TDR electronic flash units, I'm getting far better consistency compared to when I was using the Canon 58EX units.

New Growth...

I've gotten very tired of my sample albums. I asked around and got name of drag and drop applications--but didn't like what I was seeing. (candid wedding photography)

New York Wedding Photographer
From out of nowhere I got the idea to create a sample book that was totally different from anything I'd previously done--and one that to the best of my knowledge, no one else had done either.
I decided to create an album that was 20" by 10", uncut--with the book opening like a calendar--or as my daughter, Sarah said, "like a laptop". I worked on the album for about a month--signed off on it and uploaded the images for printing. After reworking the order of the pictures, I sent them to our bookbinder--along with very exacting instructions for how we wanted the book bound. Sure enough, the binder called the next day to tell me that they had screwed up the order by cutting all the images to 10" X 10".
They told me that they have never made an album like this before and tried (in vain) to convince me to allow them to turn my idea into something common. Before sending the prints to be bound, I had the opportunity to show the prints to two potential clients. They both loved the idea--and my work! It's great having something totally unique to show! It's refreshing.

Look at our website to see our work. The site is about to be redone. www.tallisphoto.com

Sometimes It's Fun...

Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes it's not. Special Photography For That Special Moment

This image is bitter sweet. My grandson, Bryan and our OES, Maggie were best of friends. Maggie's back legs gave out from old age and it was our responsibility to put her down while she still had her dignity. I took this very candid shot of Bryan and Maggie the night before we put her down. The shot was one of those special "Kodak" moments that said it all. I printed the shot 40" wide and donated it to Parker Geriatric Hospital. The hospital administrator had it hung so that all the residents of the facility could enjoy the specialness of that particularly tender moment. This posted image was taken the day the hospital hung the picture. We took Bryan to see Maggie. When asked where Maggie is, Bryan tells us that Maggie is at the hospital....

Picture taken with a Canon 1DS mkII and a Canon 580Ex electronic flash unit

Take a loot at my website www.tallisphoto.com

New York Wedding Photographer

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

This image is a work in progress. After our artist retouches, corrects the color and balance, fixes stray hairs and removes five o'clock shadows, we'll enlarge it on canvas to fill a wall at the new office of Parker, Waichman and Alonzo.

As with pictures taken for social events (social event photography), I use the same standard of making the shot simple...using available light with only one light on my camera. Take a look at my website to see my work: www.tallisphoto.com

New York Wedding Photographer

Joanna and Nate's Wedding

I have always taken my people skills and ability to work with people for granted. Truth be known, my work in education, working with adults and children keep me on my toes and has taught me to look and listen to the people I'm working with. Wedding days can be particularly stressful--even though I don't understand why. But, it's part of my job to be as calming and organized as necessary to insure that I deliver what I promised--natural and easy to look at photographs of my client's wedding day.

It boggles my imagination when I hear the nightmarish stories of photographers who throw their egos around an event, functioning under the misconception that the "day" is about about them and their art. Wrong! Wedding photography is a service business. Our business functions solely because one satisfied clients refers another... word of mouth, one client to another. And the reason for the referrals is because we deliver what we promise--easy going, comfortable photography and 150% professionalism. Take a few minutes to read our client testimonials on our website -- www.tallisphoto.com

It's getting better...

How's this for single lighting... ISO 800, 90 degree bounce lighting with a kicker card, camera set to manual exposure (1/40th of a second shutter speed at f.56. The Quantum strobe was set to match the ISO and f.stop and the mode was set automatic.

Easy To Look At...

I captured this image using the Quantum 5DTR Flash unit, mounted on my camera, bounced at 90 degrees with a kicker card. I set my ISO to 800, set the shutter speed to 1/60th of a second and my f. stop was f.5.6 Check out the evenness of the image.

Making It Easy

With this image, I pumped the iso up to 1000, set my camera to 1/30th of a second at f.5.6, bounced the camera light at 90 degrees with a kicker card on the back of the reflector. This is what I captured... I'm noticing that since I started using Quantum's 5TDR electronic flash units, I'm getting far better consistency compared to when I was using the Canon 58EX units.

Interesting Call. . .

New York Wedding Photographer

Photography for the Discerning Client

I recently received an email from an old friend who had been my assistant for seven years. His suggestion was for me to blog stories such as "The Bride From Hell" and "Bat/Bar Mitzvah Kids Spoiled Beyond Belief".

I've thought about his suggestion for a while and just decided to address the issue. Upon reflection, not every event that I've photographed or every family that I've worked for have been friendly, congenial or civilized, it's always been my feeling that I'm at the event to provide a service.

I've been lucky. I've only had one bride in my career that had major personality disorders. I laughed out loud when the maid of honor (the bride's sister) spoke candidly about what a witch her sister was--and how the family didn't quite understand what the groom loved about her.
I was glad that I didn't have to wake up to her in the morning....

Take a look at my work on our website www.tallisphoto.com
Camera of choice: Canon 1DS mk II
Lighting of choice: Canon 580EX Quantum Twin Turbo

Making It Easy

New Growth...

Sometimes It's Fun...

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

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Testing, Testing, Testing

2010-06-27T05:10:00.001-07:00

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

2010-06-27T05:02:00.000-07:00

2010-06-03T18:00:00.003-07:00

Making It Easy

2010-06-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

New Growth...

2010-06-03T17:58:00.003-07:00

Sometimes It's Fun...

2010-06-03T17:58:00.001-07:00

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

2010-06-03T17:56:00.001-07:00

Joanna and Nate's Wedding

2010-06-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

It's getting better...

2010-06-03T17:54:00.003-07:00

Easy To Look At...

2010-06-03T17:54:00.001-07:00

Making It Easy

2010-06-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Interesting Call. . .

2010-06-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Making It Easy

New Growth...

2010-06-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes It's Fun...

2010-06-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

2010-06-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Father and Son

2008-09-18T05:16:00.002-07:00

I did this pose last night. The pose has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember. I had the Bar Mitzvah boy's sister hold a hand held flash and triggered it remotely. My photography can be viewed on my web site. www.tallisphoto.com

Joanna and Nate's Wedding

2008-09-18T05:16:00.001-07:00

It's getting better...

2008-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Easy To Look At...

2008-04-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

Making It Easy

2008-04-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Interesting Call. . .

2008-03-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

Tallisphoto.com

Ponte Vedra Beach Buddy

Ponte Vedra Photography

Ponte Vedra Florida Holiday Portrait

A picture that speaks volumes...

New Skills

Ponte Vedra Beach Based Photographer

Ponte Vedra Beach Energizing the Creative Side

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Long Island Cares--Canstruction

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

Tallisphoto.com

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Testing, Testing, Testing

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Easy To Look At...

Making It Easy

New Growth...

Sometimes It's Fun...

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

Blog Archive

About Me

Testing, Testing, Testing

Practice Makes For A Good Assignment

Easy To Look At...

Making It Easy

New Growth...

Sometimes It's Fun...

Parker, Waichman and Alonzo Candid Portrait

Father and Son

Joanna and Nate's Wedding

It's getting better...

Easy To Look At...

Making It Easy

Interesting Call. . .