This beauty is called Umbrellas Gracilis and was created by Cobalt Designworks in Vancouver, WA 

I used my really big light on this one to help it stand out from the evening sky, and ended up moving the light around then compositing all of the shots together so you can see every detail, what a blast!

I've really been enjoying all of the commercial photography work here in Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene, ID! Off to Nebraska now!

  Benjamin PowellPhoto of photographer Benjamin Powell.

In capturing this, we wanted to show where he was in the past and where he is going to. We went and scouted the location and while there were areas with larger prints, there wasn't much room to shoot, so we decided on this location in the foyer of the building. Ben is a very pensive and quiet man, especially when he is creating, so we wanted to capture that as well. 

Photo by Matt Leitholt Photography | fb.com/mattleitholt | www.mattleitholt.com

In setting this up, I used a large octa with a grid to the left to get a nice soft light, but also not light the background at all. I aimed it at the pillar on the right to create a minimal fill. To separate him from the background, I used a small softbox on a Profoto 7b on the right to just give a touch of light to the right side and the uniform. Additionally, the uniform was lit with a snooted speedlight. My goal was to make the important areas of the image brighter than the rest. 

Finally, we have the prints in the background. To shoot these, I handheld a speedlight and zoomed it in all the way to 105mm. Two shots later, I have the prints. I should also mention I was shooting on a tripod so I can merge these together later ;) 

While the prints could have been lit in the original photo, the advantage to compositing the light in is that you can change the shape of it later to match the print. By simply layering the photos together in Photoshop then using layer masks, I got light on the prints, but not anywhere else, which makes them pop, and not lose any quality from digital enhancement. 

The angle I chose was to keep the focus on him and his face, then fade off to the other elements in the frame. Also, since we had the uniform in the photo, it would make it off balance if I shot it from the setup shot position, which I would have if the uniform wasn't a part of the shot. 

Overall, I feel we accomplished our goal of making an interesting photo of Benjamin and really captured his personality. If you have some questions, feel free to drop them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them! 

The original idea was to photograph the photo on the TV, but then I thought it may look cool if we shot her in front of it, watching herself. 

This is what happened.

Photo by Matt Leitholt Photography | fb.com/mattleitholt | www.mattleitholt.com Both photos were lit with a 22" Paul C. Buff beauty dish, and a 30 degree grid. 

Here is another from the shoot. 

Photo by Matt Leitholt Photography | fb.com/mattleitholt | www.mattleitholt.com

Moral: Try something new!

Photo with permission by Chuck Hilliard

Looking to take some amazing fireworks photos this 4th of July? Check out this video I made and you'll certainly get some stellar shots. Be sure to post your results for me in the comments so I can see what kind of epic shots you got!

Like and share this video for more tutorials.

Thanks to Daniel Troxell for his help filming this!

Photo by Ben Watkin

Earlier while I was designing my printed portfolio, I came across the problem of not being able to use capital letters. I contacted my friend Scott Detweiler to see if he knew a solution since he's both a software guy and a Photoshop expert. 

He said on some Windows keyboards (I'm using a Windows keyboard on a Mac) there is a piece of hardware called the "A20 gate" that can sometimes get stuck. The solution is to tap the Control, Capslock, and Tab keys all at once a few times. It ended up releasing them and I was good to go! 

Just wanted to put this out there for people to find in the future because it was a pain not finding any articles about this. 

The goal was to get them doing what they loved, other than photography, since that's quite obvious due to winning the competition. Philip's activity of choice was rock climbing, so we headed to the famous U of I rock wall for a shot. 

The lighting was fairly simple for this shot, a Profoto 7B head with a standard zoom reflector, zoomed all the way in, boomed over the rock wall from the second floor. The next light, a Yongnuo YN-560 III was positioned behind him and about 13 feet high on the C-Stand with a CTO gel to give a little bit of warm separation. 

Rigging me up was fun. I was strapped into a harness, luckily I had a ladder to climb, because I definitely am not built like a rock climber. So we're about 10 feet up the wall, the pose was simple and easy as well, reach the hand towards the camera for drama, be sure to include the whole body, and then have Philip look up at the light. 

The Profoto pack gave the rock nice definition and created a contrasty look on his face. Impactful, just the way we like em' here! 

In post I cleaned up a few random signs and darkened the edges a bit to keep the focus on the subject. 

Overall, a pretty simple, but fun shoot! Questions? Post them below!

If you're looking to pick up some gear, be sure to check out http://www.mattleitholt.com/gear for a basic lighting kit. 

When approaching this shoot, I wanted to do something a bit more complex than usual. I ended up using 3 lights in this shot. The main light was a Profoto 7B head in a 39" Elinchrom Deep Octa with no diffusion. This gives a nice crisp look. The second light, an Einstein E640 was placed opposite the main light and CTO gelled to give a nice warm rim light and help bring out the interior features of the car. Finally, a beauty dish with an Einstein head and a 30 degree grid was used for fill to lighten up the shadows a tad. 

I wanted to do a moving shot, and I didn't have any car rigs available as I hadn't planned on doing this shoot before I left home, so I had to improvise. I ended up using an Avenger D600CB Mini Boom hooked into the latch of the trunk, then sandbagged on the edge of the car to keep it more stable. I needed to attach the camera to the end, so I used a super clamp with a stud in it, then attached a Manfrotto Accessory Arm so I would be able to attach my ballhead, and finally the camera. From the camera, I ran a USB 3 cable with a 15' Active Extension Cable to my computer, a 17" MacBook Pro which enables me to control the camera remotely and also see the photos instantly as they come in. 

Finally, I was going to need to be pushing the car as I took the shot, so I added a wireless remote shutter control. The reason we have to push it is the engine creates too much vibration in the body of the car, so we use a slow shutter speed and slowly move the car as the shot is being taken. The shutter speed for this shot was 1/5th of a second, and Justin is frozen because of the flash. To get this low of a shutter speed, I needed to use a 3-stop ND filter, here's the one I use, it's cheap and good quality. 

Overall, this took about an hour to set up and test, but I think overall it came out pretty well for having to improvise. 

Questions? Post them below and I'll do my best to answer them! 

1. Go to the gear in the top right corner
2. Click Account Settings
3. Click Notifications
4. Under "How you get Notifications" click the "edit" button next to "On Facebook" 
5. Uncheck the box next to "Play a sound when each new notification is received".
6. Click "Save Changes"

My favorite feature is probably that when you are done screenshotting, you can quickly edit it. For example you can highlight areas, add boxes, arrows, and even pixelate the sensitive information you don't want others seeing. This process would take a LOT longer in another editing program such as Photoshop. 

When your're done, just select which format you want to export as then drag and drop. Another cool feature is it automatically syncs with Evernote so your screenshots are always with you. 

Check it out on the App store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skitch/id425955336?mt=12

I just found out that two of my images (Captain Kline and Jeremy Ritter - the winemaker for Blot Magazine) were selected as finalists in the Digital Photo Pro Emerging Photographers competition. The judges narrowed it down from thousands of images according to the email to 30!

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/6th-annual-emerging-pro/photojournalism-and-sports/finalists.html

Captain Kline - Engine 15

Jeremy Ritter

I got the tripod super low on the pavement so I could get some stars in the background along with the trees and the road. I love how there is a street light around the corner subtly lighting the road. To light Chuck, I used 1 LED, I held it behind him for about 4 seconds, then ran around the front of him for the front light. I wanted the light to be coming up at him from the bottom. His face got about 2 seconds of light. I used a flashlight to bring out a little more detail in the trees behind him to help with the separation. 

The telescope wasn't the only shot I got from that location, I also grabbed a nice view of the water to the North. I was hoping to catch some auroral activity, but we didn't get it. The city lights from Bellingham did help to give some nice detail in the clouds though which goes nicely with the blue sky and the stars. 

And how could I not show the shot of the moon through the telescope? I decided to flip it vertically, I thought it looked more interesting that way.

Want to help support my work and my move to New York? Buy a print at http://www.mattleitholt.com/fineart/h52dc6052#h52dc6052

This photo was taken at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Simple setup, just window light with a tiny bit of fill flash from the right. 

Check out her work at http://www.lindsayadlerphotography.com/

Todd I first met Todd on Saturday when I was looking for an ice fisher to photograph. We were at Fernan Lake in Northern Idaho, and it was my first time ever on the ice. I had walked around to all the ice fisherman on the lake to find the perfect one. I was looking for someone with a true "classic fisherman" look to him. A rugged beard and a cool character were a must for my photo. 

I found Todd talking to one of the fisherman I had first chatted up over in a cove. When I saw him I knew he was my subject. I stood around for a few minutes and found a spot to jump into the conversation. I told him about what I was envisioning, showed him a few of my photos, and he was in!

We walked back across the lake to the car to grab my lighting gear (A Profoto 7b pack, 2 heads, a Chimera Super Pro Plus Small softbox, and an Elinchrom 39" Deep Octabank). While I grabbed my gear, he fished his pole out of some grass he stashed it in near by. 

After the trek back to the hole, I set up my lights. 

I had a great time laying down on the snow covered ice pack for a good 10 minutes while I was doing the shoot. I think I'm still a bit chilled from that one :D

I had asked him to give me a nice smile like a happy fisherman and he replied back "But fisherman don't smile", too bad Todd, because I got that genuine smile when you were least expecting it, when you were saying they don't smile ;)

Yesterday, I went and got his photo printed so I could give it to him, I also had it laminated so it would hold up for years to come. 

When I found him at the local shelter, I had asked him to sign a model release and he said "Heck, I probably won't live much longer anyway." Well Todd, I hope this helps you to live on longer than you had ever expected. 

I saw his epic 4x5 large format camera and knew that would be an epic prop and tell the story about him and his photography he does. We packed all the gear into the car and headed to Gasworks Park in Seattle. If you're looking for a great place to see the skyline from, Gasworks has it! 

My goal for this photo was to tell the story of him being a photographer and represent his style which is very classy, almost older looking photos. I wanted to have the Seattle skyline in the background because that's where he lives and the Space Needle is very iconic. For the lighting, I wanted a soft light so I went with an octa and a small softbox in the back for a rim light to make him and the camera pop. 

The photo was shot on a Canon 5d Mark II with an 85mm f/1.8 Lens at f/4 with a 3 stop ND filter on it so I could shoot at a wide aperture and still use a flash. My lighting system is a Profoto 7b, and I had that at quarter and 1/8th power. 

Here's an iPhone HDR photo of the setup (the camera moved a bit so it's blurry but it kinda makes a cool effect. 

That's John's wife, Kim on the right. 

And lastly, here's a shot John took of me taking the photo of him. :)

Happy shooting everyone! If you aren't already, follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mattleitholt or on Google+ at http://plus.google.com/117882771047512175327/posts

Things You Need

• Camera (DSLR or Point and Shoot)
• iPhone
• Galileo App (free)
• GPS Track Recording Add-On ($1.99)
• Lightroom

Preparation

Before you set out on your photo adventure, be sure your camera time is set EXACTLY to your iPhone time, down to the second. If you don't, you will not have accurate tags. 

Setting Up the App

First, you'll need to install the app, get it at the link above. Once you are in the app, click the settings button. Then go to Paid Features, select the GPS Track Recording and buy that, you'll need it for this. After you've bought the add-on, go back to the main screen and tap on the record button in the top right of the screen. Go take your photos and then hit record again when you're finished. 

Your track is now saved. Tap on settings, go to "My Collections", tap the blue arrow next to the track you just recorded, scroll down to the bottom, hit export, choose email, then tap on GPX. Email it to yourself and then follow the instructions in the video for the Lightroom side of things :) 

Tagging Your Photos in Lightroom

Comments keep me posting, so don't forget to let me know there is someone else out there reading my post :-)

Hey everyone, I wanted to write a review on my impressions of metal prints from Bay Photo lab. I had never printed on metal prior to this and had heard from many people I respect that their prints were top notch and gave photos a "3D look". I had to see it for myself so I began to think of what I wanted to print. 

I had remembered this old truck next to my place I used to live at, it was the first subject I ever photographed on my first DSLR. It had been 4 years and 1 day since I had first photographed the truck so I decided it would also be a good comparison of my improvements in the past 4 years. 

Here is my first shot of the truck from 4 years prior. Back then I was really into over-editing my photos and I had totally messed the photo up by doing this editing to it in the way I did. Back then I thought it looked cool, now I cringe. 

When I was approaching the photo again and thinking about it in a whole new way, I thought of the problems the old one had. The first major issue was the over use of dodging and burning on the sky. The second was the halo that was around the truck again from over editing. The composition wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly how I wanted to shoot it the second time. 

To solve these problems I decided to use lighting and gels to give the truck a look that portrayed it as being lit by sunset light. In lighting the photo I used Einsteins by Paul C Buff with 11" long throw reflectors on them to give it that punch and naturally underexpose the background.  

After shooting the truck I composited the images together into a small collage to share different details of the truck. This gave the viewer multiple angles of the truck and showed the important details well. 

I ordered a 24x36" metal print from Bay Photo Lab in Santa Cruz, California, their staff was super friendly and helpful throughout the process. I received the print about 10 days later, it came well packaged and arrived safely. 

I found the perfect frame for the print at a local thrift store, it fit the print super well with matching tones and being old as well. I got the print mounted and it looked fantastic! 

The print was a tad bit on the dark side but that could just be my monitor. I used an art light on it and it looked phenomenal after that! The tones of the rust just lit up like none other and gave it that deep look. 

The print was beautiful, there were no imperfections that I could see. Of all the prints on my wall, that is the one that catches the attention of my guests the most. The metal quality makes it pop and people stop there. 

While I was at Photoshop World in Vegas this year, I noticed many people are going to metal prints. They give you that look that paper and canvas just don't give you. Whenever is see metal print now, I stop and really check it out because it pops the color and gives you that strong depth.

They are definitely something you need to see with your own eyes to appreciate the beauty but I hope my thoughts will encourage you to check out Bay Photo the next time you are thinking about printing that special shot. 

Tech Info:

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II with 85mm f/1.8 @ 6.3, 1/160th, ISO 100, 5600k

Lighting: Canon 580EX Mark II in 28" Westcott Apollo Softbox to the right. 

I want to start by sharing how completely excited I am for a new product called Trigger Happy, it's seriously the most innovative and high tech camera trigger out there. I'm really excited about this new product, it's still in development but it looks very promising and adds a lot of neat features to your remote. 

• Simple camera trigger
• Bulb functionality for long exposures
• Time-lapse mode (intervalometer)
• HDR mode
• Bramping (Bulb Ramping) for time-lapses from day to night, etc.

• A way to trigger the camera when the accelerometer data of the phone changes.
• Face detection. When a face enters the phone's view, the camera can fire.
• Lightning detection.
• Audio waveform detection.

• Don't need to remember another device, just toss the small cable in your bag and have use your phone to trigger your camera
• Bramping
• More advanced
• Less expensive and with more features

I had the opportunity to see a live private demo of it and can say it works great, can't wait to get my hands on one. 

Check it out and order your's here!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1435018402/trigger-happy-camera-remote