Sharing The Roijoy

Let's get straight in to this. This example assumes you have shot in RAW format and I'm showing this using Adobe Camera RAW converter (ACR). 1. Open your RAW file in ACR and open the Camera Calibration tab. Here you can see the Camera Profile is set to "Standard" mode. 2. Change the Camera Profile to "Portrait" mode and you notice that the visible tonal range expands slightly. Sometimes it's very subtle and other times it's more noticeable. It's all dependent on the actual image you are working on. 3. Now go to the "Basic" tab shown here as a symbol of an aperture, to access the exposure settings. If your white balance needs adjusting you should also adjust that under this tab too. To recover the detail in this image you can see the exposure has been pushed up to 1.5. I also pulled the recovery tab up to 38 to stop some of the highlights in the background from being blown out. The other main change was to bring the Fill...

I do enjoy shooting weddings at the City Hall in San Francisco. If you've visited you'll appreciate how beautiful a space it is inside. It also has a really relaxed feel to the whole environment. Even as you pass through security you'll sense none of the tension that's so prevalent at numerous security spaces around the US. No, you start smiling as you walk up the steps to the main entrance and you're still smiling when you leave the building afterward. And this whole ambience contributes to making this a great place for small weddings and a joy to shoot pictures in. There are some great spaces to hold the ceremonies too but my favorite is still at the top of the main staircase underneath the rotunda. In this photo at the culmination of the marriage ceremony, you can see that even the bronze bust is smiling as congratulations and hugs are traded. The other great thing for photography is that this place is a dream for natural lit photography. The architecture ...

The weather was idyllic and the sea and sand were the way you'd imagined them from some tropical dream you may have consoled yourself with at times. It was a morning shoot but the sun was rising quickly and the heat was very noticeable. The window frame is supported in place using stands and clamps and positioned out on the beach. The stylist got to work with our model and more creative touches were used to enrich the scene. All was non-eventful except for a strange moment when one of the production team had finished sweeping footprints from the sand. A guy was jogging along the beach. When he got to the set we had created, he stopped and looked about I suppose just to understand what he assumed we were up to. He continued to watch as the production guy went about obviously sweeping away footprints from the sand. As soon as the sand was all pristine and untouched looking again, the production guy stepped out of frame. At that same moment, jogger guy decided to continue hi...

Here are some of the images from a shoot I completed for Destiny Arts Center in Oakland, CA. Another fun day shooting some of the faculty, students, and parents. They have a great space there and the whole environment feels extremely safe and encouraging and promotes self expression. They run classes and programmed events throughout the year and you can also give to the community by volunteering your time and skills through their website.

Shot another campaign for the Ad Council for print, online and outdoor advertising. The image is all composed in camera and shot as a single image. I shot a few variants for different angles and media sizes too. I had the cans made by the guys at Anyscale in San Francisco. I also rented the amplifier and smoke machine and used coloured gels with my lighting setup.

Stash Bandz have a fabulous product they call the Cellphone Garter . Even though they feature a lace garter, I haven't dismissed the idea of trying one out for myself! They also do hip purses with leather belts for a slightly more conservative look. I met the owner of Dance Mate who happens to be the inventor of Scrunchies which are currently having a bit of a revival with fashionistas the world over.  So if you missed the eighties, or simply miss the eighties, Scrunchie designs and production is back in full swing. They have other products too so you can pop over to their website and shop yourself out! Anyway we spoke about her photography requirements and felt we were a good fit for each other and set up a shoot. Another great thing about this project is that it connected me with a great model named Von , who I hadn't previously worked with. She's the model featured in all the shots shown here and you can see more of Von's work here . She is really great t...