Classmate Highlight | Claire Welmering

Look who the next Classmate Highlight is, it's Ms. Claire Welmering!  Claire loves all things puppies, and it shows on her blog.  Heck I think she brought in like 23 dogs earlier this quarter for people, or it seems like it since there was like 35 dog photos up even though we have only 27 people in the program.  None the less Claire loves photography, and she loves puppies, so naturally she was really happy this quarter when we did portraits.  Check out her blog to learn more!

Lol Claire

Why should you check out her blog?

PUPPIES!

Helping a friend shoot

My photo buddy and classmate Ian has a pretty cool shoot today for a modeling agency.  He recruited me to help with lighting and pretty much use my gear (hey it happens).  He's got some pretty good ideas and themes going for today, with most all of the shots being done at a O'Malley's Pub in Woodstock, GA.  Well what a great post to make on the blog.  So check it out today as I put up some photos and chat a little about what the setups are.

So what exactly is my main role?  See the lights in the photos, yeah that's my job today.

Check out more photos of the day on my flickr page

Ian setups his first shot at the pool table.  Lighting is a softbox for key,
strip light for a kicker, and beauty dish as a kicker.

Ian takes his first shot.  Cool angle, and pretty cool results
(I'll post them later)

This post contains some suggestive wardrobes, nothing bad but you've been warned.

The Old Blog Archives | Four Cameras, One Subject

**another post taken from my old blog and migrated here, this post was from December 2009**

Well last night was the last APG (Atlanta Photographers Guild - http://www.flickr.com/groups/atlantaguild/) meeting of the year and I didn't even shoot the models! I really never do anyways.

Instead of models, I got fellow photographer and actually pretty good looking friend Lee to model for me. I wanted to have fun last night, so I shot Lee with four different cameras. Two of the cameras were film, one a 30 year old Canon AE-1 with a 50 1.4 S.S.C lens. The other was a Mamiya 645 with a 80 1.9 on it. The other two cameras with Digital. One my venerable 5D mark II paired with an 85 1.2L II, and the other a newly acquired Rebel T1i paired with a 35 1.4L.

I wanted to post three of the four here for you guys to look at. No scientific comparison, as they were all touched up a little differently. Just something fun to look at. The moral of the story is probably no matter if you are using a 30 year old film camera, or a $3000 digital camera....a guy with a furry hooded coat still looks the same.

Lee shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and 85 1.2L - Processed Blue

Lee shot with a Canon AE-1 and 50 1.4 S.S.C. - No processing

Lee shot with a Canon T1i and 35 1.4L - some processing

The old blog archives | Photoimaging 100 Photo Project

**Another post taken from my old blog, this one relates to a class assignment from early 2010.  I feel warm and fuzzy in my tummy**


So a new quarter of school has started, and it's already going crazy. Mr. Jones, our Photo Imaging teacher, had us running from the start by telling us to take at least 100 photos by next Wednesday. While we have a lot of freedom on what we can photograph, he did ask us to at least make an effort to take good photographs.
My opinion? 100 sounds like a lot, but wow it isn't. With how digital is these days you can take it in one day. With that though..100 photos you like in one week. Yeah that's gonna be hard. I decided to conquer this by taking a diverse selection of photos. 20~25 a day. Mr. Jones was quick to say that 100 was the Minimum, and if you get more than you'll be better off.

Instead of posting 100+ photos on here, check out the whole set on flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/trentchau/sets/72157623032092651/

Here's a few stand out samples :

Classmate Highlight | Katie Dehlinger

Katie Dehlinger is a badass.  Just ask Lee.  Katie Dehlinger is too cool.  She has to be like the daughter of Bruce Springsteen, Deborah Harry, and also somehow Chuck Norris in one fell swoop.  Okay maybe not.  Katie is cool anyways, and has the bluest eyes.  Like many of the other students who are still in the program, she shows a style of her own for photography.  We, the class, like Katie :).

Why should you check her blog?

She beat the crap out of all of us other students with her holiday shot, her sister is kinda cute :), oh she also helps puppies in her spare time.

Blogspot and Wordpress - Trent Chau | Photography is now at two places

 Since this blog is a part of a class assignment, it comes as no surprise that Mr. Jones is requiring us to also try out Wordpress along with Blogspot.  While it would be fun to entice you readers with a compassionate story of pain, agony, and greivance about converting this beloved blog to wordpress...I'll save you from that.  I absolutely love wordpress.  It's more advance, it's more robust and its epically more stubborn and painful to work with.  Call me a masochist or anything of the like, it's completely understandable but to me there's a small measure of peace that comes from the quiet tapping of your keyboard as you hammer out CSS code into the waning hours of the night.

So in touch with Mr. Jones requirements, my wordpress can now be found here

Portrait Photography : Tips and Techniques to getting a better portrait | Part 1

Focus on the eyes, blurring of the background, lighting to create dimension, texture both smooth and rough...these are but a few of things we can dissect that make a portrait stand out.

Shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with an 70-200 2.8L IS (ver 1)

**This post was originally on my old blog and has now found it's way here**


I love portrait photography. There's something about working with another person, having a great dialog with them, and taking memorable photographs that make me a happy camper. I tend to be extremely modest about my work, but can confidently say that portraiture is a strong point in the repertoire.

So it's with great enthusiasm to write this blog about tips and techniques to getting a better portrait. Straight and simple. This blog post will be updated pretty much most of this week, and probably will be very long by the end of it. There's just that much to write, and in general just be excited about.

Classmate Highlight | Nicole Lord

Nicole Lord, say that name in class and everyone pretty much has a smile on their face.  Nicole's perkiness, happiness, and down right awesomeness is infectious.  She isn't that annoying cheerleader happy that the goths can't stand, so don't think of it that way.  She's the happy that when you see her you just feel good, and if she feels bad you worry.  She's also a darn cool photography student also.  Her work has been getting better and better each quarter.  So check out her blog, and feel happy!.

Why should you check her blog?

I actually really dig the latest post on there.  The tree is very eye catching and well done.

Here comes the rain again

It's day two of a pretty epic storm in the North Atlanta area and the rain today is relentless.  As photographers sometimes we dread rainy days (sometimes not).   On one part shooting outside becomes either impossible or a chore.  You really don't want to get your thousands of dollars worth of equipment inundated with torrents of water, and also putting bags or protective gear on your equipment becomes difficult.  On the other hand not many subjects find a rainy day to be a wonderful time to shoot outside.

In short there's a lot of strikes against shooting outside on a rainy day. Of course there's always exceptions, and in this case it's my friend Holly, the most bad ass model in the world.

Photojournalism : Features

What exactly a feature is most of my classmates and I aren't exactly sure, but we do know it's funny, or sad, or crazy, or mad, but all in all it's not news.  Which sounds like the tag line to one of my favorite website, Fark.com (do not click this link unless you have absolutely no where to go for hours).  That being said today our feature assignment is due for our photojournalism class and here is mine.  It's cute.  I went to the Conyer Old Town Fall festival and found these adorable little ladies dancing a jig for a packed house, and the roaring applause at the end brought the house down.

Shooting at Studio GTC with Misty

Misty - Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8L IS - Gridded softbox above,
Parabolic 60' Umbrella left, and Gridded spot right.

A really cool thing about the photography program at Gwinnett Tech is that we have a huge studio available to shoot in.  How huge is it?  Well on one side we are building a pretty elaborate holiday set for our Holiday Portraits (Link up soon), but it's still big enough to shoot in the others side.

Ian and I took advantage of the studio today in our late lab.  Setting up some of my Norman lights we modified it with some of my favorite modifiers included a gridded beauty dish, a gridded soft-box, and a gridded spot light.

Interested in learning more? Check out this cool blog that explains the affects of modifiers on a light.  This is a great post also.

Of course with awesome light, you need awesome models.  Aglae (The MOTM) modeled for Ian, where aspiring model and pretty cool chica Misty modeled for me.  Check out some of the shots below, and a quick caption of how they were taken.

It was really nice to wipe the dust of an old favorite lens of mine, the Canon 85 1.2L II.  It's been a while since I've used it (it's mainly a wedding lens) and it reminded me of the old magic.

Classmate Highlight! | Christina Cline

And now for the next Classmate Highlight, I'm proud to introduce to you the adorable Christina Cline.  Christina is the low key lady in the class, barely says anything, but always a fun person to talk too.  She's mean to me today, but she says she's being "Truthful", I guess the truth is a "Punch to the head".  Despite that I think she rocks so check out her blog.

Why should you check out her blog?


If you go to the beginning you can check out some cool Italy photos!

Internets down. Guess setting up email blog posting wins

Well my Internets down at home and as you can imagine posting to the blog pretty much sucks right now. Hoping to get things up and running soon

I had a great weekend shooting some events in Conyers, ga. Look for a post soon showing some stuff from this weekend

Until then here's my daughter!

Testing out email blog posting

I'm testing out blog posting via email on my iPhone. Interface is a little meh but it should be doable

Classmate Highlight | Michael Hazzard

It's time for another installment of Classmate highlights.  The victim...I mean spotlight today is none other than Michael Hazzard.  Spend a few minutes with Michael and you will find yourself amazed at how personable and nice he is.  I don't know what secret Michael's mom knows about raising a fine gentleman, but it really worked on her son.  Outside of Michael's pleasant personality, he is also a fantastic photographer and a curious student. 
He is great in photoshop and his work shows his technique.

Check out his blog at : Michael Hazzard Photography

Why should you check his blog?

Because the dude only has less than 220 views right now, and he deserves more :)

Canon Loyalty Program

I'm a Canon fan.  Have been since last century when my father gave me an amazing Camera called the AE-1.  So why the love?  Well here's one reason why.  Canon has a Loyalty Program, and it's really cool.

The basic summary of it is if you have an old Canon camera, like an old Rebel XT, or a Point and Shoot, you can trade it towards the purchase of a newer Canon camera (albiet refurbished) at a significant discount.  How discounted?  What about these prices.

Canon 5D Mark II - $1599.99
Canon 7D - $1087
Canon 50D - $720
Canon XSI - $399

Those prices are insane.  You get a 6 month warranty, and you pretty much get a killer slr camera that works really well. 

So want to know more about it?  Check out this amazing thread on fat wallet about it or Call Tech Support at 866-443-8002 or 800-828-4040 to get started.

Yeah...I'm a Canon fan.

December MOTM voting response is going strong!

Thanks for all those who are voting for the December model of the month!  If you haven't yet please choose one or more of the models up on the right.

If you are a photographer please leave a comment if you vote.  2 random photographers will be selected by the winner to participate in my shoot with the Model of the Month in either December or January.  It will be amazing.

Advance Portraiture | High Key

Here is another example taken from the High-Key portraiture assignment for our Advance Portraiture class.  More than likely I'm not going to use this image as my final print, but it was nice creating a glowing high key shot that would print really nicely on Epson velvet fine art.

10 ways to take stunning portraits

Image from Article | Original image of Paul Bence (Fickr)

A majority of people who do photography love doing portraits.  Taking good portraits consistently isn't hard, but occasionally one find themselves in a routine and their work kinda stagnates.  On the flip side of the coin a photographer maybe new and needs ideas.  A few years ago I stumbled on this site called "10 ways to take stunning portraits" and its been on my favorites ever since.

Check it out, and if you like it be sure to share it!

Classmate Highlight | Christopher Snyder

And for the next classmate highlight, we have Mr. Christopher Snyder.  Chris...is a hoot.  When the program first started last year Snyder was basically the young punk of the group (dude was barely 18).  My how much can change in a year!  Well in Chris's case he didn't change much.  He's still a punk, but he's our punk.

None the less, check out his blog : Chris Snyder Photography

So why should you check it out?

Because my cat is on it, darn it!

Wandering Wednesdays | Sope Creek

 
It's Wednesday (Or was when we did this)! It's time to go wandering.  Occasionally Tiffany and I will find a place to walk and just enjoy it.  It may be a trail, it may be a paved path, but the idea is just enjoy the weather, take some photos, and pretty much just decompress from daily school life.  Well what a great chance to share this with you guys.  Why is this cool?  Well since Tiffany and I are photographers, more than likely the location we are at has a chance to be very picturesque and accessible to photography.  You never know, we maybe scouting the location of your next shoot.

So talking about picturesque, I'm proud to share with you the location for today's wandering Wednesday. 

Sope Creek!
Google Map : Sope Creek

Classmate Highlight! - Lee Christina

Some viewers may have noticed a link to the right of all the classmates blogs.  They are cool!  Some are super cool.  Well occasionally I'm going to highlight one of them, and give a quick reason to check them out.  Also if they let me, a portrait taken of them by me will also be posted.  Super super cool.

The first classmate highlight is Lee Christina!

Why should you check it out?

Lee is hilarious, down to earth, artsy, and her writing showcases that.  Where else can you find condom couture, curmudgeon cats, and child cartography all in one blog?  That's right, at Lee's blog.  Check it out!

Advance Portraiture Assignment 2 | Childrens Portrait

I had a little bit of a late start to the children portrait assignment for advance portraiture.  You would think my daughter Aislynn would be the ideal candidate to shoot, but like a good classmate I let Aisy bear model for another classmate.  On the same day my little child model wasn't available, and wouldn't be available until exactly a week later.  Boy it was worth the wait though. 

World, I would like to introduce to you Carson.  The only little one that nearly matches Aisy on the cuteness and awesomeness scale. Lets let the photos tell you about him, but by all means when a little boy comes in dressed as a shark, yeah you're gonna get great photos.

And of course since he looks like a kid also, here's Snyder

Advance Portraiture| High Key Potraiture

What a fun day today.  I shot maternity photos in the school studio today for our high-key | low-key advance portraiture assignment.  Amber came in with her super adorable baby belly, and the results were great!

Here's a photo of her and Ian on set.  Yeah it would of been better with a smile, but maybe she was matching Ian's amazing camera personality.

Here's a sample of one of the shots

Vote for Decembers Model of the Month! - Poll to the right

Hey readers, you get to pick the model of the month!  Yeah it's over 40 days away, but that's no reason not to start this so soon.  November has a model already picked :), but December you have a choice in the matter. 

Help me decide which of these fine people will win the Model of the Month for December.  Leave a comment also on who you decided and why.  I'll try to setup a early December shoot with the MOTM winner.

Christina Smith
Pretty, Smart (She has a bio degree) and awesome, Christina rocks.  I'm shooting her wedding in November actually.

Christina's Flickr Set

Stephen Elliot
A class act.  Stephen does television now.  A consummate professional, and very reliable.

Stephen's Flickr Set

Veronica Guerra
Looking for someone who is edgy and brave, Veronica is the one.  She's willing to put herself in some crazy spots not just for you, but because she's just like that.  

Veronica's Flickr Set (Warning Contains Nudity)

Maryn Oroz
Maryn is an old friend, and adorable.  She is a natural in front of the camera.  She never had aspirations to be a model model, but every time she's in front of the camera people get in line to shoot her.

Maryn's Flickr Set


Bonnie Rae Adams
The pinnacle of girls next door.  Bonnie is a bunch of energy, sensuality, and awesomeness placed in one package.  Tall too boot, she's got everything going for her...except the fact she likes scary small dogs that looks like rats.

Bonnie's Flickr Set

So there's a lot days so pick well.  Thanks all who participate!

Floral design and Photography

Being in the photography program at Gwinnett Tech gives you access to some pretty awesome electives.  One of the more unique ones you can take is Flower Arranging, which Tiffany, Ian and I started this quarter.

Why flower arranging?  Well one it's unique and very hands-on.  I'm kinda artsy, and it's appealing.  Another reason?  Well there's 10 people in our class, and if 5 of them end up as wedding florist, I'm on their high list of wedding photographers to call.  Yep...marketing! 

The cool thing is we have to make a portfolio at the end, so here's a sample of what I've already done.

Dropbox - Super useful tool for photographers

Hey fellow photographers/photography students, check out Dropbox for a really useful utility.  What is dropbox?  It's an internet based storage solution that allows you to upload your files to a central server, and synchronize it with several machines.  Or if you just need something simple it's an online place to store your files so you can access it anywhere that has an internet connection.  It's free too for a pretty decent amount of space (2gigs).

Here's my referral link if you are interested - http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTE0Mjk4MDQ5


For my photography friends here's why it's super useful to have a dropbox account

• Upload your client invoices (including a blank one) for easy availability to you on the road
• Low maintenance.  You pretty much drag it to a folder on your computer, and the program does the rest.
• Make your watermark, filters, rules, and more you use for photoshop/lightroom available to you.
• Upload and share client images (mostly zip files) that wont send over email.  Great way for clients to get files quick.
• Sync up all your machines so they all have the same documents and files.
• Got a raw file to print in class, and lost your usb thumb drive?  Upload it to drop box and access it from any computer with internet access.
• Upload files you always seem to need access too (A video of Rick Astley) 

Pretty cool right? I've already signed up and uploaded a bunch of useful files and stuff for direct access from clients.

Day 3 of 60D Testing.

Having your car broken into can only cause so much of a delay of shooting.  Today I'm about halfway through a series of simple test for the 60d.  With the help of Ian, I had a maternity shoot by the river today with a model I shot ages ago named Amber.  She's due next month so she has the cutest baby bump ever.  The shoot was simple, but it tested the 60d with a series of lenses and also using light balanced with outside.  Here are a couple sample photos.

The second part of my 60D test was just taken about 1 hour ago.  Model of the Month Aglae dropped by and we took some studio lit shots with the 60D. The 60D performed fine as I paired it with several lenses.  It really is a good little camera.

A Little car trouble

So I went to Atlanta to try shooting the 60D and my car was broken into.  Fortunately they only took my GPS, but you can imagine it placed a damper on shooting so the only image right now to put up is a iso3200 sample shot with the 60d and a 24 1.4L@ 1.4

Hopefully the day will end a little better tomorrow

From the archive |Summer 2010 Travel

Farmland and a desolate tree outside of Window Rock, AZ in the Navajo Nation

Imagine 14 days of skies as perfect as the picture above, driving around the southwestern United States just capturing everything that the eyes can feast one.  In the Summer of 2010 Ian, Tiffany and I did just that and it was a life changing experience.

Typical.  I swear I'm there, just behind the camera.  Grrr.

In mid July we drove from Atlanta to New Mexico to visit my parents home in Belen, NM. My parents moved out their in 2005 because of work,and I've fortunately been able to visit several times.  It was Tiffany's first time going anywhere west past Texas, and Ian hadn't been out this way since he was a pre-teen.  Going on a trip with other photographers always sound like a good idea, but you hear the horror stories of people who just can't get along because they are crammed in a car together for over 24 hours, they have different schedules and ideas, and also just in general personalities start clashing.  Ian and Tiffany were angels as travel partners, and it really rocked traveling out there with them. 

None the less, I really wanted to share some of the images I took during the trip.  We went to several places such as Meteor Crater, Window Rock, The Ice Caves, and some small place called the Grand Canyon.  Along with the images there will be a little excerpt about how cool the place was.

Trying out a new 60D

Apreturent was kind enough to lend me a 60D to test out.  My other blog will have a hands-on review of the 60d, but this blog would be a great place to showcase some photos from Canon's newest consumer dslr.  Also my landlord Danna picked up a Canon G12 also and is letting me test it out, so some photos from the g12 will also be up.  How exciting!

Canon 60D with the 85 1.2L II

Here are some photos straight out of camera from the 60d today paired with a Canon 24 1.4L and a 85 1.2L II.  Tiffany and I decided to do some quick photos.

Canon 60D with 24 1.4L

 

 

Canon 60D with 24 1.4L

Using the New "Toy Camera" effect

More images soon (ones that aren't quick snapshots), I have several shoots planned the next few days.