Thank you to everyone who attended the Intermediate Photography Workshop + Photo Safari from Mike Maez Photography! Hopefully everyone learned something and had a great time at Venue at the Grove interacting and shooting with our team of models and photographers. For those of you who stayed until the very end we also appreciate all of the feedback and we were happy to give away some cool prizes. We have finally received all of the entrants for the photo contest and after careful consideration for each and every photo we are glad to announce our winners!
First place is awarded to Robert Godridge for his excellent portrait of Sarah. This image stood out amongst all the submissions by a good amount for a number of reasons. First, the sun is high in the sky and with a white fence as the background, there was little room for error in nailing this exposure. Second, the pose accentuates Sarah’s overall look and when combined with the low angle of the shot gives her a taller and more powerful presence within the image. Lastly, the image although post-processed is not overdone to the point of losing a relatively natural look, which is very important at the Intermediate level.
Third place is awarded to Rob Estep III for his image of Gavin and Jackie. The reason that this image stood out a bit more than the others was not only because of the tasteful black and white conversion, but I feel that the image is more of a “moment” than an actual portrait. In addition, the framing is sound, the couple looks great and the bokeh is very pleasing to the eye. An easy way to tell whether or not a “moment” was captured rather than a portrait is to simply caption the image…which you can easily do to this photo. Great job Rob!
Here are also some behind the scenes images from the past month:
Behind the Scenes | Gallery One
Behind the Scenes | Gallery Two
Even if you did not win a prize it is my goal that each and every one of you walked away with a better understanding of photography, and your camera, than you came with. If you would like to progress your skills even further, I encourage you to utilize the Online Resources Page I have set up and explore the many websites dedicated to increasing your photographic aptitude.
I am also hosting the four powerpoint presentations that I utilized during the workshop for attendees to download directly as a zip file from the following link (please right click, then save as):
Mike Maez Photography | Intermediate Workshop | Powerpoint Presentations
Also note that for those of you asking for exactly what gear I was using during the workshop, here is a very detailed breakdown which should answer more than a few emails. I tried to be as thorough as possible and have also included direct links to buy these items directly from the same places where I bought them myself:
Camera - 5d Mark II
Lens - Sigma 50 1.4 (Canon Mount)
Flash(es) - Yongnuo YN-560 (NON-E-TTL/I-TTL)
Triggers - Radiopopper JrX System
Sync Cords - Paramount Hot Shoe to Pocketwizard
Stands - Lumopro LP608
Umbrella Adapters - Lumopro LP634
Umbrellas - Photogenic Eclipse Plus
On-Camera Flash Diffuser - DEMB Flash Diffuser Pro
Gels for WB Correction - Strobist Rosco Kit
Neutral Density Filter – B+W 77mm #Neutral Density (ND) 0.9 Filter
Bag - Think Tank Photo Retrospective 20