May 2013 archive

Headshots

©TimeLine Media - portrait photography

It is nice to see so many people that use my photos as their on social networks! There are many dancers that we see at competitions that use their action photos as their profile photos. It is funny when I get friend requests or LinkedIn connection requests and associated with the person is one of my photos.

Studio Portraits

Now that I am more comfortable with setting up and photographing the action on the floor, I have had more opportunity to do portraits off the dance floor. With the additional time that I must prepare and frame the photos, I have made more formal portraits. This has translated especially well for people wanting to update their head shots. For actors, dancers, as well as other professionals, it is important to have a current portrait taken within the last 2 years. For promotional materials, business cards, corporate directories, and social networks, the profile photo goes a long way to illustrate what you do.

©TimeLine Media - portrait photography
©TimeLine Media – portrait photography
©TimeLine Media - portrait photography
©TimeLine Media – portrait photography

Business Headshots

These photos are used on websites serving as introductions to potentials clients. They convey some of the personalities of those represented even though they are a still image. These can be done in the studio, at your location, or also in outdoor settings. If you have a need to update your headshots, please let me know! They are easy to setup in almost any location, and I am very flexible. At most it can take up to 2 hours to complete. If you need more examples or want more information, please leave me an email [ rassi @ timelinedc.com ] or give me call (703) 864 – 8208. Have a great weekend!

©TimeLine Media - commercial headshots
©TimeLine Media – portrait photography
©TimeLine Media - business headshots
©TimeLine Media – portrait photography

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Evolution of Post Processing – Tech Thursday

©TimeLine Media - ballroom dance photo

With the internet, it is quite easy to be exposed to many good photographers. For me, post processing of photos can really separate competent photographers from outstanding ones. As with every other aspect of photography, concentrating on only one part of the craft can eventually hurt the quality of your work. You can concentrate on things like – buying gear, social media, marketing your business, making new photos, or post processing. If you only concern yourself with one of these aspects of photography, the others will suffer.

Dance Photography

In being a ballroom dance event photographer, I get the opportunity to make thousands of photos at an event. Post processing takes a lot of my time after events. Looking back at some of my first photos, I can see that I really went overboard using effects and sliders in Lightroom. The effects were good at attracting attention to my images on social networks, and I really had a lot of fun making them.

©TimeLine Media - ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media – ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media - ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media – ballroom dance photo

These “cross processing” presets in Lightroom used color shifts to emulate purposely incorrect film processing in the darkroom to create the effects. Some also used heavy darkening of corners to highlights subjects. This was a cutting-edge way to create photos. Since then, the explosion of Instagram, and other photo editing apps on iPhones and Android has made these looks more prevalent online. (For the record, I have recently joined Instagram, and actually enjoy it!)

So with the change in styles that I am seeing, I have gone back to doing less to photos, and leaving them as close to in-camera capture as I can. This is just another phase until the next thing comes out. For photographers, the message is making your images as best you can in camera, then post process them as you like it at the time. It will make you happy with the creative process and will mark eras in your photography life. We are digital photographers now. We don’t have different film stocks, or film chemistry that will change with the times. The best part is we have RAW files that make the transition with us, metadata, and all. So, you can always revisit photos as they were and update them, or not!

Here is where I am today, and I hope you come back to see what comes next –

©TimeLine Media - ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media – ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media - ballroom dance photo
©TimeLine Media – ballroom dance photo

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

American Star Ball – Rising Star Smooth Final

©TimeLine Media - Pro Rising Star Smooth - American Star Ball

It’s another editing day in the studio. There are a couple of shoots that I need to go through before the to-do pile gets too large. Continuing the theme from yesterday’s post, I have some photos that I liked from the Professional Rising Star Smooth competition at the American Star Ball. It is a little selfish to enjoy the Smooth competition more than Standard. It is much easier to get both dancer’s faces in photos! Additionally, I am more familiar with smooth figures. With this in mind, I can anticipate the placement of the dancers in my camera.

©TimeLine Media - Pro Rising Star Smooth - American Star Ball
©TimeLine Media – Pro Rising Star competition – American Star Ball

The challenge of getting Standard dancers is also fun. However, their closed position throughout the heat makes the variety in images more challenging. At this point, the facial expressions become important to distinguish the dances. Perhaps that is just something I think about when photographing from off the dance floor. I do want to keep viewers interested! I’m sure there will be some in a future post very soon. Enjoy!

©TimeLine Media - Pro Rising Star Smooth - American Star Ball
Pro Rising Star Smooth – American Star Ball ©TimeLine Media
©TimeLine Media - Pro Rising Star Smooth - American Star Ball
©TimeLine Media – Pro Rising Star competitors – American Star Ball

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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