Friday Shout-Outs, Couch Jumping, and Stadium Waves

We start off this week’s Shout-Outs with a few things from Oregon. Have you ever noticed that the people who live in Oregon are always happy, friendly, and obviously happy to live there? It’s like a whole state of happy people. Must be the water.

Also included this week, workflow tips that will knock your socks off, lighting secrets that might cause you to blow a fuse in the learning part of your brain, and one very sweet gig for a very hard-working photog.

We do Shout-Outs every
Friday. People are encouraged to send us suggestions during the week so we can
share the good news with our blog audience the following Friday. What are you waiting for? Don’t worry, it’s OK to brag.

DO PEOPLE LOOK LIKE THEIR PETS?
Take look at these images and decide for yourself…

Portland, Oregon-based photographer Carli Davidson is always
finding a way to include animals in her work.
One particular gallery that we thought was extra fun was her portraits
of “Pets
& Their People.”

Pets & Their People – Images by Carli Davidson

Davidson has taught both animal education and photography classes for the Oregon Zoo, and was employed as the zoo’s Wild Life Live program as an animal caretaker and trainer.

SPEAKING OF OREGON…
Here’s another fun personal project by David Stluka from the happy state of Oregon. He created a series of personality portraits as a way of introducing the local people of Oregon to his new photo studio.

“I moved into my new studio at the end of April and started my project a few weeks ago as a way to get to know my neighbors in Oregon,” he said. “I moved into a 112 year old building that has been vacant for a couple of years. It’s been a fun way to get to know people. I even had my first commercial shoot from someone I met.”

Most of the people in the pictures happened to be people he grabbed as they were walking by. Great idea, David. And the work is really fun/interesting/clever.

Oregon Portraits – Images by David Stluka

CELEBRITY PORTRAIT SHOOTING SECRETS REVEALED
For those who didn’t catch it live, you can see the recorded version of the celebrity photographer team of Larsen & Talbert. They talked live about their gear, their assignents, how they work, and even shared some really interesting lighting showing exactly how they lit some of their trickiest portraits.

The video is just over an hour long, packed with really great educational information. Anyone interested in really high quality portraiture, or how to light creatively, should be watching this video.

NAME CHANGE ALERT!

The group formerly known as the “Advertising Photographers of America,” (APA) has changed their name to the “American Photographic Artists,” (APA.) Different name, identical initials, and the same great organization of photographers.

The APA is “an alliance of advertising and media photographers,” and decided to make the name change “to reflect its growing need for a moniker that more accurately represents its current and future membership.”

I think it’s really important for professional photographer to belong to (and support) trade organizations like the APA. They help keep the community informed, create educational opportunities, and stand up for the best interests of photographers.

GREAT GUEST SPOT
Music photographer (and PhotoShelter member) Jacob Blickenstaff wrote a guest blog feature for The Photoletariat website titled “Everything You Know About Concert Photography is Wrong.”

The story was later mentioned on the A Photo Editor blog, where Jacob answers lots of questions in the comments area of the blog post.

PLUGGED INTO “THE NETWORK”

Congrats to photographers Andrea Bruce and Tomas van Houtryve (both PhotoShelter members), who recently joined the VIIPhoto agency’s “VII Network” for the distribution and resale of their images.

The VII Network is a “collection of talented photographers [that] permits VII Photo to continue to support its clients throughout the world, in meeting their demand for high-quality, in-depth reportage, contemporary issue-based stories, which provide a critical photographic perspective of the world around us.”

Congrats to Tomas and Andrea!

D.A.M., THAT’S GOOD!

Photographer Stephen Harrison spilled his guts about his full digital imaging workflow process, and it looks really efficient and downright bulletproof. He really took the time to explain it all in detail, and includes screen captures along the way.

This is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to whip their workflow into shape.

CAPLIN & BIEBER

NYC-based photographer Robert Caplin has put together his first-ever book deal with Harper Collins. The assignment: to publish an intimate behind-the-scenes, all-access documentary on Justin Bieber, the 16-year-old who’s become an overnight pop culture phenomenon.

“I’m currently down in Nassau, Bahamas shooting his tour rehearsals and concert at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island and will be shadowing him for weeks/months to come,” Caplin wrote on his blog.

The book will be on shelves worldwide in the coming months.

How did he get such a great gig? Caplin explains it all on his blog. It all started with an assignment to shoot Bieber behind-the-scenes at a concert in NYC back in December, 2009.

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I am always looking for things to include here in our Friday Shout-Outs – so if you have anything you think is worthy, let me know.

Or, better yet, post a note to Twitter with my name in it (@heygrover) or “friend me” on Facebook, and that way I won’t forget it later.