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Our first workshop just happened last Sunday! Hurray!
 Atlanta photographer workshop class Many thanks to all participants, I am sure it was very enjoyable and interesting for all of us:-)
Workshop lasted for 4 hours, during this time we have covered a basic’s of studio gear,shooting techniques, had a master class and an actual photoshoot session for each participant.
At the end we had nice party time:-)
Continue reading Our first photography workshop: Studio lighting for fashion photography
 
We always had a kitchen in the studio, but was never actually shooting in it. It was mainly used for food preparation and styling, occasional party cooking, etc. When I worked with Shirley Corriher, for a first time (see the result) , we used a kitchen a lot, most of the cakes, biscuits and other sweeties which I do not know how to call, was made in our kitchen.
 One of meals prepared in the kitchen for Bakewise book Continue reading Kitchen for food photographer: small, but shiny and new!
There are 3 types of photographers by my own classification:
1. Great businessmen who are very successful on selling their work, but I do not understand nor like photography they do. Another words, they know how to sell, but I see nothing which can inspire me.
2. Unknown photographers, they have amazing portfolios, but they are known by very limited numbers of people, so there is not much chances I can find them online. (Know one? Let us know!)
3. Successful photographers who had achieved amazing results in photography and also highly successful on promoting and selling their work. This is who inspires me a lot, I like the clean and crisp style and technically challenged work they do.
Most of them extensively use photo editors to enhance and finish the images, all of them commercial photographers , mostly food , advertisement and fashion. All of them has very bright and professional looking web portfolio.
As I’ve mentioned before, I only selected photographers who work in the same area as myself, there are more great artists around us, but I was learning from these:
Continue reading Photographers who inspired me
Would like to announce that we start to release free to download images at our Stock images website. Now, most of the new images will be free for download. Also, we decided to release a full resolution photo in our free collection, in opposite to a limited version (1920×1200 pixles) we use to have there, all images has uncompressed (100% quality) JPEG format, 300 dpi.
 Free stock images to download Any time you see  button you’ll be able to download the image for free after registration, which is free as well. We provide Royalty-Free license for all of our collection. However, we can always provide you more exclusive usage rights on the photos never was sold or downloaded before, if you’ll need such.
Hope our collection of free sock images will be useful for a designers, advertising professionals, bloggers (most looking for images to illustrate posts), or just for anyone who may need high-quality images.
The photos we provide usually our in-studio still life learning shoots, landscapes or life-style images. We have thousands of the photos waiting to be released, but the biggest issue is a lack of time to prepare and upload them. But we’ll keep it up:-)
Last weekend I’ve got a new toy, a replacement for my old Blackberry Strom: Droid from Motorola, Verizon call it iPhone killer. Well, I did not have iPhone, so can’t tell if it is really a killer, but so far I like it! Much more freedom in applications and customizing compare to BB Storm. When i power it up, it looked with the red eye and said: “Drrrooidd” to me. Like my old cat use to do:-)
Here it is, with shell case from Motorola. There are so many photos of it naked, and I like it more this way  I’ve paid $29 for the case, but later found it on Amazon for $15: Motorola A855 Droid Verizon Original OEM Belt Clip Shell / Holster
 Motorola Droid from verizon phone keyboard open Continue reading Motorola Droid phone, first weekend. Buil-in camera review with test shots
This Sunday we were lucky with nice and warm weather, so I’ve took some photos outside a studio, picturing our twin toddlers playing on a backyard. I was playing with my newly built tilt-shift adapter for Canon EOS to tilt Rodenstock enlarging lens (80 f4).
The photos were taken with wide open (f4) aperture, no photoshop post production to alter focusing were made.
I love this unusual focusing plane, reminds me fairy tale books I’ve read long time ago..
Few weeks ago I was working on a tilt-shift adapter for Canon EOS cameras, (see my previous post). Now I have first in studio test – review of this system.
Lens: Rodenstock APO Rodagon N 80 F4.
Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds mark III.
Lights: White Lightning 1800, various light modifiers.
Camera/lens setting: 1/250 sec, F8.
The main idea is to see what quality I can achieve on this system and what benefits would give me the ability to tilt the lens. So, What I did it this: Took a first photo with a non tilted lens, focusing on a closest part of watch’s dial. Second shoot with exactly the same lightning, exposure (F stop was not changed), but I tilted lens both horizontally and vertically. The result is below:
1. This shot was made without any tilt, you can clearly see a where the focus plane is. I’ve used a relatively shallow DOF to show what you can do with such great lens attached to such a nice system:-)
 close up image of product photography Continue reading Tilt-Shift adapter in studio test review: EOS 1Ds mounted on a large format system camera
 I was using Paul’s Buff flash units for a several years, and now I was glad to found they get a new new flash units soon : EINSTEIN 640 and AlienBees AB MAX series. The original info on this can be found on Rob Galbraith web site, this guy manages to get it first somehow
Here is some features of the new unit:
# Worldwide power compatibility (95-265VAC, 50Hz or 60Hz, auto-switching)
# Full power recycle time of 1.7 seconds at 120VAC (60Hz) or at 240VAC (50Hz)
# 2.5-640ws range, settable in 1/10-stop increments
# CONSTANT COLOR and ACTION modes; one is optimized for colour temperature consistency and the other for stopping motion
# 5600K (+/-50K) color temperature throughout the power range in CONSTANT COLOR mode
# Approx. 1/666 (t.1) flash duration at 640ws; flash durations become dramatically shorter at settings below full power, particularly in ACTION mode (This is really, really cool as we could use it for any (well, most, if not any due to power output limitation) hi-speed studio photography which requires short duration flash units, but for a fraction of cost of a serious generators like Broncolor. More info on duration and color is here)
# Can be powered by lower-cost pure sine wave inverter/battery units such as the Vagabond II
# Worldwide 250W quartz modeling light (bayonet socket)
# Removable Pyrex flash dome over the flash tube and modeling light
# Precision modeling light tracking of flash output power
# Umbrella mount accepts up to 9mm shafts and is designed to handle beefier umbrellas than the AlienBees B-series
# Compatible with the Cyber Commander wireless control system (optional CSXCV Transceiver module is required), including turning the Einstein off/on and changing power settings remotely
# User-upgradeable flash firmware (via microSD slot)
The rest is just remains the same as a current AlienBees and WhiteLightning units has.
We should see the unit beginning next year for about $440 a piece.
We have created new company web site AKELstudio.com. Now it much more business oriented, we’ll thinking to have some free stuff there: wallpapers, photos, even a free Photo CD for designers.
To have an access to it, you’ll need to register, its free as well. Enjoy!
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