Me: What is your background in photography? What got you started, what do you shoot, and why do you like shooting that?

LT: I was first introduced into photography by my Mom. She is more or less an Ansel Adams of her time. I grew up with a darkroom in our home, and ever since I was old enough to help her develop, I would! When I reached my sophomore year in high school I actually took up photography myself. It was a basicc class, so we started with nature shots, close ups, and beginning portraiture. After that, I soon realised I was destined to shoot something much more exciting, something I truly had passion for; music.

Check out this photo on facebook for a chance to win a copy of it signed by the entire Pierce The Veil band!

Me: What is your favorite band/event you have photographed?

LT: I can’t pick a favorite band I have photographed, because every band’s stage performance are wonderful. More theatrical bands have fun results, but I most definitely can’t choose a favorite. Maybe after Marilyn Manson on the 12th I’ll have a better answer! As far as favorite event, I would have to say Warped Tour. Last year was my first year shooting it, and I couldn’t be happier with my shots. The outdoor lighting is great, the atmosphere is enjoyable, and the range in talent is astounding!

Me: If you’re like me, you have a list of band that you want to photograph. Who is on yours?

LT: My list of bands I’d love to photograph may be a bit longer than most, but they are the larger very influential bands such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Foo Fighters, and AFI if they were ever touring again!

Me: Who are some of your favorite photographers, if you have any?

LT: There are many photographers who inspire me to do what I do. I first became interested in show photography by doing a report. You, along with Todd Owyoung were first very influential
to me, combining live, and creative portrait shots. (Quick interjection by me:  I’m incredibly honored to be mentioned in the same breath as Todd Owyoung.  He was the guy who got me into shooting concerts.  If you don’t know his work, check it out HERE.) Jeremy Saffer, Logan Delape, Adam Elmakias as well as Christopher Blincoe and Danny Todd have had a huge impact on me as well. I’ve been lucky to shoot alongside, and build friendships with some of these amazing photographers, which I couldn’t be more thankful for!

Me: If you could give any advice to aspiring concert photographers or just photographers in general, what would it be?

LT: Some aspiring advice… its tough for me, because I’m so new into the field…I still need all the advice I can get! Just don’t give up more or less. Photography, especially show photography seems extremely competitive these days. Don’t let other people get you down. My whole time shooting I’ve always been told I don’t deserve to shoot, because I’m not with a publication. Its hard to not have any experience and just get hired though! That’s when you have to prove people that you do deserve it, show them your work is great! Also, be professional. this mainly applies to girls, but there is nothing worse then someone who has a incredibly bad rep, going into the music industry. Many people get caught up with the bands, and the partying, and everything that comes with it. Have fun, but be professional and get your work done beforehand. There is nothing professional about being overly promiscuous to get on a guest list and hang out with a band. When you don’t have any work to show, people start to talk.

Me: What are your links where people can see more of your awesome work?

LT:  My main links are www.facebook.com/laineyshootsshows and my hardly updated www.laineytaylorphotography.com.

Thanks so much to Lainey for being kind enough to take the time to answer these questions, and GO CHECK OUT HER WORK!!!

The post Photographer Spotlight: Lainey Taylor Photography appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

The main technique used for interiors photography is a lot of HDR.  I layered between 3 and 9 exposures per image in this shoot and the lens I used was a Canon 17-40mm f/4L on a Canon 5D mark ii body.  If you have any questions about the photos, tweet me or post on my facebook wall and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

The post My Latest Adventure: Luxury Real Estate Photography appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

As you can see, Mr. Moores clearly has an incredible eye.  He does an excellent job utilizing long exposures in his work, which creates stunning night shots (as seen in the middle photograph).

If you want to keep up with Sam Moores, be sure to check him out at the links below:

Sam Moores Photography on Facebook

Sam Moores Website

Sam Moores on Razzi

The post Photographer Spotlight: Sam Moores appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

The new terms of use state that, “you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”  Instagram plans on selling your photos to businesses to use in ads without compensating you in any way.

Some of you may say, “well what about underage users?”  Instagram has that covered too.  The updated terms of use state that, “If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.”

So what can you do to prevent them from taking your photos and selling them?  You have to delete your account.  Bad move, Instagram.  We will see how this plays out, but I don’t see it being a positive move for the company.  I suggest switching to other apps such as Razzi.me if you’re looking for a healthy alternative for mobile photo sharing

The full updated terms of use go into effect on January 16, 2013 and can be found here.

Like this article?  Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter or simply just share this article with your friends.

The post Instagram to Sell Your Photos Without Compensation appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

The key to getting in to photograph concerts is having a news outlet for the photos to be put on.  If a band is going to let you come in and photograph their show, what do they get out of it?  They want you be able to get their name out there more.  But it’s not always easy to just go out and find a news source who doesn’t already have a staff photographer.  I tried for months to find one who would let me shoot a concert for their newspaper or website, but the problem was that I was missing one key thing… a portfolio of concerts.  Why should a newspaper risk letting some kid with no concert photos go photograph a concert when they have no idea what they will look like?  So I got to work building my concert portfolio.

I started shooting local bands at dive bars with terrible lighting to build my portfolio.  No, the pictures didn’t turn out as well as I wanted them to, but the bands would be excited to have someone there taking pictures, and that’s when I started getting connections to bands.  Once I knew bands, they would ask me to come out and photograph their shows.  Even though they were normally at less than ideal locations, I went.  Meeting people is key.  Also, shooting bars taught me a lot about balancing my exposure triangle while shooting (ie: I learned that If I crank my ISO up, I’m going to get very grainy photos, but if the band isn’t moving around a whole lot, I can slow down the shutter speed some and turn down the ISO a little bit to prevent that).  Finally, once I knew enough bands, I finally found one who had a show at a nice venue, Hard Rock Live.  I talked with the band and they got me a photo pass into the show.  My first photo pass ever!  I couldn’t have been happier with how the photos turned out and I now had a quality portfolio of concert photos.

Next, it was back to the news outlets.  I contacted all of the outlets I had before and sent them a link to my concert portfolio.  Finally, I received more positive feedback than the last time!  I had some tell me they would love to have me shoot for them, but they have contracted photographers already, but there was one outlet that gave me a shot.  Knight News (an online news source for the University of Central Florida) told me that I could photograph the Jack’s Mannequin concert at House of Blues that coming weekend.  I was ecstatic!  I photographed the concert and wrote a review of the show and that was a very accomplished feeling for me to finally have my work published.  One of my photos from that show got reblogged on Tumblr over 100 times, and Knight News loved the article.  From there, I started contacting record labels myself to get passed and I let them know that I had the ability to post the photos along with an article on Knight News.  Once I had the news outlet everything was smooth sailing from there!  I’ve not photographed bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Slash, Poison, Kid Cudi, Gavin DeGraw, Jack White, Blake Shelton, Kid Rock, and many others all because I had a quality news source who liked my photos.

So for any people out there looking to get into concert or event photography, I have a few simple tips for you.

1. Get out there and take pictures, improve your skills, and meet people.
2. Build your portfolio, ask bands if they know anybody playing at bigger venues.  Although bigger venues may not be the best places to shoot all the time, news outlets like to know that you have shot at big venues before.
3. Contact news outlets (newspapers, websites, blogs, record labels, etc.)!  Anything/place/medium that can get your work out there is what you want.  So send (professional) emails to them and let them know you’re interested if they every run short on staff photographers or if they want someone to photos certain events.
4. Don’t give up!!!  I know from experience that it’s not always easy to get into shows, but you have to keep your head up and try again.

There is a quote that I always keep in mind that goes, “I never said it was going to be easy.  I just said it was going to be worth it.”  That, my friends, applies to so many things including concert/event photography.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I will reply as soon as I can!

The post How I Started Photographing Concerts (and how you can, too!) appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

Photo 1

Simple mistake here.  My left strobe wasn’t turned on.  Whoops!  Also, I didn’t like the having the box laying down, so I stood it up for the next one.

Photo 2

Turns out that I didn’t like the white paper backdrop at all.  It made the box look cheap because of the reflection.  So I decided to switch to a black cloth backdrop!

Photo 3

I think this is pretty obvious here.  I had no idea what I was doing with the lighting.  Then I remembered the inverse square law with lighting.  Essentially, my lights were too far away from the object.  So I changed that!

Photo 4

Now that the light was closer, it created the dramatic black background, but the floor still showed, so I ended up putting the light on the ground to try and keep light from directly hitting the backdrop.  Also, this is over-exposed a bit.

Photo 5

Finally, we are starting to see something that looks like a product photo!  But I didn’t like how bright the light was on the plastic so I have to change the angle of the light.  Also,  I started shooting from a lower perspective after this photo to give the product a bigger sense of importance.

Photo 6

I decided to place the product more on the right third of the photo just to give it some white space for text.  The photo is slightly under-exposed because I was shooting at too high of a shutter speed for my strobes to communicate.

Photo 7

 Okay, a little better, but the backdrop is now showing by the bottom of the box!  Can’t have that!  I slightly turned down the power on the strobe.  Decided to go back to shooting vertically for some reason.  Don’t remember why.  This changes again shortly.

Photo 8

So we are back to shooting in landscape mode, but now with just one strobe on the right side and placing the box on the left third.  The box was at a poor angle and the strobe reflected off of it poorly and left the big old glare on the box.  Boo to that!

Photo 9

Ooh la la!  Look at that picture!  Finally looks like I’ve got it figured out! bottom left edge of the box is under-exposed but Photoshop will fix that, right?

Photo 10

 I decided to put a few boxes in the photo to see what it looked like.  This puzzled me why it was coming out with the glare on the left side of the middle box.  Turns out the light was reflecting off the box on the left onto the side of the middle box.  That’s just silly!

Photo 11

I still hadn’t realized it was the left box causing the reflection on the center one, so I tried moving closer and to a different angle before I ended up moving the left box.

Photo 12

All better!

Photo 13

Just trying to get some detail shots to show the compatibility of the lens.  Always remember to look and see if there is something in your frame.  I clearly forgot that rule.

Photo 14

Got it!

Well, I hope that was helpful for you guys to see what goes through my mind when I’m taking photos.  I like to examine every photo after I take it to try and see how I can improve from shot to shot.  If you have time to review your shots while taking them, do it!  I promise it will make you a better photographer.

If you’re interested in seeing how all the photos from this shoot turned out, check them out here: http://razzi.me/albums/20570-product-photography

Also, if this tutorial/demonstration (I’m not really sure what this was, but I wanted to share it with you) was helpful, like me on Facebook.

If this wasn’t helpful, or you’ve already liked me on Facebook, here are some funny cat GIFs just because!

The post Learning From Your Photos: The Immediate Key to Better Photography appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

Coyote Theory

Twenty | One | Pilots

If you enjoyed these photos, you should like my facebook page!

The post Photos: Twenty | One | Pilots at The Social in Orlando, Florida appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

- Are there any particular features you want the camera to have?

- How much are you looking to spend?

- What do you intend on using the camera for?

Once I have these answers, I’m almost always able to help out.

Canon vs Nikon:

Let me settle this before we get into the whole debate.  Canon is better.  Just kidding!  Neither brand is truly ‘better’ that the other.  What it boils down to is what you are used to.  I’ve always shot on Canons, so I know how they work and how to get to all the functions.  If I had started with Nikon, I probably would prefer Nikon (thankfully, I didn’t start with Nikon).  From my experience, Canons tend to be less expensive and they have a much larger selection of lenses when you start to grow your collection.  So in the end, pick whatever you want, it’s more about the photographer, not the camera!

Step 1 – Features:

Before you we jump into deciding what kind of camera you want, we should probably know some of the main features available on digital cameras.  Keep in mind that this is a small list of features, but these are all features that you should pay attention to.

Manual Controls: These are typically ‘modes’ the camera has that allow you to control exposure settings such as the aperture, shutter speed and ISO.  These are normally found on the dial of the camera and can be labeled as Av, Tv, A, S, P, and M.

Interchangeable Lenses: The advantage of having interchangeable lenses is that you can extend the length of optical zoom your camera has.  Cameras have two different kinds of zoom, digital and optical.  Optical is achieved through lenses and digital zoom is achieved through essentially cropping the picture.

Megapixels: Don’t be fooled by the megapixel myth.  More megapixels does NOT mean a better camera, it simply means more pixels in the photograph.  The quality of the pixels is (part of) what decides the quality of the images the camera produces (I.E. my iPhone takes 8mp photographs, but I’ll take the 6mp images a Canon PowerShot S3 over my iPhone any day).  So if you see a camera for $400 advertising 20+ megapixels, you can bet the image quality is going to be mediocre at best.

Image Stabilization: This may not sound like it’s going to do a whole lot for you, but image stabilization is a really neat feature to have one your camera.  This helps reduce blur in an image if the camera is shaking during a photograph.  It really comes into play when it is darker outside and you’re using a flash.

Step 2 – Identify a Budget:

I’ve divided budget into pricing brackets.  I have found this to be the most effective way to look at what kind of camera the person is going to be able to buy.  Prices I’m using here are for new cameras simply because it’s too hard to find a consistent price of a used camera; therefore, new prices are going to be the best benchmark for this particular purpose.

Bracket 1 – $100 – $300: Point-and-Shoot Cameras

Point and shoot cameras are designed to do exactly what you think — point and shoot.  These cameras are very popular as a cheap way to get into photography, or for a family to have to snap pictures on their vacation or during the holidays.  They have their place in the photography realm, but if you’re looking to get into photography, odds are you’re going to want at least a step up from this.

Ian’s  list of approved cameras in bracket 1:

• Nikon CoolPix S9200- $149
  • 16 megapixels
  • Full 1080p video
  • 18x Optical Zoom
• Canon PowerShot S100 - $229
  • 12.1 megapixels
  • Full 1080p video with stereo audio
  • 5x Optical Zoom
• Nikon CoolPix AW100 Waterproof Digital Camera- $249
  • 16 megapixels
  • Full 1080p video with stereo audio
  • Waterproof, shock proof (up to 5ft), and operating temp. down to 14 degrees

Bracket 2 – $300 – $500:  High level point-and-shoots/low end DSLRs

This is a tough bracket to define.  You have to pick your poison with this one.  You can either go with the high end fancy point and shoot, or start your days with a real DSLR with interchangeable lenses.  Most of these cameras are going to have manual modes and will allow you a little more creative freedom with your photos.

Ian’s list of approved cameras in bracket 2:

• Canon PowerShot SX50 HS- $399
  • 12.1 megapixels
  • 50x optical zoom (with image stabilization)
  • Manual modes
• Canon PowerShot G15- $449
  • New version of one of my favorite Canon point-and-shoots the G12
  • 12.1 megapixels
  • 5x optical zoom (with image stabilization)
  • Viewfinder (no more taking pictures by looking at that crummy LCD screen!)
  • Manual modes
• Nikon CoolPix P510- $329.95
  • 16.1 megapixels
  • 42x optical zoom
  • Manual modes

Bracket 3 – $500 – $800: Consumer-Level DSLRs

This is where you really start to take control of your photographs and unleash the ability to do just about anything you want!  These cameras all come with interchangeable lenses and have manual modes (so no need to list that below).  Most of these cameras will come with what is called a “Kit Lens.”  This is either an 18-55mm or 18-105mm lens.  Both are great lenses to get started on.

Ian’s list of approved cameras in bracket 3:

• Canon EOS Rebel T3i- $579 (with 18-55mm kit lens)
  • 18 megapixels
  • Swivel LCD screen – a feature I wish every camera had.  Prevents you from scratching your LCD as easily. Canon is now implementing this on more cameras. (Go Canon!!)
  • Full 1080p (30 fps) HD video (fantastic video quality!)
  • Prestigious DIGIC 4 processor
  • You can get this camera in many different lens bundles including 18-135mm or 18-55mm & 75-300mm.
• Nikon D3200- $596 (with 18-55mm kit lens)
  • 24.2 megapixels
  • 1080p HD video
  • The ability to connect to computers via wifi with external adaptor
• Canon EOS Rebel T4i- $799 (with 18-55mm kit lens)
  • 18 megapixels
  • Swivel LCD touchscreen
  • 1080p HD video
  • High ISO ability (great for lower lighted scenes)
  • Personally, my favorite in this price bracket.

Bracket 4 – $800 – $1200: “Prosumer” – Professional Level DSLRs

These are going to be cameras that come with special features that will be used for particular types of photography.  Some may be better for low lighting, others for sports photography.  But don’t get me wrong, any camera can be used for any purpose, certain cameras just make your life easier for certain tasks.

Ian’s list of approved cameras in bracket 4:

• Canon T4i- $994 (with 18-135mm kit lens)
  • 18 megapixels
  • Swivel LCD touchscreen (eliminates the cluttered buttons on back)
  • 1080p HD video
  • High ISO ability (great for lower lighted scenes)
• Nikon D7000- $1,196 (with 18-105mm kit lens)
  • 16.2 megapixels
  • High speed photography (6 frames per second up to 100 shots)
  • Full 1080p HD video
• Canon 60D- $1,099 (with 18-135mm kit lens)
  • 18 megapixels
  • I like to think of this camera as a more professional grade version of the T4i.  The body is a lot more study, and just overall feels better in your hands (personal opinion, of course).
  • 5.3 frames per second continuous shooting
  • Fantastic video, full 1080p HD
  • My personal favorite in this bracket.

Bracket 5 – $1,200 & Up: Professional Grade DSLRs

This is the final bracket I’m going to talk about because I feel that once you get into wanting to buy $3,000 and $4,000 cameras, you know what you’re looking for and you don’t need to ask me what the best is.  Hell, I don’t even have a $4,000 camera!  I know what I want though   These cameras are going to be very high quality cameras and they will do just fine for just about anything you’re going to want to shoot.

Ian’s list of approved cameras in bracket 5:

• Canon 60D Bundle- $1,239.50
  • Comes with 3 lenses (great collection to begin with)
  • I like to think of this camera as a more professional grade version of the T4i.  The body is a lot more study, and just overall feels better in your hands (personal opinion, of course).
  • 5.3 frames per second continuous shooting
  • Fantastic video, full 1080p HD
• Canon 7D- $1,699 (with 18-135mm kit lens)
  • 18 megapixels
  • 8 frames per second (very ideal for sports)
  • Advanced auto-focus system
  • This is my 2nd body and I love it! Very fast, use it for both sports and concerts!
• Canon 5D mark ii- $2,599 (with 24-105mm kit lens)
  • 21.1 megapixels
  • Extremely high quality ISO noise reduction (not grainy when you’re in low light)
  • 3.9 frames per second
  • Film quality HD video (Act of Valor was filmed entirely on the 5D mark ii)
  • My primary camera for everything except sports.  I have different lenses though.

Step 3 – Usage:

Not all people know what their camera will need to do the job they’re looking to do.  If you’re going to be shooting sports, a camera that can shoot 6-10 frames per second is going to be a life saver.  I used to try and shoot sports on a 5D mark ii (3.9 fps) and I hated it.  That was probably 75% of the reason I picked up my 7D.  I bought my 7D the day I went to shoot the Under Armour High School All American Game, and I could’t be happier I did that!  So here is a list of what you’re going to want in your camera to shoot certain types of photography.

Video - When it comes to video, Canon is ages ahead of Nikon. Some of the better entry level Canon DSLRs for video are the T3i, T4i, 60D, and 7D.  All of these cameras are going to give you phenomenal video quality!  Also, if you’re getting into video, definitely consider getting the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens.  It’s a great lens for film and the 1.8 aperture gives you fantastic depth of field for just over $100!

Portraits – Normally this doesn’t require any special features.  Some accessories that you might want to pick up are a reflector and an external flash.  Both of these have proven to be extremely handy tools to me!

Landscapes – Once again, not a whole lot of features you’re going to need to do landscapes.  I would suggest that you make sure your camera has manual modes so you can start to play around with exposure photography when you’re ready for that.  If you plan on doing this, you’re also going to want to pick up a tripod.  I also recommend a neutral density filter.

Objects/Automotive - For objects or automotive photography, you’re going to want to make sure that you have a flash on your camera or (better yet) try to get ahold of some studio strobes!  This is going to make your live a thousand times easier!

Sports – Sports photography is one aspect where you’re going to want to check the camera spec before buying if you intend on doing this.  Make sure the camera shoots at least 6 frames per second or greater or you’re going to be miserable.  You’ll consistently miss photos unless you get your timing perfect.  I’m not saying that you can’t do it with anything slower, but having gone through the experience, it is much more enjoyable when the camera helps you out a little bit!

Concerts – Concerts are a tough one!  To do successful concert shoots, you’re going to want a camera that performs well in high ISO situations, because you’re most likely not going to be able to use a flash.  Concerts are some of the most fun events to shoot in my opinion, but they can be a pain in the butt if you don’t get a little help from the lighting guy/gal.

Conclusion

So that’s it!  I hope that you found this article to be insightful and I hope it cleared up a lot of questions for the people looking to buy a camera this holiday season.  If you still have questions that you’d like to ask, feel free to shoot me an email at Ian@IanRothStudios.com, or chat me on Skype with the username IanRothStudios.  I am on Skype all the time, so that is probably the easiest way to contact me.

If you found this article to be helpful, shoot me a tweet and let me know!  I love hearing feedback from readers and I reply to every tweet I get, so shoot be sure to let me know what you think!  Also, feel free to contact me on facebook!

The post So You’re Looking to Buy a DSLR, Eh? appeared first on Ian Roth Studios.

1. Free Twitter Headers

Coming in first place is a site that has quite a few nice features on it.  The first being their preview.  Every post allows the user to hover over the header image and see what it will look like when they implement it into their header.  This prevents users from wasting time with trying out image after image and disliking all  of them.  Though the aforementioned features may be great, the best thing about Free Twitter Headers is that they listen to your suggestions!  Give them a follow on Twitter and let them know what you want in a Twitter header and they’ll have it created in the next day or so, simple as that!

2. Tumblr

Yes, Tumblr.  Although I’m sure you all know, Tumblr isn’t exclusively a header image site.  The thing with Tumblr is that it’s filled with millions of creative people, many of which are creating new headers every day and giving them away!  Stop by Tumblr and see what you can find using the search feature!

3. All Twitter Headers

Another solid choice for twitter headers is All Twitter Headers.  They offer a large variety of celebrity twitter headers that really look great when implemented into your header!

4. TwitCover

TwitCover has a beautiful site!  The design is fantastic, and they do provide some quality headers.  The problem with TwitCover is that their headers aren’t tailored to be for Twitter.  It appears they are a Facebook cover site that was converted to Twitter headers.  The problem with this is as simple as one word: location.  The headers on this site are neat, but when you put them on the profile, your avatar is blocking the main features of a lot of the images, thus completely destroying the point of it!  One nice feature they have though is that they are integrated with twitter, allowing users to upload directly from their site.

5. Headers For Twitter

Headers For Twitter rounds off the top 5 because of its vast variety of people headers.  From celebrities to silhouettes, Headers For Twitter has what you want when it comes to the people category.  Other than that, they do offer some great landscape headers as well!

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