Photoblogic

Comercial Photgraphy & $1500 cash back!

Last summer one of my Landscape Architecture clients, Daniel Weinbach & Partners asked me to shoot one of their projects just south of the University of Illinois Chicago. It was the old Fulton Markets. These six buildings were cold storage buildings that were build in the 30's and recently rehabbed to loft condo's know as University Commons.

The shot below is taken from the public roof top deck of building #4 towards of building #2 & the Chicago skyline.

I was so inspired by the beautiful gardens, the pool, the view of the city, local parks and only a walk to quick shops and not more than a mile to full services shops that I decided I should have a look at the loft condo's at University Commons. The great views, 15ft ceilings, access to a pool in the summer, work out room and party room modern bathrooms and much more. I was hooked and days later I put in a down payment.

The from Morgan looking west on 15th street at University Commons, Chicago.

Ok, so you've got to be wondering about the $1500 by this point. So University Commons is willing to give me a small amount of money for a referral and I'm willing to pass that on to you. In order to receive the $1500 from me, you must register Robert R Gigliotti of 1111 West 15th Street Unit 320 as your referral at your initial visit to the university Commons sales office on 15th street, between Racine & Aberdeen. After you close on your beautiful Loft condo, I'll write you a check for $1500. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. If you're looking for a condo in a already up and coming area, you've found your spot. This is the last true horizon for Chicago. Most area's have been over run with development and or are just too busy. This is a quite neighborhood that the sounding area is owned mostly by UIC. You'll be amazed at how nice it is here in the summer.

Garden walkway between building's 1 & 2.

If you'd like to see all the photos I took of University Commons, just click here.

Thanks again for reading! If you plan to move into University Commons, why not get an extra $1500 cash back after closing?? They won't give it to you...but I will.

Framingham, MA (Just west of Boston)

I’ve been shooting for years and being in the right place at the right time to catch a moment does not happen often with me. Living in the city you tend to see more strange or interesting things to shoot more often than not. But at the same time, how often do you take your camera with you every time you go out?

This particular frame was shot at 1/15, F-18, ISO 100 @84mm and cropped at 16x8 aspect ratio.

I don’t take my camera with me as much as I should. I don’t for simple reasons really. For starters my camera is big and bulky. I have one lens that is a bit more versatile than the rest and works great in most situations. (24-105mm with image stabilization) I shoot with a Canon 5D and the 24-105 is attached most of the time and ready to go. But to carry it with me all the time can cause problems. One, if I leave it by mistake, chances are high I won’t get it back. I’d like to think people would call me to tell me they found my camera…but with something of such value, the good doer turns to the dark side. I know this from experience as I’ve left my camera in the past, never to see it again. (it was a 20D with a 18-55mm. Insurance covered it and I bought a better camera) As well, in the city, you increase your risk of being robbed when you carry an expensive camera. This is never happened to me, but sometimes you don’t want to add to the possibility of losing your identity.

Hand held due to high traffic on the road. Shot at: 1/250, F-4.5, ISO 100, @24mm

]]> As you’re going to see, this entry isn’t about being in the right location at the right time with the right conditions and equipment, rather than being in the right place at the right time and working with what you've been given as fast as you can. I’ll explain…We’ve all been walking around or even driving around to see something funny, strange or witnessed the perfect conditions to take a shot, only to return with our camera to find that the moment has passed. I see this all the time, mainly with lighting conditions on a particular building with perfect clouds in the background. I return hours later and the sun has moved and the clouds are gone. A funny example of this…last year in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Clark street was under construction again. This time they were digging up the south bound side of the road and pouring in new cement. There was one point in the road that it was very tight, so cones were not visible, but safety tape was up. Someone pulled from a parking spot on the other side of the street to do a u-turn. They pulled right into the cement and the front of the car sunk down a 2 or 3 feet. I was standing about 50 feet from the scene when it happened. If I had my camera I could have got the shot of the look on their face when they saw what had happened. Now I know this is more of a headline sort of shot, or even one of those that you mail around to your friends with some clever one liner. I’d say that the shot you see above is most like this situation. I’m in Framingham, MA (just out side of Boston) and I’m driving by a frozen water reservoir after the rain about a mile from my hotel. I see that the thin layer of water on the ice has created a mirror effect. I didn’t have my camera on me, so I drove back to the hotel, picked up my camera and tripod and drove back to the location. By time I got back, it had started raining again, killing the mirror effect. I waited it out about 2 hours and the rain cleared for about 15mins. This was all the time I needed to get the shot I wanted. I pretty much ran across the street from where I was waiting, set up the tripod and took a few good shots before the sky’s opened up again.

I had to park at a dead-end road in a subdivision and walk though more than a foot of snow to reach this spot. Shot at 1/60, F-8.0, ISO 100 @32mm

Anytime I go on vacation or to a new city I take my camera equipment, no matter where it is. This part of my entry is about those moments when the right thing happens at the right location. As you can see in the snow shots below and above, a Nor’easter hit while I was visiting Framingham, MA, about a day after I took the mirrored island shots. I could see from looking out my hotel room that all the tree’s in the area were flocked with snow. I figured with all the water reservoir’s around the area that some great shots of the snow must be out there. After looking at a map, I set out to find them.

Shot at: 1/200, F-5.6, ISO 100 @80mm and cropped tighter.

After driving around for a few hours I found many places worth shooting. A few times I had to stop at a snow filled parking lot and hike into the trails to find my shots. It helped that my ride was all time 4x4, other wise this trip would have been shots of my car being pulled from the ditch by a tow-truck.

Shot at: 1/320, F-5.6, ISO 100 @58mm

Surrounded by water and every branch covered with snow, I was very lucky to be at the right location at the right time. I spent the next two days shooting the trees and trying to capture that silence the snow creates when falling from the skies. After three days, all the snow had fallen from the trees and melted.

Chicago City sticker design contest

Please help my assistant, baby sitter and former student, Grace Pisula, win the Chicago City sticker design contest here in Chicago. If she wins nearly 1.3 million cars will be showing off her design and she'll get a 1k towards college.

Every year Gallery 37 / After School Matters (where I teach photography & creative writing to students) has a class of talented students from all around the city work on the design for next years Chicago City sticker. For those of you that don't live in Chicago, The city sticker is required to stick on your windshield as a resident and local to the Chicago Land area to park on the streets.

Please click the link below find her name and design, (bottom left of page) click in the box, page all the way to the bottom of the page (you don't have to enter your email to vote) and click the "click here to submit" button. You'll be asked to confirm and the process is over. Please pass on to anyone you like. She can't win this contest with out your help...so please do your part! Please note, you only have till Friday the 30th to vote! Please vote early and often!

http://live.everyonecounts.com/app/104/185

Grace's design is below:

Robert R Gigliotti take's a shot

Blog's, I have so many, but one finally dedicated to the art, craft, technology & technique of Photography. This is just the start of what I plan to be, as the title states, "everything photography". Over time I'll be adding to every aspect of this Blog that impacts me as a Professional Photographer, Chicago Photographer, A teacher of Photography, Landscape & Architectural Photographer and generally the guy at every family function that's not in the photos.

Give it some time and you'll find that this site can be not only a great resource, but also a photo forum & a place to visit & critique photography.

For starters, please enjoy a photo I took one early morning while the fog rolled into Oak Street Beach here in Chicago. I was sitting at the time taking a break from my early morning walk. I wasn't feeling well and I was able to capture just that...an eerie sort of floating sensation creeping into the shore.
Thank you! Robert R Gigliotti, Photographer

This photo can also be purchased on-line by clicking this link

Maine Workshop Day 4

Day four and in class early (8am I think). I again brought in everything I shot the day before, pining them to the board. Another classmate followed suit, making cheap color copies at the local Kinko’s. To be fair, he was from out of town and didn't know where he could get high quality prints. I print everything on my Epson 7600 on Ilford Pearl (semi gloss) paper. Class has been starting at 8am and finishing up after 7pm, needless to say I didn't have much time to color correct my work. I did a general edit to get rid of the obviously bad shots and did it twice more to find the best shot of the subject at hand. My point of the last two sentences is that Pearl or semi gloss paper is very forgiving and often hides imperfections that I had to gloss over due to lack of time. Glossy shows every last detail with nowhere to hide.

The Rem Koolhaas-designed campus center at IIT, Chicago. This was shot with my Tilt shift 24mm with two shots.

]]> With a positive review and critique from classmates and Norm, I was happy we spent some quality time reviewing my work. As a fellow classmate remarked about Norman, "He has a way of looking at your work and can right away tell you what you need to do to raise the level to a place he thinks is acceptable." All and all, I think Norm was happy I took the time to print my shots as well as that I was more than a young punk trying to be a photographer, but a photographer that could learn allot from someone like himself as well as he could learning something about shooting architecture in Chicago from me. Norm and I have a lot in common. One of the biggest differences is he still enjoys and shoots mainly in film. I won't have anything to do with film as I've been let down twice in my career with Kodak and Ilford laying me off due to the decline of film sales. The things we do have in common are we mainly shoot with the same lens (TS 24mm) and also Norm uses Canon products and we have one of the same camera's (5D). We both enjoy shooting Architecture and landscapes. On more than one occasion where most of the class was shooting away like crazy, Norm would only stand, survey the area and take one shot. Knowing in his mind where the shot was before he took it. I as well don't go out and go nuts with my camera. I'm carefully calculated and like to believe I can see the shot before pulling out my camera to take it. I often won't pull out my camera till I can see a shot worth taking. This is also applied to my commercial work in Landscapes and Architecture. Providing full coverage with less shots means more to the client than 100's of substandard shots. Pick your angle, compose the frame and take the shot.

IIT's library designed by Mies Van Der Rohe

Today was the big day that I finally had my portfolio review by Norm and the class. This week was busy as all hell, so I didn't have a chance to print my portfolio. This of course was a huge mistake and I knew this going in. I figured I would like to hear what people think about my website and as well when it comes to my professional Landscape Architecture work, It's all lined out on the same page and easy to view. Ok, so we open up my website and for starters the resolution of the laptop we were using didn't match the overhead projector. So every page could not be seen full size and we constantly had to scroll around to see the work. I can't tell you how frustrating this was and it made it difficult to see my creative architecture work. Norm was in standard digital portfolio mode and had very little constructive advice and it was in my mind a complete waste of time. Lets stay positive, the class did make a few comments that they felt my work was consistent and solid as well as the site was well designed and laid out. I was happy to hear it and that made it worth it. But the lesson here was to never show your digital portfolio to an old traditional photographer. They look at you as if you are insulting them by not printing your work. Hey, its the year 2006, not 1952...we view things digitally now...saving us time, effort and money by not printing a bunch of photos we may never use, frame, or sell as a print.

The only Mies Van Der Rohe church in the world. Very simple box with only the brick walls holding up the structure.

A shot from behind the alter where the Jesus magic is stored. Seems to be in disarray and in need of restoration.

Norm & JJ setting up their shots in at the back of the church.

Breaking out, getting on our way, we headed to the IIT campus here on the south side of Chicago. This is a campus that Mies Van Der Rohe designed and taught young architects the art of pushing the envelope with less rather than more with an attitude. We spent lots of time walking around the campus shooting Mies work. We were given access to the Mies Church, campus center and into a student housing center to shoot the campus center from above. The Marketing manager made this possible and was very helpful making sure no one stopped us from shooting. I can't tell you how often we are shooed out of a location in Chicago. After 911, everyone is paranoid that you're going to take a photo and make plot to take down a building. In most cases, people can ask you not take a photo, but they can't stop you. Its more persistence of a mall cop that scares people off. Me? I know my rights and I know that you can't stop someone from taking a picture of any structure that is viewable in a public space.

Back on track, we spend the day shooting Mies's work and the student center. The student center is extremely impressive inside and out. We could have spend hours on the interior alone (and we did). I spend more time outside than in as I knew the campus and took a walk around to see what I could find. Most the people in the class have never been in Chicago, so they tended to only go where they were directed. This gave me a small unique advantage when I brought my prints in the next day. Talking with Norm, he gave me some insight as to using at 1.4 canon extender with a TS 24mm to give you a 33mm shot when the 24mm was a bit too wide. In some locations you want to zoom in with the TS 24mm and you can't change your location by moving closer to the subject. The canon 1.4 extender does the job quite nicely. As well we talked about circular polarized graduated filters. Norm tends to use them anytime he's shooting with blue skies and architecture. You can attached them right to your lens by screwing it onto the lens. You can then turn the lens to insure the darker part is going to be in the sky rather then on the ground. What do they do? They tend to make the photo sharper and the skies really deep blue and dramatic clouds (if any in the sky). Adds quite a bit of texture to your shot.

The shot where I couldn't move closer to the subject and could have used a 1.4 extender knocking it down to a 33mm. Norm used his with his TS 24mm. This shot was cropped to cut out the information that I didn't want in the photo to focus more on the subject.

The kids of IIT often construct public art just out side the library showing off the strength & flexibility of the materials as art over functionality.

Maine Workshop, day 3

Ok, so we're at day three and still no portfolio review. Their were 12 people in the class and we've been going over about 3 or 4 a day. It seems to be standard operating procedure to only spend 10 minutes on anyone's work that is brought in digitally or from a web site. But if you bring in a printed body of work, then Norm will spend 30 minutes and if you're really good, 45 min to an hour!! Seeing this trend of the pleasure of viewing printed work on a desk or pinned to a board I took it upon myself to print my work from the past two days and pin them to the board for review. At the time I wasn't ready to print my digital portfolio, but I must admit I now see the importance of doing so. Photos really look different and in some cases viewing them digital can be a let down. Yes, computers have brilliant colors and a capacity of viewing them in the millions of colors. But when you print your work something different than what you saw on screen jumps out at you and makes you think more about the work you did to get that image on paper. I've sometimes been blow away from seeing a print on screen then printing to see an better photo than I was expecting.

Rookery building interior designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

]]> Today was planned quite well and after a some constructive criticism form the group and Norm we looked at other work from the class. Everyone seemed positive about my wide angle shots, even Norm. I have always been attracted to the wide angle perspective with film and photos. I did have to compose two shots with my TS-24mm. As well I had to do more than just shift left and right, but because of the large amount of space in the room at the Rookery building (wide shot below) I would have needed to tilt my camera up causing distortion in the perspective of the shot. Instead I shifted and rised to get the coverage I needed, then with out moving the tilt and rise settings on the lens I simply rotated it around to the right side and locked the lens in the same place and took the second shot. If the tilt or rise was even one increment off it would not match up correctly and the distortion would be corrected differently in each photo. This shot was set up on a tripod with the use of a level attached to where the flash would go if I needed it.

Rookery building interior designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Click on the photo to see the full size version.

I made an effort to spend more time with Norm shooting today as time is limited on a one to one basis. When it comes to using the TS-24mm I'm not a pro yet, but Norm is. So I asked many questions and now feel I have a much better understanding of the lens than I did before meeting Norm. For those of you who have one, its not an easy lens to master. Click here to see my notes and review on the TS-24mm.

We also spent some time inside the Harold Washington Library, but full access was not granted and I was only able to get a shot of the hall way, below. On the top floor they have an amazing room that holds banquets and larger meetings. Its an atrium with views of the sky architecture outside. A great shot would be taken in the morning as the afternoon light creates many distracting shadows.

When we left the library I grabbed a quick shot of the federal plaza with the reflection of the Mies Van Der Rowe building and sun on the statue on the plaza. You have to be quick when shooting on any Federal grounds. After 911 they don't take kindly to cameras on Federal property.

I also took Norm to the spot JJ showed me the day before of two of Chicago's oldest buildings contrasted by the El and new architecture. It's right there at the county jail. I also took a shot of Norm waiting for me to finish.

I felt that this composition was better than the shoot from Tuesday.

Norm waiting for me

Maine Workshop, day 2

Day two was another day of portfolio review in the morning that dragged on a bit longer than necessary (about 1pm) for a few classmates and not long enough for others. Mine was yet to be reviewed again and would have to wait till tomorrow. We did however spend time reviewing work shot from Monday. We used an over head and I must admit it was difficult at times to compare and contrast to other works with out the ability to look at all photos at once on a table or board.

The old train station on the south side

]]> Old and new architecture

Setting out to shoot for the day, no one really knew what was going on. We all separated and did our own thing. A few of us from Chicago decided to take a particular path avoiding some of the tourist traps that we've been to over and over again recruiting a few of the none locals in the process. We avoided Millineum Park (it’s amazing, but I've shot it many times) and headed out to river walk towards the lake and into Streeter villa. The day was hot and we walked quite a bit. I was frustrated by the lack of organization with the Maine workshop. They had mentioned they would get the group into multiple locations to shoot interiors around the city. This was not to happen today to our dismay. The shots of the day were a bit rushed and by time we go to an area of my interest I was so tired that I didn't spend the time necessary to compose a great shot. As well the weather was not ideal. Mostly overcast and look very white. I decided to do all my shots in black and white and see what turned up. JJ, one of the Chicago Locals shared the art of sneaking into parking garages around the city to get a unique view of the city. As well he was kind enough to give us access to his roof deck on the south side. You can check out some of JJ's work here..

The view from the south side

After returning home for the night I decided to print my work from the past two days to see if I could then get Norman and the class to review my work. I have an Epson 7600 with a Rip, so getting the photos processed was pretty easy. I printed everything at 8x12, the natural aspect ration of the camera, rather than 8x10, loosing 2 inches of the photo. For more information about how much you loose on what prints size, check out my website with a list of common sizes and the loss after cropping.

Repetitive detail

Maine Workshop, day 1

In a previous entry I wrote of further education with photography. What I did this year for my further education as a professional photographer was attend the Maine workshop that travels around the country with noted photographers teaching the workshops. In Chicago this year the workshops hosted an architecturural workshop. Its one of their "travel workshops" and was hosted and taught by Norman McGrath, a noted and well accomplished architectural photographer, born in Ireland and has been living and working for years in New York.

Norm in Chicago

]]> In my next five entry's I'll be writing and sharing what we did on a day to day basis (if I can remember it all). I'll only be covering the five days we actually shot and not the opening reception or closing reception (food was pretty good and free!) You'll hear my opinions highs and lows of the six day course with Norman Mcgrath.

The Chicago River looking East.

Ok, first off I'm a member of ASMP (American society of media Photographers) and they send me notifications from time to time of events happening in and around Chicago. This includes deals you can get as a member. A $200 discount was one of the deals and one big reason (other than it was hosted in Chicago) why I chose to attend the workshop.

So, I'm a guy that got a good deal of photography work though an on-line portfolio and using a computer to show work in client meetings. The first thing we did on Monday was look over people's portfolio's, some on-line, others from a usb drive and most were printed images. I can't even tell you the lack of response to anyone that showed digital slides from not only Norman, but the rest of the group (there were 11 of us). Norman would spend 10 minuets or less critiquing peoples work that was on-line and a few of those who brought printed work, up to an hour. It was ridiculous in my mind and it should have been made clear to everyone in the class to bring a printed portfolio if you want Norman to give feedback. Norman went on and on over a few peoples work that it took nearly three days to see everyone's work. We typically viewed portfolios in the morning and looked at what other people shot then by lunch went out to shoot.

So its still Monday and My Landscape portfolio (I was going to use my usb drive) and my architectural portfolio (I was going to use my website) had not been seen. At this point and after all the negative feedback from those who showed work digitally, I was starting to get nervous.

We had a guide that came in from the Archicatural foundation of Chicago to give us a guided tour of the city. I have to admit, I was not excited about this as I've done these tours and I've spent many hours walking around the city taking photos. Besides, who wants to walk around for more than 5 hours with a group of 12? No matter, we pressed on and I made the best of it. Grabbing a conversation about photography here and there with Norman and other classmates on composing a particular shot or some of the challenges of other shots. I took a shot on the river of Norman and another down the river that I quite liked. The shots of the day are above and below.

One of many unique bridge houses over the river

Marina City & reflection from a dry reflection pool.

The Chicago Cultural Center

Photography education

There was a time when I thought I should attend a university for my masters in Photography. I did some research for schools here in Chicago that offered masters in Fine Art with a focus in Photography. Two of the schools I visited and poked around at were Columbia and The Art Institute of Chicago. Now, let me preface this with the fact that I'm a self-taught photographer. I didn't think photography sounded like a cool idea and thought "I should go to school for that". I picked up a camera from a sparked interest derived from cinematography. After years of taking photos on my own, making calendars for friends and family and doing a shoot here and there as a favor I took a chance on my creative ability and took the next step. I should mention I spent three years working in Digital Imaging and Traditional film sales in the Drug and connivance mart division of the Chicago Land area for Kodak. As well did about six months working for Ilford as a Regional sales manager for their digital paper and traditional film sales for professional photographers. It took years to walk the walk and talk the talk. I'm still learning new things about photography every day...

]]> Lets get back on track. Getting a masters in Photography didn't seem like a great idea. In fact it’s a joke in my mind. After poking around I found out that the two of the biggest schools in Chicago offer a three-year masters program for about 30k. Now I wouldn't go and get another bachelors because my education at Purdue University has treated me well. I use my Bachelors of Science (technical graphics) degree every day with digital photography. My sales experience as well as working with some of the biggest photographers in the Chicago land area has given me the professional background I don't have to pay 30k for.

You might say..."well I don't have that background and want to be a photographer". Hey, that's fine, but to go out and get a degree in photography then on to get a masters in Photography and end up spending a possible 50k or more on an education that you may or may not succeed in is a risk that one shouldn't take. To be a success in photography or any creative business for that matter takes passion for the craft, drive and a thirst to learn. If you have those things over time you’ll pick up a direction and fine tune your skills. You just have to keep shooting.

Now, I have thought about further education often. After assessing the experience I have and what my future goals as a photographer and business professional the following are an option that seems to make more sense. 1. Would be to get a masters in business. One thing I could use more experience in is running a business. I run Hqprints.net and my photography business on my own. Some refinement and a bit of education would be helpful in my mind. Or I would 2. Get a masters in teaching or education. I also enjoy teaching currently on the high school level and in the past on the college level. But to get anywhere in education you have to have a masters. I do this to offset the long winter and cold season that often slows Landscape and Architecture photography to a stand still. I prefer not to travel in the off-season here in Chicago, leaving my family and the city I love. So teaching at After School Matters is not only a way I can give back to the youth of Chicago’s community, but a way I can earn extra money and still remain in Chicago over the winter.

At this point I don’t have the time or want to invest the money in education. But I will in time. I do however invest about once a year in some sort of photography workshop where I can spend time around other professionals and continue to hear new perspectives on what can be a lonely profession. Another good thing to do is to be apart of a local photography organization. One that I’m a part of is ASMP. ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) provides a Varity of services for professional photographers. In future posts on Photoblogic I’ll write more on a photography workshop I attended this spring and ASMP.

Dust on your sensor

I’m sure we’ve all had this happen…You take a photo, get back to your studio, download the photos to your computer, open them up and see in the sky’s the same black dot that show’s up over and over again. Reluctantly you open the file in Photoshop to rubber stamp out the dust.

To my dismay this happens more often than any of us like to admit. But unless you have kept the lens on the camera from the day you bought it, your going to attract dust to the sensor of your camera.

In the photo below, you can see in the sky specs that are not birds. I took the liberty to use red arrow's to point them out.

]]> I find it impossible to even go out on a shoot and not change lenses at least once or twice. I use a TS-24mm often to shoot architecture and sometimes I don’t need that lens, but need to work with a lens with more flexibility in position where I can’t change my location. So I swap out the TS-24mm for my 24-105mm and get the shot. For a long time when I first bought my Canon 5d I left the 24-105mm on and dust still sneaks in though the lens. When you have lenses that move in and out to adjust for longer focal lengths, “dust happens”.

With camera’s that have larger image sensors (this can typically be tied to larger mega pixels) the ability to produce a magnetic reaction and attraction to dust skyrockets. So you’re frustrated and you pull off the lens and have a look. Below is a list of things you should never do:
1. Never blow (from your mouth) into your camera’s exposed mirror & sensor. Have you ever seen the shots when someone sneezes and a spray of crap comes out? Not much different, even if you blow gently.
2. Never use caned air to blow into your camera’s exposed mirror & sensor
3. Never leave your camera’s mirror and sensor exposed for longer than need be.
4. Never stick your fingers in to touch the mirror or sensor.
5. Never attempt to clean the mirror or sensor yourself by rubbing something on it.

Ok, so there is a list of things you can’t do. What can you do??
1. If you have a air bulb or something that can shoot air into your exposed mirror and sensor via squeezing with your hand is ok.
2. Wet a paper towel, expose the mirror & sensor, place the camera on a hard surface propped up a few inches for 10 minutes or more to allow dust to fall out and stick to the wet paper towel.
3. Try #1 & 2 with the mirror locked up and mirror down. You can find this in your camera’s manual, more than likely under custom functions.
4. Used canned Air on your Lens’s to clean them out. Always hold the caned air on a flat surface and move your lens around it rather than moving and tipping the can causing what looks like moisture to come out. This won’t happen if you keep the can on a flat surface.
5. Buy some E wipe’s (small wipes that attract dust and clean image surfaces) to keep your lens’s clean on the surface. Try to keep the barrels clean when fully extended. These things are dust traps.

What happens when you can’t remove the dust??
A few things can be done. If you live in Chicago you can take your camera to Calumet who in-turn sends the camera off to a guy named Tony Campos of TC Camera Repair. I know Tony from back in my LLFORD days as a sales Rep…so I just send it direct and save a few bucks. You won’t find anyone in Chicago willing to clean your camera or repair your camera that is insured as well as has been doing this type of service for years. Tony had a quick turn around and my only other option would be to send it to Canon. Canon would take weeks if not a month to work on my camera. Any way…options are out there. Don’t do it yourself unless you’re ready to pay close to 1k for any damage you do by sticking something you bought in a store that looks soft and end up scratching your sensor. Let a pro do it and if he makes a mistake…he pays for it…not you.

When you find your photo(s) have been misused, The conclusion...

If you're wondering what this entry's about, please read part one of When you find your photo(s) have been misused to catch up.

I contacted a lawyer that's in my family and with my help we constructed a letter with particular verbiage of my intentions to still come to a conclusion amicably with out taking the case to the courts. The letter was more of a help than actually a letter from a lawyer. But if you were to read the letter you could tell I consulted a lawyer. As well, it puts in writing my thoughts and intentions for the client to clearly read and hand off to other members of his staff for review or even his own lawyer if need be. The term, "put it in writing", does have a sort of concrete and serious tone to it.

]]> I mailed the letter and the very same day they called me, wanting me to go on a shoot. I told them I could do it because I only had one day before the location would change, but I insisted we work out the details of my proposed contract. They again insisted they didn't intentially not give me credit, but other members of the team didn't know I had to be given credit for the photos when submitting them to the local paper. I can understand how these things can happen, but It was my intentions from the get go to have a photo credit in hopes to gain more exposure and future clients via the credit of

Photographer: Robert R Gigliotti, Hqprints.net

If this would have happened in a trade magazine I would have not felt so violated, but a circulation of well over a million...I feel its fair to want more than just an apology.

After a few voice mails and playing phone tag for a week we finally met on the weekend and signed the contract. In the end I was very happy with the end result of a larger down payment for my services and the client committing to a two-year deal for a little more than half of what I could have received if I had taken them to court. The upside of taking them to court would have been more money, but a burned bridge and loss of client(s) and in the end a loss of more revenue above and beyond what I could have received in the lawsuit. The relationship is still intact and I have an opportunity to do more great photo work for a respected client in the industry. In the end, I plan to deliver the best photo work I can and gain more respect as a businessman as well as a photographer.

TS-E 24mm f/3.5L

The Canon Tilt Shift lens is a must have if you're a landscape or architecture photographer. One common problem that architecture photographers have is the subject matter often recedes or falls away from the view point creating an incorrect perspective. The TS-E 24mm can correct this issue and is useful for creating seamless wide-angle shots from two shots as well as capturing objects with great distances between them in focus. Other uses for the TS-E 24mm depend on how creative you want to get with your lens. But if you got one...you'll love it.

Wide angle shots
One of the very cool features of this lens is the ability to sift the lens +/- 11mm creating a 13mm wide angel shot when the two photos are stitched together. The only way to do this seamlessly is with a tripod. With a conventional lens you'd take a shot and move the camera a few degrees and take another shot. Even with a tripod, stitching the photos together you’d loose a considerable amount of data on the top and bottom due to bending when the two are brought together with software. This bending is because both photos must be warped to make them match up because of the movement when taking the photos from two different locations. With the TS-E the camera stays in place and the lens can shift giving you a full frame panoramic wide angle shot.

To show off this feature below is a photo I took from the Rookery building interior here in Chicago. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Click on the photo to see the full size version.

]]> Perspective correcting
Taking photos of tall objects can be difficult with standard lenses. Sure, you can do it. I've been doing if for years and trying to fix the perspective in Photoshop. You can only do so much with Photoshop before you start to loose data and canvas size as well as quality of the photo. Who wants to spend time in Photoshop when the problem can be fixed at the source. Below is a photo I took with the TS-E 24mm with out shifting the lens.

This is a pretty low structure so I got down low so I would have to turn the camera lens from perpendicular to the line of the building to about a 45-degree angle upwards. This would represent a similar situation if I were taking a photo of a skyscraper from the ground. The turning of the lens is what creates this situation in the first place.

After shifting the lens while looking though the viewfinder I found an acceptable position where the building didn't seem to be receding into the distance and away from me. In order to take the photo in portrait I had to rotate the lens 90 degrees (the TS-E can rotate +/- 90 degrees) and turn the sift knob so the lens would shift up while keeping the lens nearly perpendicular to the structure’s main vertical line. The results are below.

Sometimes you need to take a photo that has an object with a reflective surface. Shifting can remove you or the camera to put that object in the center of the photo with out a reflection.

Tilting the lens
The tilting feature of the TS-E 24mm is +/- 8 degrees. This feature has the ability to take photos with great distances between objects with the entire focal plane in focus. An example may be a flower in the foreground and a building in the background. Tilting the lens towards the object keeping the camera body parallel to the image plane while manipulating focusing can achieve this.

With a shallower focal frame or with little depth you would normally only be able to keep all objects in focus, as no depth of fields is possible. The TS-E can create a shallow depth of field with manipulating the tilting feature and your relationship to the objects. What you can accomplish is only one object in focus with many other objects around the same object on the same focal plane.

Combining the tilting and shifting

When you bring both tilting and shifting together you can correctly control not only the perspective of the objects but keep them all in focus as well. This takes a bit of practice and trial and error. But with experience you'll create more control of your images.

When you find your photo(s) have been misused

Some times in business you shake a hand, have faith in a client and plan for a brighter day based on the exposure you may gain from the clients using your photos. This happens more than I'd like to admit, but you take a chance and hope the right people see your work and it gets you more work.

A few years ago I was hired by a client to shoot their product. (The product and the client will go un-named for the duration of this entry) They had a great product and I enjoyed shooting their work. It was right up my alley and they worked on some of the biggest projects in Chicago. If you've been to Chicago, you've enjoyed what this client had to offer no matter if you were a tourist, Chicagoan or just a passer by.

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The client had seen some of my work from my Chicago Screen saver (its being sold at O'Hare airport at the Chicago Historical Society shop and on Michigan Avenue at Chicago Architecture foundation store and available on line for free if you buy a photo from my site) and heard about me from one of their own employee's. So I came in for a meeting and they gave me a number they wanted to spend, I told them what I could do, I wrote up a quick contract and we were set.

The one thing the client had an issue with was Photo usage rights. They simply didn't want to pay to use my photos. They seemed to think if they paid me to shoot their work then they owned the photos. This can't be further from the truth. The Photographer owns all rights to their photos unless they're a staff photographer or signed away the rights in a contract. I agreed to do the work and be paid for the work at an hourly rate for shooting and a post production rate. I also agreed that they could use my photos anyway they wanted as long as I received a photo credit. They're a big company that had never spent money on Photography and were growing bigger every day. I knew they would use my photos to get more exposure for themselves in the end getting more exposure for me.

Years have passed and low and behold I found my photo in a publication with no credit. The client didn't use my photo in a trade magazine with a circulation of 5k, no, they used it in a local Sunday edition Chicago paper that has a circulation of over a million. My first reaction was not good. The whole point was to get the photo credit and my client completely disregarded the contract and used the photo.

After a few emails and two phone calls I was able to get the person on the phone who signed the contract. They explained that the lack of credit was not malicious and wanted to work something out. I mentioned I didn't want them to write me a check for damages, but I'd like to do more work for them. We setup a meeting and I was in the office the next day.

The moment we got off the phone I wrote out a deal that would smooth this entire thing over. I came up with a number that I thought they owed me for the lack of credit and loss of business. It was the creative fee + usage rights for the photo multiplied by 300%. The 300% is the industry standard when a photo has been misused or used with out knowledge of the photographer. To settle I wrote out a contract for half that amount. Now I like this client and still believe in their product. I'd rather do the work for them and we both get something out of this mishap rather then me collecting a check. I'd like to keep the relationship in tacked than burn a bridge. I broke the work into a two year contract with limitations on the usage rights. They could use the photos, but not for publications with larger circulations with out paying a usage fee. I thought this was a fair and good place to start in hopes we could hammer out the details and move on.

The meeting went off as expected. The client wanted more time to look over the contract. I don't think they expected such a well organized photography contract. They said they'd call me after the weekend as they wanted to mull it over. Monday came and went, no phone call. Tuesday arrived and I received a call saying to hold on till the end of the week. The first reaction from the owner was as impulsive as it was crude. I can only guess they’re talking to their own lawyer on how they can beat my contract. After more than a week of leaving voice mails I've given up and have consulted a lawyer. Thank god I have one in the family and I'm pretty sure the client is assuming I'm so small I can't afford one. At this point I just wanted some advise on this matter and what kind of verbiage I should use in the letter. The letter is a last ditch effort before I file a lawsuit.

These are the steps as I see them…
1. You find out your photo(s) have been misused.
2. You contact the company or person and explain what happened.
3. Try and resolve in a amicable manor
4. If not, a letter from a lawyer stating that you will take action or a letter giving them in written form one last chance (see #3)
5. Follow up call after the letter has been received to try again with step three.
6. If this matter is still not resolved seek counsel to file a lawsuit.

Part II will be coming soon. I'm only at step four as I type this letter.

If you'd like to read the conclusion of this entry, click here

Marketing, Advertising & Selling your skills

In any business big or small, marketing advertising and selling yourself and your services is an every day effort. A few key points that are a must in business are (I'll expand on later in this blog entry) A marketing plan, consistency, an identity and most important knowing your own business/services and your target market. As well it can't hurt to know a thing or two about advertising basics. If all these basic concepts are new to you I'd suggest taking a class or two on Marketing & Advertising 101.

Ok, I'm a small business owner that wears many hats if not all the hats in my day to day operation. Yes, from time to time I do get help from my friends, family, investors & my significant other, but for the most part, its all me. Being small can be difficult and can kill you in the beginning. As a photographer I need to be shooting as much as possible. The more time I spend on the phone selling myself, making prints or sending invoices the more money that's lost from the main revenue making aspect of what i do.

The Marketing Plan
Every spring I sit down and figure out what I'm going to do to market myself over the next summer. For me I have to get this done before the weather gets really nice here in Chicago. (This is usually before May) This year I'm going out on the road to sell my creative work at art fairs around Chicago and the Midwest. So my time in the office needs to be very productive. The plan is this...I'm a Landscape & Architecture photographer, so I need to market myself to Landscape Architect's and Architects. I'm only going to go over the Landscape Architecture side here in this entry. Any way...I live in the Chicago area so I find out that LA's have a local chapter that most of them belong to. (I know this because I've asked a few that I've done work for in the past) Its called the American society of Landscape architects. Using their on-line member directory I found the best leads I could. In order to keep this advert opportunity under control and in an efficient manor, I only chose firms that are in the Chicago land area, had a website and listed contacts on their site. I needed solid leads to confirm address, a phone number and a contact name. With out meeting my criteria I may as well just toss my advert materials in the trash.

The advertising materials
If I hadn't graduated from Purdue University with a bachelors in Technical Graphics It would have killed me to pay someone thousands of dollars to make me advert materials. Let's be honest...I'm sure I could have done them on my own, but if you need to sell yourself, then they better be the best they can be. You only have a few seconds to hold someone's attention when they receive something in the mail they're not expecting. You better have your act together or as I said before, toss it in the trash before you mail it.

Below is what I sent out to a specific client list this year...Click on the photo to view the full size 4x9. The photo was work I did for a client of mine, Daniel Weinbach & Partners of the 11th street Ped-way to Solider Field.

]]> To make this add pop, I printed it on ILFORDGlossy pre-mounted board. It’s a ridged inflexible board that gives me the ability to print high-res images (I printed this at 1440 dpi) and that chance for someone to look at it and think "oh, wow, I've never seen something like this before. I bet I could use something like this for client presentations...Damn, nice photo! Maybe I could use this guy." When you drop something in the mail, everything you can do to get their attention you've got to do. Aside from mailing money for their time (not a bad idea) the ridged photo poster board and a high quality image was what I could come up with to hook them. Besides, this is what I sell, high quality photos with options to print them. I not only take great photos, but I also print my work and sell those services.

Advert design notes
The one thing when you design something to represent yourself is to be true to your own brand. Now you might be thinking, "what in the hell does this guy mean?" I'll tell you...Just don't make some crap up to slide by, have a plan and stick to your own identity. If you take the time to indulge me, you can see from my website in the hire me section, my business card below and the advert above.

They all have similar design elements no matter where you are. You get my flyer & business card in the mail and decide to log onto my website. You see similar colors and design elements such as the blue chevrons and background swirl and know you're in the right place. Not only does this ease the mind of the viewer, but it gives off the impression that I put a lot of effort thinking about my presentation and consistent identity. If I did this for myself I'd do the same for my clients.

Sell, sell, sell
Once you've done everything above you better be ready to sell. I only learned how myself after four years in imaging sales with Kodak & ILford. If you're afraid to cold call then you have a problem. Let me give you some advice, get over it. This is how you make a sale, by getting out there and talking about yourself. If you don't feel comfortable about it by now and you really have issues with it, I can only say you better practice, practice and practice. Make mistakes with the little fish, not the big one. Over time you'll be an expert and those butterflies will fade. Back on track, call every person you sent something to. Leave voice mails if you don't talk to them and keep calling back till they talk to you. Persistence will get you a long way in sales. Don't be pushy, just expect results or an answer from someone and you'll get it. Practice your pitch for when you do talk to the head honcho that makes the decision to hire you. Be ready, be funny, be the guy with a coke, joke and a smoke. Look to make an appointment while on that call. But first and foremost, know whom you're calling. Do your home work, go to their website, find questions to ask and things to compliment them on. If you're a photographer these guys need you to make them look good. Show your confidence over the phone and you just might get a face to face. If they tell you to call back, then call back. Keep on them till they tell you flat out, "no". Even then, ask them if you can keep checking in to say hello and to see if things have changed. If you wait around for a client to call you...you'd be out of business in a year.

Question...& Answer

This was a question from Lilly...

Hey Robert, I am trying to take some "artistic" shots of my orchids. I grow them and am very proud that they actually bloom. Anyway, I really want the eye to focus on the bloom, how should I set up the photo? Where should I position the bloom? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Lilly

==Robert's reply below==
For starters, this really depends on what type of camera you have. Lets say you have a point & shoot digital camera. Because these cameras don't have the ability to blur the background using a long focal length (an example that can is an "SLR" or Single Lens Reflex camera that can change lenses) I'd remove any distractions from the background or place your orchid in a place with an apealing background that's not back lit.

A few other ideas that might work is this...Orchids tend to have long stems, have the stem enter the frame on the left placing the orchid on the right side of the frame. You can try this at different angles or different framing with the same idea to get a nice eye flow to the orchid.

As well you can set up a tripod and switch on your macro option or get in close with your camera. All cameras have a range where you can get the lens as close as you can with out focus problems. Refer to your manual or even the front of the lens for this information. For more info on shooting macro see my entry "The first macro photo I took".

Here's a few examples of Orchids I've shot in the past. Enjoy and I hope this helped! >>Robert

To buy this photo as a print click here!

To buy this photo as a print click here!

To see other shots I took of flowers, click this link