Archive for the ‘Portrait Photography’ Category

Itailian Press – Thank You.

Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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It seems that the “Free Business Portraits for the Unemployed” is a great topic of discussion in the Italian media. I found out this morning that yesterday I was featured in a blog about jobs and employment. The article is here: blog.cercalavoro.it.

I have been in some of Italy’s top newspapers and I will be featured in a Italian magazine within the next week or two and now this as well.

I went ahead and used Google Translator to translate yesterday’s blog post into English. It’s not a perfect translation but you can get the point. If any of my readers know Italian and want to have a crack at translating more accurately let me know. In the mean time, click the link to read the English(ish) version (Thank you Google!).

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1 Handed Photoshop Part 3 – Edge Effects

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Well, I am still in a cast and I am still doing everything one handed. The advantage I have over last week is moving my fingers is easier so i may be able to get this post typed in in less than a day! Check back at the end and see how I did.

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This week I thought we would do some finishing touches on our image of James, popular guy that he is, I am getting tired of looking at him. So this week its Edge Effects! It seems that everyone wants to know how to do the best edge effect. Well that depends on a few things, the image, the look you want and how you wan the image to be seen. All depend on you!

Click the link to see the video
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Michael Albany in Itailian is Michael Albany

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I received a message from a Facebook friend this morning telling me that they saw my Free Portraits for the Unemployed on an Italian web site. You can view that article (and a slide show) here: la Repubblica.it. Here is the English translation:

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“Just a photo to beat the crisis? Maybe not, but Michael Albany (look at the website) is convinced it will help to find work. In fact, Michael, a photographer from Pennsylvania, since last summer offers free his professionalism for the unemployed. Inside the crowded job meeting Michael rented a booth and portrays those who need a nice photo to be included on the curriculum and especially on their online profile LinkedIn, the site will soon be finding work in the U.S.. Thus, people who stand in line for a portrait, first passing through the hands of a makeup artist and then in front of the goal of the photographer, without spending a penny for a service that typically costs $ 225. “I can not do anything to help people – explains Michael – I want to do it more often but I have a home. In fact, he is a victim of the crisis. The job shortage is compelled to sell their houses to go forward. Past job meetings in which he participated, on 28 January in Philadelphia, has worked continuously for five hours, photographing 170 people, without taking a break to eat or smoke a cigarette. (di PAOLO RIBICHINI). “Unfortunately I could not please everyone, and so 50 people who were lined up, went away empty-handed. In the future I hope to do this at least every week or every month” (by Paolo Ribichini). Above, Michael Albany”

I get thank you’s from all over the world for offering this service to the unemployed for free. In fact, I just received a thank you from Marta Machesi of Italy while I was writing this. You are more than welcome Marta! If we meet in person, coffee is on me!

Please read more by clicking the link:
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One Handed Photoshop – Basic Retouching

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
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Well, it’s Monday and I have another One Handed Photoshop Tutorial for you! I apologize for the length of time it takes to make these. The videos themselves only take a few minutes its the typing the blog post that takes time. I am typing one handed after all. Drat! Now its Tuesday!

Anyway, I got such a positive response from the first 1 Handed tutorial I just had to keep going. That and the fact that I will be one handed for at least 3 more weeks. This time I took the same image and removed a few distractions and cleaned up a little razor rash.

You can view the full tutorial right after you click the link!
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One Handed Photoshop – Make The Image Pop!

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

You probably know already that ice is slippery, but did you know it’s sneaky too? It is when its black ice. It was hiding in my driveway last week and it took my feet right out from underneath me. I remember hearing a distinct snap too. Then I realized that snap was my wrist. So here I sit typing a blog post with one hand. The other is in a cast and itching like mad!

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I was due to write my weekly post over the weekend but now I can only type so much and its less than half as much when using only one hand. So I got to thinking, what can I do one handed that I can put on my site? 1 Handed Photoshop Tutorials were born!

Below is the first in what I hope will only be a short series of tutorials that can be done quickly and easily, and with only one hand, in Photoshop. This first one is on how to use the High-Pass filter to make your images pop out at the viewer. Click the link to watch the video and take a look!

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Joblessness in the LA Times

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

In my last post I told you how we had an amazing turnout for the job fair where I was doing Free Business Portraits for the unemployed. 6400 unemployed people in any on place is an amazing amount of people. So amazing in made the LA Times! Tina Sussman wrote an article titled “A snapshot of joblessness”. In the article you will get a strong sense of the feelings of people that attended the event. I strongly suggest you read the article.

Additionally Scott Lewis of Scott Lewis Images to some photos of the event that are outstanding. In the article you can click on my image on the left column to see them (I’m the bald guy in the purple shirt with a camera in front of my face).

I put together a little video of stills and some video clips so you can see the crowds and perhaps get a feel for what I was trying to do at the event. You can take a look at it below.

It was a humbling day. So many needing just a job. They don’t want handouts, they want a job; a chance to prove they can do the job and do it well.

I also wanted to thank Annie Nason, Sol Levy, Linda Slodki, Theresa Rivers and Susan Schroeder for all their help and a special thank you to Michelle Buckman of Fox 29 in Philadelphia who allowed me to be a part of the event.

Until next time, Happy Shooting!

Only A Week Away!

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

090826-dsc_9241 Last year I created Free Business Portraits for the Unemployed to give back to my community. I wanted to do something for those around me that had found themselves without a means of paying their bills, wondering how they could ever afford a photo shoot if it is a challenge to put food on the table. I have been there. I know what it’s like to not have the money to pay the bills, to put all the bills in a hat and pull out the one you are going to pay this month. I have been without a home too. I have spent weeks living in my car, sleeping in it or on sofas. I know what it’s like to have nothing and I never want to be there again, ever!

I said to myself one day last summer, “what can I do to give back to all those that helped me? What can I do that will make people feel good and that will help them out of the jam they find themselves in?” What can I don’t have a lot of money, I don’t have a huge house or even a couch the average person can sleep on. I can take pictures and I do that well. I can take peoples portraits and I can help them look their best when recruiters and potential employers look at their resume’ on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. That is something I can do!

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HDR In Photography

Monday, January 18th, 2010

100116-dsc_1718_9_ps Unless you have been living in a vacuum for the last few years you have heard of the latest trend in still photography, HDR (High Dynamic Range).  Everything from real estate to portraits to advertising is using HDR as a way to grab the viewer’s attention.  Even I have written a couple of pieces on HDR and how to get the effects that really make an image pop.

Is it a trend or the future of photography? I believe that the trend has passed and that HDR is here to stay. More photographers are using HDR everyday and with that, more ways to get ‘the look’ are being used and discussed.

Is there a best way to get the HDR look in your images? I don’t feel that any one technique has yet emerged as the single ‘best’ way. Clearly HDR soft’s (http://www.hdrsoft.com/) Photomatix and Photomatix Pro are the current choice of the majority of users today. Of course many are using the HDR component in Photoshop as well.  It just seems that Photomatix is a better tool for tone-mapping than what is included in Photoshop, so far.

Click the link to read more
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“True” HDR Portraits (You Know, with Bracketing?)

Monday, January 4th, 2010

On my last tutorial I received many comments on how changing the exposure level of a single raw file then creating an HDR image is not a ‘true’ HDR image. So I shot a bracketed self portrait and generated a new tutorial.  This is the image that resulted.

100104-dsc_1510hdr I am not sure how letting the computer in my camera do the bracketing is any less ‘true’ than doing the same thing manually in Lightroom or Photoshop.  But, I come from a purist photography background; as in I shot film, developed film and have lost years of my life in a dark room (go into the darkroom at 7 in the morning and come out and it’s still 7am, on a different day!), and I am actually fond of the smell of fixer.

To watch the tutorial Click the Link:
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Free Business Portraits for the Unemployed (yep, again!)

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

091012-dsc_0675It has been too long since I last did the Free Magick Portraits for the Unemployed so I am doing it again in January. This time I will be doing free portraits for the unemployed at the Wachovia Center in South Philadelphia.

The event will be held during Fox 29’s ‘Job Shop’s Jobs Gone Wild’ on January 28th from 10am until 2:30pm. You will be able to see all the details after the first of the year at www.myfoxphilly.com and click on “Job Shop” right on the home page. Michelle Buckman, reporter for Fox 29 has graciously asked me to participate in the event and I have to admit that I am honored to say the least.

Free Magick Portraits for the Unemployed is my way of giving back to the community. Since I came up with the concept last summer hundreds of photographers from all over the world have asked me how they can put on their own events. I have had inquiries from Ireland, Perth Australia, Alberta Canada, Mexico, California, New York, Kansas, Washington State, Virginia, to name just a few. Below are just some of the photographers planning Free Magick Portraits sessions; some have been scheduled some are coming soon.

Click the link to find out who!
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