allisonfire ASKED:

Your B+W photos are so stunning! I was blown away by your Rifflandia post on your site. Do you have more than one preset for them? I find that I like my preset on some of my photos but on others they don't look quite as good.

Thanks Allison! Such a great thing to hear. :) I developed a nice Black and White preset which I applied to all of the photographs. Maybe 2 of the 150 images were instantly great. 

Thing is, presets eliminate a lot of the time it would take to edit a batch, but they are definitely not the be all end all of every photo. Each image has an entirely different tonal range, with the subject in completely different quadrants on the histogram. Ultimately, a preset will work great for all pictures with a very similar tonal structure to the one that the preset was developed on.

I had to customize the tone curve and do a good amount of exposure/black/white/shadows/highlight control on all of the images. Quite honestly, that is where most of the work goes into.

So yeah, develop a preset that is a good general base for all of your images, and then adjust the edit to each specific picture!  I wish a preset existed that was perfect for every single picture. Not every single picture is exactly the same though. O.o 

 

Anonymous ASKED:

i'm a huge fan of milo greene and would love to shoot for their concert! how would i approach something like this and ask to shoot for their show? thanks so much in advance

You will have to get in with a Vancouver blog, and you would probably have to get in a while ago because it’s likely that they’ve already assigned a photographer for it. You could try and find a very popular blog from out of town, that likely doesn’t have a photographer covering the event in Vancouver, and apply through them. You could also contact the band and/or their PR managers… Lastly, they’re playing at The Media Club. Buy a ticket and rock up with your camera. I don’t think they care about photography there, but call ahead! 

iv-xxvi-xciv ASKED:

hey brian, i'm plan to start saving money towards a camera. as a beginner with only iphone experience, what are some good starter cameras?

Absolutely any Canon or Nikon right now are incredible. 2.5 years ago I started with a Pentax k-x. The current new lowest-end Nikon and Canon DSLR’s kick its ass. 

I say go Canon and Nikon because their top-line is unbelievable, arguably even, and better than most other DSLR brand’s top-lines for the most part. Just in case you want to take it seriously, the gear you invest in when you start won’t be useless.

Get yourself a 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8.