OK – let’s try it again   (the correct answer would be, “yes it’s cool”)
because the light on the right is softer and more diffuser but OK now
here’s a 3 way comparison outside in the middle of my yard in the dark:

3 WAY COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT ON-CAMERA FLASHES

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Isn’t this cool?

WHAT A COOL TESTIMONIAL FOR BULLZEYE 2

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To order BullZeye2, click here

WHAT A NICE TESTIMONIAL FROM A NICE GUY ABOUT THE LS2

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IT’S CASTING TIME AGAIN – WHO WILL BE SELECTED?

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Shooting
a large national ad campaign once a year is my foray into commercial
photography.  It is a big deal for two final images.  Here’s how it works.  The client hires an
“art buyer” (in this case I am working with Publicis, one of the
largest P.R. firms in the world).  The “art buyer” then represents
me, (the photographer) in a way I have yet to understand.  They
negotiate my day rate, rights and durations to the use of the image
that I produce.  In the current ad campaign, I have a two shot
deal in which I produce two images that the Art Buyer will then buy
from me then sell to the client, and then contractually purchase the
rights to use my image(s) for a certain amount of time.   It
seems as if the art buyer is on a commission, because they negotiate my
fees, and they do a great job at it!  Once the client signs the
contract with the Art Buyer, the art buyer hires the photographer and the production
company.  For production, I am using “Legends” for like the third year in a row
because of how much I like working with Peter McClafferty – who ran Los
Angeles’s “Elite” modeling agency for 12 years.  Peter then sets
up the casting of models for me.  He contacts the agencies, who
then send all of their postcards, and then I flip through them. 
Peter will also call them in and do some quick digital shots and
forward comments to me.  Since I am in my home in Canada, Peter is
doing a lot of the screening because he knows what I like.  Plus
anybody who knows me knows how much I hate casting.  This year’s
selections look pretty good from up here, but we won’t make any final
decisions for a while.

On shoot day, it is a big deal.  VIP’s from the client fly out
from New York, the art director, the art buyer (publicis), Peter (the
producer) the marketing V.P., stylists, hair-makeup people all are
there to help, support, suggest and as a team we come up with a
dynamite ad image.  It is always a lot of fun, never stressful,
and it’s always an exciting crew.  I look forward to returning to
L.A. to do this shoot, and then returning to my home in Canada.

LIGHTSPHERE II – FIRST 600 SOLD OUT IN THREE DAYS – NEXT 1,000 SHIPS 11/17

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At PHOTOEXPO EAST I demonstrated
my new diffuser that I designed for myself that will allow you to
achieve
studio-quality lighting greatly minimizing shadows and giving a very
soft quality with a small specular tab to give the eyes a
keylight. 
If you are at PHOTOEAST I will be at the Pictage booth at 3:00pm today
on the tradeshow floor.  I did a pre-order special for the first
600 units that pop off the mold, and those sold out in two days. 
So we’re shooting another 1,000 units, but these won’t be shipping
until 11/17.  Next year, you’ll be able to find it at
any of
1,100 camera stores around the country. 

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This
is the Lightsphere on my Canon EOS1D Mark II.  This is for high
ceilings when shooting vertical.  The small square area gives a
GREAT keylight to fill the eyes, while on a high ceiling the open top
lets light go straight up but with enough hitting the dome to put light
forward.  This design gives a great ratio for vertical shots,
eliminating shadows and giving a completely diffuse, ‘soft’ light all
around the room as well as onto your subject.  Forget brackets or
umbrellas on studio strobes… and this loses less power than other
diffusers.  Additionally, when you need to go direct, you don’t
need to take it off, just point it forward with no power loss! 
ALSO – get this – how easy is it to fit in your camera bag??? It fits
right over your standard lens!  Isn’t this an insane item???

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Now if you are shooting in lower ceilings – check out the sphere
attachment that fits right on top.  the half dome is the most
PERFECT diffusion device as it spreads light evenly all around the
room, going to your subject and brightening the backgrounds and those
darn dark ceilings.  The small rectangle area on the bottom is
your key light – it is higher intensity and gives a real nice
catchlight in the eyes.  If you move to high ceilings, just remove
the dome!  The dome then goes in your camera bag, right above a
lens slot.  If you want to see this, it will be on the cart in
about a month.

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Professional Photography requires
soft, low contrast lighting for the most printable images. The Gary
Fong Lightsphere II™ is going to make your images awesome. **CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

THE FIRST-EVER WEDDING ALBUM PRODUCED WITH THE FUJI S3

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CLICK HERE!

WELL I CAN RELEASE THIS IMAGE TEST NOW

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The photographs you see here were
taken at the same moment in the identical scene taken with the Fuji S3
pre-production camera and the Fuji S2.  Except for the S20, the S2
was the previous dynamic range leader.  Now look at the HUGE
difference in dynamic range between the S3 and the S2.  The wood
is similar in tone and exposure but look how blown out the highlights
are on the S2.  This was a VERY tough test of dynamic range…
having the bride dressed in off white standing in front of a covered
bridge!

Dynamic range is THE most important factor in a digital camera – using
my S20 has been a great experience for me – I’ve learned the joy of
shooting a camera with FAT dynamic range and the S3 has even
MORE.  We were holding off shots like this until I debut the
camera at Javits tomorrow.  Since it’s 1230am here in NY, here’s a
shot!

p.s. to download the actual images and see the META data: click here

IF YOU USE CORNERSTONE FINE ART ALBUMS, SHOOT DIFFERENTLY!

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Because
you have the option of a full photographic cover, you can now be
creative, shooting images specifically for the cover.  For my
Murano/Burano book, I used the reflection of the water.  For this
FUJIS3 wedding album, there was this bright red door at the church, so
I shot just the door.  It makes an amazing cover.  This book
looks just like you bought it at a bookstore – you have to see this
thing!  Behind it is the new slipcover… it is so cool I am so
excited.

I know a lot of you haven’t seen the fine art books,  and those of
you who do see it have the same wow reaction… I can’t wait to show
this one off!

MY OCTOBER DIGITAL NEWSLETTER JUST WENT OUT!

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In this latest release, you’ll hear what happened with the Fuji S3
shoot, how you can see my presentation in New York this Thursday, cool
news on how to pre-order LIGHTSPHERE II.

I think it’s informative reading… see for yourself by clicking HERE