Behind the Scenes Footage: Photographer Rudy Triana

It's been a few months since i've updated my blog. Busy photographer! ( LOL ) But I do promise to keep this blog more updated with fresh new content & footage.

Decided to share some behind the scenes footage of a recent glamour photo shoot I did on September 4th (Friday) taken with models Andy & Gabbi at Indigo Room (Downtown Fort Myers, Florida) featuring my favorite makeup artist to work with, Barbie Mercedes.

Digitally Sign your Model Release on the Fly - RightSignature.com

For every photo shoot, a photographer and model offer a Model Release contract. A contract agreement between the model and photographer that allows permissions to use and post the photos onto the web.

In this case, signatures are necessary to approve any contract. The burden in this is the days and weeks it can take to sometimes have a model sign my model release contract. Sometimes clients become so occupied that the signature delay can result in days, weeks and even months depending on the client.

As a busy photographer, I finally found the ultimate solution to where I can simply upload a contract and collect digital signatures from the involved parties or clients to complete legally binding agreements.

RightSignature.com is a "Web 2.0" website that makes it simple to get documents signed online. The best part is you can even do it right from your iPhone!

How can RightSignature.com help you as a business?

• Save Time! - Get your documents or model releases signed in minutes, not days. No more waiting.
• Increase Response Rates - You'll discover a higher percentage of contracts get signed and forms get returned when you use RightSignature. Busy recipients prefer signing documents with a few clicks, and they do it right away. No more contracts forgotten on cluttered desks.
• Cut Expenses - Slash your overnight shipping bills. Use less fax ink and paper. Trees will thank you!
• Safe & Secure - Documents and signatures are organized and stored on a secure server. No more overstuffed filing cabinets.
• Legally Binding - RightSignature's authentication and security technology is fully compliant with U.S and E.U. directives, ensuring that digital signatures are legally valid and binding
• Very Easy To Use - Completely web-based. No software to install. Takes 1 minute to learn. You can upload your .pdf and .doc files.

Writer: Rudy Triana

Credits: www.RightSignature.com

Photograpy Rental: Best Website for Photography Rentals

Living in Florida, and seeing the number of Ritz Camera stores closing down , coming by photography resources are becoming even more limited.

Here in Florida, we don't have a "B&H Photo and Video Store" so most of our equipment has to be purchased through the internet.

If you ever wanted to try out a lens, or perhaps try out a new light kit that has raving reviews, it always helps to try out equipment before actually purchasing it.

Introducing: TheLensDepot.com

I came across this site googling around and I've never been so satisfied. The Lens Depot features a vast array of equipment for incredibly reasonable prices, and they've always been so quick to ship the items out. Ordered a 70-200mm 2.8L Lens on a Saturday morning , and the next early afternoon it was at my door.

For the price, they also offer a reasonable amount of time to try the equipment out. They start your rental period the day the item is received. Very prompt customer service -- If you have a question on a specific item, they're always prompt in responding back with an answer.

For any photographers who are low on budget and need that commercial grade lens, cameras or lighting, Lens Depot is the site to visit. With one week to use the equipment, you can get alot of projects and bookings in that amount of time and not have to invest thousands of dollars all at once. This is a great alternative for those who don't have $1,500 to pocket for a high quality lens.

--Try them out today, you won't be dissapointed.

Written By: Rudy Triana

Stolen Camera? Find Your Stolen Camera (Hopefully) with this website

A new way to help identify stolen gear!

RegisterYourCamera.com is a free online service for registering your photographic equipment and the brainchild of former Intel software engineer who is an avid photographer. If someone steals your camera, simply enter the serial number and a description of your gear into the online database and your done. When someone performs a quick serial number search against the database, your item will then be listed as stolen and the person doing the search may then contact you via your preferred method. Get enough people using this and you have very effective way of track missing gear. 

This is a terrific new path forward in finding lost or stolen photography gear.  It's dreadful as a photographer having someone steal a camera you invested thousands of dollars into and sacrificed so much for.  For many, losing a camera is losing an entire hobby.   Hopefully the next thing they'll invent is a GPS tracker for our cameras ....(sigh)

Blog By: Rudy Triana

Max Focus Photography: Stella Vidal Photoshoot

Taking on the exciting adventure of traveling over to my hometown of Miami, I took upon an exciting concept and theme with recreating a black & white "Audrey Hepburn" themed photo shoot with latin model, Stella Vidal . As I reviewed stella's portfolio I was truly stunned with the resemblance between her and Audrey Hepburn and decided to take upon this exciting opportunity in recreating the classical themed concept.

Recreating this concept required all the right elements between props, styling, editing and following several techniques myself with lighting and even talking to Audrey Hepburn's original photographers over the phone to get ideas.

Coming across two talented prop providers and stylists Jamie and Jenna DeBrino of Hot Pink inc. , we combined the elements all together to recreate the legendary styles of Audrey Hepburn.

Working with Stella Vidal was enjoyable and I highly recommend this model for any agency or company on the hunt for looking for models who are good at acting and being versatile in any concept. Stella Vidal also has also had collaborations in working for Telemundo's Nitido, MiamiHoyTV.com, CaribeVision and also can be found playing for Miami Caliente at the Lingerie Football League. A model with attitude and determination!


Stella Vidal On MySpace.com
www.myspace.com/colombiangodss

Styling By: Hot Pink Inc.
www.myspace.com/jjhotpink

Photography By:
Rudy Triana (Max Focus Photography)
www.myspace.com/MaxFocusPhotography

A Futuristic Way To Promote Your Photography Business

If you've ever thought of promoting your photography business in a new unique and futuristic way, then you've come to the right place...

Ever wish you could give a client your business card and the business card could command their computers to load your photography website? Showing off your latest works with style?

Introducing TIKITAG. Tikitag is a new service that allows you to place "UPC Stickers" aka "RFID" on anything and everything, commanding a computjavascript:void(0)er to load a website, a photo, a video, etc.

Video Sample of what Tikitag can do:

Be alerted that Tikitag can be allowed for multiple purposes other then promotion, but being a semi-geek and photography guru at the same time, it was an outlet I saw that was terrific for promoting my photography business in a futuristic and modern way with the ongoing advancements in internet and media technologies.

How can Tikitag benefit Photographers?

-Wedding Album Idea: You can place a Tikitag on a wedding album for instance, and the Tikitag can take your Wedding clients to a website of yours that offers coupons on shoots, or it can take them to a Virtual Photo Album of their wedding on the web. Sky is the limit

-Lost Photography Equipment: Tikitags could possibly be used to allow for people to trace you down incase you misplaced or lost your equipment while traveling. Tikitag can be used to take them to a website with your contact information.

-Increase pageviews and visits to your photography site by placing Tikitags on your photo and wedding albums, business cards, art canvas, paintings and more.

-Tikitags are very compatible with cell phones and iPhones. You can literally "scan" your iPhone over a Tikitag . Therefore, your client doesn't always have to be at a computer. They can view your website from their phones scanning their phone over a Tikitag on your business card for instance.

-Online Photo Services: It won't surprise me to find that Tikitags may have a huge compatability for you to send your clients over to web portfolio sites such as Flickr, Photobucket, Panoramio or Google Image Search.

Well, what was thought to be nearly impossible is now a reality, and this new technology will be available as October 1, 2008.

Written By: Rudy Triana
Site Credit: www.tikitag.com

Image Sharpen: Best and most effective way to sharpen your images

I recently came across a five-star rated plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that allows for photographers to bring out the best detail and sharpen their JPG images as well as their RAW formatted images.
Nik Software's Sharpener Pro 3.0 is a highly recommend plugin that is soaring rave reviews in image sharpening and image enhancing.

Sharpener Pro 3.0 is the most advanced and powerful sharpening solution for photographers, eliminating the guesswork typically required for achieving superior printed results while providing the most control possible.

What I liked most about Sharpener 3.0:

Selective Sharpening with U Point® Technology

Simply the most unique and powerful image editing technology available today, U Point powered controls allow you to precisely control sharpness and detail selectively within an image without the need for complicated selections or layer masks. Enhancements are automatically and naturally blended throughout your image for spectacular results. Basically I can select SPECIFIC parts of the image and sharpen the specific parts of the image that I want instead of having to Sharpen the entire image at once.

Creative Sharpening Tools

Powerful new creative sharpening tools enable you to enhance subtle details and textures that are hidden with an image. When selectively applied using Control Points these tools enable you to draw attention to key areas within your images.

RAW Presharpener

The updated RAW Presharpener feature retains and enhances sharp details within images without amplifying noise and artifacts. RAW Presharpener compensates for the potential loss of clarity and detail caused through digital capture or digital noise reduction techniques.

Output Sharpener (Adobe® Photoshop® only)

Designed to sharpen based on proven loss of detail caused by different output methods and devices, the Output Sharpener filter provides the optimum controls for creating perfectly sharpened images for such devices as display, inkjet, continuous tone, half tone, and hybrid print devices.

Output Presets

Saves time in the photographic workflow by saving custom settings in the Output Sharpener for repeatable, professional results.

Powerful Selective Tool

The Selective Tool allows you to brush any Sharpener Pro 3.0 filter enhancement into your image using Photoshop’s brush tools. Layers and masks are created automatically, enabling you to quickly and easily apply any filter with painterly precision.

Time-saving Professional Interface

The completely updated and reworked interface in Sharpener Pro 3.0 feature key controls placed conveniently on the right side of your image workspace for fast and consistent access. Also a Navigator Loupe provides a quick 100% view and navigation view, saved settings, and a resizable user interface help speed your workflow.

Smart Filter Support (Adobe® Photoshop® only)

Sharpener Pro 3.0 is compatible with Adobe Photoshop Smart Objects which permits you to fine-tune enhancements even after they’ve been applied.

Multi-image Support (Apple® Aperture™ only)

Sharpener Pro 3.0 is compatible with Apple Aperture’s ability to work on multiple images at once. When more than one image is opened, "Previous" and "Next" buttons appear that allow photographers to easily sharpen several images quickly.

This fascinating plugin is a bit costly, but you're more than welcome to downloading a 15-day free trial version beforehand to test it out and see how you like it for your imaging workflow.
Another thing that's terrific is that if for any reason you are disatisfied with this product (which is difficult to believe being NikSoftware produces possibly the best plugins on the photoshop plugin market), they offer a 30-Day money back guarantee.

Download a free Trial version to use Sharpener Pro 3.0 on your own images for 15-days, or click here to see the software in action on their website.




Written By: Rudy Triana
Site Credit: https://www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro/usa/
Photo Credit: Simon Lisa Thomas