Brandon Flint Photo Blog

Santa Fe Workshop

Brandon Flint — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:20:38 +0000

Last month I had the opportunity to attend a great workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe. The reason I took the workshop is because I loved the photography of the person who was instructing it. The workshop was the “Editorial Portrait” and the instructor was one of my favorite photographers Jeff Lipsky. I love the way he uses light and how natural and just plain amazing his images look. I’ve always looked at his work for inspiration and guidance for my own style. I was really exited to get down there and shoot some photos with him. The workshop was four days long and we shot at two different locations during the workshop with class time in the mornings to get feedback and do critiques of each others work. There were about 14 people total in the workshop from all over the country. It is so fun to get down there and meet new people, learn new tricks and make some good images. It was so great for me to see someone as successful as Jeff with the same approach to lighting as me namely simple uncomplicated light when necessary and preferring natural light. It was also good for me to see how he plans his shoots and the crew of people that he uses to make the shoot happen. I hope to be as successful as Jeff is one day and taking this workshop really helped me feel like getting to the next level was closer to me now than ever before. I would invite you to check out his site and his work. During the entire workshop he was really approachable and friendly about anything you wanted to ask him, which made me respect him even more. In an age when so many big photographers have huge egos and anrn’t very approachable it was sure nice to meet someone like Jeff which was completely opposite. After taking this workshop and talking to Jeff I think there are a few things that has helped him to become as successful as he is and that can help all of us photographers become more successful. First, he is a really cool and genuine person. This really helps when you photograph people for a living because lets face it everyone from the person you are photographing to the client to the crew you work with are all affected by working with some that is personable and fun. Second, he plans everything out before he shoots to make sure he will get the shot. He knows the location, where the light(sun) is going to be at what time etc. We can all learn from this. Third, he is great as seeing light and how to shape it in a flattering way for his subjects. He uses the same lights and modifiers on all his shoots so he knows what to expect. It is important to be confident in what and how you are going to light things when you need to. Lastly he works really hard and knows his style. Everyone that has done this for even a little while knows that great photos don’t just accidentally happen they are created and it takes a ton of work to get things dialed. You have to know who you are as a photographer and maintain that style. All in all it was a great experience. Even the unexpected 12 hour drive home with fellow photographer Derek Isrealsen because both of our flights got cancelled out of Albuquerque due to a crazy wind storm was fun. Here are a few of the shots I got while down there!

Jeff Lipsky Portrait as requested by Jeff haha! Probably my favorite!

Nikon D4 Review: My first impressions

Brandon Flint — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:50:27 +0000

Last week I got the phone call that I had been waiting for, my Nikon D4 that I had ordered had arrived and was ready for me to pick up. I was so exited and yes a little nervous about the amount of money that was going to be leaving my bank account, haha! After picking it up I was exited to get it out and start shooting it. In this post I want to do a quick first impression of the camera up and than hopefully as I shoot with it a bit more do a more extensive review later.

Coming from shooting with the D3 for the last 4 years I was interested to see how the D4 felt in comparison. As soon as I got it out the first couple of things I noticed as I held it was the the additional thumb grip when shooting with it vertically, which felt great. Second, the addition of the two smaller joysticks to move the focus points when shooting. These are such a great new addition. It really makes getting that selection point where it needs to be quick and easy. I’m still getting used to using them since they are new but I really like both of these new additions. I also love the illuminating buttons a simple thing but is a great feature. The dials all feel really solid and when moved click into place nicely. The entire body feels really nice in your hands. The screen is super sharp and a little larger which is always a bonus.

One of the main reasons I upgraded to the D4 was I was exited to start shooting some video with it. The video I saw Corey Rich create with it Why was so rad I’m exited to start creating some cool videos of some of my favorite activities and for my clients. I’ve only shot a couple of quick clips with it but I love the feel and depth of the video.

Also I like the new time-lapse feature. I went out and shot a quick time-lapse movie today which the D4 does all in camera which is a cool new feature. I’ve never done much with this in the past but I think there could be some cool applications of for the future for both myself and for clients. Here is sample below.

Raw files from the D4 are coming in at 35mb compared to the D3 at 25mb and so far am really happy with the quality of the images I’m getting. I think the 16mp is a good sweet spot for quality vs file size. I really debated about the D800 but feel that for me the D4 is a better overall camera and the 75mb files from the D800 would really start to take up alot of space over time. I think I will pick up a D800 eventually to shoot some specific types of images ie landscapes and some studio editorial work. I think because of the feel and features of the D4 it was a better first choice for me although it would have been nice to save some money.

Overall first impressions of camera are really good. There are plenty of features of this camera I have yet to delve into but as I do I will post my experiences with them. This camera for me is going to shine in my editorial and active lifestyle shots. I’m really exited to go out and get some cool new running or cycling shots with this camera but know that it will be great to shoot everything with. For a full list of features from Nikon click here.

Workers Compensation Fund of Utah Annual Report/Billboards

Brandon Flint — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:28:44 +0000

I shot images for Workers Compensation Fund of Utah again this year. This year we shot the annual report and this upcoming years billboards that you will see across the wasatch front. I have attached the images that were used in the annual report. The billboard images will be coming shortly once they are up! I always love shooting for WCF they are so good to work with. It is always good to shoot for a client that respects and values your work and what you do for them. That is how I feel when I shoot for them. This time around we shot all kids which was an adventure for sure but was fun. We had some good locations and good people to shoot. We shot at 5 locations in one day so which only gave us about an hour at each location. We had to really work fast to get the shot and get to the next location. All in all it was a great shoot! Here are the images.

Utah Hotel and Lodging Association Photography Presentation

Brandon Flint — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:01:09 +0000

I was recently asked to do a presentation here in Salt Lake City for the annual Utah Hotel and Lodging Association Convention. They asked me to present on professional photography and upcoming trends in hospitality advertising photography. In the presentation I discussed the basics of good photography such as light, composition, etc and than focused on how to incorporate a human element into the images. I wanted to focus the presentation on the human element in order to show the experience of staying at the hotel and not the facilities of the properties themselves which in my research is what the majority of all properties focus on. My point was that focusing on the facilities does nothing to illustrate the joys of staying there where by just adding a few people in the images all the sudden people can see themselves having a good time there also and helps them want to stay there. In order to illustrate what I was talking about I went out and shot a couple of properties with people in the shots to show in the presentation. These are a few of the images I photographed for the presentation that I liked. The first three images were shot at the St. Regis in Deer Valley, UT and the other set of images with the family were shot at the Weston Inn Best Western in Logan, UT. They are two very different types of properties that have very different types of clients and I wanted to show how the principles I discussed in the presentation could be applied to both and any property for that matter. I wanted to share the images here. Thanks to Michael Johnson, The UHLA, the Weston Inn, the St. Regis, the Winborg Family, Rachel Lewis and Lance Anderson for all your help in putting this together.

The St. Regis-Deer Valley, UT

The Weston Inn Best Western-Logan, Utah

Utah Business Magazine-Best Companies to Work for

Brandon Flint — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:16:53 +0000

I recently finished up a feature for Utah Business Magazine about the best companies to work for in Utah. This was a fun assignment. I had to shoot 25 companies over a 2 week period with only an hour at each location and get 4-5 solid candid shots that illustrate why it is good place work or at least show what it is like to work there. Which is a challenge. Only one shot was going to run in the magazine but and the others used in a video presentation for each company at the awards luncheon. I also ended up shooting the cover which turned out nice. All it all it was successful. It was definitely a run and gun type job but considering the time and travel allowances. I think it turned out pretty good. Here are some of my favorites.

Dec.'11 Utah Business Magazine Cover