Free Song License with Posing Guide

We have JUST released the 2nd Edition of The Posing Playbook … For Kids Who Don’t Do Posing with an additional 20 pages of content, for no additional cost. This new, expanded children posing guide now includes over 80 pages of content-rich direction, more metadata and even more detailed instruction.  And, for a limited time (until we run out of them, to be exact!), we’re giving away a free $60 song from Triple Scoop Music with your purchase!

The Posing Playbook was created to be read thoroughly and then easily referenced on mobile devices while on a shoot, as this posing guide is way more than just a posing guide – it includes everything that leads to the final shot: detailed Before & After images, all technical settings, metering choices, lighting configurations (and many descriptions of why all these choices were made), brief descriptions of shoots … and, even more helpful, easy bullet points to reference when actually photographing children and families.  But, best of all, there is a big emphasis on how to bring spirit into each image, how (exactly) to achieve genuine expression – and why that matters so much.

In addition, we teamed up with Triple Scoop Music on the launch of this new edition and are offering a free song, along with a lifetime license – valued at $60 – for the first 60 purchasers of the new Posing Playbook!  We did offer this to our newsletter subscribers a bit in advance (join our newsletter list to be in on future opportunities!), so now there are only about 40 songs left at this point.

On the flip side, though:  hey, there are still 40 free songs left at this point!!

// UPDATE:  As of 5.18.13, there are now 22 free songs left : ) //

If you’re interested in what other people are saying, you can see some very kind feedback from photographers who have already purchased the original edition – and the brand new one.

Please note, if you’ve already purchased The Posing Playbook, you’re in luck!  As a thank you, we’ll be sending you the new version, free of charge, within the next few days.  So you won’t need to do anything at all, although if you haven’t received it within the next week, check your spam folder or contact us to let us know.

Oh, and If you’re not already familiar with Triple Scoop Music, they are an amazing licensing service that I use quite frequently (and is also clearly beloved by top photographers around the world).  They offer over 15,000 hand-picked songs on their websites  - lots and LOTS of singer/songwriter gorgeousness – and they’re rather unique in that they offer a lifetime license for photographers.

To place your order and receive the $89 Posing Playbook, 2nd Edition AND the $60 Triple Scoop Music song of your choice offer, for a complete total of $89, please purchase directly from our website.

And then, if you don’t mind, we’d love to hear what you think of it, once you receive yours!

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The Switch from Canon To Nikon – Why I Did

This post may seem overdue, since I’ve fielded quite a number of questions related to my switch to Nikon, but I think it’s kinda timed perfectly.  Sometimes all the answers aren’t delivered all at once, and I wanted a more comprehensive overview in response to the most common question I’ve received over the last six months:  Why did you switch from Canon To Nikon?

So – here it is:  Being a professional photographer for the last 10+ years, you’d think it wouldn’t surprise me that many people in this industry are very, very interested in the gear you use.  My take has always been, and still is, that great photography is a product of great interactions, along with a solid understanding of technical know-how, recognizing how to utilize or create excellent lighting in all circumstances, and creative composition/framing.  Plus only about 100 other things.  But the top thing, for me?  Hands down?  Great interaction.  So, for a very long time, I wasn’t paying too much attention to this brand or that brand.

The very first time I decided to purchase a camera with the sheer intent to go pro, I looked at all the models out there and just found myself buying a Canon camera.  Not a concentrated choice point.  I wanted to buy a good camera and, at the time, I selected a Canon D60.  Shortly thereafter, I upgraded to a newer model.  And a backup. Then a newer model.  And a newer backup.  And, then, gasp, a newer model.  And so it continued.  Along with all of that, of course, were the multiple lens purchases and all the associated gear.

And, somewhere in the middle of all that purchasing, I started really getting how much money we sink into gear. Probably a direct result of itemizing those purchases every year for tax purposes, bejeebus.  But, either way, I finally started paying more attention to photography gear.  Not just what I was using but also what other people were using.  If that sounds weird, keep in mind that one of my major business practices is to pay less attention to what everyone else is doing and consistently stay focused on my own creativity, my own business, my own systems.  And that’s worked well for me.  I’ve kept quite busy doing just that.

But, nonetheless, I kept hearing great buzz about the Nikon low-light capabilities, the Nikon ISO sensitivity, the Nikon auto-focus, the Nikon sharpness.  I watched some friends whose work I greatly respected jump from Canon to Nikon, and still I thought, Oh well, I’m simply too invested in another brand. What’re you gonna do?

In all that time, I never even picked up a Nikon camera.  Unless, of course, it was during a workshop and I was answering a question for a participant who shot Nikon, and then I had to pick up the camera to get a feel for what they were doing – but, since it seemed like a whole other world to me, I’d quickly resolve the issue and then hand the camera back.

I didn’t properly shoot a Nikon camera until 2012, when I finally unpacked one Nikon D4 and one Nikkor 85mm 1.4 lens and went out with my kids for a casual afternoon in downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I tried a few practice shots.  First some color…

Then some black & white portraits:

The difference of shooting with Nikon

The first thing I noticed, right out of the gate, was the feel of the camera system in my hands.  I’d been shooting with a nearly opposite-seeming system for the last ten years, and I knew that equipment inside and out – and yet this system immediately felt better to me.  The ergonomics made sense to me.  The buttons were where I preferred them, and the ability to program other functions to be right at the fingertips of just one of my hands felt enormously convenient to me.  I really like keeping as much of myself free to interact as possible.
(In photography and in life).

The other thing I noticed was the incredible speed of the D4, while I was shooting action shots.  While downloading, I was struck by the sharpness of the files right out of camera.  And I kept finding more things I liked – so I started shooting more and more.  I maxxed out the ISO capabilities, downright squealing with what I could actually push it to (images I can work with at 12,800 ISO, wha??).  I tried out other lenses (dear 105mm 2.8 macro, where have you been all my life?) and then the flash system (I love).  And then finally the big test: I took both camera systems with me on a commercial shoot at a rather large, beautiful spa in Wichita, Kansas.  That’s right, I lugged two full systems with me on an airplane just for this blind test.

I shot more with the Canon system throughout the day because it was what I had always shot with and, for some reason, I felt like I’d been commissioned to shoot with what I’d always shot with (even as the client told me she trusted me to use the right gear).  But, when all was said and done, about 75% of the delivered images were – to my surprise – from the Nikon system.  And I’d shot less with the Nikon gear!  In the end, even outside of the more comfortable ergonomics, I simply preferred the look and feel of the images, the incredible dynamic range in contrasty, low-light instances, and – I have to say it again – the sharpness in the files.

After that, I just decided to switch from Canon to Nikon entirely – to move completely away from a system that had done me well for a long time /// pause for dramatic effect of next message, in bold:

(**note:  Please save any emails that may be defending Canon or Canon gear because I intend no disrespect to Canon at all. I really, truly, absolutely do not.**)

unpause, continue on /// and to just fully embrace the brand-new-to-me Nikon system that simply felt more like my future in photography.

It was slightly bizarre that all this happened right around the exact same time my image made the cover of EOS Magazine, along with a lovely featured spread.
But timing is a funny thing sometimes.

I have shot quite a lot, lot, lot this year with the Nikon D4, the Nikon D800 and all my favorite lenses.  There are quite a few of those favorite lenses, too, and Adorama was kind enough to create this page of all my favorite gear, so you can see them all here, broken down in detail.  I am still learning about all the capabilities at my fingertips – as they are vast and far too much fun to experiment with – but I love that I’m still learning things about these cameras.  Ensuring that you love how you’re working, and what you’re using to work with, is a huge part of managing burnout.  And that’s not a light thing.  I absolutely took this factor into account when I switched.

And speaking of loving!  I am loving the images I’m capturing now.  Here is a small selection:

Was it hard to re-learn everything with a whole new brand of camera?

One other big question I’ve heard is this:  Was it hard to re-learn everything with a whole new brand of camera?  

What I’d found hard was learning so much about photography!  Learning to consistently shoot 100% in manual, the relationship of aperture to shutter speed to ISO, the ins and outs of white balance and metering and 1, 3, 5, 7, however-many point lighting, flash photography, composition, angles, color casting, perspective distortion and all the rest.

That’s portrait photography.
And that’s a lot to learn.

But here’s the thing:  I already learned all that.  That knowledge has been acquired and it’s constantly being reinforced with a regular shooting schedule – so it’s not going anywhere.  What I also found hard was learning how to quickly read a subject, as far as how to interact with them for the sake of portrait photography.  I keep learning that each and every day – and the more I learn myself, the more I am able to produce, and the more I am naturally inclined to teach.

I already know photography, and that’s the hardest part.
Which direction the lens turns when you mount it, where the buttons are, how the memory cards pop in and out … those are new details that are learned fairly quickly.
That’s the easy part.

So, no.  I didn’t have to re-learn everything.
I just needed to go through a period of time where I jumped off autopilot, when it came to my technical movements, and focused on relearning some new movements (some new chords, so to speak).  That way I could quickly get back to autopilot when it came to manual shooting, which is the only way I shoot – and keep my focus right where it belongs:  on interaction, lighting, framing, and loving this profession.

And now that I feel like I’ve done that, I decided to write this post.

If there are any other questions, comments, or needs for clarification, please leave them in the comments section.  I’ll happily answer them all here.

And, this probably should go without saying, but since this is the internet, I just want to be clear:  this is my experience switching from Canon to Nikon – not the whole of humanity’s.  I can only speak about my experience.
(So, um, I did : )

Thanks for reading.

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Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is this week, in case you hadn’t noticed the deluge of marketing, print ads, radio spots, emails, post cards, commercials and sales!

No doubt it’s a marketing heyday, but Mother’s Day is about a lot more than the commercialism of it (although, um, we are offering gift certificates in any amount you choose, last minute happiness ; )

It’s about loving the job – and, yes, omg it’s often work – but also needing to feel like it’s somewhat appreciated, even if you’d choose it over again and again and again. So it’s a weird mix of feeling such gratitude for the role, combined with a nationally-accepted opportunity to receive a day’s worth of appreciation for all the effort involved. An odd sort of paradox, when you really break it down.

That’s Mother’s Day.

But … Mothering? It’s mostly about what I saw when I photographed this portrait – falling in love and staying in love, for a lifetime.

The more you go through the life, the more you realize: How often does that really get to happen??

Where Photographed: On Location, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
By:  Tamara Lackey
Camera:  Nikon D4
Lens:  Nikkor 85mm 1.4

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In this new episode of ReDefine, I speak with well-known commercial photographer and long-time educator Bobbi Lane about about her best creative and business advice on the competitive field of professional commercial photography after 35 years of shooting.

We sat down at Photo Plus Expo – in beautiful New York City (between our respective presentations!) – and she shared some very cool behind-the-scenes information about a striking drag-the-shutter rooftop shoot and a few excellent lessons she’s learned along the way, with one really powerful theme: “Perseverance furthers”.

Get some wisdom:

Major Thanks to Adorama.com for their wonderful sponsorship of this program! You can see much, much more content by the other Adorama TV hosts, Joe McNally, Mark Wallace, Richard Harrington, Bryan Peterson, Joe DiMaggio, and Gavin Hoey by checking out AdoramaTV.com.

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My good friend Matthew Jordan Smith has only a couple days left to get his Kickstarter project, Future Presidents, fully backed! If you haven’t checked out his project already, you can read a lot more details about it here. He’s got some great people involved, from former Samuel L. Jackson to President Jimmy Carter to Disney’s (and Dances With The Stars’) Zendaya:

Here is the overview:

If you’re a photographer, check out the great educational opportunities included in backing this project. He’s really going all out for this passion project!

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I have to give credit to that genius quote to Don Herold, who also wrote one of my other favorites statements:

Unhappiness is not knowing what we want – and killing ourselves to get it.

Truth all the way around.

Luckily, this sweet baby boy happens to have a very happy mama, who knows exactly what/who she wants:

Where Photographed: Tamara Lackey Studios, Durham, North Carolina
By:  Tamara Lackey
Camera:  Nikon D4
Lens:  Nikkor 85mm 1.4

Looking for some inspiration for your children’s portraits? Check out The Posing Playbook … For Kids Who Don’t Do Posing, an on-the-go resource for ideas, poses (that aren’t really posey), lighting, technical settings, and more. Most are using it on their smart phone while out on shoots, for real-time ideas.

Being updated, and expanded, once again – all who purchase/purchased previously will receive the new version playbook as soon as it’s released! See more details and order yours here!

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In these Part 1 and Part 2 episodes of ReDefine, I speak with award-winning director, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer, and popular educator Vincent Laforet about how he pulled far and away from a crowded field of filmmakers to stand out as a major player.  A three-time winner at the prestigious 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Vincent is considered a pioneer in the field of HD-capable DSLR cameras. He also happens to be a really nice guy with an incredibly smart perspective to share.

We sat down in Las Vegas, while we were both presenting at Photoshop World, and had quite a fascinating discussion about his rise to the top. (Also a few rather silly exchanges, some of which is tacked onto the end of the interview ; )

Part 1:

Part 2:

Vincent also has been making headlines lately, as he just announced a major game-changer in the film industry – a hand-held, silky-smooth device called Movi M10. He shows exactly how spectacular the results of this product are – check out more details and some samples of what this rig can do on our friends’ blog at PopPhoto.com (a site that can keep you busy for hours if you love visual art).

Major Thanks to Adorama.com for their wonderful sponsorship of this program! You can see TONS more content by the other Adorama TV hosts, Joe McNally, Mark Wallace, Richard Harrington, Bryan Peterson, Joe DiMaggio, and Gavin Hoey by checking out the frequently-updated AdoramaTV.com.

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Baby Photography

One of the best parts of portrait photography?

Without a doubt, the faces looking back at you.

Love.  This.  Work.

Where Photographed: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
By:  Tamara Lackey
Camera:  Nikon D4
Lens:  Nikkor 35mm 1.4

The post The Faces Looking Back appeared first on Tamara Lackey Blog.

Join Tamara at the Canadian Imaging Conference & Trade Show!

The Canadian Imaging Conference & Trade Show is the largest annual event in Canada specifically geared to the professional and advanced amateur photographer.  There are over 20 fantastic international instructors offering you a choice of over 30 photographic programs in a wide assortment of topics.  Plus you can choose from several optional full or half day workshops and Early Riser workshops. Whether your interests are specific to wildlife, portraiture, fashion, commercial, Photoshop, marketing, etc., there will be something for you here.

The Canadian Imaging Conference & Trade Show will take place on April 13th-17th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The post Canadian Imaging appeared first on Tamara Lackey Blog.

Photographers from around the world just made their annual spring trip out to Las Vegas for the WPPI Convention – and so I did, too. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been speaking at this convention for five years already – what on earth?!! And this year was set up to be a very interesting one – given the impact of some rather excellent online photography training, a lot of people wondered what turnout would really be like, but it was another packed show with about 12,000 people and all kinds of buzz. Turns out that as much as people love additional options for education, they really crave an opportunity to all come together. The photography community is huge and still rather tight-knit.

I am grateful to my sponsors for making this possible! Huge thanks to WHCC, Artsy Couture, and Animoto – and also a big shout out to Kelby Training for providing some killer behind-the-scenes video footage to share in my new program. I had a lot of fun speaking in their booth while at the expo.

ALSO – my favorite gear shop, Adorama, who disbursed nearly $1000 in cash giveaways between all the speaking engagements and my creativeLIVE appearance (more on that in the next post!) and yet STILL wish to give away another $100 in cash towards product here.

How to win? Pretty easy. This post is a combination of my work and my life – of the work I love and the family I love, too. I know that I’m not alone in constantly trying to bring all that together in the most positive way possible. I’d love to know from you: what’s one thing you do to help make life and work all come together more smoothly? We’re going to pick one comment randomly – so it doesn’t matter terribly WHAT you say, good or blah – but sharing what works for you only helps all of us. The winning commenter will get $100 cash to spend however you’d like at Adorama!

So – VEGAS! Sunday started bright and early, and I had great fun as a guest speaker at Roy Ashen’s talk about how TripleScoop Music has filled an incredible niche, bringing together independent music artists and photographers, cinematographers and more with royalty-free licensing (if you haven’t heard, they’ve recently teamed up with Animoto, and the music selection for creating videos there is now out of control). I was one of many cool guests, and it was a relaxed, fun talk:

My Platform talk was only about an hour later. I walked in to this closed room and, as usual when I’m presenting to a big room, my heart skipped a beat. Always looks like an awful lot of chairs before they let people come in, and there’s two of those rows, gulp:

And then it started. Remember those chairs? They fill up – if you see yourself here, hi and thank you so much for coming! And big thanks to Maggie Wendel and Sarah Coppola for grabbing these images:

My program kicked off with the lovely Mindy Gledhill singing with her beautiful, buttercream voice (accompanied by the fabulous Ali Handal!), to a video of my latest work, which was a pretty melty experience:

This was also the first time I officially spoke on behalf of Nikon, and I was lucky enough to do so more than once. This was spectacular for a few reasons: 1.) I love the gear 2.) I was way impressed with all the people I met at Nikon 3.) I didn’t fall off the stage once. Huge thanks to Mike Corrado, Maggie Wendel and Sarah Coppola for shooting these images AND sharing them with me:

Speaking of Nikon, MANY of the photographs I shot were with my hybrid DSLR/point & shoot, the Nikon 1 J3. I shot a LOT more than I normally do at this event (and, basically, everywhere else I went) simply because of the ease of carrying and using it. It’s not a large, bulky DSLR, which is all I want for professional shoots, but not what I want to carry around everywhere with me, and it’s got way more technical sharpness, adapability, and flash capability than an iPhone camera, which is what I’d resorted to using instead. I’m a big fan of this powerful little thing.

I also loved being included in Nikon’s Gallery Wall at WPPI – I had the great fortune of photographing this gorgeous little girl at the What If Conference in the Dominican Republic a couple months ago (heads up – there’s another one this summmer in Bali):

I could keep adding photos here, since I was lucky enough to get a ton of fun social images from the week, too – but you can see lots more on my facebook album if you want!

After the week wrapped, my family flew in, and we celebrated some R & R in Vegas, all shot with the Nikon 1 J3 (no, I’m not being paid any kickback to share that – just love the camera that much), including the black & whites below.

Here are my girls expressing their shock and dismay at the all-male review. We all feel so badly that these poor men lost their shirts somewhere:

The pool at The Signature has a cold pool and a pool-sized warm pool, so the kids just kept taking turns between the two:

First time in my life I enjoyed Circus Circus – we all really had a surprisingly fun time here:

Sophie’s biggest takeaway on Las Vegas?

It just looks like it’s all been bedazzled!

Yeah, that’s about right.

Caleb is not in this image because large furry people frighten him.
He was hiding behind a large trash can behind me.
Can’t really say that I blame him.

… especially since this is what happened after the kids hopped up:

Lots of hugs the whole time:

A huge highlight from the week? Meeting Tony Robbins and his lovely wife. Such a BIG treat.

But the life of the party, without a doubt, was my son’s Vegas Party Hat:

And that was Vegas! Leave your comment below to get your $100 cash from Adorama – whether it’s a tiny little shift in your thinking or a huge change in your lifestyle, I’m interested to hear. We all are. Really look forward to hearing from you!!

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