Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 @ 01:52 PM
The end of one season brings the start of another. As spring approaches, the appearance of fog comes more apparent. The wonderful thing about photographing subjects in fog is that in an artistic sense it can make a picture very mystical. As fog obscures a subject, it forces the viewer to imagine what is beyond the fog - it paints a picture in the viewers mind drawing them in.
Photographing Fog
The first advice is to take plenty of pictures (bracketing). Start photographing at your max f-stop and take 20 or so pictures adjusting the shutter speed each time. Once you have exhausted all speeds change the f-stop by 1 and take another 20 or so pictures adjusting the shutter. Continue the process until all values are spent.
The reason for capturing the amount of photos is due to the fact that photographing fog can "fool" a camera's light meter which results in an underexposed picture. You can compensate underexposure by slowing down your shutter speed and having a wider aperture but you will still want to bracket your photos to ensure you have the correct exposure.
You can also take a close-up meter reading from the subject being photographed and step back and recompose your shot. In doing so, you will make your foreground stronger. As you create more distance between you and your subject - detail, color and texture drop off rapidly so you will want to make certain your subject is exposed correctly and as crisp as it can possibly be.
Here are a few images I took this morning at Lake Park in Milwaukee, WI.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Mon, Mar 08, 2010 @ 02:20 PM
Now that it's starting to warm up, we can look back at some winter shots. These images were taken on a hiking adventure of mine in Southeastern Wisconsin this past winter. I only snapped about 30 photos but these 3 images were definitely worth sharing. 
Feel free to share links or post your wintery images.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Mon, Mar 01, 2010 @ 11:13 AM
The Lab Apollo has brought back the MADness. Check out our deals on photo products and our online storefront service - Photo Boutique. To learn more about Photo Boutique please visit http://thephotoboutique.com.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Fri, Feb 19, 2010 @ 02:59 PM
Polaroid Ditched Polaroid
The days of the Polaroid One Step instant cameras are behind us now. It was a sad day when we learned that the Polaroid Corporation would no longer be producing the film for the iconic camera. The instant cameras came and went giving way to a new technology that people demanded -- cell phones with cameras that have resolution good enough to post pictures directly to the web in less than three clicks.
Polaroid has said it would be more than willing to license the technology to other manufacturers should they be willing to supply to niche market.
Film manufacturers such as Fujifilm have come out with their own line of instant cameras -- Instax.
New Age Instant Camera Systems
Fujifilm manufacturers three Instax instant cameras that produce a credit card size picture -- Instax Mini 55i, Instax Mini 7, and Instax 210. If we look at each camera and break down their characteristics, you will find that they have taken Polaroid's technology, make the cameras smaller and with more advanced features.
The Instax Mini 55i come equipped with adjustable shutter speeds allowing it to take
pictures in low light conditions. The lightweight camera also includes a self-timer and two shots can be taken by the press of the shutter button. The lens included with the camera allows picture-takers to take close-up (up to 30 cm) pictures with a 2:1 magnification ratio.
The Mini 7 is a little bit heaver than the lightweight Mini 55i but includes an LED exposure indicator and the color options come in white/pink or white/blue.
Upon first glance at the Instax 210 it reminded me of an older 35mm film camera with the big-rounded body style and retracting lens. The 210 comes equipped with an auto adjusting flash and a bigger view finder for higher quality pictures.
Recently, The Lab by Apollo's own Janelle Schultz had the opportunity to test drive the Mini 7 herself at the PPA in Nashville. Take a look and see who she ran into down in Nashville!
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 @ 09:21 AM
Photo Printing
Apollo can produce everything from wallets to continuous-tone, laser-output prints
stretching 30 inches wide and 50 feet long — on time and with the highest quality level possible. Choose from our standard Kodak E-surface, metallic or glossy photo paper printed in color or black and white. Sepia, blue and pink tones are also available for clients who want a different look.
February Photo Prints Special
Don't forget that February is 30% OFF 16"x20" photo prints and larger. Use just the coupon code PRINT1620. If ordering through ROES, use the coupon code in the comments section just before checkout.
Marketing Suggestions
Give your studio a facelift. Showcase your photographic work that will awe your customers as they walk into your studio. By putting up work, your customers can get more ideas about how they want their shoot to go by looking at how other photo shoots went. Looking for a different look? Try prints on our different paper types or color options.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 11:24 AM
Fort Dearborn-Chicago Photo Forum - International Photography Competition
We just recently found out that the top winner at the IPC will be awarded the GOLD PASSPORT to FOTOfusion 2011. FOTOfusion is a five day photographic festival and educational event hosted by the Palm Beach Photographic Center in Flordia.
A Gold Passport includes:
- Unlimited 100, 400 and 600-series Events
- (1) 200-series FOTOshoot
- (1) 300-series Computer Lab
- (6) Portfolio Reviews (minimum)
- All Courtyard Photo Ops
- All Fusion-Schmooze Parties
- Free Admission to the PHOTOgraphic Technology Centre
- Free Admission to Gallery Exhibitions
- Free Admission to What’s It Worth? Photography Appraisals
The top winner will also be invited to the opening reception and farewell bash of FOTOfusion 2011.
Along with the FOTOfusion Gold Passport the top winner will be crowned "Photographer of the Year," a photo carbon fiber Manfrotto (Bogen) tripod with ball head and Tamrac camera bag, and their winning images will be exhibited at the Morpho Gallery in Chicago.
If you would sill like to register for the IPC and get the early bird special you must do so by February 15.
The Fort Dearborn-Chicago Photo Forum is celebrating its 115th Anniversary this year with the International Photography Competition. To be eligble to enter into the event you must be U.S., International, Professional and Amateur photographers eighteen and older working in black and white or color, using traditional or digital methods or elements of both processes.
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The Lab by Apollo to Print Winning Images for IPC
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Fri, Jan 29, 2010 @ 01:49 PM
Check out the overview of Photo Boutique. Photo Boutique will be available to photographers who are looking to create their own online, fully branded, storefront to host images. Photo Boutique sites will help optimize online photo sales for photographers. With Photo Boutique, photographers will be able to set up custom price groups for any photo occasion and manage which products to offer within those custom price groups. Customers will also have the ability to share their photos and created products with their friends and family via email and their social networking sites.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Mon, Jan 25, 2010 @ 10:54 AM
As the count for social media users keeps growing and growing each day, undoubtedly you've been asked are you on Twitter or Facebook yet?
As a photographer, having an online presence of some sort is a good thing, a great thing to be exact. As more people go online each day, they are looking for more information online than ever before.
However, before you indulge into the world of social media (if you haven't already) you should first ask yourself "why should I create social media accounts?" Think about what do you want to get out of it for both you on a personal level and your photography business? Research the tools available and think about how those tools can help you achieve your goals.
Why Use Social Media?
- Become part of conversations
- Find like-minded photographers
- Engage deeper with friends, family, and clients
- Become a "hub" (ReTweet posts, post articles, engage). Make people curious and anxious about what you're going to post next.
- Show your personality.
- Market your photography business in a different way. Integrate online and offline methods together. Promote each channel through your other channels (if that makes sense?) Promote your Twitter profile within Facebook and your blog and vis-a-versa.
The key is to identify what you want your objects to be online. From there, learn the tools for each social networking service. As your network grows, learn about it, see what types of links, articles, and information intrigue people. Then carry out your plan to accomplish your goals. It takes time to build those relationships online, but stick with your plan.
What You Put in is What You Get
People can use social media however they want. If you don't like how someone presents themselves then don't feel obligated to follow them just because they wish to follow you. Each person has an online presence for a reason and theirs may be different than yours.
You will find many photographers that use Twitter who feel the need to follow everybody and to reach as many people as possible. Fine, but like the latter, you do not need to follow them if you don't want to. It's better to have 100 followers that care then to have 1000 followers who don't. Don't feel the need that you have to cater to everybody and just because they are following you doesn't mean you have to follow them back.
Look for people that want to be followed and follow you back. To do this you must put in time, post, engage, start conversations, etc. This is true across the board for all social networking whether you blog or use Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Digg and so on...
How The Lab by Apollo Uses Social Media
If you follow one or all of our social media accounts you know what to expect from us. Whether it is our blog, Facebook or Twitter account we post information that we think is important to our clients and photographers. We post information about our services as a photo lab, monthly specials, news, upcoming events, reviews, different and marketing tactics for our clients to use.
We feature our clients in our monthly e-Flash newsletters as Featured Photographers to recognize their photographic success and achievements. The Apollo Cares section showcases extraordinary efforts in the communities that photographers do on their own time to give back.
Become a Fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our blog
Get Started
Don't feel the need to sign up for every service at once. Start out small and once you feel comfortable move into a new service. Again, think over what you want your goals and objectives to be. If you see there is no need to start social media then don't.
If you feel you just want to share your photography Flickr could be an option where you can create photo galleries to showcase your images. If you want to make your studio to have a greater online presence, start a Twitter account to pursue people in your area and push monthly specials.
If you have questions on how to start using social media or any questions in general leave a post, we'll be happy to help you.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Fri, Jan 15, 2010 @ 11:57 AM
1. The Lab by Apollo is a full-service photo lab. When we say "full-service photo lab" we mean everything we do is in-house. Most photo labs only do photographic prints in house while outsourcing the rest of their products. Here at The Lab, we have our own 
KODAK NEXPRESS S3000 that allows us to do a wide range of press printed photo products.
The ProPrints products and services from The Lab include our digital prints, digital proofs, photographic cards, retouching and artwork, finishing and mounting services. If you look at some recent blog posts you will find more information regarding The Lab's retouching and artwork services as well as our finishing and mounting services.
On top of the ProPrints and press printed products Apollo offers its own line of ProPhoto Creations -- specialty photographic products. Everything from mini photo albums to photo dry erase boards are available.
2. As a full service photo lab, The Lab is in beta testing for Photo Boutique which is our SaaS (software as a service) for photographers. Photo Boutique is still undergoing some revisions and updates, but you should not be discourage and still check out what it has to offer.
Photo Boutique will allow photographers to create their own customizable online photo storefront. The Lab recognizes that still a good number of photographers have not merged into the online environment. This service will allow photographers to take advantage of an opportunity to produce more sales online.
To start building an online photo storefront, you will go through a build process that we have designed to be as user-friendly as possible. Keeping the thought in our minds that most photographers do not have a clue about building a website, Photo Boutique will take you through step-by-step on building out your site first by uploading a logo. You will then be able to choose your color scheme that will give your site personality. If you already have a website, Photo Boutique is structured to seamlessly integrate in to retain your brand identity. After you choose your color scheme, you will be able to choose which photo products you would like to offer and manage the pricing on those products.
Once your site is built you can upload images to an online photo gallery where you can manage photo albums. As you go through photo shoots you can upload each shoot to its own photo album and direct customers to your Photo Boutique site, where they have the ability to choose which images they would like to purchase.
As always, we take the manufacturing and shipping responsibilities on our shoulders and The Lab by Apollo will remain virtually invincible to your customers.
Check out our overview and tutorials of Photo Boutique.
3. Our Photo Book selection is one of the largest of any photo labs. We start out with the everyday photo memory book, and sizes going up to 10"x15". A variety of cover options are also available with soft, hard, and photo cover selections. Photo books include a 100 lb. stock with 4 paper options available: standard glossy, high-gloss, ink-absorbent or protective-coated pages.
Lay-flat books come with hinged pages making it perfect for panoramic images that can span across 2 pages. These books include the same cover options as the memory books, however the paper options include a ticker, 110 lb. cover stock matte paper.
Proof books are great for showing your customers photos taken from the shoot. These books are easy to create with our auto-fill option where a 16-page book can fit 64 images. Same cover options apply and the paper option includes a 100 lb. glossy paper type.
Guest books are perfect for weddings where the couple can show off their engagement photo. The same cover options apply and the pages include a 100 lb. matte paper perfect for writing on. Guest books comes with 3 different lined formats for registry pages.
Saving the best for last, the Artisan Collection Book is the Grand-daddy of them all. Cover options are still the same as the ladder, however the premium leather bound cover is what makes this book stand out from the rest. The pages are composed of a premium deckle-edge paper type that resembles that of watercoloring paper. The smooth finish and sturdy weight of the paper stock give it excellent ink absorbing qualities.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Wed, Jan 06, 2010 @ 11:03 AM
Fort Dearborn-Chicago Photo Forum
The first photography competition was held in 1900 in conjunction with the Art Institute of Chicago. 115 years later marks an honorary occasion for the photo forum as they host their first ever competition that is conducted online.
Photo categories will be split up into 5 different categories:
- People
- Places
- Still-life
- Nature
- Alteration of Reality
January 15, 2010 highlights the beginning of submissions for the competition and will extend until April 15. The early bird entry fee ($28/first 3 images, $8 for each additional image) deadline comes to a close on February 15. After that date the price jumps to $35 for the first 3 images and $10 for each additional image.
Membership application fee waived
All photographers who enter the competition may also join the Fort Dearborn-Chicago Photo Forum. If you submit your application to join before the competition closes, the one-time $35 membership application fee will be waived. Click here for details on joining the Forum.
The Lab has the honor to print and mount the 30 winning images that will be displayed in the Morpho Gallery in Chicago.
Winners will submit their high res images (16"x20" @250ppi) to The Lab by May 17, 2010. The winning images will be displayed in June 2010 (date TBD).
To learn more about the International Photography Competition click here.
