Joe Farace

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Digital Innovations
In The Digital Darkroom: Dusting Off Some Imaging Tools For Fall
Joe Farace  |  Nov 28, 2012  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2012  |  0 comments
October is my favorite time of year: not only is it Mary’s birthday month, but the mornings are brisk and the aspens are turning gold. Winter is around the corner, so there’s still time to get outside and make photographs before the snow gets too deep and the temperatures get too chilly for my old bones. Shutterbug’s editorial offices are in Florida and sometimes when it’s cold and snowy I envy those lucky sun worshippers, and yet I still love October in Colorado. The crisp air gets me anxious to make new images and to capture infrared photographs before the leaves are gone with the wind. Just remember, as always, to have fun with your photography no matter what the weather is like.
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Lighting NewsLighting Reviews
Rotolight Interview Lighting Kit: LED Lighting In Your Pocket
Joe Farace  |  Oct 15, 2012  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2012  |  1 comments

One trend much in evidence for lighting these days is the use of LED as a light source. Rotolight, distributed in the US by R.T.S. Inc. (www.rtsphoto.com), has several new products in this space, beginning with their RL48-B RingLight. As a continuous light source, the Rotolight is useful for video or still photography. The basic RL48-B includes a filter holder and a Lee Filters Calibration Filter Kit (CTO: 205, 223, and 285; ND/Diffusion: 298, 209, and 216).

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Lighting NewsLighting Reviews
Multiblitz Profilux Backpack Kit: Monolights To Go
Joe Farace  |  Oct 24, 2012  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2012  |  2 comments

If you’re looking for European build quality at a reasonable price, Multiblitz’s series of Profilux monolights are a good place to start. Built in Germany, the two Profilux models—250 and 500 watt second versions—are the perfect tool for the serious amateur or established professional and feature fast recycling times, short flash durations, and consistent color temperatures. The Profilux 250 has a five-stop power range that’s adjustable in 1/10-stop increments with a modeling lamp that delivers an expected service life of 2000 hours. The Profilux 500 delivers all of the same features as the 250 but with twice the output power.

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Lighting NewsLighting Reviews
Studio Lighting Gear: Continuous & Strobe (And LED, Too)
Joe Farace  |  Oct 25, 2012  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2012  |  3 comments

Studio lighting equipment is available in either continuous or electronic flash configurations. Continuous lighting is “on” continuously, much like a light bulb or the sun for that matter, enabling you to use your in camera light meter to measure and see how the light falls on your subject. Continuous lighting sources use photoflood, quartz, or HMI (Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodide) bulbs, which can be hot, leading to the use of the term “hot lights.” An increasing number of continuous lighting tools use Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) or LEDs, producing what are, in effect, “cool” hot lights.

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Web Profiles
Fine Art Photography Masters: Ultimately, It’s All About The Image...
Joe Farace  |  Oct 31, 2012  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2012  |  0 comments
This month I am privileged to present four of the best fine art photographers working in the country. Bill Schwab’s introspective classical images made on collodion plates, the sweeping majesty of Michael Kahn’s handmade silver gelatin prints, and Lane Wilson’s lush images show why they are masters of monochrome photography. Even Cole Thompson’s Blog-of-the-Month resonates with expertise and vision that is at once traditional yet as new as a sunrise. Join me as we take a look at their websites and blog, and prepare to be inspired.
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Digital Innovations
It’s Back To School Time: New Tools For A New Semester Of Imaging
Joe Farace  |  Nov 01, 2012  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2012  |  8 comments
At this time of year some Shutterbug readers are getting ready to go back to school while others, like me, feel they’ve already put in enough classroom seat time, but that doesn’t mean we should stop learning. One of the best ways to improve your photography is the self-assignment. Many people think they need to travel to exotic locations to do this, when chances are there are great photo ops just around the corner. For the past 30 years my personal self-assignment has been making images near my home. How close? I prefer making photographs I can easily walk to from my front door. This self-assignment wasn’t done for any commercial purpose and it’s personal projects like this that help us stretch our talents, skills, and imagination. What’s your self-assignment?
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Newsletter
Digital Infrared With Micro Four Thirds Cameras: We Use An Olympus Pen For Digital Infrared Capture
Joe Farace  |  Aug 16, 2012  |  0 comments
A typical digital camera’s sensor sees a range of light in wavelengths from approximately 350 to 1000 nanometers. A nanometer (nm) is a metric unit of length equal to one billionth of a meter. Your eyes usually see a range of light from approximately 400 to 700 nanometers. Most digital cameras place a low pass filter directly in front of the imaging sensor to allow low frequency light visible to the human eye to pass through to the sensor. It blocks unwanted light from the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums (the high end and the low end wavelengths) from polluting a photograph’s color. As owners of early Leica M8 cameras quickly discovered, this piece of glass is very important for maintaining maximum color fidelity.
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Web Profiles
Summertime And The Livin’ Is Easy
Joe Farace  |  Sep 26, 2012  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2012  |  0 comments
I’m often asked how photographers can have their website appear in this column, so I decided to offer some advice that even if it doesn’t get you featured in Web Profiles will improve the quality of your site.

Don’t use Flash. It may be fun, but why spend time and money to limit the number of people who can view it? Using Flash means literally millions of iPhone and iPad users can’t see your site.

Avoid the temptation to fill the site with graphics that compete with your photographs. First impressions count and you want visitors to focus on your images.

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Digital Innovations
Mastering The Art Of Simplicity: Creativity When You Need It
Joe Farace  |  Oct 01, 2012  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2012  |  6 comments
For the past 10 years, my personal photography has enjoyed a burst of creativity that Mary alternately credits to a change in camera brands and a change in my home office environment. Certainly living and working on Daisy Hill has renewed my interest in personal assignments, but I think improvements in imaging technology are another catalyst. How can hardware and software increase or help a person’s pursuit of creativity?
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Digital Innovations
Time To Make Some Photographs: Promise To Make New Images This Week
Joe Farace  |  Aug 31, 2012  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2012  |  0 comments
When I was studying photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art, one of my instructors commented that some of the best photographs were made in the break room. Not real photographs, mind you, but chitchat among my erstwhile colleagues about the great photographs they were going to make—someday. While some of those images may have eventually gotten made, I’ll bet only a few of my fellow students actually produced the photographs they talked about so excitedly. And that’s because it’s easy to get wrapped up in what you have been successfully doing for so long that you forget to explore what attracted you to photography in the first place. You can be so mesmerized by the pixels on your monitor that you forget to create new photographs, something that’s different from the last batch of images captured. That’s why I think it’s a good idea to not only take time to smell the roses but to photograph them as well.
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