Archive for the ‘Phtographic Education’ Category

GREAT NEW WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Wanted to let you all know about a great new wedding photography book by author, David Pearce and Oliver Cameron Publishing.  Simply entitled “Wedding Photography-A Guide To Posing” this in-depth guide to posing techniques has over 500 images illustrating the use of poses in the context of a wedding. There is a fascinating array of images from around the World, shot by amazing photographers such as Yervant, Chenin Boutwell, Dave & Quin and David Beckstead.

I am honored to have my images and techniques featured in this fine book alongside some of the finest wedding photographers in the world.  An entire chapter in this book has been devoted to illustrating the workflow and Photoshop techniques I use when creating my award-winning images and album designs .  Measuring approximately 7″ x 5” the book has been designed to fit into your camera bag or jacket pocket, so it’s there at your fingertips when you need some inspiration.

The book is available on the web site of Oliver Cameron Publishing.  Click here to order your copy today.

Posted in Books and Publications, Camera Techniques, Phtographic Education, Posing, Retouching and Image Enhancement, Workflow | No Comments »

NEW HOME FOR MICHAEL ONEILL FINE ART

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

It is with great joy that I announce that we finalized the real estate transactions today for the new home of Michael ONeill Fine Art.  Our new studio and gallery will be located at 81 Larkfield Road, East Northport, NY in a newly renovated historical building on this main mercantile thoroughfare.  Our past gallery locations have been on Larkfield Road since 1984 and it feels great to return to this wonderful community following a brief period of working from our home.

Formerly the East Northport movie theatre, this property has been completely renovated into luxury space with an art deco feel inside and out.  When you enter the main lobby a large expanse of glass looks in to the Michael ONeill Fine Art gallery space.

Beyond that glass is the reception area with glass-partitioned walls and double french doors wrapping around the conference area.

The open format conference area will serve as our client consultation space and also as a small ‘classroom’ for the photography workshops I offer here on Long Island.  Our computer workstations and fine art printing room will be located in the office immediately adjacent to the conference area.  This office opens directly into the conference area allowing our clients access to our computer workstations, where we retouch and enhance our images, and create our award-winning custom album designs.

A long hallway runs the length of the facility and will be set up as our fine art photography gallery.  The initial presentation here will be of my fine art works, but plans to host shows for other photographic artists are in the future.  The second office space in line will be our production/fulfillment area.

The wall between the third and fourth offices will be removed and the area will become our camera room.  In addition to our state-of-the-art lighting gear a north facing glass block window will allow for beautiful natural light portraiture indoors!

At the end of the gallery hall there is a service area perfect for cosmetology and wardrobe changes.  This service area also includes a compact fully-equipped kitchenette.  A private restroom and a storage closet completes the space.

The physical move into our new home will be taking place over the next few weeks.  There is so much to do…installing telephone, internet, WiFi and security systems; construction for the camera room, accepting delivery of furnishings, adding custom interior lighting for our gallery of photographic art, etc., etc.  We are confident that the transition will be efficient and painless.  One down side of the move will be the loss of our existing telephone number.  We will be updating all of our clients and colleagues with our new information as soon as possible.  Our existing phone number will remain in place for a period of time and will forward calls to the new location.  Stay tuned to this blog for progress reports and for information on our grand opening reception to be held this summer.  Our sincerest thanks go out to all of our wonderful clients and colleagues that contributed to making this dream gallery a reality.

Posted in Customer Relations, Events, Phtographic Education, Sales and Merchandising | 1 Comment »

GREAT NEW WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Hot off the press is another great new book from Author, Bill Hurter and publisher, Amherst Media, Inc.  The book is entitled “Wedding Photography: Advanced Techniques for Digital Photographers”.  For those of you that don’t know Bill Hurter here is a small portion of his impressive biography:

“Bill Hurter has been involved in the photographic industry for the past thirty years.  He is the former editor of Petersen’s PhotoGraphic magazine and currently the editor of both Rangefinder and After Capture magazines.  He has authored over thirty books on photography and hundreds of articles on photography and photographic technique.  He is a graduate of American University and Brooks Institute of Photography, from which he holds a BFA and Honorary Masters of Science and Masters of Fine Arts degrees”.

Bill has once again used his incredible editorial and authoring skills to compile a book that is a must-have for every  wedding photographer.  The book is filled with extraordinary images from some of the most highly regarded wedding photographers working today.  The list includes Marcus Bell, Joe Buissink, Mike Colón, Jesh de Rox, Dan Doke, Bruce Dorn, Jerry Ghionis, Greg Gibson, Kevin Jairaj, Charles & Jennifer Maring, JB & DeEtte Sallee, Ken Sklute and Yervant Zanazanian.  I am truly honored to have my photographic work and techniques showcased in this book alongside some of the finest photographers in the world.

The book is already available on Amazon.com, Amherst Media’s site, Camerabooks.com. and in the online store on the WPPI web site.  Be sure to check the archives of my blog for information on other great books from Bill Hurter and Amherst Media. (Search Word: “Book”)

Posted in Books and Publications, Camera Techniques, Customer Relations, Guest Posts and Features, Nikon, Photoshop, Phtographic Education, Sales and Merchandising, WPPI, Workflow | No Comments »

UPDATE ON MENTORSHIPS WITH MICHAEL ONEILL

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Let me start by thanking all of you for your interest in the post on The Pro Spot offering mentorships here in New York. I received more than 100 emails from around the world in response to that offer. I was overwhelmed that some of you pledged to come from as far away as California, Canada and The United Kingdom for the opportunity to study with me. I am truly honored.

I must also apologize. As much as I would love to work with all of you I will be unable to accommodate everyone. I will only be photographing about 45 weddings in 2010. I have read all of your emails and visited each and every one of your web sites. I was truly impressed by the quality of the photography I viewed, again feeling honored that you think enough of my artistry to make the commitment to come to New York to study with me. I have decided that the only right thing for me to do is choose my pupils randomly so that no one feels that they were not chosen because of any shortcomings. That is not the case. I will be collaborating and sharing with photographers on all levels.

I will be contacting all of you within the next two weeks. I will be arriving this Friday afternoon in Las Vegas for WPPI 2010. Those of you that are attending should look me up when you are there. I will be tied up all day Saturday and Sunday judging the Accolades of Excellence 16 X 20 Print Competition.  I’ll be on the “Wedding 2″ judging panel in room 302 of the conference center. (Read more about that here).  Stop by and say “Hello” or look for me at many of the events, platform programs or on the trade show floor. I would love to meet each and every one of you in person.

Thanks again for all of your enthusiasm. I look forward to sharing with you.

Posted in Events, Phtographic Education, WPPI | 2 Comments »

FREE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORSHIPS WITH MICHAEL ONEILL

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The 2010 WPPI convention and trade show is just about two weeks away now.  Last year I had the honor and privilege of presenting my platform program “FUNdamentals” to some of the more than 12,000 photographers who attended WPPI 2009.  As a speaker you get to look out at your audience and see the desire to learn in their attentive faces.  As rewarding as the speaking experience is, I was overwhelmed by what transpired after I wrapped up my presentation.  Members of the audience rushed to the podium after I concluded my presentation to ask more questions and seek more answers to their particular challenges.  A few offered to come to New York for the opportunity to assist me and learn from me on actual wedding assignments.  I accepted some of those offers and they turned into the catalyst for some great 2009 wedding experiences.  Photographers came in from all over the United States…Illinois, Mississippi, Massachusetts, California…to accompany myself and my team on a number of wedding assignments here in New York.

This year I’ll be returning to WPPI 2010 as a judge in the Accolades of Excellence 16 X 20 print competition.  Though I won’t be speaking at this year’s convention I do have quite an eager audience nonetheless…more than 2,400 subscriptions to The Pro Spot and more than 4,000 friends on Facebook.  So using this, The Pro Spot, as my podium I am extending an offer to any photographer who wishes to learn from me…on the job…on an actual wedding assignment here in the New York area…to contact me.  Send me an email with a link to your web site and a brief statement of why you would like to work with me.  I will choose a number of you and arrange a mutually convenient time for you to come to New York and work with my team.  I seek no compensation from you for this experience.  I just ask that you pay your own travel expenses and bring your camera gear, your enthusiasm and an open mind towards learning while creating some new and exciting images.  (Stick around an extra day after the wedding assignment and you’ll witness my two hour editing workflow to finish 1,000 images and learn some of the Photoshop enhancement techniques I employ to create award-winning images).  This is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.  You will learn, firsthand, the posing, camera and lighting techniques I employ and will go home with some great images for your own personal portfolios.  I get the benefit of having a second creative professional on my assignments; not only enhancing my client’s product, but also challenging me to perform at the top of my game.

The team at Michael ONeill Fine Art photographed 54 weddings in 2009 and will photograph a similar amount in 2010.  Opportunities will be very limited so I encourage you to contact me as soon as possible if you are sincerely interested in spending some quality time in New York with myself and my crew.  I expect the response to this post to be staggering and I apologize in advance as I certainly won’t be able to accommodate all of you.  I look forward to creating some spectacular wedding imagery with some of you and to helping you grow your businesses in 2010 and beyond.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Customer Relations, Lighting Techniques, Photoshop, Phtographic Education, Posing, WPPI, Workflow | 8 Comments »