We made some portraits of Andrea on that theme in her kitchen and then, because she has this gorgeous sunlit eating area off her kitchen, we made some additional portraits of her snacking on hazel nuts in there.

You can learn more about Andrea and her philosophy on her website, ReplenishPDX.com.

Critical revue is your opportunity to get open, honest feedback from people who know what they’re talking about. (It’s also a good excuse to meet/socialize with your fellow photographers!)

It’s all happening Wednesday April 25, at studio 304 in SE Portland (537 SE Ash St., 3rd floor). Doors open at 6:30, and the show starts at 7.

Sponsors

We are grateful for the support of our sponsors: Plywerk, the coolest, eco-friendliest way to mount and display your work, and Pro Photo Supply, the best camera store in Portland, period. Support your local photo industry!

How will it work?

The idea is based on something Zack Arias did in Atlanta. Basically, you bring a portfolio or body of work, show up at the studio with a chair and beverage, and listen and learn as the panel of experts critiques the work. The work will be projected for everyone to see, and the whole audience will hear what the critics have to say.
Zack’s rules apply:

1. You can’t take it personally. Even if the panel laughs at your photos. They are there first and foremost to help and that means they aren’t going to just hand out pats on the back and pump up your self esteem. Honest critique is needed by all of us in order to grow. It is the goal to point out strengths and weakness. We all have to grow. None of us have this all figured out. Just remember that.
2. You can’t explain your work until after the critique. You could show a mediocre photograph and then tell us the saddest story in the world about the photograph and suddenly we want to like the photograph. A picture stands on its own or it doesn’t. Let your work speak for itself. We can have a discussion about your work after the panel has had its say first.
3. You aren’t guaranteed a critique. We have no idea how many folks are going to show up. That’s why it is a bring-your-own-chair sort of event. If 6 people show up then we’ll get to all of you. If 100 people show up, well, you know that would be impossible. Sitting in on the critique is always a good learning experience though. You don’t have to put something in the box to attend. You can rubberneck if you want.
4. Bring a chair, bring a beverage. Our floor is hard so you might want to grab a folding chair from home. And if you think you might get thirsty, bring something you like.

The panel

The work will be reviewed by renowned editorial/commercial photographer Daniel Root and internationally-recognized fashion/lifestyle photographer Quavondo, and living legend Bruce Forster. The panelists’ opinions are their own, of course, but they’ve been around the block and their experience covers a wide cross-section of the image creation business.

The details

We need your work! If you want to submit work to be considered by our panel here’s what you should do:

• Put together a portfolio or body of work of no more than 20 pictures. It doesn’t have to be “your very bestest work ever,” just something of presentable quality that you want some feedback on. Any subject is ok (except porn), but keep in mind that our panel will review the work based on their own background.
• Optimize the pictures for projection at 1024 (horiz.) x 768 (vert.) pixels. It doesn’t have to be created digitally, but it must be presented that way. Save the pictures as jpeg files with sRGB color profile.
• Name the pictures with your name and the sequence, e.g. MatthewGinn01.jpg, MatthewGinn02.jpg, etc. (Don’t forget the leading ’0′, or photos 10-19 might end up before photo 2!)
• Email them to me, matthew-at-matthewginn-dot-com, with the subject line “Critical Revue PDX portfolio” OR bring them on a memory stick to the event.
• IMPORTANT: re-read Zack’s rules above.

Space is limited—please “join” this event on Facebook.

Steve Berliner has been birding for many years, and started photographing birds a couple decades ago. He and his images have won several international awards, such as the North America Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year in 2009. What is digiscoping, you ask? Good question.

If you’ve ever seen serious birders in action, you’ll find them standing beside a tripod and peering through a long piece of glass. Digiscoping adds a digital camera to that glass (the scope) to record the view—at significantly less cost and weight than the equivalent photographic equipment. Steve’s setup, for example, provides about the same magnification as a 1000-mm lens. For traditional photography, that lens alone would cost more than $10,000 and weigh in something north of 11 pounds. By comparison, you could probably replicate Steve’s complete kit, including the tripod, for less than 1/3 of that. The scope weighs just over 3 pounds.

I met Steve at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in SE Portland on a gorgeous day in early March. He identified green-winged teals, blue herons and other water fowl a couple hundred yards away. I could barely see them.

You can see some of Steve Berliner’s images here.

Incidentally, though you might not recognize Steve’s name, you probably recognize the company he co-founded.

One of the things I love about being a freelance photographer is that you never really know what kind of assignment is going to roll in next. Naturally, some hold more promise than others. When I was asked to make some portraits of Debbie Warner with her greenhouses, I had a feeling it would be something good. It turned out to be better than expected.

The Warner family have owned and operated Sturdi-Built Greenhouse Manufacturing since 1968. They make greenhouse kits and customized designs for customers across the country. And, they have a great showroom right next to their factory in SW Portland. Best of all (especially for taking photos in the Oregon winter), the greenhouse showroom is itself inside a large greenhouse!

The day was mostly overcast but not raining, and the greenhouse provided beautiful, even lighting everywhere. I just added a touch of supplemental lighting for some shots. We got some great photos from the session, but my favorite shot was frame number 1 from the day (top).

The first thing I do when I get my camera out is take a couple of test shots to see exactly what the ambient lighting looks like and figure out what settings I’ll need for the exposure and strobes. This was one of those. I caught Debbie watering some of the plants while I got set up, though, and the exposure was just right on the first guess. It happens sometimes!

OK, I exaggerate a little—Darrell only played a couple of pieces, and I was working the whole time, thus unable to fully appreciate the wonderful music emanating from the man at the piano in front of me. But I’ve worked in far worse conditions.

Just about every shoot comes with some kind of challenge which usually falls into one of two categories: limited time or limited space. In this case, we ran into both.

Darrell is a busy guy, so I had just a 45-minute appointment to photograph him in his office at Portland State University. As college professors’ offices go, it’s probably average- to decent-sized, but by the time you put a grand piano in there—and don’t ask me how they did that!—you’ve pretty much used up all the space that isn’t consumed by the usual office furniture. Nevertheless, I was able to find a clean space on the wall and enough room for a pair of lights and still fit in Darrell and me.

After he posed for a few portrait variations, I asked Darrell to play a bit to get some “action” shots. Then he posed with some of the Russian CD’s he’d been listening to in preparation for his trip.

Set up, pop, pop, pop, pack up; in and out in less than 45 minutes!

Art Director Jon Taylor Carter was primarily looking for a portrait of CEO Josh Collins that he could run across the spread. Out back of the factory, Blount has a storage area where they keep the big logs they test their saws on. That would be just perfect for the main portrait.

The day of the shoot was cold but sunny. Josh was a great sport, and stood outside in the 30° weather in just a vest for 10 or 15 minutes while we made a variety of portraits.

After breaking down my equipment, I went inside to get some pictures on the factory floor. None of those ran (except a thumbnail of the chains in the table of contents), but I’ll take a double truck any day!