A Guy With A Camera

Down But Not Out

Tony — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:24:54 +0000

It’s been almost a month since I announced the closure of Anthony Grisier Photography. I was worried that it would send me into some nasty state of depression, or that I would put the gear in the closet for a while. Neither of which turned out to be the case. While it’s true that I’ve been less active in my usual haunts (Facebook Groups), my quest to better my photography and to help those just starting in the craft has not lessened.

The new direction for this blog will be as the title says, to give my rants, ramblings and to post some of my newest personal projects. You may agree or not with what I have to say (I can almost guarantee controversy at some point) and that’s okay with me. Nothing I say will be said in malice or as slander, just straight shooting as I perceive it. Oh, and I may throw in a photo tip from time to time, ha ha.

This image of my step-son was taken last weekend at a gas station while on our way to Perrysburg. I and the boys (CJ and Aaron) had gotten out of the van to go in to get a pop when I noticed the texture of the wall. Well right then and there I knew that I had to get a shot of one of them against the wall. Needless to say, Aaron was most uncooperative so I asked CJ if he would help me out, which he did. Taken with my D90 fitted with a 50 1.4. EXIF shows 1/1600th @f/2.5 ISO 200.

So until next time (which won’t be as long as last time, promise), keep clicking!

With a Sad Heart

Tony — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:41:52 +0000

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that as of April 1st, 2012 Anthony Grisier Photographer will no longer exist. All archived sessions will remain so for a period of six (6) months from April 1st, 2012 then will be purged from the archives. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of their session should contact me prior to October 1st, 2012.

This was not an easy decision to make. Anyone who knows me personally knows that photography has been and always will be a big part of my life. I will continue to shoot personal projects and will continue to help many of you in your journey into photography.

I would like to thank each and everyone of my clients for your trust and confidence in my work. I enjoyed working with all of you and will remember those sessions for a lifetime.

Camera Simulator

Tony — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:36:00 +0000

I’ve had several people ask me about shooting in manual and I do my best to help out. Well this morning I came across a neat website that has a camera simulator that will allow you to put the “camera” in manual mode and play around. While it is no match for actually getting out with your camera and practicing, it is still a neat way of playing around when the conditions aren’t right to use your own camera. You can check it out at CameraSim.

Forums Added to Blog

Tony — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:57:36 +0000

I’m proud to announce that I have added a forums feature to my website. Come join your fellow photographers in sharing your questions, hints and tips in the craft we all love so much! You can find the link under “Photographers” in the menu at the top of the blog.

Newsletter Released

Tony — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:07:09 +0000

I’m pleased to announce that issue #1 of the In Focus Newsletter has been published and sent to all subscribers! Don’t forget to check your inbox for special news and offers. If you didn’t get your copy and would like to start getting it just use the sign up form on the right side of the screen.

I am he as you are he as you are me…

Tony — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:58:37 +0000

One thing that I think many new photographers don’t understand that, if they did, would make working in manual mode a lot easier. That is simply how ISO, aperture and shutter speed work together to give us a correct exposure (flash or OCF is a different matter).

Each change in value, either up or down, is one stop. In order to maintain the correct exposure we must also adjust one of the other two. For instance if my scene calls for 1/125th @f/4 @ISO 400 but I want to shoot the scene at f/2.8 then I must either change my ISO to 200 or my shutter speed to 1/250th. Why? Because by opening up my aperture one stop I have now put myself in an over-exposed situation and must do one of the following in order to once again have a correct exposure:

reduce my sensors sensitivity to light by one stop (ISO)
only allow the light to hit the sensor for half the time at the current settings (shutter speed).

Conversely, if I were to want to shoot the scene at f/5.6 then I would have to change either of the above settings in the opposite direction.

So the next time you are out taking photographs and boldly turn that dial to ‘M’, play with SS, aperture and ISO by changing their values. I think you might be surprised as to how easy it actually is.

Going Classic!

Tony — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:50:45 +0000

My overriding passion in photography has always been with black and white. Perhaps it is because when I first started out in photography in middle school all those years ago (1979) the cheapest way to shoot was in black and white. Plus I had a darkroom set up in my grandmothers basement which provided me with hours of enjoyment. And although I have not graced a darkroom since the mid ’80′s I still miss the smell of D76 and fixer.

For the past year I have really felt the tug of black and white trying to pull me back. Well I have succumbed to its beckoning call and have started down the path to where I feel my need to be photographically. I’m sure this will not be an easy road, but anything worth having is never had by taking the easy path, at least in my life.

So from time to time I will share images I have taken and things I have learned. If you, too, are on this path then by all means feel free to share your experiences or insights as you wish.

Bounce That Flash

Tony — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:38:22 +0000

This is an image that I took of my daughter Emma yesterday in an effort to learn more about bounced flash. What I was trying to do was practice my directional light from a camera mounted speedlight.

In this image I wanted the light to be coming at her like she was standing next to a big picture window. So I mounted my SB-900 onto my D90 and then positioned the flash head so the light would bounce off of the wall and ceiling to my left (her right).

I also cheated a bit and shot this with iTTL, which I normally don’t do but with her running in and out of the room I wanted to make sure I “got the shot”.

Where To Start

Tony — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:51:14 +0000

Greetings and welcome to 2012! One thing that I resolved to do for this year was to make this blog more useful to more people in any way photographic as I can. For the whole month of December I racked my brain thinking of ways I could carry this out and have, I believe, come up with some good ideas that I hope you will like.

One of these ideas is to answer any photography questions you may have. All you need to do is drop me a line at tony.grisier(at)gmail.com with your question and I’ll answer as many as I can.

So without further adieu let’s start making 2012 the most productive year any of us have had!

Friday Smile Maker

Tony — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:44:29 +0000

Inspired by the The Coffeeshop blog’s {Friday Photo Bliss}, I will post one photo on Friday, that I took that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

Yeah I know it’s been a while since my last post, sorry about that. This weeks FSM is a rare shot of my son Aaron. Rare due to the fact that he normally likes to make “funny faces” at the camera. So anytime I can capture him truly at his best I shoot like there’s no tomorrow, haha.