LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHER - DANA HURSEY - BLOG

TED Conference Video with David Carson.

dana — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:49:15 +0000

While a few years old.. here is another great Ted Video. This one featuring David Carson:

"In Discussion" with David Gibbons

dana — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:49:15 +0000

Check out my good friend David Gibbons on his daily internet radio show "In Discussion" on Voice America. His daily program covers a broad range of current topics from world issues to entertainment and the arts. David is a great interviewer and has had a host of notable people as guests. David and I shared an hour together and you can listen to that conversation here if you would like. But tune in when you can with the 100,000+ other listeners that this program has garnered. For an archive of previous programs or a schedule of upcoming ones, check out David's website at http://www.davidgibbons.org

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Lightroom 3!

dana — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:18:56 +0000

Well I don't know about you but I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Lightroom 3. And yesterday my anticipation was satisfied. Adobe released it's latest version of what is now my main piece of software. While we still use Photoshop extensively, Lightroom has become the hub of ALL of our imagery.

This latest version has a lot of significant improvements and new features and is DEFINITELY worth the upgrade ($99) and frankly I feel it is well worth the new purchase price if you don't own a previous version. I teach this piece of software in my Art Center College of Design class and thankfully started off the term teaching with the version 3 beta. So now with the full release we can forge ahead with all of the great new tools available!

The main highlights of this new version include:

Superior noise reduction

Accelerated performance

Support for DSLR video files

Image watermarking

Easy image importing

Perspective correction

More flexible print packages

Lens correction

Flickr integration

Easy-to-share slide show videos with music

Tethered shooting

Film grain simulation

Adobe also just recently released CS5 which includes the latest version of Photoshop and has some mind blowing features! With all of this new flexibility it is going to be interesting to see what image production becomes!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Photoshop & Retouching Workshops

dana — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:35:13 +0000

We regularly use the services of Lisa Carney for retouching and compositing of images. Lisa has been a colleague for many years and besides doing the work she also shares her knowledge and tips and tricks. She runs regular workshops as well as private one-on-one training and online tutoring by the hour. (If you go here and scroll down mid page.. on the right you can even get a sample free video tutorial!) So if you need to brush up on Photoshop, take your skills to the next level, or simply need a few questions answered, we can HIGHLY recommend Lisa for any of these services! OR if you have images that need (as Lisa puts it) "A Little Sugar" and don't have the skills to do it yourself, have Lisa do it for you! Find out more by visiting her site at LisaCarney.com!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Unadulterated Ecstasy....

dana — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:58:45 +0000

The last shot from our most recent test was inspired by trying to add a bit of a twist to what would otherwise be a standard beauty shot. I have always enjoyed shooting this kind of work ever since my early days when I was studio managing for a fashion / beauty photographer in Los Angeles. But in trying to keep it in the direction of our current work, it needed to be more than simply a beauty shot. So, toss in a little humor and commentary and presto....

Since I was nervous about having actual needles on the models skin (and strangely enough I seemed to be the only one...) we shot them slightly away and then composted a variety of hand positions to create the final image.

The wonderful retouching was again done by Lisa Carney.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Three Stage National Tour from Resource Magazine and Hasselblad

dana — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:12:45 +0000

Three Stage celebrates the release of Hasselblad’s new H4D line of cameras, featuring the innovative TrueFocus technology, and offer photographers a hands-on and interactive experience with this and other selected equipment, from computer to lights to photo software.

Attendees will be able to test the latest photography gear and software, discuss with company reps and fellow photographers, and witness and participate to live demonstrations.

The event will include “Three Stages”, three separate interactive shooting spaces hosted by world class photographers from different fields of photography. At the coming LA event, Joseph Cultice, Matthew Jordan Smith and August Bradley will be demoing the three studio scenarios.

Three Stage demos will take place from 2-7 and the event will end with a rocking Resource Magazine cocktail party bringing together the top photographers (7-11pm).

The coming tour dates are:

Los Angeles at Milk Studios LA - Thursday, 4/8
Chicago - 4/22
SF - 4/29
Toronto - TBA
Atlanta - TBA
DC - TBA
Miami - TBA

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

All Things Great and Small...

dana — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:57:39 +0000

Another shot from our recent test was a lot of fun to shoot. I love working with animal talent! For the most part all you can do is be patient and attentive so that you are ready to capture the right moment when it happens. This is not the first time I have worked with mice and rats. It is strange how when they are crawling through you attic they are disgusting rodents, but get a trained one on your set and they are adorable little actors... what is that about? At any rate, we built a set and spent a bit of time lighting it just right, and shot a few clean frames of it "without talent". Then we set to the task of shooting the scene with a variety of different mice and baby rats to see who would look and work best. Even though we got very close to capturing the entire scene in one frame, we did end up compositing three pieces together. We did use the clean blank set, a single mouse shot for the body, and we shot a bunch of frames of just the mouse tails to get the right curve, and used one of those as well.

And as is the rule around here.... Credits-

Sets & Props - Oliver Martin
Animal Talent - Animal Savvy
Digital Retouching - Lisa Carney
Digital Tech - Dylan Borgman, Pixel Guru
1st Assistant - Jacob Rushing

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Now 20% Larger!

dana — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:29:24 +0000

With needing to add some new and recent work to the web site we took the opportunity to make a few enhancements. While trying to retain the overall look and feel of the site that we have received so many compliments on, we felt that maybe bigger is better. So we increased the size of the portfolio images by 20%. If we do say so ourselves we feel this makes for a much better viewing experience. So check out the new work and the enhanced image size with all of the added glorious detail over at www.hursey.com!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.