Category Archives: Las Vegas photgraphers
photography a sticky problem resolved : Las vegas Photographer
I found this posting and thought how useful, it’s by :
Get a Grip – by Jeff Guyer
I recently saw a post about using zip ties as a makeshift wrench for removing filters from lenses and from each other (for those of you who stack them). Even the author recognized the dangers of the method when he pointed out that if not done properly the filter(s) in question could accidentally fly across the room like Japanese throwing stars (my analogy, not his). Obviously, any method that puts your lenses, filters, pets, windows, kids, or the coffee maker in harm’s way if not done precisely right should have you asking, “Isn’t there a better way?”
Funny you should ask. The main thing to remember when removing stuck filters is that they can be bent or damaged pretty easily if you don’t apply even pressure around the ring. That’s why you don’t want to grip it like you’re opening a jar of pickles. Instead, use that rubber thing that you DO use for opening the pickle jar, but start by laying it on a flat, firm surface. Holding the lens as shown, place the filter ring against the rubber, push down, and turn. You shouldn’t have to press that hard– the firm surface below the rubber mat helps apply even pressure from both directions, removing any chance of bending or otherwise damaging the filter ring. If this problem presents itself in the field while out on assignment, you can achieve the same result using the bottom of a rubber-soled shoe.
I know, I know– “What about Variable ND filters?” Since these filters are adjustable via a freely turning outer ring, this method isn’t a good idea. You would be putting pressure on the part of the filter that is not actually stuck. For this dilemma your best bet is going to be wrapping a rubber band around the threaded ring so you can actually get a grip on the filter. As mentioned, though, be careful of applying uneven pressure– good filters and lenses are not cheap. You don’t want to find yourself having to replace or repair either of them.
I hope this is usefull ,
Don P
Costellophoto.com
702 459 3121
Las Vegas Photographer’s getting hot…in Vegas
Last couple of weeks we’ve been busy in Las Vegas lots of people asking for our Corporate Head shots , it’s interesting what some clients expect, mostly pretty low expectations coupled with a low price, so it goes that you get what you pay for. well in most cases that may b e true but as a Photographer in Las vegas we do strive to hit a higher level, it’s part of our work ethic.
The biggest challenge is camera shy people, I get it I personally hate having my picture taken, as did my Father before me, he by the way was a Camera man for the BBC way back in the ’60′s so maybe it”s an inherited phobia ?
But I always find away to make my subject comfortable, in the days of film I would shoot dummy rolls , basically empty canisters of 35 mm film, the theory being that few people are at ease for the first 50 or so shots so why waste the film? Well as technology has done away with film that’s no longer an issue but it still takes a little time for our client feel comfortable, even the smallest line an make a difference or the angle of the head can send a completely different message and when it comes to head-shots , it’s the massage in that first second that can leave that lasting impression making you the next movie star or not , not an easy task .
Then you can get a subject that is incredibly diverse, from city slicker to pro boxer , these are the kind of shoots I like, sure they are more challenging lighting wise and on occasion location wise , not every one has a studio or can afford the extra cost, it is very worth while in my opinion.
But when the challenge arises great things can be done.
This image of Boxer Anthony Cox was just one of those events , very nice nice young man with a lot of talent, he knew pretty much what he wanted and needed for his Zed card and in the same session we shot some promotional images for his act and his Boxing career, not the easiest of shoots, limited in just about every aspect but the end result was well worth the effort photographically.
Point being I suppose that you don’t necessarily need a huge set up to get great shots , it helps sure but if you have an aspiring actor , or artist who needs help in this way, why not go out of your way to help make their dreams come true, good Karma on all levels .
Artistically speaking there are times when you have a vision and it just wont work, at least this
might be how you feel during the shoot, may be your subject just isn’t comfortable in front of the camera, yet you struggle through go back to the office load the images and get a little discouraged. I find by putting images away for a while and with less stress going back to re-evaluate you might find with a little cutting and cropping you really have a good looking picture , in this case the very image I was hoping for , or at least very close , for all kinds of reasons this shot was important and perhaps that’s why i found it more of a challenge than most, I hadn’t figured on the size of the Lion head and I particularly wanted a black back ground , that was fine un-till we bought out the black lions heads , Canon 5d .3 or not this just was not going to work, even the 10 ft back drop wasn’t enough in this case a real studio would have been so much easier , but that’s just not in the budget so we have to be inventive photographically and that is good exercise for your imagination and skill as a master photographer to get it to work regardless of the situations you find your self in.
By Costellophoto
Costellophoto.com
702 459 3121
5.27.2013
Mother Tattoos Baby ! Why ???
Mother Tattoos Baby !
New Craze worries Doctors.
Young Woman disfiguring bodies worries parents !
Californian Photographer causes outrage.
Not recommended for Mothers Day gift.
When you see this picture how does it make you feel??
Outrage over this beautiful picture of a loving Mother with her Baby… Tattooed to her chest, with so much out rage and condemnation over a women rights to do to her body as she chooses , and yet some see this as a wonderful piece of art .
Others have asked why? And is she covering up scars from perhaps Cancer surgery, or some other tragic accident? A lot of questions , a lot of speculation and media criticism.
When I first saw this image I really didn’t know what to think, Immediately I thought how ridiculous , then the thought that may be there is a reason for this a sad tragic reason, what a shame a beautiful woman feeling she has to make such a dramatic statement I really start to feel badly for her and wanted to know more.
I don’t think in all my years in photography and entertainment had I ever seen anything quite like this tattoo, the headline made me think that perhaps the Woman has actually tattooed her baby, that I thought was plausible yet only somewhat unlikely but I live in Las Vegas and anything is possible here, surely there is a line even the most unhinged person would draw, I mean the pain inflicted on an infant, no, no one would do that would they? But then what explains Honey boo boo . Thank fully it appears just to be some sad lonely childless,crazed Tattoo junkie. So what do you think? Comments welcome and as it’s Mothers day this coming weekend I expect some highly charged emails !
Some reaction :
Now for the reality of this image, a brilliant piece of art and deception. The following link to L.A photographer Noel Bass will explain all, this was genius !!
http://noelbass.com/the-controversy-over-tattoo-baby/
Enjoy the page and the story, especially if your reading this on Mothers Day !
By Costellophoto
Photo and Genius Idea : Noel Bass
Convention security photographically speaking
A while back I was working at one of the larger Hotels in Las Vegas and had reason to leave my Camera equipment in one of the break out rooms, assured it would be ‘alright for a few minutes I left shot the next event only to return to find all my Canon gear stolen, minutes literally all gone over $30,000 worth of gear plus all the bits and pieces I carry like chargers, extra batteries and just stuff I need.
Hotel Security had no interest, I filled out forms asked about surveillance all to no avail. It turns out the Hotel are under no obligation to provide or produce any video, or take any responsibility for loss of personal or business items .
It turns out that my camera and photographic equipment theft wasn’t a rarity at all, according to my sources there are gangs of people organized , who wander around the hotels during conferences ,dressed to merge right in and now days it’s not just lap tops but hand bags with hopefully i Pads and i phones , not to mention all the info they can get off those machines.
So be aware when you’re at your next Convention, it’s not just the gangs roaming the hotel corridors, as i found out a few years ago, now I realize that this story is not about lap tops but it will illuminate just how low some professional people will go.
A convention at the MGM produced by a large production company that specializes in pharmaceutical companies hired us to do what we do best , to shoot their convention and keynote, when I work I’ll often use different lenses and the one I use run a few thousand Dollars each , some times I have to change lens and move to a different location leaving my lenses and gear in a stash so to speak , usually Down Stage but not far away. When I returned i found my 70 -200 mm lens gone, literally evaporated. After making some inquiries i was told the ‘Stage Manager has has it , he thought it was a ….Coffee cup” yeah right. Well this story has a bitter sweet end , I got my lens back, then got fired from the job, Ironically years later canon makes a 70-200 mm e series lens …coffee cup.
So the lesson learned here is never to leave anything out even for a second, if the ninja thieves don’t get you a ‘professional’ working with you might just decide to lighten your load, so be aware !
This message is bought to you with good humor and the best convention photographers in Las Vegas Costellophoto.
More : http://costellophoto.com/convention-photographer-las-vegas/
By Costellophoto
Google Internet God an open letter/Prayer
A letter to Google from a Las Vegas Photographer !
I think it is fair to say you either love or hate Google over the last 12 or so years that I have been making websites for Costellophoto in Las Vegas, we have mainly been #1 in certain searches, as many of you might know Google decided to change every thing and the result was devastation to web page rankings, so after a lot of work and sleep less nights we think we might have got this right. I notice all kinds of web pages that frankly should be hidden ranking way high on photographic pages and I just don’t see why.
So my open Letter to Google:
Dear Google,
we realize your god, and like a good God fearing web owner we have prayed to the mighty web entity and sacrificed many a dollar,been fooled by false profits who just make profit and destroy our good name and business , our eyes are red from starring at computer screens and reading articles on SEO till we can take no more and even been victim to rude and malicious post from Web masters on Google forums.
So dear leader, merciful god of internet and provider of all things cat video related , oh and internet porn (I never look at honest) I ask for your forgiveness and inclusion to your Temple of immediate information built on 1′s and 0′s now streaming to a device near you.
We have seen the error of our ways , a spiritual 404 page if you like and have banished all links and pages we didn’t know existed that angered you Internet god.
We shall from now on only use one URL, filled with original and meaning full information relating to Photography and other close related issues , in the hope for more business fueled by your gracious rankings on page one ‘Las Vegas Photographers’ and that our children will not live in fear and loathing of the great God Google ~ Amen .
Photographers in Las Vegas , what we do in our spare time on Fremont Street
3.27.13 Las Vegas NV
Well Spring is springing and shutters are a’clickin! so I thought I’d look back at some of our iconic photographs and tell stories behind them or conversely you can write your own story and sent it in to us via the comment section, this will be fun !
This is a perfect example of convention / Corporate event photography , here we have great expression and movement.
This can only be achieved with a good long lens 200 mm or more and fast f2,8 , so what that means is your lens will zoom in from a distance , this is important as you don’t want to interfere with the speaker , distract or just plain annoy them, and the F2.8 means your lens will operate in lower light situations and still be in focus.
Choosing our moment to shoot is also very important, you want to avoid open mouth or closed eyes or that awkward moment with a bizarre manic expression, so take your time and try to anticipate your subjects movement. So what should the caption read ? ” You yes you I’m talking to you” ” Is that cell phone call for me ? ” I’m being very polite here but feel free to add !
Now this has become quite a famous image, we used it for a logo for a couple of years and it’s on some of our older business cards, very popular. If I remember correctly this was an opening of a large convention at Mandalay bay on the Las Vegas Strip, this young lady was swamped in moments , I was up a ladder trying to get a decent shot of the crowd and ,well how could you not notice her! The original shot was much wider but even in this cropped and low res version you can still see the action. As a matter of fact all the feathers you see here are real ostrich , quite a clever design as the feathers around the shoulder make up for the lack of height in the head dress making it much easier to wear and not as heavy, cleaver huh!
What you see in the back ground is the unfinished Wynn Hotel and where we are is on top of the ‘Cloud’ in front of the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip a large metal
structure about 100 ft long and 75 wide, made of aluminium and hollow, Well it was the middle of summer here in Las Vegas 120 not uncommon , so the job was to get up on the cloud and shoot this technician exhibiting safety what they didn’t tell me was you had to crawl through the structure to get to the other side, now i don’t particularly like heights , even less when I’ve just got over Kidney stones and am taking powerful pain pills, didn’t really think of the implications. As we started to crawl thought the inside of what is basically a tin can in direct heat from the noon day sun I start to loose consciousness, now I 6’2″ and 200 lbs I quickly figure that if I pass out here I’m dead , the technician couldn’t possibly carry me out side and the only way in and out was through a small hatch, I had to keep going at all costs, so it’s 120 out side and god knows what inside 200 degrees I would not have surprised me . So I get to the other end and get to the hatch ,a blast of 120 degree air feels great and cooling ! I stick my head out and click away as quick as I can , get the shot, actually many great shots surprisingly , and make my way back to the other end ,out through the hatch, down a wobely ladder and in to the air conditioned mall.
Got to say a close call there not one I intend to repeat anytime soon.
Ok so you could be fooled to ! If you come to Las Vegas you need to visit down town, here you’ll find some great hotels like Golden Nugget , Four Queens, Binions , ‘D’ and others , it’s changing every day as there is ca bit of a revival going on, Fremont Street has been Closed to traffic for years now, and has an amazing canopy which is like a huge screen tv, and a great sound system to boot ! Fremont Street has also become a great location for movies and commercials to be shot, but sadly it also attracts a lot of undesirables who dress up in costumes and demand money for a picture, but in the mix are some really great look a-likes, professionals if you like, with a smattering of Show girls to , you can tell the really good ones, they put on a show and just have the finesse you’d expect in any other location.
About a year ago I spent some time down town and shot the more interesting characters, and was taken a-back by Ozzy Osbourne ,and his wife Sharron, as it would not be unrealistic to run in to that couple in Las Vegas , perhaps not on Fremont Street but still not totally unlikely , just for a moment I was taken in, just for a split second a real ‘gotcha ‘ moment .
As I spent more time here I also noticed the rather bad behavior of some characters , I watched Sponge Bob Squarepants get arrested , a few fights between Mickey and Mini Mouse, but also the rudeness to the more professional actors there, seriously I could not do this for a living, but a living you can make, one actor there I watched as she and her partner made $200.00 an hour each .
My photographic efforts were displayed at the Golden Nugget for a week or two to critical acclaim that was nice but no $200.00 and hour !
Photographers in Las Vegas : Convention | Warning |
March 5th 2013
As a Las Vegas Photographer we know that in the last couple of years we’ve seen an explosion of ‘Photographers’ and I think that you , the client deserve to get the very best service and quality, I doubt you or any one else would disagree with that .
Well as a cautionary tale I thought I would share a few of my experiences with other photographers in Las Vegas . We have some very qualified and talented photographers here in the valley , but as the DLSR has grown more popular now most people can take a decent picture under ‘normal’ conditions and that’s true but the word ‘normal’ is key here.
Today I witnessed a young man with a fairly decent camera but a lens bound up with gaffers tape attempt to shoot a large convention with out adequate light and from distances that will no-doubt result in fuzzy orange pictures that will be useless to the client. As with most thing you get what you pay for, I know this chap was an emergency hire and perhaps he got in over his head , I’d say that’s a given, but even so a basic knowledge of the principles of photography you would know better, and he had no back up gear, that it’s self is way too common. This event would not be so surprising if it were not for the fact he was the third photographer the client hired leading me to believe that this must be rampant in the convention photograph business. We here at Costellophoto have what I now realize extremely high standards, our photographers are trained and educated to deal with the ‘what if ‘ situation, back up gear is mandatory as is the knowledge of how to shoot in any situation, and it is true to say the Convention /Trade show industry is more complex that you might think with differing light sources, to complete changes in plan from minute to minute, as a trained news photographer I am now (after over ten years ! ) realizing the complexity and skill level we as a true professional Convention photographer possess.
One other instance I witnessed a few years ago now as I called on to along with several other photographers to photograph celebrities doing what we call a grip and grin , this one photographer hands his camera to the client and asks him to take a picture for his own collection , my jaw dropped and I was stunned. You could put that down to inexperience or just exuberance for the ‘star’ but that is probably the #1 rule broken, right up there with asking for an autograph.
So as a cautionary tale , I would say check websites and if it’s mainly weddings or baby pictures I’d say move on, but as you have found our page then you can see clearly our expertise and there will be only good surprises and our photographer wont eat your food, drink your beer or disappear for a smoke break, we even dress for the occasion !
So now you know , next step call Costellophoto 702 459 3121 and visit the rest of our ever changing web site at www.Costellophoto.com
By Costellophoto Las Vegas
Points for Las Vegas Photo Events
Las Vegas Green Screen Photographers :
A convincing argument ; )
and some odd offers !
2012 Holiday season is upon us, parties and and office gatherings the inevitable photos will be trotted out for embarrassing moments of indiscretion and awards given for best dressed , most valuable, and out standing in their field (someone let them back in it’s cold out there ! ).
Professional Photographer wanted in Las Vegas …to be a Judge !
A new Year started with a new look for Las Vegas Photographer Costellophoto
By Costellophoto
Las Vagas Photographer meets Super Heroes
What a remarkable evening in Las Vegas, warm and not too breezy , hell it’s December already, by now it’s usually cold ,blowing and even snow is not to unusual, after navigating Caesars Palace’s parking and walking almost a 1/4 mile or most my assistant Katie and I arrive to a small room decorated with Superman, Wonder Woman , and various other super heroes stuck on the walls, I am told this is decoration from our clients office, my assistant Katie immediately likes this crowd !
So even though the location is a little small we get to work and have our Green Screen set up, and soon enough our Talent show up, and I must say they looked the part and acted accordingly.
Las Vegas Photographers green screen super hero taking care of rowdy client
Add the Alcohol to the mix and a great time was had by all even rowdy elements as shown here were taken cared of !
This is a great example of just how popular Green Screen photography by Las Vegas Photographer Costellophoto can be .
We’re looking forward to more Corporate parties this holiday season and beyond !
**A selection from our previous blog page.
Photographic History Click Flash Crash in Las Vegas 2008
US Banker Oct 6th 08
If you’re like me, wondering what the hell is going to happen next in relation to the way we all make a living, I have and have various theories but I shall not bore you with them here… I do think that it is imperative that we continue doing business and advertising, here are my reason why: 1. How is any one going to know you’re still around. 2. Consider this a battle ground and you’re the last one standing, who are they (your customers) going to buy from? 3.When the dust settles you need to show off your new line, thus commercial photography is needed. 4.Survival of the fittest, your competition may have disappeared off the face of the earth so now is the time to show your strength and resilience with a new ad campaign. 5. Go to that Expo/ convention in Las Vegas have your Pictures taken by a professional photographer again to show the world you survived! 6.Public Relations is one of the best ways to get the word out that your company or association is reliable and alive, a new brochure with complimentary images showing confidence will increase sales and loyalty. and I’d love nothing better than giving them a piece of my mind, perhaps with the business end of my heaviest tripod, My company Costellophoto has like many taken some pretty hard knocks recently,we could have folded , I don’t know what else I would do but fight and even turn this man-made disaster in to a positive. What we at Costellophoto have done is widen our scope, revamped our image, reinvested at a time when every one else is tightening up, I think that a positive attitude is every thing, I might add that last Monday 6th Oct 08 was probably one of the most desperate days I have ever witnessed, other than feeling hopeless and angry at the bankers and other financial institutions (Some of which were our clients) and I’d love nothing better than giving them a piece of my mind, perhaps with the business end of my heaviest tripod, I just had a vision of my company being the only one left in Las Vegas because we have the determination and imagination to find other avenues in photography. Now this of course won’t happen but do have the feeling that the market place is going to shrink rapidly, and as in banking that’s not a bad thing. “free your spirit of all material things” might be the way to go reluctantly but positively” Also think about donating some time or services, we just spent and evening with a local Cancer charity http://www.fromtheheartcharity.org here in Las Vegas, other than making you realize that there are others who really need help way more than those being “Bailed out” it also gives your company exposure at the local level and make you feel just a little bit better. We hope all of you reading this get energized and maybe not as drastic as on Monday and as the Buddha wrote “free your spirit of all material things” might be the way to go reluctantly but positively.
