Storage HDR Background – Shirk Photography

You can purchase this background here….
Denny Mfg.: Printed Backdrop or Digital Background Download
Peter Talke Photography WebSite (Just added!): Storage HDR

If you are a photographer shooting in studio and have photographed a session with a backdrop….Denny Mfg. is the largest backdrop company in the world! Recently I received a copy of Denny Mfg. exclusive DVD of Ben Shirk Photography. In this one hour DVD Ben brings you into his studio and uses many Denny Mfg. backdrops and roll up floors! Great video! (See info below to get your copy for free!)

While watching the DVD I noticed one of the backdrops Ben used was my Storage HDR Background. Very cool! His session was fantastic! Shirk Photography is his web site…check it out….he is one awesome photog!! Inspiring indeed!! He even has some cool templates for photographers. You can find his blog here as well… Shirk Photography Blog.

Ben was kind enough to send me a few of his photos from his session with the Storage HDR Printed background. Check out these cool pics!!!

Amazing work Ben!! Thanks so much for sharing!

Here is a photo capture I took from the DVD…sorry quality is low

To get a copy of this excellent DVD…here is the info…

Denny Mfg. – HDR Backgrounds (New release!)

Happy Friday everyone! Denny Mfg. just updated their website and added 38 of my new HDR backgrounds to their website!

Denny Mfg. – HDR Backgrounds (Digital Download or Printed Backdrop)

Thanks for taking a look!!

Selfie Photo

Did this shot yesterday for advertising. Kudos to all the selfie takers!! Took about 20 photos before I got this one. =)

Lacrosse HDR Composite

Here is the amazing Abby looking tough and ready to dominate Lacrosse! This is an HDR Composite. Shot in studio with a 3 light set up, white backdrop and one of my new up and coming HDR backgrounds…processed in Photoshop. I have an article on shooting HDR Composites in HDR One Magazine and the March issue of Inspire! I will put both links up as soon as Inspire Magazine comes out soon! If you are into this style of photography…you can find my backgrounds for sale here….

1) Denny Mfg. Website
2) Peter Talke Photography Website

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions!

And for those Flickr members…I started up a group for HDR Composite artists…
Flickr: HDR Composite Group

HDR Backgrounds now on sale at Denny Mfg.!!! (for Composites)

Yesterday my HDR backgrounds for composites went on sale at Denny Mfg.!

For those photographers that are into portraits, you now can order one or more of my HDR’s as a digital download or a backdrop from Denny Mfg.
1) Digital Download – drop your subject into the HDR background using photoshop (Composite)
2) Backdrop – purchase this option and get an HDR printed backdrop and photograph your subject using the traditional method in your studio

Click here to get to the Denny Mfg. website!

Denny Mfg. is the world’s largest manufacturer of photography backdrops. Along with my HDR backdrops, Denny Mfg. offers the following:
* Photography Backdrops
* Studio Props and Accessories
* Photo Studio Equipment
* Photography Studio Sets

If you ever have any questions on the HDR backgrounds, please feel free to contact me at any time! I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for checking it out!!

Anaheim, California – The Rinks (HDR)

I have been working on my HDR backgrounds and found a super cool spot near where I live….it is called The Rinks. I went to scout it one day after seeing picture online and walked in and loved the wood roof!!! Perfect for HDR. I went back one morning at 4:30 AM and shot it before an Ice Dancers practice. Yes, the Ice Dancers had practice at 4:30 AM….now that is commitment!! The shot above was from the center of the rink…fisheye style!! (Sorry not Gangham Style) The curve of the roof in fisheye was cool!! I always like any sports arena in fisheye!

I just posted an HDR Composite using the upcoming release of the standard HDR from here…this shot is of Ana from the Lady Ducks. Ana was amazing posing for this shot! Thanks Ana!!

As for my HDR Backgrounds…for those that may not know…I have been selling my HDR’s as digital downloads on my site Talke Photography for a few months now. These can be used for portrait backgrounds. Also very soon Denny Mfg. will be selling my HDR backgrounds as well!! The backgrounds at Denny Mfg. can be digitally downloaded or made into a backdrop! Since not all the backgrounds can be made into backdrops, the balance of my HDR’s will be sold on my site! Both locations have exclusive HDR backgrounds.

Where to buy Peter Talke Photography HDR Backgrounds –
1. Talke Photography – digital download only
2. Denny Mfg. – digital download and option to buy as a backdrop (Coming soon)

As soon as they are released as Denny Mfg…I will let you know. Should be within the next week or so! This is what the web page will look like…

Hopefully it is not too confusing. My HDR Backgrounds are for sale right now on Talke Photography!!! I’ll put one more write up again when they are released at Denny Mfg.!!! Thanks!

Baseball HDR Composite

This is my recent HDR Composite. Trenton from the Lake Travis baseball team did a great job! His catcher gear for a shot like this rocks! I truly love these HDR Composites….it is becoming a favorite of mine. I thought of mass producing them, but it does take time in processing. As I type this post up…I’ll breakdown the composite and give you the equipment I have…it will be interesting to see how much it costs. This will be the first time I calculated it! Now I do not have the big time equipment as a studio or Joel Grimes. I am shooting this in a spare bedroom in my house. OK…here goes (for those that are curious)

Session time – 25 minutes (10 different poses)
Processing time – 90 minutes
Tips: The light rays are tough to handle with a mouse. I use the Wacom Intuos 5. The pen tool rocks! Cost: $349.00

Gear:
Nikon SB-700: $329.00
Lastolite Ezybox 24″: $194.00
EzyBbox Grids: $95.00
Monfrotto Stand: $70.00
Total: $688.00
(There are two of all the items above…i have grids on both sides of the subject)
Total: 2 x $688.00 = $1376.00

Beauty Dish: Lumodi 14″ – $65.00
Manfrotto Boom Stand: $150.00
Nikon SB-910: $546.00
Total: $761.00

Background: 8×10 white Freedom Cloth from Dennys Mfg. $110.00
Backdrop Stand: From Denny’s Mfg $225.00
Total: $335.00

Not including the camera. Totals are: $349.00 + $1376.00 + $761.00 + $335.00 = Grand Total $2821.00

Hope you enjoyed the rundown. I’d call this the advanced low budget set up. It works great! Now with this set up…it is more for upper body composites. For full body shots I would need bigger (longer) soft boxes. That will come in time as well. Enjoy your weekend!

Infrared Portrait

One area I am eager to grow my experience in is Infrared Portraits. The shot above was one of my first serious attempts. Doa is stunning and was wonderful to work with this day! Her dark hair lead to fun colors in infrared! Whats cool is that she now has her own blog called Doa Blue! Doa feel free to use this pic…due to its blue tone! =) You can find her blog here…Doa Blue. Good luck in your modeling career!!

Perfect Photo Suite 6 has arrived!!!

My copy of Perfect Photo Suite 6 just arrived!! Download a trial for free or buy/upgrade a copy today!! Will give you a full review in a week!! It contains:
Perfect Portrait 1 – used it last nite….awesome!!!
Perfect Layers 2
Perfect Effect 3
Perfect Mask 5
Perfect Resize 7
Focal Point 2
Photo Frame 4

HDR Composite

HDR’ing is now a favorite of many photographers…me included! I love also taking portraits and with the growing popularity of compositing…the two combined is awesome!! Now the tough part is to get it to work. I unfortunately do not have tons of time on my hands but gave this a try recently. My processing is trial and error. I am not a Photoshop Guy like Scott Kelby or Matt Kloskowski, but can do some above basic photoshop work.

I had seen some HDR Composites from the amazing Joel Grimes in the past and his work blew me away like the first time I saw an HDR. Compositing was omething I always wanted to attempt! Then recently, Matt Kloskowski released my favorite book of all time… “Photoshop Compositing Secrets“. Matt’s book is not only inspirational, but detailed and teaches you everything! Thanks Matt!!! You rock!

Now with my Photoshop skill limitations, above you will see my second attempt ever that combines a std photo and an HDR…an HDR Composite! Not perfect, but maybe with more practice and knowledge, I can get better. I asked my FB fans yesterday how to improve the shot from one version I posted online. Based upon their comments, I have since made slight changes and now the finished product is above. Here you can see what I used to get the final picture…

Wall: Bracket “0” of the 7 exposures used to create the HDR…

Wall HDR’d: 7 Exposures, HDR Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro & then Topaz Adjust…cranked Saturation up a bit as well…

Model Shot: Taken with 2 Westcott Shoot-thru Umbrellas, 2 SB-700’s, Pocket Wizard’s…same location as the HDR, but shot different days!

Diagram for Model Shot…

Now I am far from an expert…but hopefully my second attempt looks good enough? I truly love all the options photography has to offer! Challenges make our ability grow!! The model is the lovely Roshni…she was great!! Thanks Roshni!!