Natural Light Portraits, 5 Cool Things, and Liberace!

It's Finally Friday... and we have some cool stuff for the weekend.

Friday fun.

40 years ago I did a series of models in my old bomber jacket. Photo by Don Giannatti. Model: Katherine Razo.

Hot as hades in Arizona these days.

In today’s dispatch, there are five cool things for photographers and some boogie woogie that will get you up and moving. For the Premium Members, there is P52 Legacy Assignment Eleven, a natural light portrait assignment, as well as a free download of a legacy lighting book I did about 10 years ago. No matter the age, the information is still real and actionable. Enjoy.

If you are not a Premium Member, consider becoming one and getting more info and some occasional freebies that will delight and inspire you. I promise.

Well, let’s get into it, shall we!

Five Cool Things for Photographers and Visual Creatives:

1. Have you seen this amazing new camera from the Insta 360 folks? Amazing. Insta has been creating some very imaginative and exciting visual tools for a while now. I have the Insta 360 X3, and I noted when purchasing it that it was the first camera I have purchased in 50 years that did something totally different than all the cameras I own. Now I am jonesin’ for one of these.

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2. Apollo.Ai is a tool for finding emails, contact information, and a ton of other data for creating your mail and email lists. It has a free component, so you can get started slowly before you have to upgrade. I use it. It works.

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3. I have been raving about Alex Hormozi’s book, “$100 Million Dollar Offer - Make People an Offer So Good They Would Feel Stupid Saying No,” for a couple of weeks now. Here is a short synopsis of the book. Look - the damn thing is only $2 on Kindle. Buy it. Change your view of your pricing, your sales strategy, and the value of your work. I so recommend it

   

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4. I have been working in Wordpress for so long that it seems like an extension of my mind. I also usually recommend Squarespace since you, as visual creators, need to focus on creating instead of modifying plugins and doing ritualistic updates every eleven hours. This new website-building site (Dunked) has caught my eye. Simple to use, beautiful templates, and a pricing structure that makes it very appealing. No, it doesn’t have all the features of SquareSpace… But do you need them?

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5. Descript is my new buddy. It is one amazing tool for creating videos, walk-throughs, training tools, and tutorials. It is also good at just plain editing and creating motion. The easiest editing you will ever find and includes transitions, audio, multi-track, color grading, and a ton more amazing tools. Check them out here. You will love the inexpensive pricing as well.

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OK, it’s time for Liberace.

You may never see that sentence again.

This tour de force of piano artistry is simply a blast to listen to. The speed and agility of this pianist is on display. He was a celebrity and a showman, but he was also an incredible pianist. Take a listen and see if you can resist the temptation to tap your foot, or dance around the office. (Note: this is suggested only for those working from a home office or in a setting where people already expect you to act strange.)

Thanks for being a reader, folks. I appreciate your support.

Two quick things: I have a few spots open for the Environmental Portraiture Workshop starting on July 20. You can find more info here.

40 years ago this month, I photographed a bunch of my model friends wearing one of my old bomber jackets. I ran across a few prints this week and thought I would share them with you. Ahh… time flies, but beauty remains captured on a thin piece of celluloid. The joy of photography.

40 years ago this month: “The Bomber Jacket Project”. Photos by Don Giannatti

See you all next week.

Premium Members: A look at natural light, and the P52 Legacy Assignment to match.

Also a video on Emotional Portrait Lighting and a free book on lighting to download. So much photo goodness!