Ryan Phillips Blog

Yes, you read correctly, this is my last blog post! I always thought I would stop blogging one day and it would be some great post with some mind blowing image and pearls of wisdom but at alas it is not. In today’s Social Media driven world I feel that Facebook is a far more effective tool than blogging so to that end I will be updating my Facebook page more regularly. You can follow me at www.facebook/ryanphillipsphotography. I will post more often and you can follow me through my world if you like. From shooting celebrities, to weddings, to commercial shoots I will try my hardest to take you along on the journey and give you something interesting. Please feel free to look at the blog for inspiration (if you are a photographer) and (if you are a potential client) to see more of my work and learn about my approach to shooting. It’s been an amazing 5 years of blogging and thanks to all the people who stuck around and read. I may be back at it one day but for now my focus will be on WeddingPhotography411.com and of course RyanPhillips.com where you can see all my wedding work.

Other places on the web to find me…

If you haven’t checked out WeddingPhotography411.com it is a site for Brides and Grooms to learn about the ins and outs of wedding photography. Check it out and pass it on. If you have specific questions you would love answered, please email us.

www.PurePhoto.com is an amazing place to buy images for your home from artists from across the globe at affordable prices. Skip ZGallerie, Pottery Barn and West Elm and go for authentic original art!

Also stay tuned for our commercial division…rolling out in a few months…..

So there has been a lot of press lately about the Gretzky card vs the Kardashian card so I thought I would lay it all to rest. For starters the Toronto Star report is accurate for the most part. The photo was not some “leaked photo” Paulina was simply sharing her family photo with friends and followers. They are all very close and despite her “bad-girl” persona, she is very down to earth and very close with her family. People love to create a scandal out of nothing.

So here is the real photo / the photo as it is manipulated for the holiday card ( i.e the snow) / the gate-fold cover of the dog / and the alternate shot that we didn’t use. Almost every shot I took has the family laughing and smiling and having a good time however the concept of the card was to have their dog Louie on the front and open to a Burberry Ad-esque (moody) shot of the family with snow. It was meant for a close friends and family and the obvious A-List celebs that they are associated with. It does not go out to that many people and wasn’t meant for public consumption. Every year we do a different concept and have a lot of fun with it. Shoots like these are fairly common in L.A. although this was a full commercial production in order to pull off the concept.

For you Photo Geeks out there, it was shot with a Canon Mark 1D and a 50mm 1.2. The front side is lit with a 43 inch Mola Dish on a Profoto D4 pack. The top light is a 1×3 Profoto strip light with crates attached to another Profoto D4 pack. The alternate shot was lit with 2 heads with stock 7 inch reflectors on them but we added tough spun to the front to soften it up. I shot across the pool but had I had more “ground” to work with would have added the 43 inch Mola to the front side for fill. There were a few other lights behind the couches to light up the background.

A big thanks to my close friend Mike Hedden for helping me pull it all off! 

The Final Image

The Final Image for The Card

The Alternate Image That Wasn’t Used

Louie – The Best Dog I have Ever Photographed, Even Their Dog Knows How To Work It!

Paulina

Trevor

Sadly we just realized that our contact form was sending emails to a software that we discontinued using. If you have tried to contact us recently and have not heard back from us, please try again. We usually respond within 24 hours and are sorry if we missed anyone. It’s all fixed now!

We just got another feature in the LA Times! Read the full story here…

Welcome to my new blog! I have been hard at work launching a new blog and new site over the past few days. There’s bound to be a few bugs but I may not catch them all so let me know if you find something.

The most important thing to note is that any posts older thatn about 2 weeks will not have a main image. Just open the post and you can read and see everything. I will work to get the main post images up as soon as possible but it’s gonna take a while to do 2 years worth of posts

Big thanks to the crew over at Into The Darkroom for designing killer templates. I’d especially like to thank David Wolf  for putting it all together on the admin side!

Stay tuned for more…

On November 17th my friend Robert Evans and I will be presenting a Live Webinar hosted by the ultimate wedding blog; Style Me Pretty. We have worked hard with SMP owner Abby to deliver all the information you have been asking for related to your wedding Photography.

Here are a few of the topics we will be covering and a link to sign up now. The spots are limited so sign up quickly!

• How to look your best in all your shots!
• How to determine your wedding photography budget.
• Discuss typical packages and show you what you should be getting for your money.
• What photographers are really showing you in their portfolio and whether your photographer has the experience to shoot at the level you want.
• The importance of having a photography timeline and how to sync it with your wedding planner’s general timeline.
• The importance of seeing your photographer before the wedding.
• How to avoid the headache of wrangling family for pictures.
• Details are what get your wedding published! We’ll show you how to get the most out of your detail shots – and yes, it means planning time to shoot them.

Click here to sign up now and learn more about the webinar which will be on November 17th with times at 7pm and 10pm Eastern Standard TIme

This is such a great quote and check out this shoot. Simply amazing! This was shot one year before I started assisting him. I didn’t know him that well but this seems so out of character for him. A great departure! He was one of the nicest photographers I ever worked for. One more thing…this was all shot Large Format with zero effects! The degree of difficulty to shoot this with only styling and lighting on an 8×10 Film Camera is insane. In addition, if I remember correctly, everything was Speedotron…not the most consistent light source…especially back in 95′!

“And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.”

Richard Avedon – 1970

Click Here to see the whole shoot:

I’d like to thank everyone who helped bring our next PurePhoto project to fruition! Over the course of the past few months we have built and launched PurePhoto Collections the premier site for buying and selling photography on the web. We have worked to bring you some of the top emerging and established artists from all over the world. We have hundreds already in our collection and will be uploading hundreds more over the next few weeks. We also have a general Members Gallery where you can also submit your art. Ever wondered if your work will sell? Here is your chance to find out!

Whether you are an established artist or just getting started, If you are interested in submitting please click here.

Press Release:

PUREPHOTO ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF PUREPHOTO COLLECTIONS™

The Premier Site For Purchasing Affordable Art
From World Renowned To Emerging Photographers

Westlake Village, CA – July 7th, 2010 – PurePhoto, the photography network that helps people perfect and publish their images, today announced the launch of PurePhoto Collections™ (purephotocollections.com), the premier site for purchasing selected works from industry-leading to emerging artists from around the globe.

In addition to using PurePhoto to learn, organize, share and print, photographers can now sell their work using the platform. Members submit images for review by a selection committee and, if chosen, are sold as either Fine Art, Limited Editions, or in Member Galleries. Prices range from $20 – $5,000 depending on the significance of the art, the number of editions, and the size of the print. Proceeds of the sale are split between the artist and PurePhoto. There are already hundreds of images for sale with more being added every week.

“Many photographers currently sell their art on their portfolio site, in galleries or through massive stock houses, which makes it challenging for buyers to discover new high-quality work,” said John Ellis, CEO of PurePhoto. “PurePhoto brings a new audience to photographers and makes it easy for buyers to find amazing and affordable art from around the world.”

“I represent some of the top artists in Spain,” said art dealer and PhotoGallery20 owner Javier Gimeno, “PurePhoto is enabling me to expose the U.S. market to the great works of Spanish photographers and even discover other potential artists I may want to represent.”

Photographers wishing to learn more or submit work for consideration may do so at purephoto.com/sell or by joining PurePhoto at purephoto.com/join.

About PurePhoto
PurePhoto is the premier network for perfecting and publishing images. It helps anyone with a camera create, share, buy and sell great images.  Photographers can improve their skills through educational content, backup their photos and videos online via a proprietary web application, access professional lab services, and syndicate their portfolio to social and commercial distribution channels. PurePhoto offers Basic free accounts as well as Premium annual memberships with expanded services. Please visit www.purephoto.com for more information.

Another amazing behind the scenes video following JoeyL through the jungle to photograph the Mentawai…

embedded by Embedded Video

vimeo Direkt

Westlake Village, CA – June 8th, 2010 – PurePhoto, Inc. (“PurePhoto”) and PhotographyMentor.com, LLC (“PhotographyMentor”), today announced that PurePhoto has agreed to acquire all of the assets of PhotographyMentor, the Los Angeles, CA-based online photography education and social networking platform.

Founded in 2008 by celebrity photographer Robert Evans and award-winning film and television producer Curt Apanovich, PhotographyMentor was the first website to offer premium subscription-based educational content to aspiring professional photographers.

“Over the last two years, PhotographyMentor was instrumental in helping thousands of photographers improve their skills by learning from other pros in the industry,” said Robert Evans. “We look forward to taking our original vision even farther by joining forces with PurePhoto.”

“Great photography starts with a strong educational foundation and we’re excited to make all this rich content available to our Premium members,” said John Ellis, CEO of PurePhoto. “We are also looking forward to growing our team of amazing industry leaders who will further promote our services and help even more people perfect and publish their images.”

PhotographyMentor subscribers and content will be transitioned to the PurePhoto platform. All PhotographyMentor Playground accounts will receive enhanced Basic accounts on PurePhoto. School memberships set to expire this year will receive PurePhoto Premium memberships and an extension through the end of 2010. Robert Evans, Curt Apanovich and other key team members will continue to develop educational content and promote PurePhoto.

About PhotographyMentor

Founded in early 2008 by Robert Evans and Curt Apanovich, PhotographyMentor was the first online education and social networking site exclusively for photographers. It was a way to give back to other aspiring photographers and create a community where photographers could connect with one another. It offers two types of accounts: “Playground” accounts that are free networking accounts and premium “School” accounts that offer exclusive educational content.

About PurePhoto

Started in 2009, PurePhoto is the premier site for perfecting and publishing images. It helps consumers improve their photographic skills through educational content, organize their photos and videos via a proprietary web application, access professional lab services, and syndicate their portfolio to social and commercial distribution channels. PurePhoto offers Basic free accounts as well as Premium annual memberships with expanded services. Please visit www.purephoto.com for more information.