Like many others who bought the Canon Digital Rebel (aka 300D), it came with the kit 18-55mm lens. After spending so much on the camera, there was not too much left over for any other additional equipment. So much of my photography early on was using that particular lens. In itself, it is a useful lens as it allowed for wide angle shot as well as close ups with the medium length telephoto (remember on the Rebel all lens factor at 1.6x). So the versatility was a greatly appreciated but I soon outgrew the lens. The problem was that at most apertures, the results tend to be quite soft and the colors always need a boost in the post-shoot processing. It was not just the softness that was bothering me but also that as I was doing indoor photography, the kit lens was just not fast enough; to get the image properly lit I used a flash. Using the bounce flash technique took some of the harshness off but it still made things look a bit unreal. To get the fast apertures with the perquisite sharpness and saturation there is only one real choice and that is using a prime […]

After much deliberation and no small effort, I have renewed my commitment in making this website work in support of my photography.  It has been sort of the poor cousin to my other social media commitments but given the limitations to what I can do in terms of displaying my photographic work and sharing of my thoughts on photography on other websites, a personal website is the still best platform. However,  this website, for now, will be supplementing  my social media sites.  Much of what will be on the website will be available elsewhere and vice versa. This is part of my broad push to make photography more of a professional endeavour and less of a hobby. By no means I will be giving up my day job  as a software developer. I can never see my photography as providing that level of income and security. But my day job does allow me flexibility to pick and choose my photo projects and provide the resources to see them through. Of course, I would like also to see my photography be self supporting taking on paid projects will be something I will be doing more of in the future. Journal posts […]

Keeping with the my new social media push for Brian Leon Photography, I am launching Facebook pages to promote the brand so to speak. Brian Leon Photography: https://www.facebook.com/brianleonphotography Launching the Facebook page serves two purposes. First it separates my personal life from my photography which at times seems to dominate my FB Timeline.  Henceforth, all of the photoshoots that do not feature the family, landscapes or personal events, will not be on my personal page. It should also make many people uncomfortable with photos of models and  belly dancers in their news feed a bit more at ease now looking at my Facebook timeline. At the same time, though, a FB page allows for a better focus on my photography which was mixed up with posts on weather, sports and other personal going ons with my life on personal page. The FB page will just be about my photography. Albums will be cross-posted on occasion to the personal page since there is an issue of whether people will see FB page posts on their feed as Facebook is pushing paid promotion of Pages to ensure higher visibility for your content. Not sure if it is worth it right now but it […]

A few weeks back, I worked as an assistant to a photographer doing a wedding shoot. Let me say that shooting aa wedding is HARD WORK! Needless to say, though, I learn a great deal of the process of shooting a wedding which I hope will be reinforced in the future by assisting other photographers in their wedding shoots. Some of the takeaways from the todays shoot: Having a fast lens of f2.4 or better in your kit is a must. Given the low light situation of most interior spaces, you will be using a flash in most every instance but that means the photos have that flash look of them. A fast lens means a more natural photo; just avoid opening the aperture all of the way out  if you use flash, the light stick is a great tool. The speedlight on a softbox on a monopod will give better area lighting than any speedlight on the camera for many situations You can shoot a wedding solo but having an assistant will make the whole job go much smoother. From holding the light stick, fetching lenses, clearing obstacles, the assistant will allow the photographer to focus on the shoot […]

My shooting philosophy as I tell people is that I take photographs of everything whether it be people, events or locations. But it seems that same philosophy can be extend to how I post my photos. Apparently I post everything I shoot or so it seems. That is something I am seeking to change.

Recently, I had an opportunity to shoot some models as part of a group shoot where one of the themes was the Wedding party. Now undertaking a professional shoot of a wedding is a serious undertaking. For most people it is a once in a lifetime event so the photographer is under a lot of pressure to make sure to get it right and capture all of the significant moments for there is very little opportunity to redo any of those shots. So with this shoot, I step my toe into wedding photography and see what the results will be. Its a start.

Since I bought several years ago my Digital Rebel camera and returned to what is my favorite pastime, photography. What started out as a way to document the life of my new newborn daughter, Madeleine, at the time became something more much meaningful to me. Finally, I has the means to express myself creatively. I started out with the basic camera kit and over time, I added lenses, a flash unit and other accessories in my attempt to improve the quality of my photography. When I walk around town with my camera hanging down my chest, a camera bag slung over my shoulder and a tripod clutched in one hand all the while framing and peering at possible shots, I look very much like someone who wants to get the most out of his photography.

In a recent issue of National Geographic, there was a cover story about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans. What made the story stood out for me was the accompanying photographs by David Burnett. Using a large format SpeedGraphic camera set at a very shallow depth of field, he created pictures that took on a fantastic quality making ordinary scenes of devastation seem surreal like a dream or a nightmare depending on your perspective.