Pro4um Group Buy

For Pro4um members this is a special group buy for the new Hybrid Websites.

Are you looking for a Flash website?

Are you looking for a HTML website?

Are you looking for a Blog?

Then look no further… Photoidentities introduces the worlds first Hybrid Website.

Hybrid01

Hybrid02

Enjoying the new site

I wanted to say how much I’m enjoying the new site. I can truly see the photos at their best. In the past, my images on the site just look flat and dull, now I can see them come to life on the screen. I’m seeing how that I’ll have to be a lot more discriminative about my photos and look for the best ones to post.

I think your site software will redefine how I shoot, and what images I’ll want to show on the site. You’ve been what I’ve been looking for for a couple of years. I also love the ease of use of the control panel, quite a time saver over my old site creation ability.

Michael Allen, Michael Allen Photography

Interview with Mary Steinbacher

This month’s featured photographer is Mary Steinbacher, Pennsylvania-based wedding photojournalist.

Mary’s website

Q. What did you want to be when you grew up?

A. Growing up I loved art, loved to draw and paint and I remember watching light and shadows. I also remember being a serious 12 year old with my dad’s instamatic or my brother’s 35mm camera. I would walk long distances for sunset, take one frame and return home. Mostly what I wanted to be was free and happy – here I am a happy freelance photographer.

Q. Where did you grow up?

A. I was born and raised in beautiful north central Pennsylvania and continued to grow up and evolve over the next 25 years in California and Wyoming. I find I’m still growing, still evolving.

Q. Your favorite subject to photograph?

A. My favorite subject is one of balance. Finding the balance between my desire to capture people participating in life, simply doing the things they do, and the need for the quiet balance of nature, landscapes and cityscapes where I seek light, shadows and forms. The two assist each other in the creative process – photographing nature, understanding light and shadow makes a shoot with people more dimensional. It’s about the people involved, about the moment but also about factors of light and their environment. I find with balance the whole is implemented together naturally.

Q. What camera/s do you shoot with?

A. All Canon bodies - Canon 5D, 40D and 30D. Lenses - 70-200mm 2.8 IS; 24-70 2.8; 50mm 1.4; 28-135mm 3.5-5.6 IS and a 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS and 580EX speedlights. Recently I’ve started replacing all the UV filters with Rodenstock HR Digital filters.

Q. Your most awkward photography moment?

A. I worked at a daily newspaper in Wyoming and was shooting a cattle drive through the mountains. Piled with cameras I was riding in an old pickup truck that towed a trailer of horses, one was for me to ride and shoot. We were ten or more miles from the ranch house and (and my vehicle) when the rancher, noting that was on the thin side asked, “Are you one of those damn vegetarians?” Without considering the long walk back over the ranch I answered “Yes!” Awkward is not a strong enough a word to express the feel of chill as we bumped down the road. In the end this weathered old rancher simply said he didn’t blame me for not eating “store bought” beef, “too many chemicals,” he then asked me to try his grass fed beef. I couldn’t say no and found it amazingly delicious.

Q. The hardest part of your job.

A. Certainly the hardest part of the job is now sitting at my desk, at computers, editing images on a sunny and perfect day when I would rather be out shooting, running, kayaking or biking. I still fit in the shoots and exercise but all would be lengthier if not for the time needed at the computer.

Q. The easiest part of your job?

A. Shooting is the easiest part of the job, being in the moment, seeking images, watching light, watching a day unfold and creating memories. Another great part of the job is working with assistants and second shooters, watching them grow in depth as photographers, experiencing and viewing how they see and what they create.

Q. Your favorite movie of all time?

A. Actually I’m not a huge movie buff and have probably seen fewer films than most people. But did love the movie A Walk in the Clouds, Chocolat, The Red Violin and A Thin Red Line (terribly disturbing but a deep story with amazing light and videography).

Q. Your favorite meal?

A. A favorite meal would depend on where I am – at home it would be pasta, I love to cook and Italian is often the theme. In Chicago it would be sushi or French at La Sardine; in New York it would be Italian, Babbo is perfection; in Napa Valley it would be everything starting with a long lunch at Bouchon. Jackson Hole would be a bagel at Pearl Street Bagels. To choose one quick meal I suppose it would be walnuts and a fresh apple.

Q. Who do you most admire? Why?

A. There is a long list of those I admire – Julie Child for her perfection in the art of cooking, her sense of humor and her openness to the world; the philosopher Dr. George Sheehan who wrote Personal Best on running and the mind of the inner runner; and the Vietnamese Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh for his guidance towards love, kindness, compassion and generosity.

In photography the man most admired is Henri Cartier Bresson for his dedication to the art of being present, awareness and capturing life in the moment. To quote Bresson, “The picture-story involves a joint operation of the brain, the eye and the heart. …the world is movement, and you cannot be stationary in your attitude towards something that is moving”

Q. What will you be doing 5 years from now?

A. Five years from now I would like to continue to be free and happy. In photography I would like to also be creating books.