Matthew Baltrusitis

The Protect IP Act, Clarified

Matthew — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:36:10 +0000

We all use the Internet everyday but not all of us understand exactly how it works. Of all the things that I have read on the internet about PIPA, this video has best explained what it is large corporations are trying to do and what the consequences of this bill are if it were to pass. Take a few minutes to watch and don’t let large corps. take advantage of our ignorance.

Act and sign a petition below

Who likes great portraits?

Matthew — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:42:45 +0000

How about great free portraits? Well if you do then you are in luck! I will be giving away 12 free portraiture sessions. Thats right. A portrait session on the house. Free ninety nine. Nada. Zip.

How do you get in on this goodness? Two simple things.

All you have to do is Subscribe to my newsletter and “Like” matthewbaltrusitis.com on Facebook. If you have already have, consider yourself already entered into not only this but, all future contests. Its that easy.

Prizes:
Winners will be selected at random and sessions will be given on a first come, first serve basis. All winners will be awarded with a one-hour portraiture session and an 8×10 print of the photo of my choosing, which will also be featured on my website.

Rules:
Eligibility for a free portraiture session is dependent upon the applicant’s location being between NYC and Montauk, New York.

Any questions can be posted in the comments below!

2011′s Project 365

Matthew — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:07:04 +0000

I have made attempts in the past to do a project 365 and have failed. Things have changed though, with a different role at work and only going to school once a week I finally have the time I want to put into a quality 365. Each update will not have its own blog post rather, it will be posted right here. Below is a slideshow of my entire Project 365. To skip the slideshow and just view the thumbnails click here.

School, Fishing and Help-Portrait

Matthew — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:38:07 +0000

School is winding down to the last few weeks and its been a mad rush to get everything done. A senior dissertation and two other papers are all that really keep me from the finish line and I am pretty stoked to get there and finally be done. As if that has not been enough, I got involved with a few other things as well.

As usual, I try to pick up the camera as often as I can, when and if I find the time. I decided to go down to the Robert Moses beaches one morning just to check things out. I was expecting a desolate parking lot but it was jam-packed with people, even though it was a little overcast that day. When I got to the end of the boardwalk and onto the shore I saw dozens upon dozens of surfcasters dotting the beaches as far as I could see.

Friendliest people ever, seriously.

Not once did someone neglect to say “hi” or jokingly ask me, “So where’s your fishing pole?” eyeing my camera. They were more than happy to have their picture taken and they are some real interesting characters so its definitely worth re-visiting once I find the time.

What has been taking up the majority of my website and “blogging” time is a charity I got involved in called Help-Portrait. Its all about giving the gift of photography to those who otherwise, would never have pictures of themselves or their families. Once a year, these individuals can register at any of the thousands of Help-Portrait events going on around the world and be treated like absolute royalty. Professional make-up, hair and portraiture all donated by professional creatives. Not for getting portfolio work and not for “networking” or anything else but, for the sole purpose of making someone feel special if even for just a few moments.

Its something I find real worthwhile which is why I am hoping to expand the program next year to Long Island. A group of local photographers and myself started a LI Help-Portrait website which will be taking off next year. As for this year though, we have one massive collection of efforts in Queens where this years event will take place.

-Matthew

UPDATED: Sweet Customer Service

Matthew — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:05:12 +0000

I totally dig my Westscott Apollo 28″ softbox, I picked it up on a whim about two months ago from B&H but there was just one thing that always bothered me about it. Besides the fact that you can barely tilt it (which I kind of work around by putting it backwards into the umbrella adapter), only three sides of the diffusion panel would attach to the box itself. Only three sides you say? Aren’t all four supposed to be? Well yes…

I had originally thought that one side was sans velcro so one could reach into the Apollo and make an adjustment via tactile memory to their strobe. Later on I had learned, when I had a shoot with a friend who had the same softbox, I was wrong. Apparently I had received an incomplete Apollo missing a whole strip of velcro so I e-mailed FJ Westcott and they were absolute gems to deal with. After about 2 days of e-mail exchange and a proof of purchase I received an RMA number and I shipped it off to Ohio where one would assume is where there repair/customer service center is located.

What does this have to do with pastry? Well the post office that I frequent (where I shipped the Apollo) is right by the Brightwaters Village Bakery, next to where I used to work, and they make scrumptious chocolate danishes. I could not resist spoiling my lunch so I swung by and picked one up.

Hopefully Westcott will make this a quick turn around because I do not want to be without my favorite modifier. I will update this post when I get it back in hopefully a week or so.

UPDATE – 6/8/10:
I just received the box back and they sent me a brand new one. It took about a week and a half, a little longer than I really would have wanted. The up-side though is that Westcott customer service was easy to find and communicated with me throughout the process. I have been waiting on the Apollo for a bit as I have come up with some ideas and am putting some final touches on my post-processing techniques. You should start seeing some of the results posted up here in the upcoming weeks as I battle to balance my creative needs with school/work/family/etc….but who isn’t these days?

-Matthew

To the Met!

Matthew — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 04:47:02 +0000

Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday to do a scavenger hunt of Egyptian artifacts for Angela’s class. We had a list of about twenty some-odd things we had to find and it certainly tested my knowledge of Ancient Egyptian history. Have not had to use that in awhile. And although I should be able to get myself to the Met blindfolded by now we ended up waaaaay farther uptown than we should have been, must of zoned-out on the subway. But what’s life without its adventures?
One funny thought that came to mind was this was the first “museum experience” that I had since coming home from Egypt. I was mentally preparing myself for a one hundred and twenty degree environment and obnoxious French tourists but, no such experience was had (well maybe just one French tourist). It was a comfortable 70 degrees, I was able to check my coat at the door and no security guards with sub-machine guns were asking for “baksheesh” (means tip in Arabic) because I stepped over some imaginary line. Rather everything was placed neatly behind glass, out of reach, and quickly reprimanded, “Don’t touch!” by the neatly dressed museum volunteers if something was. The floor was carpeted and there lacked that heavy and humid musk, blanketing you from the B.O. of everyone around you. It was a little less organic I guess you could say, lacking a bit of charm. All in all I do love visiting the Met, I do not go as often as I should it really gets me thinking on a whole other level. Definitely made me think of doing another trip to Egypt or Jordan sometime for just a few weeks. Anyone want to join me?
I brought my camera but surprisingly, it did not come out much. I made the mistake of putting everything in my messenger bag, my back suffering the consequences of that misstep. Better bring a backpack next time…
Off to bed now though, work in a few hours.

Ariana – A Joint Effort

Matthew — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:02:47 +0000

One of the greatest ways, I feel to expand your photography skills is to engage yourself with as many other photographers as possible. Whether you shoot similar styles, subjects or having nothing common at all, I feel the greatest things I have learned is just being able to talk about or see another individual’s workflow. The following photos is a culmination of that exact effort and has definitely provided me with another lesson learned.

Heretofore my work has been exclusively with small, off-camer flash with very basic modifiers such as the Westscott double-fold umbrellas and cereal box snoots (credit to David Hobby). I have been using LumoPro LP160s which have proven themselves to be highly reliable and durable; suiting my needs pretty well.
A local professional photographer, Brent Eysler (www.eyslerimaging.com), offered to show me what the next level of on-location lighting looks like. This mainly being Q-flashes and Paul C. Buff’s AlienBees strobes. Being able to play around with the “big lights,” albeit they pale in comparison to the likes of Profoto, has given me a better idea of how studio lighting works. I look forward to developing my own style with them as well as bringing it around again to what I may already know with the rudimentary umbrellas.

The model here, as you may be able to guess from the post title, is Arianna. She does not claim to be a professional but she can certainly step it up in front of the camera. Whether it was shooting right on the water as a chilly wind picked up or posing all-over dirty construction vehicles, she was an awesome sport and all for it. Hopefully you will see here again in some future series.

Brent is a very talented photographer who has really developed his style over the passed year or so and I am looking forward to seeing how his work progresses. To check out his work visit his website.

Fallen off the wagon.

Matthew — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:04:44 +0000

I have not updated here for quite some time, probably right around a year. I confess. Guilty as charged. I guess there is good news though, I am back and maybe even with a vengeance. I will be graduating this fall semester, finally. The light is at the end of the tunnel and like some kind of nocturnal cave monster I am, in a way, dreading “the light” because now I can no longer be “a student.” For sometime before I get myself back into graduate school, this is it, I from here on out will be a self-defining adult.

What am I going to be? Basket weaver? Psycho killer? Tea Party member? Whatever it is, I will be accountable. Oh, and did I mention in debt? Yes, a whole lot of debt. Thank you capitalistic educators! I get to join my senior millennials paying of mortgage sized loan payments in our non-degree careers. Who’s with me?

Keep yourself tuned-in here, while I battle my way through the final weeks of my undergraduate education, GREs, schools tours (thought those were over) and living with my parents until I am 56. I hope to be posting at least once a week just to keep in good habit and possibly more if anything interesting occurs or I have a neat photo assignment from the paper.

On a side note, why are all social networks, the populars ones at least, all blue? Hmm…

Falling

Matthew — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:51:46 +0000

I was having a not so busy day last week and was just fooling around. Let me know what you think!

Click for larger preview.

New Think Tank Retrospective Bags, They Seem To Have Done It Again

Matthew — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:03:56 +0000

On Think Tank’s website they just released their new camera bag line: Retrospective. They are designed to be plane Jane camera bags, “purposefully simple, allowing photographers to inconspicuously blend into their shooting environment. What impresses me the most though is that you can see immediately, the customer input that Think Tank actually takes to heart and implements into their products. Two quick examples from what I can tell from just the photographs: Firstly, there seems to be no visible branding on the bag. A fact that Think Tank is probably happy to acknowledge, is that their company is gaining more and more popularity and is being widely recognized as a camera bag company. Many photographers, myself included, never like letting any prying eyes know what goods are in the bag and a complete lack of branding on a camera-specific bag is a great idea. Thanks for that TT. Secondly, the padding on the strap for the messenger bag looks as though it is not fixed in position like on the Urban Disguise series. Movable padding on bag straps was widely requested and again, Think Tank delivered. I am mostly excited for the Retrospective 20, which is the taller of the 20 and 30 which is supposed to fit a 70-200 f/2.8 lens fixed to your camera. Hit the link for more pictures: ThinkTankPhoto.com

The Retrospective 30 is the largest bag in the series.