Clients often ask me for recommendations on prosumer (professional + consumer) cameras. The truth is, though I keep myself updated on the latest professional photography technology, I haven’t stayed informed about some of the lower level camera models.

“Their CGI? OMG! The best around! In fact, we just won an ADDY® Award for one of the images they magically developed.”

Jeff Monter
Principal Creative Services, Innis Maggiore

By definition, pre-production is anything that happens before the day of a shoot. And if you do it right, your shoot day should go very smoothly. Pre-production meetings are the meetings where all of your planning is accomplished. They may not be as lengthy as the Papal conclave, but there is a lot of subject matter to cover. They are an imperative part of the entire project so that you can make sure you get everything you need or want out of the images.

For a photographer, the world in which your subject lives is as important as the subject itself. When shooting a product for an advertiser, you must decide how to present the product, and in what type of environment. Where a product is set establishes a mood for the viewer whether on a conscious our subconscious level.

CGI, or computer-generated imagery, is in many cases what a consumer sees when thumbing through a magazine. If done by professionals, like TRG, most people can’t tell the difference between a CGI image and an organic photo.

Chances are you’ve seen composited images hundreds of times without even realizing it. Ever see an image of a squirrel sitting on top of a cereal box? Or a woman in front of the Eiffel Tower sipping tea?  It’s likely that a photographer was not so fortunate to get a squirrel to agree to sit in just the right position atop the box. It’s also likely that there wasn’t the budget available to actually shoot in Paris. These are the types of situation where compositing a photo makes perfect sense.

Determining what an actor or model costs is about as simple as advanced trigonometry. There are many variables that must be factored in before setting a rate. Typically you’ll be working with an agent who represents the talent, and you’ll have to provide that agent with a lot of information before you can even start. Plus, many actors, actresses, and models are SAG or AFTRA members which means you’ll pay even more in order to cover the union dues. Also, you’ll want to remember that most agents add 10% on top of an actor’s fees. In fact, Variety magazine has dubbed agents with the nickname “10 Percenters.”

According to research by Samsung, more than 2.5 billion people own digital cameras. And I’ll bet if you ask them, 2.49 billion of those people will claim to be great photographers. 

TRG Reality has been specializing in CGI for over eight years. What separates us from the competition is that we have a nearly 30-year reputation of photographing and lighting some of the most difficult photography subjects from shiny metal and textured surfaces to glass.