“Uniformity Stretched Green”

“Yellow Hell”

“Don’t Step On The Foam”

“Fire Sky”

“Flower Hole”

See the guy on the right? That’s Sam. On the left is his beautiful fiance Jeannie. …and of course, that’s me in the center standing behind the lens.

Sam is my website designer. More importantly, he has been my dear friend since day one at Rutgers University (fourteen years ago). He’s the person who I will forever credit for making me an exponentially better photographer. Let the record show that: in just one conversation he gave me the critique I needed to shift gears from being an enthusiastic hobbyist to becoming a professional photographer.

Amongst other lessons, Sam taught me to: get it right the first time (so as to reduce labor/time on editing), don’t blow out the colors, implement rule of thirds, shoot in manual and RAW/jpg, carry tons of batteries, have a backup camera, create a workspace/work flow, don’t over saturate, etc.

This in turn inspired the purchase and thorough reading of a couple of dozen books on photography and the maintenance of standards I once thought were unachievable.

Sam, I’ve told you this over the phone, by email, and in person.

I now had to testify in public. : )

Love, me.

p.s.  I’m more than happy to forward Sam’s contact information for anyone who needs a website designed.

15% off all sittings and…

15% off prints, cds, downloads, Facebook packages, etc.

Call, text, or email: 720.207.8313, ric@behindthelens.net

So we had an amazing photo session and now you’re trying to decide what kinda prints you want. Prints for your wall, portfolio, picture frame, photo album, to share with friends, family, tease your lover(s), etc.

K, there’s mainly four choices: glossy, matte, lustre, or metallic finishes.

Here’s how each breaks down:

Glossy
Probably the most popular style there is. The name says it all: it’s shiny and has a glossy surface.
The cool parts about glossy: the colors are really vibrant and well saturated.
The down sides to glossy: the larger the print size, the more likely you are to see glare from the glossiness. It’s also easy to notice fingerprints on them.

I recommend a glossy finish for smaller, color prints sized: 4″ x 6″ and 5″ x 7″. At this size they’re perfect for albums and smaller picture frames.

Matte
Probably the second most popular finish there is.

The cool parts about matte: matte prints are known for being fingerprint resistant and are perfect for presenting softer colors (including black & white). A matte finish is great for avoiding glare when you hang larger prints (sized 8″ x 10″ and larger) on a wall.
The down side to matte: a matte finish does not have the vibrant color saturation of glossy prints.

note: If you’re sticking mostly with smaller prints the matte vs. glossy decision is mostly a matter of preference.

Lustre
Lustre is the best of both worlds. It combines the vibrant color saturation of a glossy print with the fingerprint and glare resistance of a matte print.

It’s hard to go wrong with lustre at any size. This is the best finish for 16″ x 20″ prints.

Metallic
Metallic prints have a glossy finish and are great for vibrant, colorful, crisp images. The sharpness of a metallic finish presents details really well and brings out the visual depth of an image. These are ideal for vibrant, high-contrast images.

There’s a trazillion ways to get in touch and keep in touch these days…

Email: ric@behindthelens.net
Phone/text (yep, still a big fan of phones): 720.207.8313
Website: http://www.behindthelens.net
Gallery: http://gallery.behindthelens.net
(for prints, downloads, and a ton of other merchandise).
Blog: http://blog.behindthelens.net
Facebook: Behind the Lens Productions
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ricurrutia

Wuttup…welcome to the music section of my photo blog. Music is my other artistic passion so I plan on photographing musicians A LOT.

That being said, if you like Reggae and live in the Denver area, I would check out Mono Verde’s CD Release party this weekend. This show is gonna be hot and I’ll be there, camera in hand.

Rafa, Mono Verde.  Photo: Ric Urrutia

They’ll will be playing with another one of my favorite bands: Quilombo. These cats mix up the reggae and the cumbia and also get the crowd CRUNK.  Onda and Huerfano will also be there.  I’ll be seeing them for the first time.

Ysmael, Quilombo.  Photo: Ric Urrutia

Chances are I’ll be blogging about these cats a lot. This is Debajo del Agua, the band for which I play bass. Standing L-R: Fafo, Dascrybe, Zay, Dov, Rogelio. Squatting L-R: Pablo, Pepe, me.

Me, Ric Urrutia.  Photo: Drew York

Our band is composed of musicians from Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, El Salvador, and France. We mix hip hop, Andean, Bossa, Cumbia, Reggae, Cuban Son, Funk, and other types of music and layer some bad ass revolutionary lyrics on top.

Chances are Debajo del Agua won’t be around after August. Sucks. Really sucks. I’ll leave that for Sunday’s blog though.