Maloman Photographers » Personal

Year in Review: Best of 2011

Stephan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:04:45 +0000

2011 has been an amazing year for us. I always tell people ”we are only as good as my clients” and this year we have had amazing clients who believed in us and gave us full creative freedom. We have embarked in a new direction with Indian weddings, which we enjoy very much and look forward to shooting many more next year. I think it’s appropriate to send a huge shout out to all my 2011 clients, vendors who love working with us, venues, assistants and associates (you know who you are). Thank you for all your support!

We have big plans for 2012 with our new NYC venture. Lots of travel and destination weddings are on the books and we also working on a total rebranding & expansion of Maloman Photographers. A brand spanking new website and blog and an intensive workshop is in the works.

I’ve never done a “best of” compilation of images so this is my first. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Both Candace and I want to wish you a happy new year and all the best things you can ask for in 2012.

Keep up with us in 2012 socially: Facebook , Twitter/Instagram

Save the boobies

Stephan — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:57:53 +0000

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We have been supporting this organization in the past by walking and raising money. With our extremely busy schedule this October, we can’t participate in the walk, but we still wanted to donate towards this cause. So we came up with a fun twist. Follow Maloman Photographers on Facebook or Twitter and one lucky follower will win a brand spanking new Pink iPod Nano (8GB). For each new follower we will be donating $1 to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at the end of October. So start following us… if not for my work then do it for a good cause.

Follow Maloman on Facebook / Twitter. Make a donation directly to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Street Project: Road Trip USA

Stephan — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:23:21 +0000

You ever watch movies like Thelma & Louise, Into the Wild or Dumb & Dumber and wonder what they all have in common? They all plan a road trip across the USA. I myself always wanted to plan a trip like that (maybe not quite like Dumb & Dumber). Last year we got very close to heading on such a journey but then we ended up booking a great wedding on short notice so we postponed the trip.

A few weeks ago we were planning on heading to Chicago for a wedding but then we changed plans, canceled the flights, packed my luggage, grabbed my girl and doggies and headed out on a good old fashioned road trip from Victoria Park, FL to Lincoln Park, IL. It is something I highly recommend to anyone. There is something so unique about exploring this great country via road trip and not just the flying/airport/hotel kind of way. We explored small town USA, ate at diners on the way, met locals and took a sh*t load of photographs. Check out this video of some guy performing in Nashville, killer version of Johnny Cash “ring of fire”.

Some of the places we visited: Tallahassee, Birmingham, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago (my favorite), Milwaukee, Route 66, Asheville, Carolina mountains & Savannah.

Images taken with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app.

Awarded the Grand Award & two 1st Place Awards at WPPI 2010

Stephan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:51:18 +0000

I remember back when I was a poor foreign student at the Art Institute when I entered and won several print competitions. The winning image would be displayed in the schools hallways for everyone to see. It was so exciting to see my image and my name next to it. Well, last week I was able to do the same, only on a much bigger platform. For wedding & portrait photographers the annual Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention is like the Grammy’s.

We were honored with 2 first place international awards of excellence and THE GRAND AWARD which is awarded to the overall best image in a category. So if this was the Olympics of photographers, I got 2 gold medals in luge and 1 in hockey…for Canada ;)

Because this was the fist time I won at WPPI, I want to dedicate these awards to my parents who paid for my school and made it possible for me to come to this country 17 years ago, my wife Candace who I owe everything I have achieved so far and who pushed me to finally submit some work and most of all I want to thank my clients for being so awesome and giving me the creative freedom which led to award winning images. Without you this would not be possible. Entered 5 award images this year & I will be back next year for sure. I have a feeling this year, I will be doing my best work ever!

P.s. I know I have been tooting my own horn about this a lot on twitter/facebook, can you blame me? EVERYONE MUST KNOW!!

This is the Grand Award winner. Never awarded to an “engagement” image.

By the way, the Maloman Workshop is coming and it will be good stuff. I will be discussing EVERYTHING including what drives me when I capture images like these. Sign up to be notified first about details to my workshop. Thank you to all who subscribed so far.

38 Years of married bliss

Stephan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:35:37 +0000

I wanted to take a moment and wish my parents a wonderful happy anniversary. Not many people these days are married for that long and they are truly showing us all how it’s done. Here are some images from a recent shoot I did with my parents back in December. I love you guys, we’ll see you soon!!

Cool kids shoot film

Stephan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:46:57 +0000

Back when I was studying photography at the Art Institute in 1995 I had many dreams… one of them was to own top notch Hasselblads like the 203 FE. Well my dream came true a few weeks ago when I took all the money I made from my Canon gear blow out sale and invested it in a new Hasselblad system. Why am I going back to film? Because it’s cool…. shooting film for me is like eating chickens from the farmer, where digital is more like McDonald’s nuggets. There is something about shooting film that is so raw, so organic so beautiful that only someone that has shot film can understand, especially the medium format Hasselblad. There are so many shooters in the market place these days, sometimes I feel that everyone is doing the exact same thing. Same poses, same “rad” actions and nothing looks unique anymore. Shooting medium format film will set me apart from the rest with a more unique look that can only be achieved from film. You don’t realize how amazing film is until you shoot digital for years and go back to film. Only then you realize how limited you are and how much time you waste at the computer trying to “fix” or make your digital images look like film instead of being out there shooting.

I have been shooting more film recently and I think I am falling in love with photography again. The way it was meant to be. Now don’t get me wrong, digital is a solid part of my business, however don’t be surprised to see me whip out those babies for some old school awesomeness at my next weddings. I think I am well equipped now with the Nikon/Hasselblad combo.

Without further chit chat, here are my film images. All these images were shot on 120 film (Fuji Pro 400H & Kodak Plus-x) and scanned on a Fuji Frontier scanner at Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles. I also insisted on posting them “as is” without any post production in photoshop. Hard to believe, but all these images are from 3 rolls of 120 (12exp) film. Thanks to Ling & Chris for letting me experiment.

One thing I love about film is that there is always detail and amazing tonality in the shadows and highlights. No blow out whites like in digital.

Say hello to my new Swedish girlfriends!

Canon gear garage sale

Stephan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:51:58 +0000

Well not really a garage sale but definitely a blowout sale of all my Canon stuff. Why am I selling my Canon gear you may ask? It’s a long story that resembles a long relationship that came to an end. It was not easy for me to make the decision to switch to Nikon but I took the leap about 6 months ago. I kept all my Canon as I was slowly getting used to my new gear and now I am 100% Nikonian.

I have been a loyal Canon shooter since I started shooting 15 years ago and pretty much owned every body they put out (yeah, I have a weakness for new cameras) I was happy shooting with 1Ds MarkII and 5D’s. After that came the downturn. I grew frustrated with the AF system on the 5D Mark2/1Ds MarkIII and the Canon flash system which seemed to be inconsistent and underexposed.

Back in May I tried Nikon at Victoria & Adam’s wedding. After that wedding I had a new girlfriend, her name…D3. The next day I ordered (2) D3′s and one D700 for Candace and 5 top of the line lenses ranging from 14mm to 210mm and recently acquired my new toy, the 200/f2.0. I call it “the beast”.

Anyways, I feel that Canon has paid way more attention to the point & shoot, video oriented consumer and neglected the pro shooters. I don’t need HD video in my camera, take all those resources and fix the crappy AF system. I’m a photographer and don’t plan on doing any video anytime soon. I know many shooters switching to Nikon right now and if Canon is not getting serious they will continue to lose customers. There goes that Canon sponsorship.

With all that said, I know that many of you may not agree with me and are loyal to Canon through these “tough” times so here is all my gear which I am offering to sell. Call 954 636 8422 or email me at stephan@maloman.com. You pay for shipping. If you are local, you can pick it up in person at my studio. I took very good care of all my equipment. My gear comes with the original boxes, manuals and lots of Maloman lovin’.

CANON BODIES
Canon 1Ds Mark II body (good condition, 4 years old, body cap, neck strap, 3 batteries and charger..the works) – $2000 SOLD
Canon 5D Mark II body (mint condition, 9 months old, includes body, body cap, 2 batteries and charger, vertical grip) – $2400 SOLD
Canon 5D Mark II backup body (mint condition, 9 months old, includes body, body cap) – $2200 SOLD
Canon 5D body (good condition, 2 years old, body cap, 2 batteries and charger, vertical grip) – $1000 SOLD
Canon 20D backup body (good condition, 5 years old, body cap, 2 batteries and charger, vertical grip) – $500 SOLD

CANON LENSES
Canon 15 2.8 AF Fisheye Lens (excellent condition, includes caps) – $300 SOLD
Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 Zoom Lens (excellent condition, includes caps) – $300
Canon 16-35 2.8 Lens (good condition, includes hood and caps) – $900 SOLD
Canon 24-70 2.8 Lens (good condition, includes hood and caps) – $900 SOLD
Canon 24-105 4.0 IS Lens (good condition, includes hood and caps) – $700 SOLD
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS Lens (good condition, includes hood, caps and carry bag) – $1300 SOLD
Canon 100 2.8 macro Lens (excellent condition, includes caps) – $450 SOLD
Canon 24 II 1.4 Lens (excellent condition, includes hood and caps) – $1400 SOLD
Canon 50 1.2 Lens (excellent condition, includes hood and caps) – $1400 SOLD
Canon 1.4x Extender (excellent condition, includes hood and caps) – $200 SOLD
Lensbaby for Canon mount (excellent condition, includes accessories & box) – $150

CANON FLASH
(1) Canon 580 EXII Speedlite (excellent condition, include all accessories) – $300 SOLD
(2) Canon 580 EX Speedlite (good condition, include all accessories) – $200 SOLD BOTH
Canon Speedlite ST-E2 transmitter (good condition) – $125 SOLD
(2) Quantum Turbo SC Slim (good condition, included chargers and dedicated Canon cables) – $250 SOLD BOTH

I hope Canon sees this. Will keep all this gear for 1 week, everything that is left unsold will go on eBay. First come first serve.

Maloman Workshops are in the works: Sign Up!

Stephan — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:04:28 +0000

I have been receiving an increasing number of emails & comments from clients, photographers and simply good photography loving people expressing interest in my skills & style of shooting. This business has been very good to us in the past few years so why not give back? Every photographer I know is doing workshops, so why not us?

I am creating a formal and official interest list for all people interested in a Maloman Workshop & One on One consultation. So please fill out the sign up form below to be kept up to date of all the developments!

**SIGN UP HERE**

I’m very excited about what we’ve got in the works and we can’t wait to share it all with you!

EDITED TO ADD: I got quite a few emails about a workshop in other cities. As of now I dont have anything planned, however that might change if we get enough demand. Another option for those out of towners is an “On on One” consultation workshop which I will definitely be doing. Sign up to be notified. Thank you to all who subscribed so far. That is quite the response we got there.

Streep Project: European vacation 2009

Stephan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:26:33 +0000

Traditionally I like to visit Europe at least once a year. We eat lots of amazing food and visit my family near Frankfurt, Germany. Every time I go there we try to visit new countries and places where I have never been before. I’m so fascinated with everything about Europe. The food is out of this world. Why can t we have bread or beer or cheese or gummy bears like the Germans do? Did I mention the sausages? Candace will do a more in depth food related post on her blog soon. This year we visited Frankfurt, Prague, Vienna and Munich. I think Munich in my new favorite place in Germany. I was a little bummed out when we had to come back right before the October fest started on 9/16. Next year I will make sure we are there for it. Did you know that Germany is the only country that refers to itself as “fatherland”? True fact.

Anyway I took 700 images on this trip (not counting all those I shared on Facebook) so here are a few of my favorites. Check out my 2008 Eurotrip here & here.

If you go to Vienna and you dont have this chocolate cake at hotel Sacher….than you will miss out big time. I had 2 pieces.

The Vienna Prater…The biggest and oldest Giant Ferris Wheel

Did NOT buy an (empty) can of Vienna air for 4 euros.

Awesome detail in the roof tile at Stephansdom

View from our hotel room in Prague

Prague at night. Charles Bridge.

Killer architecture in Prague (old part)

Ladies, dont bring high heels if you plan on visiting Prague. In the old town the roads looked like this. Amazing.

Frankfurt, Old Romer.

And a rare image of yours truely…