“The War In Every Portrait” is an interesting video from photographer Sean Tucker that explores the idea of capturing authentic moments in a portrait session. Tucker muses that there is a constant battle between the subject and the photographer. The goal is to find the kink in the armor of their exterior persona and expose the “real” person hidden inside.
"I can't take a shot like that. My camera isn't good enough. Oh sure, you can talk all you want, but you have thousands of dollars in expensive equipment! Yeah, I know it's the photographer, not the camera, but let's get real: my beginner gear can't do that!" Excuses, excuses, excuses. A lot of people, especially those just starting out, use their lack of pro gear as a tether, holding them back from getting the shots they are capable of. Here are some reasons to push past your budget concerns and make the most of what you have.
Recently, Ted Forbes over at The Art of Photography posted a rather interesting video that challenges the pervasive axiom of the artistic world that the action of making art will inevitably translate to an audience valuing and appreciating your work. Forbes asserts that our society is so saturated with creative content makers that it is nearly impossible to create photography that people care about unless you are pushing beyond the normal limits and expectations of what is already present in the world. I agree with this on the surface; however, I also feel that it doesn't tell the entire story.
I'm fairly new to the photography community still, but I've have been in the design and creative community for nearly a decade. Common sense should be one of the easiest things to understand for artists, but still today some seem confused as to how to respect protected landmarks, especially our national parks. One girl learned the hard way after setting out and adding graffiti to rock formations and posting about them on her Instagram.
Last week, fellow Fstoppers Writer Ty Poland wrote an article called "The Power of Overshooting." Ty is a great photographer, and he made some very valid points, but I must respectfully disagree. To me, undershooting is what advances your skills as a photographer.
Any seasoned filmmaker or photographer will tell you that it’s not the size of your camera, sensor, or lens that matters, but how you use it (or craft your supporting elements like lighting, composition, etc.). But what I’ve come to realize is that size does matter– because impressing a client on set is just as important as impressing them with the final product.
As the end of the school year comes to a close we see many new and eager graduates entering the creative field. As a graduate what better way to kick start your new adventure than with some wise words aimed directly at you from Chase Jarvis himself?
There was a time I used to live on a paradise island called Mauritius and the summer lasted almost the whole year round. The sun was not an issue back then, as the sun protection was a ritual. The times have changed and I relocated back to my motherland Armenia, which has very severe cold winters and really hot summers. As the summer lasts only limited time we usually forget to protect ourselves from sun when it suddenly starts burning like hell.
Partnership success stories are everywhere. From business innovators like Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google or Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple, to less formal partnerships like authors JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. There is a trend in the creative world to tout either big collaborative teams or solo introverted lone-wolf style work. I’m here today to tell you that the magic number is actually two, and why having a business partner is the best choice I ever made.
Any time there is a case of nepotism in photography — like with Burberry and the oldest spawn of the Beckhams earlier this year — there is a colossal backlash and insatiable rage. In a time prior to refreshing social media four times an hour, although I could see the motivation for nepotism in fashion photography, it was tantamount to indefensible in my books. Now, however, I have a harder time working out why companies wouldn't favor their elite friendship circles for recruiting photographers.
We shoot and share our photographs. We want our images seen by other people, as a way of expressing ourselves. Entering photography contests leads to a great way of showing our images to more people with a chance of being approved by a selected jury, but what if some contests are just scams?
The humble beauty dish is a studio favorite but it is not often the first modifier most reach for when heading outdoors. Most beauty dishes are not all that portable and can add significant weight to your kit. With a few collapsible beauty dishes currently on the market you can now easily take that gorgeous light with you anywhere. Joel Grimes shows you how to make the most out of using a beauty dish in an outdoor setting.
I think it’s probably a fair assumption to make, that at some point during your photographic journey, you’re going to purchase a piece of photographic equipment. With today's World Wide Web, that can be as easy as a few clicks and a wistful look at your decreasing bank account, but I’m here to make the case for your local, “brick and mortar,” camera store. Well maybe not all of them.
As a group, we photographers tend to like to do everything ourselves. I think it is something about depending on someone else that pushes against our most basic instincts. However, great portrait photography is always a team activity. This team can range from just you and your model all the way up to a full production, but one thing remains consistent: without a team, there is no photo.
I was all set to write a completely different article. I think it had to do with film, maybe. Not anymore. Now I'm frustrated, so I'm going to write about that instead. I love Fujifilm. I love them until I hate them. The problem is, I never really know what sort of day it's going to be until I'm out shooting.
The question of whether or not to do free work is always pressing. The debate becomes a grey area of ambiguity with many people firmly on one side or the other, and the rest of us stuck somewhere in between questioning our self worth as artists. There are strong arguments on both sides of the arena. Over the course of my career I have wandered back and forth across the defining line only to lately land in the anti-free work position, and here is why.
Everyone’s life journey is different and often the road of the bravest leads to the most unexpected discoveries and inspiring experiences. It is never someone else’s decision of which path we take in our way and what we become. Henri Matisse, one of the giants of modern art, once said that creativity takes courage and I can’t agree more. We, as humans, have an obligation to grow as a person, as a professional,and as an artist, and inspiration plays a major role in this process.
Awakening your creative mind can be a challenge, but from my previous article "Fstoppers Creative Photography Challenge (Part One)" I hope that these challenges are helping you overcome your creative rut. Sometimes it's hard to spot simple things and sometimes you just don't have that drive to take that photo. There are tons of options to sharpen you creative skills, but I find these challenges relaxing. Here are some more added challenges for you to continue.
Video is something I have begun to play with over the last few weeks in the form of a vlog on YouTube, but as you might know it's difficult to gain that organic reach you're used to on social platforms. That doesn't mean its impossible, but by using various other channels to advertise and push them to that new content is key in today's world. That is where vertical video comes in on Instagram! Yes, it might be annoying as hell to see yet another vertical video, but hold tight as I walk you through why this is a brilliant place to use it and also how you can do it yourself.
This is an article I've been on the cusp of writing for some time. I was first jolted into this area of discussion when I heard someone refer to the photography of poorer cultures and communities as "white middle-class photography." I say jolted because — perhaps naively — I had drawn no parallels between types of photographer and types of subject before that day. Unlike most criticisms about photography, this comment didn't glide past me; instead, I found myself plunged into an internal debate. Are the loose motivations of "raising awareness for" and "the documentation of" these communities disingenuous and moreover, are they doing more harm than good?
It’s almost a daily occurrence: you open Facebook or Fstoppers, and someone is telling you that it’s not okay to shoot for free. If you’re not getting paid for your work, you’re devaluing the entire industry. But chances are we’ve all done it at some point, we’ll probably all do it again, and If you don’t, you’re only hurting yourself.
Some of us photographer types are rather notorious gear junkies. I'm as guilty of it as the next guy. We like our toys and love to collect as many gadgets and doohickeys as we can get our hands on. Few things grab our attention more than the spec sheet of the newest cutting edge camera. Our budgets, however, aren't as infinite as our eagerness to spend them, which often leads to the need to prioritize purchases. Despite what your eagerness is telling you, the most valuable update might actually be upgrading your computer rather than that shiny new camera body.
It might be tricky to be your own stylist, costumer, or scene creator on your own set, especially when you have never been into it. I have some good news! Imagination, some research, and dedication can solve this issue and bring bright results. Here are five handy materials and tips to use on your upcoming shoots to add a special touch when you need something more than a regular shot. The process is challenging, fun, and brain-training. You will have good practice for upcoming shoots and better coordination with different materials on set.
If you've ever been told by a professional photographer to create series or personal projects, then this is the perfect reminder to do just that. Countless times have I started a series of images for a paid gig and wished I had more time, or less restriction to make it my own. Finn Beales is a commercial and travel photographer based in Wales creating the perfect side project to his commercial work called "72 Hours In...," showing a few days in each exotic location he shoots.
Adobe Lightroom was a game changer for me when it was introduced. I used to spend hours in Photoshop tweaking this and that, creating actions to batch a set of images I had shot, and output different resolutions from the giant PSD files I was working in. Lightroom gave me 90 percent of the control I use in PS anyway, and allowed me to do it quickly, easily, and without an ever-growing collection of PSD files. I was in love.
Shooting in a photography studio can seem a bit daunting. A lot of photographers choose to shoot outdoors due to budget constraints and the fear of stepping into a studio. There are, however, some real benefits to shooting in a studio and they apply to both new and experienced photographers. If you have not had a chance to try shooting in a studio I highly recommend the experience.
In our never-ending pursuit of artistic perfection in our photography, it’s easy to forget that the real power of an image is to capture and preserve a moment in time. A new short documentary/advertisement for Google Photos shines a light on just that.
Whether you're a photographer, videographer, or a retoucher, you've probably been asked for free work once in your life. Recently, I've noticed an enormous increase of job postings from companies or individuals who are seeking free photography or videography work, or in their own words, "volunteer work." In the past, free work ads were a relatively rare occurrence, but recently they have become quite commonplace. It is possibly related to the increase of photographers in the market as well as the increase in the number of photographers or videographers who want to dive into the market. It's not difficult to offer an explanation for the growing trend of free digital imaging work, and it is even easier to find a solution that might overcome the problems caused by it: Never ever work for free in any circumstances.
Chase Jarvis is always putting out content that aims to push the boundaries of your thought process. Whether he is showing you how to creatively tackle projects with inspirational behind-the-scenes footage, or he is interviewing top creative minds to gain their insight on a variety of matters, Jarvis wants to make sure we have access to the information you don't even know you need. In this new video entry he explores a topic that struck a chord with me: the idea of drawing inspiration from outside sources.
Let me get to the point: Adobe Spark could be the company’s biggest release yet. For veteran Adobe users, it might not seem as exciting as a new Creative Cloud update; but the combination of its ease of use, ingenious functionality, and truly professional results give it the potential to aid far more people than Photoshop ever will — no, really. This is helped immensely by the fact that Spark’s launch is amongst the most impressive I’ve ever seen, as Adobe Spark launches today with the maturity of a decade-old product. And it’s completely free.
Working with a team may be a blessing or a curse. Having a task delegated to a professional may sound relieving — assigning team members control of specific portions of a production, thus reducing headaches for you. It sounds like a great plan, and usually it is, until things go wrong.
Every year, The Knot compiles statistics from thousands of weddings in their annual Real Weddings Study, and we get to learn all sorts of things about the ins and outs of what makes up a wedding in America. While there's plenty of interesting statistics, such as how 83% of couples used a smartphone in planning their wedding, the marquee stat is cost, and for the past five years that number has crept onwards and upwards to a brand new record that's just insane when you compare it to the average wedding in Europe.
Hailing from Seattle, portrait photographer Ben Lucas put together this amusing video pitting his talents as a photographer against those of an actor pretending to be a professional photographer. The lights are set up and the camera is the same, the only thing that changes is the person taking the pictures. How big of a difference can it make?
Recently, one of the most well-known photographers in history was caught in a Photoshop scandal. Naturally, this begs the question: where is the line between truth and manufactured reality in photography?
Fauxtographers. Everyone knows what that means, commonly associated with Mom-tographers and GWC's. Basically someone that self describes as a photographer with no basis or experience to warrant such a title and in some extreme cases, people who have for long stretches of time have made claims of being a professional but have not improved their methods or techniques past what that little green square on the camera does.
Today, more and more cameras have wireless technologies built into the body. So far, the concentration on development for the use of these antennas has centered around image transfer and social media connectivity, posting directly to other services, etc. But that’s far from all that can be accomplished when cameras start being able to communicate with one another.
This is a pet peeve of mine, so I am going to thank you in advance for indulging me. There seems to be a rampant misunderstanding in certain levels of the photo community as to what editing presets are, and what they actually accomplish. I (like many of you I would assume) am a member of various photo-centric groups on Facebook. In particular, I am a member of groups for people who have purchased Lightroom and ACR preset packs from a variety of creators. Almost daily I see posts in these groups that go something like this: "I thought my photos were beyond hope, but then I applied "WHIMSICAL PRESET NAME" and they were saved! These presets are amazing!!!1!111!!!" Sound familiar?
With little exception, every time you agree to provide raw images to your client, you are hurting your own brand and doing that client a disservice. Although it might be easy to feel, it may be hard to understand exactly why this is. Even more difficult is how to then explain your decision to your clients in a way that also makes them feel good about receiving 'less.' Thankfully, Austin-based commercial photographer Caleb Kerr has all of these answers.
The ideal travel tripod should be sturdy and super lightweight with high loading capacity. In addition, it should be compact when folded and long enough when extended. There are lots of compact tripods in the market, but how many of them truly provide these features? Well, I've spent enough time to figure it out and decided to buy a brand that I've never used before.
I’m sure most of us have been there before: standing on a street corner, your “camera bag that doesn’t look like a camera bag” slung casually over your shoulder. Your camera is in hand, its strap hanging loose, dancing in the summer breeze. You raise the rangefinder window to your eye and snap: the perfect shot of a homeless man! He looks really sad; this will finally change everyone's mind — straight to Instagram. But there’s a fine line between biting social commentary and “Poverty Porn,” and sometimes, it's hard to see which side you’re on.
As a new writer on here, sometimes, it is hard to come up with new content to write about. I really have to put my brain to use. Sometimes, I randomly come up with ideas and topics to write about, and that is definitely one reason I'm glad I switched back to the iPhone. Whenever I come up with a thought or idea to write about, I hop into my Notes app and start writing some ideas down. Now, when I go home, it’s on my iPad, computer, phone, etc., and I can sit down and start to write more about it.
It is no secret that Nikon is starting to fall behind in the lens game, partly because competitors, such as Sigma and Tamron, have doubled down on quality and focused heavily on innovating, but also partly due to Nikon's seeming unwillingness to invest in new and updated, innovative designs. As the demands of modern sensors expand, so does the demand for sharp, high resolution glass. Nikon has several legendary lenses in their past, which with a modern facelift could become some of the most competitive lenses in today's market.
I'm a photographer because my life is filled with hot models all day, every day, right? No, but really, photography, as a career, should not be taken for granted. Let’s be honest, we’re hardly saving lives here, and we should be very grateful that we can make a career of essentially taking pictures. That’s not to say it isn’t hard work or a lot of responsibility, because it is. I just know I’m feel very lucky to be making a living from what I love doing most. And there’s so many reasons why it has to be the best job in the world.
Where Leica goes, controversy is sure to follow. Last week, the M-D Typ 262 rangefinder camera was announced, and as usual, photographers were there to complain about it. While the constant eye-rolls in the direction of Leica are usually in regards to sky-high prices or other minor design decisions, this time, there's something truly worth talking about. The M-D is completely lacking an essential element of all digital cameras: the screen. It's bold, it's beautiful, and it was the perfect move for Leica.
Whether Pablo Picasso or T.S. Eliot had said "good artists copy, great artists steal," I think they were both trying to emphasize the significance of finding and later on evolving a unique style for your art or craft. Well, this quote is quite ambiguous in some points and I doubt if stealing is still vital for being a "great artist."
Photography is an art and a wonderful hobby to get yourself involved in. There comes a point where many hobbyists decide to turn that passion into a full-time career, and when that happens, it is imperative to have a solid strategy in place to be financially stable. Photography can be a volatile career, more so than most businesses, so here are three strategies I use to make sure I stay profitable.
When I wrote "Seven Things About Being a Photographer I Wish I'd Known Earlier," I wasn't expecting such a strong response. I had far more than seven things I wish I'd known, but I tried to trim the fat and keep the article lean. Well, I liked the fat. So, now I'm compiling the trimmings into their own article, although I don't mean to infer that these eight are less important than my first seven; they aren't. I also can't guarantee there won't be a further set in the future. Make of that what you will.
Branding yourself is probably one of the most important things you can do as a photographer. It is important to showcase your work, whether it is your best work at the time, your best work overall, or even some of the work you just like most. I personally put up the images I think are best, but a lot of the time, I can be very picky, and I tend not to like certain photos when other people still really like them. This is something that is 100% up to you. You are the person choosing what you want to show as a reflection of you and what you do.
For many of us, photography is a form of art, or at least there is an artistic process behind it. More than that, each of us strive to have a "style" that is an artistic consistency to our work. Photography, however, is quite different from your traditional art-making process. There is as much technical knowledge required as artistic or creative inspiration and thinking. This separates the process into two distinct parts: the shoot and the edit. These two parts are equally important to your identity as a photographer.
Let me preface this article by saying that I LOVE Billy and the rest of the team at Resource. I’ve shared quite a few hung-over mornings with you guys at misc. photo conferences and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I would also like to note that I disagree with much of the article that they just ran.
