You may not have known it, but I’m certain you’ve seen a Norman Seef photograph. What photo do you think of when you think of Ray Charles? He shot that. Carly Simon? Yup. Steve Jobs? Seef again. After reading our own Douglas Sonders’ article on how short the window of time is when working with celebrities, seeing how much Seef could get out of his subjects is awe-inspiring. [more]
As photographers, we usually use two different techniques to capture our images: The first is freezing the moment and capturing the split second we are witnessing. The other option is using a long exposure, to show movement, changes, or show things we don’t normally see with our eyes. But what if you combined these two concepts – freezing a moment while adding movement? Check out these creative and unique portraits using this technique. [more]
If you’re not tuned in to creativeLIVE right now, you should be! Today through Saturday May 18, creativeLIVE is hosting award-winning portrait photogrpaher, Brooke Shaden. Brooke is teaching some great tips to create eye-catching works of art without any flash or expensive studio props. [more]
Photographing baseball pitchers is perhaps one of the least predictable aspects of my job, for the men that play that position have the largest gamut of personalities. I have had the good fortunate to photograph many pitchers (Justin Verlander, Cliff Lee, Josh Beckett and Felix Hernandez), and not one was alike. Being the player that the rest of the game revolves around, the opportunity for ego is great, leaving it impossible to plan how the photoshoot will go. [more]
I love animals and many of us do. They’re so expressive and it makes you wonder what they’re thinking of. You see the innocence in their eyes and you know it’s genuine. Let’s not forget to mention their ever ready playful demeanor. When you combine these vibrant attributes with photography, it sets up for some endearing work. Cue in animal photographer, Jessica Trinh. [more]
After looking at all of the great submissions for our April POTD contest, it took a few weeks to narrow them all down and come up with commentary for what were some outstanding photos. Like I said in the original post, it was truly humbling to have people from all over the world send us their images to view and judge against others. It was great to see images from all over the world of various cultures and places, and I’m happy to announce that we’ve finally settled on our top portraits and the winner of the $100. [more]
Recently, I was hired by a corporate client to take the portrait of Rod Stewart here in New York City before a concert. After a day of pre-planning logistics, 4 cancellations/reschedules (same day), and 3 location changes, the shoot finally happened… and it took place in two shutter clicks. Now, this is not a complaint post or to prove what an intense shoot this was. This is merely the stark reality of what it’s like to shoot celebrity portraits. You have to be ready for anything.
Location scouting is just one more facet of the photographic process that takes time and money to carry out. It can get especially difficult if you are planning an out-of-town shoot. A lot of times this would mean arriving at the shoot location a day early. But there isn’t always the time or budget to allow for that, as was the case for my shoot with Japanese metal band Boris last week. Lucky for me, Google came to my rescue. [more]
Photographer Mario Testino shoots my favorite super lady, Kate Upton, for the June 2013 Vogue. Kate keeps things super classy for her spread and even rocks some rather large, dark eyebrows with her look. I am certainly one that appreciates some curves on a model, so I am glad to see Vogue is beefing up to the competition (see what I did there) instead of the same ol’ too-skinny girl. Click through to see the shots from her upcoming feature [more]
Motley Crue bassist, Nikki Sixx is a recovering addict. But cameras, he says, are his new drug. He has been a musician, a writer and a radio host. His new passion is photography. To be honest, I was pretty surprised by his images. They are empathetic, penetrative and incredibly personal. He has teamed up with Leica to photograph a two-part interview series. [more]
Wyn has been featured on Fstoppers quite a few times. Why? His work is outstanding. He comes up with some really cool concepts for shots. From using LED’s on a basketball shoot to powder with Gymnasts. He does it all perfectly. [more]
The film industry has the Oscars. The music industry has the Grammys. Broadway has the Tony Awards. The annual awards that celebrate the best and brightest of the culinary world are the James Beard Foundation Awards. NYC based photographer Landon Nordeman set up backstage at the 2013 awards with just an iPhone for a camera. The results are a captivating black and white series of shots that each capture the range of emotions of the night.
Sometimes you want a portrait that just screams drama and emotion. Sometimes that emotion might be joy, other times you may want to portray a sort of dark, brooding atmosphere. In this tutorial by PHLEARN, Aaron Nace walks you through a method he chose to turn a daytime portrait into something much darker. [more]
When I imagine the president of the United States, what comes to mind first is the campaign trail and all the national decisions he’s involved with. It’s hard to picture what the day to day of the presidential life brings. This collection of pictures of former president George W. Bush does a fantastic job of capturing the in between moments that show how normal presidents are.
You submit your assignment images each year as a staff photojournalist at a major newspaper and never place in the prestigious Picture of the Year International competition. Then, years later as a freelance photographer, you win first place for a body of work that was undertaken solely as a personal venture. This is the story of Bob Croslin’s self-assigned “Grounded,” a portrait project of injured birds undergoing rehabilitation at a sanctuary in western Florida. [more]
