Theft is becoming an even larger concern as of late, with videos of lenses being stolen right under the nose of their owners. Certainly, we've seen websites before that look to help put an end to camera equipment theft, and while they work from time to time, they still have some major fatal flaws.
If you're like me, and you upgraded your camera body and Lightroom version before updating your RAM and Processor, you've probably experienced speed issues with your workflow. Lightroom 5 has come to the rescue with the amazing addition of Smart Previews. This is going to revolutionize your workflow!
Starting today PhotoShelter released their new "Beam" portfolio websites templates on top of the secure cloud storage, e-commerce capabilities, SEO, image delivery and client proofing tools that are available to PhotoShelter’s existing members with Standard and Pro accounts. PhotoShelter's CEO Andrew Fingerman gave me a quick rundown of the new designs during a walkthrough last w
We're embarking on some frightful times for camera manufactures everywhere. With stats showing that the Apple iPhone being the most popular camera used today, and Canon/Nikon/Sony producing virtually none of the camera phones components, they must come up with new ideas to win back the industry from Apple and Samsung.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could open your inbox and not have to worry about sorting through all the spam to get to the messages that you actually want to read? About 6 months ago I learned of a tool that has been helping me do just that.
It seems like every week another story is circulating around the industry about one photographer stealing from another. Often the theft is done to build a portfolio of images they then use to promote themselves with and gain more business. This morning, though, I experienced a first.
Guest Writer, Matt Kennedy is an International Wedding Photographer and has been shooting weddings for 7 years throughout North America, Mexico and Italy. He is well known for his Sparkler Shots and Marketing techniques and is always willing to share and raise the bar for the industry.
How many times have you wondered which model or brand of camera is the best one to fit your needs and budget? Every photographer has had to go through the frustrating process of slogging through reviews and websites trying to get a feel for how they should use their money. Now there's an incredibly easy website to compare any camera with the click of a button.
Photoshelter released a new guide 11 Secrets to a Great Photo Website, packed with information and tips about creating and updating websites for your photography business.
Okay, I get it. Hundreds of thousands of you are offended by Adobe's choice to go to the Creative Cloud. I understand, I was leading the forefront with my torch in hand. Renting software sounds like a ludicrous statement, especially when half the software you won't even use. So why shouldn't you just pirate it?
The likelihood of this experience ever happening to you is pretty small, however, while you may never make the same mistakes I made, this story is a reflection of the stupid decisions that tend to tag along with us as people. The same warnings and lessons that I'm about to share apply to everyone.
One of my regular followers, Mike Nelson, said that there are plenty of resources on WHERE to buy portfolios, but very little information on HOW to make a photography portfolio. He suggested I do a blog post and share my personal perspectives and advice on the subject.
There is always talk about what apps you need to get in order to take cool photos, but the fact is you already have a camera. Quite honestly there is no camera or editing app that will greatly affect your business in my opinion, and that is what's truly important. So what apps does it take to really help streamline your business?
After much anticipation, Adobe has just announced the latest iteration of their popular editing and workflow program, Lightroom 5. The early adopters to the Creative Cloud services will be happy to see a notification to download waiting for them right now, while the non-Creative Cloud perpetual license version is available for purchase on Adobe’s website now (and everywhere now).
When you decide to get serious and make your photo/video hobby a source of income, one thing that you need to look into is insurance. With the abundance of different plans available it's easy to become overwhelmed as to what coverage is right for you, but hopefully this guide can make that decision easier.
This year Patrick and I were invited to Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai to film a behind the scenes look of what it's really like to go to this exotic workshop. The experience itself was one of the highlights of my life but the most memorable moment for me was the few minutes I had with each of the instructors.
On Tuesday June 4th, starting at 4pm ET, Photoshelter and Agency Access are teaming up to bring a behind-the-scenes look at what ad agencies are looking for from photographers.
The explosion of the app development industry after the colossal growth of smartphone and tablet products in the market started out as a fantastic new tech segment worth watching. It has contributed significantly the rebirth of my beloved Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
This is a topic that many paid video and photo shooters tend to feel very strongly about, and I’ve tried to analyze my experiences for some rational thoughts on the matter. If you want your voice heard, leave your opinion in the comments, but first read about how one particular band actually offered pro and hobby photographers press access to shoot images of their performance.
Aaron Nace at PHLEARN teamed up with professional product photographer Rob Grimm to demonstrate how a super high-end watch shoot would be put together. Check out how Grimm takes numerous shots and combines them into one advertising-quality image. This is just one small part of the whole tutorial. For the full 2.5 hour video, check out the Pro Tutorial.
While many of us are dedicated to producing great video content, we often neglect to think about how that content will be consumed by the masses. I spend so much time producing, directing, writing and editing video that by the time it's done, I neglect to give distribution as much consideration as I should.
A couple months ago, I made a post explaining the uses of the Canon Professional Services that is available to all Canon photographers using more than a couple pieces of professional equipment. The post got some backlash from some non-Canon users, exclaiming that their service was nothing special.
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.
I'm James Robertson, a new addition to the Fstoppers writer staff and a full time commercial photographer/studio owner for the past year. I've joined the team to bring content to the readers who may find themselves either ready to jump into the professional world, or have already and are looking for tips to make life easier.
If you are a professional, or an aspiring professional photographer, you rely on your photographic work to bring you financial rewards. Self satisfaction alone, won’t pay rent, put gas in your car, or food on the table. If you want to earn money from your pictures, then you will have to find someone to pay you for them.
Just about everyday another person is complaining that Facebook is only sharing their posts with a handful of their fans. They tried links, they tried pictures, videos even just posting text and throw their hands up in the area frustrated by the lack of people seeing their posts. I recently stumbled on this infographic that cleverly explains how Facebook's newsfeed algorithm is broken down.
Canon fans were left wanting more after the announcement of the Canon Rebel T5i. Fans everywhere made comments on how it wasn't much of an upgrade from the t4i, and just a money grabbing attempt from Canon. Perhaps Canon has finally admitted that they're the same camera, as they're using old T4i ads, for the new T5i.
With social media ever present in our daily lives, it's easy to turn to photographers across the world for critiques. Photographers everywhere, some much better than you, some much worse, will climb out of the woodwork to tear your work apart, or give it the praise of a lifetime.
By far one of the most influential and yet devastating things I ever realized in my career was that Photography alone is not a viable path to become wealthy or even truly financially independent. In fact a few days ago CareerCast.com released a list of 200 jobs, ranked from best to worst, and photographer came in at #172, beaten soundly by garbage collectors.
Here's an oldie but goodie about the secret of success in creative work. It was a talk given by Ira Glass which was then turned into an animation by David Shiyang Liu. It's less than 2-minutes long and has some fantastic advice for creatives.
This week PhotoShelter released Creating A Successful Photography Portfolio, a free downloadable PDF filled with information from some of the top marketing consultants and photo editors in the industry.
There is fierce competition among the top digital imaging companies, fighting for several billion in dollars worldwide. I have examined Olympus and Sony in the past, and this year I wanted to bring in Canon and Nikon to see how their last fiscal year treated them.
If you are like me, your image library is full of personal shoots and client images that were never used. Instead of just letting those images collect dust on your hard drives, now these images may have a new home. The people at Image Brief partner with designers and advertisers and pair them with photographers who may just have that perfect image for their campaign.
If you've been hired to photograph a wedding, there's a very good chance your clients will also want you to take engagement photos. Recently we released our 14 hour long wedding tutorial How to Become a Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer which covers everything about how to start a wedding business.
Couples getting married often purchase wedding insurance to guard against any unexpected accidents or issues involving vendors. A recent report by Travelers insurance found that 58 percent of all vendor issues involved photographers. Vendor-related issues led the survey as the leading cause of wedding-related problems with photographers leading the field by a wide margin.
When working with models, you're often plagued with the idea of trade shoots and working for free. You could blame the hobbyist, the models mentality, or just the nature of that industry. Regardless, it can be discouraging for those who are trying to make a living with photography.
Guest writer, Adrienne Erin is an amateur photographer/designer and freelance writer who does social media marketing and has found that Pinterest is a fantastic social space to market a photo business, given the visual nature of the platform. She has shared 5 simple steps at how to get started on Pinterest.
Ryan Moore is a professional retoucher. He recently wrote a list of five tips that can help save your client time and money. Saving time and money doesn't just benefit the client. It also lays a firm foundation for an ongoing relationship between the photographer and the client.
Representative Betty Nuovo, of the Vermont State House, recently introduced a bill that if passed would "make it illegal to take a photograph of a person without his or her consent, or to modify a photograph of a person without his or her consent, and to distribute it." This could have some ugly consequences for photographers in Vermont and if it passes there I would not be surprised to see oth
All day I have been hunkered down in my office chair pounding through emails, album designs, and editing. My camera zipped away in my bag, my equipment strewn across my office floor. While the perception of being a full time photographer is one of double rainbows the reality is there is so much more to what we do.
Just a few weeks after Olan Mills threatened to shut their doors, both Sears Portrait Studio, and Walmart brand PictureMe Portrait have announced that they're closing their doors permanently. Both stating that because of the digital age and smartphone photography, they're no longer able to maintain profits in the industry.
Photoshelter is hosting a webinar featuring retoucher Kristina Sherk this week, and to advertise the webinar they posted an animated gif showing before and after Sherk got her hands on the image. I was shocked, as Sherk not only easily erased 10 years off the model, but even more amazingly did it without making it look fake.
Internationally acclaimed author Josh Kaufman will be hosting an upcoming creativeLive event dedicated to guiding you through the tenets and teachings found in every MBA program in the country. This 2-day workshop will start tomorrow April 4 at 9AM.
The Photographer's Guide to Copyright, a robust downloadable PDF packed full of information about copyright issues was released this week from Photoshelter & ASMP. The guide gives a better understanding on how to protect still and motion images and how to safeguard your work from infringement.
A couple months ago, Adobe was hit with bad press about their prices of software in Australia being incredibly high. So high in fact, that people had found that it was actually cheaper to fly to the US from Australia to purchase their products. Now, in their latest PR blunder, Adobe's actually endorsing the idea of flying the United States to purchase their products.
NOTE: This post has been updated with an official response from GoPro. GoPro is recently gaining attention from their battle with online retailer DigitalRev. DigitalRev lashed out at GoPro for an apparent attack on their use of GoPro's name and images in a review, but the story went deeper than that.
If you’re one of the many folks who have started to incorporate video production into the services you offer as a photographer, you’ve probably had a few challenges dealing with it’s unique workflow. I started as a video editor, and transitioned into production about 10 years ago. I’ve created some simple forms to help keep my projects in line, and today I’m sharing them with you.
The Canon/Nikon debate is a Ford vs. Chevy debate for trucks, and a Coke vs. Pepsi debate for sodas. Both systems have their advantages, and their flaws (Come on Canon...make a 14-24mm already!). However, Canon, in my opinion, separates itself with one tool, the Canon Professional Services program.
After spending last weekend at the 50th Annual Society for Photographic Education’s National Conference in Chicago, a sold out symposium attended by more than 1,000 photo educators and students, I decided to examine the question: What is the value of a photo degree? Here are the pros and cons.
Recently, a professional photographer decided to share his years of experience in print with other photographers around the world. However this experience isn't shooting techniques, or how to interact with those involved with the shoot. Instead, this focuses on the pay scale you can expect from each publication, and its asking for you to help submit your experiences too.