Lifestyle Photography

Urban lifestyle photography has seen a surge in popularity in the last 10 years, particularly with the rise of Instagram. Here, COOPH give eight tips for improving your urban lifestyle shots.

On a multi-day assignment in Portland last week, I took advantage of my day off between assignments to experiment with the Sony a7R III and try it out in my normal workflow.

Lifestyle photography means different things to different types of photographers. Some might say photojournalism is the truest form of lifestyle photography. A portrait or wedding photographer would describe it as putting their subjects in real life situations and capturing almost candid moments. I shoot commercial and editorial work so more often than not I create scenes using models and props that feel like real life events but weren't. No matter how you look at it though, lifestyle photography is about telling stories.

In the grand tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, I thought I would share with you a quick story about how a less than desirable situation for me this weekend turned into a chance to improve my business and my approach.

Chinese Photographer Ying Yin’s was inspired to travel and see snow. While visiting Japan’s northernmost region during the peak of winter, her photo series “Wind of Okhotsk” looks like the end of the earth, with buildings isolated by the intense weather.

Throughout the course of long, mentally intensive days covering events from behind a camera, likely the last thing on your mind is maintaining good balanced posture or equal weight distribution. String multiple days like this together in a short period of time and you are unknowingly causing long-term havoc onto your body, especially as this repeats and builds over longer periods.

Netflix is using AI to follow viewer habits. The AI then chooses the best image or photograph to present and advertise movies that it thinks you would like. It makes sure the movies put their best foot forward and shows you the best side of it, based on your preferences. If you're an action movie type, it's going to choose photos of the movie that best shows this side of the movie. If you're one for romantic films, it'll show images that portray emotions that you'll experience watching the film.

Rania Matar moved to the US due to the Lebanese Civil War, pursuing photography after September 11 when she became interested in telling a different story from the Middle East. She grew up surrounded by the civil war in Lebanon, whereas her daughters are being raised in the United States. Despite growing up in a different country at a different time, she noticed a universality in being a young woman. This served as the inspiration behind her new series, featuring portraits of mothers and daughters from different cultures.

Russell James has quite firmly held the position of official backstage photographer at the Victoria’s Secret shows for 22 years – since the first in 1995. Now, he’s written a book about the experience.

This year has been marked by a single hashtag: #MeToo. From Hollywood to the Oval Office, it seems that accusers are finding their voices and taking a stand for themselves and countless others who haven’t been able to speak out. Naturally, awareness of sexual harassment is coming to light in all industries, and the photography industry is no different.

Photographer and filmmaker Mathieu Stern took to the streets of Paris to see what shots he could produce using three different vintage lenses, creating various different bokeh effects.

If you don’t know him by name, you’ll likely have laid eyes on his work. Getty photographer Chris Jackson is the man behind many of the official images of the British royal family and has now spoken of Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s engagement photos.

LA-based rock band OK Go is no stranger to innovative music videos. Their single, “Here It Goes Again,” was accompanied by a treadmill-orientated dance routine that sent the clip viral upon its release in 2006. Now, the band is hitting headlines once again for their creative and resourceful visuals for "Obsession."

In this series, I attempt to identify the key professional virtues I have found to be the most important in building my own career, as well as identifying traits of other successful photographers and business leaders that are most key to their success. Today’s virtue: adaptability.

You don’t need me to tell you the importance of social media. Many of you under a certain age likely can’t picture your life without it. Judging by the number of selfie sticks and Facebook screens annoyingly lighting up dark movie theaters, social media had apparently become as important as breathing. Even those who came of age before the dawn of the smartphone are not immune to its charms. And in an increasingly connected world, our devices are not only a social diversion, but can also become a business necessity. This week, I had an experience that drove home just how necessary it can be.

Usually for me it starts after the peak of fall foliage. After a busy year of spring portraits, wedding season, fall shoots, and some photographic trips sprinkled in, by the end of fall I find that it's easy to get a little bored with photography. Typically the inspiration needle on my gauge is in the red. While taking a break is never a bad idea, sometimes all you really need to do is challenge yourself. Presenting yourself with new opportunities to create photos and videos that may not normally be in your wheelhouse. Giving yourself some time to experiment can help you get back to why you started shooting in the first place.

Anyone who pursues photography professionally knows all too well how absolutely time consuming the business side of the industry truly is. Between managing clients, keeping your inbox at zero, and still trying to find time to pursue personal projects or just have a life outside of photography, you can sometimes lose yourself to the rat race. That’s why when I saw Evan5ps' newest video it really struck a chord in me.

All you photographers out there! Does your camera strap look dull, worn out with the leather sweating the time and comfort out of your skin? Yes, they may be durable, but can they be more? Well, KIKI camera straps answer these questions fashionably. Made for every professional photographer, these cool, fashionable, and functional cloth camera straps might make you think of bidding bye to the conventional ones.

At this point, we should all know that almost all jobs and opportunities to find success in photography are built off networking. Now there are tons of ways to network and the path you pick will depend solely on the niche you associate with. Either way, the main goal is to meet people with the same professional interests as yourself to feed off each other creatively and to broaden your reach in the community. We tend to forget about the community aspect as we get caught up in chasing money or companies but what we sometimes need to go to that next level is support system built off our love for photography.

Lately, I have been attending more events to cover as a photographer, especially anime and comic conventions. My approach to most of my convention coverage is walking around the event and trying to take as many photos as possible of the cosplayers there, kind of a run and gun approach. Sometimes the cosplayers are on a tight time frame so I don’t want to take too much of their time, or there is just a lot of things going on and I want to try to capture as much as possible. Some of the cosplayers outfits are just amazing, so it's best to slow it down and take the time to give the cosplay and their outfit justice with the photo. So where do you start?

The inauguration of Donald Trump meant the end of Pete Souza’s position as official White House photographer. Stepping into his shoes, Shealah Craighead has spoken for the first time about the experience of shadowing President Trump.

Sometimes as creatives, we lose sight of what originally attracted us to the creative process of photography and videography in the first place. We get lost in the noise while we are busy juggling social media, websites, managing shoots, pitching to clients, and constantly reinventing our work. Every now and then we need an image or a video to really put in perspective why we feel the way we do when we raise our cameras to our eye. The wonderfully directed short film "Too Far Gone" does just that.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has long warned tourists of “arrest and long-term detention.” Despite the threat, around 100,000 people visit the hermit kingdom annually. In 2016, Photographer Raphael Olivier was one of those people. Here we showcase some of his most surreal photos from the trip.

This video is a double-whammy. It's trying to uncover where ideas come from, and the conceptual and artistic execution of the video is so well done and it provides a kind of answer for the rhetorical question of where ideas come from. I've had creative block. You want to put the next portfolio piece together, but you don't know what to do exactly. You first need to come up with an idea, and then you have to nurture it to be something new but something that still contains your style and way of shooting.

A couple of years ago, I broke an important rule I made for myself: never take my camera on family outings. We were going to visit the zoo with extended family, and my grandmother said, "You should bring your camera! I bet you could get some great photos of the animals." The whole thing was very innocuous and she was well intentioned, but the results were exactly what I had decided I wanted to avoid, and a good reminder of why I made that rule for myself in the first place. If you find yourself doing the same thing I do, then perhaps this is a good rule for you to adopt.

After years of working in typical areas of photography, Eneil Simpson, has found his calling in a very surprising place: the operating room. As a former flight instructor, Simpson stumbled into very unique and rarely seen world of ophthalmic and surgical photography, after asking his eye doctor if he could sit in on and take an environmental portrait of him. This intended “one off”, resulted in further opportunities, as surgeons began to recommend him to their colleagues.

I met a new contact on a job recently that encouraged me to delve deeper into the world of lifestyle imagery when thinking about my next shoot. She explained that over the years in between paid gigs, she would self-produce and fund her own micro shoots to use as portfolio material, but more importantly, as stock imagery to be sold. Over time, she has amassed an impressive collection of stock imagery that continually pays her royalties and is an excellent source of continuous revenue when work is slow.

Human nature can sometimes get the better of us. But sometimes knowing when to apply lessons and when to forget them can be the difference between taking photographs or taking photography to the next level.

Unlike most people in Photography, I didn’t pick up a camera for the love of making art. I never thought of myself as an artistic person but I wanted something better than my phone to document my hikes in the Appalachian Mountains. Quickly after getting my first Sony a6000 just like with all my hobbies I had to know everything about it and so I ran down the photography rabbit hole (and haven’t come back). Even though I do more with my camera nowadays than just documenting the trail, it has taught me a few things that have helped me immensely in my work.

We all dream of having huge production budgets for our shoots, so imagine being one of the lucky few who get to work as stills photographers on one of the TV’s biggest shows, "Game of Thrones." With a budget of $10 million per episode for its latest season, you can only imagine the fun these photographers have on set.

A casual conversation leads to an interesting question. There I was again. Spouting endless drivel at the beginning of a date. Trying desperately to impress her with my chatter. Listening to her and responding with what I hoped were deep and probing questions that both relayed my interest in her personally and required a significantly lengthy response which would provide me the necessary time to catch my breath and subdue my nerve-induced racing heartbeat.

David and Victoria Beckham’s eldest – an aspiring photographer – is due to release his first photography book later this week. Entitled "What I See," the book is listed by the publishers as “a series of snapshots of his life,” but has been panned on social media and other online platforms.

Sometimes the who, what, and how is surpassed by the when. Timing can be everything. It’s a fact of life, even if a rather cruel one.

Sometimes 30 seconds can change your life. Has the following story ever happened to you?

With the goal in mind to write up a reference for planning a week of photography in the wild, it's almost unthinkable to not include an article about gear an rules about sleeping in the great outdoors. Not on a campsite, not in a hotel or any form of modern comfort, but out in the backcountry, sleeping under the stars. This quickly grew out to be an article to bookmark, because I don't expect you to remember everything about this after a first read.

As a professional photographer, money is never too far outside of the frame. But even as the budgets and day rates continue to rise, it is important that an artist never forget why it all started in the first place.

Social media consumption is at an all-time high and is on pace to increase at an exponential pace for the foreseeable future. We all seem to have capable technology on us always, whether it be a cell phone or dedicated interchangeable lens camera. With this rapid rate of consumption and the accessibility of technology we are living in a world saturated with quality content everywhere we look. Standing out among other photographers is getting more challenging daily and that’s why I put together these three ways to help separate yourself from other photographers.

An unnamed man living in Wisconsin hired a photographer to catch his sunrise mountaintop proposal, but all did not go to plan.

Creative genius rarely erupts onto the scene full force and in your face. Its entrance into the world is often quiet, gentle, allowing only a few to see it and recognize its brilliance. Such is the case with Portland, Oregon-based Kate Woodman, whose use of color in her work produces an instant halt to the ever scrolling feed of images - causing even the average user to stop and appreciate the story unfolding before them.

Those who have never been on a glacier may not realize how big a crevasse can be and how dangerous falling into one is. Last December, Jamie Mullner while skiing in Zermatt discovered it all within a few seconds when he tripped and ended up at the bottom of a crevasse. He wasn’t injured, but happened to have his GoPro on and documented the accident. The video is quite impressive but also surprising!

Have you ever considered going pro as a landscape photographer? What does that even mean in today's business? Professional Landscape Photographer Erin Babnik shares the often obscured truth about the genre.

Change is one of the hardest things people will have to deal with during their life time. Some people love it, others hate it, but there’s really no way around it. And one of those big steps that can really alter your path is a career-related change. Most people spend a third of their day at some sort of job. Maybe it’s temporary, maybe it’s a means to an end, or maybe it’s an amazing career with a path for growth that you find favorable. But most of us have to work the majority of our lives to get by.

Have you ever gone to the see a romantic comedy and absolutely fallen in love? Have you ever gone to a romantic comedy and spent the majority of the film’s running time politely sneaking peeks at your watch? Have you ever realized that both movies were essentially the same story and wondered why you couldn’t get enough of the first, and got way too much of the second?

The Internet is loaded with articles on new gear or popular techniques. Everywhere you look, you will find some new unboxing video or review piece. Everyone promising that they will make you the photographer you have always wanted to be. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy looking at fancy new equipment as much as the next guy -- and I have written a few of those articles myself -- but do all the toys and tricks help my career in the long run?

I am always on the hunt for new stock images to incorporate into my photography and find that stock enhances my photography business in several ways. Stock provides me with the ability to incorporate different locations and textures into my images that I am not able to easily shoot. As a result, I have not only seen improvements in my own work, I have also gained an eye for spotting opportunities to take extra images to sell.

What do you get when you combine over 800 horsepower housed within the loins of a world-class trick-truck, one fearless driver, and the scenic streets and culture of Havana, Cuba? If the always creative Sweatpants Media is involved, you end up with an intensely high-octaine adrenaline rush of a short film, respectfully referred to as Recoil #4.

We live in a world constantly fascinated by technology. We want the TV with the greatest definition. We want the tablet with the shiniest screen. And, as photographers, we always want the most expensive gear and the most elaborate new toys. But the more you grow as an artist, you'll quickly realize it's the man that makes the equipment, not the equipment that makes the man (or woman).

YLE, a Finnish Broadcasting company, were on a mission to attract a younger audience. They needed to make a change to their strategy and get some new programs produced. They knew these shows had to tell stories that were going to speak to a younger audience. Stories that would captivate the senses - and get people excited about the outdoors, to travel and explore.

The time of year in which many of us pause, reflect, and consider the changes we wish to make for the year ahead has arrived. Resolution inquiries may excite you or fill you with dread as friends or family members begin asking you what you have planned for 2017. Myself, I am not a fan of resolutions set at New Year and forgotten a few weeks later. Some of us have likely abandoned several already. Research continues to show us that one thing is very clear, to be successful, you must have clear goals, but you must also become very intentional in your process toward that target. So here is a list of things you can change in your live today, that will benefit you greatly if you make them a part of your routine.

Instagram has always been a tricky one where nudity is concerned; “Free the Nipple” movement, anyone? But Los Angeles-based photographer Magdalena Wosinka has garnered much attention after posing naked in a series of snaps taken across California.