It's a topic we're all aware of but few actually bring up. Most, if not all industries involve some level of acceding to higher-ups or more accomplished people or simply, well, sucking up. However, it always seems to be particularly prevalent in creative industries, and this video examines the need (or lack thereof) for that.
One absolutely invaluable thing that a person can learn in life is how to deal with negative people in a healthy way. The unfortunate truth is that at every stage of your creative journey there will always be people looking to bring you down. How you handle this negativity and choose to respond to these kind of people can say a lot about you too. Is there a right answer or does each situation demand a different kind of response?
When I chose to move beyond candid snapshots of my friends and family and actually asked them to sit down for formal portraits, my approach to everyday photography changed. Candid moments are wonderful, but practicing your craft with the people around you both helps hone your skills as a photographer and leads to precious moments with the people you love.
We are photographers. We are not a bunch known for a lack of opinions. By and large, we know (or think we know) what’s good and bad and aren’t shy about telling others just how qualified our own personal greatness makes us to pass judgment on other far inferior work. Yes, I’m generalizing to make a larger point. There are as many different types of photographers as there are different types of people. And, if ego sits on one shoulder, its distant cousin humility stands firmly on the other, grasping tightly to the other end of the rope in an endless game of tug of war. But knowing when to pull, and when to offer slack, from one side or the other can be the secret to both successful shoots and successful creative relationships.
Is this an age-old debate? Probably not, but I hear many voices touting the need for photographers to self-promote in order expand their client base. At the same time, I get many invitations to networking events for photographers with the intention of building their businesses. Are these the same thing, or not
Almost all of us want to improve our photography. Regardless of whether you are a hobbyist, aspiring professional, or if you have been a pro for several decades, there's always more to learn. Creating better images should always be at the forefront of our mind. It doesn't matter where you are in your photographic journey or what genre interests you, here are five things that I think can help to improve your photography.
We all love a good composite, don't we? C'mon! You're probably going "No! They're all fake. It's all Photoshop, therefore it should be easy and shouldn't be a genre of photography at all! While some bad composites do exist, why not look at the other side of Dali's surrealistic, time-melting deserts and analyze the way it makes you feel when you study these types of images? How about we dive into the rabbit hole head first and find out what it takes to create a composite image?
I'm not a strong supporter of business cards nowadays. It's not because they don't do any good, but because most people are throwing them in the trash bin without even visiting your website and seeing what you do. Despite of that it's good to have some in your pocket. Here is my solution to using a special type of business cards that your potential clients may not throw away.
The internet and information security is not a new topic, but it's a great time to review your security settings. It usually takes a catastrophic event to cause people to take it more seriously. The alleged Instagram hacks that have been reported are a great wake up call.
This entire summer for me has been hectic. Doing photography full time at the age of 23 is certainly awesome, but there is so much stress and hard work that comes along with it. Between work and my personal life, it has been extremely difficult to balance out my time to create my own content, but in no way have I let that slow me down. This summer alone, I have been out to so many places creating new content and I think that this is honestly the most important thing we can do as creatives.
As photographers, we may not always think about taking pictures of ourselves, but having a current headshot is extremely important. Think of it as your own personal little billboard that allows people to see your ability as a photographer. After all, if you don't have a good picture of yourself on your website, what would make anybody believe that you can take quality pictures of anyone else?
As a former computer scientist, I’m all about finding efficiencies in my workflow and making my life easier. Some people might call it laziness. Logically, after years of shooting with a traditional DSLR kit, I was ready to ditch it in favor of moving to a small and light mirrorless set up. However, no other camera body appealed to me as much as my Nikon bodies for professional shooting. The combination of the great grip and ergonomics, fast and accurate autofocus system, solid battery life, and great image quality makes them a delight to use professionally. I didn't want to let go of the camera bodies so I decided to try something else first…
Finally, the greatest mobile lens company is now kicking things off in serious fashion with offering their lenses to more major phone brands. With iPhone being the flagship for the longest time of prime users they are also offering it to the Google Pixel as well as the latest and greatest from Samsung with the Galaxy S8.
So I'm just going to come right out of the gates swinging and put it out there; dedicated Facebook business pages are not relevant anymore. The year is 2017 and Facebook has evolved into one of the most efficient advertising machines out there, giving users the opportunity to spend money at every glance. In doing so, it has become the same old commercial that everyone hates and has destroyed the need for a Facebook business page at all.
Here we are, another year has gone by and we have just enjoyed the release of yet another camera that is "certainly" the most amazing thing since sliced bread. This new camera comes with promises of wondrous grandeur that are only cemented by the inevitable implication from its maker that it is the camera that will help you create truly better images than you did before. This is, of course, nothing more than marketing hype designed to get you to spend your money.
When I was starting out as a professional photographer, I felt I had to be all things to all people. Any work that came in, no matter what genre of photography, how boring or bizarre, I said yes. If a company came to me with a request and they said they couldn't afford my quote, I'd bend myself in to unnatural shapes to accommodate them, because some money is better than no money, right? I eventually came to the conclusion that this was unsustainable and I began to say no and to quote those awful click-bait titles, you'll never guess what happened next.
Vanity magazines are a popular place for photographers to submit images to when they are looking to take their photography to the next level. Eager photographers who want to shoot fashion or beauty will scour the Internet for fashion magazines that accept submissions in the hope that these publications will be a rung on their ladder to success. Unfortunately for many photographers, rather than climbing the ladder, they’re merely wasting time and money.
I find myself in a grateful mood this week. Well, to be honest, I find myself in a grateful mood every week. Through both times of feast and famine, it is impossible to escape the unbelievable good fortune bestowed on me to allow me live on this earth, to create art, and exist in a world where I am allowed to dream. Whether you win or lose, getting to play the game is a gift and shouldn’t be taken for granted. So this week, between crafting bids, fine-tuning cold calls, and assembling moodboards, I am taking time to do a different sort of brainstorming: how can I give back to a world that has given me so much?
I’m sure everyone at this point has explored the vast array of articles discussing all the technical aspects of the newly announced D850. If you haven’t here is one from your very own Fstoppers writer, Adam Ottke. You can read the announcement here. While I agree with most of the assessments that I’ve read or watched so far in that the camera will be a powerhouse with really innovative features, my thoughts come back to what was in the news just a few months ago. What is the financial health of Nikon? Do they still need help from other companies like Fujifilm? Most importantly, should I invest in new equipment from a company whose financial standing is in question? With all this in mind, I did some research.
It's always exciting to think what will be the next big thing in photography. What new piece of gear will hit the others out of the park and change the game. The argument can be made that the technological advances in sensors have made it harder for photographers to differentiate themselves from the #shotoniphone masses, but we all got in to photography to take pictures, with whatever tools we had available at the time. This video shows what could be the future of photography. There's only one way to find out whether it's right or not.
We all wonder what Nikon or Canon’s next camera is going to be like or how will social media channels that affect our business evolve in the near future. But what about the distant future of photography? Let’s see some predictions about the photography, gear and business.
Do you have images or films that are sitting on your file servers and nobody, except for your team and the client, knows you did them? Even if you don't, you will eventually have a few some day. How would you handle such requests to not publish images and can you take any advantage of that?
EISA recently named the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Art as the best DSLR lens for 2017-2018, and based on my experience with this lens, I have to agree. It is a fantastic lens and performs at a very high level, with incredible detail rendering capabilities and beautiful bokeh. For the longest time, the 135mm focal length had a little bit of a gap that really needed to be filled. Canon has their version, which although is a great performer, it just can't match the likes of the Zeiss 135mm f/2. However, due to having autofocus, many tend to choose the Canon version over the Zeiss. With the release of the Sigma version, it would seem that one may no longer need to compromise.
If there is anything photographers can agree on, it’s that we are obsessed with quality. This is a good thing when dealing with business, clients, and even personal projects. How many times though has this caused a glitch in documenting your personal life? I can personally say that I’ve let this get the best of me.
When it comes to photographers, there seem to be those that dabble in a bit of everything and there are those that shoot one and only one genre. It's a difference of mindset and of perspective, but is either better than the other or does it boil down to a matter of preference? Is there a clear cut benefit for either stance? I'm a one-track mind type of guy and I'm here to tell you that it doesn't bother me one bit.
I often think back to what it must've been like being a photographer before the birth of the Internet, the social media craze, and the hunt for likes, shares, and follows. Photography was less convoluted before the dawn of the digital age, with specialist magazines and museum and art gallery submissions showcasing only the cream of the crop. Browsing through old magazines and reading the articles, it's clear that the top-tier photographers stood out amongst the rest of the crowd for their raw skill in their art form. Their images meant something to many of those who took the time to stop and look at it for longer than two seconds.
A good portfolio is never finished. Portfolios, books, albums, or websites, however a photographer's body of work is contained, it should be ever-evolving and developing even after a photographer has started working on professional projects. Any perception that a photographer can leave a portfolio static once work starts flowing in is a dangerous one. For a number of reasons, developing and improving is an on-going process.
As photographers, we’re often on the bleeding edge of technology, and these days, the bleeding edge often includes an app for that. However, manufacturers are increasingly relying on apps to control their hardware at the expense of dedicated physical controls — and it’s a practice that must stop.
Like the Nikon D750, the Canon 5D Mark IV is the parent brand’s attempt at making what’s arguably the most versatile professional full-frame camera system that fits the needs of most professional photographers, except that it beats the D750 on nearly every metric that matters, as it should for a newer camera. Still, Nikon’s D850 easily strips the versatility title from Canon for plenty of reasons, not the least of which is resolution. The 5DS line, however, isn’t the only thing at which Nikon is taking aim with the new D850.
Even in today’s world where all the information you’ve ever wanted is in the palm of our hand, we still get caught up in the latest and greatest tech and forget about what most important — the story. We all go through stages where it’s easier to make the excuse that you’ll start putting out better work once you buy a specific piece of gear or you’ll start practicing your video work once you get that gimbal you’ve been safe keeping in your online shopping cart. We just need to spend more hours behind the camera constantly shooting than daydreaming about the gear that we’ll have soon.
