There's so much we photographers can learn from watching what others in our industry do, whether we watch a tutorial or start an online photography course. But have you thought about improving your business by looking beyond photography industry?
Diving deep into Photoshop can seem daunting, but to suit both beginners and more experienced Photoshop users alike, Colin Smith from Photoshop Cafe has created a video covering useful tips and tricks on using layer masks to strengthen your Photoshop knowledge.
If you're an aspiring lifestyle, commercial, or fashion photographer who doesn't live anywhere near the large cities, can you make your business a success? Olivia Bossert, an established fashion and lifestyle photographer, gives you her insight on how she did it.
Have you ever thought that you need to shoot more for yourself but have no idea where to start? Photographer Pierre T. Lambert will save you time on this and offers a fun exercise that every photographer should try at least once in their lifetime: shoot underwater!
Have you ever thought about Facebook as a 3D experience? Engadget reports that at the mostly-annual F8 conference, which showcases what the social media giant has in store for the future, announcers introduced a new way users will be able to capture their images in 3D and also experience past images in a virtual reality setting.
We often hear that we, photographers, don't necessarily need to travel the world or spend a lot of money to create beautiful photographs. That's exactly what Kavin Bradner endeavored to do when he began a weekly photographic ode to his girlfriend, calling it #maggiemondays.
There're so many stories about big brands and companies approaching photographers in the hope of getting free images to use in exchange for the popular currency that is exposure, but what happens when they exclude the photographer from the equation completely and instead head straight to your client asking for free images?
Whether you're shooting your favorite dish to add something casual to your Instagram or Facebook account and still want it to fit the aesthetics of the rest of your photography work, or you're trying to get started in food photography, here are a few tips from Jacs Powell, a food photographer and a "foodie at heart."
As a wedding photographer, it's not always easy to find balance between the style of work you're genuinely passionate about and the type of work that pays the bills. So, how can you shoot personal projects to improve your professional photography work?
As artistic as us wedding photographers might be, we still love a good dose of useful statistics to reflect on our own business from last year and to make targets going forward. So, how does your wedding business compare to other photographers operating in the U.K.?
There's a lot to be said about the artistic nightmares street photographers often endure when hours of shooting and traveling may result in only a handful of photographs that they're happy with. One photographer set himself up for the ultimate test: shooting portraits of strangers in Times Square for 24 hours nonstop.
There's still plenty of families and communities that heavily rely upon the forestry industry. Finland, a country many of us associate with deep woods and arctic temperatures, continues to carry the strong legacy of those who spent their lives working in the forest, and as such, photographer Sanna Vornanen celebrates the lives of lumberjacks all around the world through her latest project.
We have seen various projects appear that celebrate and normalize humanity's oldest and most natural action: breastfeeding. However, while some photographers try to focus on how the public perceives a woman who breastfeeds in public, Emma Shardlow Hudson from Hudson & Rose Photography does something quite unique.
How would you feel if a random photographer stopped you and asked you to pose by embracing, touching or hugging a stranger? Richard Renaldi has been creating his intimate series "Touching Strangers" for years and has learned plenty about human behavior through this process.
Even though postpartum bodies aren't something that our society likes to talk about or showcase for public display, we've all come from the same place so it's about time we started celebrating the processes women's bodies go through to bring a new life into this world. Which is why photographer Grace Elizabeth has created a "Gold Dust" project to look into postpartum motherhood.
There's much to be said about enriching the photography industry through positive and honest collaborations between professionals, but one thing I think we don't talk about enough is the benefits of shooting weddings with a trusted second shooter and how it can benefit your business and even your wellbeing.
Turns out you don't always need to be an amazing photographer to create photographic art. I came across graphic designer Bashar Hjooj's work on Instagram, where he combines two to three photographs shot by complete strangers to create art full of imagination with his own take.
The same way people portraiture requires imagination and inspiration to create something different, so does dog photography. Have you tried photographing dogs but wished you could have added something to make them stand out more? Phil Harris has created a short video to give you 10 quick and easy tips and tricks to achieve that.
When Wedding Photographer Annie Crossman was shooting her last wedding before her maternity break, she wanted to make it a memorable one. However, she never expected it to end up on local news after police crashed it.
You probably have heard of Rotten Tomatoes, a website that critically reviews movies and TV shows, but have you heard about Rotten Apples?
Why do we keep creating? Why do we feel the need to keep creating something that nowadays merely feeds to the largely insatiable society that craves new content, new trends, new visuals? Jakob Owens created a brief but thought-evoking video which gives an insight in how today's creative mind works.
How many times have we had moments where we wished we had brought our camera with us? Luckily, the technology is advancing fast and far, and our smartphones are becoming more capable of substituting our cameras, at least as a back up for those one-off moments that cannot be always revisited. Wedding Photographers Marko and Vanja, who didn't have their gear with them, luckily had a Samsung Galaxy A5 when all the stars aligned to give them the perfect photo opportunity.
For some of us becoming old may be a thing of a distant future, for others it may be a day-to-day experience. However, for many of us "empathy for our older population is lacking, and audiences need reminding that we are all aging and old people need to feel the joy of human interaction too". This is one of many reasons why photographer, known simply as "Z", has put together a photographic exhibition to highlight the legacy of those who may find themselves lonely and forgotten.
As I was browsing Facebook, my attention was caught by a short video made by Arthur Nguyen. The brief video depicts demolition of two university residence buildings but what got me hooked was the way Nguyen recorded and edited it, which made me want to watch it several times in a row. I reached out to the young artist behind this video to find out more about why and how he created it (and on a student's budget!).
What appears to be a long-kept secret to the general public, apparently has been a common knowledge for those who have worked in the fashion industry. The times are changing and as such Carolyn Kramer, who was an agent for fashion giant Elite Model Management, is finally speaking out about the horrific behavior that blatantly went on both behind the scenes as well as on sets.
If you're like me, you will find that before shooting your clients you will feel as nervous as they are, or even more! I have found that there are certain things I can do to relax myself and my clients before, during and after our session, which also helps to create a long lasting relationship and hopefully creates a repeat booking. So, what can you do to make the photographic experience as painless as possible and create a rewarding relationship with your client?
I've noticed a trend in people photography, namely, many of us tend to move from one model to the next one far too quickly, and far too often. At times, it appears that it doesn't really matter who the next subject is or what their personality is like, as long as there is a model shoot booked in. While for some it may provide a reason to boast about their newest portfolio addition, to others it's simply a routine that can be difficult to break out of. So, why should we focus on shooting the same person more than once?
What happens when a visual artist overhears his uncles discussing how women "are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen, and fulfilling their 'womanly duties?'" Eli Rezkallah, who's a photographer and a visual artist currently residing in Beirut, came up with the idea of creating a controversial set of photographs that reverse the traditional gender roles, that had been so strongly embedded within our society through advertisement during the twentieth century.
There is a reason people say that your price range usually determines what kind of clients you attract, and this also often holds true for photography workshops, not just for weddings or photoshoots. I found this out in the hard way; I burned out, made hardly any profit, sometimes even loss. So, how did I end up in this situation and why did I keep going instead of learning from my mistakes early on?
I was completely blown away when I came across Diane Villadsen's project “Old Friends,” a high-fashion, conceptual take on aging. To celebrate the process all of us will go through eventually, why not do it in a unique way through photography and fashion? I got in touch with Villadsen to find out more about her inspiration for the shoot.
It's one thing to be a female and feeling represented in this industry, but it's a whole different thing to be a black female, trying to acquire recognition and voice in photography. How many can you name from the top of your head? For the first time in 30 years, there is a substantial body of work to give an international representation to women of African descent. MFON, "an exclusive and commemorative publication," has collated stories and photographs from over 100 women of African descent, to kick off their first issue, "MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora."
The #MeToo movement isn't going away anytime soon, whether we want it or not. The time is right for women and men to come out with their experiences of sexual abuse and misconduct in arts and business, following the examples of high-profile celebrities. One such celebrity, Ashley Graham, an American model who has been a dedicated advocate for self-confidence and body acceptance, has been courageous and spoken out about her #MeToo experience at the beginning of her modeling career.
