Remembrance Photography Helps Families to Heal

The absence of staff photographers makes scheduling shoots a challenge. While some parents may have advanced notice if life support is about to be removed or a caesarian is scheduled, photographers can struggle to rearrange their day. In most cases, however, a photographer is able to reach the hospital between two and twelve hours after receiving the call, and for those times when a photographer is unavailable, the organization also trains nurses to take the photographs themselves.

View the Original article

5 Uncommon Snow Photography Tips That Can Transform Your Winter Scenes.

White’ Vignette.

The purpose of a vignette is to keep the eyes from falling off the edge of an image and to lead the eyes back to the center of it.  With the amount of white and grey in snow photos, you generally can’t use a traditional dark vignette, since it will be too obvious and look out of place.

So use a white one!  White vignettes can add a magical quality to snow photographs and can further enhance the middle-of-the-storm effect.  Adobe Lightroom is the tool I use to add my vignettes and it works well.

This is such a simple tip, but it can make all the difference, as seen in the photo above.

 

View the Original article

The Most Popular Digital Photography Books of 2012 [Among dPS Readers]

Beyond Snapshots: How to Take That Fancy DSLR Camera Off “Auto” and Photograph Your Life like a Pro (co-authored by dPS eBook author – Rachel DevineUnderstanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any CameraThe Digital Photography BookThe Photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital PhotosUnderstanding RAW Photography (The Expanded Guide: Techniques)HDR Photography (The Expanded Guide: Techniques)Digital Photographer’s Guide to Dramatic Photoshop EffectsVisual Stories: Behind the Lens with Vincent Laforet (Voices That Matter)The Luminous Portrait: Capture the Beauty of Natural Light for Glowing, Flattering PhotographsSpeedliter’s Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon SpeedlitesScott Kelby’s Digital Photography Boxed SetComplete Digital PhotographyLearning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in PhotographyDigital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful MemoriesBetterPhoto Basics: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Taking Photos Like a ProWant more?

Check out the current best selling digital photography books on Amazon where they currently have most books at 30-50% off retail price!

Note: dPS earns a small commission if you purchase one of these books after clicking on one of the above links. This helps our site sustain itself – we appreciate your support!

Read more from our Digital Photography Resources Category

View the Original article

Food photography – 5 simple ways to get stronger shot

Part of the attraction of food is the way it looks, so making sure your images exude the correct colours associated with the product. Before you begin shooting always take a white balance reading from a grey card if you have one or if you’re using a compact set the White Balance to a preset that matches the lighting environment you are shooting in.

2. Look for the Best Light

The best light for shooting food is soft and even, which is why a lot of it is shot in studios with large softboxes. But if don’t have expensive studio equipment to hand, position food in front of a clean window for the same effect, or if it’s a particularly bright day and you are getting shadows on your captures, veil the window with a white sheet or net to diffuse the rays or simply move the food further from the light source to diffuse its brightness. Alternatively if the weather is fair, consider pitching up outside and shooting alfresco to add another element of interest to the frame.

3. Background

If you’re using a plate or work surface as the backdrop for your shoot, make sure it’s clean, tidy and no smudges of food plague the periphery. After shooting your first shot, zoom in during playback to be sure you haven’t missed anything that will result in hours of Photoshop cloning post-shoot. The backdrop and setting you use can ultimately enhance the message you want to achieve, so use this to compliment the food rather than detract from it; for example a wooden chopping board suggests rustic, an outdoor table says al fresco, square plates suggest minimalism, etc. Typically white backdrops carry connotations of image stock sites, so don’t be afraid to inject colour into the background using coloured sheets or card if item is small enough, for an added element of interest. When choosing the backdrop use a colour that compliments that of the food or reflects the vibe you want to portray, as darker colours can often influence thoughts of comfort and warmth, whereas lighter, brighter colours dictate ideas of freshness and frivolity.

View the Original article

Travel Photography Inspiration Project: Brazil

Barbeiro (Barber), Capim Grosso, Bahia by Julie Orfirer

As always, getting off the beaten path, staying as long as you can in one place – enough to be a familiar face in a small town if possible – will give you the opportunities to catch life as it is. Brazil is a friendly place with people who are willing to help with communicating and show off what is special about their home towns.

View the Original article

Aspect Ratios in Landscape Photography

Square format

The square format can often be used to simplify an image and give a subject a striking presence at the centre of the frame.  By keeping the width equal to the height, the way in which we read the photograph changes, as there is less of a need to move left-to-right through the frame.  The square format lends a good opportunity to break the rules we so often follow

View the Original article

My Favorite Gear: Weekly Photography Challenge

Darren Rowse is the editor and founder of Digital Photography School and SnapnDeals. He lives in Melbourne Australia and is also the editor of the ProBlogger Blog Tips. Follow him on Instagram on his 'darrenrowse' account, on Twitter at

View the Original article

Has Microstock Photography Had Its Day?

Davies’s own tool, which tracks the gap between the demand for particular terms and the supply of images that suit them, may help photographers to spot opportunities but even those doors are closing. Eventually all current in-demand terms will become saturated, he warns, although some will fill faster than others, depending mostly on the ease with which a photographer can shoot them.

View the Original article

Boutique Agents Provide Specialized Photography Work

We would literally be working on a stock search for a particular magazine, or shooting for another, and by the time I went to deliver the work, the magazine would have folded,

View the Original article

Building a Dream Photography Career in Five Years

and sometimes a combination of the two. His prints are bought by both businesses and individuals, and his commercial assignments take him to some of the most beautiful places on earth often for clients patient enough to understand that it might take a few sunsets to capture the right image. Usually, he can be found in the wilderness, with his camera, waiting for the weather to give him a perfect shot. It’s the ideal photographic life, and it took Leggo just five years to build with no formal training and a background in aviation, not artistry.

That background though may have contributed in at least one important way to Leggo’s success. His military experience, Leggo says, gave him a strong belief in preparation and planning, a discipline that he extends to his photography.

View the Original article

Editorial Photography Goes Amateur

There is also a constant need for photos that tell stories about travel and lifestyles or those that provide social commentary. These are the types of images iStock will now be able to offer.

View the Original article

Fun Photography Courses You’ve Never Considered

and you haven’t thought of them.

Wedding photographers might take classes on posing brides and shooting details. Portrait photographers will learn about expression and lighting, and there’s no shortage of courses for landscape photographers hoping to get more out of their foreign trips. But what do you do when you’ve studied the essentials and learned the basics? Here are four unusual photography courses that can take your shooting in all sorts of unexpected directions.

iPhoneography

We’ve already seen that it’s sometimes possible to make money from the images people shoot with their iPhones but those sold shots make up only a tiny fraction of the millions of photographs taken every year on Apple’s device. The other pictures are only meant to be memorable, pretty and artistic. London’s Kensington and Chelsea College wants to make that easier by offering a five-week course on iPhoneography.

The classes, which cost

View the Original article

When You Need a Photography Consultant

and they’re not certain how to reach it.

And there’s no reason they should be certain. The sort of business planning and marketing skills that can take a business where it wants to go demand a whole range of talents that differ drastically from the creativity needed to be a great photographer. They also often require the kind of detachment that can only come from a disinterested observer.

Like management consultants, creative consultants aim to deliver those talents (and that detachment) to professionals working in creative fields. Unlike management consultants though, they often bring years of hands-on industry experience to their clients as well expertise in their niche.

Getting the Marketing Right

Amanda Sosa Stone, for example, studied photography at the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies. She then spent several years as an art buyer at advertising firm Draft FCB. She has been a contributing photo editor and co-authored The Photographer’s Survival Guide with Suzanne Sease. She now works with Agency Access, a marketing service for creative professionals, and provides personal consulting for photographers. The list of talent that she’s helped include Jim Krantz, the 2010 International Photographer of Year, Nick Onken, and National Geographic’s Assignment Division (with co-consultant Suzanne Sease.) More usually though, she works with commercial photographers who shoot advertising, editorial and corporate images, and with consumer photographers who photograph weddings and consumer portraits. Her aim, she says, is to provide help with editing, with creating presentation material such as branding, websites, portfolios and promotional material, and to lay out a marketing plan.

The process begins with the photographer sending Amanda an email explaining where they were, where they are and where they want to go. Amanda also asks to see current or older portfolios or any printed material the photographer might have. She and the photographer will then have two phone calls, each lasting an hour. The first call will discuss presentation and provide suggestions for ways in which the photographer can improve his or her website and portfolio. The second will focus on marketing and lay out a plan for the year ahead.

For photographers who want a Premium Consult, Amanda will then provide reviews of the photographer’s new marketing material (which includes list building), the final printed portfolio and the photographer’s new website. She’ll also follow up after six months and eleven months to see whether the photographer is still on track and moving towards his or her goals. The most common mistakes she sees photographers making, she says, are pretty basic:

View the Original article

Win Regular Photography Jobs from Wedding Planners

but she has to trust them first.

That trust can come from a number of different sources. The best way for a photographer to win her trust is to come recommended by another wedding planner. That suggests that having broken into the community of wedding professionals, your name can spread widely bringing in even more business. It does little though to help a photographer make their first steps.

A website has surprisingly little use. Smith says that she won’t hire a photographer who has only invited her to look through their online portfolio.

View the Original article

Organize a Pop Up Studio for Your Photography Business

and what you hope to get out of them.

The idea comes mainly from the catering industry. Chefs travel from location to location, sometimes using food trucks to prepare the meals, allowing them to experiment with new dishes and meet diners who otherwise wouldn’t be able to taste their cuisine. In photography, where pop up studios are still relatively new, the aim is similar. Instead of meeting clients in their studio or shooting one client in one location, photographers pick a spot, announce where they’ll be photographing and invite anyone who wants to come along to make a booking and pick up some professional pictures. They get to reach new markets, take new orders and spread their name further than their fixed studio usually allows.

In March this year, Rhapsody Road, a new two-woman wedding photography studio in the UK, used a pop up studio to launch their business. They rented a room at Craft Central, a London arts initiative with space to hire and a generous approach to creative ideas. Helped by their intern

View the Original article

Using Participatory Photography for Social Change

Some projects begin at PhotoVoice as a response to an issue or situation which the group decides participatory photography can help. They look for a local partner with links in the community and raise funds through grants, trusts and events.

View the Original article

From Baby Photography to Birth Photography

My clients range from women whose personal choice is to schedule a Cesarean before ever feeling a contraction to women giving birth in water at home with midwives,

View the Original article

Using Email Marketing to get More Photography Jobs

They work in fields that range from lifestyle and food to fashion and editorial. The company supplies photographers with a variety of services that start with the ability to draw up a list of potential buyers, such as magazine editors and ad agency art buyers who work in a particular field or in a particular region, and send them a marketing pitch. But photographers can also manage their entire email campaign through the site, purchase design services, hire a campaign manager and put together a direct marketing mail campaign as well.

The results are fairly typical, and perhaps even a little low, for email marketing. According to Christine Andrews of Agency Access, photographers who send email pitches to buyers on the company’s lists can expect their messages to receive open rates of between 15 and 20 percent, and clickthrough rates of between 3 and 5 percent. That compares to open rate averages across different industries of 24.8 percent at the end of 2011 and click rates of 5.2 percent.

A Marketing Message is Part of a Plan

Photographers though don’t need to have giant clickthrough rates because they don’t need to have giant client lists. Each commission may be worth several thousand dollars, generate repeat offers and win the kind of personal recommendations that buyers use the most. A single commission would be more than enough to justify the expense and the time involved in creating the campaign.

While AgencyAccess has the contact lists though, the addresses themselves are only a small part of a successful email campaign.

View the Original article

Double Your Passion by Shooting Railroad Photography

locomotives were put on display in Spencer, North Carolina in July, around 4,000 photographers turned up to shoot them.

The Center for Railroad Photography & Art was founded 15 years ago to interpret the connection between railroad art and American history and culture. The center organizes traveling exhibitions, holds an annual conference and maintains a collection of railroad visual media. Its current project is an exhibition of World War II-era portraits of railroad workers from the Chicago area called

View the Original article

Depth of Field in Floral Photography

A floral photograph can make for a striking, artistic and moving image. From colour popping close ups , to a sad broken rose on a memorial bench to the wedding bouquet that means so much to the bride. And although the subject matter is either meaningful, emotional or just simply beautiful, if your settings are off the photo can be appalling ruining the capture.

Depth of field is the key to capturing your floral image perfectly and turning a bland flower shot into something that stuns. This is your ultimate tool to ensure your flower or flowers are the center of attention, or not, depending on your style.

View the Original article