This is one area where even non-photographers can’t help themselves from taking at least a few photos. Whether a quick snap with a phone or a patiently planned out camera shot, travel photography is an essential part of keeping those memories intact. Here are a few tips on making your next trip a beneficial documentary experience! Gear First and foremost, you should know what you’re going to bring. Depending on how long your trip is, if it’s for business or leisure, if you’re a hobbyist or professional, or if you’ll be in an area where you can bring out specific gear, you’ll need to decide how much you think you’ll use & how much you’re willing to carry around with you all day. If you’re only using your phone, this will be easy as you can fit that in a pocket or purse. Though, I recommend bringing along those clip-on lenses just so you have a bit more flexibility. They are quite affordable as well as small and can be fun to use. If you’re going compact or mirrorless you’re also going to fortunately have a smaller pack. This would be my most recommended route just […]
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Most fields require a flawless cover letter & resume to be considered for a position. That is also important in creative fields; however, the portfolio is paramount. Claiming to be a photographer & having no work to back up that claim doesn’t exactly look promising to potential clients. In our visual field, having a collection of carefully curated work will help tell the world what your message is. Here are some tips to help you put your best self out there. medium I recommend having 3 different mediums: a website, a print book, & a digital PDF. Your website is a given and will be there for potentially anyone with internet access can view. This is the easiest to update. A print book is still very important to have (even in our digital world.) Quality is really shown in larger format prints. Bring this to interviews, reviews, and possibly workshops & always ask for feedback. A PDF is like a combination of your site & book in that it is in a digital form (easy to email but has the possibility to be printed) & only contains what you want to show potential hiring managers. […]
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As each year goes on, many of us in technology based fields see changes in how to market ourselves. One ever constant that has stood the test of time–and will arguably transcend into the future in one way or another—is the business card. This simple 2.5in x 3in card can really say a lot about the person passing it out. Good or bad. So it is important to put the same hard work into this marketing collateral as with your others. Here are a few different ways photographers can really leave an impression with their business cards. Shape A definite way to stand out in this category would be to pick an unconventional shape like a square or circle. There are mixed feelings about this choice in more business environments, but for creative fields, I see nothing wrong with making your card a different shape (as long as you have a valid reason for doing so.) Information Since there is such little real estate to work with, you must be concise with what you share. You definitely need your name, name of business (if different), possibly your title, your logo, and contact information. Don’t make your […]
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For this month I picked ‘use a location to wow’ which is exactly what happened when I edited the final picks. This is the start of a new series I’m working on, so stay tuned for more! Details about this shoot: Location – skywalk Lighting – triggered flash on a light stand Setup – camera on tripod, wireless connection to phone for preview/trigger For this particular sci fi inspired character, I wanted it to seem as though I was in a spaceship & knew that using a skywalk a night would do the trick. (In case anyone doesn’t know, a skywalk is a tubular walkway put in between buildings to protect people from the weather.) Because it was night though, I knew I’d need flash to help light myself as well as the background. I put my flash on a light stand and positioned it directly behind my camera. I used the remote trigger that came with the set, so I could fire the flash at the exact moment my camera shutter opened. It took a few trial runs, but once I had my settings right, I was able to capture some great images. I love the leading […]
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Choosing a favorite of any type is always so difficult. Honestly, I have even more books I could talk about, but thought it’d be best to keep it brief with 5 different types. I have listed these from top to bottom as seen in the featured image. Read this if you want to take great photographs of people by Henry Carroll This is my most recent addition and is a quick read. It features advice from various photographers about how to improve your portrait photography. I found it quite interesting to see different thoughts and techniques applied to my particular niche. The Body: Photographs of the Human Form by William A. Ewing Chock full of images, this book will surely feed the mind of those who find the human body intriguing. It has a mix of men & women, fine art nudes, & portraits as well. Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton You’ve more than likely heard of this ongoing project on social media by photographer Brandon Stanton. Well this is a collection of his street shots paired with quotes from those subjects. It’s incredibly inspiring to see how diverse people are and I also […]
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Continuing on with the shooting series, this week I want to discuss my favorite subject matter: portraits. Some may wonder why people are my favorite subject to shoot. Perhaps it’s because of their familiarity. Or it could be because they are so diverse (yet universally similar.) Whatever the reason, I love having them as subjects and want to share a couple tips with you! First you should identify what type of portrait you are going to take. Some different types are headshots, couples or groups, seniors, children, newborns, and the list goes on. I personally cater towards adults either looking for professional headshots, promotional images, or creative shoots. If you want tips on babies, children, or weddings, this may not be the article for you since those niches have specific challenges. Hopefully, I can share some universal tips with you that you may take with whatever your subject matter may be. Planning First you need to have a person in mind. Whether this is a paid shoot or not, planning some things ahead of time will make the whole shoot go smoother. Have your day, time, & location set ahead of time. If you are photographing a […]
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After years of saving, I have finally upgraded to a full frame DSLR: the Canon 5d MarkIV. I’ve had about a month to play with it and want to share my thoughts on it below. A couple years back, I was actually set on the MarkIII as it has such a great reputation and had friends who told me about how well it performed. But it was coming up on being 5 years old at that point & I suspected that Canon would be releasing its successor soon, so I waited and saved. The release was finally announced fall last year and I was so pumped to see the features it had so I scoured the internet for weeks reading & watching reviews. There have been a large amount of positive reviews on image quality though many videographers were upset with the way it uses jpg frames when recording 4K video. The thing is though; I was looking for primarily a still camera with excellent quality, so these particular comments didn’t faze me. (Once I jump back into video again, I’d want a dedicated video camera anyway.) The other reason why I decided to pick up […]
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Let me first explain what I mean by “pseudo.” Or rather, I will explain what it is not. To me, pseudo is not someone at any level (beginner, hobbyist, amateur, or intermediate) who truly has a love for taking photographs and couldn’t imagine life not doing so in one way or another. They may want to do this professionally one day, or keep it as a fun activity, but the passion is there all the same. I associate pseudo with the following: An individual who doesn’t take the time to learn how to improve An individual with a lot of extra money to spend on gear An individual who doesn’t understand the hard work it takes yet craves notoriety An individual who doesn’t take advice/criticism from other photographers 1 – “I’ll just rock it on auto mode and hope for the best!” This is a trait I see in many beginners. They have a fear of failure, so they let the camera decide what’s best. The problem with this is that they aren’t allowing themselves any creative freedom. They aren’t using light to their advantage, heck, they don’t even know how the camera is using light because […]
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This month I decided to combine two challenges from Lindsay’s book again. First I chose “1 color” which I knew I would use my favorite color red. I set about grabbing as much red stuff I had to wear (trust me, there’s a bunch) and found that I really wanted to feature my red bowler hat which brings me to the next challenge… “Recreate a famous Artwork in your own way.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of Bowler hats & artwork, I instantly think of Rene Magritte. I always enjoyed his paintings and considering I specialize in thematic portraits, surrealism is straight up my alley. Son of Man was my main inspiration: My background was red, and along with the red bowler hat, I wore a red blazer and had a floating red apple complete it all. Let’s just say this challenge was incredibly fun. So this time, I had the opportunity to play, which is sometimes lost when shooting for other people. May the light be with you. Follow
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Flash* seems to be the most difficult & most avoided type of lighting for beginners. Though I am not an expert in regards to this type of lighting, I have learned some ways to use it to my advantage over the years. I hope I can help ease any worries and reveal that it’s actually not scary at all and a very useful tool to use. So let’s look at some pros & cons of using flash and then specific tips. *Note I am referring to external flashes, not the popup flash on many cameras. PROS Affordable I’ve seen flash heads for as low as $20 on Amazon, so depending on your budget, you’re more than likely to find one to pick up. Portable Since they run on battery, you won’t have any cords or bulbs to worry about. Just bring extra batteries just in case and you’re set! Because they’re so small, they fit easily in camera bags and can be set up fairly quickly at the shoot. Versatile You can attach them to your camera body (pointing the light up or sideways), you can put them on light stands and spread them […]
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