This was another very busy month, so I went with a less time intensive challenge and picked “a frame within a frame.” I was able to get this image back when I visited my bestie in LA a few months back at an awesome bookstore out there. Although these challenges are primarily meant to be new conceptual work, I see nothing wrong with using images captured on vacation if they fit the specific theme picked. So don’t ever let strict rules stop you from sharing; modify them so you can still post according to your original schedule. May the light be with you. Follow
Read More
This month was quite busy, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from continuing my challenge. I had the perfect opportunity to do so at Comic Con with my picks; fantasy & a portrait without a face. I went on my b-day and was able to see a bunch of other folks dressed up as well. I had such a fun time! The featured image & the top one fulfill the ‘portrait without a face’ part, but the rest are definitely within the fantasy realm. May my nerdiness inspire you! May the light be with you. Follow Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save
Read More
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. […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
Niche has a few different definitions, but in regards to work as an artist, it is closely related to genre. This is sometimes difficult to pinpoint, especially for newcomers. Years ago, I remember saying I couldn’t possibly limit myself because I loved to shoot everything! Well that love may be true for many of us, but typically there are a couple types of photography we find ourselves gravitate towards. For me, it’s people. I love anything involving people; portraits, fashion, street, etc. There’s something so fascinating about the human face, body, and overall interaction with the world. Because of this love, the majority of what I shoot involves people. My niche is specific in that I focus primarily on portraits & headshots. Advantages for having a specific niche: You have a focus. By honing in on a very specific aspect in your field, you will always have an idea of what your next project will be. Your passion really shines through. Because you aren’t trying to shoot every single thing in the world (which could amount to so-so results) you are able to put in 100% each time you do a shoot. […]
Read More
This month my challenge was to tell a story. A friend of mine, her fiancé, and their dog (who I call Honey Fluff) were able to help me out with this. Ironically, the story turned out to reflect their love for one another, which is so fitting what with Valentine’s Day still on so many people’s minds. We recently had some incredibly nice weather for this time of year, so we decided to take a walk in the park. I didn’t feel the immediate urge to “GET THE SHOT” like I’ve often felt before. I really felt calm and enjoyed catching up with them and realized I’d get the shot eventually, so I didn’t need to stress about it. After about an hour or so, we wound up in a small grove out of the way of other people. I sat them down on a log and Honey Fluff sat in between. It’s always a little difficult when shooting pets, but my friend brought treats along, and we were able to distract her with them to get some great images. This month I didn’t so much learn a technique, but I did gain an even […]
Read More
