October 2011

The Basics of Google+: 10 Tips to Help Photographers

Google+ is becoming pretty popular among photographers as a way to share work and connect with others. If you've been thinking about jumping in but don't know where to begin, Scott Kelby and Co. made this helpful (and free) hour-long primer with tips on how to use the service effectively.

More Advice for Aspiring Photographers from Chase Jarvis

Here's the second half of Tamara Lackey's recent interview with photographer Chase Jarvis.

[...] Chase gets very real about how he deals with critics, actually taking pride in being disruptive. And, while on the topic of criticism, some thoughts on dealing with the voices in your own head.

We shared the first part last weekend.

Portraits of Loving Pets with Disabilities

Photographer Carli Davidson -- now Internet-famous for her portraits of dogs shaking off water -- has a heartwarming project titled Pets with Disabilities in which she uses portraits to tell the stories of happy dogs that have various handicaps. For the photo above:

(Corgi) Duncan has a spinal disorder that many corgis are prone to. Even though he can't use his hind legs he is still extremely active. He throws toys across the room for himself to fetch, and his favorite treat is whipped cream.

Flowers Exploded and Neatly Arranged

Exploded Flowers is a project by Singapore-based photographer Qi Wei in which he carefully disassembles various flowers into their most basic "parts", and photographs them neatly arranged against a white background.

How to Respond to Requests for Free Photography

Photographer Tony Wu constantly receives requests that ask whether he would be willing to work for free in exchange for "credit" and "exposure". Instead of a lengthy response explaining why he doesn't want to work for free, Wu often leaves the emails unanswered, or worse, ends up sending snippy responses that he later regrets. He recently came up with the idea of writing a generic and informational response that all professional photographers can respond with.

Man Disguises Digital Camera as 70-Year-Old Vintage Camera to Troll Strangers

John (AKA knife141) loves turning junk into unusual creations, and one day came up with idea of building a camera for the sole purpose of confusing strangers. He took a $15 digicam and transformed it into a Argus C3 from the mid-1900s:

My goal was to install a modern digital camera inside the housing of an old, obsolete camera. I thought it might be fun to pull this camera out in a crowd of people and make them wonder why in the world an old man would continue to use a camera that was obviously as old as he was, as opposed to something more modern.

[...] I've had a lot of fun with this camera, taking it places and watching people's puzzled looks as I appear to be using an old beat-up camera that was made about the time I was born! I have even had people approach me and ask if I can still get film developed -- with no idea that the heart of my camera is actually digital! I have also had people ask me how many pictures I can take with the camera, and they always look puzzled when I tell them, "Oh, around 4,000 or so."

Street Art that Points Old School Cameras at Passers-By

Street artists Jana & JS visit cities across Europe and paint portraits of themselves (and sometimes others) shooting with various film cameras. Each piece first starts out as a photograph, which is then turned into a stencil that's used to put up the painting.

The M-Plate: One Camera Tripod Plate to Rule Them All

There are a number of products out there that connect your strap to your DSLR via the tripod mount, allowing it to swivel, but taking up the mount is an inconvenience for photographers who actually use it regularly with their tripod. San Francisco-based Custom SLR (makers of the C-Loop) has come up with a solution that offers the best of both worlds: the M-Plate.

A Girl’s Dreams Photographed Using Things Found in a Bedroom

Photographer Jan von Holleben, known for his Dreams of Flying series, was recently hired by a German newspaper to make photos using his signature "lying on the ground" style for a feature on dreams. He ended up shooting photographs showing a girl's dream using a mattress and other ordinary objects you might find inside a bedroom.

Worlds Captured in Drops of Water

We've featured photographs of paintings and candies captured in drops of water before, but photographer Markus Reugels' water drops double as planets. By photographing drops of water in front of images of Earth and the moon, he's able to transform the liquid spheres into beautiful worlds.

Engagement Photos with Oversized Bear Heads

When clients Janet and Darrell asked Australian photographer Hailey Bartholomew for a creative engagement shoot earlier this year, she came up with the idea of having the couple wear oversized bear heads.

Picuous Adds One-Click Sharing to Photos On Your Website

By Martin Pannier on picuous

Unlike most videos you find on the web, images aren't very easy for the average person to share. Rather than hotlink photos from their original source, as is done for videos, most "sharing" involves downloading the photos, uploading them somewhere else, and then publishing that new version of the image. Picuous, a new service that launched today, aims to change that by bringing one-click Vimeo-style sharing to online photographs.