A few years ago, I read an article online about an artist who was aiming to receive 100 rejections in a year. I understand his philosophy behind the article. Based on the number of rejections, there will be a number of accepted as well. So the higher the rejection number, the higher the accepted will be too.
Ever since I began traveling for work, I’ve looked for ways to capture the beauty of planet Earth from above. As early as the 1990s, I began experimenting with every alternative imaginable: ultralights, helicopters, seaplanes, hot air balloons and hang gliders. For me, the drone was simply a dream that materialized in front of me – the beginning of a new era that opened all the doors I desired and freeing me in my search for new photographic elements, perspectives, and composition.
It began with an email one morning. The link in it led to the work of one hundred fifty photographers. I had 1,500 images to judge for Focus Photo, a s**t ton of looking to get it right. It wasn’t going to be easy to hold it all in my mind, to remember why I was making the decisions I was making.
One of the more difficult aspects of post-processing is identifying when you’re starting to over edit a photo. It’s common knowledge what many of the characteristics of an over-edited image are, but determining when you’ve gone too far, that’s the challenging part. In this 14-minute video, I break down five tips that have helped me to understand and identify when I’m beginning to over process an image.
I like to be very aware of my influencers and the effect they have on my work. When I find that I particularly like an image from another photographer, I will give it a lot of thought before I try and apply any of my analysis to my own images.
After many years of doing photography as an amateur, I came to a few simple and rather trivial realizations.
Debating whether or not it’s time for a business partner? This video and article will help you weigh out 3 pros and 3 cons to running a photography business with a partner.
I can’t help but notice all those articles proclaiming mistakes we should try to avoid in order to become a better photographer. Admittedly, I have issues with such an approach. First of all: I hate the word “should”. Basically we “should” nothing. Secondly, there is not much learning in avoiding mistakes — we learn best from our mistakes and the more bittersweet they are the more carved into our memory they become.
For a while now, I’ve wanted to cover the topic of syndication as it was a major factor in my work gaining widespread exposure and for the full-time career that I have now as a fine art, commercial, and editorial photographer.
You might have seen countless videos about travel photography tips online. Most of them touch on more or less the same stuff, which is either fairly obvious or pretty banal. Here's a 17-minute video about travel photography tips that I’d consider fairly unusual. They aren’t something you commonly hear.
Are you a portrait photographer in search of a 2019 New Year’s resolution? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been really stressed over the prospect of another year of not reaching my photography goals.
One of my favorite environments for photojournalism is the world of fashion, which I fell into almost accidentally when I first started out as a photographer. It has been one of the most interesting, rewarding experiences both artistically and personally, and I would like to share some thoughts on working in that scene.
Debating which camera brand is best is a sure way to create a lively discussion among photographers. It’s easy to endlessly discuss specs and online reviews and to think that the latest model will give us some missing edge. But what about when you really put images to the test with prints?
The year is coming to an end. It has been a nice year for me and I feel I am still improving in regards to photography. Not only skill-wise but also on the business side of things, which is currently important for me as I am living off of photography. I'm writing out some tips that always help me in becoming better, and I hope they're useful for you as well.
Looking to get started in film photography and hunting for your first camera in the used marketplace? Photographer Casey Cavanaugh made this helpful 9-minute guide containing 5 tips to ensure you find a good one.
My name is Ettore Chiereguini, and I'm a freelance photographer from Brazil. Here are some things I've learned about photographing riots and protests.
You're full of excitement, and new adventures and life experiences are just around the corner. You have finally completed those last minute errands and your bag is now bursting at the seams as you try to squeeze in the last few items before zipping that bad boy up and darting out the door for the airport. But you pause for a moment and find yourself staring at your bag. You think to yourself, "Have I forgotten anything?"
Everyone has been taught from birth how to get a kid to smile. You just tell them to say "cheese" and they respond with a nice big natural smile, right? Well, anyone that's actually tried this can testify to how well it works (if you didn't catch my sarcasm... it doesn't). You end up with a photo of a kid with clenched teeth, a scrunched nose, and raised eyebrows.
In this 11-minute video, I’m going to be telling you the biggest rip-offs that I think are happening in photography and giving you my tips on how to avoid them. Hopefully this will save you some money on your photography journey and make you aware of the traps a lot of learning photographers fall into.
I have major gear envy syndrome. Every new release seems to bring with it a feature that makes me jealous enough to attempt to justify a ridiculously expensive purchase. But even for those of you happily using your 5-year-old DSLR (I secretly envy you), there is always the question of when to upgrade your camera gear.
Over the last few years, the photography industry has been growing quite steadily. With the advent of new technologies and price-accessible equipment, more and more people are choosing the photography industry. Smartphones have also played a significant part in the influx of new photographers and creatives.
I’ve had many cameras in my 36 plus years as a photographer. I started with a Pentax K1000 (a brilliant camera) then I moved on to my beautiful Hasselblad and many Canons. The cameras come and go, either from wear and tear or the demands of needing new technology. But in all my time my as a photographer, I’ve only had 3 tripods.
I'm New Zealand-born photojournalist Amos Chapple, and I've worked in some of the most extreme places on earth, most chillingly in Siberia’s “Pole of Cold” where villagers endure temperatures that can drop below -94°F (-70°C). As winter begins to bite, here are six pointers for shooting when the cold gets real.
I guide photography workshops around the world and what I often see with my students is that they bring a great camera and a great set of lenses in combination with a very low-quality tripod. I can’t stress enough how important a good tripod is. If you want to level up your landscape photography, you need a good tripod. Please don’t go cheap on this. I’d argue it’s even more important than your camera!
Want to improve your macro photography game? Here's a great 12-minute DPReview TV episode in which master macro shooter Don Komarechka demonstrates some simple techniques and setups you can use to capture better outdoor shots.
This article is not about my advice on how to run your photography business with regard to legalities, releases (prop, model, and liability), safety, price, and style, etc. However, it is about what I do, how I prep, and how I take photos underwater. That’s it. Read it and if you get some good ideas and want to try, then go explore and do it safely and legally.
How you light your subject is one of the key decisions you'll need to make when shooting portraits. The Koldunov Brothers published this 9-minute tutorial showing the impact the height of a light source makes and some typical mistakes photographers make in placing and angling lights.
Here's an inspiring 16-minute video by Lisbon, Portugal-based landscape photographer Andy Mumford, who shares the 7 most important lessons he has learned over the years.
I went on a photo walk the other day with a friend who mostly shoots events and does client-focused work. The majority of the time we just talked about freelance work, but every now and then we’d see an interesting scene and capture it. We both shot on zoom lenses, but when she would show me her captures, I couldn’t help but notice how zoomed in she was.
It’s been an active few weeks in the world of new camera announcements. Between Nikon, Canon, and Fuji, there’s a slew of state-of-the-art camera choices available to entice photographers to switch brands. As I dug into the details associated with such an important decision, I set out to determine the most responsible way of identifying if making a brand change made sense for me.
I was interviewed by street photographer Eric Kim back in 2016, and it was a huge deal for me! I remember when I first started shooting street, his blog was one of the first that I came by.
Inevitably a time will come around when a budding photographer decides to start "taking this seriously," "discouraging image theft," and (my personal favorite), "gaining exposure." And they do this, of course, with a watermark.
Although landscape photography can look easy at first, it takes more than a simple point-your-camera-and-photograph kind of action. The purpose of landscape photography is to convey a state of mind and to express something more than just the landscape in front of you.
Capturing images that grab attention is a goal of any photographer. It’s exactly this skill that separates a good photographer from an average one.
I love being a wedding photographer. I get to work with amazing couples, travel to incredible places and do something that is fundamentally creative. While weddings offer unparalleled opportunities for creativity due to the nature of shooting so many different people in different places, there are things I consciously keep in mind to make sure I mix things up and have the best chances of always remaining creative… no matter where I am.
This headline might come off a bit pretentious for some of you. I mean, how do photographers travel any differently than the rest of the population? Fair question, but for better or for worse, we are different in our own way.
You know those moments when you're chimping and wonder why that amazing shot that you thought was going to be, well, amazing just isn't? Your exposure was right - check; white balance - check; aperture - check; shutter - check. Lens... hmm. Let's see. Lens? Yes, I shot with the right lens. If you are shooting competently and things are still not working out like you would want them to, I have a great piece of advice for you.
Sometimes we put things off so many times that the act of delaying that thing becomes automatic. “I’ll get to that thing tomorrow”, and tomorrow comes, tomorrow goes, and that thing never gets taken care of. I fell into that trap, and the thing that kept being put off was taking portraits of my parents.
While I was working full-time as a wedding photographer, I was shooting around 30 to 40 weddings a year. I would spend my weekends shooting and during the week I would be editing, responding to emails, writing blog posts, and watching cat videos… errm, I mean doing very important other business related stuff like making videos for my YouTube channel.
So, you are about to embark on your first solo wedding shoot of your career. You’ve got butterflies in your stomach, you’re stressed, and the pressure is most certainly setting in. Don’t panic, read this carefully and you will be well prepared for photographing the most important day of someone’s life.