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This is Why Light is Key to Landscape Photography

Once and again, people ask me the question "what is the most important thing in landscape photography?" Of course, this question cannot be answered unequivocally due to the many ingredients of a good picture, but there is no doubt that light is one of the essentials of many good pictures.

Outdoor Photography Canada Closing: How It Made Me a Better Pro Photog

It was mid-2011, and I was looking for a way to capitalize on my newfound love of photographing snowflakes. I had thrown the idea to numerous magazine, agencies, and business to see if they would bite. One publication responded favorably, asking me to write an article on spec. If they liked it, they’d consider publishing it. There was immediate excitement and immediate pressure. This could be a huge break for me in the industry.

Why You Should Photograph Venice in the Wintertime

I last visited Venice a long time ago, and all I could remember were the crazy crowds. It's no wonder, because I visited in the summer. Last weekend, I decided to visit Venice in the winter with my girlfriend. People were saying "Why Venice? It’s not the season." But that’s exactly the point. I thought that visiting in Venice would be smart to avoid all the crowds, and I was right.

Flickr Pushes Deletion of Over-Quota Photos to March 2019

After limiting free accounts to 1,000 photo and video files, Flickr announced that it would begin deleting data from accounts over that quota starting on February 5th, 2019. Now Flickr has announced that it's giving users more time to download photos by pushing the wipe date back to March 12, 2019.

Don’t Let Social Media Ruin Your Photography

I’m at a Starbucks in Hanoi. Typically it’s a peaceful location where I can write and think, but today it’s overrun with young people smoking cigarettes, occasionally smiling and laughing, but mostly consumed with their phones browsing Instagram and taking selfies to reload their feed with an annoyed older man in their background typing away.

The Benefits of Posting My Prices for On-Location Corporate Headshots

I made the uncommon decision to post my rates for on-location corporate headshots on my website. Some fear it will scare away clients before the photographer gets to explain the value in their work. Valid concern. Some want to gouge bigger clients who can pay more. That’s not the way I want to run my business.

Shooting the New Kodak Ektachrome 100 in the City at Night

Last week, after much anticipation, I received back my first rolls of the new Kodak Ektachrome 100, exposed in Chicago over the Christmas holiday (thanks to Denver Digital Imaging Center). After all the hype and fanfare surrounding Kodak releasing a new chrome film this far into the alleged afterlife of film, I was excited to see the results. Spoiler alert: the wait was worth it.

The $10 Backdrop: Cheap vs Expensive Seamless for Portraits

Photography. It’s expensive. And who really has the money to buy all the name brand photo gear? I certainly don’t. With that said, expensive equipment does NOT make the photograph -- the photographer does, which is why I am exploring various non-photography-specific gear and using it for my photography.

Picfair: The All-In-One Solution for Selling Your Photography

Online options for selling your photography are complex, unfair, and disconnected. Marketplaces can give you exposure, but most of the larger names (if they let you in) make you sacrifice pricing control, rights options, and most of your royalties -- the vast majority of the money your images generate go to them, not you.

Ep. 311: M43 Gets Rather Serious – and more


Episode 311 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 -  Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!
Featured: Olympus Visionary, Jamie MacDonald

Why Aiming for 100 Rejections is Bulls**t

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.

10 Pro Tips for Taking Your Drone Photography to New Heights

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.

Kodak Film Business on Brink of Being Sold: Report

Big news in the world of film photography: the Kodak film business is reportedly up for sale. Kodak Alaris is said to be looking to sell part or all of its business, and its film business, in particular, could be sold to another company within the next month or two.

How to Light-Paint Giant Shapes in the Sky with a Drone

A few months ago I was inspired to try and see what shapes I could create while attaching a Lume Cube to my drone. I’d seen photographer like Phill Fisher do shapes in the sky manually and was extremely impressed, but I didn’t have the time to learn how to fly shapes manually. So instead I scoured the Web for drone apps that could make things like this possible.

Creating a Photo of a Radical Vegan Zombie Activist

It has been said that meat consumption should decrease by 90% in the West if we want to avoid dangerous climate warming. And because all of us should be involved to achieve this goal, I of course decided to invite zombies to join in the effort of combating climate change.

This is Why You Pay the Creative Who Shot Your Content

If you're a photographer or videographer who has ever had a client who refused to pay up after a project was shot, here's a humorous story of revenge that may tickle your funny bone. Ridge Production claims that American rapper Sheck Wes didn't pay up for the music video they shot, so they turned the footage they own into this absolutely ridiculous 4-minute parody (warning: there's strong language).

What It’s Like Attending a Best Buy Photography Workshop

After I saw an ad on Facebook about an upcoming Best Buy photography workshop, I got the idea to attend it, and I thought other photographers would be interested in the experience, too. I signed up, paid the $50 to attend the workshop, and got an email confirming my registration.

Documenting Cosplay Culture in the UK

Long-term projects can be one of the most frustrating creative pursuits for a number of reasons. There is a large investment of time, obviously, but there can also be the uncertainty of where a story goes as you watch it unfold over years, while constantly adjusting and readjusting the scope of the issues you want to deal with in your stories.

Photographing the Fake Holy Men of Varanasi, India

"Where should we go?" Melissa, my girlfriend, was trying to narrow down what seemed like a mountain of possibilities-places that were worthy of exploration. After a month of repeating that same question a million times, we finally settled on India.

Judging a Photo Contest: My Experience with FOCUS Photo L.A.

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.