Every year, I go to my alma mater and give a lecture for 3rd-year advertising-photography students on the business of photography. At this two-hour lectures, I cover all sorts of points about the ups and downs of being a busy commercial photographer in NYC, and also try to tell them straight facts of what the “real world” is like. Here is a summary of some of the most important words of wisdom I try to pass on to young photographers.
Here's an interesting video in which renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry shares some thoughts on documentary portraiture. Titled Close Up: Photographers at Work, the video takes us behind-the-scenes with McCurry as he shoots some candid portraits on the street and then reviews some of his most prized shots captured over the course of his career. (There's a brief glimpse of the original film slides of his iconic Afghan Girl photo.)
A few years ago, I came up with a theory. Every person has some balance of two incredibly valuable assets: Time and Money. If you have an excess of one of them, there’s a good chance that you don’t have much of the other. I’d like to take some time and reflect on how being aware of how you spend your time can potentially improve your business... and maybe even your life.
Editor's note: "Tenzing Norgay" is the penname used by the author of this article. He is not related to the famous mountaineer.
This entire story is about black-and-white film shooting, but I hope there are good lessons in this for you youngsters shooting digital. Hopefully, you won't take this as being arrogant, condescending, or hectoring. I offer this in the spirit of something I've found to be fascinating for some four decades.
Here's a great video by Reuters in which Bangkok-based photojournalist Damir Sagolj shares seven things about photography he has learned over the years by working in the field. They are: anticipate, research, reach out, prioritize, practice, interact, and be invisible. Although the tips are geared towards photojournalists trying to document the issues of the world, many of them can be applied to everyday photography as well.
If you’re a fan of hearing from photography greats and have some free time, check out his awesome documentary …
Kai over at DigitalRev put together this video that offers photography advice in burst mode: 50 (or 49) short and sweet tips in less than 15 minutes. If you take yourself too seriously, be warned: the tips are presented in Kai's trademark "infotainment" style.
I try to stay involved as much as I can with students studying photography at different institutions in the area. Every year I go back to RIT and do a lecture on the business of photography and I feel it's important that I do so.
Recently I got an email from a young photographer asking me about the career of being a still life/food photographer.
Here’s a quote by photographer Richard Benson on …
Renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry, the man behind “ …
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.
Tamara Lackey recently sat down with Chase …
Is it your dream to become a professional photographer? Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson …
Here’s a nice bit of encouragement for times when you feel like everyone else is coming up with neat …
It’s not every where you get to watch and hear someone picking the brain of a National Geographic photographer.
Ovation TV made this interesting video showing acclaimed photographers Albert Maysles, Sylvia Plachy, …