In the beginning of 2014 I was invited by a non-profit religious group to travel more than 150 miles from Belém (the capital of the state of Pará in northern Brazil) to a small city in Marajó Island, Bagre. I knew about as much about Pará and its culture going in as I know about brain surgery: nothing.
There’s a book by Seth Godin called The Dip that explores something every entrepreneur asks themselves every morning:
Is today the day that I quit?
I've been wrestling with this for a while now. I wasn't going to write a post like this but things have reached a certain point where I don't feel I can take anything on any further, so for now a little social media post will have to suffice in lieu of actual justice.
I was honoured to wrap-up another bridal-inspired editorial shoot where I was paid for my expertise. Having been a wedding photographer for 5+ years, I can say with certainty that it has taken 2+ years of hustling to be welcomed into the inner circle of a few select Sydney florists, stylists, hair stylists and makeup artists. Being invited to shoot an editorial campaign is one thing, being paid for the privilege is another.
There’s nothing like a spot of macro photography for making you stop to appreciate nature’s tinier gems.
As a photographer I always get asked for advice on buying cameras and what is the least amount needs to be spent to achieve professional results. It usually happens when I'm photographing a wedding, which also means I rarely have time to properly address the question.
In Silicon Valley we have a saying: “Fail forward.” I think it is a beautiful saying—because it isn’t telling us that failure is okay for failure’s sake, but that we should learn from our failings, and learn how to move forward.
For thousands of years humans have engaged in making visual records of the world around them. From the earliest Ice Age animal cave paintings to birthday photos of our children, a common value seems to be expressing itself through our ever evolving technologies and skills that create “visual likeness.”
Many of us started photography quite innocently— with small compact point-and-shoots, a smartphone, or a disposable film camera. The main advantage was that we didn’t need to think about all the technical settings when we made images—rather, we focused on capturing the “decisive moment”, the framing and composition as well as the emotional content within the frame.
My name is Chris König, a 23-years-old self-taught photographer based in The Netherlands. This story is about my one week adventure in the Italian Dolomites, in which I tried to challenge myself, not only on a photography level, but on a personal level as well.
You’re hitting the road and your camera is at the top of the old checklist. Your goal is to make photographs that will be memorable and bring back the feelings of being there. So how can you do that?
A great photo takes both the skill and creative talent of a photographer, but technology has also played a vital role in making that job easier (and in some cases, possible in the first place). Since the advent of the dry plate process to today’s astonishingly high sensitivity sensors, the craft of photography has advanced with improvements in technology.
Wildlife and their habitat are facing a new threat—from unethical practices deployed by a new breed of nature photographers. An exponential surge in the popularity of nature photography is unknowingly altering species behaviour and creating habitat disturbances.
Over 1.5 billion people worldwide use the Facebook app on a monthly basis, and all of those people have opted in to Facebook’s privacy policy by the act of creating an account.
Often we feel like we need reasons why we take photos. We need a purpose; a sense of direction. But my tip for today is this: photograph for photography’s sake.
The history of the Leica camera is one of revolution. Appropriately enough, the Leica M design has been with us for over 60 years and has documented revolutions in both times of peace and war throughout history as the idea of a simple, easy to carry camera enabling it to be carried anywhere.
This is a public service announcement.
I've been selling a lot of camera gear lately, changing systems, testing new lenses/bodies, etc. I've met up with a lot of different types of people, pro and amateurs, veterans and newbies, and guess what? We're all into photography. We all love gear, so why not treat the community as such?
I'm a photographer who is in no way wedded to any particular aspect ratio. I will trim my images to whatever I consider suits them best, whether or not they fall to one of the recognized ratios or some non-integer ratio.
A few years ago, I decided that I would like to get into photography. So, I did some research and bought a fairly expensive DSLR camera. I also read lots of articles and books on how to take great pictures. The results were quite impressive. I was finally taking really good photographs.
I have these utopic dreams of a “perfect” camera. I want a camera that makes photos that are ultra-sharp, yet soft, affordable, yet fits in my front pocket, yet has tons of megapixels, yet can zoom to see anything but wide enough to shoot interiors.
One interesting distinction I find in speaking “American English” and with “European English” is how we differentiate between “taking” and “making” photos.
New York Times Magazine photography critic, Teju Cole, recently penned what could only be construed as a takedown of National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Cole is no lightweight. Since its launch, his column On Photography has illustrated his deep understanding of photographic history – not to mention he’s an award-winning writer with a PhD in Art History from Columbia.
The photographer Sator has created quite a buzz with his article "Why Sony’s Full Frame Pro Mirrorless Was a Fatal Mistake." I thought long and hard about whether I should response to this or not. I think there are many things omitted in his analysis and I want to point out some of those points.
There is a big craze for Sony full frame (FF) mirrorless cameras at the moment, and seeing people rush onto that bandwagon is like watching lemmings following each other over the cliff.
It came out first in 1940, when Europe was plunged into war but America was enjoying the dying days of calm before the storm. It was Kodak’s new black-and-white film, designed to be shot on location. The only problem was, it was only available in large format.
My name is Jason Rosenthal, and I'm the CEO of Lytro. A little over a year ago, it became clear to me that we needed to drastically change the direction of our company.
A few months ago, I published a podcast called The Photographers Conflict which addressed some of the conflicts that photographers seem to have with each other.
Although so far the stories of Flickr's death have been greatly exaggerated, there's no denying the photo-hosting leviathan is in a difficult situation. At best, it will be taken over by a company content to keep things ticking over and just claim the subscription fees, but I'm guessing that it will change.
I see this sight with increasing frequency: people holding up their phone in front of their face, recording a cool event or situation, like a concert or speech, watching the three-dimensional live event through a tiny screen.
Before I became a fashion photographer I worked as a retoucher and digital tech for other photographers. Full frame was still in its first or second generation, and from what I saw all the best fashion and advertising photographers were shooting digital medium format.
With years of experience, I have learned how to handle most daily situations encountered as a photographer. With the emergence of social media, people can be very picky about photos and privacy. I understand.
A lot of professional photographers have a growing frustration about losing jobs to part-time "photographers" doing horrible work for $30, or having clients tell them that another "photographer" will do the same job for $25. So, I got to thinking: what if other professions were treated like photography?
It is often stated that, for photography, it is vital to use color management within your workflow, so that you can ensure accurate colors for your work.
One of the big things that inspires me in photography, life, and technology is the ability to “democratize”, to add “access”, and to make things affordable to the masses.
Recently, a friend told me of a photographer for whom he wanted to work. The seasoned fine art photographer, in his 50s, took a look at my friend’s 5x7 prints, taken on an assortment of digital and analog cameras, and said "These are not photos. Wait here."
I’ve read two articles this week that appear critical of Flickr and thought I’d take a moment to address both, as well as share some of my own thoughts on Flickr.
In yet another example that maintaining dominance within a space cannot be taken for granted, Flickr announced earlier this month that they are only allowing auto-uploads from the desktop for paying customers. Wired declared “Time to Give up on Flickr, Everybody.”
Dear Portrait Photographers,
Big Apple. 3 A.M. The day is Saturday and my phone alarm is screaming. It's vibrating furiously and crawling away from the table, trying it's very best to drop to the floor and escape my desperate attempt to shut it. It's time to wake up and head out to shoot sunrise.
When talking about the right kind of lenses, there are some characteristics that people should not be buying for most photographic practices. In this post I'll be discussing the problem with modern lenses.
This week, Flickr announced that they are taking away one of the key “free” functions: the ability to auto upload photos from your computer directly to Flickr. Now you need to sign up for a “pro” account for access to the same function.
Imagine seeing a photograph of a baby zebra sleeping peacefully atop the head of an adult tiger. Sounds crazy, right? Now imagine that same crazy image winning grand prizes in prestigious photography competitions.
Okay, so the title was a little click-baity... but it's true. Posting to social media outlets where family members and friends can all admire your work can stifle your creativity and prevent you from getting truly constructive feedback that you can develop from.
Dear Photography,
You have been around long before I ever picked up a camera, and you will undoubtedly be around long after I fire off my last exposure. Photos resonate with people, which is why I, like so many others, love your craft.
If you’re anything like me, your camera bag tells the story of the many lenses that have come and gone. Very few, if any, have stuck around from the beginning.
Yesterday evening, I received a troubling email from a student athlete at a Western-Canadian University, who we’re going to call Frank for the purposes of this story. (Frank is obviously not his real name, but I like the name Frank for this purpose).
On the day after Spotlight won the Oscar of Best Picture for celebrating hardscrabble journalism that uncovered decades of sexual abuses by the Catholic Church, a Secret Service agent grabbed the neck of a 58-year-old photojournalist and threw him to the ground.
The photojournalist, veteran Christopher Morris, tried to move outside the “press pen” to photograph hecklers who were being escorted from a Donald Trump rally at Radford University in Virginia, but was blocked by the agent. Morris shouted obscenities and allegedly shoved the agent before being taken down.
In December 2015, Donald Trump held a campaign rally not too far from my house. I didn’t go, but it drove home the idea that the election was coming, and elections mean news. It also got me thinking about shooting the news again.
Let me begin by saying that I’m not a hunter. But I am surrounded by hunters because I live in Minnesota. I’ve heard countless stories about deer hunting from co-workers and friends, but the most interesting story was from a seasoned hunter who told me that now he only hunts for a “trophy buck” because he’s hunted everything else and he’s only interested in getting “the big one”.
He goes on to describe what the big one may look like – broad shoulders, big neck, and apparently the size of the rack doesn’t matter. When he goes hunting he may let herds of less attractive deer walk by during the course of a weekend without lifting his gun. This may sound like an elitist attitude, but it made me think about using this strategy in street photography.
Journalism is under threat from all sides. The last few years have been some of the most dangerous in history for journalists around the world; they have been killed, injured and detained in record numbers. But journalists are under threat from within as well, as some media companies seem content to eat their own.