Three Bidding Fiascos: Be Prepared or Stay Home
Recently I had an opportunity to sit and chat (over delicious Mexican food) with two very good photographers. Dave and Steve are both well seasoned, and full on commercial photographers here in Phoenix. As things do, we began discussing gigs and some of the war...
OK, Now I’m Hungry… the Food Photography of Michele Drumm
Michele Drumm is a photographer in the Washington DC / Fredricksberg area of Virginia. Her work ranges from still life to environments, but one of her great loves is shooting food. From meticulous studio shoots to on location editorial work, Michele brings a bit of...
Should You Shoot ‘Edgy’ Work for Your Portfolio?
Recently a photographer asked about whether or not "Fantasy" makeup or "Avant Garde" images should be included in a commercial photographer's portfolio. The work he was specifically asking about was a kind of shoot one sees a lot on Model Mayhem... multi-colored...
Bret Doss’s “Fallen Leaf” Series
Bret Doss is a photographer and an engineer in Seattle, Washington. He and I have traveled the PNW together on occasion and he was my assistant on the Creative LIVE workshops. He is a talented photographer with a wide range of interests. From fashionable portraiture...
Gear List / Links for the UDEMY Portrait Class
Class: Portrait Photography with Simple Gear Link to the Class Page. Stand (even better a stand and a boom) Umbrella Holder Umbrella (shoot through and bounce) Flash (the kind that goes on the camera, but also has the ability to set the power manually) A trigger set...
Facebook Slams the Door on Photographers
As photographers, Social Media takes a hit on all of our time. We do it for various reasons. Because it is fun. Because it is a good way to reach people who are otherwise not reachable. Because it is certainly a powerful part of the lives of all of us in business....
It Costs What It Costs
I purchased a car yesterday. I haven't bought a car for a while, always getting the wife's hand me down... heh. But with the new business, a new ride is imperative. It was pretty painless. I told them straight up that I had no time or energy for haggling (and they...
Project 52 PRO – Works
At the Project 52 PRO group, there are an astounding group of photographers all helping to boost each other into professionalism. Most of them have gotten a paying gig this year, and we are well on the way to making that happen for all of them. The point of Project 52...
On Style: Personal Take
This morning I followed a link on Twitter to a website devoted (supposedly) to helping photographers learn to be better photographers. The name of the post was something along the lines of "12 Super Awesome Ways to Make Epic Images" or something similar - and no, I am...
Instagram… it is Not the Devil (or is it?)
Instagram was a tiny app that grew at an amazing rate. Hipstagram is another app that has grown faster than most, and Snapseed was just purchased by Google. What does that mean? Is it, as one of the articles below suggests, the end of photography? Or is it a new, and...
The Secret Is…
... that the secret doesn't exist. There is no secret. Has never been a secret. Lately I have been noticing a lot more "Secrets to Successful Whateverthehellitis-ness". Secrets that are so secret that you can buy them in a book or an ebook or get them for a buck on...
Cameras Are Tools. Vision is Photography.
I love this article on communication, photography and the distractions of gear and platforms. Photographer Jon Stanmeyer hits the nail smack on the head with this post on the distraction of the medium over the substance of the image itself. "Now here is what’s key...
My UDEMY Class on Portraiture is Live
The good folks at UDEMY.com asked me to create a course for them. Portrait Photography with Simple Gear I chose doing a sort of overview for portraiture. Not your typical headshot stuff, although we do look at traditional beauty. In this course we look at using...
Yes, You Can Trust Your Professional Photographer (Essay Nine)
I don't have a photograph to run with this article. I wouldn't want to even think about what photograph I would run here. And, by the way, this is me being pissed off again. So if that sort of thing makes you uneasy, and you are all fine with an industry leader...
Does Vison Trump Gear? (Essay Eight)
Recently an article caught my attention over at TIME. "Last Launch: Dan Winters and the Shuttle Program. TIME had commissioned Winters to photograph the final launch of the Space Shuttle and they showed a few of the images that will soon be in the book. The images are...
Trees, Roots and the Artist (Essay Seven)
Photography at its best can be a reflection of the world in ways that we have never been seen before. It is the photographer's vision that makes the image become more than it could have been. But at the heart of the photographer's vision, there is a deep foundation of...
Keith and the Kudzu (Essay Six)
Keith was a photographer in Atlanta, Georgia. A dedicated artist and all around fun guy, he nonetheless harbored a deep and unrelenting anger toward the Kudzu that grew all around his studio. (For those unenlightened souls, Kudzu is an Asian plant brought to Georgia...
The Big Camera (Essay Five)
My Deardorff is still one my favorite cameras. Starting to shoot Tintype with it, but it is a bit slow going. I don't have the time I need to devote to the learning curve of tintype exposure. I shoot some black and white with it as well, and will be taking a box of...
Pop’s Wallet. (Essay Four)
My dad passed in 2000. He lingered on in a kind of a funk for so long, and got a little... well... uncharitable toward the end. When we finally talked him into hospice, he was so thankful for their kindness and really enjoyed his time there. After he passed I was...
Roots. (Essay Three)
When I was in my early teens I happened upon some photographs by Weston, Cunningham and Adams. I had been making photographs for a few years. Just casually, no real intent in the work other than to have a keepsake of the place. Many of us start out taking images that...
My First (Real) Camera – Essay 2
I am not a camera geek. I don't get into all the machinations of new this and new that. Not a part of my DNA it seems. I tend to find something I like and stick to it as long as it works for me. I watch other cameras with shiny this and awesome that and think "wow,...
“Coming Home” – Essay 1
Today is August 8. An interesting day for me. It's some sort of milestone that people celebrate, but I usually spend some time to look over the next 12 months and make some plans. Recently someone told me about an '30 essays in thirty days' project. I have no idea if...
New “Magnum” Strobes from Aputure… and They Rock!
Remember Dirty Harry... he had a Magnum too. And when he pulled it out and asked the punk if he felt lucky, he created a legendary phrase that lives on and on. And now it is your turn to get lucky... with these pretty damn cool strobes from Aputure. Full disclosure:...
Anatomy of a Shoot in the Middle of Nowhere…
"Well, ya'll could ride with me if you want..." He was walking toward us from his pickup truck in the cold, early morning light of Florence, Arizona. Wide brimmed cowboy hat and real cowboy boots. And he was all smiles. Florence is a very small town southeast of...
