Wacky Winner Gets ME Contest. Yep – I will either come out to you and do a one on one workshop, or you can come here to do one in Phoenix. If you decide to come out here, airfare will be taken care of round trip (there are some caveats – see below). The workshop is...

I have wanted to do this for a long time, and now that I am changing stuff up, it seems like a great time to hold our Lighting Essentials Appreciation Weekend. What it is: A weekend for us to have fun, make photographs, meet old friends and make new ones. There will...

This is the last weekend of October. Only two months left till the new year, and hopefully some new directions. Seems like I always think of January, June, and September as transitional months. Maybe from all those years in school... I dunno. But change is in the air,...

Selina Maitreya's new course is something that is as unique as it gets. It is fresh, fun, exciting and with such a personal twist to the usual consultants approach, that you will be quite amazed. I have been working with the first month, and just received the second...

There is a reason why the above was not chosen as a worldwide statement meant to inspire us to try a different method of computing... ya know. As photographers, we see this sort of thing all the time. "To get more work, become better than your competition". Really?...

It has been a long, hot summer here in the desert. Takes its toll on us sometimes. Creativity can be a little stifled when it is 120 degrees in the shade... heh. And yeah, I do have a studio to shoot in, but like that old adage about being careful what you wish for,...

The phone rings a little before lunch. You answer it and a voice on the other end says, "How are you. You showed your book here at the agency a few weeks ago, and we have a job we would like you to bid on. We will email over the particulars if you are interested." The...

I am very sad that my friend Kirk Tuck closed the door on his wonderful blog The Visual Science Lab. I sent a hearfelt note urging him to reconsider, but he has very strong and equally heartfelt reasons why he felt it was time to let it go. And I know that feeling. I...

I am working with a sculptor on some creating collateral and website materials. She didn't have any good images of her working, so we put together a shoot schedule that brought me to her studio in Paradise Valley. I love going on location to shoot portraits and I pack...

Garry Winogrand had a wonderful and unique way of thinking about photography. He was asked once why he seemed to photograph everything, seemingly without regard as to what he was photographing. His response:"I photograph to see what the world looks like in...

(NOTE: I would like to thank those students and alums who helped me become one of the top workshop teachers on Photo District News, Reader's Poll for September, 2011.) I was recently asked to discuss what I liked about teaching photography, and why I thought it was...

There has been one strong thought in the back of my mind lately. It sort of hangs there like a candle that is almost ready to die, but keeps the flame going for another few seconds. Then it flickers nearly to extinction - and lights up again with the slight change of...

Photograph of sunrise in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. God I love iced green tea. Especially when it is really hot outside. And even more when I am outside with the extremely hot outside. The soft, gentle flavors and the coolness of the ice help with the - at times brutal -...

(Photo by Cole Bennett: "One frame from the fairly extensive photography project I've been working on with the YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka (which is within my county." Meet Cole Bennett, a commercial photographer in a small town in east-central Canada. Orillia, Ontario is...

I am so enjoying working with the Project 52 photographers. It is one of the things I am having the most fun with. If you are not familiar with Project 52, it is an ongoing project that started last January, and is continuing till Christmas this year... 52 weeks, 52...

Well it's that time. Time to choose the winners in our Summer contest: "Summer in My Town". The assignment was to make between 6 and 8 images to show off what summer is like in your town. We had a lot of entrants, but not so many uploads. But we got some good ones,...

Hi everyone. It is time to wrap up the contest shooting. "Summer In My Town" has run from June 1 through the first 2 weeks of August. We now must collect the entries and get the site set up. Below are submission instructions. Please send the images to me by Tuesday,...

You Need the Whole Enchilada © 2011 Selina Maitreya NOTE: This is a guest blog post by Selina Maitreya. At the end of the post is a special deal that will net you nearly $300 worth of valuable photographic information. I urge you to take advantage of this incredible...

Recently there has been some buzz about how to get noticed as a photographer. And more and more I see photographers doing images that look for all the world like some other guy's images that looks like a woman he really admires' images. And her work was copied from...

Dontcha just love gear that works the way you do. Intuitive design, ease of use, multiple applications... the things that make working with the gear simply an extension of what we are trying to do. And that is make photographs. When I am shooting I want to be involved...

After neglecting my 50MM lens for a long long time, I decided it was time to get to know each other better. I spent a week with the lens, and we are coming to an understanding.

Over at Project 52 we did an assignment to do a self portrait, or at least a portrait of ones self. An "About Me" page is such an important part of the website that it must be addressed in a professional and stylistic manner. Some statistics show that it is the most...

1. Road Trip I love road trips. Planning them, packing for them, and doing them. Unpacking... well, not so much. But road trips are one of the most fun and inspiring things you can do. I try to take small road trips whenever possible. Last week I was in Vancouver....

A recent heated discussion on a photographer making her political affiliations known led me to another thought... is there a line you won't cross in your work? Should there be? It is a competitive market out there. There are bills to pay, and gear to maintain, and...