ARCHIVED ARTICLES
A Project 52 Assignment: Lunch
This was a most incredible assignment over at Project 52. Based on a single layout, supplied to the photographers, they had to complete a faux assignment from an ad agency that was representing a Pharmaceutical Company. The point of the ad was to show how a new pill...
Thoughts On A Couple of Portraits
I was asked about my portraiture by a reader who wanted to know what I am thinking about when shooting. I decided to break down a couple of shots I did of Natalie in Seattle the Sunday after my creativeLIVE presentation. We were on the waterfront and the sun was out...
WordPress Basics for Photographers: Part Two
(Finding your Wordpress Theme should not be taken lightly. I think you should spend some time getting to know what it will do for you before you pull the trigger.) Continued from Wordpress Basics for Photographers: Part One We have looked around and found a few themes...
Thank You creativeLIVE: What a Great Experience
Well it was planned for a long time. We put it on the calendar back in December I believe. I couldn't speak to it until it went "live" so to speak, and the marketing push started. So I simply alluded to a certain three days that my friends and LE followers should...
Emerging Photographer Jump Start Package
NOTE: THE CONTEST IS CLOSED. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED MAY 28. Winner: Catherine Johnson AND Eric Bartel. We had a tough time with the tie, so we have to go with both. I will need to hear from you two very very quickly so we can find a date and a time. NOTE: For all...
WordPress Basics for Photographers: Part One
I am a big fan of Wordpress. I love the ease of use, and the total attention to quality that the Wordpress folks apply to the changes and updates to the core product. I also love traditional websites and feel that they do have their place for photographers. But many...
A Drive Through Northern Arizona on a Sunny Day
It was a bright Friday morning as I left to go up north. I had planned on leaving a bit earlier than 8:30, but those plans were offset by the need to get my youngest to school and finish some things at the office. Sometimes the plans we make don't work out. They just...
Why I Think You Should Watch My creativeLIVE Show in April
Hi, gentle readers of this blog/zine... err, whatever it is. If you have been following along for any time you know that I don't have a lot of stuff to sell, nor do I spend much time hawking how fabulously cool I am. Really. But occasionally I need to do a little...
GalleryPro: A Portfolio Tool for Photographers
Back in the fall I was discussing an idea about maintaining a portfolio over multiple platforms with Scott Forman, a photographer in Omaha. Scott is also a terrific coder, as you will see. My idea has always been to make it very easy for photographers who do not have...
Shooting With “Abundance” or “Scarcity” – A Creative Choice
Do you shoot with an "abundance" mental approach? Or is your choice to shoot from a mental state of "scarcity"? It makes a difference, you know. It makes a difference in how you approach your subject matter. It makes a difference in the way you see the world. It can...
Improvisation with Pods… Lighting for Dramatic Effect
I have promised myself that I will get out and shoot more for myself this year. These "improvs" are part of the process. I limit myself to one subject and one hour. And the subjects can range over whatever happens to be near me or catch my eye. This time it was pods I...
OT Sunday: Posts of Interest and Some Tunes for Fun
Occasionally we get a little off topic on a Sunday post. While this one is no exception, there are some very interesting posts from photographers I think you should check out. You may have missed them along the way, or not even known about the blogs, but they are...
Some Assignments Are Just Sweeter Than Others
And that's a fact, Jack! Over at Project 52 (www.project52.org) we did an assignment on Desserts. The job was to make a dessert shot so inviting that it fairly SCREAMED chocolate (or at least DESSERT). We had a lot of submissions. Here are twenty that caught my eye......
Does Culture Lead or Follow Photography? Hint – Look Up Ahead…
I think it leads it. Simply and right out there. This story on F-Stoppers has a lot of comments on it, most of them missing the point by a swing and a miss (sorry...). [Shocking] Getty licenses Nick Laham Photographs Of NY Yankees Taken With iPhone The story is about...
Still Life for Article on the Challenges of Home Gardening / Pesticides…
... or something like that. I don't remember the particulars on the slant of the article. Late on a Monday, the art director called in a panic with a rush job. Could I do an illustration for a publication that was going to press on Wednesday. We had to shoot it,...
Some Fun Videos of Lighting Setups
These were quick and fun little videos I did while Regina was shooting at the one-on-one workshop she won at the Lighting Essentials Contest last winter. She has a great little studio for shooting and making great images, and with 7 lights and all kinds of modifiers...
Four Umbrella Madness: Shooting with Regina in Utah
We were having so much fun with Regina (our contest winner) in her Utah studio that I decided to do a bunch of videos of a few of the setups. (Here is Regina's blog post on the past weekend.) This one was made possible when Regina said she had four matching small...
Greetings from Zion Nat’l Park – Winner’s Workshop
Hi everyone. We are here at the entrance to Zion National Park in the small town of Springdale. This is where the "Winner Gets Me" contest winner lives and where we are doing her one-on-one workshop for the weekend. She invited Megan from Phoenix to come up and do the...
Discussing “Sculpting with Light” with Photographer Rick Gayle
Rick walks us through his lighting thoughts while actually doing a shot. You can hear him discussing the thought process he uses, and you will learn a lot of great little lighting tips and tricks to make your next photograph even better. Rick's Website. Rick's Blog I...
OT Sunday: Bill Evans, Alec Soth and MindMapping
Music. I am a huge Bill Evans fan. Have loved his music from the moment I first heard it. Magical changes, incredible technique, voicings that inspired... and a hot rhythm section that always kept pushing him along. The first time I heard Bill Evans was late one night...
“Sea Shell” Improvisation: 1 Hour Challenge
I often say that photography is "Jazz with a camera." And I say that because I believe it to be absolutely true. A Jazz performer has to know their instrument so well, that it is second nature for them to simply play it. Jazz requires improvisation (and if it doesn't,...
Rick Gayle, Photographer: Phoenix, AZ
I have known Rick for a long, long time. I did not know that he had a blog until this morning. Funny how stuff like that goes around. Rick's blog is full of images and stories and shows a level of creativity that is rare indeed these days. I will contact Rick for a...
Miami and Key Biscayne Workshop in a Month…
I am happy to be working with Mayra and the Fotomiles Group in order to come out to Miami/Key Biscayne for a workshop. This will be a very special, limited participation workshop. Only 10 photographers and me. A full on, learn to light and master the concepts...
Hey, Hot Shot! One of My Favorite Competitions is On Now!
I first encountered Jen Bekman's project the first year it was on. I was knocked out by the level of work and would go and visit the site many times to view the work. Some of it was quite challenging, and I would look at images that were quite out of my 'zone'...
Hey… Where are you going with all that stuff?
Didja ever wonder? You got the gear. You got the lights. You got that shiny new megapixelbeast of a machine. You even have one of those latest doohickeys that everyone is drooling over. You know the one. Yeah... it's sweet. But where are you going with all that stuff?...
CreativeLIVE – Seattle – April 6, 7, 8, – Well, This Will Be Fun!
Thanks to Charles Tibbs for taking the photo. Yeah... that's me lookin' all serious and cold leaning against the back wall of my studio. Fact is, it was a bit chilly that day. Unlike today where it is pushing a bit over 70. But the weather is not the subject here - it...
OT- Sunday, #1: Darkness, Cello Madness and Jazz
Sometimes I have an opportunity to discuss other topics than photography. These times are rare, of course, but they do exist. I thought it may be fun to post some of the other things that are interesting to me on Sunday Mornings. Welcome to Off Topic Sundays, an...
A Special “Portfolio Building” Workshop, Feb 11, 12: Only 3 Students
This is a special workshop for only three students. It is on short notice, but there is a reason for that - and it will be explained at a later date. Our focus will be on mastering images across a spectrum of genres. This workshop is for the serious photographer who...
Portraits: Four Simple Approaches
I had the chance to do some portraits of some of the talent we had at the LE Weekend Meetup. They were Briana's dance company and all of them were delightful and beautiful dancers. The folks who came had a blast and I was simply stunned that so many people came so far...
“Average is Over” or Why Good Enough Sucks
Thomas L Friedman, in a post today at the New York Times, says that "average is over." And he is right. It is. You can see it in industry and media and design and art. You can see it in nearly every area of business. Apple proved it. And Mercedes. And Braun....