ARCHIVED ARTICLES
Creating Images That Brand – Pushing Toward the Icon
What do I mean by Photographing for your brand? Photographing for your brand is photographing with “intent.” That means making images that have some reason, continuity and stylistic connection to the images that are already a part of your lexicon – that body of work...
Why Do You Make Photographs?
Why do you make photographs? Simple question, really. But have you ever thought about what it is that makes you do it and love it so? (I am making an assumption that you love to make photographs because you are reading this blog and this blog is all about loving to...
Notes from the Lighting Essentials Norfolk Workshop
Photographs by Rasheid Scarlett, our first big contest winner. Norfolk was the little workshop that grew slowly into a wonderful weekend. I put it up and got one sign up... a guy from Poland was going to fly over and take the workshop. No signups followed for quite a...
Is NOW the Time? And 22 Images from the LE Flickr Pool
(Photograph by Tom Seibert taken as on assignment at the Cincinnati Workshop) It's been a while since I have done a post from the pool. Sorry about that. Hopefully this little treasure trove of images will be fun to peruse as you go about the first of November. We'll...
The Last Light of the Day
I love to shoot in the last light of the day. I try to have my camera and be out as the sun gets to about 30 minutes before the sun goes down and 15 minutes afterward. So many changes happening so fast makes it a very exciting and adrenaline driven few minutes. BTW,...
Just a Rant that Started Elsewhere and Ended Up Here
Welcome Back. We are back up and locked down. I have had to remove Registrations for the time being, but will be adding a Newsletter signup for those of you who want to be 'in the know'. At this time the magazine is still down, but it was very old content anyway. We...
Road Trip and Some Workshop Images from Cincinnati
I spent some time in the southern Ohio area on October 8 - 11, 2010. Friday evening I did a "Making the Jump - Going Pro" talk with a large group of photographers in the Cincinnati area. Monday evening I spoke to 45+ photographers at Midwest Photo Exchange...
I Love Photography, and I Am Not On Board with Creative Commons.
RANT. EDIT: Well, first of all, I quoted and gave a link to the PDN site, which is "fair use". I also quoted only enough to qualify as "fair use." So, if I am a hypocrite for working as a blogger and using fair use without buying into a slippery slope of the "right to...
The Hard Life: Embracing and Experimenting with Small Light Sources: by Steve Korn
The Hard Life: Embracing and Experimenting with Small Light Sources by Steve Korn, Seattle Editorial Photographer “Avoid mid-day sun, it’s too hard and contrasty.†“Learning to light, start with an umbrella.†“If your subject is a woman, you should use...
A Positive Look at Today’s Photography Market by Eduardo Frances (El Salvador Beauty Photographer)
Guest Post by Eduardo Frances, El Salvador. Eduardo is a fashion and beauty shooter in San Salvador. Eduardo has been featured on LE before. Another look at today´s market: Positive and I hope inspiring too. (Or how adding a violin soundtrack is not needed when we...
Preparing Digital Files for Printing a Book by Jan Klier (Part Two)
Photograph from a book on northern Arizona to be printed by Blurb. Part two of the Jan Klier post on preparing your files for printing a book. We have a link at the bottom of the page where you can download the entire two part post as a PDF. Part One of this article...
Preparing Digital Files for Printing a Book by Jan Klier
Image from my book on Northern Arizona, to be printed by Blurb. Preparing the Digital File for Book Printing (Part One) by Jan Klier (I am deep into the writing of my first book so there will be some wonderful posts by guests coming this month. It is nice to have...
Photographer Michael Huxley and the Violinist. Breaking Down a Test Shot
Working the thought out from conception to realization. Pre-visualization and tenacity blend to help a photographer go from reacting to an image situation to creating an image situation. It is a very powerful technique. I saw this photograph by photographer Michael J....
Slightly Random Thoughts on Photography and Related Stuff
A bit of a different sort of post today. I have been working hard on getting to a point that I can take large blocks of time to myself. I need it because I have signed a book deal with Amherst Media and need to get the book finished in a short time frame. I am very...
Lindsay Adler, Fashion Photographer and Author
Today's discussion is with Lindsay Adler, a fashion photographer working in Manhattan. The audio is not the best... sorry, it just has a clipped thing happening. Chatting with some different input devices can be a bit maddening. But the content is what is important. I...
Looking at Portraits from the LE Flickr Pool.
After a terrific busy week, a weekend in Calgary and a workshop in the Phoenix studio with temps outside ranging in the mid 1-teens, I am a bit exhausted. What better way to have some fun than to look at some images from the pool and from some workshop attendees. But...
How Do You Hit a Home Run If You Never Swing At The Ball?
Recently there was a post on a forum that asked "Did You Ever Think You Could Be One of the the Best Photographers?" And sadly, many responses were of the "No, I only want to be fairly good", or "Well, those people are special". Or simply a concern that it was hard -...
“Unsustainable” – MicroStock Comes of Age…er, Not.
Today's short rant before heading to the airport in Spokane and home... Microstock. It has been a contentious part of the 'professional' photography world for quite some time. Today's post "iStockphotos “Unsustainable†Business Model: From Crowd-Sourcing To...
Style Week on Lighting Essentials: Day 5: Kirk Tuck
Style Week Posts: Selina Maitreya Day One Daron Shade Day Two Christian O'Dell Day Three Ivar Teunissen Kirk Tuck Day Five There are few things I love more than taking a photograph of someone. From family to strangers, there is always something to learn from the...
Style Week on Lighting Essentials – Day Four; Ivar
Style Week Posts: Selina Maitreya Day One Daron Shade Day Two Christian O'Dell Day Three Ivar Teunissen Kirk Tuck Day Five Point of View is a defining piece of a photographer's style. Where is the camera in relationship to the subject? It can be confrontational and...
Style Week on Lighting Essentials : Day Three; Christian
Style Week Posts: Selina Maitreya Day One Daron Shade Day Two Christian O'Dell Day Three Ivar Teunissen Kirk Tuck Day Five I recommend starting at the beginning if you haven't already. Today I wanted to take a few minutes and talk about the 'presentation' of the...
Style Week on Lighting Essentials – Day Two; Daron
Style Week Posts: Selina Maitreya Day One Daron Shade Day Two Christian O'Dell Day Three Ivar Teunissen Kirk Tuck Day Five If you have come in at this point, be sure to go back to the first post and start there. I believe that style is innate within each of us. It is...
“Style” Week on Lighting Essentials – Day One; Selina
It is "Style Week" On Lighting Essentials. Each morning at 10AM Pacific we will post a new set of images and an audio interview with a photographer. Style Week Posts: Selina Maitreya Day One Daron Shade Day Two Christian O'Dell Day Three Ivar Teunissen Kirk Tuck Day...
Five Ways to Differentiate Your Photography Business
... and 5 ways you shouldn't differentiate. There are a lot of photographers out there. Actually, there are a lot of really talented photographers out there. What separates you from them? How can you differentiate yourself from the throng? How to stand out, be...
How Do Photographers Learn the Business? Some Thoughts…
My friend Trudy posted a great little article with the question "How Do Photographers Learn the Business? I read it and asked Trudy if I could take a few of her questions and answer them here on my blog. Wednesday evening, September 1, we will have a show based on...
Ten Myths of Professional Commercial Photography
Err... at least the 10 that I hear a lot of chatting about. I get questions about these at nearly every workshop. So a quick post on what some folks think is reality and what IS reality. Yeah, I know... you saw it on the interwebs. Shoots with all the latest and...
Speaking in Seattle Tonight, Teaching Tomorrow
NOTICE: Because of a late plane schedule today, there will not be a Lighting Essentials LIVE show tonight. I will still be in the air at 6PM, and doing it later will mean it is too late on the East Coast. There will be a LE LIVE this Wednesday evening at 6PM. Sorry...
Increase the “Power” of your Speedlights with Photoshop
Lighting Essentials LIVE: Tonight we discuss pricing strategies for emerging photographers. Log in to ask questions. Thanks all for joining us this evening. This post from a year ago has some good information. Yeah... that's right. We can actually create an impression...
John Ricard, NYC Music Photographer: Interviewed on Lighting Essentials
The interview with John Ricard comes after the jump. Click on the "more" link below. Our next Lighting Essentials LIVE Broadcast, Sunday, Aug 22, 2010. Expanded edition (90 minutes). Here is the pre-show material you may want to read before the show. Up first is a...
10 (More) Website Strategies for Photographers
A little over a year ago I posted "10 Web Site Strategies for Emerging Photographers." I think the article holds up very well and is as relevant as it was when I posted it. So please read it if you haven't done so, then come back to this article for 10 more web...