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Canadian Photographer Julie Moos

2009-05-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Although Julie Moos is labeled a landscape photographer, her expertise behind the camera lends her work to many categories. Her photographs are somewhat interactive. They do much more than just capture a specific subject in a picture. They prod and provoke you to make your own sense of what her original intentions were.

Julie Moos’ Monsanto Series was displayed at the University of Chicago from September 22 to November 3 in 2002. This series consisted of 10 life size color photographs of farm owners in northern Missouri and southern Illinois. They were paired as husband and wife, father and son and brothers. They were photographed standing in the fields of their farms. The viewer is challenged to see for themselves how each picture relates to them and the society’s relationship to farming.

Also in 2002, Julie included a Birmingham, Alabama high school in a project. This series was called Friends and Enemies. Julie used neutral settings and blank back drops and paired students in unusual ways. Some of the photographed subjects were friends while others were enemies. Some were rivals and others had never met before. The viewers of the photographs were never told what the relationship was between the subjects. They were expected to discern what the relationship was by how they were dressed, hair styles, facial expressions and body language.

Julie Moos has a talent of capturing the subjects of her photographs in a way that provokes definite feelings and emotions in the viewer. Exhibiting her photographs in this large life size manner also adds an exciting dimension to her work.

Winston Link and the Steam Engine

2009-05-04T09:03:00.001-07:00

Ogle Winston Link was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 16, 1914. Winston and his siblings were taught about the arts by their parents and he became interested in photography as a child. When he first started taking pictures he had to borrow a camera.

He attended Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and graduated in 1937. Even though he had earned a degree in civil engineering, he began a career as a photographer for a public relations firm where he worked for five years.

It was the beginning of World War II, but Winston had a hearing impairment and was unable to serve. Instead he worked on a project at Columbia University as a researcher for the government. This job lasted until the end of the war.

After the war he decided to go into business for himself as a photographer. After ten years in business he began to take pictures of railroads and the steam powered trains. This was about the time that the steam engines were beginning to change to diesel. From 1955 until 1959 Link took over 2000 pictures of the Norfolk and Western Railway line in order to document the end of the steam engine era.

Later he worked in the advertising field and retired in 1983. He worked on his museum, but died before it was complete. The museum is located in a former railroad station and has many of his photographs displayed.

There have been two books published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. which depict the photographs taken by Link. The pictures would interest people who like steam engines and its history.

Miru Kim

2009-05-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

Miru Kim is an extraordinary woman. She was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1981, but grew up in Seoul, Korea. Miru moved back to the United States in 1995 to attend Phillips Academy in Andover and Columbia University in 1999. She originally went to college to become a medical doctor because she had a love for anatomy, but soon found that her love of photography would lead her in a different direction. In 2006, she received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute.

Miru has been working on a series of pictures called Naked City Spleen. Naked city being New York, and spleen being the word used to describe a person when they are in a state of loneliness or being melancholy. She goes through and finds abandoned areas of the city and then poses herself naked in the pictures. She decided to start doing this because when she was looking at the desolate and abandoned areas she wanted something alive in them. She figured she was the easiest thing to use to get what she wanted out of the picture. She posed naked because she does not want anything to show the era or time of the picture. She just wants a live image interacting with the abandoned image.

Miru Kim considers herself to be an artist rather than a photographer. She sees herself as an urban explorer. She would rather be in a dark, damp, rough abandoned place sometimes than in the upper city. She has said that she could walk around in underground places for eight to twelve hours and not feel tired or hungry, but when she comes above ground, she sometimes feels dead.

Landscape Photographer Sam Haskins

2009-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

When we think of landscape photography we may think of the hills and valleys of some far away place with the lovely trees and rivers, or the majestic mountains or the flat land of a desert. Sam Haskins saw all of these things in the human body. Haskins made his fame photographing the bodies of nude women and with some he made set-ups of woman. For example, there is one picture of a woman in an apple and another of a tiny lady in a made-up landscape of minerals.

Sam Haskins was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on November 11, 1926. He came to America to study and then went back to Africa later. Until the 1960s, his work was popular as posters, but he has written several books. One book went on to become an international best sell, “Cowboy Kate.” This book stars Kate, and she does not have much on other than her cowboy hat. It won the Prix Nadar award. Other popular Haskin books are “Five Girls,” “November Girl” and “African Image,” with equally unclad ladies.

Many of his works hang in the collections at George Eastman House, Rijksmuseum and the Center for Creative Photography among others. Some of his works are what we will call makeovers. He uses pictures that have not been used for a long time and superimposes them into another picture. He loves to do this while he is working on a new book. Many of his pictures that were popular posters are now out of print, but that is to be expected since Haskins has been photographing for over 50 years. One of his pictures, and there is surely more, is the scene of an African sunset with an escarpment and a nude lady on the edge. This is one of Haskin's imposed photos, selling for $2500.

Tips on Professional Photography

2009-05-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Becoming a professional photographer is not as easy as point and shoot. There are many other factors involved in creating beautiful portraits which will last through the ages.

A professional photographer needs to consider the lighting conditions. These conditions and requirements change depending on the type of portrait you are photographing. You would not use the same lighting for a large family as you would for an intimate portrait of the wedding couple. Creating beautiful photographs outdoors also creates unique lighting dilemmas. The shadows thrown by the sun have a huge effect on the subject of your photo.
Another area a professional photographer must have skill in is equipment. A professional photographer uses an extensive amount of equipment to create the professional portrait they are seeking. Some of the equipment a photographer needs includes, lights, stands, soft boxes, scrims, props, etc. The most important piece of equipment is the camera. Most cameras used these days are digital and required memory cards rather than film. Due to the large size of the print you may create, a professional photographer will want to have an adequate supply of memory cards available.

Professional photographers use the rule of thirds to create photos which are appealing to the eye. The rule of thirds is simply a way to determine where the subject of your picture should be located. The rules of thirds is simple a way to balance the picture to make your subjects look the most appealing.

Professional photographers don't just point and shoot. Much planning, preparation, and expertise goes into creating a beautiful portrait.

Victor Hasselblad

2009-04-30T10:19:00.001-07:00

Renowned landscape photographer Victor Hasselblad was born in Sweden on March 8th, 1906 and died on August 5th, 1978. He came from a famous family of entrepreneurs but it was his love of birds that eventually changed his life.

Victor's great-grandfather opened a store in 1841 called FWH and Co. His son, Arvid, began running the store in 1871, and in 1885, he bought a camera soon devoted part of his store to cameras and photography supplies. The store became so popular, that Victor's father, Karl Erik soon took over operations.

During Victor's early life he had many troubles at home and went off on his own many times. He enjoyed watching birds and loved drawing them even more. Victor didn't finish school but he did visit many countries and work in various shops that specialized in cameras. When he returned home, recurring troubles with his father led Victor Hasselblad to open his own camera shop, VictorFoto, in 1937. Still very interested in birding, the camera allowed Victor to see them more clearly, as well as take photos for his personal collection.

Hasselblad was asked to design a camera by the Swedish Air Force, one inspired by a prototype found in a downed German plane in the early 1940s. He opened another shop to produce improved cameras like the one found on the German plane. Many professional photographers through the 20th century have used Hasselblad's cameras and are still used today. In fact, on October 3rd, 1962, one of Hasselblad's cameras went with a crew of astronauts to the moon, and was used to take photos of the amazing achievement.

Landscape Photographer Philip Hyde

2009-04-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

Philip Hyde contributed enormously to American conservationism through landscape photography. Today, his work is highly commemorated and graces the pages of over 70 different published books. He grew up in an age when environmental conservationists battled the destruction of beautiful landmarks through damming and other works. Early on, Hyde had a talent for capturing images of nature and with his talent he helped prevent further destruction of some well known monuments.

Americans really took notice of Hyde's landscape photography during his work with the Sierra Club in the 1950's. He had trained under Ansel Adam's school of photography and had practiced taking pictures since 1938. When he started, he preferred black and white prints to colored. Yet after helping the Sierra Club's campaign against damming the Grand Canyon, he realized the power of colored photographs. The director of the Sierra Club selected Hyde because of his ability to photograph nature without making any major adjustments to the photo. His photographs are said to be unique and inspiring and captured images of the canyon that people had never seen before. The dam was never built, and Hyde had gained national attention.

Before his death in 2006, Hyde had published 15 books and had photos in 70 others. He worked with well known figures such as Edward Abbey and Ansel Adams and published material which featured quotes by the highly respected preservationist John Muir. Whether they realize it or not, most people have probably seen a photo or two by the famous photographer. Many of his pictures sit in large print books on the coffee tables of living rooms. An archive of his work can be found in the UCSC library where he is commemorated as a California photographer.

Fay Godwin

2009-04-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Fay Godwin was born in Berlin, Germany on February 17, 1931. She died on May 27, 2005 in Hastings, England. Since she was the daughter of a British diplomat, she attended many schools during her young life, one of which was a photography school. During her 74 year career, she did many things and received many awards for photography.

Fay married in 1961, and as she took pictures of her family, which consisted of her husband and two boys, her love and interest in photography grew. Through her husband, she met many famous writers whom she took photos of. Even though she took many, she is best known for black and whites she took of different parts of the country in Britain. Many of her photos were of friends and those in her community and they sometimes showed the harshness of life etched on their faces, or the complete joy of what they were experiencing at the time. She took photos of people living real lives, or ones that dealt with the environment.

She also published books showcasing her photography, in fact, there are around 17 books that she either wrote herself or had a hand in publishing. However, it is her book from 1985, "Land", that is probably her most popular book. In the 1990's, she turned to color pictures, especially after she was given a Fellowship at the Natural Museum of Photography.

Medication for heart problems made her slow down around the turn of the century. Even though she had no formal training, Godwin opened the door for many in the field of photography, and her photos are still very popular and loved by many.

Lee Friedlander

2009-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Lee Friedlander, a famous American photographer, was born on July 14, 1934 in Aberdeen, Washington. His early life is not well documented, although his interest in photography is said to have started in 1948.

His first photography schooling was at the Art Center in Los Angeles and Pasadena. He relocated to New York City in 1956 and began freelance photography, focusing on social landscapes. He married Maria Depoli in 1958 and had two children, Eric in 1960 and Anna in 1962.

Many of his earlier works were photographs of jazz musicians for album covers for Atlantic Records. Influenced by other notable photographers in his early years, Friedlander was awarded grants from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1960, 1962 and 1977. Probably one of his most famous works was a nude photograph of Madonna for Playboy magazine in the late 1970s, before she began her illustrious career.

Friedlander chose black and photography using modest cameras, such as a Leica 35mm and later a Hasselblad Superwide. Some of his social impressionistic landscapes focused on store front windows and monuments. He especially liked to work with shadows in his earlier works. Friedlander’s social landscape photography has awarded him five National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and has been exhibited in many galleries, including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He has also exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and other international exhibitions.

His most recent works were exhibited by the Museum of Contemporary Photography in 2005. He now has arthritis and works from his home, where he published Stems, a reflection of his life and one of 17 books he published over the past 32 years.

William Eggleston

2009-04-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

An American photographer, William Eggleston, produced color photographs that have had a great impression on many photographers and writers. His pictures were of his world around him. William was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 27, 1939. As a child, playing the piano, drawing, and working with electronics were some of his favorite hobbies. Eggleston enjoyed visual media. He bought postcards and cut out pictures from magazines to experiment with. At the age of 15, Eggleston attended Webb School in Tennessee. Webb School is highly known as producing Rhodes Scholars students whom have academic excellence. Pursuing no college degree, he then attended Vanderbilt University, Delta State College, and the University of Mississippi. Here in his college life is when he became interested in photography.

He taught himself about photography from photographically illustrated books by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and Robert Frank. Although he began his career making black and white images, color photography became dominant to him in the 1960s. Different artists were “stunned” by Eggleston’s work of art. In 1973-1974, Eggleston’s most striking and famous work was created from dye transfer printing. He then created his first portfolio which contained 14 dye-transfer prints. In 1976, his portfolio was displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, exhibiting the first one person exhibition of color photographs.

Eggleston experienced video in the late 1970s, producing several hours of an ordinary life’s footage. He contained clips from his children, to drunken parties at his own home, a man eating a chicken, and other fascination moments that one would experience in a lifetime. What made him such a special photographer was that his pictures were of ordinary subjects. He took pictures of his own refrigerator, a muddy truck, children playing, torn posters, etc. Looking at his pictures brought you into another world. They were full of rich colors and unique beauty.

Edward Curtis: Photographer

2009-04-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

Edward Sheriff Curtis was born on February 16, 1868. His middle name comes from his mother's maiden name. He and his family lived in Wisconsin until Edward was six, at which time they moved to Minnesota. At the age of 19, he moved with his family to the state of Washington. In 1906, Curtis was commissioned by J. P. Morgan to photograph the American Indians and their lifestyle. He did this and recorded his own descriptions of what was taking place. Over the years, there has been much controversy regarding his photographs, because some people believe that he altered his photos in many ways. Some also think that he staged the scenes instead capturing the natural culture of the Indians.

In 1892, he married Clara Phillips and they were legally married until 1919. Together, they had one son and three daughters. At the time of his divorce to Clara, he had taken many photos and possessed the glass negatives. His wife was awarded all of these things, along with his photographic equipment. He did not want her to have them, so he proceeded to destroy everything.

Later, he and one of his daughters moved to California, where he opened another studio. He then traveled to Alaska before returning to Washington.

Some of Edward's photographs, prints and publications are at the Library of Congress in Washington. Some are housed at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and still others are owned by Kenneth Zerbe.

At the time of his death on October 19, 1952, Edward Curtis was living in California with his daughter Beth. He was buried in Hollywood Hills, California.

Bernd and Hilla Becher

2009-04-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Bernd and Hilla Becher met in the 1950s, started collaborating in 1959, and married in 1961. Their photography brought out an art form heretofore unexplored. They preferred black and white photography and are best known for their typology, or grids of industrial structures. The Bechers would travel through Northern Europe and the United States to mines and steel mills and take black and white photos of the largest structures present. They would place these on a grid. Some exhibitions showed like structures from different plants, while some were different structures of the same plant.

Some of their subjects would be the towers that bring ore from the underground mine to the surface. The blast furnaces in steel mills, water towers, gas tanks and cooling towers were also of interest to them. At each place they photographed, they also took landscape photos. The landscape picture was usually taken from an elevation that showed the layout of the entire plant. The two types of pictures were displayed side by side in exhibitions. The typologies looked like engineer drawings, while the landscapes gave an ambiance. Presented together, each piece completed the feeling of the place pictured.

They compiled their photographs in books and have received mixed reviews. Many view their books as a monument to post war Germany. Susanne Lange, a Becher scholar at MIT, writes, "Bernd and Hilla Becher's lifetime project of documenting the industrial landscape of our time secures their position in the canon of postwar photographers."

Pinky Bass

2009-04-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

American photographer Pinky M. M. Bass was born in 1936 and graduated from Georgia State University in 1988 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography. She is mostly known for her pictures taken with a pinhole camera, which is a very simple piece of equipment without a lens. She self built one in 1989 out of a pop up camper, which she dubbed “Pinky’s Portable Pop-up Pinhole Camera and Darkroom.” Much of her work portrays the different mysteries of life and what the body goes through. This stemmed from her sister’s battle with cancer that had Pinky constantly worrying about what was happening inside her body. She began stitching internal organs onto photographs, basically turning the body inside out, which ended up being therapeutic for her during trying times.

Bass currently lives in Fairhope, Alabama, and has received numerous grants from the region. She also has had many exhibits around her home state and Washington, D. C., Philadelphia, and North Carolina to name a few. She has been published in Aperture, Pinhole Journal and within the Polaroid Corporation. Pinky has also taught many workshops on the use of pinhole cameras around the nation.

Pinky has been honored many times throughout her career, one of which was awarded by the Georgia Commission on Women in 1997 for women in the visual arts. She has been featured in many books and even had the pleasure of being honored in a film, “Coat of Many Colors,” which was an Alabama Public Television presentation.

Who is Alan Aubry

2009-04-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Alan Aubry is a French photographer. Born in September of 1974, he graduated from the art college of Rouen in France in 1998. While going to school, he discovered the work of Charles Maryville and Eugene Atget and was inspired. After graduating, he received a grant that allowed him to start working on his photography.

At the end of this studies, he found some images of landscapes, and they opened his eyes to what could be done with landscape photography. With a new desire to investigate this new world and his studies over, he started to take pictures of geology, urban sites, and construction modifications.

His exhibitions reveal a process to his work. They show the essence of landscapes and reveal what things are and where they came from by taking the facade down to show the truth as he sees it. He uses mundane landscapes for the purpose of showing people the beauty in them that people often overlook. When he works on a series, he works only on a single series. His urban landscapes are landscapes empty of human presence, and the photographs are a collection and a personal inventory of an area's function and story. The photographs work much deeper to give the viewer a much wider range of what is going on, rather than just something visual to experience.

All of his exhibitions are in France, with one exception: the Children's Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada houses his only American exhibition. Because of his wide range of history, he has a very good artistic eye.

Bill Atkinson

2009-04-21T10:51:00.001-07:00

At a very early age, Bill Atkinson was given the “Arizona Highway” magazine. He realized the beauty that surrounds nature’s landscapes. He began to explore many trails through forest and desert terrains to bring out the beauty in nature. As an early developer in the technology of digital printing, he shares his knowledge, experience, and teaches in workshops by bringing a moment in nature to last a lifetime through photography.

He was one of the first team members at Macintosh Apple Computesr for the period of 1978 through 1990. As part of the original team, he created the beginnings of the MacPaint application. He patterned and implemented the beginnings of the software for QuickDraw and HyperCard. Other achievements include the Menu Bar and Fatbits.

After the computer era with Macintosh, he became involved once again in digital photography. He left the technical computer side and crossed over to the professional side of “image-making.” Atkinson uses the landscape photo and adds computer color and effects to the portrait. He developed some of the technological resources used in the present day in digital printing. He continues to work on the best ways to enhance the digital printing process for color quality of photos.

In addition, he is very particular and detailed in his own unique work as to color quality, shades and clarity of the finished product.

Atkinson became fascinated with the smaller landscape beauty of nature concealed in rocks. Through his creativity, he has taken these rock images and transformed them to be seen as a painting instead of a photograph. These photographs can be viewed in his book “Within the Stone.”

Takashi Amano

2009-04-20T10:59:00.001-07:00

Takashi Amano was born in the mid 1950s in the country of Japan. By the mid 1970s, he was traveling around the world photographing amazing pictures in the rain forests.

Takashi Amano is known for taking pictures of objects in their natural form. He takes larger than normal photos with is special cameras. These cameras are able to pick up the most minute details, helping viewers to better understand what he is seeing. Takashi's pictures are breathtaking and are displayed in art galleries around the world.

Takashi's talents do not lay only with taking amazing landscape photographs. He is also a aquarist, and he has written several books. He is able to take an everyday aquarium and turn it into a work of art. These aquariums in many ways resemble amazing underwater landscapes. The pictures are without a doubt breathtaking.

Takashi Amano's landscape photographs are done on a larger scale, giving the viewing public a better detailed idea of what he is actually looking at. The pictures are all done in their natural state, making them all the more spectacular and meaningful. They help to take the viewer to these far away locations visually. Takashi is a believer in replanting trees to take the place of those that are lost each year.

Takashi Amano is a man of many talents, from writing books to taking amazing pictures. His landscape photos have made him known around the world. His aquarium designs and pictures have amazed and awed many. Takashi owns a company that helps others to explore their creative talents with the growth of aquatic plants. No matter what Takashi does, one is always able to see his artistic side through his work.

Eddie Adams, Landscape Photographer

2009-04-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Eddie Adams lived for 71 years, from 1933 to 2004. During those years he covered 13 wars and captured pictures of many world celebrities such as Pope John Paul, Ronald Reagan and Bette Davis. He was a combat photographer during the Korean War while serving in the United States Marine Corps.

His photographs brought out the best in people in that the photo inspired people to do well. As a result, he brought about changes in government policies and changes in people’s lives. His photographs during the Vietnam War were very persuasive. One of the prime changes was with Jimmy Carter, then President of the United States, to grant nearly 200,000 Vietnamese boat people asylum. The amazing part of his photography is that he captured tension in every one of his photos.

His photographs won over 500 awards including the Pulitzer Prize for the photography captioned “General Nguyen Ngoc Loan Executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon.” For this, he had some regrets at a later date in that he felt he had killed the general with his camera. He felt that photographs many times only tell half-truths, for one does not know all of the circumstances that were in play at the time the photograph was taken.

His famous legacy is perpetrated through The Eddie Adams Workshop. This was a workshop he started in 1988. He influenced journalism, fashions, entertainment and the government with his inspirational photographs.

Digital Cameras

2009-04-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Cameras have come a long way since the Brownie cameras that a lot of photographers of the day began with. Now we have the digital cameras and there are so many to choose from.

First is the Point and Shoot cameras, such as the Cannon Power Shot A2000. It has a 10 mega pixel sensor, 6x optical zoom lens, and a 3-inch LCD display that you can see your shots on. Also the Fuji F6FD has a 12 mega pixel sensor and a 3-inch LCD display. You can also use the manual settings on this camera, or just point and shoot letting the camera do all the work. For the new photographer, the Cannon Power Shot E1 is the perfect digital camera. It is the digital equivalent of the old Brownie camera. It comes in variety of colors, has a design so the camera will not overwhelm the new photographer with a lot of bells and whistles. It is a 10 mega pixel with a 4x zoom lens.

If you are looking for a great extended zoom lens digital camera, the Panasonic Lumix FZ28 is a considered a good choice. This is also a digital movie camera with a 27mm wide-angle lens. The Cannon Power Shot SX10IS has a 20 x optical zoom wide-angle lens. This camera is great for group photographs.

For an SLR Digital camera the Nikon D60 has a 10 mega pixel sensor. It is considered a perfect camera for travel and vacations. The Cannon EOS 1000, also known as the Digital Rebel XS, is the newest on in the SLR Camera selection. It is a great camera for the new photographer. The Cannon 50D is considered a professional camera. It has a 3-inch LCD display and includes live viewing availability. They say it will give you a faster image and cleaner final pictures.

Harrington College of Design, Photography Division

2009-04-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

In 1931, Frances Harrington, an interior designer from New York, delivered a series of lectures to a group of professional interior designers in Chicago. When Ms. Harrington realized there was enough interest in the interior design field, she expanded her lectures to the public by creating the Harrington Institute of Interior Design. There was no formal degree plan in the beginning, but as the school grew diplomas were presented to qualified graduates. Upon Ms. Harrington’s retirement in 1959, Robert Marks, a former student, took over the school. In 2003, the school’s name was changed to Harrington College of Design. Currently Harrington’s offers specialized Associate Degrees and Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees in interior design, graphic design and digital photography.

Digital photographs are photos that do not undergo the chemical processing of film and can be manipulated, stored, printed, displayed, and/or transmitted using computer techniques. Digital photography includes forms of digital imaging such as computer tomography (CT) scanners, scanners (for conventional photography), and radio telescopes. Harrington’s digital photography program was created and is taught by professional, working photographers.

Students must provide their own personal digital cameras, a light meter, tripod and flash card. Harrington, in turn, provides top of the line equipment such as scanners and lighting equipment complete with labs containing dual processor Mac G5s with Adobe Photoshop and other imaging software. Harrington’s is an elite school in the field of design, but rather expensive. Students accept this as part of the “right-of-passage” for the education they receive. Classes are generally limited to ten and fifteen students, with personalized instruction, per class.

How To Become A Professional Photographer

2009-04-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

To some people, becoming a professional photographer can come easy to them and others, it will be more difficult. Just because you like taking photographs does not mean you are cut out to make it as a professional photographer. There is more that goes into becoming a professional than most people realize. The most famous saying from professionals to amateurs wanting to become a professional is do not quit your day job. This is because you are never going to be able to rely on the income you might be making when you first start out.

Most professional photographers really recommend that you take some classes on photography. If you are not able to go to school to take any classes, then make sure you do your research by reading a lot on the subject. Make sure you get a lot of practice and time in taking photographs; make yourself a good portfolio to show new clients. You are able to show this portfolio to real professionals and try to get an internship with them; this will really help you to get started.

Always remember to be patient because learning all the technical aspects of good photography takes time. Make sure you learn the marketing so when you are ready, you will be able to run an efficient business.

When you are first starting out, be sure to invite criticism into your photographs. Do not ever take the criticism personally because it will help you take better photographs. Also, be sure to take photographs of things you enjoy when you are first starting out. This will help you take better photographs rather than taking boring photographs of things you do not enjoy.

How To Become A Professional Photographer

2009-04-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

How to Photograph People

2009-04-15T10:23:00.001-07:00

One of the most interesting photographic practices is taking pictures of people and doing portraits. There are many aspects of life that can express an individual’s personality, mood, action, character, thoughts, etc. The memorable moments in any individual’s life to create great photographs are practically endless. However, to get an interesting photograph, they should express people naturally in their everyday lives. The quality of the photographs will depend on many things: camera, lighting, film, and the meaning of the moment, to name a few.

Before lifting the camera and taking photos of the person, you have to think where your subject looks best. Great photographs usually outline the person’s behavior and manner, especially as it reflects on character. When you are taking a group photo, don’t just line them up and shoot; they have to look natural. Keep in mind that you aren’t allowed to take pictures wherever you want. Especially in public places, don’t aim your camera on a person before getting his or her permission to be photographed first.

You should consider the following factors when taking photos of people: location, positioning, and proportions. Photos taken at eye level usually are the best. If you photograph a child you need to kneel down. The background of the image should be simple and medium-toned. The best lighting time is the late afternoon. To get quality photos, avoid movement when shooting. To that end, fix your camera on a tripod. If you really want to learn how to photograph people, then Michael Busselle’s book “The Perfect Portrait Guide” is highly recommended.

Advanced Photography Tips

2009-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Photography is one of the most fascinating career endeavors. Even if your interest in photography is strictly a hobby, you are aware that there are always new techniques to learn. Especially with all the new advanced digital cameras and other equipment being made available, photographers have so many more options available to them than ever before. What you cannot do with a camera lens and filters, you can enhance on Photoshop afterward, and there are more tricks of the trade to choose from, but these will be explained later on in this article.

If you are reading this, you probably own a 35mm SLR digital camera, film camera or both, which is basic equipment for what follows. Most photographers own fancy, do-it-all digital SLRs, but the pros are switching back to manual, because you cannot do these tricks with a “do-it-all” for you camera. If your camera has RAW capture ability, use it. There is so much more you can do with it; then, once you have edited your images, they can be saved in JPEG or whatever format you choose.

You cannot change depth of field, if you are using an auto-focus camera. You need to be able to play with aperture openings and shutter speed. Bracket your exposures until you get the effect you are going for. Newer cameras will automatically set the shutter speed for you when you set the aperture. You can stop motion completely with new digital cameras that have shutter speeds up to 1/8000th of a second. You can also up the ISO. Playing with lighting effects can create some very dramatic results. The natural light at the golden hours of sunrise and sunset are best, because lighting is soft and contains brilliant hues of pinks, violets and gold.

Types of Scene Photography

2009-04-13T11:12:00.001-07:00

When you photograph a scene, it is made up of different elements. They can be objects, lines, people, or wildlife. To create a meaningful scene, one that pulls the viewer into the photograph, you need to consider all the elements available in the scene you are shooting.

One type of scene is Representational. These are realistic photographs of what exists naturally, without adding anything artificial. You still use the rules of good composition and lighting, but in a way that does not alter the naturalness of the scene.

An Impressionistic scene has a more elusive quality. Reality is being photographed, but it may appear unreal. Instead of a sharp, concise image that leaves nothing to doubt, an impressionistic scene allows the viewer to use emotion to personalize the view of the photograph.

A third type of scene is Abstract. Here, the scene seems to be composed of graphic elements. Design takes over, and realism is secondary. The emphasis might be on a technique or focus area rather than an entire scene.

Scenes can be rural, sweeping natural landscapes. They can be urban, with buildings set against the sky, or masses of people moving, or a traffic jam. Outdoor scenes in a park or at a café, or indoor scenes of furnishings, architecture, or objects are all subjects. From underwater scenes to aerial views, there is an appeal in scenic photography that makes the viewer want to keep looking, because there is more detail, or more emotion, or more inspiration to be found the longer we look.

Landscape Portraits

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Landscape painting is the art of painting natural scenery. In China, landscape painting is an old art. However, in many other nations, it did not become a separate style of painting until the 16th century. This can be seen by the paintings in the famous European cathedrals, where figure drawing was much more important. Some landscapes were in ancient Greek and Egyptian art, but they were more of a background for the figures in the painting.

The Romans were apparently the first to paint pictures of hills, valleys, streams and trees on the walls of their homes. A few survived the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. In the 14th century, landscapes began to be more prominent in the pictures and some were actually recognized as places. It was not until the 16th century that landscapes became a different brand of art. Of course the English landscape painters were much different than the Dutch painters. In Italy, the landscape painters developed a style called the idealistic landscape.

In the modern world of painting, the artist can use pastels, colored pencils, watercolors, graphite, acrylics or oil in painting the landscape portrait. There are also many styles of painting, including impressionist, expressionist, realistic, abstract, surrealist and cubist, to name a few.

It all depends on the shoppers taste as to which sort of a landscape he/she chooses. Many are done in vibrant colors that make them a focal part of a room. Others done in pastels and do not stand out as much. Regardless, landscape painting can be an extremely enjoyable thing that anyone can do.