“Jim Jordan is a widely sought-after fashion, celebrity, lifestyle, and kids photographer based out of Los Angeles and New York City. Some of his notable clients include Vogue, Elle, J.Crew, and Mercedes Benz. He’s also taken portraits for major celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Drew Berrymore, and Charlize Theron.

We wanted to learn more about Jim’s creative process from start to finish – so I picked Jim’s brain and walked away with his top 5 tips on how to shoot killer portrait photography.”

From Toad via Lightstalking this weeks selection of the best. “This week has been full of great tutorials, photography and truly interesting blogs to enjoy and Toad Hollow Photography has been busy collecting links to share with everyone.  The end result is this comprehensive page of great resources to visit showcasing incredible talents and posts in the exciting field of photography.  We sincerely hope you enjoy the sites in this list as much as the Toad did in bringing them to you.”

Check out the Toad’s photoblog featuring Canadian landscapes and historical artifacts, and his Fine Art Photography website.

Here is a taste of some on offer

TUTORIALS

How to Shoot Silhouette Photography – this is a thought-provoking and very clear tutorial on how best to achieve silhouette based photography.  These great tips and tricks will help everyone to achieve the exact results they are going for in this genre, and it’s an article that is truly worth the time to read.

Back To Arizona – this is a truly great post by Blake Rudis that belongs in both the Tutorials section as well as the Great Photography section in this weeks list.  Blake captures and shares a few truly epic shots in this post, but he also shares some great tips and tricks for low light photography that is guaranteed to deliver some great information for how to go about performing this genre of image production.

Creating An Abstract Landscape Image – a highly detailed post takes the reader step-by-step through the process that Curt Fleenor utilized to create a really wonderful abstract piece.  Each step is carefully documented with great visuals and screen captures, producing a well-rounded article that is sure to teach everyone a little about this style of imagery.

The Ultimate Do-it-yourself Small Flash Modifier – a truly top drawer tutorial piece by Doug Pruden details how to go about creating an inexpensive flash modifier to reduce the harsh effects of on-camera flash systems.  The technique that Doug discusses is so simple, yet does result in some pretty dramatic changes to the images captured.  This is a well-written and detailed piece, well worth the time to read.

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY

Luna…Who? – this wonderful Saw-Whet Owl is a native to Canada and is also one of the tiniest owl species to be found.  Edith Levy captures and shares a series of photos of this just gorgeous little bird, really bringing to life all her character and spirit.  No matter what style of photography you prefer to view, these shots are absolutely guaranteed to bring a huge smile to your face and there is no way we can express strongly enough how wonderful they really are.

Life Cycle – prepare to be absolutely blown away by this epic photograph from the studio of Barbara Youngleson.  Using a completely unique composition and then post-processing the shot in black-and-white, Barbara delivers a strong and dramatic picture that is guaranteed to take your breath away and leave you wanting more.  Definitely one of the highlights in this weeks’ list, this is truly a must-see shot.

“An art charity saved the crucial collection after employee’s call, but another archive was dumped by the V&A”

The Tate’s discarded archive, now stored on these shelves, contained photos of art from its collections and beyond, such as these images of two John Hoppner works. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Reblogged from 12.3 MégaPixels:

In a recent interview with Adrianne Jeffries of Betabeat, Flickr’s Senior Project Manager, Markus Spiering, revealed plans for the online photo management and sharing platform’s long overdue makeover set to show the first wave in a series of facelifts planned for 2012, in just a matter of days. On February 28th, a newly revamped Flickr photo view (shown above) will be unrolled. According to Betabeat, who enjoyed a pre-release first hand view of the changes, gone are the voids of blank white space of …

I was in Syria in 2009, I was struck by how really friendly everyone was, it is so sad what is happening there now. That sadness is not confined to the courageous Syrian people but also to the journalists who cover the unfolding ruthlessness of the regime.

From the BJP by Olivier Laurent

“Rémi Ochlik was killed in Homs, Syria on 22 February. Friends and colleagues tell BJP what made the young photographer one of a kind – “a man who knew better than take unnecessary risks…..When Paris Match asked Rémi Ochlik and writer Alfred de Montesquiou to leave Syria as their security became an issue, the 28-year-old freelance photographer looked at his photos. “He wasn’t happy,” writes de Montesquiou. “He wanted better. He wanted images that truly showed the tragedy and the violence being waged against the Syrian people.” But before going back on his own, using a network of fixers and militants, Ochlik took an insurance policy. “He knew better than going into Syria on his own without preparing for all eventualities,” says photographer Olivier Laban-Mattei, one of Ochlik close friends and co-workers. “He knew what he was doing.”….MORE

Here is a link to an article in The Guardian that has a selection of Rémi Ochlik’s images

“For years David LaChapelle was the go-to photographer for the world’s biggest stars. But in 2006 he ditched fashion for fine art. As an exhibition of his work opens in London, he talks to Elizabeth Day about death, divas and decadence”  Read this interesting article here

From the press release for the exhibition we have this information

ROBILANT + VOENA are pleased to announce a major exhibition of acclaimed American artist DAVID LACHAPELLE
opening in February across three European locations – London, Milan and St.Moritz:

London
Dates: 14 February – 24 March 2012
Reception for the Artist – Monday 13 February
Public Lecture by the Artist – Tuesday 14 February
Location: ROBILANT+VOENA Gallery, 38 Dover Street, London W1S 4NL
Open: Mon – Fri 10am – 6pm, Sat 11am – 5pm

“In this new series of ten works DAVID LACHAPELLE (Born 1964) explores the vanity of life and beauty. With titles such
as “Springtime”, “Late Summer”, “Early Fall” and “Deathless Winter” the works refer to the four seasons and allude to
the life cycle: from birth to death.
The title of the series is a quotation of the poem “Hamatreya” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in which flowers are the
earth’s laughter at the arrogance of human beings who believe they can rule the earth, although they themselves are
transient and must return to it. The title of the exhibition can also be read in the sense of the Baroque vanitas
portrayals. The meaning of the Baroque floral still life was always related to the human hubris and transience of
earthly existence, with the classical still life often containing many of the following: flowers, fruits, vegetables,
animals, insects, mask, candles, watches or skulls. These symbols denote the fugacity and limitations of human life
and the meaningless nature of vanity. Just like wilting flowers, albeit their beauty, we will all fade away.
Whilst LaChapelle shows an explicit compositional affinity to Baroque floral still life, he transfers the genre from
painting to photography. The artist employs art historical visual traditions, but he also translates them into visual
metaphor of and for our time. On second glance the viewer will discover objects of contemporary society in the
blooming and fading flower arrangements: burning cigarettes, newspapers from yesterday, old mobile phones,
plastic, Barbies, a Manga mask, medical devices, a burning American flag, a model of an airplane, balloons, tins,
collages, throw away dinnerware or a tattered dollar bill. These are the metaphors of vanity in our era of an affluent
though seemingly troubled society. The often bizarre and excessive symbolical imagery does not fail to remind us
however, as in the traditional vanitas, to follow our virtues and to celebrate life before it‘s over.” the gallery website is here

This is a guest post by Tom Dinning. Check out Tom’s free book offer on his site.

“I’m partial to a bit of colour as much as the next photographer. Blue skies, turquoise ocean, verdant pastures all make for picture post card stuff………But when it comes to emphasising textures, tones and forms of the landscape there seems nothing like a black and white image to draw out the best in these elements of composition.”………MORE from Tom

We have a Black and White Digital Photography course starting March 6th

Yes light is what photography is about, if the light works then almost anything can be your subject so learning to see light and to appreciate the qualities it has to illuminate a subject is a photographers task. These images on the Lightstalking website show the value of working with back lighting, or contre-jour as it is often named.

“Having a scene lit from behind can serve to bring out the shape and form of subjects in a beautiful way. Sometimes it can also diminish them. These examples of backlit and rim-lit photographs show that, with a little bit of skill, the results can be quite stunning. For some primers on how to achieve a great effect like these examples, check out our articles: “Do You Make These Mistakes When Using Backlighting?” and “How to Capture Stunning Backlit Portraits During the Golden Hours.”

all images ©Keith Barnes