Time Lapse Photography – Podcast with Dave Delnea

In this month’s podcast, Matt Brandon speaks with Vancouver-based photographer Dave Delnea about his newest Craft & Vision eBook, Timelapse: An Introduction to Still Photographs in Motion. Matt & Dave discuss the details of timelapse photography, and the nuances of stitching those still images together to create a movie. Hear the podcast here

7 Basic Tips That Will Make Your Stock Photographs Sell

On Lightstalking this useful article by Rachael Towne,  a professional photographer and editor of Photoluminary.

The microstock model is a relative newcomer in the world of commercial photography. Previously, only an elite few were able to make a decent living with stock photography since it required a lot of specialized training, expensive equipment and the elusive knowing the right people at the right time. The advent of digital photography turned this traditional stock world upside down and has made it all but obsolete. Anybody with a decent digital camera and a basic knowledge of photography has the potential to earn money with their photos now. However, in order to really make it big and earn a living with microstock, there are some things that are very important to know and do.

Click Here: 7 Basic Tips That Will Make Your Stock Photographs Sell Like Hotcakes

Photography is the art of our time

The old masters painted the drama of life and death. Today photography captures the human condition – better than any other artistic medium of our age

Jonathan Jones writes in the Guardian It has taken me a long time to see this, and you can laugh at me if you like. But here goes.

Photography is the serious art of our time. It also happens to be the most accessible and democratic way of making art that has ever been invented. But first, let’s define photography.

A photograph is an image captured on film, paper or – most commonly now – in digital memory. Photography also includes moving images captured on film or video. Moving or still, we all know a photograph is not a pure record of the visual world: it can be edited and transformed in infinite ways

OK you might agree or want to shout at the page but here is the rest of the article, I think it is worth reading

Photography is the successor to the great art of the past … an English lesson in Pakistan Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

How to get your photos published in magazines

Don’t assume that only professional photographers stand a chance of getting published in magazines. Editors are constantly looking for new, inventive and fresh photography, and it may just be that your particular vision coincides perfectly with theirs.

However, don’t go to the other extreme and assume that as soon as they see your work editors will be fighting to get to you first. There are any number of great photographers out there and you’re just one of them – no matter what you might think about the quality of your images (for more tips like these, check out our 50 photography tips from jobbing pros to famous photographers).

Brilliance and style are important, but patience, persistence and willingness to study the needs of the magazines you’re approaching are what really count. Don’t send editors a huge collection of images in the hope that there might be one or two that strike a chord……………

In the following pages we’ll take you through the best way to get your photos published in magazines. We’ll tell you how to make the right approach, offer tips to improve your chances, identify some common mistakes and, finally, answer the all-important question of ‘what will I be paid’?

PAGE 1: Practice Patience
PAGE 2: Making the right approach to editors
PAGE 3: Improve your chances of getting photos published
PAGE 4: Common mistakes when trying to get photos published
PAGE 5: What will you be paid?

READ MORE

Photographer the Jack of All Trades SASHA GiTiN

This is an interesting article by a professional photographer who has made every effort to become successful as a photographer by emersing themselves in many the aspects of what it takes to be a professional photographer with all the experience necessary.

“There are numerous photographic niches and styles. Here at Learn My Shot we always aim at sharing tips on how to photograph anything. But one day when your wings get strong you will pick one area of expertize and fly away to develop your own style. Having a distinctive style or a strong focus on a particular niche of photography has proven to be a successful path for commercial and fine art photographers. Being really good at one thing one is considered as a master. While being good at everything is often compared to not being good at anything. But is it really true?

Early in my photographic career I focused on learning how to shoot anything. I spent about 5 years assisting photographers from diverse industries, portrait, lifestyle, fashion, wedding, event, paparazzi, product, architecture, real estate and still life (That’s how I met Robert Grant – assisting him on a product shoot some years back). When I learned to fly on my own, I chose Food and Beverage as my specialty and took another 5 years to master that particular skill. Often, especially at times when cash was really tight, I asked myself did it ever make sense to spend years experiencing other niches in depth, prior to focusing on one specialty? The answer came in clear recently when I landed a Grey Goose account.

The job required photographing mixed drinks and bartenders in action making those drinks. There are a lot of beverage photographers out there and there are 100 times as many portrait photographers. But being able to shoot both environmental portrait and beverage equally well was something unique to my style and it got me the job.However, the skill required to shoot this job went far beyond the standard norms. The job had to be performed during the filming of Beyond the Bar series on Sundance Chanel. While the job of the film crew involved filming interviews with top national bartenders, my job required to create photographic images of drinks and bartenders in action in between filming sessions. The images where intended to be used for Sundance Chanel website, advertising and point of sale.”…MORE

Selling Your Photographs Through Stock Libraries: An Introduction

This useful article By Jason Row  comes from the well thumbed pages of Lightstalking

“Before the advent of digital photography, there was no micro and macro in stock photography, royalty free was a little used term and image catalogues were large glossy books with just a selection of the best images. To purchase an image you either asked one of the library’s researchers to look for it or you went in person and trawled through thousands of transparencies on light boxes. Apart from a few big stock agencies there were hundreds of smaller ones each dealing in their own niche’s such as music or historical images.

The face of traditional stock photography was changed beyond recognition by two major developments, the advent of the digital camera and the rise of the Royalty Free license, both of which lead to the development of the microstock agency . So if you wish to offer your images for sale at a stock library, which should you choose, micro or macro?”..….MORE

An image that has sold well at a macrostock agency

Here are some links to stock libraries

http://www.istockphoto.com/

http://www.alamy.com/

http://www.reflexstock.com/index.cfm?&DIS=1

http://www.corbisimages.com/

Click Here: Selling Your Photographs Through Stock Libraries: A Primer

Setting Up A Successful Photography Business

Diane Smyth writes in the BJP  “

“Do you know your legal obligations on a commercial shoot? Do you know what the CAP codes are? And do you know what a Recce Fee is? If not, maybe you should take a look at Lisa Pritchard’s new book, Setting Up A Successful Photography Business.

Aimed at emerging or amateur photographers making the transition to professional life, it’s broken down into 11 concise chapters on subjects such as Business basics, Marketing and promotion and Pricing photography. Pritchard focuses on commercial photography so it’s geared towards that world but, with clear advice on legal issues and breakdowns of the finances of photography, it should be useful to photographers working in other areas too. Some of the UK’s most successful photographers have contributed their thoughts and photographs to the publication, including Harry Borden, Tom Stoddart, Steve Bloom, Nadav Kander, Laura Pannack and Perou.”

Setting Up A Successful Photography Business by Lisa Pritchard is published by A&C Black, ISBN 978-1-4081-2577-9, priced £12.99. For more information, visit www.acblack.com.

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2137846/set-successful-photography-business#ixzz1jirWLfIB
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Basic Equipment for Professional Photographers

This is a well written article outlining the bare minimum level and type of equipment you will need if you are considering becoming a professional photographer It doesn’t tell you what to buy in terms of brands but gives a good explanation of what you will need in the different types of professional photography you might want to undertake.

“Unfortunately, most of us work with a limited budget when it comes to purchasing photography gear. Once we consider taking our photography to the next level and going pro, having the right gear becomes even more important. Not only is it important to have the right gear to capture the shots, it is also important to have the right gear to present a professional appearance to our clients.

Let’s say you have what you consider to be the minimum amount of gear to begin your adventures into professional photography – a good camera, a couple of quality lenses, and good working knowledge of post-processing. From there, your wish list has grown to epic proportions and includes everything from a back-up camera body to studio lighting and lenses galore. So how do you know what you really need, and in what order do you prioritize your purchases?”Written by: Tiffany Joyce………more

How Professional Photographers are thought of…..

This short but accurate article expresses what professional photographers are confronted by all the time. The video at the end is very funny too. From those nice people at Lightstalking

Friends Will Work for Free – The ridiculousness of asking your accountant friend to do your tax for you for free is readily apparent to most people. So is getting your dentist friend to do a bit of free root canal work. For some reason, that doesn’t extend to photographers. This one seems to be unique to photographers too.

Better Equipment Means Better Photographs – When a painter comes up with a fantastic painting, do you say, “Wow, you must have a great brush and paints!” This is a pet irritation of a lot of photographers. If you really think that it takes an expensive rig to take a great photograph, then you need to check out what can be done with the humble iPhone.

….more

Photographer, Camera and Tripod by Dominic’s pics, on Flickr

Remember check out the video

5 Key Steps in Creating an Online Stronger Portfolio

By Jacob Maentz over at Lightstalking

“In our growing digital world an online portfolio of images is now the preferred way most photographers choice to showcase their work. Whether you want to attract more business from potential clients or simply show off your best photos to family and friends, here are five key steps to help you create a stronger online portfolio.”

Click Here: 5 Key Steps in Creating a Stronger Portfolio