Every now and then, I find walking through Home Depot with a cup of coffee, early on Saturday mornings very relaxing. Not sure why, but it just seems to clear my mind. While walking down the toolbox aisle, I spotted the Stanley Mobile Storage Tool Chest and thought, hummmm this could come in handy. (more…)
We'd like to take a moment to give a thank you and a shout out to several people and sites who have helped us in various ways over the last…
What makes photography so interesting is the constant learning process: new equipment, new techniques, new software. It can become overwhelming at some point. Well thankfully there are plenty of resources available to feed the mind and expand your knowledge. My latest read has quickly become my favorite, my new pocket guide so-to-speak. Joe McNally’s The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes (Voices That Matter) is not only fun to read, as is Joe’s style, but it’s also a fantastic source to learn how to master the use of small lights. (more…)
One of the tried and true methods of learning about the photography industry is to spend time as an assistant. Even with a formal education in photography, time spent as an assistant is critical to learning the industry and business, as well as learning a bit about yourself. Sure the hours are long, the pay is bad, and you may very well spend the day picking up turkey poop or standing in triple digit heat for eight hours (both of which I did while assisting) but you’ll also get to see things and do things that make most normal people jealous. (more…)
Pricing fine art photographic prints is always a challenge, there’s a lot of costs involved, a lot of competition in the marketplace, and a lot of variation in prices out there in the marketplace. While I don’t have the One True Way of pricing for photographic prints, I do have a few thoughts on the matter for those of you considering your own print sales.
As a starting point, you first need to figure out your cost of goods. Start with the photographic print itself. If you own your own printer, that cost will include the cost of the ink, the paper, and the amortized cost of the printer itself, Mark Segal has a nice article explaining how to do this over at the Luminous Landscape. In my own case, I print through an outside service, so I know up front that the cost of one of my standard-sized prints (16×11 inches image size) is about $25, then I add to that a few bucks for shipping or my time/effort to pick it up. (more…)
In my previous post, I explained about why meetups were a great idea, and gave the preliminary steps for setting one up.
Let’s continue, after the jump.
Digital photography has brought about a whole new way of experimenting with your images. If you really want to test your creative juices you have to try shooting on a green screen. This technique is the same one used in Hollywood and featured in most of today’s blockbuster movies and used daily on TV newscasts. Green screen, also known as chroma key is surprisingly easy and definitely fun. You’ll need a few items to get started. (more…)
Dear readers, we just wanted to update you on a few great recent additions at Photocrati, and alert you to a few more upcoming changes. We've added 300+ Gear Reviews.…
I’ve been sitting here for the last 10 minutes trying to think of the best way to write this post. I don’t want to hurt any one’s feelings and I don’t want to come off like some sort of a prima donna. Whether or not I’m qualified to pass judgment on my fellow shooters is not for me to decide. However, I’m going to do just that: pass judgment. If that makes me a bad guy, well, I guess I’ll just have to live with it. (more…)
While most of my professional photography involves the great outdoors, I do have a sideline business, I photograph paintings and other artworks for use in gallery submissions, giclée reproductions, etc.
While doing a great job with these images requires a few specialized tools and tricks, most of the photographic recipe is pretty straightforward. Most of the work is digital these days, so I’ll focus on a digital workflow, but most of the same techniques and principles apply when shooting slides—until very recently slides were almost univserasally required for submissions to galleries, consultants, etc., in the fine art world. (more…)