Easy Film noir style images

This week we explore how objects between and around your flash affect your images. You may have heard of terms like cookie, flag and gobo when referring to lighting, what the heck are these things and will using them benefit your images? Lets talk about it… Cookies Cookies are an object which is placed in front of your light source […]

Christmas light portraits

By numerous reader request, in this week’s Troubleshooting your photography we discuss portraits with Christmas lights. Controlling your ambient light and flash exposure to get Christmas lights that pop while keeping a proper exposure on your subject can be confusing. Let’s talk about it… Using a strobe, whether on-camera or off to light your subject is a straightforward process, but […]

Getting shadows under control n your portraits.

Today I continue my weekly series helping you to Troubleshoot your Photography. This series is geared towards beginning and intermediate photographers, but old grizzled photographers (yours truly included) may also find useful tidbits in these musings. Are you new to photography and finding that people on social media are not liking your images as much as you expected them to? […]

Wait…do you calibrate?

Have you ever sent off your photos to the local pharmacy or the big box store, only to get back a box full of prints that are way too dark? Do you wonder why your prints do not match what you see on your computer monitor? Did you get an awesome new photo printer for a gift, and all your […]

Troubleshooting your photography – Focus part 2

Welcome to part two of a new weekly series called Troubleshooting your Photography. This series is geared towards beginning and intermediate photographers, but old grizzled photographers (yours truly included) may also find useful tidbits in these musings. I’m publishing new articles each Tuesday. Are you new to photography and finding that people on social media are not liking your images […]

Troubleshooting your photography – Portrait focus

Today I start a new weekly series called Troubleshooting your Photography. This series is geared towards beginning and intermediate photographers, but old grizzled photographers (yours truly included) may also find useful tidbits in these musings. Watch for new articles each Tuesday. Are you new to photography and finding that people on social media are not liking your images as much […]

Do I have to pay for a model’s time?

I formally started my Landscapes of the Body project seven years ago. At that time, I had years of experience shooting people places and things under my belt, and had a decent portfolio of well-exposed and composed images.I also had a vision (albeit cloudy) of what I wanted my project to be. I knew I wanted abstract images of the […]

Building a body of work

When I first began my interest in photography, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to shoot, so I created images of flowers, the ocean, people and any number of things I found interesting. It wasn’t until I took some formal photo training that I was given assignments to shoot a specific subject for a time. One assignment I remember was […]

If I watermark it, is it copyrighted?

Most beginning and intermediate photographers (and some professionals as well) believe that placing a garish watermark on a photo before you share it online will effectively copyright that image and prevent unauthorized use. This could not be farther from the truth, in fact, it is incredibly simple to remove a watermark as illustrated by this article from The Verge, which […]

Which camera is really the best?

There are certain questions that will incite a holy war during a conversation, these include which videogame console is the best?, which truck is better, Ford or Chevy?, which actor played the best Doctor Who?, and what is the best camera? Today, we will answer the most burning of these questions and the answer is David Tennant. Seriously though… David […]

Do I need to study photography to be a good photographer?

One of the more divisive questions on any internet forum focused on photography is whether you need to study photography or get a formal education to be a good photographer. The answers you will see vary widely based heavily on the level of education of the photographer answering the question. Those who have a formal education (full disclosure – I […]

Getting into strobe photography on the cheap

It is #TuesdayTips time again, and this week we are going to talk about a subject I get asked a lot – what do I need to buy to get into strobe photography? I will talk about my current gear, my past gear and most importantly what I have learned buying stuff that I thought I needed but didn’t. Full […]

Getting an analog look in your photography without filters

It is #TuesdayTips time again, and this week we are talking about a cost effective way to get that analog or classic look in your photography without using filters. In 1982, the Holga toy camera was introduced in China as a low-cost way for working class families to record important events. The camera used black and white 120 film and […]

Use your art to make a difference

Every year Access Gallery in Denver Co. holds a fundraising event that helps to sustain their programs throughout the year – in their words: 99 Pieces of Art on the Wall is Access Gallery’s annual fundraising event that showcases 99+ unique artists and celebrates that diversity of Denver’s art community. This fun and memorable night out features artwork of all styles and […]

#TuesdayTip Alternate Portraiture

For today’s #TuesdayTips lets talk about a different way to shoot portraiture. A portrait is defined as: “a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders.”. In photography, there are many rules, but sometimes the most creative and beautiful images break these rules. When first learning photography, having a set […]

Getting your work shown

Ever see those questionable photo contest advertisements on social media? As a photographer, I have read through many of the terms of service for submitting your photos and they genuinely worry me. For the purposes of a bit of exposure, you may inadvertently be giving up some of the rights to your image. Generally, you aren’t going to give up […]

Self-portrait challenge (Part 2)

Photography projects come in all shapes and sizes, some are easy, and others require a lot more work than you anticipate on the outset. The toughest photo project I have done to date is a self-portrait, I have attempted this project three times, the first did not yield results that were worth showing publicly. rather I consider the first attempt […]

Federal court ruling that could affect all photographer’s copyright.

Any photographer should be concerned about copyright changes, especially changes to “fair use”. Until today, there was precedent that an image found online could not be used freely. The court case from a Virginia Federal Court outlines concerning circumstances where a photographer’s work could be used freely depending on the situation. The ruling (and subsequent precedent) focused on the company […]

Getting the next great shot

The hardest part of being a halfway decent photographer is not getting that one shot, it is getting the next great shot. During the time I was in school learning photography, I met several people who took a great shot – usually on vacation and this one shot was the catalyst for them going to school to learn the craft. […]