Archives for General Photography category
If you follow my blog with any regularity you may have noticed I have skipped by Photo of the Day and other posts for the last few days. Well thanks to what I think is a pretty nasty virus I have not been able to access my main computer. So no PhotoShop, no dual screen fancy work station, nothing. Plus I am in the Big Apple for a little three day getaway and photo trip. So I should have lots to share once I return and get things up and running.
28 Jan 2011
The Denver Post, in it’s photo blog “Captured,” has a tribute to color photography before it was commonplace in America. The photographs were taken between 1939 and 1943 by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information. They capture rural and small town America towards the end of the Great Depression. But unlike the best known Great Depression era image, Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange captured in 1936, these images were all in color, not so common at that time. Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 represents a photographic milestone, color images, that is not that old, in the grand scheme of things. But in the age of digital is often taken for granted when just a flip of a button can switch an image between black and white or color.
12 Jan 2011
The Eastman Kodak Company introduced Kodachrome color film in 1935. It has been the film used for many iconic photographs over the last 75 years including Steve McCurry’s photograph of an Afghan girl at Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1984. When Kodak produced the last rolls of Kodachrome film some were donated to the George Eastman House’s photography museum and one was given to Steve McCurry to shoot. McCurry shot part of the roll in New York City and part in India. NPR has a slide show of some of McCurry’s last Kodachrome images here.
Thanks to Fail Blog for this great photography fail. An exhibit on the first 100 years of photography with a sign out front that says “no photography allowed.”
365 days pass pretty quickly it seems. When I started my first 365 photo project on January 1, 2010 I had not anticipated that it would be a challenge to find the time to take 1 picture a day everyday for a year. And I didn’t quite make it to 365 photos. I had a total of 331 photographs in my 365 set on Flickr, so I was 34 short of a full 365 project.
When this project/challenge was coming to a close I told myself I was not going to do it again in 2011. Too much pressure. But then 2011 rolled around and a new 365 project was started. And I realized that it is a good thing to push my self to photograph every day, even if I don’t quite make it. And the feedback and praise (and even critiques) from fellow 365ers is valuable. So when a new project called Focused on 365 2011 was announced I signed up. One difference this year is that you don’t have to quite get one photo a day posted. You just have to get 7 a week which is a little easier to manage. We will see what happens. Hopefully I can get more than last year’s total of 331. The key is to make the time for something you love to do.
Ahhh, the new year. That means resolutions! Eat Better. Start Exercising. Get Organized. The same ones tend to pop up year after year. But this time around I am focusing my resolutions on my passion, photography. I figure if I publish them for the world to see I might have to hold myself a little more accountable to follow through on them.
1) Focus on portrait photography - when I first started my obsession with photography I steered away from portraits. In fact I was adamant about having no interest in photographing people. I was sticking to non-human subjects period. Then I took a photography class and it was an assignment. Since then I have done several portrait session and it isn’t so bad. But I need a lot of practice and need to read up on the “how tos.”
2) Learn more about lighting – Lighting is probably the most important thing to get right in photography just after picking the subject. This particular resolution ties into the portraits. It is not easy correcting bad lighting in Photoshop, trust me I’ve tried. So all the more reason to get it right up front. I have the lights now to master them.
3) Need to get to know Photoshop MUCH better – Photoshop and I am well acquainted. I can fumble around and basically get it to do what I need. But this is one powerful software program that I am not utilizing to its full potential. I have the books on the shelf but need to make the time to really dig into them and learn much more about Photoshop. Maybe a class?
4) More Photo Expeditions – OK, maybe “expedition” is a bit much. But I live within driving distance of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. I need to take advantage of that. As well as venture beyond Arizona’s borders. So here is my photo trip wish list for 2011:
In Arizona:
Outside Arizona:
With the ubiquity of digital cameras as the first decade of the 21st century comes to a close more moments than ever before are being captured. Both professional photojournalists and amateur shutterbugs now have the opportunity to capture and immediately publish to the world images of events as they are happening. That means the “best of” lists are likely to be plentiful as the year and decade comes to an end. One that I think has done a particularly good job of finding some very noteworthy images for 2010 is from TotallyCoolPix.com.
African Gold Miner
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
21 Dec 2010
OK, so you waited until the last minute to buy the photographer in your life a Christmas present. No need to panic. Presents can still be had right up to the last minute and no one but yourself will be any the wiser. Here are some great last minute gift ideas for photographers.
1) Photography magazines – a magazine subscription is the perfect gift for the procrastinator to give. Not only can you order it online right up to the last minute, but it keeps coming all year long reminding the recipient of your generosity month after month. Here are a few suggestions to send to the mail boxes of the photographers on your list:
Popular Photography 
B&W: Black & White Magazine
Shutterbug 
2) The Gift of Sharing – Most digital photographers I know are using Flickr now to share their photos and view the photos of their fellow photographers. But not everyone has a Flickr Professional account. But what does Pro get you that the free account doesn’t?
3) The Old Standby- When all else fails there are always gift cards
