Artistic Photography-Photographers

A career in photography can be educational, rewarding and lots of fun! But where do you start? How do you get your first photography job? Do you work for an advertising company, newspaper, or modeling agency? Maybe if you are a photography major. So where does that leave the rest of us.

Depending upon your level of motivation and commitment, you can be a successful freelance photographer lining up your own work, but that s another story OR you can find an employer to take you on and train you. Yep-sure, where are you going to find that?

How about an on-mountain photographer job at one of the Nations major ski resorts. Almost every major ski mountain has a photography program. Breckenridge, Steamboat, Vail, Copper Mountain Colorado, Heavenly California and Jackson Hole Wyoming will train outgoing and enthusiastic candidates to be professional photographers.

Have you ever wanted to become an extreme sports photographer? This is your chance. The action photographers shoot the ski/snowboard park and have private appointments that typically want extreme shots. Another part of the job is setting up on the side of a run and photographing skiers as they rip by. Your action shots get really good, quickly when you shoot a thousand pictures a day and you work on commission.

Do you have a zest for life, love working with families, would you enjoy working with a variety of groups or shooting child photography? Then a ski hill portrait photography job would be perfect for you. You set up your shop on the mountain at the scenic overlook. Families, groups, couples, kids ski right up for a photo shoot. it is not unusual to shoot 20-30 groups a day during peak periods like spring break, you can’t buy experience like that, but you can get paid to do it!

You will learn valuable photography skills that you can use the rest of your life. You will gain the experience and confidence to go up to anyone, anywhere take their picture and sell it to them. You will learn a work flow that can be applied to many different types of photographic situations when you freelance on your own.

The whole world will open up for you and your love for the art of photography with real world experience.

It is important to note that most of the ski areas will provide you with the proper camera equipment, uniform, and a mountain pass to get to your zone. You need your own ski/ snowboard equipment and Although they rarely provide housing they may have suggestions on how to get settled in to the area.

This isn’t for everyone, if you really just want to ski, get an evening job doing something else from 3-11pm. You can ski all day, everyday.

If you love photography and skiing you better hurry up and get in touch with one of the resorts right away because they fill their photographer jobs in October and November.

I have been a top professional photographer at several western ski resorts including Vail and Breckenridge Colorado, Brighton Utah, and Grand Targhee Wyoming. The season starts Thanksgiving and ends in April. I have exceeded $100,000 in sales in one season, a few times. I started out at Grand Targhee where I landed my first professional photography job taking action photos of skiers on the slopes. Now I live in South Lake Tahoe, California and this will be my 3rd season at Heavenly. To view my gallery of action and portrait photography visit freelancephotographerjobs.com There are a lot of photography free tips and info too.

I also publish a blog at: lookatyourphotos.blogspot.com If you know someone that enjoys photography and sking or snowboarding, email this article to them. They’ll get a kick out of it!

Brandon Baumgarten

“The Flow”

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Basic Composition

Now that you are beginning to understand how your camera works you can begin to understand basic composition. I know that many people that I ve talked to think that photography is just pointing your camera and taking a photo but it s more than that. After you understand how your equipment works you can begin to get into the real art of photography and that art is called composition.

Basic principles:

1. Use all of your available space. Fill the image with the image. If the reason that your taking the photo is your daughter s beautiful face then get closer. If you re taking an image of the breathtaking valley before you. Fill the frame with the valley. Keep distractions out of the frame. They re called distractions for a reason.

2. Look at the forms in your image. You almost have to look at the people or the landscape before you in their simplistic geographic forms. A good way to learn form is to practice taking photos of still life objects, that you can arrange into pleasing forms. A good photo is always a beautiful arrangement of form. Whether it s the beauty of a woman s face, her features being forms, or a wonderful landscape, trees, rocks, and hills being forms.

3. Line or direction, motion. The direction of the forms in your photos is very important. Never have action or motion moving outside of your image. It will direct the eye away from your image. Diagonal motion lines are good, curves and s curves are better. The last two is probably way landscape photography is so popular nature is full of curves. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

4. Contrast, the difference between black and white. Now it is possible to have a beautiful photo with little contrast if that is your intention, this works best with color. But a lot of shots, some really beautiful shots have a nice balance of black, white, and grays. This can be manipulated for artistic purpose of course, but in the beginning you want to focus on trying to take shots with equal amounts of black, white, and shades of gray. (Shoot a roll of B&W film to really learn this principle.)

5. Color, you may have to familiarize yourself with the color wheel. (See my article Graphic Design Using Color for more information it s for graphic design but the first couple of paragraphs talk about basic color theory) Whether you re shooting nature or setting up your own shots in a studio you need to know what colors go together and why. Many of us have an instinct as to what looks good. When in doubt follow your instincts. Start out by taking shots of things that you think have pretty or beautiful colors. Show the photos to others and see if they agree. Photographers learn not only what they think is beautiful but what is universally beautiful as well.

Now the hard part practice all these principles at the same time. It s not easy! Now you really know why photographers take years to really learn their craft.

This week s assignment: Let s break this down into four assignments. You ll need four rolls of film. Roll one, fill your available space. Shoot pictures of whatever you like, but get closer. Eliminate distractions from your image. Keep the focus of your image on whatever it was that made you want to take that photo. Roll two, forms. Here s an old stand by that I did in college. Get out an assortment of vegtables and fruit from your kitchen. Put a sheet down on your table, no distractions, shoot an entire roll of the veggies and fruit making sure that your rearrange with each shot. Make sure you study your results and see which forms looked best. Roll three, Contrast, you can do this in B&W film if you want to. Take a shot of the flower in your garden in the early morning, afternoon, and sunset. Shoot some portraits at the same times, by candlelight too. When you see the results you will be surprised. Roll four, color. Use the vegtables again, this time paying attention to the colors. If you can tell me why a red tomato looks best on a green bed of lettuce or the orange sunset with the purple clouds is so captivating then you ve figured out some of color theory.

If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum at: http://kellypaalphotography.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php and post your question there.

Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.
kellypaa@kellypaalphotography.com

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Enticing title, huh? No, we won t be discussing nude photography, at least not today. Rather, this article will, hopefully, shed some light on the tremendous image quality advances of today s digital cameras.

Imagine taking a developed 4×6 snapshot of your child s birthday party and scanning it into your computer. If you printed the resulting photo, you would notice some considerable degradation of the image quality. The interesting fact is that most JPEG images are comparable to the quality of the scanned and reprinted image. Surprised? The JPEG image format is, by all means, acceptable for most consumer and even some professional purposes. JPEGs are definitely the best choice for sharing in email and even for printing on photo paper to place in an album or share with family and friends.

If, however, you are a camera geek (like me), you are simply not going to be satisfied with anything less than perfection from your images. In that case, you will definitely want to consider purchasing a camera with RAW image format capabilities. Working with the RAW format is the equivalent of working with a color or B&W negative. You have substantially more technical and creative control. The downside is that the RAW image format requires significantly more storage space on your media cards and demands more advanced photo-editing capabilities, which means investing in more powerful software with integrated RAW image editing functions (i.e. Adobe Photoshop CS2, retail cost $649). But, in my humble opinion, it is well worth the higher learning curve and expense.

Serious photography hobbyists and certainly those who may want to sell their photographic work will benefit tremendously from the superiority of the RAW format. The good news is that several reasonably priced prosumer digital cameras now offer the RAW image format. The Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 MP camera (est. retail $650) offers both JPEG and RAW formats. Likewise, the Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3 MP camera (est. retail $850) offers RAW image capture and an impressive array of features. For die-hard Kodak consumers, the new Kodak Easyshare P880 8MP camera (est. retail $500) offers a wide-angle optical zoom and RAW file support. Last, but not least, the Nikon Coolpix 8700 8 MP camera (est. retail $600) offers RAW mode image recording and many of the features commonly sought after by professional photographers.

So, if you are in the market for a new digital camera, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest, surprisingly affordable innovations in RAW image capture. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Balsman Photography, LLC

Kim Balsman is the owner of Balsman Photography, LLC, a small, professional photography studio in Longmont, Colorado. Kim s background is diverse, including formal education in communications and law at Truman State University and the University of Houston, as well as professional photography studies at the New York Institute of Photography. Kim spent more than a decade working as a paralegal, practicing in numerous legal specialties with law firms in Texas. Throughout her career, Kim has written thousands of legal documents but prefers the creativity of writing short stories, novels and journalistic pieces. Some of her work has been published in corporate magazines. Kim has lectured at entrepreneurial symposiums and educational facilities and led an initiative to help small printing franchisees compete for demanding legal document reproduction business. Kim enjoyed a brief career in real estate as a Century 21 agent in New England, grossing more than $2M in sales in a matter of a few months. She now devotes her full time to her photography business and writing.

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

We have all seen the scene of the photographer being surrounded by the heavies, the camera being confiscated and the film being thrown on the ground. Makes for great dramatic footage but in most jurisdictions such behaviour is illegal unless accompanied with a court order.

Essentially if you are in a public place, you can shoot away to your heart s content. Even in the paranoia of post 9/11 and officers from security forces both private and government saying otherwise. But do use some commonsense, taking pics of military installations is just dumb as with any other sensitive government building.

Conversely if you are on private property such as a shopping mall or somebody s farm you must heed the owner s instructions. It is their property so they get to call the shots. Although from the public road you can click away.

However you will have to exercise restraint with regard to a person s privacy or expectation of the same. The person seen in the window of your shot of that lovely composition of windows could land you in trouble if they took exception to being in the pic. Conversely, the same person walking down the street would be fair game.

An excellent article on the state of play in the US by Andrew Kantor, published in USA Today, can be found here. As he says, If you can see it, you can shoot it . He also refers to a downloadable PDF by Bert P. Krages The Photographer’s Right.

In England things a little more complicated, not only do you have to take English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish law into account, which can vary from place to place, but the European Convention on Human Rights also gets a look in. An extensive over view is the The UK Photographers Rights Guide

There is no such guide available for Australia at the time of writing although the information available from the Art s Law Centre indicates that taking photos in public places you can just click away. Justice of the Peace, Barry Daniel spells it out a lot more here and in essence says. The general rule in Australia about photographing in a public place seems to be that, unless there is a legal prohibition such as a statute or ordinance or a legally authorised sign indicating photography is not allowed, you can photograph virtually anything you wish.

For street photographers, overcoming the invasion of another s personal space is a greater concern. It does take some nerve to get in close and personal with a stranger. Although being completely legal, the subject s reaction could be down right illegal. If it comes down to a choice between a broken/stolen camera and a broken photographer, I know my choice.

Fortunately it rarely escalates to that extreme and in 5 years of street photography it has only happened to me once and that was my own fault. I was so intent on what I was shooting I didn t notice the agitated subject in the lens, who was incidental to my shooting. When he turned up a short while later with 2 large mates in tow, well a stolen point & shoot isn t high on the police crime statistics.

If you do find yourself the subject of a street photographer, ignore them. It isn t you they are shooting it is the scene, which you just happen to be a part of that is their point of interest. Unless you are providing a street performance, in which case its free publicity. If you re embarrassed by your performance, should you be doing it in the street?

Canadian street photographer, John Brownlow has some very good advice regarding overcoming shyness when engaged in street photography, it can be seen here. Nitsa, another very good street photographer suggests taking a friend along on your shoots, not only are they good back up but can help distract a subject from giving you their photo face.

In this post 9/11 time of terrorists under the bed, shooting infrastructure will be sure to attract attention. As happened to a colleague in Australia, who became enthralled by the way the light was working the local oil refinery. He stopped to take some shots and a couple of hours after getting home the local gendarmes were on the door step with the mandatory who, what, where and especially why. With some help from the local press his right to take photographs in a public space was confirmed by his minister for police.

It escapes me why the person with the big, black SLR is such a subject of official concern. Any self respecting terrorist is going to go to some trouble not to be noticed in their activities. If they can t get what they want with a Google search, one would suspect that a cell phone would be their camera of choice. But such are the times we live in.

Henry Bateman is an artist/photographer, his work can be seen at http://www.pissedpoet.com

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Enticing title, huh? No, we won t be discussing nude photography, at least not today. Rather, this article will, hopefully, shed some light on the tremendous image quality advances of today s digital cameras.

Imagine taking a developed 4×6 snapshot of your child s birthday party and scanning it into your computer. If you printed the resulting photo, you would notice some considerable degradation of the image quality. The interesting fact is that most JPEG images are comparable to the quality of the scanned and reprinted image. Surprised? The JPEG image format is, by all means, acceptable for most consumer and even some professional purposes. JPEGs are definitely the best choice for sharing in email and even for printing on photo paper to place in an album or share with family and friends.

If, however, you are a camera geek (like me), you are simply not going to be satisfied with anything less than perfection from your images. In that case, you will definitely want to consider purchasing a camera with RAW image format capabilities. Working with the RAW format is the equivalent of working with a color or B&W negative. You have substantially more technical and creative control. The downside is that the RAW image format requires significantly more storage space on your media cards and demands more advanced photo-editing capabilities, which means investing in more powerful software with integrated RAW image editing functions (i.e. Adobe Photoshop CS2, retail cost $649). But, in my humble opinion, it is well worth the higher learning curve and expense.

Serious photography hobbyists and certainly those who may want to sell their photographic work will benefit tremendously from the superiority of the RAW format. The good news is that several reasonably priced prosumer digital cameras now offer the RAW image format. The Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 MP camera (est. retail $650) offers both JPEG and RAW formats. Likewise, the Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3 MP camera (est. retail $850) offers RAW image capture and an impressive array of features. For die-hard Kodak consumers, the new Kodak Easyshare P880 8MP camera (est. retail $500) offers a wide-angle optical zoom and RAW file support. Last, but not least, the Nikon Coolpix 8700 8 MP camera (est. retail $600) offers RAW mode image recording and many of the features commonly sought after by professional photographers.

So, if you are in the market for a new digital camera, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest, surprisingly affordable innovations in RAW image capture. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Balsman Photography, LLC

Kim Balsman is the owner of Balsman Photography, LLC, a small, professional photography studio in Longmont, Colorado. Kim s background is diverse, including formal education in communications and law at Truman State University and the University of Houston, as well as professional photography studies at the New York Institute of Photography. Kim spent more than a decade working as a paralegal, practicing in numerous legal specialties with law firms in Texas. Throughout her career, Kim has written thousands of legal documents but prefers the creativity of writing short stories, novels and journalistic pieces. Some of her work has been published in corporate magazines. Kim has lectured at entrepreneurial symposiums and educational facilities and led an initiative to help small printing franchisees compete for demanding legal document reproduction business. Kim enjoyed a brief career in real estate as a Century 21 agent in New England, grossing more than $2M in sales in a matter of a few months. She now devotes her full time to her photography business and writing.

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Creating nude portraits has long been an element of art - instead of capturing these portraits with the brush on canvas; today they are captured with the pixel.

Since the invention of photography the naked human body has been a natural subject for photographers and there has always been a large audience there for it.

What is glamour photography? Glamour photography covers a wide range - from the partial nude body, which you may see an a billboard advertising ladies underwear to the erotic images or the full nude body you may see on Page 3 of some papers or adult magazines.

There are no special elements to photographing glamour; all the standard photography techniques remain the same. Care should be taken when photographing models, nude or partially nude because some may find a sexual element attached to it.

Finding a market: Glamour photography remains one of the most lucrative areas of freelance photography. For a student trying to break into the glamour photography market, he would be well advised to use a film camera over digital. Film will give you warmer skin tones and give you a greater chance of being published.

When trying to find suitable markets for your glamour photography, the same principles apply as in any other photography field. You must study Glamour Photography Publications to find out what sort of material they use.

Where to shoot: If you don t have your own studio, don t worry. Most of the great glamour images are shot on location. Shooting in the natural environment will be rewarding - use the early morning light to give extra warmth to the skin. Try different places - your neighbours hay barn can make an effective setting for a glamour image or if you have an attractive garden - perfect.

Choosing a model: One of the basic elements of glamour photography is a willing model. If you are having trouble finding one try your local art classes. People with an ambition to be a model may let you do test work. But if you are serious about being a glamour photographer you should work with a professional model.

Glamour images don t always need to be sharp. Many of the great glamour photographers defuse their image with a filter to add mood to their nude portraits. The best way to get good is plenty of practise and sharpen your eye by looking at glamour publications.

There should be greater emphasis on controlling light contrast to ensure that the human body isn t lost in heavy shadows or bright highlights. Controlling exposure is very important to get the perfect body tones.

While many may find this type of photography offensive, the glamour photographer is an artist and should be respected as one. It s not for me to comment on whether the use of glamour material is good or bad, but to explain the art of this competitive and lucrative market.

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer and a freelance writer. He frequently writes for the Art site Goldprints.com and the Gift ideas site shop-4us.com

To view or buy some of his images visit his on-line gallery of - Pictures of Ireland and flower pictures

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Get to know your lens.

For most photographers the most important factor in their photography is the sharp quality of their images. To get the very best quality we need to know which lenses to use and the best time to use they. There are several lenses on the market today that should become part of our every day tool.

Standard lenses: are the most common use on today market. A standard lens has a focal length between 40 mm and 60 mm, which can be used for all types of photography. It s the most flexible of all the lenses and should remain on the camera body at all times.

Telephoto zoom lens: for any one interested in wildlife photography a telephoto lens should become your standard lens. With a focal length of between 60 mm and 300 mm, this is also a perfect lens for the sport enthusiast. The telephoto lens allows you to capture the far away object and can also be used for landscape images

You can use this lens for close-ups, but be careful with your composition. Large areas of the image will become blank and could destroy your picture.

When using a telephoto lens always make sure that you have the camera supported with a tripod. If you cant use a tripod try using a beanbag - rest the lens on the bag when taking your images.

Wide-angle lens: is the choice of most landscape photographers. They allow you to include as much of the scene as possible when you look in your viewfinder with a wide focal length of 17 mm to 40mm. The wider the lens you use, the closer you need to be to an object of foreground interest, to add impact to your photography. Ultra wide-angle lenses have a focal length of 8 mm to 28 mm.

Macro lens: is perfect for ultra close-ups shots with an average focal length of 100 mm. If you are looking to take images of small objects, such as: flowers or insects, a macro lens should become part of your camera bag. A macro lens will also allow you to take unique abstract images. By using a wide aperture with a macro lens on natural shapes can create the perfect abstract image.

Be careful with focusing when using a macro lens, it is tough on a good day and can be impossible if the weather is windy.

About the Author :

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer and a freelance writer. If you are looking for some photo tips visit the photography directory he frequently writes for: http://www.goldprints.com To view some of his images visit his on line gallery @ http://www.goldenirishlight.com

This article is distributed by: www.iSnare.com

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Every wedding deserves to be captured for posterity in print. Your pictures aren’t just any images. They are souvenirs, heirlooms for your descendants to look at and exclaim over. So it makes sense to get a photographer who will really bring out the best images of your special event.

Here are some things you should check when looking for the photographer for your wedding:

- His previous work must appeal to you. Put yourself in the place of the people in the images in his sample albums. Are these how you’d like your pictures to look?

- Confirm if he will be the photographer at your wedding himself or if he will assign someone else. Some shops have many photographers in their stable. You need to see the work of the person who will actually be handling your event.

- Promptness is a very important trait in wedding photographers. Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event. His being late will make a difference in your album.

- His attitude and appearance will also be important. You are looking for someone who can make the transition shots very smoothly, has good crowd control and who looks presentable and acceptable at your event. The last thing you need are offended friends and relatives on your wedding day.

- You can’t argue that some people have a great eye and timing. You need someone who can capture the soul of your nuptials, not someone who will make you all look like you’re posing for high school class picture.

- Cost is the last item on your list. Once you’ve found the photographer you like it’s best to find out if your budget can accommodate his fee. Keep in mind that the higher his skills, the higher his fees will be too.

Lesley-Ann Graham runs WeddingTrix.com - a valuable wedding planning resource with articles, tips and advice to help you plan your perfect wedding. Visit Lesley-Ann’s wedding blog for more free wedding planning help and advice.

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Get to know your lens.

For most photographers the most important factor in their photography is the sharp quality of their images. To get the very best quality we need to know which lenses to use and the best time to use they. There are several lenses on the market today that should become part of our every day tool.

Standard lenses: are the most common use on today market. A standard lens has a focal length between 40 mm and 60 mm, which can be used for all types of photography. It s the most flexible of all the lenses and should remain on the camera body at all times.

Telephoto zoom lens: for any one interested in wildlife photography a telephoto lens should become your standard lens. With a focal length of between 60 mm and 300 mm, this is also a perfect lens for the sport enthusiast. The telephoto lens allows you to capture the far away object and can also be used for landscape images

You can use this lens for close-ups, but be careful with your composition. Large areas of the image will become blank and could destroy your picture.

When using a telephoto lens always make sure that you have the camera supported with a tripod. If you cant use a tripod try using a beanbag - rest the lens on the bag when taking your images.

Wide-angle lens: is the choice of most landscape photographers. They allow you to include as much of the scene as possible when you look in your viewfinder with a wide focal length of 17 mm to 40mm. The wider the lens you use, the closer you need to be to an object of foreground interest, to add impact to your photography. Ultra wide-angle lenses have a focal length of 8 mm to 28 mm.

Macro lens: is perfect for ultra close-ups shots with an average focal length of 100 mm. If you are looking to take images of small objects, such as: flowers or insects, a macro lens should become part of your camera bag. A macro lens will also allow you to take unique abstract images. By using a wide aperture with a macro lens on natural shapes can create the perfect abstract image.

Be careful with focusing when using a macro lens, it is tough on a good day and can be impossible if the weather is windy.

About the Author :

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer and a freelance writer. If you are looking for some photo tips visit the photography directory he frequently writes for: http://www.goldprints.com To view some of his images visit his on line gallery @ http://www.goldenirishlight.com

This article is distributed by: www.iSnare.com

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Every wedding deserves to be captured for posterity in print. Your pictures aren’t just any images. They are souvenirs, heirlooms for your descendants to look at and exclaim over. So it makes sense to get a photographer who will really bring out the best images of your special event.

Here are some things you should check when looking for the photographer for your wedding:

- His previous work must appeal to you. Put yourself in the place of the people in the images in his sample albums. Are these how you’d like your pictures to look?

- Confirm if he will be the photographer at your wedding himself or if he will assign someone else. Some shops have many photographers in their stable. You need to see the work of the person who will actually be handling your event.

- Promptness is a very important trait in wedding photographers. Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event. His being late will make a difference in your album.

- His attitude and appearance will also be important. You are looking for someone who can make the transition shots very smoothly, has good crowd control and who looks presentable and acceptable at your event. The last thing you need are offended friends and relatives on your wedding day.

- You can’t argue that some people have a great eye and timing. You need someone who can capture the soul of your nuptials, not someone who will make you all look like you’re posing for high school class picture.

- Cost is the last item on your list. Once you’ve found the photographer you like it’s best to find out if your budget can accommodate his fee. Keep in mind that the higher his skills, the higher his fees will be too.

Lesley-Ann Graham runs WeddingTrix.com - a valuable wedding planning resource with articles, tips and advice to help you plan your perfect wedding. Visit Lesley-Ann’s wedding blog for more free wedding planning help and advice.

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]