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Tips for Overcoming the 5 Biggest Photography Fears

26 Jan

The post Tips for Overcoming the 5 Biggest Photography Fears appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me. They’re shy and they live in their heads. The very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone…” – Steve Wozniak

While fear can affect anyone and cause undue stress in their daily lives, creative people (including photographers and other artists) are often introverted and can be susceptible to fear more than others.

Whether it is simply a hobby, passion, or profession, photography involves proficiency in both the artistic and technical realms, creating a perfect environment for anxiety and fearfulness to form.

But like with most other things in life, knowledge is a powerful ally. Learning what anxiety-inducing things you might deal with, as well as what you can do to alleviate them, can help you with overcoming photography fears. It also allows you to better and more confidently enjoy the craft.

Let’s take a look at 5 of the biggest fears we might encounter as photographers.

1. Interacting with people

This is something I can definitely speak to personally. Many of us have difficulty being comfortable interacting and communicating with others for several different reasons. It could be anything from simple shyness or a lack of confidence, or in my case, social anxiety disorder, where fear of social interaction can cause physical symptoms and impede daily life.

Because photography is something we choose to do, we can also choose our level of involvement and what facets of the hobby (or job) we participate in.

For me, I know that I don’t always feel comfortable communicating with people. Because of this, I don’t do many portrait sessions as I know that communicating in real-time with the client is necessary to produce photos that they will love.

Many photographers deal with the fear of interacting with clients. (50mm, f/4, ISO 100, 1/250 sec)

Instead, my photography focuses on landscape and nature scenes, which lets me be comfortable while enjoying my work. I take on the odd portrait job when I feel ready to do so.

Of course, many of us want to learn to embrace that fear and conquer it. The best way to do this is to expose yourself to the thing that makes you uncomfortable. Learn what about it makes you feel that way until you no longer have the same fear for it.

Work on becoming more comfortable around people on a small scale, so that you’ll be ready to speak confidently to your clients.

Know your gear well, and be knowledgeable about the particular service you’re providing. This will give you something stable to hold onto while interacting with your customers.

2. Shooting in public

Street photography is a popular form of photography, and some of the biggest names in our hobby dabble in it, at one time or another.

However, it also exposes the photographer more than some other forms and can make us feel nervous and vulnerable. This is because many people don’t care to have their photograph taken. Knowing that can make the photographer reluctant to open themselves up and capture the beautiful moments they see before them, for fear of being called out or confronted.

Many street photographers deal with these issues by using gear that is better suited for those situations. Small, light, and inconspicuous mirrorless cameras and smaller lenses are readily available. These make the photographer and their actions less visible. It allows them to be more comfortable and focus on making great images.

Fishermen walking down a long fishing pier.

Shooting in public, in view of others, is another common fear of photographers. (50mm, f/8, ISO 400, 1/640 sec)

It is also helpful and important to know the rules and laws regarding photographing people in public or other spaces. That way, if someone does confront you or question what you’re doing, you’ll be well-prepared to answer them.

The bottom line is to respect everyone’s wishes, whether it’s a legal issue or not. If someone is uncomfortable with you photographing them, be a decent person, and just stop. You don’t have to delete the images or anything that extreme, as they are your images, but don’t continue photographing them. An upset subject isn’t going to make for a good photo anyway.

At the end of the day, keep in mind that there are thousands of people out there right now, taking pictures of daily life, people, places, and events. Chances are, you’ll go out and enjoy the experience without any problems, and you’ll bring home some unique images.

3. Rejection and failure

This is a common fear for many people, and unfortunately, it is one that we all experience at times. Rejection of your work or failure to produce work that you consider great will be a commonplace occurrence throughout your relationship with photography. Even the great ones dealt with rejection at times, and they often used these failures to learn more and make adjustments to be even better.

Although there is nothing you can do to completely avoid rejection or avoid producing an imperfect image, you can certainly learn to cope with it and overcome photography fears.

A photographer sets up a shot with difficult lighting.

Conquer your fear of failure by tackling challenging situations. (iPhone, 4mm, f/2.2, ISO 640, 1/4 sec)

Firstly, don’t try to block out the emotions that come with rejection or failure. You need to know what it feels like and embrace that feeling. It will make you stronger, and you will be better for it.

Keep in mind that failure is an exception, not the norm.

Also, remember that repetition is the key to improving.

Tackle some challenging situations, such as a dark and challenging lighting scenario. Go through the possible solutions and execute them until you’re confident that you can solve that problem in a dynamic, on-demand environment.

And, talk to someone.

Talk to anyone who knows you and understands how passionate you are about your craft. Friends, family, and colleagues who lift you up and encourage you can provide tremendous help. They can remind you that rejection can happen to anyone, and is a learning tool to improve your skillset.

4. Cameras and gear

The title of this section might need a little explanation. Of course, we’re talking about the fear of using your cameras and gear, not fear of your camera itself! That would be weird.

The equipment we use can come in various levels of complexity. Regardless of your familiarity with cameras in general, it may inadvertently become another source of anxiety.

Fortunately, the days of being stuck with nothing more than a printed manual are gone (isn’t it nice when we still see them, though?). The current digital age allows us to learn everything we need to know about our cameras from many sources.

Blogs like Digital Photography School, digital manuals and online resources from camera manufacturers, Forums such as Reddit, and YouTube all provide endless means of learning about the ins and outs of your equipment.

A photographer takes a picture of a beach scene.

Knowing your camera and other gear inside and out can help bolster your confidence. (50mm, f/4, ISO 100, 1/640 sec)

The bottom line is, the more you know about the equipment you’re using, the more confident you’ll be in the field or studio. The more informed you are about the camera, the less an arising problem will shake you.

Learn all you can as early as you can. Like one of my favorite old sayings goes, knowledge is power.

5. Knowledge of business and marketing

Last in the tips for overcoming photography fears is our knowledge of business and marketing. Many of us have a fear of the business side of our passion for photography.

If you intend on working as a professional (meaning you make any amount of money off of your photography, regardless of your time input), you are going to need to understand the basics of how business works.

You need to know how to price your products and services, and how to interact with clients on all levels.

Again, through the wonder of technology, the internet is a treasure trove of information (often free) that can give you a good background and bolster your confidence with knowledge.

Many people feel that it’s tough to get a good working understanding of how small business works without taking classes or even having a business degree.

Fortunately, that’s not the case. A quick Google search will reveal many free blogs and other resources that can help you, and many of these are even specific to the business side of photography.

dPS has a great e-book on Going Pro – Making Money from Your Photography.

Fear not, my friends

Overcoming your photography fears may not seem simple, but I hope this article has helped you identify some of your fears and worries when it comes to being a photographer. Maybe it even pointed you in the right direction of overcoming those photography fears.

Remember, this is your passion, and you do it because you love to, not because you have to.

At the end of your day, there is nothing to be afraid of, because you’re doing something that makes you happy.

Are there other fears you experience that we didn’t cover here? Sound off below and share them with the rest of us. You’ll probably be surprised to find how many other people feel the same way!

The post Tips for Overcoming the 5 Biggest Photography Fears appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

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Magix celebrates 10th birthday with biggest ever performance update

20 Jun

Video editing software package Video Pro X has received what is described as its biggest update yet, to mark ten years since Magix Video Pro was launched. Owner Magix says the update focuses on speed and performance, and includes new tools to make editors’ lives easier.

Magix says that rendering HEVC/H.265 video can now done using the NVIDIA GPU encoder making export much faster than before, while AVX optimization speeds up image processing and improves the accuracy of color correction.

The company also says it has introduced easier methods for working with overlapping audio and video clips, and that its effects interface is now more clearly organized. Green screen work is improved, as is the package’s ability to handle and manipulate 360° content, and users can now edit stereo video footage as well.

Magix Video Pro X costs £299 / $ 399 and is available now. For more information visit the Magix website (link below).

Visit magix.com

Press Release:

10 Years of Video Pro X: MAGIX publishes the largest update in the history of the video software

On the occasion of the software’s 10 year anniversary, MAGIX Software is introducing the largest update for Video Pro X ever to the market. The anniversary version of the professional video editing program includes numerous new functions and improvements for significantly more power, productivity, and design flexibility.

The latest Video Pro X has arrived. Right on time to mark the anniversary, the powerful video processing system from MAGIX offers an extensive program of intelligent new and optimized features that help ambitious users to achieve high-end results even faster than ever before.

FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE

The most recent update from MAGIX had already put a strong focus on increased performance. However, the new version introduces the largest performance leap ever. For the first time, HEVC/H.265 video export can now be rendered with the NVIDIA GPU’s encoder. This makes export speeds possible, which were inconceivable in the past. Also new to the latest version is the comprehensive AVX optimization in the internal image processing and the 3-way colour correction resulting in faster image processing and much more precise output quality during colour conversion. Additionally, the output of 4K source videos into FullHD quality has been optimized by reducing high-frequency image components. This results in fewer bit errors during the conversion of high-resolution recordings.

MORE PRODUCTIVE WORKFLOWS

With the new Video Pro X, MAGIX pushes ahead with its workflow optimization strategy. The latest improvements include the new time-saving J-L cut and the intuitive “Move object content” mouse mode. With J-L edits, video and audio tracks can now be modified individually without losing the advantages of working with grouping. For video editors who work regularly with overlapping objects, such as spoken audio spanning several scenes in documentaries and interviews, work will become noticeably easier, and object content can now be moved more flexibly. From now on, users can intuitively select and adjust image content from video objects with a click of the mouse while maintaining the editing rhythm.

NEW EFFECTS AREA & OPTIMIZED CREATIVE TOOLS

The Video Pro X effects area has been enhanced and is now more clearly organized and user friendly than ever. Users can quickly navigate to the effects they want and control plugins much more intuitively meaning the creative workflow stays uninterrupted. Chroma Keying has also been optimized in response to customer feedback. A new algorithm supports the ability to recognize and extract objects. 360° editing was also improved. 360° image stabilization, a set of spectacular 360° transitions, and special 360° effects from HitFilm now supplement the Video Pro X 360° editing package. And now even stereoscopic videos can be processed by Video Pro X.

“10 years of development have been invested in the new Video Pro X. We would like to introduce the largest update in the history of Video Pro X as a way to say thank you to our loyal customers. Without the continuous feedback from the Video Pro X community, the software would by far not be as sophisticated and powerful as it is today,” says Florian Liepold, Product Owner Video Pro X at MAGIX.

Video Pro X comes with a year of Update Service free of charge. So, users who now decide to purchase the software will automatically receive any upcoming updates. For example, the flexible anchor point positioning, an intelligent function that helps to individually select the object focus – for maximum design flexibility while scaling and rotating.

All new Video Pro X features at a glance:

Accelerated export with NVIDIA NVENC support
Optimized workflow including J-L cuts
New effects area and In-App Store
Precise chroma keying
Improved Full HD output quality
Complete 360° package, including HitFilm effects
AVX-optimized algorithms
OpenFX interface with multithreading
HEIF image import for optimal support of iOS devices
Includes Update Service for 1 full year of all new features

Prices and availability:

Video Pro X – £299 / $ 399

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

26 Jan

As a street photographer you may have had fear sometimes taking photos on the street. All of us who spend time in the streets shooting know that not everyone likes when you take photos of them. When photographing strangers, our biggest fear is of people noticing that we are taking photos of them or people complaining about being in the frame.

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

The biggest fear in street photography

Every time this thought hits your mind, just realize that there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’d say that 99% of the fear and anxiety taking photos of strangers comes from inside you, not from the outside. You need to deal with your fears and know that the biggest problem you could have is someone calling the police (which doesn’t happen really often, at least it’s never happened to me). In most of the countries taking photos on the street is allowed and you don’t need permission. Always check the regulations of the country or the province where you are shooting.

If you want to photograph kids I’d recommend always asking for the permission of the parents. In a lot countries you can get in trouble really easily for taking photos of minors without permission. If you want to check in which countries you need consent to take photos, please check this link: Countries that need consent.

Requests to delete the photos

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

From my personal experience I have to say that sometimes it’s tricky to take shoots of strangers. Some people have come to me asking to delete the photos in front of them. You don’t necessarily need to do that. As per the law in Canada (British Columbia) I can take photos in public places as much as I like. If I want to publish them it’s different story, but you can take photos without having to be worried about getting in trouble. When people ask me to delete their pictures I do it, not because I’m afraid of them because I don’t want to start arguing with someone and lose time that I could be shooting, and out of respect for that person.

Advice to help you be invisible

Since I started shooting I’ve changed my technique a lot. With time you’ll get better and you will feel more confident asking for permission or framing your photo to get an interesting composition.

I have tried different tips and techniques that you can find on the internet, most of them from Eric Kim (one of the biggest street photographers of our time) and from other photographers like Bruce Gilden, among others.

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

Here is a list of different things people do and my opinion about each of them.

The shooting from the hip technique

You’ll find that this way of taking photos helps you at the beginning but it won’t take you really long if all the photos you do are like this. You need to frame your photo and think about what you want in your frame, otherwise you’ll end up just being lucky.

Shooting from the hip doesn’t allow you to decide, you are just finding something interesting and trying to get lucky pressing the shutter. Let’s be honest, if you want to get good photos don’t do this. Street photography isn’t easy, so you need to be confident and earn the photo. Last but not least it looks pretty shady having your camera on your chest and pressing the shutter when you see something.

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

Here is my advice to avoid shooting from the hip to give you a better result. What you can do is walk with your camera around like you are shooting a video, people will think that you are just a tourist and won’t care that much what you are doing.

Dress code

There isn’t a proper dress code for street photography, but I will recommend you to dress according to the style of shooting you are gonna be doing. If you go to poor neighbourhoods don’t dress fancy. I often dress with damaged or old clothing to fit in more in that kind of environment.

In case you are shooting in the middle of the city my recommendation would be always dark clothes rather than brighter ones. People won’t notice you that much, and if you want to capture candid moments that’s what you need to blend in more.

Camera and equipment go as light as possible

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography camera gear

In terms of camera equipment, you should always go as light as possible. The less you carry the more freedom you will have when you’re shooting. In my case, I bought my first camera about a year ago (Nikon D7200) and even tho I love the camera I realized after a short amount of time that I couldn’t take the camera around. It was too heavy and too noticeable.

When you are shooting street photography you want to be as invisible as possible, that’s why months later I decided to buy another camera (Ricoh GR II). The advantage of this camera is the fact that it’s super small and I can carry it around all the time. Now I take photos every day, and that helps have no regrets when I see something that I want to shoot.

My personal experience

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

Since I started I haven’t had a lot of problems. A bunch of people said no when asking for permission but many others said yes. Sometimes people will yell at you for taking photos and others will try to run away from you, but the more shots you take more confident you’ll feel.

I’ve experienced more problems taking photos of rich people than poor people. Which is funny to me, people who have less are seemingly willing to give more than those who have everything.

Rough neighborhood

As a photographer based in Vancouver, I find my inspiration in neighbourhoods like Vancouver East Side which is known for their problems with poverty and drug abuse in some zones. Hastings Street is the part of Vancouver East Side that interests me the most. There is where I take most of my portraits and where I get to talk and share some moments with the people.

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography confidence

In the image above you can see my portrait of a man with tattoos on his face. When I saw him I was by myself and I wished to take his photo. I won’t lie to you I was afraid. Taking photos of people doing drugs or in bad situations is not easy. I get too close emotionally sometimes and feel bad for taking photos of them, like I am stealing something from people who have nothing. But in these cases you need to be strong and see photography not as a weapon but as a way to capture something beautiful and exciting to you. Back to the point, I saw this man and I hesitated taking the picture or not, but eventualy I did.

I asked him, “Excuse me, I really like the tattoos on your face and I would like to take your portrait, do you mind?”. (Always compliment your subject, it gives you a reason for taking the photo.) The man looked at me seriously and said, “Just one, do it fast because I’m mad.” So I took the photo as fast as I could and after thanking him I left and continued taking photos of other people.

Be brave but also be safe

How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography

In most cases when you are in areas where is not always safe you don’t want to take a long time taking the photo so I switched to automatic and just took one frame. The outcome was great from my point of view but it is not always like that. Rushing is not always a friend of success, but in some cases you don’t have an option.

Many times some of the tough guys you see if you get closer and ask them for a photo you realize how easy is to take photos of them.

Note from the editor: Always put your own safety first and if you feel it would be dangerous or unsafe to take a photo then do not do so.

My point with this article is to help you realize it’s okay to take photos of strangers in street photography. Think about Robert Frank, Bruce Gilden, or Henri Cartier-Bresson. They didn’t hesitate when the shot showed up in front of them, the question is, would you?

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The post How to Conquer the Biggest Fear in Street Photography by Camil Adell appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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10 of the Biggest Business and Marketing Mistakes Photographers Make

01 Dec

James ebook Creative Freelance Marketing is on sale now at 50% OFF over at Snapndeals (only until December 13th, 2016)

Photographers can be some of the best business people around or some of the worst. But realistically, if you’re building a photography business, you probably didn’t get into it because you enjoyed business and marketing. This is why some photographers struggle at being successful. They got into it for the passion, and then wake up one day to the reality that it is a business like any other.

The 10 Biggest Business and Marketing Mistakes That Photographers Make

Dancer Portrait

However, fear not. The business and marketing aspect of photography can actually be rewarding and interesting. It’s necessary to learn it to be able to succeed, but once you start to see it work, it becomes empowering. It’s a way to guarantee your success as a photographer so you can continue to do what you love.

But you can’t do that if you make too many mistakes. Here are the biggest mistakes that I see photographers make (and which I have also made myself).

Mistake #1 – Not charging enough

Business portrait photography

How much you charge is going to be the backbone of your entire business. You cannot let clients lowball you over and over again. By doing that you are lowering the perceived value of the work for the entire industry, and you are not even giving yourself a chance to succeed. By not charging enough, you will inevitably go out of business. Even if you feel desperate for a job, know that it will take up time that would be better spent on marketing yourself to get jobs that pay what you need to survive and thrive.

Many young photographers are afraid of losing jobs, but that’s a regular part of the business. You should not feel bad about it if the client cannot afford you. If they can’t afford you, then it was never a real job in the first place. How can you do good work or create a portfolio worthy piece if you’re not being paid enough to have your heart in it? In addition, these cheap jobs always end up to be the biggest headaches anyway. Every photographer has a story from when they were starting out about that client who just wouldn’t go away.

Commercial Photography

Even worse than a client lowballing you, are situations when you do not charge enough! Sometimes you will have no idea that a client has budgeted much more than you quoted them. A simple and fantastic question to ask to help you handle confusing pricing situations is, “What is your budget?” This question is sometimes not appropriate, but there are many ways to say it, such as telling them that you offer multiple levels of service based on the cost and asking what their budget is for the project. Or if they say they are tight on budget, you can offer to help them and simultaneously ask what they can pay. When introduced in the right way, this can get your client to lay all their cards on the table.

Mistake #2 – Not responding to inquiries quickly enough

Musician photography

Every ounce of business development and every second of time spend on the tedious aspects of building a business serves the specific purpose of getting someone to contact you with a job. Well then answer them! I get nervous if it takes me 24 hours to respond to an inquiry, and the clients usually come back thanking me for responding so quickly. If you answer your emails and calls efficiently, then you immediately put yourself ahead of the majority of photographers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told that we were able to have a whole back and forth and book a job before a competitor even replied.

In addition, responding regularly and efficiently will add to their comfort in working with you. Showing that you are responsible enough to do this also shows them that you are probably responsible in all aspects of your business. It is a great way to set the tone for what working with you will be like and can be excellent for gaining referrals in the future.

Mistake #3 – Not having a focused business plan

Business Photography - The 10 Biggest Business and Marketing Mistakes That Photographers Make

Business or corporate photography

You need to know how you are going to make money. Having a focused plan with an income target, price per job needed to reach that target, and a strategy to reach clients will become the basis for your entire business. The more focused that plan is, the more focused you will be. Figure out the strategy with the most potential to help you make a living and start with that. Focus on that before you waist your time on anything else. You do not want to fragment yourself too early in the building process.

Mistake #4 – Not setting aside enough time for personal work

Fine art photography

Personal work is what you do to renew your passion for photography. Without that, it will be very difficult to succeed in the photography business. However, it is also the way that you get jobs and build your portfolio. It’s where you test out new strategies and ways of photographing, and it is a way to improve overall at your craft. If there is a type of job that you want to start booking, then build a portfolio of work that will help sell you as a photographer to those clients. They don’t have to know that this portfolio wasn’t made of paid jobs, and in many cases they will enjoy knowing how passionate you are in pursuing your personal work.

Mistake #5 – Not researching colleagues/competitors

As a business owner, you need to know what’s out there. Learning from your competition and even your friends is incredibly important. Go through their work and figure out what you like and what you dislike. Try to figure out the different ways that they market themselves and where their jobs come from. See how they use social media and where they get press from. Learn their pricing and test out their website.

All of this information is so important to helping you find your way. Take the best aspects of everyone you research, and put them together into your own plan. All of the information is out there for you to be successful, it’s just up to you to find it.

Family photography

Mistake #6 – Not having a plan for editing and delivering

One of the biggest problems that I see newer photographers have is that they take way too much time editing. They end up missing deadlines, wasting their time, and worrying too much. This is not a good situation for anybody and is one of the quickest ways to hold your entire business back. Learn to cull your images from a job quickly. Right away, knock 800 images into the top 200 or 150 as fast as possible and work from there. Organizing and attacking a job’s editing in an efficient matter will make your life so much better, and it will make your clients very happy.

Always tell a client that you will deliver a job to them a couple days after you plan to (under promise over deliver). That way you will look very good when you deliver the work early, and if you have some unfortunate setback or issue in your life, you will still have extra time to complete the job.

Mistake #7 – Not doing enough local networking

Writer Portrait Photography - The 10 Biggest Business and Marketing Mistakes That Photographers Make

Writer environment portrait

Friends, family, and colleagues are your first line of people who can help you gain work. The second line is your local area. Figure out the businesses and people in your community that might need your services, and figure about the best way to reach them. Find business meet-up groups, local meet-ups, and trade shows that occur in your community and become a part of them. And this tip doesn’t mean that you should only show up once and never again. Become a regular part of them. Spend more time socializing within your community and that will come back to you business-wise.

Mistake #8 – Not using a mailing list

Business portrait photography

Social networks come and go. They all change constantly and hold you at their whim. While they are necessary to be a part of, social networks are in it for themselves, not for you. Diversify your marketing and build up a mailing list of all your contacts, clients, and friends. This way there is nothing between you and reaching them with important news. Mailing lists have a significantly higher open and click-through rate than social networks, and won’t charge you (per email) to reach your list.

Mistake #9 – Trying to do too much all at once

Event photography

There are so many strategies to market yourself in photography. Every situation is unique, and every marketing plan should be different. It is important to learn as much as you can about marketing, but at the same time you need to prioritize. Five strategies done with a small amount of your attention on each will be much less effective than one strategy with all of your attention focused on it. Spend some time to figure out which strategies will have the most potential for your situation and rank them. Then start with the first one and over time move down the list.

Mistake #10 – Not putting yourself out there

Artist / Writer Portrait Photography

Nobody is going to give you an opportunity if you don’t ask. The biggest difference between the people who make it and the people who fail is that the ones who succeed will wake up tomorrow and take these steps. None of this is rocket science – it just takes dedication, organization, and follow-through.

Many people won’t give you an opportunity the first time you ask. Learn to take rejection because rejection isn’t that bad. It means you’re pushing yourself and it’s inevitable along the way. Keep a thick skin and pride yourself on trying. Marketing is a grind at first. The photographers who can dive right in despite every frightened feeling their brain gives them will be the most successful.

James ebook Creative Freelance Marketing is on sale now at 50% OFF over at Snapndeals (only until December 13th, 2016)

The post 10 of the Biggest Business and Marketing Mistakes Photographers Make by James Maher appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Black Rock City’s Biggest Art Car: Converted 747 Lands at Burning Man

04 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

black rocket

A temporary metropolis for tens of thousands built annually in Nevada’s remote Black Rock Desert, the Burning Man festival is famous for its extreme architecture and creative art cars, the latter now including a transformed Boeing 747.

black rock 747

747 arts venue

747 in city

Fitting this year’s theme of Da Vinci’s Workshop (art and technological innovation), the huge gutted hull has been in the works for seven years thanks to Big Imagination Foundation and their supporters.

747 shell

converted 747

The carved-out jumbo jet invites people to hop on board for speakers, parties and other events. It is being towed around the dusty playa by a surprisingly small service vehicle, a bit like one might see on the tarmac at an airport.

747 work

747 gutted

747 interior

A team of over 100 artists, engineers and other creatives helped strip and reconstruct the original plane, reinforcing its removed structure with custom interior supports and adding a series of staircases.

747 art car huge

747 screens

747 lounge

747 roof

747 in person

Anyone who has attended the festival will know that one of the most fascinating experiences is the serendipity of boarding a big art vehicle and seeing where it leads, either spatially or experientially (or both). This may be the best such adventure yet, featuring interactive art, music and other live performances and inspirational talks.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Solving the Biggest Newbie Confusions with Lightroom by Phil Steele

07 Aug

Photography educator Phil Steele has taught Lightroom to tens of thousands of people. In this video tutorial he helps clear up the biggest confusion around using Lightroom that most beginners have – understanding how Lightroom and the catalogue work.

Watch this video to get a better understanding of how Lightroom works behind the scenes. If you’ve been using it for a while you can either confirm that you’ve got it right, or clear up some things that you may still not be 100% clear on.

Learn about several common sources of confusion when using Lightroom including:

The Lightroom database or catalog, what it is and how the “mind” of Lightroom works
Where Lightroom stores your images
How to get the edited versions out of Lightroom

If you enjoyed that video, and want to learn even more about Lightroom you can check out Phil’s course: Lightroom Made Easy.

The post Solving the Biggest Newbie Confusions with Lightroom by Phil Steele by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Branco Ottico creates world’s biggest contact print at 24 square meters

26 Jul

Do you lie awake at night wondering how big the world’s largest contact print is? Wonder no more. It turns out Branco Ottico, an Italian photography group, created the largest contact print in the world during Phototrace Florence in September 2015. The project involved a 24 square meter (about 258 square feet) photo negative stitched onto an equally large sheet of canvas, and enlisted the help of strangers who placed their hands on the print for the nearly 13-minute exposure.

Their efforts resulted in a successful – and massive – cyanotype print. According to the group’s website, the print now holds a Guinness World Record. The whole process has been documented in the newly published video below. Additional photos of the project are available on the group’s Instagram.

Via: PetaPixel

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Learn Ansel Adams’ Biggest Secret for Stunning Photography – Visualization

22 Jun

Ansel Adams is the most widely known photographer in history, you don’t need to look very far to see one of his images. Would you like to know the whole key to Ansel Adams’ stunning photographs?

This is a photograph of half dome in Yosemite taken in 1927 by Ansel Adams

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, by Ansel Adams (Image courtesy Ansel Adams Illumes and The Ansel Adams Gallery)

In this this video interview with his son, Michael Adams, you will hear about his breakthrough as a photographer, when he went from merely recording an image, to being an artist who interpreted the image to tell the story he wanted.

As you’ll hear, Ansel had his breakthrough when he climbed up to take a photograph of Half Dome, the iconic monolith in Yosemite, California. The moment he realized that the yellow filter just wasn’t going to convey what he saw and felt, he changed to a red filter which expanded the tones of the image and brought out the darkness of the sky, thereby creating the mood he had visualized.

Ansel said, the whole key lies in first visualizing the image you want, rather than just snapping away.

By first forming the image or idea in your mind’s eye, you can then set about to capture it. His son Michael summed it up with, “He knew what he wanted and he got what he wanted.”

These are Ansel’s’ key points that you can practice to continually improve your photography:

Look at the external event, and then visualize what you want it to look like, clearly and decisively.
Try to make the photograph of what you saw and felt.
Train yourself to see what the camera sees by comparing what you see, with what it looks like in the camera.
Practice your craft and do your homework so you can make the photograph you desire by going through these steps to capture what you visualized.
Placing the camera: Find the best point of view of the lens.
Make a proper lens selection.
Decide on your depth of field and set your aperture.
Control your exposure and later, the development.

As he said, with practice this becomes automatic and instinctive. Put Ansel’s advice into action and let me know your results in the comments below.

The post Learn Ansel Adams’ Biggest Secret for Stunning Photography – Visualization by Marc Silber appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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World’s Biggest Indoor Vertical Farm Near NYC to Use 95% Less Water

06 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

aerfarms rows

AeroFarms is on track to produce 2 million pounds of food per year in its 70,000-square-foot facility in Newark, under construction about an hour outside Manhattan. Their efficient operation, based on previous experience at similar but smaller facilities, can accomplish this astonishing output “while using 95% less water than field farmed-food and with yields 75 times higher per square foot annually.”

aerofarms facade

This new facility is comparable in efficiency to what is currently the world’s largest vertical farm in Japan, but nearly three times the size. Staggering its crops is part of the success behind AeroFarm’s strategy at their new and existing locations – at a given facility they are able to switch between 22 crops per year. Their all-season growth works with specialized LED lights and climate controls all without the need for sunlight or soil.

aerofarms diagram

“We use aeroponics to mist the roots of our greens with nutrients, water, and oxygen.,” explains AeroFarms. “Our aeroponic system is a closed loop system, using 95% less water than field farming, 40% less than hydroponics, and zero pesticides.” Smart pest management and highly-detailed data feedback loops help keep the system operating at peak efficiency and provide opportunities for iterative improvement, respectively.

aerofarms shelves

“Our passion is great tasting food and sharing our harvest with the world. In Newark, New Jersey, we are growing and selling into the New York Metro area. There has been tremendous demand for our locally grown, delicious, produce, and we have farms in development in multiple US states and on four continents. There has never been a greater need for safe, dependable, nutritious food, and we are scaling quickly to transform agriculture around the world.”

aerofarms students

First Lady Michelle Obama recently visited the Garden State and toured a nearby school, planting seeds in a rooftop garden and sharing healthy snacks with students involved in a youth program as young AeroFarmers.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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The 5 Biggest Mistakes Newbie Car Photographers Make

12 Jul

It’s true, we all make mistakes, that’s what makes us human, right? Well yes, but there are some mistakes that can, and should be avoided, when it comes to photography. In this article we will be talking about automotive photography in specific. You could be shooting cars for years but if you don’t fix your mistakes, how do you expect to get some great shots?

These are the 5 biggest mistakes that car photographers make when first starting out. Don’t worry, I will tell you how to fix those mistakes so other car photographers stop calling you a newbie, and they might actually ask “HOW?”

1. Not paying attention to the background

This is a really big no no. If you are striving to be a professional photographer, or even if you’re just shooting for fun, you must pay attention to your surroundings. I have seen way too many pictures where a tree is growing out of a car, or there is trash on the ground, and other annoying little objects that take away from the focus of the car.

If there is a tree in your way, move around. Walk around the car and find a better angle or even move the car if you have to, just make sure there isn’t anything growing out of top of the car. If there is trash on the ground, pick it up and move it (I recommend carrying gloves with you in case you have to deal with some nasty trash).

If there is something that you just simply can’t avoid then don’t worry, you can still remove it in post-processing using the Clone Stamp Tool or Content-Aware fill, but use those as the last resort. You should try to get the best shot that you can in the camera so you don’t have to waste precious time cloning out all that stuff later.

2. Not making sure the car is spotless

If you’re an avid car photographer then you MUST carry a rag of some sort (preferably lint-free) that you can use to wipe any dirt off the car. Yes, you can take out little dirt specks in post-processing, but it will make your life much easier to just take care of it on the spot. It’s not hard to just take the rag and wipe down any dirty areas. This will not only make the car look better/cleaner, thus making your shots look that much more professional, but it will also save you time in post-processing so you can worry about more important stuff.

3. Not having a circular polarizer

When it comes to shooting cars, it’s like shooting into a mirror; EVERYTHING is reflected off the car. You don’t want that, especially if you have some annoying stuff going on back there like trees, other cars, etc.

That’s where the handy circular polarizing filter comes into play. This will probably be one of your most used pieces of equipment, and should be the very first investment you make if you’re thinking about shooting cars.

Everyone has mixed feelings about polarizers when doing other types of photography, but in car photography there’s no point in even talking or arguing about it, you NEED a circular polarizer. Just don’t buy a cheap one because they will only ruin your images, instead go for a well known B+W circular polarizer, that’s what I, and many other car photographers use, and I haven’t heard any complaints about it.

What is a circular polarizer? Well, it’s basically a little filter that you screw onto the end of your lens, which you can then turn to block off reflections in any part of the frame. What’s cool about it is that you can take multiple shots with different reflection points by using a tripod and then just combining all the images in post-processing to get the best results. Just make sure you don’t go too far, you still want to keep some reflections to show the lines and curves of the car.

4. Not using a tripod

Speaking of tripods, you need one of those as well. Not just because of the reflections, but to get the cleanest and sharpest shots possible. If you’re like many beginner photographers you have a hard time keeping your hands steady, and it will take some time to master that. If you have a tripod, you can minimize camera shake, which in return, gives you the sharpest images.

Another awesome reason to use a tripod is to do light painting at night. Simply set your exposure to a few seconds, walk around the car with a light source, and in minutes you will have a pretty sick looking shot of the car. Everything you painted over will be visible, and everything else will probably be dark, creating a pretty cool effect that you can’t do without a tripod.

Taking multiple exposures can only be done with a tripod, unless you’re amazing at keeping your hands steady and in one position for multiple shots, which is pretty hard to do. Why would I take multiple exposures? Well, let’s say you take a picture and the car looks amazing, but your sky is blown out. Problem? No problem, if you have a tripod. Just take another shot but this time crank up the shutter speed so you can capture more detail in the sky (don’t worry about anything else for that shot). Now, since you have one image of the car perfectly lit, and another image of the sky looking beautiful you can combine those two in post-processing to get the best looking image, people will be curious how you did it so make sure you tell them. Share the knowledge.

5. Not getting down low for the best angles

Have you ever seen an image where the car was shot at normal, eye level height? Can you say “boring”?! We all see cars from that point of view on a daily basis, so it gets pretty boring. If you want your shots to stand out, you must try different angles. Get down low, get up high, lay down, just make sure you move around and try different stances so you can get a better angle of the car.

This can get dirty, so make sure you don’t wear your brand new pants and shirt. Don’t be afraid to get down on the ground and capture the car from down there, it will give it a more aggressive look. Who cares if you get dirty, at least your shot will look great.

The best pictures I have seen are of those that are not taken at eye level, but are usually down lower than the normal person is willing to go. But you’re not normal, you’re a car photographer (we’re special).

That’s all folks

So, there you have it fellow photogs. The five biggest mistakes beginner car photographers make, and how to avoid them. You have been given ways to make your shots look much better – but you will not improve just by reading this, you must go out and shoot, shoot, shoot! The best way to improve your photography skills is to go out, take the skills you learned here, and put them to the test in the real world. But don’t leave without your rag, circular polarizer, and tripod!

Do you have any other tips on shooting cars? Have any of these helped you get better at car photography? Please share in the comments below.

The post The 5 Biggest Mistakes Newbie Car Photographers Make by Elvis Pasic appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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