We’re here to help. As creators with decades of photography and bookmaking experience, we understand the importance of having reliable and efficient photo editing software. That’s why we’ve curated a list of some of the best options out there—both free and paid. So no matter what your budget or skill level may be, you can find the perfect fit for your creative needs. And, if you’re planning on using your photos in a book—you can easily turn your edits into print with Blurb.

We’ll get right to our picks, but if you need more help figuring out your editing goals and what to think about when picking a tool, jump to our FAQs at the bottom.

Our top picks

Adobe Lightroom Classic

• Best for: Photographers and professionals who need total-package batch editing and organizing
• Price: $9.99/month or $89.99/month for 20+ Creative Cloud apps, including Lightroom Classic
• Platform: Windows, Mac, iPad
• Free trial: 7 days
• Pros: Powerful photo management and organization, non-destructive raw editing, workflow-speeding AI masking tools, and extensive tutorials and community support
• Cons: Expensive compared to other options, steep learning curve for beginners

Why we love it

When we ask the Blurb community, “What photo editing software do you use?” we get one answer: Adobe Lightroom Classic. And it’s industry standard (and our top pick) for a reason.

Lightroom Classic offers powerful editing tools, like the ability to batch edit photos and make local adjustments with precision. It’s non-destructive, meaning you can reverse edits at any time and create “Virtual Copies” of the same photo with different edits.

It also has top-notch photo management capabilities, making it easy for professionals to organize vast libraries of images. Plus, you can automate tasks to speed up your workflow and seamlessly integrate with other Adobe products like Photoshop and Creative Cloud.

What’s floored us recently is Adobe’s cutting-edge generative AI technology. With the latest features, like expanded adaptive presets, denoise, and curves in masking, adjusting fine details has never been easier. 

And let’s not forget about the extensive tutorials and community support available for Lightroom Classic. With such a large user base, there’s no shortage of tips, tricks, and inspiration to help you master this powerful software. And the free trial option lets you test out all the features before committing.

Psst. We also have an integration so you can go from Lightroom to printing your book. Use Blurb’s Book Module for Lightroom to have your photo edits replicate in your book design, try 100 book layouts, and add caption fields with rich text formatting. Win-win-win.

Adobe Photoshop

• Best for: Photographers, illustrators, artists, and all creative professionals who need detailed, robust editing and compositing
• Price: $9.99/month or $89.99/month for 20+ Creative Cloud apps, including Photoshop
• Platform: Windows, Mac, iPad
• Free trial: 7 days
• Pros: Industry-standard editing, incredibly smart generative AI, and seamless integrations
• Cons: Overwhelming to learn, subscription-based model

Why we love it

Another Adobe product? You bet. Photoshop may be known as the go-to software for photo manipulation and compositing, but its capabilities stretch far beyond that.

As a photo editor, Photoshop offers all the tools you need for in-depth and precise editing. It also has an impressive array of features for creating digital art and designs, making it a favorite among artists and illustrators.

And with new updates like neural filters, sky replacement, and pattern preview, the possibilities are endless. Need to remove a distracting element from a photo? No problem. Want to turn your image into an otherworldly landscape? Done. Photoshop is all about unlocking your creativity and making the impossible possible.

It’s also worth noting that Photoshop has a large and active community of users, making it easy to find tutorials, tips, and support when you need it. Which is necessary, because even with years of experience, you’ll always be learning something new. Plus, the integration with other Adobe products means you can seamlessly switch between programs for a comprehensive editing experience and easily transfer your Photoshop work into projects in other Adobe apps.

Capture One Pro

• Best for: Professional photographers and studios tethering to the camera, culling, and photo edits
• Price: $24/month or $299 for a perpetual license
• Platform: Windows, Mac, iOS
• Free trial: 30 days
• Pros: Powerful editing and tethering capabilities, customizable interface, RAW image processing engine, and top-notch color grading tools
• Cons: Expensive compared to other options, steep learning curve, less camera support than Lightroom

Why we love it

Capture One is a favorite among professional photographers for its powerful editing and tethering capabilities. It’s also known for its robust RAW converter, making it a top choice if you need to prioritize image quality. Many pros feel that its true-to-life color processing equals less time editing.

One standout feature of the tool is Live View tethering, which allows you to review and adjust your shots as they’re taken—something that Lightroom doesn’t currently offer. It’s also highly customizable, with the ability to create custom tool tabs for specific workflows, making it incredibly efficient.

Photography studios will love it most for its collaboration, where you can share, view, comment, tag, and more in real-time. It’s the ultimate in team editing. And because of Capture One’s advanced color grading tools, it’s a go-to for high-end fashion and commercial photographers.

While it may have a steeper learning curve compared to other options, the extensive tutorials and support available make it easier to master. And with a month-long free trial option, you can try it out and see if it’s the right fit for you.

Affinity Photo 2

• Best for: Subscription-free pricing and beginners looking for a user-friendly interface
• Price: $69.99 one-time purchase
• Platform: Windows, Mac, iPad
• Free trial: 30 days
• Pros: Affordable one-time purchase, beginner-friendly with loads of YouTube tutorials, powerful features
• Cons: Not as robust as other options, no AI editing tools

Why we love it

Affinity is a great option for those who want a one-time purchase instead of committing to a subscription. Honestly, it’s the best Photoshop alternative on the market today.

It offers powerful features like RAW editing, batch processing, and non-destructive layer-based editing without the ongoing cost. It handles PSD files with no issue and offers a plugin, so if you’re switching from Photoshop, you’ll still be able to use your files.

It’s also beginner-friendly, with an easy-to-use interface and helpful tutorials. This makes it a great option for those just starting out in photo editing or for those who prefer a more intuitive approach.

While it may not have generative AI features or batch RAW processing like other options, Affinity still offers enough tools to create professional-level edits. And with its affordable one-time purchase cost, it’s a great entry point for those looking to dive into photo editing.

Also great

CyberLink PhotoDirector 365

• Best for: Workflow efficiency, beginner-friendly interface, AI special effects
• Price: $14.99/month
• Platform: Windows, Mac
• Free trial: 30 days
• Pros: Intuitive workflow interface, rich special effects library with AI assistance, affordable subscription
• Cons: Can be less advanced than industry-standard software, occasional performance issues

Why we love it

CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 stands out with its blend of efficient workflows and treasure trove of special effects supported by AI. Tailored for both amateurs and seasoned creators, it simplifies the journey between snapping a photo and making a stunning final product. It’s got best-in-class AI tools like the AI Image Generator, which creates whatever you tell it to, and AI Image Enhancer, which lets you restore old photos. The only reason it didn’t make our top picks is because it doesn’t have geotagging maps, there aren’t enough lens profiles, and there is an occasional lag.

Skylum Luminar Neo

• Best for: Simple interface, filters, and AI photo fixes
• Price: $11.95/month 
• Platform: Windows, Mac
• Free trial: 7 days
• Pros: User-friendly interface, innovative AI-driven editing tools, affordable licensing
• Cons: Less detailed features compared to pro-level software, newer on the market

Why we love it

Skylum Luminar Neo is perfect for beginners stepping into desktop photo editing for the first time. Its user-friendly interface is an inviting playground where you can easily do things with AI, like remove power lines, replace a sky, and isolate the subjects of your photos. Beginners and pros will both enjoy experimenting with these innovative features without ever feeling lost or overwhelmed. You won’t find as many presets as our top picks, and you won’t get face recognition or keyword tagging—but it’s still an excellent option if these aren’t priorities.

inPixio Photo Studio

• Best for: Straightforward editing and low price
• Price: $49.99 per year
• Platform: Windows, Mac
• Free trial: 5 days
• Pros: Large selection of one-click presets, user-friendly for those seeking simplicity, RAW editing tools
• Cons: Limited advanced editing features, sky replacement is sometimes unrealistic

Why we love it

InPixio Photo Studio is a gem for those who prefer a straightforward approach. It features AI tools like a background eraser and cutout tool—and even a sky replacement feature (which is sometimes unrealistic). The wealth of presets transforms your photos in a single click, perfect for beginners who want to make quick edits. Plus, with the Pro version, you also get tools that let you enlarge and sharpen photos. It may not be the best option for experienced editors who need more advanced features, but with its affordable price point and simple interface, inPixio Photo Studio is a solid choice for those looking to edit photos without any fuss.

Pixlr X / Pixlr E

• Best for: Browser- or app-based editing on the go
• Price: Plans start at $1.99/month (or free with ads)
• Platform: Web-based
• Free trial: 7 days
• Pros: No installation required, accessible from multiple devices, great for quick edits
• Cons: Internet-dependent, limited features compared to downloadable software

Why we love it

For the creator who thrives in the digital space, Pixlr X (browser) and Pixlr E (app) deliver an unparalleled level of convenience without the constraints of traditional software. These browser-based tools are the embodiment of accessibility, allowing you to edit from anywhere at any time. Pixlr X lets you make non-destructive edits and save them on Dropbox. It’s got a Photoshop-esque interface and decent adjustment and filter options. Pixlr E is a great classic photo editing tool, plus templates, animations, and AI generations for the pro plan. You can even use both for free, if you’re willing to watch some ads.

GIMP

• Best for: Free, open-source powerhouse for image manipulation
• Price: Free
• Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
• Free trial: Not applicable
• Pros: No cost, versatile and powerful toolset, a large community for support
• Cons: Interface can be less intuitive, steep learning curve for advanced features

Why we love it

GIMP is the knight in shining armor for artists and creators seeking a no-cost yet powerful tool for image manipulation. As an open-source application, GIMP breaks down the barriers to entry, granting access to everyone who wants to create without hefty payment plans. It’s a testament to community-driven development, brimming with features that rival premium software. You’ll get painting tools, color correction, selection, cloning, enhancement—with all the file formats you’d expect.

Corel PaintShop Pro

• Best for: Photoshop-like features without the cost
• Price: $99.99 one-time purchase
• Platform: Windows
• Free trial: 30 days
• Pros: Powerful effects and editing, AI-enhanced features, great tutorials, one-time purchase
• Cons: No Mac option, confusing interface

Why we love it

If you don’t want to make forever payments to Adobe, this Photoshop competitor gets the job done for most photographers and designers. Corel PaintShop Pro boasts advanced AI tools like portrait mode, background replacement, and style transfer let you make quick work of big edits. Plus, you’ll get all the features you’d expect from photo editing software, including layers, filters, and RAW support. You really can’t beat a one-time purchase option and great tutorials for beginners—unless you’re a pro.

ON1 Photo RAW

• Best for: Corrections and AI photo effects
• Price: $99.99 one-time purchase
• Platform: Windows, Mac
• Free trial: 30 days
• Pros: Comprehensive preset collections, great filters, lens profiles, face-tuning
• Cons: Sometimes runs slowly, no face recognition tags, less intuitive interface

Why we love it

ON1 Photo RAW is a great photo editing tool without a monthly subscription. Every feature, from comprehensive preset collections to advanced face-tuning tools, is purposely designed to empower experienced and emerging artists. It’s true, you may encounter a hiccup in speed or miss the face recognition tags found on other platforms, but it gets the job done for most creators. If you aim for industry-standard workflows and organization, stick with our top picks.

FAQs

How do I pick the right software?

Choosing the right photo editing software can feel like navigating a maze of flashy features and enticing promises. To help guide you, ask yourself a few key questions.

• What is your skill level? Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced user? Do you need a simple interface, or can you handle complex tools?
• How much support will you need? How comfortable are you learning a new interface? Do you need tutorials, customer support, or an extensive YouTube video library?
• What are your primary editing needs? Are you looking to do basic tweaks, advanced photo manipulation, or something in between? Is organization a priority for your workflow?
• Are you solo or part of a team? Do you need to collaborate with others and get approvals, or will you be the sole user?
• How often will you use it? Is this a daily tool or for occasional projects?
• What is your budget? Are you looking for a free tool, willing to make a one-time purchase, or okay with a subscription model?
• What type of device will you be using? Do you need software compatible with Windows, Mac, or do you prefer something web-based?

Answering these questions allows you to narrow down the tools you need and select from our list above.

What’s the best photo editing software for beginners?

If you’re a beginner looking to get into photo editing, there are two great options. Affinity Photo 2 is an empowering choice with its one-time purchase and many YouTube tutorials ready to help take you to pro in no time. If you’re aiming for a free or very low-cost option, Pixlr X offers a web-based editor built for newbies. No matter what your budget or skill level is, there’s an option that will work for you!

What’s the best photo editing software for professionals?

Professionals should opt for photo editing software with a comprehensive suite of advanced features. Adobe Lightroom Classic is our top pick for its extensive toolset, industry-standard workflows, and organizational capabilities. Photoshop is another must-have for professionals with its endless photo manipulation and editing possibilities. Finally, Capture One Pro is a powerful option with advanced RAW processing and professional-grade color correction tools. Ultimately, the best software for any professional is the one that aligns with your specific needs, so be sure to try a few to find your perfect fit.

What’s the best free photo editing software?

You don’t need to break the bank to get excellent photo editing software. We’re fans of GIMP for its powerful features and open-source community. Pixlr X is a web-based editor with a free version (if you’re willing to watch ads). We’d happily suggest either for anyone ready to take their photos to the next level without paying tons in subscriptions.

Why would I use generative AI to edit photos?

You certainly don’t need AI to edit your photos, but it makes things easier. Generative AI can quickly apply styles or effects to your photos without you manually manipulating every detail. It’s especially helpful for batch edits or when you want to experiment with different looks. When you can delete powerlines, change skies, or even remove unwanted people from pictures in a click, why wouldn’t you try it? Plus, it’s fun to see what different filters and styles can do for your photos.

How do I get started in photo editing?

Getting your toes wet in photo editing is an exciting step in your creative journey. To ensure a smooth takeoff, consider these pointers.

• Educate yourself: Start with online tutorials, courses, and articles covering photo editing basics. Knowledge is power, and it’s the first step toward mastery in the digital art realm.
• Experiment often: There’s no substitute for hands-on experience. Dive in and start playing around with different effects and adjustments.
• Gather feedback: Join online forums or photography groups where you can share your work and receive constructive criticism.
• Set realistic goals: Work on improving one skill at a time; whether it’s color correction, cropping, or retouching, progress is best made in manageable increments.

Which photo editing software links with Blurb?

You can connect Blurb with Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe InDesign—or export your book as a PDF from any other tool and upload it with our PDF Uploader tool. Lightroom and InDesign integrations connect your tool to Blurb’s book printing services, making it easy to create professional-quality photo books. 

Adobe Lightroom Classic provides a seamless connection with Blurb for all the storytellers eager to see their photographs bound in beautiful books. With Blurb’s Book Module built directly into Lightroom, you can design and edit your photo projects effortlessly. Your photo edits replicate the files in your book design, there are over 100 layouts to try out, and you can add caption fields with rich text formatting. What’s not to love?

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Blurb is a self-publishing software that puts the power in your hands. Our user-friendly book design tool allows you to create and publish beautiful books, magazines, and manuscripts without prior experience. At Blurb, we believe everyone has a story to tell and deserves the opportunity to share it with the world. That’s why our platform is designed to be approachable and easy for all creators, regardless of your level of expertise! Get started today.

The post Best photo editing software for creatives appeared first on Blurb Blog.

This year is no exception, so we’re tracking 2023’s photography trends—which combine new-school novelty and old-school revival. To help inspire your craft in the visual arts, we’ll explore the top photography trends we bet will continue defining the year ahead.

1. Surrealism

Merging conceptual and psychedelic photography genres, surrealism is an emerging trend that lends itself to limitless creativity. Surrealism extends beyond logic and reason, characterized by experimental and unconventional compositions. It often involves shooting and editing techniques like solarization, layering, rotation, distortion, and montage. 

Surrealist photographers aim to produce images that challenge the viewer’s perception of reality and evoke a dreamlike or subconscious state. It’s not a trend for every photographer. But if you’re keen on this imaginative style, you’ll want to play with different shooting techniques and post-production edits.

How to shoot surrealism

To capture surrealism while shooting, start by experimenting with various perspectives, such as close-ups, textures, reflections, blurring, and different types of lighting, colors, and shadows. 

In post-production, you can cut images in photomontages, making elements appear in improbable locations. Or play with seamless composites in Photoshop or Lightroom and layer multiple images into surreal landscapes. There are no rules to surrealism, so be creative in blending different ideas and moods, and don’t feel limited by traditional photography practices.

2. Aerial 

Unquestionably one of the biggest photography trends of 2023 is the use of drones to capture aerial photography and video. Drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) have normalized bird’s eye captures previously only possible with expensive helicopters or airplanes.

This style, often used in the agriculture, construction, and filmmaking industries, enables photographers to shoot visually stunning landscapes on a large scale. But as drones become increasingly affordable and photo-adept, this technology is becoming more accessible and adopted by amateur and professional photographers alike. 

How to shoot aerial

Investing in the right gear is essential when pursuing a craft in aerial photography. Camera drones have become the gold standard for aerial photos and video, but you’ll also want to consider lenses, focal length, and filter. While your lens choice will depend on what you’re shooting, a general-purpose zoom lens like a full-frame 24-105mm equivalent angle of view is a standard option.

If you’re using a drone, you must also learn the laws and regulations for flying drones in specific areas. It’s equally important to practice using your gear and master shooting from above. Learning requires experience and reps. So to achieve great results, you’ll need to hone your aerial photography skills with lots of trial and error.

3. Black and white with selective color

Selective color photography is a photo manipulation technique that converts a photograph from color to black and white while leaving a partial color accent in a specific area of the image. Largely underused by photographers, this process has gained traction lately for its ability to transform photos and produce original results.

Black and white photos with selective color, or color pop, is a trend that started in the late 2000s and has recently seen a resurgence. The increased availability of digital cameras and selective color apps like Color Pop Effects and Partial Color Master have popularized this trend. With easy-to-use apps, photographers can apply the effects quickly and nearly automatically.

How to shoot selective color

Selective color photography involves both mindful shooting and post-production editing. You’ll want to plan shots that feature eye-catching colors and contrasts, like a yellow rain jacket on a grey rainy day. Or you can highlight specific elements as an emphasis, like a single red car in a full parking lot. Keep your eyes open for natural color pops that grab your attention. 

Once you’ve captured your vision, you can leverage technology to help do the rest. In addition to specialized apps, you can use Photoshop’s selective color technique to add a black-and-white adjustment layer and, later, the brush tool to paint over particular areas you want to keep in color.

4. Raw and unedited

The raw and unedited photography trend involves capturing candid and genuine moments without editing or post-processing. Photographers opt for this style to highlight their subject’s natural, unfiltered beauty and produce more authentic and relatable images.

This trend differs from other genres because it directly reflects the photographer’s skills. Shooting this way, you can’t hide photo flaws with editing and touch-ups. Photographers gravitate toward this style as it fully displays their skills.

How to shoot raw and unedited

There are a couple of key tips to consider when honing your abilities in raw and unedited photography. First, experiment with shooting in raw format to capture the full range of natural brightness. Second, focus on getting the in-camera exposure right to eliminate any need for editing or post-production. As you get familiar with different lighting environments and exposure styles, you can become increasingly proficient at producing well-composed photos without editing.

5. Y2K aesthetic 

The Y2K aesthetic is a trending style in the photography world—defined by a blend of pop culture and technological futurism heavily influenced by the early internet. Inspired by the distinct visual style of the late 90s and early 2000s, you can recognize Y2K by its lo-fi graphics, bright neon colors, and techno-modern yet retro feel. 

Making a loud comeback decades later, this trend’s aesthetic includes iridescent accents, chrome and metallic materials, neon lights, and plush textures. Bright bubblegum pink, lime green, vibrant blue, and hi-vis orange are popular colors that capture the Y2K look. Beyond just a popular photography trend, this look is carving an even deeper niche in fashion and design. 

How to shoot the Y2K aesthetic:

To find your flow using the Y2K aesthetic, use thematic backdrops like airbrushed textures, holographic images, or geometric patterns. Steer clear of organic, minimalist, and monochromatic designs, and emphasize vibrant elements and props of the 2000s, like neon lights and iridescent materials blended with metallics, plastics, papers, and furs. 

The Y2K mood is heavily fashion-forward, so bright tops and mini skirts, gaudy sunglasses, clean lines, and loud makeup choices are common features when rediscovering this photography style. You can also play with editing software like Picsart, popular for Y2K aesthetic-inspired edits.

6. Gradients

Adjacent to the Y2K vibe is the trending use of gradients and duotones in photography this year. This technique is common in various genres of graphic design and photography. A gradual transition of color or tone characterizes the look.

With the help of gradient tools and blend modes, photographers can drastically edit the mood of any photo. Bright and vibrant gradients make photos pop, while muted gradients soften the look of images. This photo trend for 2023 is desired among designers and photographers alike to add a sense of dimension and depth to their work. 

How to shoot gradients

Gradient photography can be captured using specific studio lighting and photo editing techniques. For lighting, use a wide main light to create an even effect, and angle a strong secondary light above or in front of the subject to establish a balanced contrast. Angling the light can help control the location of the gradient and feather the shadow area into the receding background.

Gradients can be a powerful way to selectively boost an image’s exposure, color, and contrast. With more focused shots like product photography, try using a large softbox and a diffuser, like a sheet of plastic, to create a glossy gradient. You can also experiment with gradient filter tools available in photo editing software to create this effect. 

 7. Documentary photography

Traditionally, documentary photography is centered on capturing stories and chronicling events and raising awareness about real-life situations worldwide. It is a powerful medium for making a statement or inspiring action; its reality helps redefine how we perceive everyday life. This type of photography can unveil the hidden corners of particular cultures, showcase contemporary life, and even become part of the historical record.

But documentary photography doesn’t have to take the shape of a photojournalistic style. Rather, it’s a way of documenting any story, whether a local community or a couple of close friends. 

Although it’s nothing new, documentary photography is trending this year because it’s giving artists a way to capture real-life moments and tell stories that might otherwise go untold. In a world where social media and digital manipulation have made it easier to alter images, documentary photography offers a sense of truthfulness and authenticity. It’s a vital way of witnessing world events and telling any story, from the catastrophic to the mundane.

How to shoot documentary

Documentary photography requires a camera with great image quality and color depth (yes, it can be your phone) and the skills to capture moments in time. Start by scouting locations and researching subjects you want to shoot. Once you’ve planned your story, use natural light when possible and practice shooting candidly and quickly. 

Focus on details that evoke the emotion of your narrative. Don’t be afraid to get up close and shoot from a variety of angles for maximum impact. Finally, edit minimally and truthfully—documentary photography should accurately reflect reality.

8. Minimalism

Minimalism photography is a trending style that uses fewer elements—like color, objects, shapes, and texture—to express a particular concept and create a distinctive visual impact. It’s unique from other styles, emphasizing sparseness and mindful composition, shying away from overabundance and excessive stimuli.

Minimalist photographers achieve this effect by using color palettes and elements that aren’t overly distracting and incorporating more negative space in the photo. It’s common in architecture, landscape photography, skyscapes, and still life.

How to shoot minimalism

Minimalism photography techniques rely on simplistic compositions, especially open space, focusing on the smallest number of objects. It’s about stripping a subject to its bare essence and emphasizing only the essentials. In practice, it’s important to focus on capturing a balanced composition while experimenting with different colors, textures, shapes, and lines.

9. Natural beauty

Natural beauty is an emerging photography movement that celebrates and empowers people from all walks of life. This trend reinforces themes of gender equality and realism, highlighting body positivity across race, sexual orientation, size, and age. 

Humans of all shapes and sizes are worthy of being photographed. In advertising, the narrative of skinny, hairless, and airbrushed female models has evolved to feature more diversity and inclusion. Photographers foster trust to empower all models through photography, making them feel more comfortable and confident in front of the camera. 

How to shoot natural beauty

Several techniques characterize natural beauty in photography. The common denominator is to showcase the genuine lure of the subject in a way that’s true to nature, concentrating on subjects and surroundings without artificial lighting, staging, or enhancements.

One simple approach is to use natural light, either direct or indirect. You can also shoot from unusual angles to create a unique perspective or take close-up shots to capture the subject’s true features. Try experimenting with a narrow aperture value to produce a sharp image with a deep field depth and use a manual exposure mode to control the image’s exposure settings more.

10. Political activism

Following the continued heightening of political polarization, activism has become a powerful trend in photography. Photographers are leveraging their craft to promote social and political change, using their images to help raise awareness for causes and inspire action. 

Social media platforms like Instagram have become effective tools for sharing activist photography, enabling users and media outlets to amplify their voices through compelling visual content. This has inspired many photographers to pivot their craft and take a boots-on-the-ground approach to pursue meaningful roles in photojournalism.

How to shoot political activism

The pursuit of activism through photography requires a presence at events or situations with social significance. Through them, you can capture honest and impactful images that help shape public opinion and inspire social policy. Not only is it crucial to have transparency and truthfulness in your work, but it’s important to be aware of the ethical implications when capturing photos of individuals in vulnerable situations and obtain consent whenever possible.

11. Film photography

With a growing interest in analog technology and nostalgia, film photography has become a trending outlet. Film photography’s appeal is technical and emotional, with many people drawn to film cameras’ legacy and unique production quality. 

The renewed demand for analog camera equipment has created a major supply chain shortage. Compounded by pandemic-induced delays, film manufacturers haven’t been able to keep pace with trending demands. Notable brands like Kodak and Fujifilm continue to struggle sourcing rolls of 35mm color film, analog film photographers’ most commonly used format.

Despite high prices and limited availability, film photography is booming in popularity. Large brands are pumping more resources to revive their film product lines, and even smaller manufacturers are aiming to release products of their own to meet the demand. 

How to shoot film

If you’re looking to get into film photography, there’s never been a better time. With more options and resources available than ever before, you’ll be able to find the perfect fit for your creative projects—whether that’s a point-and-shoot Polaroid or classic 35mm camera.

Get familiar with the different types of cameras and sizes of film available, understand how to properly load your tool of choice, choose the right aperture and shutter speed settings, use a light meter to measure exposures accurately, and develop your rolls at home or send them out for lab processing.

Future trends in photography

It’s an exciting time in the photography industry. We’re seeing young photographers inspired by decades-old styles of the Y2K era; cultural trends in diversity, inclusion, and political activism; and new technologies that are redefining photography as we know it. Whether you’re a professional photographer or hobbist, there is plenty of inspiration to draw from.

Happy shooting!

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At Blurb, we help photographers optimize their work by providing a range of photography resources focused on the craft. We also offer tools to help you create a photography portfolio and print your photo book to share.

The post Top 11 photography trends of 2023 appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Just as you have a vision for how your big day will come to life, it’s important to have a vision for how it’s captured, too. What are the shots you have to have? What details do you want to document? What are the moments—little and big—that can’t be missed? While most photographers already have a tried-and-true wedding shot list, your input will ensure they customize it for your celebration.  

Here, we’ll dive into photography styles, choosing the right photographer for your look, working with them to create the ideal wedding shot list, and turning their final photos into a wedding album as dreamy as the day itself. 

Before the wedding

Most wedding planning decisions are based on stylistic preferences—everything from your color palette and attire to floral arrangements and table settings is a vibe. Your vibe. And photography is no different. So let’s look at how to make selections that let you see yourself in your photos. 

Establishing your style

Beautiful wedding pictures take many forms. In fact, it can feel like there are as many photography styles as there are photographers out there, which is a lot! So your first step should be narrowing in on the style that best represents you and your partner and the life you’re embarking on together. 

Traditional

While the traditional wedding photography style is a classic that’s stood the test of time, prioritizing formal, posed portraits may not be your aesthetic. If you want something more artistic or moody, there’s a style for that, too! 

Photojournalistic

More candids. More emotion. More real. This wedding photography style is one of the most popular because the photos tell the story of your wedding day without the photographer having to direct it heavily. They make you feel immersed in the event, not an onlooker. The expressions are genuine, and the poses are natural, so the emotion of every moment is captured in its most authentic form. That means you get the first kiss and wedding party group shots in the same gallery as the show-stealing ring bearer and blurry, late-night dance-off photos.  

Dark and moody 

The dark and moody style, despite its moniker, is all about light and how the photographer uses it to create high contrast and high drama in their shots. The light can be natural or manufactured as long as it establishes stark lines with dark shadows to make the environment feel like it’s right out of a movie—which you’re starring in, of course! As if the dramatic lighting wasn’t enough, the dark and moody can be turned up even more in the photo editing process. 

Fine art 

Art is impossible to define. The same goes for this style of wedding photography. It means something different to every couple, but that unique personalization and interpretation are what make it so appealing. While the photojournalistic style is more of a fly-on-the-wall approach for the photographer, this style requires them to craft the composition of the day carefully. They’re interacting with you and your guests to paint a picture with impeccable lighting, styling, and posing. When all those elements come together in perfect harmony, the result is your own museum-worthy photo gallery (minus the heavy security or admission tickets). 

Selecting a photographer

Now that you know the style you want, you can start the search for a photographer who specializes in it. Be forewarned: the talent pool is deep. The good thing about endless options is you’re guaranteed to find the right photographer for your big day! The bad thing is narrowing in on that one right person can feel like an impossible task. We promise—it’s not. 

Let’s take it one step at a time. First things first, get to Googling. Use wedding websites, publications, and blogs to help you search for photographers in your wedding locale who shoot in your selected style. Add any that pique your interest to an initial list. Then the next step is to review the online galleries of each photographer. Go deep into the archives to ensure the photos they’re capturing match what you want. Ditch any that don’t. 

The goal: Hone in on a top 10 list of your top five plus five alternates because you never know who might already be booked or out of budget. Once you confirm availability and cost via email, it’s time to hop on the phone or meet in person to interview your favorites. Not only will this provide an opportunity to learn more about their photographic approach, but you’ll also get a better sense of who they are as a person and whether or not you’ll enjoy spending your entire day with them. 

As you dive into the interview process, here are some important questions to help guide your initial conversation and subsequent photographer selection.

• How long have you been shooting weddings? How many weddings have you photographed?
• Can we see the full galleries of a few of your recent weddings?
• Do you shoot digitally? With film? Or both?
• Do you include engagement photos in your packages? What about pre-wedding events like rehearsal dinners?
• Do you offer retouching, color adjustment, or other corrective services? Are those included or an additional charge?
• Do you offer a photo booth?
• How long after the wedding will we receive the images? How will they be delivered?
• Will we have the rights to the images? Will they be watermarked?
• What is the backup plan if you are unable to shoot my wedding for an unexpected reason?
• Do you carry backup equipment?
• Can we request a list of specific shots we would like?

Creating your wedding shot list

That last question on the list above is a big one. And the answer should be an enthusiastic “Of course!” While your photographer is the pro with the experience and expertise, you’re the one with the foresight to know which moments will make your day. So creating the shot list that best captures those moments should be a collaborative effort. 

Because your photographer has done this countless times before, let them take the lead on creating the first draft of the wedding shot list. They’ll know which shots have proven successful time and time again, and which aren’t worth prioritizing. Once they’ve made the initial list, it’s your turn to add your thoughts and suggestions. Set aside time to chat through the must-haves and the nice-to-haves, and give your photographer the opportunity to weigh in as an expert who might know how to make your good ideas even better. 

If you’re in need of some inspiration to get started, we’re confident your photographer would agree these are some of the shots that never fail: 

Pre-ceremony details

• Invitation, program, and signage
• Wedding rings
• Wedding attire
• Outfit accessories
• Bouquet, corsages, and boutonnieres

Pre-ceremony 

• Wedding party fun
• Getting ready
• First look

Ceremony

• Venue shots 
• The walk down the aisle
• Exchanging vows
• Exchanging rings
• The first kiss 

Portraits

• Married couple
• Wedding party
• Parents
• Immediate family
• Extended family

Reception

• Details and room décor 
• Wedding cake 
• Grand entrance
• Toasts and speeches
• Cake cutting
• The first dance
• Guests dancing
• Grand exit

After the wedding

Ah, wedded bliss! It’s bittersweet to say your wedding day has come and gone, but at least you’ll always have the perfect pictures to remember it by. Pictures worthy of more than a digital gallery or folder in the cloud. Pictures worthy of an album that’s a work of art in its own right. 

Planning your album

Turns out your wedding planning days aren’t over! Planning how to lay out your wedding album is a bit of a puzzle but one you can put together while looking back at your favorite parts of your favorite day. 

As with any puzzle, you have to start by organizing the pieces. You could stick with the tried-and-true chronological approach that steps through the story of your day. Doing so invites album viewers into the beginning and ensures they don’t miss a beat. 

If you’d rather mix it up, you can group photos by the type of subject matter they’re featuring. The detail shots from getting ready, the ceremony, and the reception would make for a beautifully delicate introductory spread. Then it’s all about all the people who came to celebrate you! Show the wedding party, the guests arriving, their reactions during the ceremony, and the best moves from the dance floor. Lastly, it’s the grand finale grouping focused on the wedding ceremony. The first look, the procession, the vows, the kiss, and the official announcement may be the beginning of your new married life, but they also make for a great ending to your album.

Picking the best book

You’ve got the photos and a game plan for how to group them; now you just need an album that (literally) brings it all together. Of course, we may be biased, but we have a wedding-specific books designed with these special projects in mind. 

Blurb layflat photo book

Big impact for your big day. Blurb layflat photo books impress from cover to cover with an ImageWrap exterior and panoramic interior. The book lays flat, and there’s no binding break, so your images can be as widespread as the joy of that day. The size, paper type, and number of pages are up to you. No matter which you choose, every layflat photo book arrives in style in a brilliant white box adorned with pearl foil stamping and a luxurious black ribbon.

***

While styles, photographers, and shot lists vary from person to person, the fact that your wedding day will fly by in the blink of an eye is universal. So live in the moment while you can, then curate those moments into a photo album that’ll never let you forget them.

Ready to turn these tips into action? Make your wedding album with Blurb today.

The post How to plan a wedding shot list appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Most professional photographers know this instinctively; moving to capture a complex moment or fleeting expression, taking pictures with the intent to tell a story. Most photographers also know that cleverly crafting images into a full narrative requires more than instinct. Good storytellers in any medium work at their craft, spending time with the greatest stories and practicing to improve their own.

Whether deepening your journey into visual narrative art or just beginning to snap shots, this guide is here to help tell your story.

The plan

Every good image storyteller starts with strategy, which allows them to capture key moments, evoke the desired emotion, and edit into the perfect final product. Just as a writer creates an outline and a director sets the stage, you can begin by making a plan.

While shooting without one can lead to flashes of inspiration, it can also end in disconnected sequences and lost narrative. To explore pictures that tell a story, you first need to think through the story you want your pictures to tell.

Consider the basics

Questions are the best way to elicit a decent plan for your pictures to tell a proper story. Here are some of our favorites:

• What is your story’s goal?
• What genre does it fit within?
• Who are the key characters? How can you gain their trust?
• What research do you need to do on your subject or location?
• How much time do you have?
• What level of access do you have?
• What equipment and props do you need?
• When and where are you going?
• What lighting and weather will you need to prep for?
• What’s the arc of your story? How will you capture the beginning, middle, and end?
• How will you share your story? What medium will you use?

Choose a theme

Selecting a visual or stylistic theme for your pictures before you shoot is a great way to ensure you can seamlessly weave your story together when it’s time to share it. Photo stories that mix disjointed elements can be jarring to an audience—like a book switching writers each paragraph. On the other hand, a lack of visual variety can be just as disappointing.

Theme thought starters:

• Select a specific color palette
• Pull out a hero color—perhaps a logo color for a business
• Stick to a specific aspect ratio or angle of view
• Use props to create continuity
• Choose unique film to shoot on
• Try black and white

It’s a great idea to pull some visual samples of your desired aesthetic, editing style, composition, or color scheme in this process. If you’re working with a client, you’ll want to include this ahead of time (along with the soon-to-be-mentioned shot list) to ensure everyone is on the same page and will be happy with the results.

Jot down a shot list

Shot lists are integral for working with clients—they open up communication, manage expectations, and provide a game day plan. What’s worse than not capturing a shot your client wanted most? Even if you are shooting for yourself, you’ll save a considerable amount of time concepting and organizing ahead of time—rather than trying to make a plan and problem-solve on the spot.

A written list will ensure you don’t forget anything needed for a campaign or event. And, if you’re doing an outdoor session, a shot list can help you accurately schedule your day, so you don’t miss those incredible golden hour photos or silhouetted sunset shots.

Begin by jotting down a few must-haves and then expand from there. A wedding shot list might include cake detail shots, a wide shot of the grand entrance, and candid dancing or toast moments. For a real estate client, it might be a list of all the rooms in the house, the front and back exterior, and specific drone shots of the property. Writing it down and double (and triple) checking with your client and the rest of your team means nothing will fall through the cracks.

The capture

Now that you’ve got your plan and shot list in order, you can start making pictures that tell your story. With experience, you’ll know when to be inspired by the elements around you—good lighting, an unplanned comedic moment—and when to stick with the shots on your list.

Every good story has an opening, rising action, climax, and resolution—whether it’s as short as a sentence or single image or as long as a serialized novel or photo book. Your job during your shoot is to find a way to capture each distinct part of the photo story as it unfolds.

Shoot the beginning

Your story’s opening scene and rising action are about introducing characters, providing context, and stirring anticipation. From the second you set foot on location, be on the lookout for the beats before action. These could be an empty chair before someone sits down, a landscape photography shot showing the locale, or an environmental portrait of your main character showing emotion. As you’re there, keep your establishing shot in mind. This impactful first photo will grab a viewer’s attention, set the scene, and leave them wondering what’s to come.

Narrative photographer Jan Butchofsky spent years with the Mescalero Apache tribe, documenting their young maiden’s coming-of-age ceremonies. She’s an expert at setting the scene and capturing anticipatory moments. In an interview with Dan Milnor, she shared how she always joined the multi-day ceremonies early, helping to set up teepees and unobtrusively making pictures in all the moments leading to the main event. From wide shots to portraits, her photos tell viewers about the person in frame and leave them with questions about what’s to come.

Butchofsky also stresses that when telling private and personal stories, it’s especially imperative to gain trust of the community and do your research. This allows you to provide viewers with the full context of the scene.

Capture the middle

The middle of your photo story can be called the meat of your narrative, your climax, or your main action. Aim for profound and liminal moments that pay off your introductory shots when capturing this all-important heart of your story.

In visual storytelling, the middle is also a great place to get creative with angles and composition. Try unusual perspectives or details that can add depth and intrigue. Get up high, down low, and capture action shots, landscape, and detailed images. When you combine them later on, you’ll get the whole story.

Remember transitions and intermediaries! When in-home documentary photographer Jennifer Tonetti Spellman shoots the middle, she gets what she calls “eye palette images” and transition shots that add to the story and cleanse the gaze. In her work, this looks like detail shots of sticky fingerprints and hair tie collections and snaps of kids scrambling up staircases and tripping over shoes.

Snap the end

After the climax comes the resolution, ending, or even the aftermath. These pictures tell the rest of the story, show closure or transformation, and nod to how things will work out (or not). Documentary photographers might get a candid shot of onlookers’ grieving faces after a tragedy, and wedding photographers might snap the cans strung to a honeymoon getaway car.

This resolution is also your chance to add subtlety to your story with unusual focal points, callbacks to the beginning, and complicated emotions. Don’t feel you need to wrap up the story with a neat bow, especially if the story remains unfinished. Something as simple as a haunting shot of a hand against a doorframe or a changed landscape shot from your introductory image can allow the viewer to imagine their own ending.

The packaged story

Stories are for sharing. Humans have gathered around campfires to listen to bards well before documented history. There is magic in weaving words, movements, or pictures into a story that others can experience. So don’t let your shoot sit on your camera or get lost in the cloud.

While visual storytelling can still happen around a campfire—today, they most often pass between people on a phone screen, in a photo book, or hung up around a gallery. The choice is yours.

Choose a format

How you share your story often tells as much of the narrative as the images themselves. A series of portraits has a different feel when printed life-sized and hung than it does in a digital carousel on Instagram. Your viewers will have a different experience when touching your photos in a glossy magazine than in a luxe layflat photo album. And the amount of real estate you have to tell your story will affect how you narrate it, too.

Consider your medium carefully. Is your story unfolding in real-time, requiring regular updates? Do you want it to last the test of time? And how do price point and editing time affect your medium? The format of each will shape the story and ask something different from you as its teller.

Cull your photos

Just as white space allows visuals room to make an impact, what you leave out of your story is what permits the important moments to stand out.

Culling your photos can be challenging, especially if you’re personally invested. To make it a bit easier, it’s a great idea to make multiple passes or bring in a friend you trust. Remove duplicates, blurry shots, and poorly composed snaps your first time through. Then sort your photos into beginning, middle, and end, and remove the images that don’t seem to fit your chosen narrative.

Take a walk, leave your work for a few days, and then come back with fresh eyes. Which photos stand out most? Which make an emotional impact? Which most closely match the brief and the story you’re trying to tell? Those are the shots to keep.

If you’re looking for more advice on this complex process, Lourenzo Smith recently spoke with Dan Milnor about making photo selects for his newest publication, “Full Frames.” Their conversation explores Smith’s process and offers tons of tips you can follow yourself.

Check out our blog for tips on how to choose images.

Sequence your shots

You’ve culled down your shots and sorted them into beginning, middle, and end. Now it’s time to place them in an order that will tell your photo story in the most compelling and logical way.

Sequencing is an art form that some spend their entire career on. It helps take viewers on a journey through a narrative arc. Think of pictures as chapters, stringing together moments driving toward your story’s apex. 

When sequencing, it’s important to play with tension rather than just displaying a series of your best shots, each with the same level of impact. Just as you carefully shot the introduction, rising action, climax, and resolution, you’ll want to sequence your photos to build that tension and then release it.

Of course, not every story begins at the beginning. You might want to begin with the end and then go back to show the actions that led to the final result. Some stories are more abstract—so you may simply sequence by gradually changing the color composition from start to finish. Let yourself play with your photos before finalizing your order.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, we have a few good pointers:

• Begin with an arresting, question-inducing image.
• Vary your shots—whether that’s juxtaposing a still portrait with an action shot, landscape against detail, or horizontal with vertical.
• Keep the story progressing with shots that build and break the tension.
• Let your audience make connections by purposefully providing gaps.
• End with an impactful shot that provides a conclusion.

Create your final product

The last and often most rewarding part of visual storytelling is creating your final product. You’ve put all the work in, now you get to show it off!

Spend time on this process. Carefully select your frames, canvas, and size if you’re building a gallery show. Toy with whitespace and post type if you’re posting to social media or a blog. And take time with layout, captioning, and paper selection if you’re building a book.

The details can take your story from good to great, so don’t skimp on this step. It’s where the narrative and product meld into one—and it’s worth every bit of effort!

Learn more about building a print publication in this guide to designing and printing a photo book.

Edit your work

Novels don’t get published in their first draft form, comic books get resequenced before print, and photographic stories change, too. Reworking and editing are simply part of the process. And we’d argue it’s one of the most important parts of the process!

You’ve already picked your format, culled your photos, and sequenced your shots. An edit is the final polish needed before primetime.

Think about editing on a variety of levels. You’ll want to edit individual photos via cropping, sharpening, and enhancing. But you’ll also want to consider the overall look and feel of your final product. Zoom out to consider how all the pictures work together side-by-side, and make sure you’re creating a unified composition rather than just a string of pictures.

Revisiting the emotional impact of the entire story can be another helpful editing lens. Plus, you can’t forget to take a detailed look at any captions, text, and even page numbering that might go along with your chosen medium.

Hiring an editor or asking a mentor for feedback is always a good idea. Self-editing can get you fairly far, but if you’re self-publishing or working for a client, a second set of eyes can make all the difference.

Last, but not least, if you are sending a photo book, magazine, poster, or canvas to press, you’ll want to print a proof. Printing a single copy before making a whole run means you can get pixel-perfect precision and catch any errors that made it through your editing process. Just be sure to print another proof and do this step again if you do catch and correct any errors. There’s no worse feeling than only doing a single proof and realizing you introduced an error while correcting another.

***
What story do your photographs have to tell? Make a photo book today.

The post How to use pictures to tell a story appeared first on Blurb Blog.

But before we begin, let’s address the elephant in the room. The ongoing debate is known as film versus digital. Let’s just end this now. It shouldn’t be film versus digital, it should be film and digital. These two mediums are not better than one another, just different, so feel free to shoot what you want when you want without the need to establish a fictional hierarchy.

Why film? Film provides a look. When a photographer chooses to shoot film, they choose a set of ingredients based on their film of choice. Color, saturation, skin tone, contrast, grain, and sharpness are among the details unique to each individual emulsion. Unlike digital, there is no need to add these properties in the post-production process. With film, these beautiful aspects come right from the can. The film look is a textured, three-dimensional glimpse of the world and is in sharp contrast to the smooth, textureless, and often two-dimensional feel of digital imagery.

Film cameras are another draw for those wanting to explore analog technology. Most film cameras, compared to their computer-like companions of today, are simplistic in nature, require no firmware updates, and are nearly indestructible. It is not uncommon to see a young film photographer using a camera older than they are. Classic models from the 1970s and 1980s are still going strong, many of which don’t even require a battery.

But there is more to this story than the nuts and bolts of analog. Film photography is as much about lifestyle as anything else. In the Digital Age, we find ourselves facing a daunting amount of screen time. The mobile phone is our constant companion, social media permeates our culture, and many of us spend our days in front of laptops doing email, spreadsheets, and Zoom calls. Digital photography only adds to this engagement with the screen. Importing, editing, post-processing, exporting, and archiving often take generous amounts of time. Film photography only requires a screen if the photographer chooses to digitize their workflow. Otherwise, they can exist entirely offline. The lab can do the processing and scanning while the photographer can venture to the darkroom for copies of their best film-based images.

There is one more angle to this story that often gets entirely overlooked. Film archives incredibly well. Throw a properly processed strip of black and white negative in a shoebox and one hundred years later, most likely, that film will remain. Attempting to archive a single digital image over the same timeframe is an entirely different story. Not only do we not have a specific archiving path to follow but transferring digital 1s and 0s from device to device or cloud service to cloud service is a costly and confusing process for even the most skilled archivist.

Perhaps the moral of this story speaks to the idea of choice. Giving photographers more choices when it comes to how they make work is a good thing for photography in general. Photographers, after all, are an integral part of the global, creative community. The responsibility of creatives is to make the best work they possibly can. The tactile, slow, and somewhat limited aspects of film are what make the film experience so different from anything else. Not being able to see your images in real-time and only having 36 images on a roll of 35mm film add to the experience of using this older technology. In an age when instant gratification is the norm, film photography shows us that good things come to those who wait.

***

Ready to photograph and self-publish your work? Start by choosing a book format.

The post The welcome return of film photography appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Not only will a photo archive help you keep your memories organized and accessible, but it can also provide you with peace of mind knowing that your photos are safe and backed up. 

Professional photographers go a step further with digital asset management (DAM), a system to process, store, organize, and add information to images. “This can be totally ad hoc, or it can be a highly organized process,” says Peter Krogh, who literally wrote the book on DAM. “Everyone has some type of DAM. It’s like marketing. If you don’t have a conscious marketing strategy, then no strategy is your strategy.”

These steps will get you from no strategy for managing your photos to a robust, well-backed-up system that will stand the test of time.

What is a photo archive?

A digital photo archive is a collection of digital images stored and organized for safekeeping and easy access. Whether it’s filled with quick snaps from your phone, scans of old film negatives, or terabyte-loads of professional DSLR images, a proper photo archive is essential for keeping track of and preserving all of your best shots. 

Whether you’re a professional photographer or a godparent wanting to document every milestone for the next generation, a great system is necessary for the shareability, profitability, and longevity of your photography. Krogh explains: “If you lose the images due to human error or machine failure, it could be very costly. And if you have them, but can’t find them, you can lose many hours of productivity.” 

There are many great reasons for archiving digital photos—and almost as many ways to go about doing so. We’ll help you find the best approach based on your needs, resources, and image library. Plus, we’ll go over the best ways to get it done as painlessly and efficiently as possible. 

Trust us. You’ll be glad you did it—and did it right. 

Why create a photo archive?

Let’s start with the biggest reason: Your photography has value. It might be how you remember the most important moments in your life or how you make a living. A digital photo archive preserves that value, and the photos themselves, and can even become a valuable tool in its own right. 

If you’re a professional, a well-organized photo archive is essential to your trade. When you can find any photo you’ve ever taken in a heartbeat, you can take advantage of more opportunities to license work for commercial clients. And when you’re looking to build custom portfolios for new jobs, you’ll have everything you need just a few clicks away.  

In fact, for professional photographers with a DAM, “making good use of metadata, like keywords, copyright and contact information, licensing restrictions, and other information add value to your image collection beyond just the workflow,” says Krogh. “It helps you to better understand who you are as a photographer, and to present your work cohesively.”

If you’re not a professional, every single other benefit of a photo archive applies to you. Your photos will be safe from damage or loss, easier to revisit, and simpler to share (or turn into a photo book!). If you can think of more than one photo you’d be devastated to lose, you should probably start a digital photo archive for your personal collections. 

Building your photo archive

Whatever your reasons for achieving digital photos—whether that’s saving memories for family members, preserving important papers for the next generation, or simply making your everyday life as a photographer easier—we’ll help you build one. We’ll walk through how to do a photo inventory, figure out file name conventions, and store your selected photos safely to avoid data loss.

Krogh has three top photo archive tips, which we’ll get into in much deeper detail below:

1. Set up good storage and backup processes.
2. Use a catalog to manage your collection.
3. Centralize and consolidate your work.

Collect your photos

Krogh’s third tip is our first step: Identifying and collecting the photos you want to archive. It probably sounds obvious, but this step can range from simple to challenging.

If you’ve already got all of your photos on one hard drive or computer, you’re done! But if your collection spreads across laptops, loose memory cards, and shoeboxes, you’ll want to get all those images in one place before diving into creating the archive. Don’t forget old devices you’ve got stored away. You may find some forgotten, dusty digital gems hiding within.

“Managing images that are spread across many devices is much harder than stuff which is in a centralized location, states Krogh. “You can now get an 18 TB hard drive for less than $500—use a small number of large devices (all properly backed up), and you can make the image management problem easier to solve.” 

Organize your files

When all those photos are collected, think about how you’ll organize the photos. Starting with folders organized by date (days, months, or years) is a common, straightforward practice, but you may find other approaches more suitable to how you think or how you work. 

Pros might group photos by job or client. If you’ve been collecting pictures from many sources (cameras, phones, the aforementioned shoeboxes), carrying that structure over into your digital archive might be helpful. 

Whatever organizational system you find intuitive and compatible with your collection is the right one. Just be sure to use that structure consistently.

You’ll also want a tool to help you with this organization. Krogh calls that tool a catalog or a database that saves information about your images and helps to manage them. Having a single location and way to organize everything is essential for good file management and consistent tagging. “Right now, Adobe Lightroom Classic is the best game in town,” states Krogh. “I’d love to have others to recommend, but they really are nowhere near Lightroom’s capabilities.”

Pick your favorites

This is usually the most fun (and potentially most time-consuming) step in making a photo archive. There’s very little reason not to archive every image for safekeeping in the digital age, and you should. However, your truly excellent shots can get lost in that avalanche of data. 

If you’re going through the effort of properly archiving your photos, it’s well worth selecting and giving special attention to the ones most important to you. So, however your photos are organized, choose a way to set aside your selects—those best-of-the-best shots that stand out from the rest in any given set because of their quality or their significance. 

This could mean creating separate folders for them, giving them particular filenames, editing the file’s metadata, or otherwise marking them in a way that’s easy for you to see and search. 

As you’re picking your favorites, it’s a good idea to also add metadata entry. “If you learn how to use the tools, adding metadata does not have to be time-consuming,” says Krogh. “As a matter of fact, it should help save time in the short term, as well as the long term.” 

If you’re a pro, you should embed your contact and copyright information, which helps your clients know the source and ownership of images as they flow through production. If you add in some basic information like the general subject matter, location, and client name (no need for 50 separate keywords)—you’ll be able to find your work much faster.

Know your formats

There are literally hundreds of digital image formats, and if your photos come from more than one device (or more than one decade), your files are probably a mix of several file types. Generally speaking, you want to archive the highest-quality versions of each photo. 

Krogh notes that understanding digital image technology is one of the most useful things you can do if you’re a professional photographer. “As a film photographer, it was important to know how film and chemistry worked together, even when you didn’t do your own lab work,” he says. “As a digital photographer, you are responsible for a lot of technical stuff, and you should try to understand it.”

That means the way color management works, what different file formats offer, and what type of metadata is passed between applications. While no one can be an expert in all things digital, “digital imaging should not be a black box of mystery to you if you are using it to make your living,” says Krogh. “It’s an incremental process, and it’s essential to keep learning.”

We won’t go into the specifics of every digital format here, but for our purposes, the best practice is to archive uncompressed, full-resolution originals. Uncompressed formats like RAW and DNG preserve every pixel-perfect detail and are usually the default for high-end photography gear. 

Other standard formats like JPEGs, TIFFs, and PNGs often sacrifice some of those details to save storage space. If you’ve got uncompressed files, mark those for archiving. You can always create additional compressed copies when storage or bandwidth is at a premium. 

If you’ve got multiple copies of the same image, now’s also a good time to make sure you’re archiving the highest-quality copy. For instance, the file you’ve synced directly from your phone’s camera roll to your computer should go into the archive over a screenshot or a copy you’ve pulled from an email. 

Keep in mind: making copies of image files on your computer doesn’t degrade the image quality, but every time an image file is resized or recompressed, it loses some crucial data. You can likely tell you’re keeping the correct version visually or by file type. You can also use the file properties and metadata to confirm that it’s the original by finding the earliest date or highest pixel count. 

Pro tip on storage and backup

Storage and backup can get pretty complicated pretty fast, and that’s why Krogh invented the 3-2-1 rule to simplify:

• For any data you want to keep, you need at least 3 copies. 
• Ideally, there should be 2 different media types, like a copy on a hard drive and also in the cloud.
• Store 1 of these copies offsite. In the olden days, this usually meant carrying a hard drive or a box of hard drives offsite. It’s now possible to have a cloud backup that serves as both the second media type and the offsite. 

Choose your local storage

Depending on how many photos are in your archive, all your digital files might fit on a single USB flash drive or span multiple external hard drives. If it’s the former, you’ve probably already got what you need to create a local (meaning offline) copy of your photo archive. If it’s closer to the latter, you may need to look into some new storage to dedicate to this project. 

While you can store your archive on your computer’s primary storage drive (desktop), we recommend you build your archive to outlast that computer. You’ll certainly want at least one copy (and backups, which we’ll cover here) that lives on separate external storage like a USB hard drive. When you’re just starting your image archive, you’ll want to choose a drive that can fit everything you want to archive and accommodate more years of taking and saving great photos. A good rule is to buy storage for at least twice the data you presently need to store.

Professional photographers who need frequent, fast access to their files should consider a RAID solution. Put very simply, RAID solutions index files in a way that allows them to span multiple drives. They also can include built-in redundancies to protect files in case of corruption or drive failure. Of course, the cost and complexity vary wildly with size and digital storage media, but many reasonably priced consumer options require virtually no technical savvy to get up and running. 

If you’re a pro, you can also benefit from digital asset management (DAM) tools that automate the organization and backup of your files. DAMs can range from simple software that manages your local files to online services that regularly sync your RAID drives to offsite cloud storage. Let’s get into the latter next!

Consider online storage

Storing your photos online doesn’t just provide convenient access from anywhere. It’s also a fantastic—borderline essential—way to protect your data from loss or destruction. The options are many, from mainstream photo-first options with limited free storage like iCloud (which you can easily use to create books from your iPhone) to high-capacity DAM-integrated subscription services that accommodate all types of data. (On that note, keep in mind that some platforms support a limited selection of image formats. So make sure the one you choose is compatible with the file types you’ll be archiving.) 

Another advantage of some online storage options is the ability to automate your uploads, so your archive is always kept up to date and in sync with your local copies. 

Always be backing up

We’ll say that again: Always be backing up.

A digital photo archive protects your photos. Backups protect your archive. Wherever and however you’re storing your newly organized files, you’ll want to make at least one extra copy of the entire thing. That could mean creating an additional backup on an external drive, a duplicate in the cloud, or both, plus some more.

“The most common mistake I see is failure to keep updated backups,” says Krogh. “It breaks my heart when photographers lose an assignment or years’ worth of work.”

You really can’t be too careful with something as innately valuable and irreplicable as your photos; we’d also strongly advise keeping at least one copy in another physical location, be it at the office, a friend’s house, or even a safe deposit box. Then, if disaster strikes in one location, you’ll have an intact backup somewhere else.  

Pro tip: You’ll want to regularly update your backup(s) as you add more files to your archive. You can do that manually, or with an always-connected storage medium that automatically backs up new images. 

Also, remember that storage hardware doesn’t last forever. So you may want to consider migrating your backup copies to new drives every five years or so. We know that’s not fun from personal experience, but you’ll likely be glad you did.

Got all that?

Yes, it’s an undertaking. But creating a digital photo archive is something just about everyone should do, and it’s totally manageable if you start simply and establish a routine. The benefits to professionals can and will be measured in dollars. And the benefits to everyone are immeasurable because your photos are fantastic and should be around forever.  

Got more questions? Watch our online event with DAM expert Peter Krogh and Blurb evangelist Dan Milnor all about getting your photos archived and organized!

The post How to create a digital photo archive appeared first on Blurb Blog.

One grand prize winner will receive a Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro, Tenba Fulton V2 16L Backpack, and a $200 credit to Blurb! The contest winner will be selected by professional photographers, Dan Milnor and Jared Platt. Learn more about them below.

Want to enter? It’s easy. Find the contest post on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter channels and:

• Share a photo taken right outside your door to your feed
• For Facebook only: Share your photo via comment on the Blurb contest post
• Add a one-sentence caption for your photo
• Tag @BlurbBooks and include the hashtags #SpringIntoBlurb and #Contest

Enter by June 10, 2022, at 11:59:59pm P.T.

Meet our judges

Dan Milnor

Dan Milnor is currently Blurb’s creative evangelist. A former newspaper, magazine, and commercial photographer who now works primarily on long-term projects, Dan’s work has taken him from the rural corners of the United States to Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

His work is in the collections of both the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the George Eastman House. His writing and photography have been featured in Camera Arts Magazine, Black and White Magazine, LIFE Magazine, Zone Zero, Flash Flood, Finite Photo, and Resolve, as well as many others. Dan has taught at the Art Center College of Design, Academy of Art University, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and Photo Experience Workshops.

Dan on creativity right outside his door

“Very early in my career, I had the opportunity to show my work to an editor at National Geographic. He thumbed through the pages of my images from exotic locations and then asked ‘Where are the photographs from your community?’

“I didn’t have any images from my community because I had entirely overlooked it. This moment completely and utterly changed both my life and career. I began to realize the importance of my backyard and also began to realize I didn’t need a plane ticket. All I needed was time, access, and a willingness to investigate further what I thought I already knew.”

Jared Platt

Jared Platt is an international wedding, lifestyle, and portrait photographer and photographic lecturer. He began his studies in photography in documentary and landscapes, but today you will find his images are a perfect blend of the three genres.

You can catch Jared teaching photography, lighting, and photo editing at the B&H Event Space, creativeLIVE, Profoto’s YouTube light shaping series What’s the Difference, Canon Live Learning Center, and international photo conferences around the globe. Jared has been teaching photography for 20 years and has been a working photographer for the last quarter-century.

Jared on creativity right outside his door

“Creativity is not something you wait for, it is something you summon when you need it. To paraphrase the famed phrase: There are no boring places, just boring photographers.

“There are opportunities for great photographs in your local park and right outside your door. Don’t waste time and energy wishing you were traveling to some exotic location; find or make an interesting location wherever you are.

“My daughter and I have a lot of fun just photographing her dolls in the backyard. What can you do with your immediate surroundings? It doesn’t need to be a lifestyle photoshoot. It could be wildlife, abstracts, textures, or documentary. But you can and should look for inspiration in the most mundane places.”

OFFICIAL RULES (“Official Rules”)

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER, WIN OR CLAIM PRIZES. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE AN ENTRANT’S CHANCES OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS IN NO WAY SPONSORED, ENDORSED, ADMINISTERED BY, OR ASSOCIATED WITH FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, OR TWITTER.

THESE OFFICIAL RULES CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH REQUIRES THAT ALL DISPUTES BE RESOLVED SOLELY BY BINDING ARBITRATION, AND ENTRANTS AGREE TO ONLY PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR AND SPONSOR ENTITIES AND/OR SEEK RELIEF ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND ENTRANTS WAIVE THE ABILITY TO BRING CLAIMS IN A CLASS ACTION FORMAT, OR AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.

VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

SpringIntoBlurb (“Promotion”) is sponsored by Blurb, Inc. (“Sponsor”), 580 California St., Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94104.

1. PROMOTION PERIOD: The Promotion begins on May 18, 2022, at 12:01 AM Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) and ends on June 10, 2022, at 11:59:59 PM PST (“Promotion Period”). The Sponsor’s computer is the Promotion’s official clock. The Promotion is structured as a contest with one (1) Promotion winner selected on or about June 17, 2022.

2. ELIGIBILITY: This Promotion is offered only to individuals who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry and are legal residents of the United States. Employees of Sponsor, and any of its owners, parent companies, affiliates, directors, subsidiaries, franchisees, representatives, advertising, promotion and production agencies, agents (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”) and their immediate family members (i.e., spouse, parent, child, sibling, and the “steps” of each) and persons living in the same household of each (whether related or not) are not eligible to participate in the Promotion. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. All federal, state and local laws apply. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Entrants and/or potential winners may be required to provide proof of identification and eligibility as required by Sponsor. If it is discovered or suspected that an entrant has registered or attempted to register for the Promotion using multiple identities, all of that entrant’s entries will be declared null and void and any prize such entrant might have been entitled to win will not be awarded to and may be revoked from such entrant. Use of any automated system or any like methods to participate in the Promotion is prohibited and will result in disqualification of any entrant attempting such use.

3. HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: To enter the Promotion, you must submit one (1) high-resolution photograph that showcases what the entrant’s camera can capture from his or her doorway, using one of the posting methods described below (an “Entry”). Limit: one (1) Entry per person during the Promotion Period. If it is discovered or suspected, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, that an entrant receives or attempts to receive more than the stated number of Entries, all of that entrant’s Entries, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, may be declared null and void and any prize(s) he/she might have been entitled to will not be awarded to and may be revoked from him/her. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an entrant, the Entry will be declared made by the primary account holder of the account associated with the email address designated in the social media account used to enter the Promotion. The “primary account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. The potential winner may be required to show proof of being the holder of the email address designated in the social media account used to enter the Promotion.

Facebook
• Comment on Blurb’s contest post with your photo
• Include the hashtags #SpringIntoBlurb and #Contest and brief photo caption

Instagram
• Share your photo to your feed and one sentence description
• Tag Blurb and use the hashtags #SpringIntoBlurb and #Contest

Twitter
• Share your photo to your feed and one sentence description
• Tag Blurb and use the hashtags #SpringIntoBlurb and #Contest.

IMPORTANT: You Entries must include both hashtags #SpringIntoBlurb and #Contest to be eligible. Photo posts, comments and shares not including both hashtags will be disqualified and ineligible to receive a prize.

Submission Content Permissions and Restrictions

Permissions:
Entrant must have permission from any recognizable individuals who appear in the Entry to use their names and likenesses in the Entry and to grant the rights set forth herein. Minors may only be included in the Entry if entrant is their parent or legal guardian. If requested, entrant must be able to provide such permissions or proof in a form acceptable to Sponsor.

Content Restrictions:

• The Entry must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement;
• The Entry must not contain content created by a third party, such as images or artwork;
• The Entry must not contain brand names or trademarks;
• The Entry must not disparage Sponsor or any other person or entity;
• The Entry must not contain material that is inappropriate, offensive, indecent, obscene, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
• The Entry must not contain material that is political;
• The Entry must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age; and
• The Entry must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of, or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where the Entry is created.

Sponsor’s Use of Entries: By posting, commenting, sharing, or uploading an Entry entrant consents to and hereby grants to Sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display the Entry, including without limitation the photo, in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate it into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes. If requested, entrant will sign any documentation that may be required for Sponsor or its designees to make use of the non-exclusive rights entrant is granting to use the Entry including without limitation the photo. Sponsor reserves the right to remove (and to require that entrant remove) and to disqualify entries that are off-topic, violate the Submission Content Permissions and Restrictions, violate these Official Rules, or for which a DMCA notice or other infringement claim is received.

4. PRIZE: One (1) winner will receive: a Fulton V2 16L Backpack (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $139.95, a Calibrite ColorChecker display Pro (ARV: $279.00) and a $200 gift card to Blurb (ARV: $200.00) (the “Prize”). The gift card has no cash value and no expiration date, and Blurb does not charge any fees in connection with its use. The gift card is subject to standard gift card terms and conditions, can only be redeemed through the Blurb bookstore at www.blurb.com, and cannot be combined with other promotion codes or gift cards. The total ARV of all available prizes in the Promotion is $618.95. Prizes will be provided only to verified winners. There is no substitution for any Prize or any portion of a Prize, except Sponsor who reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute a prize or portion of prize of comparable value. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash, except in the sole discretion of Sponsor. All Prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Incidental expenses and all other costs and expenses which are not specifically listed as part of a Prize in these Official Rules and which may be associated with the award, acceptance, receipt, and use of all or any portion of the awarded Prize are solely the responsibility of the Prize winner. All federal, state, and local taxes associated with the receipt or use of the Prize are solely the responsibility of the Prize winners. The actual value of prizes is subject to price fluctuations in the consumer marketplace based on, among other things, any gap in time between the date the ARV is estimated for purposes of these Official Rules and the date the prize is awarded or redeemed. In such a case, winner will not receive difference between actual and ARV. In no event will more prizes than are stated in these Official Rules be awarded.

5. SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNER: Judging and awards will be overseen by Sponsor. Judging will take place on or about June 17, 2022, where a judging panel (collectively, “Judges”) will select one (1) contest winner from among all eligible Entries received during the Promotion Period. The selected winner is deemed to be a potential winner, pending verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules, as determined by Sponsor, in its sole and absolute discretion.

Judging Criteria: Once all entries have been submitted, they will be judged by the Judges based upon the following criteria: creativity and originality (50%), artistic merit (25%), and adherence to theme (25%). The entry with the highest score based on these criteria will be named the winner. In the event of a tie between two Entries, the tied Entry with the higher score in the “creativity and originality” category will be deemed the higher scoring Entry.

All Judges’ decisions are final. Entries that have been disqualified pursuant to these Official Rules will not be shown considered for the final judging. Potential winner will be notified by Sponsor via direct message at the social handle used to enter on or about Monday, June 17, 2022, and winning is subject to verification.

Before being declared a winner the potential winner may be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability Release, tax acknowledgment, and, except where prohibited, aa Publicity Release (“Affidavit”). The potential Prize winner must return a fully executed and notarized Affidavit to the Sponsor or its authorized designee within seven (7) calendar days from the date it is sent to the potential winner or the Prize may (in Sponsor’s sole discretion) be forfeited. If a potential winner is disqualified, found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, declines to accept a prize, or in the event that the potential winner fails to return an executed and notarized Affidavit within the seven (7) calendar day deadline (if applicable), the Prize may be forfeited. If the Prize is forfeited, the Prize may be awarded to an alternate winner, who is the next highest scoring Entrant. Sponsor shall not be held responsible for any delays in awarding a prize for any reason. If, after three (3) good faith attempts to award the Prize to potential winners, Sponsor is unable to award the Prize, the prize may not be awarded.

THE PRIZE WINNER WILL BE ISSUED A FORM 1099 FOR TAX PURPOSES IN THE AMOUNT OF THE ACTUAL RETAIL VALUE OF THE PRIZE AND MUST SUBMIT HIS OR HER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AS REQUIRED BY LAW.

ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES IMPOSED ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF A PRIZE ARE SOLELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WINNER. Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner as set forth above, but Sponsor is not responsible for any undelivered messages or other communications, including without limitation messages or other communications that are not received because of a winner’s privacy or spam filter settings which may divert any Promotion messages or other communications, including any winner notification message or other communication. Prizes that are unclaimed, unredeemed, or returned as undeliverable will not be awarded. All other costs and expenses not expressly set forth herein shall be solely the winner’s responsibility. Promotion Entities shall not be held responsible for any delays in awarding the Prize for any reason. The Prize will only be awarded to a verified winner.

6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By participating in this Promotion entrants (and if 18+ but a minor in their state of residence, their parents or legal guardians) agree that the Promotion Entities, and their respective affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, representatives, consultants, contractors, legal counsel, advertising, public relations, promotional, fulfillment and marketing agencies, website providers, Web masters and their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives, shareholders, designees and agents (“Released Parties”) are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, postage due, or undeliverable notifications or mail; or for any computer, telephone, satellite, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections or availability; or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, service provider/Internet/website/use net accessibility, availability or traffic congestion; or any technical, mechanical, printing, or typographical or other error; or unauthorized human intervention; or the loss, access, or acquisition without authorization, or incorrect or inaccurate capture of registration information; or the failure to capture, or loss or disclosure of, any such information. The Released Parties are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by any website users, tampering, hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion and assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, technical error, theft or destruction or unauthorized access or acquisition of the website, any Promotion-related website(s), or entrant information. The Released Parties are not responsible for any injury or damage, whether personal or property, to participants or to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in the Promotion and/or accepting or using a prize. The Released Parties shall not be responsible or liable for entries that are entered by any automated computer, program, mechanism or device, for any entries in excess of the stated limit or for entries that are late, forged, lost, misplaced, misdirected, tampered with, incomplete, deleted, damaged, garbled or otherwise not in compliance with the Official Rules, and all such entries may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, be disqualified. If, for any reason, the Promotion is not capable of running as planned, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Promotion and/or proceed with the Promotion, including the selection of winners in a manner it deems fair and reasonable including the selection of the winners from among eligible Entries received prior to such cancellation, termination, modification or suspension. In no event will more prizes be awarded than are stated in these Official Rules. If for any reason, including but not limited to an administrative, printing, production, computer or other error or due to technical difficulties or incorrect announcements of any kind, more winning messages are distributed, or more prizes are claimed than are intended to be awarded according to these Official Rules, the intended prizes will be awarded among all verified prize claims received based on the judging criteria stated in these Official Rules. This Promotion is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

By entering the Promotion, each entrant (and if a minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) agrees: (i) to be bound by these Official Rules and by all applicable laws and by the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be binding and final; (ii) to waive any rights to claim ambiguity with respect to these Official Rules; (iii) to waive all of his or her rights to bring any claim, action or proceeding against any of the Released Parties in connection with the Promotion; and (iv) to forever and irrevocably agree to release and hold harmless each of the Released Parties from any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, causes of action, proceedings, demands, fines, penalties, liability, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable outside attorneys’ fees) that may arise in connection with: (a) the Promotion, including but not limited to any Promotion-related activity or element thereof, and the entrant’s Entry, including any information provided, participation or inability to participate in the Promotion, (b) the violation of any third-party privacy, data security, personal, publicity or proprietary rights, (c) typographical or printing errors in these Official Rules or any Promotion materials, (d) acceptance, attendance at, receipt, travel related to, participation in, delivery of, possession, defects in, use, non-use, misuse, inability to use, loss, damage, destruction, negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the use of a prize (or any component thereof), (e) any change in the prizing (or any components thereof) due to unavailability or due to reasons beyond Sponsor’s control, including but not limited to by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not such action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure, threatened or actual terrorist acts, earthquake, war, fire, flood, explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, riot or any other cause beyond any of the Released Parties’ control, or as otherwise permitted in these Official Rules, (f) any interruptions in or postponement, cancellation or modification of the Promotion, (g) human error, (h) incorrect, unauthorized, or inaccurate transcription, receipt or transmission of any part of any Entry , (i) any technical malfunctions or unavailability of the website or any telephone network, computer system, computer online system, mobile device, computer timing and/or dating mechanism, computer equipment, software, or Internet service provider, or mail service utilized by any of the Released Parties or by an entrant, (j) interruption or inability to access the Promotion, the website or any other Promotion-related websites or any online service via the Internet due to hardware or software compatibility problems, (k) any damage to entrant’s (or any third person’s) equipment used to access the Promotion and/or its contents related to or resulting from any part of the Promotion, (l) any lost/delayed data transmissions, omissions, interruptions, defects, and/or any other errors or malfunctions, (m) any late, lost, stolen, mutilated, misdirected, delayed, garbled, corrupted, destroyed, incomplete, undeliverable or damaged Entries, (n) any wrongful, negligent, or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any of the Released Parties, (o) lost, late, stolen, misdirected, damaged or destroyed prizing (or any element thereof), or (p) the negligence or willful misconduct by entrant.

Without limiting the foregoing, everything regarding this Promotion, including the website and prize components, are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitations or exclusions of liability for incidental or consequential damages or exclusions of implied warranties, so some of the above limitations or exclusions may not apply. Check local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding these limitations or exclusions.

7. DISPUTES: THIS PROMOTION IS GOVERNED BY, AND WILL BE CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND THE FORUM AND VENUE FOR ANY DISPUTE SHALL BE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. IF THE CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM IS NOT OTHERWISE RESOLVED THROUGH DIRECT DISCUSSIONS OR MEDIATION, IT SHALL THEN BE RESOLVED BY FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS ARBITRATION RULES AND PROCEDURES OR SUBSEQUENT VERSIONS THEREOF (“AAA RULES”). THE REMEDY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL DAMAGES, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY PARTY BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES OR HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCREASED, INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES OR OTHER SUCH RELATED COSTS OF BRINGING A CLAIM, OR TO RESCIND THIS AGREEMENT OR SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR ANY OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF. ENTRANTS AGREE THAT THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ANY ENTRANT AND/OR PROMOTION ENTITIES AND/OR ANY OTHER PARTY SHALL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION. ANY DEMAND FOR ARBITRATION MUST BE FILED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR FROM THE END OF THE PROMOTION PERIOD, OR THE CAUSE OF ACTION SHALL BE FOREVER BARRED. Entrants agree that the rights and obligations of any entrant and/or Promotion Entities and/or any other party shall be resolved individually as described above, without resort to any form of class action.

8. PRIVACY POLICY: Any information collected during an entrant’s participation in the Promotion will be collected by Sponsor or designee and used by Sponsor, affiliates, designees, agents and marketers for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of the Promotion as described in these Official Rules and in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy as stated at http://www.blurb.com/privacy.

9. PUBLICITY RIGHTS: By participating in the Promotion and/or accepting a prize, each entrant (and if a minor, his/her parent or legal guardian’s) grants Sponsor and Sponsor’s designee the perpetual right to use his or her name, social media user name (handle), biographical information, photos and/or likeness, and statements for promotion, trade, commercial, advertising and publicity purposes on a worldwide basis, at any time or times, in all media now known or hereafter discovered including without limitation live television, social media, and on the World Wide Web and Internet, without notice, review or approval and without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.

10. GENERAL: Any attempted form of participation in this Promotion other than as described herein is void. If it is discovered or suspected in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion that an entrant has registered or attempted to register more than once using multiple email addresses, accounts, multiple identities, proxy servers or like methods, all of that entrant’s Contest entries will be declared null and void, and that Entrant will be ineligible to win a prize. Also, if it is discovered that any entrant attempts to receive additional Contest entries in excess of the stated limitation, that entrant may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, be disqualified from the Promotion. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual found, in its sole opinion, to be tampering with the operation of the Promotion, to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike manner or with the intent to disrupt the normal operation of a Promotion. Any use of robotic, automatic, macro, programmed, third party or like methods to participate in the Promotion will void any attempted participation affected by such methods and the disqualification of the individual utilizing the same. CAUTION AND WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. If any provision of these Official Rules or any word, phrase, clause, sentence, or other portion thereof should be held unenforceable or invalid for any reason, then that provision or portion thereof shall be modified or deleted in such manner as to render the remaining provisions of these Official Rules valid and enforceable. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules or the prize documents will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. Sponsor’s interpretation of these Official Rules is final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Sponsor or Released Party’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision and such provision shall remain in full force and effect. All Promotion Entries and/or materials submitted become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. In the event of any conflict with any Promotion details contained in these Official Rules and Promotion details contained in any promotional materials (including but not limited to point of sale, television and print advertising, promotional packaging, social media, email communications, and other promotional media), the details of the Promotion as set forth in these Official Rules shall prevail.

11. SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE AND DISCLAIMER. Each entrant acknowledges and agrees that this Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. By entering the Promotion each entrant hereby releases and agrees to hold harmless these entities completely from any liability in connection with the Promotion. Any questions, comments or complaints regarding the Promotion should be directed to Sponsor and not these social media platforms. By participating via any applicable social media platform, Entrants are also subject to such platform’s terms of use.

12. TO RECEIVE WINNERS LIST OR OFFICIAL RULES: The Official Rules (available during the Promotion Period) and Winners List (available after winner is confirmed) will be available on https://www.blurb.com/blog/right-outside-your-door/.

The post Photo contest: right outside your door appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Soft light vs. hard light

Soft lighting is a type of lighting technique with few hard shadows. Typically, soft light is balanced and the gradient between the light and shadow is smooth and even. Soft light will often leave no shadows on a subject’s face. Hard light is a focused, more intense lighting technique that casts hard shadows and a more severe gradient from light to dark.

High key vs. low key

High key lighting reduces the ratio between the light and dark areas of an image, which shows less contrast between the darker and lighter tones. Low key lighting increases the contrast while keeping the majority of the image in shadow.

Natural vs. flash

Natural lighting is technique that involves taking advantage of what light exists naturally in a scene. Most often, this light is provided by the sun through harsh direct light, soft reflected light (also known as open shade), or even window light. Flash (also known as strobe) is light produced and controlled by a strobe or flash device. Professional photographers will often utilize a combination of natural light and flash.

Color temperature

Color temperature is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of a color comparable to that of the light source. Most often it is measured in kelvins (K). Temperatures over 5000K are often referred to as “cool colors” while temperatures in the 2700-3000K range are referred to as “warm colors.”

Split lighting

Split lighting is a technique utilized to create drama to a portrait. Split lighting is where half of the subject’s face is lit while the other half remains in shadow. The light is evenly divided over the image.

Butterfly lighting

Butterfly lighting is a lighting pattern most often used for studio portraiture. This technique is considered both flattering and glamorous and uses soft lighting that forms a butterfly pattern under the nose of the subject. This can also be referred to as “Paramount Lighting,” which references the classic Hollywood style of lighting.

Loop lighting

Loop lighting is considered one of the basic but essential lighting techniques when it comes to portraiture. Loop lighting creates a shadow that loops down and under the subject’s nose, neck, and chin to help to define the bone structure.

Rembrandt lighting

Rembrandt lighting is a classic studio portraiture technique that utilizes one or two lights and a reflector to create a natural looking image with minimal equipment. One trace of Rembrandt lighting is a triangular-shaped shadow below the eye opposite the light source.

Short lighting

Short lighting is a technique where the subject is lit from the side of the face furthest from the light source. The portion of the face that is most brightly lit is “shorter” than if the light were positioned on the side of the face closest to the camera.

Broad lighting

Broad lighting is a pattern where the portion of the subject’s head that is turned toward the camera is lit most brightly. This refers to the “broad” side of the face which is wider than the “short” side of the face or the side that is turned away from the camera.

If these lighting tips and techniques sound complicated or confusing, don’t worry. Understanding lighting techniques is a photography skill that takes time and practice. Just know that utilizing and understanding natural lighting is a great way to begin and doesn’t cost anything extra. When the time comes to invest in strobes or additional lighting, know that you don’t need to spend a fortune. Even a low budget strobe or speedlight can do wonders for adding additional light and expanding your photographic range.

Ready to publish your own work? Check out our professional services to get started!

The post Photographic Lighting Techniques appeared first on Blurb Blog.

I love documentary photography and find it to be an essential part of being a great photographer. Not to mention I believe that documentary photography, or photography that provides a basic, accurate representation of people, places, objects, or events significant or relevant to history, is also one of the most important forms of photography ever invented. Where would the visual history of our species and planet be without documentary photography? How do these long-form projects come to be? Why is this such an important art form? And what are the skills required to do this type of work?

When it comes to the skills required to do documentary photography, let’s start with the essentials. Traits like patience, focus, curiosity, perseverance, empathy, determination, and a desire to experience events first-hand. Documentary photographers are the ones operating on the front lines of history, up close and personal, in the action, telling stories the world needs to see and hear. Arguably the most exciting form of photography—being a documentary storyteller—puts the photographer in the middle of the story he or she wishes to tell.

Choosing Your Subject Matter

This work begins by finding your story or subject matter. There is no right or wrong way of doing so, but one fundamental question to ask is, “What do you love?” If you are going to spend your time, money, and energy focusing on a project, it is essential you find something that inspires you, angers you, or somehow motivates you to get involved. You want a project you can’t stand NOT being engaged with. If you are just starting out, also consider subjects that are within your home area and subjects that do not require demanding levels of permission. You want close, accessible, and inspiring.

Setting a Photography Goal

Another helpful tip for doing documentary photography is to set a photography goal or a mission statement before you begin. What does success look like? Setting a goal will also help you understand when the project is complete. Once you have chosen the theme and set a mission statement, the next step is to keep a specific focus on the story idea so you don’t drift or allow the story to become too broad. Sometimes we have a big idea, but the best way to tell that story might mean focusing on one small item, person, or location that best illustrates the overall story.

Doing Photography Research

Doing research is the next step in the documentary process. Doing research should not be viewed as being tedious or demanding. Photography research can actually be quite fun, and it also allows you to understand what has already been done and how you can add to the conversation. Understanding context and where your photography fits in is an essential part of doing documentary photography work. And if a story has already been done, that’s okay. Add your own style to the story and move forward.

In the Field

Once you are in the field, start your story by observing, taking pictures, and asking questions. If your documentary photography project is people-based, as opposed to a more conceptual or landscape-style photography project, know that engaging with the folks in your photos is one of the most rewarding aspects of doing documentary photography. Being able to explain yourself and your story is mandatory. Photography means different things to different people, so explaining what you are doing and why is part of the process. The more time and access you have, the better your work will be. In essence, you are collaborating with the people you encounter, and you have a responsibility to make the best work you possibly can. Documentary photography can also skirt along the edges of journalism, which comes with a level of ethics and responsibility unique to the photography field.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking to get rich quick, then you might want to reconsider the path of documentary photography but doing this style of work is rewarding in ways that go far beyond traditional financial return. An older photographer once told me, “As a documentary photographer, you will live in one year what many people will live in 10.” And after 30 years of doing this style of photography, I can say with certainty he was correct.

The post Introduction to Documentary Photography appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Those of us who roam the Earth with a camera in hand are often rewarded with a small number of successful images surrounded by legions of less-than-epic captures. This is the nature of photography, and there really isn’t much we can do about it other than attempt to learn from our mistakes, stack the creative deck in our favor, and keep trying.

What makes a great photograph is rather subjective. Does an image invoke an emotional experience? Does an image educate? Or is it simply a combination of color or shades of gray that make you pay attention? Bad photographs, on the other hand, often come with basic errors, things that can be corrected or compensated for. Making common photography mistakes is part and parcel of being a photographer, but knowing what those mistakes actually are and doing our best to avoid them should remain a top goal. Let’s investigate several of the most common photography mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Overshooting

With analog photography, photographers are limited to a thirty-six-exposure roll of film but with digital photography, the number of captures we can acquire is virtually endless. For beginning digital photographers, this might seem like a good thing, but editing through thousands of images isn’t easy and can often make choosing the right photographs seem next to impossible. Shoot enough to capture the moment, then move on.

2. Thinking a great camera is enough

It’s not about the camera. Great photographs are about light, timing, and composition, and not about megapixels, fast apertures, or the latest and greatest tech. The best camera is the one you don’t have to think about. Find what works and stick with it.

3. Centering everything

Putting a subject dead center in the middle of the image can often limit your composition, making an image feel one-dimensional and overtly basic. This is one photography mistake that is easy to avoid. Learn the basic photography tips for the rule of thirds, to begin to see how to effectively move that prime subject closer to the edges of the frame.

4. Cutting things off at the edge of the frame

Key compositional elements should remain inside the frame. Awkward cropping where key elements are only partially shown can make an image feel half-made or incomplete. Using a wider lens or taking a step back to ensure you capture all the key elements is essential.

5. Shifting attention from the main focus

Think about the idea of establishing clarity within the clutter. The world is imperfect, so photography is often about visual subtraction: framing and capturing your primary subject without taking attention away by including too many additional elements. Think less is more.

6. Not looking behind your subject

A cluttered background can distract from your primary subject matter. Competing elements inside an image increase the complexity and can cause a viewer to look away. To avoid this photography mistake, right before you press the shutter button, allow your eyes to scan the edges of the frame and the background of your subject, looking for distracting items or bright spots.

7. Capturing too common a viewpoint

Images made from standard viewpoints can often seem less than inspiring. And in a world filled with billions of images, we often don’t get a second chance, so try to utilize nonstandard viewpoints. Get high, get low, shoot through things, and look for unique vantage points.

8. Getting a great camera and never learning how to use it

A great camera is, well, great, but only if you take the time to learn how to use it. This photography mistake can be easily remedied with a little education. If you are standing in the field still learning functions and menus, the odds you will make great images are very low. So, learn how the camera works, do some testing, and practice so that when the time comes to make pictures, the camera function is second nature.

9. Not checking your settings

At first, camera settings can seem complex and confusing. However, after determining the kind of photographs we actually want to make, we learn that our settings are often the same from scene to scene. So, learn those settings, check those settings, and then just focus on the actual photography. Set it and forget it.

10. Forgetting to shoot verticals

Yes, you can and should turn that camera to the side and shoot vertical images. Humans are vertical, waterfalls are vertical, as are numerous other things. Adding verticals to your photography is essential and can also help when it comes to something like making photography books. Let the subject and composition dictate your aspect ratio.

11. Not asking for help

Don’t make this photography mistake, just ask. Regardless of skill level, all photographers need help from time to time, and there is absolutely no shame in asking for help. Ask for it, own it, factor it in, and move on. And remember, someday someone might ask you for assistance.

Hit the blog for more photography tips and project ideas.

The post 11 photography mistakes and how to overcome them appeared first on Blurb Blog.

As we commit to becoming better photographers, at some point, we hit plateaus or find ourselves questioning our skill level, talent, or relevance of the images we make. Am I a good photographer? What is good photography and how do I know if I’m getting better? One of the best ways of finding answers to these important questions is to find a photography mentor.

What is a photography mentor?

A photography mentor is someone with a long track record, undeniable skill level, and understanding of things like photography history and context, and in some cases, it’s likely that they’ll be a professional photographer. It’s someone who will use these skills to provide influence, guidance, and direction so that you can become better a better photographer.

A photography mentor can provide insight into both what you do well and what you might improve on. Also, a mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship; as student learns from mentor, the mentor can also learn the nuances of the mentee’s work to help enlighten their own perspective.

Follow these six steps to find a photography mentor   

1. Identify the intent and goals for your mentorship

First, understand your subject matter. What kind of photography do you love the most, and what style of photographer do you want to be? Second, have specific goals in mind. Are you looking for general critiques, or are you looking for more in-person interaction?

2. Be prepared to pay   

A good photography mentor will invest time and energy in your development, so keep in mind that paying for your mentorship is typically part of the process. Working out a viable and realistic payment structure and schedule based on the type of feedback you are receiving is a common approach.

3. Look for leaders in a specific genre or community  

Finding a good photography mentor will tie back to understanding your subject matter. If you are looking for someone to guide you with composition, you might search for a mentor in an online photography community. But, if you are looking for a mentor in regard to something like the business of photography, you might look for a mentor in an established photography industry or art organization that works to help ensure photographers make the best business and career decisions. Photography workshop programs can also be fertile ground for mentors.

4. Ask the right questions

Before contacting a potential photography mentor, have a solid list of questions ready. How do they prefer you engage with them? How did they get started mentoring, and why do they enjoy it so much? What will you be responsible for, and how should you follow up? Be ready to share a few samples of your creative work for context, so they can provide some initial feedback. How would they identify your strengths? What do they suggest as your first step toward improvement? These are just a few ideas about the lines of questioning you should have prepared. Getting answers to these questions will help you define what you want out of the relationship.

5. Establish contact in a professional way    

When reaching out to a photography mentor, be professional. Sending someone an instant message or text message might not set the right tone for establishing a long-term, serious mentorship. A well-written email or well-timed phone call is better. Learning photography and getting good at it often takes time, so operating in a methodical, calm manner will be appreciated.

6. Be respectful and open-minded

More than anything else, just listen. Someone who has attained the level of mentor has insight that took years to acquire and is likely also a professional in their field. Listen, take notes, and be respectful of their time and opinion. The job of a mentor isn’t to coddle you or tell you things they think you want to hear. The mentor’s job is to guide you through both the things you do well and those you have yet to learn. Be patient, be open-minded, and enjoy the process.

Looking for more creative inspiration? Explore interviews and ideas from Blurb creators on the blog.

The post How to find a photography mentor in six steps appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Over the past decade I’ve embraced my part as the observer and also noticed a change in the creative weather, so to speak. What a successful photographer looked like in the past was very different from today. Photographers began to evolve, morph, adapt, and transition to keep pace with ever-changing trends and technology. A new, multi-skilled style of photographer emerged and we are the lucky ones who benefit from their vision.

Here are 5 photographers I follow closely, and recommend you do, too: 

Charlie Grosso 

Charlie Grosso does photography.  But she is also a writer, consultant, creative director, producer, and also happens to run her own international nonprofit organization. Through this she works to transform the refugee experience by teaching adolescent refugees the essential skills needed to become entrepreneurs and community leaders. And if that’s not enough she also ran a contemporary art gallery in NYC. I could also tell you she is an adventurer who once raced a car from London to Ulaanbaatar, but by now you might have guessed she would have done something like that. And luckily for us, she also crafts and sends out a wonderful self-described “bi-monthly, platonic love letter” titled “Hi Love”. So yes, she does photography. But that certainly isn’t enough to define her. 

Hank Willis Thomas

I’ve never met Hank Willis Thomas, but I have experienced his work. And when I say “experienced” I mean I’ve physically been inside his work. Let me explain.

You could call Hank Willis Thomas a photographer, but this would simply sell him short. I would call him a conceptual artist who happens to use a camera among many other mediums. He focuses on themes of perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. His work has been exhibited at the best most prestigious institutions the art and photography worlds have to offer, including the International Center of Photography, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; and many others. His work also features in the public collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Musuem of American Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C among others. Thomas is a prolific creative chameleon who does public art installations, books, mixed media, photography, and video. And a big part of why I admire his work is that he collaborates with other creatives. 

One of my favorite Hank Willis Thomas projects is titled “In Search of the Truth”. It involved a giant inflatable speech bubble which doubled as a video recording booth, traveling the world in search of the truth. This was my “experience” with his work. I entered this enormous inflatable booth and did my best to speak the truth. Later in the day some of the participants, and their truth, were shared with the audience. I knew at that moment that Hank Willis Thomas was unlike anyone else and that my job was simply to watch and learn from him. 

Craig Mod

Craig Mod’s website says “Writer + Photographer” but I would use a baseball analogy to describe who he is and what he does. I would call him a “five tool player”, meaning a rare player who is above average in every recordable category. So yes, he is a writer and photographer, but he is also a world-class photo book designer, a long-distance hiker, and what I would call a high level “technologist”.

Craig was the founder and designer of my all-time favorite website, hi.co; a real-time writing community. (I will forever hold a grudge against him for shuttering this site….) And to add to his resume he has now entered the filmmaking world. His work is both highly specific and highly personal and is brought to his audience via a traditional website, podcast, and an array of some of the best most beautiful newsletters I’ve encountered.  The last thing I’ll say about Craig is that he is entirely immersed in his own community. He has lived in Japan for twenty-years developing an understanding of this culture that feels as natural as his shadow. My advice? Sign up for the newsletters, and to use a phrase from the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, “buy the ticket, take the ride”. 

Michael Clark 

Michael Clark is an adventure sport photographer. A good one. One quick look at his site and even the most casual observer will find themselves saying “whoa”. Making this kind of picture requires not only a comprehensive understanding of photography but also an in-depth knowledge of things like travel, safety, and culture not to mention the entire range of physical skills required to even endure the elements and exposure this work entails. But wait, there’s more. 

Michael is a former physicist who brings more to the table than knowing how to press the button. A brief conversation with Michael and you will immediately recognize an atypical level of intelligence but also a curiosity about the world in general. Yesterday, I noticed that he is teaching an upcoming, two-day, online class regarding the storage and archiving of digital assets. He was recently featured in an article about a new 100-megapixel camera. And he is the creative force behind the single best photography specific email newsletter I have ever found. He has also authored a highly successful e-book about digital workflow.  Think about a right-brain, left-brain creative who can climb, paddle, ride, jump, and working for a range of high-level commercial clients while also mastering the ever-changing technological world. 

When I was asked if I would write this post, I was asked to write about five photographers that people should follow so I will do just that. But this last one might surprise you. 

The last photographer you should follow is YOU. 

All of the photographers I mentioned above started somewhere and started at the bottom. They found a love of creativity and photography and they began to focus, practice, make mistakes and take chances which allowed them to find a unique voice. That voice led them to their current path, and you have the ability to do the same if you work and you work smart. Creatives, to a certain degree, are given permission to live their lives differently. Understanding the power that comes with this is key. So, if you are starting out and dream of the day when you will be included in the conversation about pioneering creatives then look, learn, and listen. 

The post 5 Photographers to Follow appeared first on Blurb Blog.

My guess is the vast majority of people reading this post own a cell phone with a camera. Whether it be an iPhone, Android, or any other model, the smartphone has become ubiquitous in today’s modern culture. Even the far reaches of the developing world have cell phone infrastructure. The smartphone is our lifeline to friends, family, business, and yes, our photography.

Benefits of Cell Phone Cameras

Why are cell phone cameras so strategic and capable? It all starts with portability. Our phones are seemingly always with us (some would argue too much) and this is the single most important benefit of a cell phone camera. Any photographer will tell you, “The best camera is the one you don’t mind carrying.” If the camera is with you, you will use it, and the phone camera is proof. It is estimated that humans created 1.4 trillion photographs in 2020, many of which will be made with cell phones.

The phone is small, lightweight, and unobtrusive. A photographer working with a cell phone can work quietly and attract little to no attention. With massive storage capabilities and immediate access to the cloud, phone camera photographers also have an endless number of images at their disposal. Phone cameras also allow instant access to things like social media where many of us spend copious time. In addition, due to the increase in popularity of cell phone photography, there have also been parallel advances in things like aftermarket lenses, which have expanded the phone camera’s capability by offering wide-angle and telephoto options.

So why then, if given the choice, would I still choose my DSLR camera over my cell phone camera?

Benefits of DSLR Cameras

Here is where things get interesting. Let’s talk capability. The DSLR camera is a highly refined, highly capable machine designed to do ONE thing and ONE thing only. Make professional images and films. DSLR cameras tend to be large and rather bulky, yes. But with that bulk comes durability and the most advanced picture making technology we have.

DSLR cameras also come with a range of lenses, features, and resolution that are near impossible to beat. If I need a 600mm lens with lightning fast autofocus and massive file size, the DSLR camera trumps the cell phone camera every time. But if I want to make quiet pictures while on a hike with my family, the smartphone is perfect.

So, what is the best solution? And will the cell phone camera replace the DSLR? Well, from a professional perspective, why not use both? These are simply very different tools with very different capabilities. For most consumers, the phone camera is the perfect solution, but for anyone with more professional intent, the DSLR adds a layer of capability that can’t be denied. As with most things, it simply comes down to which tool is best for a specific job. A growing trend today is a “hybrid” approach, referring to the mix of technology and capability. When it comes to the DSLR vs. the phone camera, it really is about a hybrid existence. Use what makes you excited about photography.

Written by Dan Milnor, photographer and creative evangelist for Blurb.

The post DSLR vs. Phone Cameras: How to Choose appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The History of Analog Photography

Analog photography describes a style of photography that utilizes chemical processes to capture an image on film, paper, or even a plate. Most people refer to this style as “film photography,” as film is the most common foundational piece of analog photography.

The origins of analog photography date back to roughly 400 B.C. with the first mention of the concept of a pinhole camera. The 17^th century brought us the “Camera Obscura,” which is basically a room with a hole in one wall. As light passes through the hole it projects an inverted image on the opposing wall. With the use of a mirror, the image can be flipped. And with the use of lenses, you can sharpen the projected image. You can see where I am going here. These early inventions led us to the modern film cameras of today. Early names like the Eastman Kodak Company brought analog photography to the masses.

The Benefits of Analog Photography

With all the modern advances in photography, why would someone choose to use “outdated” technology like film? And are there advantages to using film? The short answer is, “yes” but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

First of all, let’s talk cost. The world is filled with unused film cameras. In my mother’s house alone, there are several cameras dating back to the 1960s that have not been used in decades. So, getting your hands on a film camera might be quite easy and even free through friends and family. A modern digital camera on the other hand might set you back hundreds if not thousands of dollars, so there is often a favorable cost-of-entry for analog photography.

Secondly, analog photography is tangible. The photographer uses rolls of film and is rewarded with physical negatives after the processing of the film is complete. This is very different from digital photography where images end up in digital format on hard drives or in the cloud.

When it comes to film photography, you will also hear a lot about the “film look”, which is very real and a major reason why so many are drawn to the emulsion life. Each film is a combination of ingredients such as contrast, color, grain, saturation, and skin tone. Film captures light differently than a digital sensor. The combination of these realities creates the “film look”. But remember, the “film look” isn’t better than digital, only different.

Another wonderful aspect of analog photography is based on all the things that some people consider as weaknesses of using film; you can’t see your images while you photograph, you can’t overshoot because you are limited by the number of exposures on the roll, and it takes time for film to be processed.

So, why are these not actual weaknesses?

Well, not being able to see your images forces the photographer to pay particular attention to a scene. Being limited by the number of exposures also forces the photographer to be especially mindful when pressing the shutter button. And any process that is slow and takes time is a great counter to the modern culture of immediacy. The alleged weaknesses of film, in my opinion, enhance the fundamental craft of photography.

Are there any downsides to analog photography?

If I had to find a disadvantage to film photography, it would be the ongoing cost of materials which are continuing to rise in price. In addition, the time it takes to process film might not work for a particular photographer, especially the pro, in the age of social media. But remember this. Many crafty, talented photographers fall into the “hybrid” category; meaning they use both analog and digital photography, choosing whatever tool is best for a particular project.

Tips for Getting Started in Film Photography

If all of this sounds intriguing, you might be wondering how to get started in analog photography. Well, the first step is to secure a camera. You could rent a film camera or borrow from friends and family.

Then, there are numerous options when it comes to film and where to buy it. Start by choosing either color or black and white, and then try out several different brands and speeds. Find a subject you love and start making photographs.

When you have exposed your film, my last piece of advice would be to let the photo lab do what they do best. Learning how to process and print from film is a wonderful thing and is actually what hooked many people into becoming photographers, myself included. But there is also nothing wrong with taking your film to a photo lab and paying them to process, scan, and print your images. This will save you time and will also help you understand if film photography is something you want to pursue.

My main message here is that analog or film photography is unique, but it is no better or worse than digital photography. They are simply different mediums, each with strengths and weaknesses. Choose your system based on your lifestyle, your goals, and what you envision as your final output. And regardless of method, enjoy the process.

The post What is Film Photography (Analog Photography)? appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The 35mm Camera – Then and Now

In early 35mm camera history, you can’t overlook two brands: Leica and Nikon. Leica brought the world the first commercially available 35mm camera with the Leica 1, which began selling to the public in 1925. Leica followed with a legendary series of cameras that continues to this day. Nikon followed in 1948 with the Model 1 which led the way to the legendary Nikon F series of cameras. As a young photographer, I was enamored by the men and women covering the war in Vietnam. Seeing still photographs of these journalists flying into battle with their Nikons and Leicas, let alone seeing their subsequent photographs, was what made me decide to become a photographer.

The late 1990s brought the digital revolution to photography and with this revolution came massive changes to camera technology. Out went the film camera and in came digital. With changes in technology came changes in brand. Kodak, long considered the top brand in analog technology, actually pioneered the invention of digital photography. Leica and Nikon were still major players but were suddenly greeted by digital-savvy brands like Canon, Ricoh, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, and many more. Photography once considered difficult and for an exclusive crowd suddenly became viable for the masses.

Mirrorless vs. DSLR Cameras

Today we are still seeing serious change in camera technology. But for the average consumer there are two basic camera choices, the DSLR and the mirrorless camera. The DSLR combines the same mechanisms of the single-lens reflex film camera, including the mirror, but instead of film the camera utilizes a digital sensor. The mirrorless camera is as it sounds, a camera without a reflex mirror. So, what is the best option? Why would someone choose one over the other?

Camera Size & Weight

First off, let’s talk size and weight. Due to the DSLR requiring the use of a reflex mirror, it is noticeably larger than a mirrorless camera. Consequently, DSLRs tend to be bulkier and heavier. Now, you might think this is the end of the story, but it’s not. In terms of capability, you won’t find a more robust photography system than the DSLR. Remember, the mirrorless digital camera is a relatively recent invention. The DSLR has been around for a long time and brands have entire systems in place revolving around their flagship DSLRs. This is changing rapidly as companies invest more heavily in mirrorless technology, but the fact that the DSLR camera is larger shouldn’t limit your decision-making.

Functions & Features

Next up is the performance of these systems through aspects like autofocus, image preview, image stabilization, image quality, shooting speed, battery life, lens options, and durability. Early on, the DSLR camera held distinct advantages over the mirrorless camera in nearly every category. The DSLR was tried and true and the mirrorless camera was the new kid on the block. How things change. Due to the decrease in camera size, and rapid advances in technology, feature sets, and capability, photographers began to quickly gravitate to the mirrorless camera just a few short years ago. And yes, even professionals are using mirrorless cameras on a daily basis.

Autofocus, Image Preview & Shooting Speed

In terms of autofocus capability, both systems now offer world-class speed. Focus tracking, eye tracking, and multi-point autofocus are par for the course. It is rare to hear anyone complain about autofocus speed. Image preview is much the same on both systems, but there have been changes to the features and capability of the preview screen itself. Flip-out screens and touch capability are now commonplace. Shooting speed is also consistently good across both platforms.

Stabilization, Video & Image Quality

Stabilization is another feature offered by both systems and at the highest level, with stabilizing features now being built into both camera and lens. In terms of video and still photo quality, both the DSLR and the mirrorless options offer massive sensors and file sizes with motion footage up to 4k and beyond.

Battery Life

The nod to battery life would still go to the DSLR. When there’s a larger camera structure to work with, it’s possible to include a larger battery. But even though mirrorless cameras are playing catch up when it comes to batteries, the improvements over the past year have been remarkable. I recently upgraded to a new camera and was amazed at the improvement in battery life.

Lenses & Durability

If I had to tip the scale in one direction or another for these categories, I would give a slight nod to the DSLR. Again, the DSLR has been around for a much longer time than the mirrorless, so these pioneering camera systems are incredibly well designed and well thought out. But the differences are fractional at best. I have been using mirrorless cameras for the past three years and have never had a single failure.

The Big Picture

One question I hear a lot is “Will mirrorless cameras replace the DSLR?” The truth is, I don’t know. Market demand tends to be what makes these decisions for us. I can say from personal experience that my move from DSLR to mirrorless has been seamless and wonderful in every way. Camera size is very important to me, so the mirrorless fits my lifestyle and my needs nicely. I’ve learned to live with things like shorter battery life and fewer lens options, but I can say with certainty that these realities have never impacted my work in a negative way.

Over the past three decades I’ve been asked thousands of times, “Which camera should I buy?” My answer might surprise you. Buy what you will carry, and buy what makes you excited enough to go make pictures. Whatever brand, DSLR or mirrorless, is somewhat irrelevant. What matters is pointing your camera out and into the world.

Written by Dan Milnor, photographer and creative evangelist for Blurb.

The post Mirrorless vs. DSLR Cameras: How to Choose appeared first on Blurb Blog.

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VOID IN FLORIDA, NEW YORK, COLORADO, RHODE ISLAND, OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

#MyBlurbMoment (“Promotion”) is sponsored by Blurb, Inc. (“Sponsor”), 600 California St., 11th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108.

1. PROMOTION PERIOD: The Promotion begins on Monday, November 9^th, 2020 at 12:01 AM Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) and ends on Wednesday, December 9^th, 2020, at 11:59 PM PST (“Promotion Period”). The Promotion consists of a “Giveaway.” The Administrator’s computer is the Promotion’s official clock. The Promotion is structured as a “Giveaway” with one (1) Promotion entry winner selected at random on the date(s) set forth herein. 

2. ELIGIBILITY: This Promotion is offered only to individuals who are at least eighteen (18) years old (or at least having attained the age of majority for their state of domicile) at the time of entry and are residents of the United States, excepting residents of Florida, New York, Colorado and Rhode Island who are not eligible.   Employees of Sponsor, Administrator, and any of their respective owners, parent companies, affiliates, directors, subsidiaries, franchisees, representatives, advertising, promotion and production agencies, agents (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”) and their immediate family members (i.e., spouse, parent, child, sibling, and the “steps” of each) and persons living in the same household of each (whether related or not) are not eligible to participate in the Promotion. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. All federal, state and local laws apply. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor and Administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Entrants and/or the potential winner may be required to provide proof of identification and eligibility as required by Sponsor or Administrator. If it is discovered or suspected that an entrant has registered or attempted to register for the Promotion using multiple identities, all of that entrant’s entries will be declared null and void and any prize an entrant might have been entitled to win will not be awarded any may be revoked. Use of any automated system or any like methods to participate in the Promotion is prohibited and will result in disqualification of any entrant attempting such use.

3. HOW TO ENTER THE SWEEPSTAKES: To enter, an entrant qualified under the terms of these rules (an “Entrant”) must, on Twitter, (1) post a photo (2) using the “#MyBlurbMoment” hashtag, and (3) tag their favorite “creator”. A creator is someone that inspires the entrant; there are no limitations on who is a “creator.” Entries posting photos that violate third party rights or are harmful, threatening, abusive, tortious, defamatory, libelous, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, lewd, profane, hateful, racially ethnically or otherwise objectionable, or in violation of applicable laws including but not limited to state and federal law protecting minors and incompetent persons, as determined by the Administrator in their sole discretion, are void. An Entrant shall make no more than one (1) Entry during the Promotion Period. In the event that a household enters the Promotion using more than three (3) unique Twitter accounts, all of the Entries (as defined above) associated with that household (determined by Sponsor or Administrator in their sole discretion) may be disqualified. If it is discovered or suspected, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, that an Entrant plays or attempts to receive more than the stated number of Entries, all of that Entrant’s Entries, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, may be declared null and void and any prize(s) he/she might have been entitled to will not be awarded to him/her. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an Entrant, the entry will be declared made by the primary account holder of the account associated with the email address used. The “primary account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. The potential winner may be required to show proof of being the email address holder.

4. RANDOM DRAWING: Administrator will randomly select one (1) potential Sweepstakes winner for the prize package designated below, on the date designated below, from among all eligible entries received between the starting and ending dates for the giveaway. Each selected winner is deemed to be a potential winner, pending verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules, as determined by Sponsor and Administrator, in their sole and absolute discretion.

5. PRIZES, ODDS OF WINNING, AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE (“ARV”):

A. Sweepstakes Prizes:

i. Sony Alpha A6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Lens and Accessory Kit

ii. PRIZE PROVIDERS:

Blurb Inc., (https://www.blurb.com located at 600 California St, 11th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108) (“Blurb”) will provide the prizes described herein for the winner as described above for this Promotion only.

B. Total ARV:

$548.00 – Sony Alpha A6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Lens and Accessory Kit

TOTAL: $548.00

C. Odds of Winning/Limit: The odds of winning the prize depends on the total number of eligible Entries received during the Promotion Period. The potential winner will be selected via random drawing.

D. General: The actual value of prizes is subject to price fluctuations in the consumer marketplace based on, among other things, any gap in time between the date the ARV is estimated for purposes of these Official Rules and the date the prize is awarded or redeemed. In such a case, winner will not receive difference between actual and ARV. In no event will more prizes than are stated in these Official Rules be awarded. If, for any reason, more prize notifications are sent (or more claims are received) than the number of prizes offered, as set forth in these Official Rules, Sponsor reserves the right to award the intended number of prizes through a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received. No prize substitution or exchange will be allowed, except by Sponsor, who reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in case of unavailability of a prize. All prizes will be awarded assuming a sufficient number of eligible Entries are received and prizes are properly claimed.

E. Winners List: The list of winners will be available from January 5^th, 2021 until February 5^th, 2021 at www.blurb.com/blog/myblurbmomentwinner

6. HOW TO CLAIM A PRIZE: On or about Tuesday, January 5^th, 2021 , Administrator will notify the potential winner via Twitter, at the Twitter account provided at the time of entry, requesting that the potential winner respond to a specified email address with full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth and Twitter user name. Failure to respond to the verification notice within twenty-four (24) hours with the requested information, or if notification is undeliverable after two (2) attempts will result in disqualification. Before being declared a winner, the potential winner will be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability and tax acknowledgment (“Affidavit”). The potential winner may be asked to provide a Publicity Release if permitted by law. The potential winner must return a fully executed Affidavit to the Sponsor or its authorized designee within seven (7) calendar days from the date it is postmarked as being sent to the potential winner or the prize may (in Sponsor’s sole discretion) be forfeited. If a potential winner is disqualified, found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, declines to accept a prize, or in the event that the potential winner fails to return an executed Affidavit within the seven (7) calendar day deadline (if applicable), the prize may be forfeited. If the prize is forfeited, the prize may be awarded to an alternate winner, selected in a random drawing from among all remaining eligible entries, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. The Sweepstakes Entities shall not be held responsible for any delays in awarding a prize for any reason. If, after a good-faith attempt, Sponsor is unable to award or deliver a prize, the prize may not be re-awarded.

ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES IMPOSED ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF A PRIZE ARE SOLELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WINNER. Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner as set forth above, but Sponsor is not responsible for any undelivered emails or Twitter message, including without limitation emails that are not received because of a winner’s privacy or spam filter settings which may divert any Promotion email, including any winner notification email, to a spam or junk folder. Prizes that are unclaimed, unredeemed, or returned as undeliverable will not be awarded. The right to receive a prize is non assignable, non-transferable and no prize substitution, exchange or cash equivalent will be allowed, except by Sponsor, who reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in case of unavailability of a prize or force majeure, at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion. All other costs and expenses not expressly set forth herein shall be solely the winner’s responsibility. Promotion Entities shall not be held responsible for any delays in awarding the prize for any reason. Each prize will only be awarded to a verified winner.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By participating in this Promotion, Entrants agree that the Promotion Entities, and their respective affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, representatives, consultants, contractors, legal counsel, advertising, public relations, promotional, fulfillment and marketing agencies, website providers, Web masters and their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives, shareholders, designees and agents (“Released Parties”) are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, postage due, or undeliverable email notifications or postal mail; or for any computer, telephone, satellite, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections or availability; or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, service provider/Internet/Website/use net accessibility, availability or traffic congestion; or any technical, mechanical, printing, or typographical or other error; or unauthorized human intervention; or the loss, access, or acquisition without authorization, or incorrect or inaccurate capture of registration information; or the failure to capture, or loss or disclosure of, any such information. The Released Parties are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by any Website users, tampering, hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion and assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, technical error, theft or destruction or unauthorized access or acquisition of the Website, any Promotion-related website(s), or Entrant information. The Released Parties are not responsible for any injury or damage, whether personal or property, to participants or to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in the Promotion and/or accepting or using a prize. The Released Parties shall not be responsible or liable for entries that are entered by any automated computer, program, mechanism or device, for any entries in excess of the stated limit or for entries that are late, forged, lost, misplaced, misdirected, tampered with, incomplete, deleted, damaged, garbled or otherwise not in compliance with the Official Rules, and all such entries may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, be disqualified. If, for any reason, the Promotion is not capable of running as planned, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Promotion and/or proceed with the Promotion, including the random selection of a winner in a manner it deems fair and reasonable including the selection of a winner from among eligible Game Plays/Sweepstakes Entries received prior to such cancellation, termination, modification or suspension. In no event will more prizes be awarded than are stated in these Official Rules. In the event that, due to technical, typographical, mechanical or other errors, there are more winners than are stated in these Official Rules, a random drawing among the claimants will be held to determine the winner. If for any reason, including but not limited to an administrative, printing, production, computer or other error or due to technical difficulties or incorrect announcements of any kind, more winning messages are distributed, or more prizes are claimed than are intended to be awarded according to these Official Rules, the intended prizes will be awarded in a random drawing from among all verified prize claims received. This Promotion is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

By entering the Promotion, each Entrant  agrees: (i) to be bound by these Official Rules and by all applicable laws and by the decisions of Sponsor and Administrator, which shall be binding and final; (ii) to waive any rights to claim ambiguity with respect to these Official Rules; (iii) to waive all of his or her rights to bring any claim, action or proceeding against any of the Released Parties in connection with the Promotion; and (iv) to forever and irrevocably agree to release and hold harmless each of the Released Parties from any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, causes of action, proceedings, demands, fines, penalties, liability, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable outside attorneys’ fees) that may arise in connection with: (a) the Promotion, including but not limited to any Promotion-related activity or element thereof, and the Entrant’s Game Plays/Sweepstakes Entries, including any information provided, participation or inability to participate in the Promotion, (b) the violation of any third-party privacy, data security, personal, publicity or proprietary rights, (c) typographical or printing errors in these Official Rules or any Promotion materials, (d) acceptance, attendance at, receipt, travel related to, participation in, delivery of, possession, defects in, use, non-use, misuse, inability to use, loss, damage, destruction, negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the use of a prize (or any component thereof), (e) any change in the prizing (or any components thereof) due to unavailability or due to reasons beyond Sponsor’s control, including but not limited to by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not such action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure, threatened or actual terrorist acts, earthquake, war, fire, flood, explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, epidemic, pandemic, riot or any other cause beyond any of the Released Parties’ control, or as otherwise permitted in these Official Rules, (f) any interruptions in or postponement, cancellation or modification of the Promotion, (g) human error, (h) incorrect, unauthorized, or inaccurate transcription, receipt or transmission of any part of any Game Play/Sweepstakes Entry (including, without limitation, the registration information or any parts thereof), (i) any technical malfunctions or unavailability of Twitter, or any other website,  or any telephone network, computer system, computer online system, mobile device, computer timing and/or dating mechanism, computer equipment, software, or Internet service provider, or mail service utilized by any of the Released Parties or by an Entrant, (j) interruption or inability to access the Promotion, the Sponsor’s website or any other Promotion-related websites or any online service via the Internet due to hardware or software compatibility problems, (k) any damage to Entrant’s (or any third person’s) equipment used to access the Promotion and/or its contents related to or resulting from any part of the Promotion, (l) any lost/delayed data transmissions, omissions, interruptions, defects, and/or any other errors or malfunctions, (m) any late, lost, stolen, mutilated, misdirected, delayed, garbled, corrupted, destroyed, incomplete, undeliverable or damaged Entries, (n) any wrongful, negligent, or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any of the Released Parties, (o) lost, late, stolen, misdirected, damaged or destroyed prizing (or any element thereof), or (p) the negligence or willful misconduct by Entrant.

Without limiting the foregoing, everything regarding this Promotion, including the Website and prize components, are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitations or exclusions of liability for incidental or consequential damages or exclusions of implied warranties, so some of the above limitations or exclusions may not apply. Check local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding these limitations or exclusions.

8. DISPUTES: THIS PROMOTION IS GOVERNED BY, AND WILL BE CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND THE FORUM AND VENUE FOR ANY DISPUTE SHALL BE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. IF THE CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM IS NOT OTHERWISE RESOLVED THROUGH DIRECT DISCUSSIONS OR MEDIATION, IT SHALL THEN BE RESOLVED BY FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS ARBITRATION RULES AND PROCEDURES OR SUBSEQUENT VERSIONS THEREOF (“AAA RULES”). THE REMEDY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL DAMAGES, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY PARTY BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (WHETHER DUE TO NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) OR HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCREASED, INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES OR OTHER SUCH RELATED COSTS OF BRINGING A CLAIM, OR TO RESCIND THIS AGREEMENT OR SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR ANY OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF. ENTRANTS AGREE THAT THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ANY ENTRANT AND/OR PROMOTION ENTITIES AND/OR ANY OTHER PARTY SHALL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION. ANY DEMAND FOR ARBITRATION MUST BE FILED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR FROM THE END OF THE PROMOTION PERIOD, OR THE CAUSE OF ACTION SHALL BE FOREVER BARRED.

9. PRIVACY POLICY: Any information collected during an Entrant’s participation in the Promotion will be collected by Sponsor or designee and used by Sponsor, affiliates, designees, agents and marketers for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of the Promotion as described in these Official Rules and in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy as stated at https://www.blurb.com/privacy. The foregoing notwithstanding, every Entrant’s email address and/or Twitter account identifier will be shared with Sponsor’s Marketing Partners for the sole purpose of subsequent notification for each Marketing Partner’s respective future marketing and promotional campaigns. Entrant acknowledges and agrees that by participating in this Promotion, that their email address and/or Twitter account identifier will be collected and shared with Sponsor’s Marketing Partners.

10. GENERAL: Any attempted form of participation in this Promotion other than as described herein is void. If it is discovered or suspected in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion that an Entrant has registered or attempted to register more than once using multiple email addresses, accounts, multiple identities, proxy servers or like methods, all of that Entrant’s Sweepstakes entries will be declared null and void, and that Entrant will be ineligible to win a prize. Also, if it is discovered that any Entrant attempts to receive additional Sweepstakes entries in excess of the stated limitation, that Entrant may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, be disqualified from the Promotion. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner, the winning Sweepstakes entry will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the email address of the holder of the Twitter account from which the entry was submitted. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right to disqualify any individual found, in its sole opinion, to be tampering with the operation of the Promotion, to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike manner or with the intent to disrupt the normal operation of a Promotion. Any use of robotic, automatic, macro, programmed, third party or like methods to participate in the Promotion will void any attempted participation affected by such methods and the disqualification of the individual utilizing the same.

CAUTION AND WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION IS A  VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

If any provision of these Official Rules or any word, phrase, clause, sentence, or other portion thereof should be held unenforceable or invalid for any reason, then that provision or portion thereof shall be modified or deleted in such manner as to render the remaining provisions of these Official Rules valid and enforceable. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules or the prize documents will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. Sponsor’s and/or Administrator’s interpretation of these Official Rules is final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Sponsor or Released Party’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision and such provision shall remain in full force and effect. All Sweepstakes entries and/or materials submitted become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. In the event of any conflict with any Promotion details contained in these Official Rules and Promotion details contained in any promotional materials (including but not limited to point of sale, television and print advertising, promotional packaging and other promotional media), the details of the Promotion as set forth in these Official Rules shall prevail.

The post #MyBlurbMoment Giveaway appeared first on Blurb Blog.

You don’t have to be a pro—all you need is a plan. We answered your top questions and created a list of Thanksgiving food photography tips to help you capture memorable shots that are perfect for a photo book or a piece of custom wall art.

How do you photograph a dining room table?

Think about the big picture before you start snapping your Thanksgiving dinner photos.

1. Look for natural lighting

Using natural light sources is always best, so consider the time of day you’ll be gathering. For midday or afternoon celebrations, try photographing food next to a window. For meals after sunset, you’ll see more accurate colors and warmer tones with diffused lighting.

2. Plan your table setting

Capture holiday recipes in all their glory by choosing dishes, tableware, and decorations carefully. White or neutral-colored plates and placemats will help the food pop, while bright garnishes add a touch of festivity. Include a centerpiece, floral arrangement, or a strand of lights to perk up the table and create more atmosphere.

3. Include people in photos

A lot of attention goes into the food, but don’t forget to photograph your loved ones enjoying this bountiful feast! You’ll want to remember sharing the day with family and friends, plus scenes will look more inviting and celebratory with people in them. Ask someone to take photos of you, too.

How do professionals photograph their food?

Here are some ways to make the food look so good you can almost taste it.

4. Try different angles and compositions

Rotate each dish until you find a good angle. Experiment with overhead shots taken directly above the subject, and walk around to get different perspectives. Take some photos that showcase a single dish, perfectly centered, and some that capture the entire table spread. Use the rule of thirds to balance your photos, or zoom in on delicious details that fill the frame.

5. Clean your plates   

Professional food photographers know that the smallest details can make or break a shot. When you’re taking Thanksgiving dinner pictures, keep an eye out for crumbs, drips, and spills that will be distracting in otherwise flawless photos. Place food on serving dishes in an appealing way, and add a few strategically placed utensils and decorations for extra visual interest.

6. Highlight the main dish

At many Thanksgiving celebrations, the turkey takes center stage. Have fun photographing the chef basting the turkey and taking it out of the oven one last time when it has that mouthwatering, crispy glaze. Before you document the carving process, capture the star dish from a few different angles and as part of the full table setting.

7. Keep the food fresh (and hot)

You’ll get more tantalizing Thanksgiving dinner pictures if you photograph each dish when it’s ready to serve—just out of the oven, drizzled with sauce, or topped with whipped cream. Try to stay on top of what’s happening in the kitchen, without getting in the way and without keeping guests waiting.

What camera settings should I use for food photography?

To get a great batch of Thanksgiving food pictures, start with basic camera gear (and know how to use it).

8. Bring the right equipment

Some camera phones will do the trick, but a DSLR or mirrorless camera will give you higher-resolution photos that look great when printed. For stability and crisp images, use a camera and a remote shutter. If lighting is a concern, bring an external flash to bounce off ceilings and walls. Reflectors and diffusers are also helpful, but in a pinch, you can use mirrors or aluminum foil to reflect light, and wax paper or cloth to soften bright scenes. Food photographers and bloggers recommend 50mm prime lenses (grab a macro lens for the ultimate close-ups).

9. Shoot in RAW format

To retain the maximum detail and information in each image, take photos in digital RAW format (instead of JPEGs, which result in compressed images and lost data). RAW format also gives you more pixels to work with when you edit images, so it will be easier to color correct and make natural-looking adjustments.

10. Try a wide aperture

For certain Thanksgiving food shots, you want to keep the subject in sharp focus while blurring the background. You can achieve that shallow depth with an aperture between f/1.4 to f/2.8. A wider aperture also lets in more light, which helps in low light settings.

11. Adjust the shutter speed and ISO for indoors

If you’re shooting without a tripod, use a shutter speed of 1/60 or faster to capture crisp images. Photos taken indoors without a flash or natural lighting will need an ISO setting of 800 or 1600. That way, your camera sensor should be sensitive enough to capture shots in ambient light. You can reduce the ISO to 200 or 400 if you’re using extra light sources.

12. Select the right white balance

Realistic, appealing color matters when taking pictures of food, so choose a white balance that fits the lighting. Try tungsten for rooms with incandescent lamps, and fluorescent white balance under fluorescent lighting. If you’re photographing Thanksgiving food in consistent natural light, you can also use a gray card to set the custom white balance on your camera.

13. Use the built-in timer

Want to avoid camera shake from pressing down the shutter? Use a remote shutter or set the timer on your camera between 2 to 4 seconds.

After you’re done taking Thanksgiving dinner pictures (and scraping up the last bites of dessert), jot down a few memories from the day. You may not realize it in the moment, but having personal notes, recipes, quotes, and details to add to your Thanksgiving photo book will make it extra special.

Want to get a head start on your photo book, cookbook, or wall art? Check out Blurb’s free design tools to find the right fit for your project.

The post 13 Thanksgiving Dinner Picture Tips & Ideas appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The more organized you are, the more time and energy you can spend creating your next project. Follow these tips to get your phone photos in order and keep them that way.  

Sort your photos

1. Choose a device for editing

No matter what kind of project you’re working on, it helps to have all your photos in one place—ideally on the device you will use for editing. If you take most of your photos on a camera phone and plan to create your projects on it too, you’re already ahead of the game. After organizing your images, you’ll be able to use Blurb’s mobile app to make a Photo Book on your phone or tablet or try our online tool to create Wall Art in minutes. If you prefer to design books or wall décor with our desktop software BookWright, make a plan to upload and sort photos from your camera phone once a week.

2. Organize image folders by date and project

As you begin sorting images, keep in mind how you plan to use them in future projects. Group your photos by year first, then by purpose, then by place, subject, or event. Give your folders clear, specific names. For example, you might divide 2020 photos into folders: Work, Friends & Family, and Travel, then create subfolders within each group, Friends & Family > Holiday, or Travel > Hawaii. Getting through this first phase of organizing photos on your phone can feel like a big deal—and it is—so use that momentum to tackle the next step.   

3. Delete the duplicates

Time for the slightly tedious but oh-so-essential task of deciding which photos to keep or cut. (We all tend to get click-happy with digital cameras and phones, and it is often necessary to take multiple shots to get the best one, but eventually we have to deal with those extra images.) When you take on the task of organizing photos on your phone, start by deleting the duplicates. Choose the best shot of each subject, and get rid of the 3 to 4 safety shots of the same subject in the same moment. You may have to do this in batches and take breaks, depending on how extensive your photo archive is.

4. Back up your photos

Once you’ve done all the work to get the photos on your phone organized, be sure to create backup copies up on a computer, external hard drive, cloud storage, or all of the above! Get in the habit of backing up your photos regularly, at least once a month if you are shooting often. Doing this in smaller batches ensures that you can keep track of your images and actually get the job done. You may also decide to upload your very best shots to an online photo-sharing website or portfolio, as a public or private album.

5. Stick to your system

The key to maintaining your photo organization is consistency. Hold yourself to the file naming conventions and folder structures you set up, and commit to a regular schedule of downloads and backups. It will get easier the more you do it. And as anyone who has lost digital files knows, it can be heartbreaking, so it’s worth making the extra effort now to ensure your photos are safely stored.

Stay organized

6. Know why you’re taking photos

Now that you’ve got a clearer view of your phone photo collection, you can bring that clarity and intention to your next photo session. Before you start snapping, think about what you want to do with these photos. Are they for a gift? For social media? For work? For posterity? To make a photo book or wall art? Of course, taking spontaneous photos can yield surprising, serendipitous images, but having a digital camera in hand can also make it easy to forget why we’re shooting in the first place. Don’t lose sight of your purpose.

7. Shoot in smaller batches

If the process of sorting hundreds or thousands of photos on your phone left an impression on you (whether it was a feeling of stress, relief, accomplishment, or joy), remember that experience and use it as motivation to take photos in smaller batches going forward. The fewer shots you have to manage at a time, the more likely you are to sort, file, and back them up properly and frequently.

8. Delete as you go

No amount of editing can fix camera blur, interruptions, and closed eyes. If there is a camera shake, someone walking into the shot, or unflattering expressions, delete these photos as soon as you see them. Ignoring them now just means you have to deal with them later!

***

Knowing exactly where to find the perfect photo feels good and feeds your creative process. Ready to start a new project? Bring your vision to life today with Blurb’s help!

The post How to organize photos on your phone appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The natural world also provides plenty of surprises and challenges that all photographers can learn from, so landscape photography is a great subject to explore behind the lens. Before you set out on your next excursion, check out these landscape photography tips to help you capture even better images.

1. Find a focal point

It’s tempting to snap a quick shot of a gorgeous vista and assume the beauty will instantly translate in the image, but even nature photos of the most stunning settings can feel empty without a focal point. That’s because the human eye naturally searches for a point of interest. When you compose your landscape shot, choose a specific focal point (trees, mountains, buildings, shadows, or clouds) and be intentional about where you place it (foreground, background, off-center).

2. Add leading lines

One way to draw your audience into the scene is to use natural lines in the environment. Look for a road, tree branch, rooftop, ocean wave, or horizon line that can help guide the viewer’s gaze to your focal point. Leading lines are also great way to add depth, scale, or compelling patterns to your landscape photos.

3. Pay attention to depth of field

Depth of field refers to the distance between the closest and farthest subjects in a photo that appear in focus. It’s a great technique for landscape photography. Sometimes you want elements in the foreground in focus while blurring things in the background, or vice versa. With natural vistas, most people want a maximum depth of field (to keep mountains in the background and trees in the foreground looking sharp). That requires a smaller aperture, for example f/16 or f/22. Since less light will be hitting the image sensor, you’ll need to increase the ISO or slow down the shutter speed.

4. Learn to use a tripod

A tripod is essential when you’re photographing landscapes in low light with a slow shutter speed, because you need to keep the camera absolutely still to get a sharp image. You may also need a tripod when you have to increase the ISO in order to preserve a quick shutter speed. If you’re walking around in daylight and using a high shutter speed, you can capture great nature photos without one. It’s all about practice, and knowing when the extra stability matters.

5. Incorporate people

With all the natural wonders before you, it’s easy to forget about including human elements. But variety is key! Bringing people into your landscape photography can add a great sense of scale, action, and dimension to the scene. Try using the rule of thirds and placing the subject off-center so the eye has somewhere to land.

6. Vary your perspective

A great tip for your landscape photography is to change up your perspective. If you take all your photos at eye level with a basic left-right-center series of shots for each landscape, you’ll end up with a lot of repetitive images in your photography portfolio. To keep things creative, you have to be willing to mix it up, get down low, or hike a little higher to find a new vantage point. But that’s part of the fun, right? Spending even ten extra minutes scouting the area could reveal amazing details or perspectives you might have otherwise overlooked. 

7. Use photographic filters

Most of us have experience adding digital filters to our images in post-production, but it’s also worth experimenting with physical filters that attach to your camera lens. To improve color saturation, enhance contrast, and reduce glare, go for a polarizing filter. You’ll see darker, more intense blue skies and whiter clouds. A neutral density filter can extend the length of exposure while preventing too much light from entering the camera, so it’s easier to shoot at high noon or in bright light.

8. Try a wide angle lens

Wide angle landscape photography allows you to capture the beauty of nature on a much larger scale. If you haven’t already discovered the power of a wide angle lens, give it a try! You’ll be able to capture more expansive panoramas and create a spacious feeling, so your nature scenes have even more impact. A wide angle lens also lets in more light so you can use a faster shutter speed, and it creates greater depth of field (subjects at different distances appear sharp).

9. Try capturing movement

We tend to associate landscapes with still, serene settings, rather than action. In reality, many things in nature are in motion and can add drama to your photos. Keep an eye on objects moving in the wind, waves hitting the shore, waterfalls, birds, and clouds. A good tip is to use a long exposure time of 2 seconds or more (and a tripod!) to capture the blur of movement while keeping the rest of the image in focus.

10. Remember the horizon line

It might sound obvious for landscape photos, but always check the placement of the horizon line in your images to see if it’s straight. Tilted horizons can be jarring and are much harder to fix after the fact. Consider placing the horizon line one-third of the way into the top or bottom of the frame (though an argument can be made for placing it directly in the middle, depending on other objects, shapes, or textures in the scene).

11. Don’t limit yourself to the golden hour 

Some landscape photographers swear by the golden hour—the hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise—because the angle and subtle quality of light creates unique patterns, textures, and dimensions that are irresistible. While this is an especially magical time for shooting landscapes and reflections on water, there is plenty to learn at other times of the day. So have fun taking photos whenever you can get out into the natural world!

12. Be patient

Nature comes with all kinds of variables, and getting the perfect shot can require patience. So be prepared to spend some time at each photo site. Notice subtle changes in light or texture as you look around, and try to embrace the weather (remember rainbows, water droplets, and dark skies can make beautiful photos!). You may even want to return to the location another day to try new techniques. Wherever you go, take some time between photos to simply relax and enjoy the beauty of the moment.

Do you have a collection of landscapes or travel photos that would make a beautiful book? Get started today!

The post 12 Landscape Photography Tips appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Whether you’re a seasoned shutterbug or just starting, learning how to take good photos with your phone reveals a realm of creative possibilities. This guide will take your mobile photos from good to great, showing you how to capture memories and make art at your fingertips.

So, if you want to start taking better photos on your phone and make every shot count, follow these tips and tricks.

1. Capture the unscripted

Don’t underestimate the allure of candid photography. It’s not just about snapping away; it’s observing and anticipating that unguarded laugh or thoughtful gaze. Aim to be discreet and patient, allowing natural scenes to unfold before you click. These spontaneous captures often reveal a depth of story and emotion that posed shots might miss, making them standout pieces in any collection.

2. Learn the rule of thirds

To add depth to your photos, activate the gridlines in your camera settings. The overlay of horizontal and vertical lines on your screen helps you apply the rule of thirds: a compositional technique that places subjects along these lines or intersections for an engaging effect. An off-center subject can lend dynamism to an otherwise static scene.

3. Seek unique reflections

Reflections aren’t mere duplications—they’re opportunities for creativity within your compositions. Search out less obvious reflective surfaces like rain-soaked streets or architectural glass facades, offering unique lighting conditions and visual twists that captivate viewers’ attention far beyond conventional shots.

4. Fine-tune your focus

Autofocus is handy, but taking manual control lets you tell richer stories through your images. Whether highlighting a dewdrop against leafy backdrops or isolating street performers amidst urban chaos, tapping where you want crystal clarity is a subtle tip that yields transformative shots. This small step draws viewers’ eyes exactly where you intend, crafting photos with intentionality behind every pixel.

5. Embrace the abstract

If you have a photographic tendency to capture complete head-to-toe scenes with perfectly centered subjects, this creative exercise is for you! The goal of shooting abstract photos is to capture something familiar from an unusual perspective or show only part of the whole scene. A close-up or tilted shot of food, architecture, or everyday objects can be surprising, exciting, and even mysterious for the viewer.

6. Use negative space effectively

In photos, the space surrounding your subject is just as important to the composition as the subject itself. That area is known as negative space, and it frames focal points by providing contrast and context for impactful imagery. Play around using vast skies above landscapes to add serenity or shadow-laden alleys, creating tension around subjects. A mindful approach utilizing negative space turns empty spaces into powerful storytelling elements, allowing you to take better iPhone photos with simple shifts in your vantage point.

7. Shoot with burst mode

For those fleeting moments that pass in a flash—kids at play, pets on the move, or action-packed scenes—use your phone’s burst mode. This feature takes several shots per second, increasing your chances of nailing that perfect shot with sharp focus and just the right expression or pose. Reviewing a sequence lets you choose the best from an array of images where /timing is everything.

8. Look for leading lines

Leading lines aren’t just part of the scenery. They’re powerful compositional tools that guide your viewer’s journey through the image. Look for natural guides like walkways, fences, or architectural features, as these leading lines draw the eye deeper into a photo and create a sense of movement and depth.

9. Keep a clean lens

The simplest truth holds: A clean lens is key to clear photos. Without a cap to protect it, your phone’s lens is vulnerable to everyday smudges and dust—a quick wipe with a soft cloth before shooting ensures you start with impeccable clarity rather than relying on post-production fixes that might not recover every detail.

10. Play with patterns

Our world abounds with patterns. When you spot them, they provide rhythm and structure in photographs. From manufactured designs like brickwork or textiles to natural views like leaves or waves, capturing repetition draws viewers in by creating familiar yet mesmerizing visuals.

11. Zero in on details

It’s natural to want to get everything in a single shot, but that means you risk missing out on smaller details that can make photos compelling. Intricacies overlooked at first glance become central characters under scrutiny. So, once you’ve got your landscape shot, consider what finer elements warrant their own stage—a shift from breadth to depth that often yields truly captivating imagery.

12. Use flash sparingly

Your camera’s flash isn’t always your friend, especially at night when its harsh light can flatten scenes and strip away a photo’s subtlety. In a dark setting, the flash alters colors and creates overexposed images, making the subjects look unnatural. But when used judiciously, even in daylight settings, it can lift shadows and add dimension back into well-lit subjects, giving nuanced results without the pitfalls inherent after dark.

13. Welcome symmetry

Symmetry, a cornerstone of compelling compositions, naturally draws us in. When you find or create symmetry in your photography, whether by splitting an image down the middle or aligning elements horizontally, you produce photos that exude harmony and balance. This technique works wonders for both natural landscapes and urban architecture—anywhere you can mirror elements to captivate the viewer.

14. Stabilize your shots

Sharpness is critical for high-quality photos, and stability is its faithful ally. Even slight movements can blur an image in low-light conditions or when capturing long exposures. Use stable surfaces like walls or tables to support your arms. Or better yet, invest in a tripod designed for mobile phones to ensure crisp images every time you shoot.

15. Shoot using the volume adjuster

Ditch the screen tap for sharper shots by using your phone’s volume button as a shutter release. This simple phone photography tip reduces camera shake significantly, particularly when shooting one-handed or reaching for tricky angles. Like a traditional camera, it gives you more control and stability, leading to clearer images without extra effort. It can also be an effective shooting technique when using burst mode.

16. Experiment with exposure

Exposure shapes the lightness or darkness of your photos and sets the mood. Play around by manually adjusting exposure on your smartphone. Brighten up shadows to reveal hidden details or darken highlights for silhouettes and drama. Finding a balance between light and dark can transform an ordinary scene into something extraordinary.

17. Harness the golden hour

The golden hour—shortly after sunrise or before sunset—is photography’s open secret for stunning natural lighting effects. It offers soft, diffused light that flatters subjects, enveloping them in warm hues ideal for shooting portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes. Make it a point to venture out during these peak times and capture the magic inherent in Earth’s most flattering spotlight.

18. Optimize portrait mode

Portrait mode isn’t just about blurring backgrounds. It’s about making subjects pop against softly defocused surroundings, drawing viewers’ eyes straight to the main focal points. Today’s smartphones have smart algorithms that differentiate between subject and background, providing DSLR-like results. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of this feature and emphasize who or what truly matters within each frame.

19. Enhance colors selectively

Colors have tremendous power. They can change an image’s mood and direct our attention. With editing apps at your fingertips, selectively amplify vibrant hues that demand notice or tone down others for added subtlety. This targeted approach ensures certain elements stand out, making your images more striking and memorable.

20. Capture the essence of motion

Your smartphone is a powerful tool for portraying movement in captivating ways. Utilize slow-motion to dramatize fast action, or switch to time-lapse to condense hours into seconds, showcasing the bustling pace of life or the serene progress of clouds across a sky. These features give you creative control over how motion unfolds within your visual storytelling.

21. Incorporate foreground interest

To give depth and context to sweeping vistas, include intriguing foreground elements, like rocks etched with patterns by the sea, close-ups of swaying wildflowers against vast backdrops, or architectural details framing urban expanses. This approach adds layers and creates three-dimensional scenes that draw viewers to journey through photos as they explore every plane.

22. Use selective focus for artistic impact

Selective focus is a powerful tool to draw attention exactly where you want it. You can take better phone photographs rich with artistic flair by focusing on just one detail—a droplet on a petal, the texture of aged wood—and letting the rest fade into a soft blur. This technique highlights the beauty in simplicity and guides viewers’ eyes through your visual story.

23. Time your shots for natural expressions

In portrait photography, timing is everything when capturing authentic expressions. Wait for those unguarded moments—when laughter erupts or thoughtful gazes emerge—for images that resonate with genuine emotion. Quietly observing your subjects helps you anticipate these fleeting expressions, allowing you to freeze them forever in time.

24. Shoot from different perspectives

Changing your viewpoint can drastically alter how you perceive an image’s subject matter. Shooting from down low makes even the most mundane objects monumental. Conversely, high vantage points shrink vast landscapes into understandable patterns. Shooting from different perspectives results in unique narratives compared to typical eye-level shots, inviting viewers to rethink familiar scenes anew.

25. Mind the horizon line

A skewed horizon line can unsettle an otherwise serene landscape shot. Use your camera’s built-in level or edit post-shot to ensure straight horizons, lending balance and stability to outdoor scenes. This small detail maintains order within nature’s vastness and keeps viewers grounded in reality.

26. Use overlays for composition

Beyond the rule of thirds, explore compositional guides like the golden ratio or diagonal lines available in some camera apps. These overlays can inspire you to arrange your photo’s elements in fresh and visually appealing ways. They push traditional framing aside, allowing for spontaneous and well-structured compositions.

27. Photograph during weather changes

Weather transitions bring about some of the most captivating lighting conditions. Be ready to capture these moments, whether it’s a storm clearing up or fog drifting in, as they provide unique atmospheric effects that add moodiness and drama to your shots. Such times offer fleeting opportunities to photograph landscapes under extraordinary light.

28. Emphasize scale in landscapes

Adding a familiar object or person within vast scenes gives viewers a sense of scale, amplifying the grandeur before them. Whether it’s a tiny figure against towering mountains or a lone tree amidst an expansive desert, these reference points help convey the majesty of nature’s canvas.

29. Capture contrasts

Seek out contrasts—old versus new structures or bright spots amid shadowy areas to create visual tension within your scene. These striking differences draw attention and encourage deeper contemplation of the story behind what might otherwise be ordinary elements when viewed alone.

30. Motion blur for dynamic effect

Motion blur adds a sense of speed and vitality to your photos. It’s particularly effective for scenes with movement, such as busy streets, sports events, or action shots. Adjusting the shutter speed on your iPhone or phone camera lets you capture both motion and stillness, creating an engaging, dynamic effect within the frame.

31. Expect to edit

Even when you’ve framed your shot and set your focus, the photo might not be what you had in mind. That’s what photo editing tools are for! Whether tweaking brightness, adjusting contrast, or cropping for better composition, post-production is where good photos become great. It allows you to refine what you’ve captured so that your final image truly resonates with its intended purpose and audience.

32. Review and learn from your photos

Set aside time to go over your photos with a critical eye. Look for patterns in what works and what doesn’t, paying attention to elements like composition, lighting, and subject matter. Use these sessions as learning opportunities. Every image has a lesson to inform and improve future photography endeavors.

33. Share and collaborate

Engage with a community of photographers by sharing your work. Constructive feedback is invaluable; it pushes you out of your comfort zone and introduces new techniques or perspectives you might not have considered. Collaboration is the key to growth in any art form. It’s how we learn, adapt, and ultimately refine our craft together.

From phone captures to photo books

In a world where we have our smartphones practically glued to our hands, we often forget the satisfaction of holding physical copies of our photographs. Transforming your digital snapshots into beautifully bound photo books not only preserves them more permanently but also gives you an actual object to share and enjoy with others.

The leap from ordinary to extraordinary isn’t as vast as it might seem when taking photos with your phone. It’s all about knowing how best to use the powerful camera that lives in your pocket. Understanding light, composition, and color can turn simple shots into stunning visual stories.

With this handful of simple phone photography tips, you can elevate your images and capture what you see and how you feel about what’s in front of your lens. So, let this journey be both instructional and inspiring. By honing these skills, you’ll soon have enough captivating images for social media and other creative applications, like travel books and family photo albums.

***

Blurb is a print-on-demand service that helps turn your digital masterpieces into high-quality books that last a lifetime. With user-friendly design tools and a range of customizable options, Blurb makes it easy to bring the stories behind your images to life. Sign up to get started.

The post How to take good photos with your phone: 33 tips and tricks appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Here are some spring photo tips to guide you as you venture out into the world.

1 Tell a Color Story 

It’s a vibrant world in March, April, and May! Natural landscapes and city streets are alive with color—from flowers to fashion trends—so follow those hues. Add a pop of color to your photos. Seek out bright patterns and textures to use as a backdrop or fill part of your photo. You can even create a series of pictures using a single color as your inspiration.

2 Try New Techniques

Springtime is all about new beginnings, so apply the same approach to your photography practice. Take a new lens out for a spin, or experiment with manual settings on your camera. Try a new photography technique you’ve read about, like long exposures or bracketing images.

3 Light the Way

No matter what you photograph, good lighting is essential. Use the intensity of the light and how it interacts with your subject to tell a visual story. Soft light at dawn or dusk creates a quieter, serene mood, while strong, midday sun can have you battling harsh shadows and blown-out highlights. A dramatic, backlit image can be effective as long as you plan for it. So give yourself time to experiment and find the best lighting for each photo.

4 Find Symbols of Spring

Choosing a theme can be just the motivation you need to start a new photo project. Step outdoors and have fun capturing all the classic symbols of spring. Blossoming trees and flowers, bright umbrellas and galoshes, rainbows, birds and other wildlife can renew your curiosity and creativity behind the camera.

5 Follow the Activity

It’s a bustling time of year as people and animals emerge from their winter slumber, so notice where everyone gravitates on warm spring days and go there! The season is also full of social events and celebrations (graduations, weddings, parties). If you’re visiting family and friends, bring your camera so you can photograph people dancing, kids playing, frisbees flying, and pets on the go.

6 Get a Fresh Perspective

Spring is a time of transition, so why not change things up? Instead of taking photos at eye level, try different vantage points. Get down low to capture bright blooms and sprouting foliage in a garden, then turn your lens upward and try framing clouds, trees, skylines, or buildings in unexpected ways. Mix up your approach to portraits too!

7 Add a Sun Flare

Usually, you want to prevent strong glare in photos because it can detract from the subject. As a spring challenge, see what happens when you let a sun flare take center stage. Using a smaller aperture will produce stronger, more defined flares, while wide-open apertures will soften the glow. As you compose the shot, see how other objects (branches, windows, lakes) play into the shot.

8 Focus on Flowers

Sometimes photographers need to stop and smell the flowers. Pull out your macro lens or use the macro setting on your camera to take some close-ups in the garden. If you’ve never used a macro lens, this can be a huge game-changer as you explore colors, details, and textures in a whole new way.

9 Go with the Flow

Rain showers come and go as they please in spring, so there’s no sense in trying to fight them. Use the weather changes to experiment with light, contrast, movement, and even blur. Notice the dramatic shift in colors and lighting as clouds roll in, follow people and objects caught in a sudden burst of wind, or play with reflections in puddles.

10 Pick an Observation Spot

Just as you can learn a lot by shooting photos on the go, you can also discover new things if you stay in one spot and focus on your surroundings. Pick a park bench or a café on a busy street, and see which subjects catch your eye. If you usually take photo walks with a specific goal in mind, this is a way to open up your creative practice and find beauty in stillness.

11 Start Early or Stay Up Late

When is the last time you woke up early to photograph a sunrise or stayed up late to do long exposures of the night sky? Use the longer days of spring to extend your photoshoots and think outside your normal routine. This will also give you a chance to adjust your camera settings and learn about different qualities and challenges of daytime or nighttime lighting.

Once you have a collection of new images on your camera roll, you can start editing them and planning your next photo book project!

The post 11 Tips for Photographing Spring appeared first on Blurb Blog.

My first realization was that someone besides my mother enjoyed my work! But then my mind began formulating all the potential outcomes. Fame, fortune, assignments. Maybe even one of those giant scarves us photographers seem to love. But I didn’t win. Someone else did. And actually, the person who won thoroughly deserved it, at least in my opinion. I enjoyed his work more than my own and I was glad to see him land this precious prize. Despite not winning, over the years, the fact that I was a finalist for a first book is something that has not only stayed with me, it has also stayed with certain people in the book and photography industries. Being selected meant something.

So, when I noticed the open call for the MACK First Book Award I was pleased and somewhat anxious, but not for me. I was anxious for those creatives collecting and designing their thoughts on those precious pages, thinking about the “what if?” just like I did all those years ago. Books are so much more than ink and paper. They’re evidence, proof and in some ways eternal. Books are tangible, thoughtful, and often the best way to tell a photographic story. And they are certainly evidence of the ability to encapsulate an idea. So, for those of you who have books on the brain, I highly suggest you take the time to enter because you just never know. Win or lose the effort could pay off in ways you never imagined.

Submissions for the MACK First Book Award are open now through January 20, 2020.

The post The MACK First Book Award appeared first on Blurb Blog.

As you document your holiday story, be sure to take pictures with different kinds of content and camera techniques. Then when it comes time to create a holiday photo book or turn your favorite holiday pictures into custom wall art, you’ll have a collection of memories that reflect all the joy and wonder of the season. Your seasonal photos also make great gifts to share at any time of the year.

Here are some essential photo tips and holiday picture ideas to get you inspired.

1. Create a story around family and friends

At holiday gatherings, we tend to take a lot of posed photos. While these are must-have images for any album, there are all kinds of in-between scenes that add to the story. Consider taking candid photos of people cozied up by the fire or huddled around a board game. Every family event brings together a cast of unique characters and personalities, so remember to include photos of individuals, too. And don’t forget the cute and cuddly pets in your holiday portraits and Christmas pictures!

2. Capture the seasonal mood

It’s often hard to ignore the weather when winter rolls around since we tend to associate the shift in seasons with shorter periods of daylight and changing landscapes. For background shots with a holiday feel, keep an eye out for vibrant city streets as well as natural scenes and wildlife. Take photos during different times of day or night, and try zooming in on festive lights or glowing candles. A little blur is ok sometimes, and it can help create a dreamy, nostalgic, or peaceful mood. These kind of holiday pictures are great for adding variety and style to your family photo album, or for enlarging and printing as wall décor.

3. Mix in moments of food and celebration

Food is such a central part of holiday celebrations, so take the time to photograph all those traditional dishes and tantalizing treats you look forward to all year. Pictures of a colorful table setting, steaming mugs of cocoa, or decadent desserts go a long way to evoke the senses. Some people may even want to be photographed with their favorite dish. And of course, raise a glass (and a camera!) when family members gather around the table and start making toasts before the holiday feast.

4. Plan ahead for family portraits

It’s always nice to organize at least one group holiday photo of the whole family. Choose a cozy setting where everyone will be able to comfortably gather and decide whether you want to add holiday props or decorations to brighten up the scene. Plan ahead and do a few test shots to ensure you have the best lighting, position, and camera settings ready. You’ll want to set up a tripod and practice using the timer on your camera. Later, you can turn the photo you love most into a large canvas print—the warm textured finish is perfect for portraits and keepsakes.

5. Follow the action

The more people there are in one place, the faster things happen. Be ready to take spontaneous Christmas pictures of everyone (especially kids!) on the move—picking out a Christmas tree or unwrapping gifts one minute, and enjoying snowy outdoor adventures the next. Try setting your camera to burst mode or taking short videos if you want to record more of the action, start to finish. You might be surprised how many of these candid moments end up as top picks for your custom wall art projects.

6. Document kitchen memories

If the cooks and bakers in your family don’t mind, go behind the scenes in the kitchen to capture turkey basting, cookie making, or special recipes in action. You can approach these holiday photos as playful candid shots (complete with messy hands and spills and happy grins), or you can be more meticulous about your food photography if you have plans to create a holiday cookbook or recipe journal (showing specific ingredients and methods). Either way, you’re bound to end up with memorable pictures.

7. Don’t forget the details

We tend to gravitate toward the big reveal or grand finale when taking holiday pictures, but no festive story is complete without the little moments. Experiment photographing people, rooms, and objects from different angles and perspectives, by getting down low or moving in for a close-up. When flipping through a photo album, it can also be fun to encounter shots of people partway out of the frame, in silhouette or profile, or simply feeling playful—showing off happy feet in cozy socks, maybe? Keep it interesting by mixing up the compositions and the subject matter.

8. Take it on the road

There is nothing quite like a holiday road trip! Instead of keeping the lens cap on until you reach your destination, take your camera out during the journey so you can snap pictures of the changing scenery. Stopping for treats along the way? Snap a quick pic. From backseat selfies to roadside attractions, give yourself time to soak up the excitement of going places. Getting outside your everyday routine can also invite moments of spontaneity and creativity. Have fun capturing your holiday story one moment at a time!

Do you have a collection of holiday pictures or favorite images just waiting to become a keepsake? Design your own photo book today, then print and share your special collection with friends and family.

The post 8 Tips for Photographing the Holidays appeared first on Blurb Blog.

This image is from my long-term project on Sicily, which is being transformed into a book as we speak. It’s taken in a town called Ribera which is famous for its “jumpers” during Easter Week, or Pasqua. The men from the town link arms and run through the streets in formation while the rest of the town cheers them on. This goes on for hours. Moments after I made this image, I was completely overrun by the men, barely managing to hang on to my cameras.

What Worked?

This is a real moment. There is tension and drama. It has what Cartier-Bresson called “The Decisive Moment.”

I also like the layering of the man running in the foreground, while the row of men in the middle creates a nice mid-ground.

Finally, both the lines of the buildings and the lines of the crowd are emphasized by a slight tilt of the camera, which helps draw the eye to the middle of the frame.

What Could be Better?

Luckily, there isn’t much I don’t like about this image.

There is no detail in the sky, but that really isn’t my fault. It was a cloudless day. Also, the lower left-hand corner is what we call “muddy.” Lots of dark tone over dark tone with little separation. I wish there had been more light in that corner.

Finally, the men in the middle are slightly too far away. Again, there’s not much I can do about this, but it would have been nice to have them about twenty feet closer, to add to the pressure and drama.

Ready to make a Photo Book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor’s Notes on Photography │ Sicily appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Notes on Photography is a blog series all about images. Each month, Daniel Milnor will revisit an old photograph and share his notes on what works within each shot, what he would do differently, and why.

Paris

This image was made in 2015, right after the taxi driver dropped me off in the center of Paris. I had just flown in from Los Angeles and was preparing for several days of Blurb events. The sun was rising and it was too early to check in to my flat, so I walked to the river to take in the glorious morning. This man stopped to do the same thing and I was able to make this image. I was using my Fuji X100.

What worked?

Paris is the “City of Light” and this image is proof of that. That rich, yellow light is SO beautiful. I love the lens flare I get by shooting directly into the sun. I also like how the sunburst explodes around the figure.

Lastly, the converging lines of the buildings and landscape help drive the viewer to the center of the image and the area of critical focus.

What could be better?

The figure is dead center in the middle of the frame. I usually try to avoid doing this, but it was a grab shot, so I didn’t have time to recompose and shoot again.

There is also a lack of shadow detail in the area on the left. I could have spent more time in post-production bringing out this detail, but I’m working with a huge range of exposure here—direct sun to deep shade—so it’s difficult to hold detail in both.

What do you think makes a great photo? Share your thoughts below. You can also read Episode 6 of Notes on Photography here.

Ready to make your very own photo book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor’s Notes on Photography│Paris appeared first on Blurb Blog.

How to photograph fog

Nothing adds more intrigue, atmosphere, or mystery to an image than a shroud of fog. However, the nature of fog itself poses some significant challenges for photographers.

The challenge: Fog tends to mean low light conditions. And whatever light is present will be diffused and scattered due to the water droplets in the air. This means your scene is likely to lack contrast, definition, and color saturation. All of this can result in flat, dull, and lifeless images.

Use the foreground

Focus your camera on elements in the foreground. This will help to introduce contrast and depth to your scene. Using leading lines or framing techniques can also help add depth to a foggy photography scene. And don’t forget to use your long lens.

Get familiar with manual settings

Diffused, scattered light can confuse your equipment’s automatic exposure settings, so get familiar with adjusting your exposure manually. Try taking several shots of the fog at different exposures to see which works best.

Slow your shutter speed

Most fog is on the move. By going for a long exposure, you can create those ghost-like, haunting wisps. Slowing your shutter speed will reveal the shapes and patterns of movement.

Use a tripod

A tripod will help keep your camera steady. If you’re not adjusting your exposure settings manually, the low light conditions will cause your camera to use a slow shutter speed, so even the slightest unwanted camera motion will result in soft photographs. Don’t forget to secure it against movement caused by wind, too!

Shoot from an elevated position

Rising above the fog will mean you can use the sharper features of subjects above the shroud to introduce color and contrast to your photograph.

Fog is a good opportunity to

• Create silhouettes: place the subject directly in front of the brightest part of the scene and shoot directly into the light source.
• Capture natural light beams: to capture the scattered rays of light at their most defined, stay close to the light source and keep it at an angle to your camera.

How to photograph food

Whether you’re shooting for your Instagram feed or the pages of a cookbook, these tips will help you photograph mouth-watering images of your favorite food.

Find the right lighting

Natural daylight will give your dish a soft, fresh look and feel. An ideal location would be next to a window on a slightly overcast day, but the same effect can be achieved with a soft, diffused light source. Be sure to place the light source behind or to the side of your food to help emphasize the hidden layers and textures of your dish. Direct light from above will wash out textures.

Shoot from the right angle

Burgers, tiered cakes, and sandwiches will benefit from side-on shots that showcase each delicious layer. Pizzas and charcuterie boards will definitely look their best in a top-down image. Always include some close-up photos of food, too, that highlight the texture, smell, and flavor of each element on the plate. See food as abstract shapes and arrange your compositions taking lines and forms into account.

Use props thoughtfully

A few well-placed props, such as cutlery, napkins, glassware, or flowers, can help set the scene for your dish. This might be particularly important if you’re photographing food for a business such as a restaurant or catering business. For example, a rustic, wooden chopping board will give a different look and feel to an image than a pristine white serving plate. Props can also add splashes of color and depth to your image. Be careful not to have too much clutter detracting from the main event.

Pay attention to plating

Is your dish a morsel of delicious finger food or part of a sit-down meal? Picnic or lunch on the go? The style of plating will depend on the dish itself, the individual ingredients, and the atmosphere you’re trying to create. A simple summer salad will benefit from a more natural, organic style, whereas a formal dinner party dish may require a little more precision placement. You’ll also want to brush away any loose crumbs and wipe away any smears or drips or anything that dribbles into the plate’s negative space.

Start by browsing a range of cookbooks to see how others style and arrange certain dishes or types of food.

How to photograph the moon

Since the dawn of time, we’ve looked at the night skies and wondered at the moon. Here are a few tips to help you capture that sense of wonder in a beautiful photograph.

Travel for clear skies

Cloud, light pollution, and smog can all distort your images. Shooting from a remote, elevated location will give you the best chance of getting a clear image of the moon.

Wait for the right time

The best time to photograph the moon is twilight when it is close to the horizon, and the last strands of daylight will accentuate small details. This is also when the moon will be rising above the horizon, allowing you to frame it with other elements such as buildings, mountains, trees, or clouds.

Keep a steady hand

Even the slightest movement or vibration can blur and distort your images, so use a sturdy, stable tripod that can support your equipment.

Use a long lens

The ideal lens would be 400-500mm, but to capture details of the moon’s surface in your photographs, you’ll need at least a 200mm lens.

Use a range of exposure settings

A bright full moon against a jet-black sky will throw your auto-exposure settings off. To ensure you get the best image possible, try taking multiple photographs at different exposures that can then be combined and edited in post-processing. You’ll want to fill the frame with the moon and shoot a few stops over-exposed and a few stops under-exposed to ensure you don’t blow out your highlights. Most landscapes that feature a clear, detailed moon were shot for the moon, then shot for the landscape, and then combined.

How to photograph artwork

Whether you’re photographing your own work for a professional portfolio or photo book or want to capture a piece of art that’s made an impression, stick to these tips to make your photo a piece of art in its own right.

Fill the frame

Where possible, fill the entire frame with your artwork. If your image does have a background, keep it plain and neutral to avoid distracting from the piece of art itself.

Fine-tune your lighting

Use indirect natural lighting to avoid deep shadowing. Diffused, natural daylight works best, but natural light fluorescent bulbs can also work. Remember to place your light sources at an angle to your artwork. Watch out for reflective surfaces where a flash can wash out details. You might have to do a long exposure with a lower light source to avoid unhelpful reflections.

Take detailed images

Some close-up photographs of your artwork will help showcase your skills and highlight the small details you don’t want viewers to miss.

Align your camera

Whether your artwork is hung on a wall or propped up on a table, always align your camera accordingly.  If it is standing at a slight tilt, tilt your camera to match. This alignment will help minimize the distortion of your artwork in your final photograph. Make sure the edges of your artwork are perfectly parallel to the edges of the frame of the photo or angled intentionally. Verticals and horizontals need to be aligned to prevent distortion.

How to photograph the Milky Way

When it comes to breathtaking images, you can’t get much better than the Milky Way. It’s on the bucket list of many photographers, both professional and amateur. These tips can help you capture the edge of our very own galaxy.

Find the right sky

Obviously, you will be shooting at night, but the conditions need to be just right. You’ll need a clear sky, unobscured by cloud, light, or air pollution. This will normally mean scanning multiple weather reports and traveling to remote, elevated locations. In addition, avoid shooting when there is a full moon, as the bright light it emits will have the same effect as a lit-up city skyline.

Use a wide-angle lens

The Milky Way fills the night sky, so the wider your lens, the more of it you will capture.

Use a long shutter speed

Along with your wide-angle lens, a long shutter speed will help you capture enough light for suitable exposure. However, watch out for the potential star trails and slight blurriness that will come with photographing the night sky in this way. Objects in the sky aren’t static, and a long shutter speed will pick up on this. Look up the recommended exposure time for your camera’s sensor and the focal length of your lens. You will also need some trial and error to get the timing right.

Use the foreground

Frame your subject with more familiar earthly elements in the foreground to provide a true sense of scale.

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The post How to photograph fog, food, the moon, artwork and more appeared first on Blurb Blog.

From the camera obscura to pinholes to Daguerreotypes, historically, photography was much more about chemical and mechanical experimentation with light than it was about art.  It wasn’t until George Eastman—an industrialist in Rochester, New York, who was the first to employ scientists as part of a factory’s research and development team—made his first breakthroughs that photography came to matter to people outside a scientific setting.

Here are 10 landmarks in the history of photography that changed our relationship with images forever.

1888-1889: The Invention of Film

George Eastman, who later formed the Eastman Kodak Company, invented a film with a base that was flexible, didn’t break, and could be rolled for both storage and capturing images. This rolled film is first used by moviemakers, launching the motion picture industry. It was widely used until the 1920s when it was refined into 35mm form for still cameras.

1900: The Brownie Camera

Eastman introduced the Kodak Camera in 1888, but it was the Brownie, which was small and sold then for just $1, the equivalent to a mere $25 today, that changed everything.

Before Eastman released his Kodak cameras, historically, photography was for formal, academic, or professional use only. His camera was so easy to use, “even women and children could operate it!” claimed an early ad. And use it, they did! Almost overnight, pictures became prized personal objects. Photography became accessible to the masses, who no longer needed professional, technical, or aesthetic training to document their lives. Snapshots were invented—the ease of creating photographs broke them free from formal, serious subject matter. People used cameras to capture the goofy, beautiful, and ordinary everyday life. Smithsonian Magazine notes that these early photos rarely showed anything sad.

In one year, the Eastman Kodak Company sold an unprecedented quarter of a million of these little cameras.

1925-1949: The Invention of the Modern SLR Camera

After Eastman’s little camera created a worldwide market for cameras and film, other companies joined the competition for a piece of it. Camera technology continued to evolve throughout history, with companies like Canon, Nikon, and Leica joining the race. Each added components to their cameras that are all part of our modern cameras today: interchangeable lenses, built-in light meters, flashes, and automatic film advancement. Though the vast majority of photography in 2019 is digital, cameras and photography still use the developments from this time as referents for our contemporary experiences.

The 1940s: The Creation of Color Film

Color film was first available for movies, then for still cameras. The technological development meant that we remembered in color as well as saw in it. It also changed the processing—color film could no longer be processed and printed at home in someone’s bathroom. This increased the cultural attachment to images and also grew a chemical production and photo-processing industry that corresponded to the new, complicated film.

The 1950s: Illustrated Magazines Golden Age

Life Magazine, Time, National Geographic, and even fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR hit their heyday. These historical magazines fueled an even deeper cultural appetite for images. Photographers were elevated to rock star status, and a new way of communicating emerged—photojournalism. Skilled photographers and their imperious, exacting editorial teams could now tell entire stories using photographs alone. Some of the most famous photographs in modern history were created in this magazine era. Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, and Alfred Eisenstaedt created some of America’s most iconic, recognizable images while on assignment.

1963-1972: Polaroid Introduces Instant Photography

Edwin Herbert Land was an inventor who experimented with light-sensitive polymers that were eventually used in polarized-lens glasses. In 1948, he unveiled his first instant-film camera, and over the next few decades, refined the technology into one of the most marketable consumer products of all time.

First released as black and white film, instant color film dominated the market by the early 1970s. In 1972, Polaroid released its iconic folding camera that was in millions of homes. For the first time in history, people could get instant access to their memories—in color—without having to send them away for film processing. There was no longer a days or weeks-long gap between what you captured and the revelation of how it turned out. Polaroid even developed more sophisticated cameras with professional-level exposure meters and equipment, but they never caught on because the prints they produced couldn’t be reused and reprinted for publication in books and magazines as well as slide film could.

1986: The Invention of the Digital Sensor

The technological development of the mid-20th century was fueled by two extremely powerful forces: the entertainment industry and the Cold War.

In 1951, Bing Crosby—that Bing Crosby, the entertainment and media mogul of White Christmas fame—helped fund the laboratory that created the first videotape recording, which captured live images and saved the information onto magnetic tape by converting it into electrical impulses. During the 1960s, NASA migrated its recording technology from analog to digital signals to record the surface of the moon and astronaut footage. The U.S. Government’s funding helped hasten further rapid development in the digital sensor as they discovered its use in spy satellites and other spy technologies.

Texas Instruments patented the first film-less camera in history in 1972. By 1986, Kodak scientists had invented the world’s first megapixel sensor. This first digital sensor was finally capable of producing a photo-quality 5×7 print. In 1991, Kodak outfitted a Nikon F-3 with a digital sensor, marketed toward photojournalists. Combined with its Photo CD system, these Kodak products defined color in the digital space and tied computers and cameras together forever.

Ironically, these digital cameras were the downfall of the 100-year Kodak supremacy, as other global camera manufacturers outpaced Kodak in the digital revolution and rendered film cameras obsolete. From 1997-2007, both Canon and Nikon released models that so advanced digital cameras, they could finally capture and render images better than film. The advent and refinement of ink-jet technology completed the revolution with new, easy, accurate ways to print digital images.

2007: Apple’s iPhone Takes Over the Market

Despite advances in digital cameras that created the smallest image-capturing devices in human history (tiny cameras that could fit in a shirt pocket!), Apple’s iPhone put a reasonable digital camera in everyone’s hands. It also had intuitive, sophisticated ways to render and transfer phone photos with iPhoto and the Photos application on the device itself. While it wasn’t the most impressive sensor or lens, the device was calibrated for the best possible photos with the least possible photographic knowledge and effort. This returned everyone to a new snapshot era. Photography came full circle. From science project to formal history to consumer captures to fine art, it was now back in the hands of everyday people capturing everyday life all the time.

That same year, Flickr, the world’s largest online host for images invented in 2004, reported that the iPhone was the most dominant device in contributing to its nearly billion images. The open-source app store created new ways to process and modify images without costly professional software and created new avenues to display them.

2007 Facebook Develops Photo Albums and Tagged Posts

While Facebook was already a few years old, 2007 marks a major overhaul with the invention of image tagging, the Timeline, and Facebook Albums. The appetite for images exploded. Before Facebook, digital images languished on a hard drive in miscellaneous folders, only occasionally printed, after a cumbersome, cable transfer to a desktop computer. Though it was easier than ever to create images, there was very little use for them, until the ubiquity of social media. Suddenly, there was a purpose behind creating these ordinary images of ordinary things.

For the first time in history, your images could get the exposure that was previously only available to fine art in galleries in just a few clicks. Photos become the storytelling agent and status symbol for everyone online. The combination of always having a camera, plus easy processing and posting from the same device changed everything. This democratized image-making and audience reach in an unprecedented way, more than any other past invention. Posting still images and, eventually, video became a way of sharing experiences rather than merely isolating moments as objects and putting them on display.

2010 Instagram Launches

Instagram was the first photo-centric online sharing platform, bought from the original developers by Facebook for $1 billion in 2011. It boasts billions of images connected by location and hashtag, from fine art to the mundane and grainy. Image tropes and their popularity on the platform drove the rise of selfie culture, shaped food trends, created honeypot destinations, and turned everyday life into a full-time aesthetic experience measured against Instagram-engendered ideals.

We’re still coming to terms with this impact on our culture and well-being, but participation in all of it hinges on creating images with both cameras and mobile devices.

New developments in photography technology are still searching for the perfect balance of power and precision, capability and size. We’re still trying to get the best possible images with the lightest, most portable equipment, which now includes satisfying our cultural appetite for video. From the first silver plates to the latest viral video, the history of photography will always reveal the way technology shapes the way we see, live, and remember in the most extraordinary and ordinary ways.

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Tip #1
Know Your Equipment, Then Forget It

The best photography equipment is the equipment you never have to think about. This means not only the buttons and dials, but in modern photography, it also means the software, firmware, and endless menu options, too. Set it and forget it. New cameras are launched all the time, so it’s easy to get distracted by the latest and greatest, but technology will not save you from yourself.

I typically teach a few photography workshops each year, and I’ve noticed that many students spend the first two or three days staring at the back of their camera instead of making pictures, watching the world pass by without attempting to capture it. Find equipment you love, learn it inside and out, backward and forward, and then forget about it.

Tip #2
Commit to Finding and Addressing Your Weakness

Me, I don’t like the technical side of photography. I love the aesthetic side. But I simply can’t be who I want to be without knowing things like film developers, paper types, inkjet printers, and software like Adobe Lightroom. Do I love these things? No, but I know I NEED detailed knowledge of them to ultimately realize my photography. Tech is my weakness, so I take special care to acknowledge this reality and address it.

Tip #3
Practice

Sometimes we forget how difficult photography is. Technology itself does not make good photographs. We do. But making great photographs takes a copious amount of practice—daily, if possible. This doesn’t mean you have to shoot 10,000 pictures a day. It means taking the time to photograph with intent and focus. It means going out specifically to make images.

Technology itself does not make good photographs.

Tip #4
Be Patient

I’ve spoken to young photographers who have chosen their book publisher and their gallery before they have made a single photograph. It’s good to be confident but it’s important to find a balance. I photographed every day for ten years before I finally figured out who I was with a camera in hand. Up until that day, I was making other people’s pictures, copying things I’d seen before, but finally, after all that time, I learned how to make my pictures. Be patient. Enjoy the process. Slow down. Take your time. This is the fun part.

Tip #5
Look at the Work of the Photographers You Admire

This doesn’t mean COPY the work of the photographers you admire. This means learning from them. What light do they work in? How do they approach their subjects? How do they light their portraits? This is the detective work you use to build a foundation for your own work. At some point, this knowledge will set you free to make your own unique imagery.

Read more: What makes a great photographer?

Tip #6
Less is More

Less gear, less distraction, less mental baggage. I’m a huge fan of the one camera/one lens approach to learning photography. Take your favorite camera body and your favorite lens, and leave everything else behind. I prefer the Leica M4 with 50mm or my Fuji XT-2 with 35mm (50mm equivalent.) In fact, the Fuji is the camera that goes with me seven days a week.

Also, give yourself time to specifically go and make better photographs. Leave everything and everyone behind, including your phone. There is simply no way you can do two things at once and expect to do either to the best of your ability. And finally, forget about what you know, what you think, what’s hot or trendy, and just react physically and emotionally to your surroundings.

Tip #7
Learn the Basics

Great imagery, at least in my opinion, comes from three basic ingredients: Light, timing, and composition.

Learning to read light is step one. What light allows you to make the images you see in your mind’s eye? What light doesn’t work? Do you need to work in the early morning and late afternoon, or is noon the best time for your style?

Timing is the freezing of a split second that can add drama to an image. Think about all the amazing photojournalistic images made over the years, in what Henri Cartier-Bresson described as “the decisive moment.” Again, be patient. You might miss things at first, but eventually, you will be ahead of the game and ahead of those moments.

Finally, composition—this aspect is as unique as your fingerprint. There is no right and wrong with composition, not in my book. So, work long enough and hard enough to understand what your preferred composition is. Minimal, layered, or detailed—again, there is no right and wrong.

Tip #8
Take Chances

I see so much photography that looks exactly the same. For me, this is no longer photography. It’s just content. We’ve all heard the expression “happy accident.” Well, this applies to photography as well. Maybe you think you can’t handhold your camera at less than a 30^th of a second? So, go shoot at 1/4^th of a second and see what happens. Slow down your shutter speed and pan with a subject. Stack a few filters on the end of your lens and shoot a portrait. Maybe your thing is long exposures of a landscape at night. So how do you make something similar during the day? The lesson is, make yourself uncomfortable and take chances to make better photos.

Tip #9
Create a Narrative

It’s one thing to go and make random photographs. But there is something to be said for attempting to create a good photo-story or photo-essay. Think National Geographic: This publication is legendary for sending their photographers into the field for extended periods. Why? Because they are looking for a cohesive body of photographs that tell an entire story on their own.

Shooting narratives requires a different skill set, one that will broaden your quiver of photographic tools. Scene setters, details, portraits, action shots, etc. all edited together to form one story. Working in narrative will quickly show you where your weaknesses live. That’s okay. Keep plugging and turn those weaknesses into strengths to take better photos.

Tip #10
Have Fun

Even if photography is your singular passion, it’s okay to let go and have fun. The idea that you have time to make pictures puts you in a small percentage of the world population, so take advantage. I used to drive my wife to breaking point because I was so consumed by my work I was difficult to be around. Moody, emotional, insecure, and freaked out. This isn’t fun, and the people you photograph can pick up on this as well. Breathe, and enjoy.

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Here, Pete Souza talks to Dan Milnor about his career as a professional photographer, from when he first caught ‘the bug’, to his time in the Obama White House, and the art of anticipating moments.

Listen to the Interview

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1. The self-portrait

My very first assignment at photography school was to make a self-portrait. I was not happy. In my opinion, this type of photography was a huge waste of time. I wanted to photograph action, news, and journalism, not myself. What I didn’t realize was how difficult self-portraits actually are and what they mean when they are done well.

A self-portrait is a portrait of your soul. Not in a mystical sense but in a true-to-nature sense. Who are you really, and how do you sum that up in a fraction of a second? I fumbled along and made two epically bad photographs for my assignment, never really slowing down long enough to consider the meaning behind them. Then I saw a few examples by photographers far more skilled than I, and I understood. With patience, practice, and a lot of contemplative thought, someone could truly capture the nature of themselves.

“A self-portrait is a portrait of your soul.”

2. The portrait

The second type of photograph to consider is the portrait. Making portraits is a must-have photographic ability, and it’s a lot of fun. So, grab a friend, a family member, or someone you know and love, and make a real portrait. Test your knowledge of your craft by thinking about light, lens, camera angle, and crop. You might also need to think about how you are going to put your subject at ease.

3. The stranger

Take point number two and repeat the same shot with a total stranger. This is where real photography begins. Approaching a total stranger and asking if you can photograph them is often an uncomfortable, sometimes terrifying, endeavor for many people, but for photographers, it comes with the territory. You’ll need to prepare for rejection. It will happen, and it never feels good, but you just have to swallow it and move on. The more you practice this photo type, the easier it will become.

4. The landscape

If you’re shooting landscape photography, remember it doesn’t have to be a far-flung location. It could be an urban landscape, a city park, an empty field, or anywhere! The goal of this type of photography is to try to make an image that reflects what it feels like to see a particular landscape. How does it feel to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon? Or a Walmart parking lot?

“Make an image that reflects what it feels like to see a particular landscape.”

5. The time exposure

Having this type of photography technique at your fingertips is invaluable. Most people think time exposures are for waterfalls or star trails, etc., and that’s true, but you can also do time exposures in urban environments and locations packed with people.

6. The action shot

Shooting a peak action moment, a specific type of photography, is more difficult than it looks. The idea of freezing real-life moments was what ushered in the 35mm revolution, to begin with. Modern cameras have shutter speeds of up to 8000^th of a second. Why not test out what this kind of speed can do for you? Try photographing a sporting event, falling rain, a car race, surfing, or your parents practicing aikido. Anything with fast movement!

7. The multiple exposure

Most cameras have a strange-looking double rectangle setting that many of us never use. Well, now it’s time to use it. The multiple exposure technique is a unique type of photography that records multiple images onto one piece of film or one digital file. You can use a tripod for extra stability, or you could do what I do and handhold your multiple exposures, allowing for the chance to play a part.

8. The layered wide-angle image

The vast majority of photographers working today use some version of a wide-angle lens, in many cases, as their primary lens. The 17-35mm or the 24-105, the 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, or even 35mm.

Many people think the only reason to use a wide-angle lens for this type of photography is to take in a wide-angle view, but this is only partially true. Yes, a wide-angle lens gives you a wide-angle view, but it can also give you so much more. One of the best uses of a wide-angle lens is to build depth in an image. You do this by staying at the same level as your subject and then attempting to “layer up” the image by capturing a strong foreground, mid-ground, and background all at the exact same time. If done correctly, this technique gives a sense of dimension unlike any other.

9. The close-up or detail

Even if you don’t own a macro lens, this type of photography technique and style of image is one you should know and be comfortable with. Detail images are often fun, easy, and can really help you tie a story together or get started on those days when you have trouble making solid images.

“Close-up detail images can really help you tie a story together.”

Good close-ups could include faces, hands, toes, textures, colors, walls, or anything else that allows you to get up close and personal. These photo types tend to be simple and graphic, two ingredients that describe many of the best book covers.

10. The panning shot

Adding a sense of drama and motion to a static image is one of the best photography tricks you can learn. Start by trying a panning image. Slow down your shutter speed and then focus on a moving object. Try to pan your camera at the same speed as the subject. If done correctly, the subject will be tack sharp, and the rest of the frame will be blurry. Expect to have many close calls or slightly out-of-focus images, but keep practicing, and you’ll refine your photography technique.

Which of these 10 types of photographs have you already mastered? Which will you try next? Let us know in the comments below.

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1. Study

There are many ways of studying photography these days. Some photographers choose to study in the classic fashion by attending a four-year university course and getting a degree in photography or photojournalism, etc. Others choose to study online through a variety of educational platforms, while others go it alone by studying through YouTube, Vimeo, etc. I’ll hold out my opinion as to which method is the best for you, but what I will say is that studying photography, in some way, shape, or form is a consistent theme with many of the best photographers. And when I say study, I’m not referring to just technical matters such as shutter speeds or aperture. The technical side of photography is the easy part. Studying photography is actually about a whole lot more. Great photographers study things like the creative process, history, art, and composition.

2. Practice

A LOT. Everyday. Jimmy Hendrix, considered by many to be one of the best guitarists of all time, was famous for taking his guitar with him everywhere. Even if it wasn’t plugged in. Clubs, dinners, social gatherings—Jimmy often bought his guitar along. This same level of practice applies to professional photography as well. I studied photography for four years and graduated with a degree in photojournalism, but it wasn’t until I had worked every day for ten years, that I finally began to understand who I was with a camera. Hopefully, it won’t take you that long, but the idea here is to photograph every day.

Great photographers practice at a relentless level: They test, they experiment, and they refine.

3. Looking at Photography

Again, there are a variety of ways to do this, but I prefer a somewhat “old-school” method. Look at professional photography books. Looking at photography online can be overwhelming, and often times involves looking at over-hyped images. So much of what we see online looks the same. Homogenous, clean, packaged content that might build a following on social media, but is not the kind of work you will remember in five years or even five minutes.

Here’s why I like books: A published photography book doesn’t happen overnight and is a very expensive endeavor that requires a tremendous commitment, both financially and spiritually. So, when you visit your local bookstore to view the photography section, just know what kind of effort went into making those books. The amount of time spent editing, sequencing, and designing in an effort to make the most powerful delivery of the work is key. A book is a combination of a professional photographer, editor, and designer, so you are getting a high-level, concise look at a specific project.

Great photographers are often book collectors for this very reason.

4. No Fear of Failure

One great photographer said, “If you aren’t failing on a daily basis you aren’t trying hard enough.” I also believe this to be true. It’s so easy to go out and copy what has already been done, but great photographers don’t do this. Great, professional photographers try things they have never done, and they aren’t afraid to fail in the process. In fact, most great photographers will openly discuss or even revel in their failure because they know they will get up and keep trying until they find what they are looking for.

Great photographers try things they have never done, and they aren’t afraid to fail in the process.

5. Getting Feedback

This feedback might come from a spouse, an editor, an agent, or a close friend, but most great photographers have trusted confidants who can help guide them when they most need it. Trusted companions who can save them from themselves. W. Eugene Smith, someone I consider to be the best documentary photographer of all time, was famous for his battles with the staff at Life Magazine, but it was the combination of Smith AND the staff that made the most of his work, regardless of how he felt about it.

6. Setting Deadlines

You might not have any interest in journalism, or photojournalism, but even if you are a landscape, still life, or portrait photographer, setting the occasional deadline can help you produce tremendous results. You’ve heard the old cliché, “Fear is a great motivator.” Well, it’s true. Sometimes a little pressure to finish something, or pressure to make a breakthrough can help you reach new levels of focus and creativity.

7. Acquiring Technical Knowledge. Then Forgetting it.

Truly great photographers rarely talk about gear. Great photographers talk about photographs, process, other professional photographers, great campaigns, exhibitions, books, and inspiration.

I’ve always felt the best camera is the one you never have to think about. My primary camera for my twenty-five-year career didn’t even have a battery, let alone anything electronic inside. Now, you might think this was a drawback but think about this: This camera required ZERO thought on my part, zero software upgrades, zero firmware upgrades, and zero batteries. All I had to think about was what I was seeing through the viewfinder. Simplicity.

Great photographers reach technical nirvana and then use this knowledge to make something unique.

8. Knowledge of History

Great photographers know what has been done before and how their work relates. It doesn’t mean great professional photographers don’t make derivative work from time to time, but when they do they are often doing so in reference to work that has already been done.

9. Total Commitment

Making it as a professional photographer is an incredibly difficult task. Making it AND becoming great, or a legend is even more difficult. To do so requires a complete and total commitment. Great photographers don’t dabble. Great photographers can be semi-difficult people to be around because they are often so obsessed with their work they have difficulty thinking about anything else.

The stories of unhealthy levels of commitment by photographers are common. I just read about Oliver Wheeler, who participated in the first topographical survey of Mount Everest in 1921. He would get up each morning, before sunrise in frigid temperatures, with a one-hundred-pound pack, and hike between 18,000 and 22,000 feet in elevation to expose glass plates. He did this for months at a time, isolated and often times shut down by inclement weather. Day after day. His resulting images are simply incredible. They were the first of their kind from that region, and there was no other way to make them.

To be a great photographer takes something special.

10. Longevity

Great photographers tend to be around a while. I’ve been fortunate enough to have met many people considered to be great photographers, some of whom are in their 80’s and have been working full-time as photographers for over sixty years. To stay at the top of your profession this long takes total commitment, perseverance, tenacity, professionalism, and continual reinvention.

Great photographers are long-form thinkers in a short-form world.

11. Be Curious and Make Original Work

Great photographers make work that is immediately recognizable. You walk into a gallery or museum, or you see the pages of a book, and you say, “I know who did that.” Great professional photographers are originals. Making original work is difficult, and it often takes years to figure out. This is where tenacity and curiosity come into play. Many great photographers are curious human beings with a range of knowledge that spans far more than photography. Knowledge of science, technology, the arts, literature, space, history can all add dimension and scope to a great photography project.

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What is the definition of a photographer? 

This might seem like an odd question, but let me start this entire exercise with a critical statement. You don’t need to BE a photographer to BE a photographer. If you want to become a photographer, the first thing you should do is define what that means. Do you simply want to raise your skill level, make images for fun, and show them online? Or do you want to become a “professional,” make a living from photography and exhibit your work in museums and galleries? Or do you want to do a combination of these things? Defining what your objective is will help you find a way forward.

Should I go to school or learn online?

I spent four years studying photojournalism, so I’m a bit biased here, although I realize that there are other viable means of learning the craft. However, in my opinion, building a career on something like YouTube is somewhat shortsighted. That’s because typically platforms like YouTube will showcase more of what’s popular or trendy, rather than provide an in-depth education, which is what you need if you are interested in having a multi-decade career in photography. Most people might fall into the middle ground of perhaps learning technical data online, but practicing and training with mentors, workshops, or formal education.

What basic technical skills do you need to become a photographer? 

For some reason, people new to photography tend to place a significant amount of importance on the technical side of photography. More so than the aesthetic side, and I can see how this might seem natural. However, the technical skills required to become a photographer aren’t as daunting as one might assume. Things like the basics of shutter speed and aperture settings are skills that can be learned and implemented quickly. The same can be said for a fundamental grounding in film processing or digital post-production. But, just know that real skill emerges when one becomes proficient enough in these areas to NOT have to think about the technical side.

There is also the business side of photography. That means everything from negotiating to marketing and fulfillment. These are all things you will learn over time and are critical for long-term success.

Is there anything I can start doing, regardless of budget, that would help me reach my goal of becoming a professional photographer?

Yes. Practice. Every single day. Photography is a skill, like fencing or accounting. Getting good requires a great deal of practice so the more field time or studio time you can muster, the better off you will be. You are going to make mistakes, but so what? Everyone makes mistakes. Just keep snapping.

Also, start looking at what is already being done in the genre of your choice. Now, you have options here. Looking at work online, which I’m personally not a huge fan of, or looking at photography books, which I’m a HUGE fan of. Here’s why. The online photography world is an endless rabbit hole, mostly comprised of subpar work being promoted as awesome. Photography books, on the other hand, are expensive to produce, time-consuming, and challenging in a variety of ways. Consequently, photography books tend to be well thought out, edited well, sequenced well, and designed with the utmost perfection. You can learn A LOT from these pages. Books will also show you the history of your profession. What has already been done? Who did it? How can you add to the conversation?

What about assisting photographers or finding a mentor? 

Yes, yes, and yes. I spent at least four years assisting other photographers, even some who worked in fields completely unrelated to mine so that I could learn a specific technique or two.

I once assisted someone who photographed reflective medical parts with a 4×5 camera, one agonizing Polaroid at a time. We would spend twelve hours doing ONE photograph. I nearly lost my mind, but I also learned how to light a reflective object, which is no easy matter. I also assisted photographers who worked for National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, Life Magazine, and commercial clients like Adidas, because that was the kind of work I saw myself doing. And here is the wonderful thing. Once I had a relationship with these photographers, and they knew I was serious about becoming a professional, they made sure to teach me about all aspects of being a photographer, not just how to make images. These generous folks taught me about the business of photography, right down to how to do my taxes.

Mentorships are also invaluable. After nearly thirty years of doing photography I still have mentors, people I trust entirely to speak the truth about my work. These folks tell me when I’ve nailed something, but more importantly, they tell me when I need to keep working.

What about having a website and social media presence?

Yes, to both. But keep in mind the viewing habits of the modern editor, agent, or prospective image buyer. Short and to the point. That means that editing for the web is critical.

A potential client will typically know within seconds whether or not they are going to work with someone. So, show your best work, your most original work, and don’t skimp on things like the “About Me” page. Clients are hiring your photography, yes, but they are also hiring YOU as a human being. Showcasing what else you are skilled in, or interested in can play a significant role in your securing a job.

As for social, don’t go overboard. You don’t need to post all day every day. Successful professionals don’t have time to study your feed all day long. Also, remember that Instagram is all the rage today, but in a few short years, we are going to be talking about another, newer network. Think of your website/newsletter/blog as the long-play, and your social as an ever-changing short-play.

In essence, what you are attempting to build is a branded platform with you in the center. Web, social, and print to start with. You could then branch out to things like podcasts and motion channels.

What is the ratio between the business side of photography and the actual photography side?

I wish I could say it was 50/50, but working full-time as a professional photographer is about 80% business and 20% actual photography. However, this does depend on the style of work you do, your business setup, and whether you have a team or work independently.

Working as a photographer is about efficiency, so things like post-production must be sleek and streamlined, otherwise, you will end up working nights and weekends. Let the software do some of the work for you by automating your books and model releases, etc. Think about things like hiring a bookkeeper, an assistant, or a digital tech for on-the-job processing.

The more streamlined the business side, the more shooting time you will have.

Are there any other industry related things I should consider? 

Yes. Attend festivals, portfolio reviews, openings, museum shows, etc. Get out there and stay out there. Things like Review Santa Fe and The Palm Springs Photo Festival are key annual events that will expose you to all sides of the industry.

Signing up for portfolio reviews will not only provide feedback on your work. It will also force you to learn how to talk about your work, how to define your position in the industry and explain what you do and why.

How do I price my work?

Pricing, licensing, and establishing a legitimate pay structure is crucial to your long-term success. Many photographers work with agents or agencies who can help in this regard, while others use software to establish their rates. Working for free should be avoided. The idea that someone will hire you for free, love you, and then begin paying you legitimate rates is not a great strategy. It’s not to say I haven’t seen this work, but the success rate is very, very low. It is better to keep a part-time job that allows you to say no to those unpaid gigs.

What is the single most important piece of advice for becoming a professional photographer?

Making original work is the single most important thing you can do. Now, this isn’t easy and it might take you years to figure out how to do it. That’s okay. There’s no rushing certain things, and this is one of those things.

Your work should be different than my work. Your work should be as unique as your fingerprint. Original work has value because a client has to come to you to get it. The vast majority of images you see, especially on platforms like Instagram, are derivative works; content not photography. Content is work that crosses your eyes but never hits your brain. Photography, on the other hand, involves those rare images that are IMPOSSIBLE to forget. Seared into your psyche for the rest of your life. You want to be a photographer, not a “content producer.”

***

Want to create your own professional photography portfolio? Get started with one of our high-on-design templates or create your own custom layout.

The post How to be a photographer appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 6:
White Sands, New Mexico

This image is part of an ongoing project on the American West, with New Mexico being the primary focus. This particular image was made at White Sands National Monument with a Nikon F6 and 35mm lens. I used Kodak TRI-X 400 film.

What Worked?

There are two strong diagonals working in this frame. The first being the natural, sand ridgeline. It takes the viewers on a sloping path from right to left. The children are also aligned in a strong diagonal, that leads the viewers to the horizon line.

I also like how the children are matched up in similar poses. One set is standing and climbing, while the other is sitting and sliding. This is a real moment. Legs are in the air, arms raised, etc. If you look closely you can almost see the sand flying.

I also got lucky with a thin cloud layer, which provides detail in the sky. White Sands is an exposure nightmare typically, but the Nikon F6 has the best metering system of any camera I’ve ever used, so the exposure is dead on.

What Could be Better?

All of the children are on the same focal plane. All at nearly the same distance, which doesn’t provide much depth in the image. There is no real background outside of the cloud layer. I dream of a child in the foreground, on a sled, with sand blasting up in the air, but that is still a dream.

Although the distance I’m at provides a sense of scale, I could be one or two steps closer.

Ready to make a Photo Book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor’s Notes on Photography │ White Sands appeared first on Blurb Blog.

First up …

This past week saw two events of note. First up was Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair, an absolute blizzard of publishing goodies, far beyond your wildest imagination.

Located at MoMA PS1 in Queens, the New York Art Book Fair was free and open to the public. The event easily attracts over 35,000 attendees and showcases the works of over 350 different exhibitors. In addition, there were numerous free programs including artist-led discussions, performances, interactive workshops, and curated exhibitions.

What you should know about this event is that it isn’t a stuffy, traditional book fair—not by a long shot. This is a hip, fluid, dynamic event, showcasing a range of books that are impossible to categorize. One of my favorite aspects was the History of Zines exhibition, which offered up a deep-dive into this thriving genre of art publication. From the handmade art object to the refined, traditional press offering, the fair gives equal standing to both the established and the fringe.

And yes, there were numerous Blurb books on show.

Next stop …

Running at the same time was Photoville, an outdoor photographic festival and exhibition. Over 600 artists and 90 exhibitions comprise the event, but like the book fair, Photoville also offers up lectures, development seminars, workshops, and nighttime programming—not to mention projections and a beer garden!

The physical form of the event is unique. The festival site is built from stacked freight containers, each containing an individual show. Any glimpse upward is met by the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge.

My favorite exhibitions included The VII Foundation, Grandma Techno Checks In, Attacks on the Press │Mexico, and Refugee. This last one can also be seen in documentary form on Netflix.

Photoville is really the signature East Coast photography festival of note. I want to emphasize “festival.” Although there are vendors onsite, the event is truly a celebration of the actual imagery and those who created it. Photography is in a perpetual state of change, and Photoville does the critical job of curation—selecting the best the industry has to offer and showcasing it in a one-of-a-kind presentation.

Departing New York feels like going from light speed to slow motion.  Memories of even short trips need to be compressed and played back slowly. Events like the New York Art Book Fair and Photoville are evidence of photography’s ongoing role in society. If you have never attended them, then mark your calendar, take the time to carbo-load, and venture forth. They are well worth the time and effort.

Were you at the New York Art Book Fair or Photoville this year? Share your experiences in the comments below.

The post The New York State of Photographic Mind appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 5:
Glamis Dunes

This photograph is part of a project titled “Man vs Nature,” which I worked on for roughly six years. This project allowed me to photograph in shark cages, on big game ranches, and even in places like Glamis Dunes, which is where this image was made.

What worked?

1. The photograph is clean and dramatic. It’s what we like to call “an easy read.”
2. There is a good foreground, mid-ground, and background, which all work to build depth in the image. That’s what you are after if you are using a wide-angle lens.
3. I like that I caught a real moment. This wasn’t staged or posed. I got myself in position, waited, and then pounced. Considering I was using a fifty-year-old Leica with no motor drive, I was happy I was able to capture this.
4. The top of the frame is dark and clean which means the image would still be easily readable if I used copy at the top.

What could be better?

1. Had I moved slightly to the right, and aimed slightly more to the left, there would have been better depth, and the crowd on the dune would have filled in the spokes a bit more, adding to the mid-ground effect.
2. I should have had a motor drive!

What do you think makes a great photo? Share your thoughts below. You can also read Episode 4 of Notes on Photography here. 

Make a photo book part of your everyday workflow with Blurb’s Book Module in Adobe Lightroom.

The post Daniel Milnor’s Notes on Photography │Glamis Dunes appeared first on Blurb Blog.

We’re here to help! Here’s a checklist and travel photography ideas and tips for getting a collection of vacation photos that do just that.

Before you go on your trip

1. Plan your travel photos project

If you know what you want to do with your vacation photos when you get home, you’ll know which shots you’ll need to finish the project. Do you want to make a travel book? A gallery wall? A family calendar? Deciding on your project is the first step.

Consider the types of photos you want to take. If you’re going to make a travel book, you likely want a variety of images—landscapes, wildlife, portraits, architecture, underwater. If you are planning a gallery wall, you may want to coordinate photos for a cohesive look. For a family calendar, you will want to include a lot of portraits of your family members.

Whatever the purpose, planning your project and the photos needed will help set you up for success. Of course, lighting, time of day, weather, traffic, and local activity will all affect your shots, so you’ll need to take them into account.

2. Research your destination

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When it comes to travel photography, we think that means taking inspiration from others. Once you know your project and what types of photos you need, research photographers who have shot in your destination before. See how they captured the light, the landscapes, the people.

Do an image search or look at Instagram locations to see which shots inspire you. Read travel and photography blogs to uncover top places to visit and take photos. Talk with other photographers who have been to your travel destination. This will help you get travel photography tips and advice from others’ experiences.

3. Scout your location

Once you have an idea of the types of photos you want to take, research the locations, local culture, and events happening. For location research, look up different vantage points available, the best times of day for lighting, and the weather forecast. Check up-to-date hours your locations will be open and if they have any photography restrictions.

You might have high hopes of getting a specific photo but then find you need to plan ahead because of local regulations. Better to be safe than sorry!

If you want to take photos of local people or events, do some research on the culture so you can be respectful. In some cultures, it’s considered rude to take pictures without permission—or even illegal. In others, it may be completely acceptable. Doing a little research will help ensure you don’t unintentionally offend anyone or break any rules or norms.

Whatever you want to photograph, you should plan ahead and make proper arrangements or adjustments if needed. Doing this research will save you time and help you plan your trip so you capture the best photos for your project while being respectful of the people and places you’re visiting.

4. Practice your camera technique

Vacation is not the time to figure out your camera settings. Know which settings work for you, when to use them, and how to do them fast before you go. There’s nothing like having the perfect moment in front of you and missing the photograph because you’re messing with your camera setting.

Whether you are a novice or an experienced photographer, it’s always important to know your camera well. Practice taking photos with different camera settings and in varying locations and surroundings, especially if you have a new camera. Settings can vary from camera to camera, so spend time getting acquainted with yours in various situations before the big moments.

For inspiration, check out this post for tips on taking better photos.

5. Bring backup equipment

You never know when a piece of equipment will fail on you. Batteries die, cards fill up, and straps break. Be prepared for the worst by bringing backup equipment on your trip. This could be an extra battery, memory card, or even a whole extra camera if you have one.

We’d suggest traveling with extra camera batteries (and always check they’re charged!) and bringing a battery pack for your phone so it doesn’t die before sunset. Remember that cold weather can drain your batteries faster than in average temperatures, so you’ll want to plan extra carefully for any Arctic trips (or vacations that feel like them).

Also, make sure to bring extra memory cards with you. Even if you download your pictures to your computer every day, you may end up taking more pictures than planned. Carrying multiple memory cards in your camera case can enable you to take all the photos your heart desires.

Bringing backup items is especially important if you’re traveling to a remote area where supplies may be hard to find. In more populated locales, even if you feel you have enough extra batteries and memory cards, it can be helpful to research local camera stores ahead of time in case something goes wrong with your camera.

6. Backup your photos

It’s always a good idea to back up your photos just in case your devices are lost or stolen. Or, if you are taking a large number of images, downloading them every night onto your computer will help you start every day with a fresh memory card.

Backing up your photos on the cloud will give you the peace of mind that all the hard work you put into taking those photos won’t be lost. There are many options for backing up your photos. Some top cloud storage services are Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud. Depending on the devices you use and your needs, one option may be a better fit for you than another.

7. Insure your gear

No one wants to think about their gear being lost, stolen, or broken. But insuring your equipment can give you the comfort you need to truly enjoy your trip, knowing that you are covered financially if something does happen to your gear.

Many homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policies will cover gear while you are away from home. Check with your insurance company or look into separate insurance if it’s lost or stolen.

Keep your camera secure, whether in your possession or left at a hotel or hostel. When taking your camera with you, carry it in an inconspicuous bag to avoid drawing attention to it. Ensure you always lock or secure your bag with latches to your person, so it doesn’t wander off. And when you’re not using it, store it in your hotel or hostel safe. Always keep your camera near you during travel instead of in a checked bag like any valuable item.

Keeping your valuable camera equipment by your side will allow you to better protect it from getting damaged or stolen.

Knowing your camera gear

8. Avoid the flash

Proper lighting can make or break a photograph. While a pop of flash can be helpful in some situations, using it all the time can create an unflattering, harsh light. We know from experience, which is why understanding photography lighting techniques is so important.

Natural light is almost always the best option for taking pictures. Take advantage of early morning or late afternoon light, also known as the golden hour. This is when the sun is lower in the sky and creates a softer, more flattering light.

When natural light isn’t available, artificial light may be your only option. If you find yourself indoors or in low light and can’t avoid using flash, try bouncing the flash off a nearby wall or ceiling to diffuse the light and create a softer effect.

9. Keep your lens clean

Having a clean lens can make or break a photograph. This is especially true if you rely on the phone camera you use all day long. A quick wipe of your lens before taking a picture can mean the difference between a blurry, grainy mess and a crisp, clear image.

And no, using your shirt sleeve is not a good way to clean your lens. If you want to take proper care of your camera, you should carry essential cleaning equipment. A pro-level cleaning kit will include a dust blower, lens brush, lens cloths, and proper lens cleaner. That’s because dust, sand, and other debris can scratch a camera lens. So be sure to blow or brush away any debris before wiping down a camera lens. Use a clean cloth specially made for camera lenses or clean tissue (or a clean, soft T-shirt) to ensure you don’t transfer other dirt.

To ensure you don’t capture smudges, wipe the front and back lens clean throughout the day. Keeping a clean camera lens will help you get the clearest pictures possible.

10. Edit on the go

Editing your photos doesn’t have to wait until you get home from your trip. Thanks to the power of smartphone apps, you can now edit on the go. This can be a great way to save time and ensure your photos are ready to share as soon as you get home.

There are many different photo editing apps like Snapseed, Camera+, or Adobe Lightroom Mobile. Have these installed and get familiar with them before you go on your vacation, and process photos while you’re waiting around as you travel.

Each night, take a look at your photos taken throughout the day. You will likely have some blurry or too dark or bright images that even editing can’t save. Delete any unusable photos to keep your photo library more manageable.

Then go through your good photos and edit them using mobile or desktop software. Apps and other software help you crop images, adjust white balance and contrast, alter color saturation, or sharpen images with the touch of a button. This will allow you to create your final project faster when you return home and save a lot of time when you’re archiving your shots from the trip!

11. Go panoramic for landscape photography

For sweeping landscapes or cityscapes, a panoramic photo is hard to beat. Capturing a wide vista in one frame can help give a sense of the scale of the scene and really show off the beauty of your surroundings. They also look incredible in gutter-free, layflat photo books.

Panoramic images capture a scene from a series of overlapping photos. Most digital cameras have a panorama mode that stitches together multiple photos into one seamless image. If your camera doesn’t have this feature, you can also use photo editing software to create a panorama from a series of separate photos. Just be sure that the individual images are well-aligned before stitching them together.

Using this manual method may help you get consistent exposure across the series of images. For the most stable image, use a tripod. And ensure you have the right lens for your subject and distance. A wide-angle lens is ideal for landscapes, while a telephoto lens can be better for cityscapes.

12. Know when to use auto mode

Yes, all the photo tutorials tell you to learn how to shoot in your camera’s manual mode. But you also want to enjoy your vacation without lots of camera fiddling. Today’s cameras are so sophisticated that their auto modes can often give you great results with very little input from you. If you’re a photography novice (or even a pro!), auto photos do a pretty good job when you’re on the go.

For the best results in auto mode, take a look at your camera’s scene modes. These are specific settings for different shooting scenarios such as sports, landscapes, portraits, or low-light conditions. Many cameras also have a “smart auto” mode that automatically adjusts the settings based on what it detects in the scene.

If you’re shooting in low light, don’t forget to steady your camera. Use a tripod, or brace yourself against a wall or other solid object. A little extra stability will help prevent blurry photos.

13. But don’t be afraid to shoot in manual mode

While auto mode is excellent for quick shooting on the go, you’ll get more creative control—and often better results—by switching to manual mode. This is especially true in difficult lighting situations such as sunset or sunrise or when you want to blur the background of a photo to make your subject stand out.

Nearly all professional photographers shoot in manual mode. This is because it provides so many more options to capture the natural beauty of a scene when used correctly. Auto mode uses standard settings for a variety of settings, but they can’t account for all variations of light, distance, and motion.

As you’re learning your camera, you should get comfortable playing with shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. Adjusting the shutter speed will help you best capture still or motion photos so they aren’t blurry. Changing ISO settings will allow you to correct for different lighting situations and produce better quality photos. And adjusting the aperture will allow you more control over the depth of field in your image.

Shooting your travel photographs

14. Shoot a variety of subjects

Your travel photos will be more interesting—and tell a richer story—if you mix up your subject matter. (Remember that work we did in step one?) In addition to the standard scenic shots, look for opportunities to photograph people, animals, and everyday objects.

For people photography, aim to capture both posed and candid shots. Posed shots can be great for family portraits or groups of friends, while candid shots can help you capture the spirit of a place.

Animals are often one of the most popular subjects for travel photographers. When shooting animals, be respectful and give them space. If you’re using a telephoto lens, zoom in so you don’t disturb them. And if you can, try to capture them in their natural habitat rather than in a zoo or sanctuary. Just remember to follow local rules.

Everyday objects can also make for great travel photos. Look for opportunities to photograph local food, weather, local color, architecture, and street art. These types of photos can help you really capture the flavor of a place.

Since you already planned your project in step one, you know what you’re going to use your photos for. Have fun with it and get creative!

15. Shoot a variety of formats

In addition to taking photos of a variety of subjects, you’ll also want to use a variety of formats. Shoot a mixture of horizontal, vertical, and square photos of your subjects so you have many to play with for later layouts.

You’ll also want to experiment with close-ups, wide shots, and detailed shots. This will give you a variety of options when choosing which photos to use later on.

When creating a photo book, often the best layouts include various sizes and orientations. Taking both portrait and landscape photos of the same image can give you more options when putting together your photo project.

16. Rule of thirds

If you’re this deep in a photo blog, we bet you already know about the rule of thirds. But since it’s so important, we’ll dig in as a refresher.

The rule of thirds breaks an image into nine sections—three vertically and three horizontally—with four gridlines that cross. Following this rule, you should place key elements along those gridlines to produce a balanced composition.

For example, when taking a sunrise photo, you’ll want to place the horizon on either the top or bottom gridline instead of right in the middle. Or, if you’re shooting a building, place one side of the building along either the left or right gridline.

Most cameras have a grid feature to make it easy to follow the rule of thirds. The grids display right on your screen so you can properly place your photo for the best balance.

17. Wake up early, stay out late

Taking pictures at the right time of day can make the difference between a so-so photo and a fantastic shot. Taking travel photos may mean waking up early or staying out late to get the best shots. (It’s vacation, and we bet you want to do that anyway!)

There are several reasons to wake up early. Lighting in the morning is soft and warm and can sometimes add beautiful color to a photo. This light creates stunning photographs you could never capture in the middle of the day.

Another benefit to getting up early to photograph is avoiding large crowds. This is especially true in touristy areas and busy cities. You’ll likely never get a photo of a major attraction like the Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower without a crowd of people in front of them if you go when it’s busy.

Night photos can capture a scene in a very different light—both figuratively and literally. A nighttime image adds different energy and appeal than daytime photos. And when traveling, you might even capture a different culture at night than you do during the day. Or, if you’re looking to capture active nocturnal animals, late-night photo sessions might be your only option.

18. Get your subjects interacting with the environment

When taking photos of people during your travels, you’ll want to try to capture them interacting with their surroundings. This could be anything from riding a bike through the park to enjoying a meal at a restaurant.

Candid shots like these can help tell the story of your trip and show what it was like to be there. They can also add a sense of scale to your photos, which can be especially helpful when taking pictures of prominent landmarks.

If you’re trying out a more poised group shot, try getting your friends and family in motion, touching and relating to the other things in your frame. Some fun motion photos involve everyone jumping simultaneously on the beach, diving off a cliff, dancing together, or riding a wave on a surfboard. After a vacation, those are the memories you won’t want to forget.

19. Don’t shoot every photo at eye level

Get new perspectives. It helps avoid cliché shots and gives you something unique and yours. Instead of taking every picture at eye level, think of other angles and heights that offer more variety.

Lying on the ground will give you a more exciting perspective and may allow you to capture more objects in the frame. (You might want to bring a towel to lie on for these photos.) On the other hand, taking an image from the top of a tall building or mountain shooting downward will capture your scene in a whole new way. Be creative to get photographs from a variety of angles and perspectives.

20. Shoot some clichés

It’s also good to get some safety shots. Take the vacation photos you’ve seen everywhere, take some photos with simple settings, get some easy photos—do this for backup, and then get creative. If something creative doesn’t work, you still have a tried-and-true version of the shot you can use for an album or photo book later.

While taking those photos from unique heights, get some at eye level. Group photos or selfies on the beach, in front of famous landmarks, and even your hotel will always have their place. So, take a variety of photos, even the cliché ones, to capture your whole travel experience.

21. Patience is key

This goes for so many different aspects of travel photography, from waiting for the perfect moment to capture a photo to having the patience to get comfortable with new surroundings before snapping shots.

You might have to wait for the perfect lighting or for someone to move out of your frame. But sometimes, the wait is worth it when you see the results. If you want the best travel photography, you won’t get it in just a few seconds. You need to be patient to get the best shots.

If you’ve ever seen a spectacular photo on Instagram that wowed you, it likely took some time for the photographer to get that image. Take the time to set your camera settings correctly and wait for the sun to come out again. As we’ve mentioned, taking the necessary time to set up your frame using the rule of thirds is critical.

Nature is beautiful, but what it does is out of our control. If there’s a cloud casting a shadow, you may have to wait for it to pass before taking your photo. And you may even have to spend hours or multiple days at a location to get the photograph just right. Sometimes getting the right shot requires patience and a little extra time.

Conclusion

One difference between travel photography and vacation photography is that travel photography is about the place. Vacation photography is about you—your experience, your friends, your memories, your feelings. It’s fine if the pictures aren’t magazine-perfect; they’re yours.

When you look back on your travel photos or your vacation photos, you’ll want to remember not only where you went but how it felt. These photography tips and ideas will help you get shots that capture the emotions, experiences, and people that made your trip memorable—no matter what your end goal is.

Bon voyage!

***

Ready to turn your vacation photos into a travel book? Get started with one of our high-on-design templates or create your custom layout.

The post Travel photography tips appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Travel photography is undeniably and endlessly inspirational. Who doesn’t love to look at photos of captivating people from foreign cultures? Of surreal and ethereal landscapes, intricate architecture, and energetic street life? Each image, including those that are far from beautiful or pleasant, tells a story.

Above everything else, travel photography is about using photojournalism to capture moments that may have otherwise been unrecorded history. It’s about telling stories of history, culture, landscapes, people, food, street life, diversity, wildlife, universal similarities, struggle, and happiness. Trying to capture all these things may seem like a daunting task, but we’ve compiled a list of travel photography tips and tricks that will make it a lot easier.

Tip #1
Travel Slowly

This advice isn’t just for photographers, but for anyone traveling. The slower you go, the more you’ll see. When traveling, you often see the opposite of this. People are in a rush, so they quickly jump out of a vehicle, snap a few pictures, and carry on. Make sure to wait for the best moment to arise, take time to consider composition and weather, and try to truly experience the place or subject you’re photographing.

Tip #2
Patiently Watch and Wait

Patience is everything. If you don’t have it, you’ll miss out on getting the best possible picture. If the lighting isn’t right, stick around. Too much cloud cover? Wait it out. If your subject is a little nervous, give them time. When there’s a scene you want to create, sometimes you just have to wait.

Tip #3
Plan. Plan. Plan.

Planning your trip as a photographer is different than doing so as a tourist. There are more things you have to consider. Are some countries more photogenic than others? Are you traveling to have photos of places that tell a story? What things do you want to capture? What emotions are you trying to convey? Do you only want to have photos to that allow you to remember your trip? Asking yourself these question will help you choose where you want to go, which can sometimes be tough to narrow down.

Tip #4
Keep Your Camera Handy

Try to make a habit of bringing your camera everywhere, because the day you don’t is the day that you miss a wonderful photo opportunity. Having said this, there is value to be found in occasionally taking a step away from your viewfinder, to give you a different perspective on a place.

Tip #5
Travel Light (but don’t under-pack!)

Generally speaking, you’re going to want to bring one camera body, several memory cards, a lightweight travel tripod, a portable storage device, probably a flash, maybe a compact point and shoot for the times you can’t bring your DSLR, a durable bag, maybe a couple of filters, and a couple of lenses. Bring the ideal lenses for whatever type of photography you practice most often. Don’t bring ALL your gear just because it’s a big trip, but traveling as a photographer means more gear than traveling as a tourist.

Tip #6
Get Off the Beaten Track

This is one of the most important tips. If you’re comfortable enough, try your very best to get off the beaten path. Explore roads less traveled, go on your own, wander down maze-like alleyways in ancient cities, visit far-flung rural areas, and meet as many locals as possible. These kind of scenarios are where the magic really happens. Spontaneity is all part of the fun.

Tip #7
Mix it Up

Make sure to closely consider your composition options. Know how the focus of interest looks at different times of day and in different weather conditions, consider the different foreground and background options for the same subject, try shooting from different angles, using a different lens, thinking about different vantage points, and how to tell a story from a different perspective. Shoot a variety of subjects too from food and architecture to nature and people. That way you can represent the fullness of the place.

Tip #8
Always Ask for Permission

Etiquette is one of the most important things to remember when taking photos of people. Always, always ask for permission, especially if you want to photograph children. Interact with your potential subjects, take time to get to know them, learn about their story, and treat them as humans rather than a mere prop or photo opportunity.

It’s important to be confident when approaching strangers. A lot of photographers struggle with this and with the possibility of being rejected, but it’s a necessary hurdle. People will almost always let you take their photo if you approach the situation correctly. If there’s a language barrier, smiling, using hand gestures, and being polite will go a long way. If someone says no, just move on and don’t worry about it. If you’re keeping your eyes open, another shot will present itself.

Final Thoughts

Every destination has its own character, feel, and energy, which is sometimes impossible to put into words. But through travel photography, we try to capture this essence. Years later a photo can kick-start our memories, take us back to a moment in time, and allow people who have never been there to visit a place through your picture.

Travel Photo Books
Ready to turn your travel photos into a beautiful book? Get started with one of our high-on-design templates or create your own custom layout.

The post Tips & Tricks for Travel Photographers appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 4:
Sahara, Morocco

With a co-worker preparing for a trip to Morocco, I thought this image appropriate. It’s taken somewhere in the Sahara Desert, Morocco in the year 2000. It was shot from the back of a camel with a Leica M6, TMAX 3200 film, and a 35mm f/2 lens. We ended up spending the night out in the dunes and were lucky enough to experience a full moon, which was so remarkably bright it was nearly impossible to sleep.

What Worked?

There is a lot about this image I like. First, the gesture. I am from the “decisive moment” philosophy, so catching real moments is key for my photography. His arm gesture also comes in the form of a diagonal, which adds a dynamic element to the foreground. The man is slightly off center, so not quite Rule of Thirds, but pretty close.

I also like how the light bends around the dunes and leads your eye back, right, then up and out of the frame.

Finally, I took this image from above, which really helps isolate the man in the foreground and provides an overall depth to the image.

What Could be Better?

This was one of those cloudless days in the Sahara, so there really isn’t much detail or drama in the sky. Not much I could do about this, but maybe I could have used a yellow filter to add a bit of contrast. I also think I need to bring a little more detail out of the dunes.

Lastly, the footprints in the upper left. Without those prints, it would look like virgin dunes, which to me, would add to the feeling of isolation.

Photo Books
Ready to make a Photo Book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor: Notes on Photography │Sahara appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 3:
El Mirage, California

If you’ve seen a car commercial in the last twenty years, then you’ve most likely seen El Mirage Dry Lake near Los Angeles. El Mirage is a very strange place. Dry, yes. Cracked, yes. I’ve seen people camping in black tents in the middle of the summer, and I’ve seen movie shoots with fake plane crashes in the background. When I lived in Los Angeles, I would pack up my Honda TransAlp motorcycle, and my 4×5 Polaroid, and venture out there to see what I could see.

El Mirage is also home to the Southern California Timing Association, which is code for people who want to drive really, really fast in a straight line—a very welcoming and interesting group. Dedicated, crazed, and bent on finding the point of no return. The range of vehicles is wide—cars, trucks, bikes, and rockets with wheels that can hit 300mph. A sight to see, without a doubt. I’ve attended their semi-annual event several times, which is where I made this image: a 6×6, black and white negative made with a $65 Hasselblad and 80mm lens. This was a tiny part of a larger project titled Man vs Nature, which I worked on for about eight years in locations all over the world.

What worked?

1. I love square. Forget about horizontal and vertical, and just shoot. Plus, I love the full rebate on this scan, which is the black border around the outside of the frame.

2. The falloff on the medium format lens. The Hasselblad has beautiful falloff, which is how quickly the point of focus “falls off” in the background. You don’t always want massive falloff. You want to hold the precise amount of background information needed to convey your message. Just because you have a 1.2 aperture, doesn’t mean you shoot it at 1.2 every single frame. In this case, I want the three figures in the background to be soft but not totally gone. Add my proximity to the area in critical focus and you get an aperture of about f/4 to f/4.5, which was my desired look.

3. The handlebars in the shape of a “V” which point at the horizon like an arrow.

4. The lines in the dirt that point toward the same horizon.

5. The three figures in real motion, adding a solid mid-ground layer. I never spoke to the three figures while I was making this. Nor did I instruct them, place them, move them, or in any way alter their natural trajectory. This is called “documentary photography.” I saw the image I wanted, moved into position, waited, and then made ONE frame.

6. The shadows of the two figures on the left pointing back at the area of critical focus.

7. The two top ends of the forks and the stem forming a three-pronged head, to match the three figures in the background.

What could be better?

1. I’m too far left. I needed to take one small step to the right so the tracks in the dirt would flow on both sides of the handlebars but instead the right-side bar blocks the dirt track. This might have happened because I use a waist level finder.

2. There is a slight, unintentional tilt. This could also be attributed to the finder and looking down.

What do you think makes a great photo? Share your thoughts below. You can also read Episode 2 of Notes on Photography here. 

Make a photo book part of your everyday workflow with Blurb’s Book Module in Adobe Lightroom.

The post Daniel Milnor: Notes on Photography │California appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 2:
Cusco, Peru

This was an image I made while teaching in Peru. The class was in the plaza in Cusco during Easter ceremonies. One of the things I always look for in my photographs is good spacing. Using a 35mm lens allows me to look for depth by attempting to combine solid foreground, mid-ground and background elements, which I believe I was able to do in this particular image. These two local women, who were not really part of the ceremonies, were moving from right to left through the middle of the event. I quickly changed my shutter speed to a 15^th of a second, picked up the women through my viewfinder as they entered the frame from the right. I panned at the same speed the women were walking and exposed one frame of the moment.

What worked?

I love the fact I panned at a 15^th of a second and captured the women in focus, which isn’t the easiest thing to do. We call this low percentage photography, but often times the best images come in one or two frame moments.

I also like how I was able to build depth by using layers, which is really one of the most important ways to best utilize a wide-angle lens, which in this case was a 35mm f/2 Leica lens, on an M6 body, with TRI-X film.

The last small detail I like is the gesture happening between the two women on the left. One is reaching out for the other. These small moments add to the uniqueness of this 15^th of a second in human history.

What could be better?

I shot at a 15^th of a second but could have probably used a 30^th and perhaps had slightly more sharpness.

I also don’t like the fact there is no detail in the sky. This is a tough thing to achieve, however. Film has a wonderful latitude, but that sky is at least four or five stops hotter than my subject matter. I chose an exposure that would best represent the area in critical focus and just let the sky blow out. It is for this reason that this image utilizes a black background.

What do you think makes a great photo? Share your thoughts below. You can also read Episode 1 of Notes on Photography here. 

Make a photo book part of your everyday workflow with Blurb’s Book Module in Adobe Lightroom.

The post Daniel Milnor: Notes on Photography │Cusco appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The educational event will be hosted by Adobe Expert and Professional Photographer Jared Platt, and Jared Bauman, President of ShootDotEdit.

Want to reserve your spot? The live webinar will be on Wednesday, June 6^th at 10:00am PST. RSVP for free today!

How Photographers Make Money

There are a lot of different ways for professional photographers to generate revenue, and their shooting fee and selling products are just a couple. However, generating revenue isn’t the only way that photographers make money. Increasing their client base and referral network is also vital to growing and sustaining a professional photography business.

At its core, a photographer needs to utilize all the tools they have at their disposal to grow their business and make more money. And yet, being a small business owner means that time is of the essence. So, how can a professional photographer make more money without adding a lot more work?

Webinar Topics

In this live online training, Jared will walk through several strategies that photographers can use to increase revenue, without adding a lot of time to their workload. Jared is an Adobe Lightroom workflow expert, and will give a live demonstration of how to harness the power of Lightroom to streamline and optimize your efforts.

Turning your photography work into different products is a fantastic way to quickly generate more business and increase earnings, which is the focus of the webinar. Blurb’s Book Module in Lightroom integration makes it easy for a professional photographer to incorporate albums and books into their post-production workflow. When incorporated with ShootDotEdit’s fast, stylized editing, wedding and portrait photographers can quickly harness the power of turning their work into products to generate more business (and more money).

Jared will walk through four specific products that can be utilized to generate more business:

• Portfolio Books
• Proof Books
• Client Albums
• Vendor Books

The Importance of a Proof Book

A proof book is a great way to accomplish several business objectives with one, simple product. For starters, a it is a fun and engaging way for your client to review and experience their images. Nowadays, so many photographers only provide the finished images to their clients via the web, and printing the images in a proof book can really set you apart.

Additionally, a proof book shows your client what a printed book looks like, wetting their appetite for other printed products. If you haven’t been able to sell your client an album yet, this is one great way to tease the power of printed books to your clients.

Jared is a big believer in a proof book since it increases engagement and interest in the online gallery of final photographs.

“My clients are able to look through the book for their favorite images, and then go to the gallery to share and purchase them. It has increased their engagement in my online galleries, and also increased my print sales.”

One other benefit of a proof book is that it typically will sit out at your client’s house, perhaps on the coffee table, or dining room table. Or, your client might bring it into work, leaving it on their desk. Either way, a proof book increases the visibility of your work for future referrals.

Mental Focus: Start Small

If you’re like most small business owners, you probably don’t have a lot of free time. There is so much to do these days to maintain and grow a business, and so you might be thinking to yourself “Where am I ever going to find the time to offer these products to my clients?”

This is one of those tasks that has so many benefits, though. It can help you grow your business, strengthen your brand, make you more money, and make your clients happier. Which means everybody wins!

If you’re struggling to find the time, one tip is to start small. You don’t need to incorporate all four products into your workflow all at once. Instead, pick one and try it out.

Using Lightroom to order your Blurb books will streamline the process. Incorporating these offerings into your standardized client emails will also help.

At the end of the day, you can do it! Find the time by starting small, and don’t worry about making it perfect right out of the gate.

The Big Picture

Want to learn how to generate more business and money from each product, along with how to quickly incorporate the process into your Lightroom workflow? Our webinar can help. By the end of the one-hour event, you’ll have several great ideas to act on to grow your photography business and make more money.

Sign up now for this free online webinar on Wednesday, June 6^th at 10:00am PST and secure your spot today. Space is limited! RSVP for free.  

The post Webinar: How Photographers Make Money appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Keep a list: Get that shot

When you see an image you like or one that inspires you, save it! When an idea for an image comes to you, write it down. When you find extra time to take photos or you’re feeling creatively spent, go back to your list for an inspired start.

Take charge

Seeing the perfect composition in the wild is extremely rare. Good photography shots often require adjustments and posing. For this basic photography tip, don’t hesitate to rearrange objects, have someone step into the right light, or change your own vantage point. The extra steps are worth it.

Always carry a camera

Want to learn how to get better at photography? Take photos as often as possible. A good photography tip is to always carry a camera with you. Whether you get a smaller setup or you use your phone, have a camera with you constantly so you don’t miss a shot. Great shots don’t wait for you to have your camera ready. They happen all the time, you just have to catch them!

Compose carefully

When you find a scene, pause for a moment to compose. Remember the Rule of Thirds, a fundamental photography tip, look for leading lines, find the light, and remove distractions. Beyond the Rule of Thirds, remember to consider giving your subject negative space to breathe. There are a lot of things that can be fixed in post-processing, but creating meaningful compositions is best done in-camera.

Learn and refresh the basics, then experiment

Here’s a key photography tip: Learn the Exposure Triangle (balancing the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture to get the correct exposure). The goal is to get comfortable with your camera in Manual mode. Some creative possibilities only exist when you can override defaults and play with the exposure. Also, try manual focus for more creative possibilities for blur.

Get close to your subject

This photography tip requires a lot of confidence, but the more you do it, the better you’ll be at it. This is especially true when taking pictures of people. While it’s tempting to use a telephoto lens to create a comfortable distance, you’ll lose impact. One trick is to hold the camera and look above it, so you’re making eye contact with your subject. You’ll get more interaction when they can forget there’s a camera between you, and it’ll be more intimate and natural.

Hunt for good lighting

Light is just as much your subject as anything else that compels you to take a photo; it’s a basic photography tip that can be very powerful. It offers a thousand different ways to shoot the same scene or setup. Remember, if you look for it, there is almost always enough light to take a photo. Manipulating light and shadow is what creates feeling and mood. To do this, you’ll almost certainly need to be in manual mode or spot-metering, depending on your composition. Watch for the way light moves, look for light coming from surprising sources to illuminate your subject. Some of the best photographs have significant parts that were underexposed, which only highlights the subject more. Just watch to be sure you don’t blow out highlights or clip your blacks. That’s data you can’t recover in post-processing.

Focus on the eyes, then double check

When taking pictures of people, your critical focus, the crispest part of your photo, should be the eyes of your subject. While you’re taking the photo, be sure to stop and zoom in to 100% to make sure this is the case. If your focus is off, even just a little, then the rest of the photo doesn’t matter. It’s easy for the face to look like it’s in focus, but small screens can be deceiving. Stop often to zoom all the way in and check the eyes.

Shoot for how the moment feels, not how it looks

Your best work will come from entering deeply into the moment and trying to catch all of it in its authenticity. The effects of the constant social media feed mean that we’re often shooting with how it will appeal to our online audience, rather than shooting the moment for what it is. Forget your online audience. The way to make meaningful, original work is to shoot the moment for what it is, not what it “should be”. You can make a profound, touching, arresting photo without perfect light, without perfect styling, and in something other than a square frame if you look closely and shoot for what you find.

Explore different viewpoints

Go beyond your first impression of a shot. For this photography tip, take photos of the same subject from multiple vantage points, multiple exposures, and multiple apertures for varying depths of field. In a digital era, where you’re not paying to process each exposure, this is very easy to do. Sometimes the first shot you take may be the one you wanted all along, but often, really working on a subject reveals better ways to capture it. Also, if you’re shooting with a narrow depth of field, don’t forget to open up and take more in focus in case you miss something, or too much is out of focus.

Final thoughts

One of the most important basic photography tips is to practice every day. The more you shoot, the better you train your eye to see light and meaningful moments in the most ordinary things. The more familiar you are with your camera’s settings, and the more closely connected it becomes to your eye and your body, the easier it will be to take better photos. You’ll get more familiar with the technical aspects of photography, so you can plan your shots and come closer to capturing the scene as you remember it.

The post 10 tips for taking better photos: basic photography tips appeared first on Blurb Blog.

IMAGE 1:
Llamadas, Uruguay, 2012

What worked?

Layering
This image was shot with a 50mm at about f/4 or f/4.5. The background was too busy, and there were too many other people to use a 35mm.  My goal was to use the lens to stack and compress a foreground, mid ground, and background, the same thing I would do with a wide angle.

Critical focus
The fact that the woman in critical focus is turning her head and having a small moment, either with herself or with someone else, draws you in.

What didn’t work?

The image is weighted slightly too far to the left. I needed to either take one small step forward or turn my lens to the right slightly. This would have eliminated that empty space on the left (highlighted in white).

Now, I could crop, but I came from the full frame tradition, which means NO cropping. You might think this is silly, but this is the level of critique that real photographers discuss when they’re talking with someone who holds themselves to a high standard.

What do you think makes a great photo? Share your thoughts below. Make a photo book part of your everyday workflow with Blurb’s Book Module in Adobe Lightroom.

The post Daniel Milnor: Notes on Photography | Llamadas appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Even though phone photography feels more casual, taking time to set up a good shot is worth it because you may only get one chance to capture that moment.

If you pay attention to a few key things, you can ditch the gear and take mobile photos you love just as much.

Learn how to take better photos with these useful Instagram photography tips.

1. Position your subject

It may feel unnatural at first, but get used to moving objects around or moving yourself to get a good shot. Wait for someone to get out of the way. Move the subject to better light. Put objects on a table in straight lines. Remove distracting or extra items. Double check all the details, by turning labels so the right parts are visible to you in the frame. Make sure you can see everything you’ll want to see. Your phone is so small, this isn’t as intrusive as it would be with a bigger camera. That 15-second tune-up will help you remember the moment when you see the photo, not wish you’d taken a different shot.

2. Find the good light

There is no substitute for good, natural daylight, but too much can be tricky. Avoid direct, overhead vertical light. This means taking outdoor shots in the morning or evening. Take your indoor, museum shots when there is the most light streaming in. Seek open shade, or look for light through a window to illuminate the sides of the subject and avoid harsh shadows. The opposite is also true: the less light, the grainier your photo. If you want a photo after dark, try to position your subject near as much light as possible. If you can brace yourself, consider slowing the shutter speed with a 3rd party app.

3. Line it up—literally

Imagine a tic-tac-toe board across the viewfinder. (Several photo apps even have these built-in). You’re looking to place the most interesting details at the intersections of the lines. Try to avoid horizon lines running through the center of the frame. The most interesting photos have subjects that are about a third off-center.

4. Look for leading lines

These guide the eye to the subject. They can be support beams, lane lines, stripes, fences, paths—anything that runs across your image and leads your eyes around your photo to your subject. Align and frame the image with the lines of the subject itself in mind.

5. Go for the details

Typically, taking mobile photos means they will be viewed in small contexts—on a phone, a small photo book, or even a magnet. Small photos are great for capturing small things. Instead of trying to sweep a whole scene, look for one or two details loaded with associate and memory. Think about the bow of shoelaces instead of the whole shoe. The trim on the doorway instead of a building. The tile pattern on the wall. Snapping the poignant little things details can pack a lot of meaning into a small space.

6. Care for your camera

Your pocket or travel bag can be a rough place for a camera lens. Clean your phone lens frequently to avoid foggy photos. Also, know your phone camera limits. Often the zoom function lessens the clarity of a photo, so it may be better to “zoom with your feet” or shoot big and crop later. Last, watch for camera shake and strange angles from over-tilting. These can make images blurry and distorted. 

You take travel photos to help document your journey and experience. The images serve as memories, and it’s possible to make good ones while you give your shoulder a break.

Next step: import your Instagram photos into beautiful layouts and make an Instant Instagram Photo Book.

The post 6 tips on how to take good Instagram pictures appeared first on Blurb Blog.

1. Speak and write well about your work. You need a twenty- to thirty-second elevator pitch that is both on-point and upbeat. Clear, concise, and informational, but also a reflection of you and your personality.
2. Avoid the “low-hanging” sponsorship fruit. If you are a Canon camera user and want to approach Canon to support your project, just know that Canon gets more requests than they can possibly support. The same applies to all the other photography-related companies. These companies are incredibly supportive, but they just can’t get to everyone. Find companies that are one or two layers removed from your project and approach them. In some cases, these companies might have never been approached to support photography, and they might not even know they are related to your work.
3. Don’t use “exposure” as a selling point of our project. I worked for Kodak for several years, and photographers would routinely ask for film sponsorships by saying “It will be great exposure for Kodak.” At the time Kodak was one of the top-ten most recognizable brands in the world, so exposure wasn’t on their list of needs. Gaining exposure today is far easier, so bring something else to the table during your pitch.
4. Do your research. Study the companies or people you are going after and make certain they have not sponsored something similar in the past. Study who they have supported, learn from them, and even work their sponsorships into your pitch which proves you have done your homework.

Tip number five is perhaps the most important…..

5. Showcase ROI (return on investment). Many companies don’t want to seem this blunt, but return on their investment dollar is front-and-center on their list of demands, even if your project is about social issues, injustice, environmental concerns, etc. Proving potential financial return can quickly take your proposal from a “long shot” to a “sure thing”.

My final tip, number six, might sound a little crazy but it needs to be said.

6. Don’t threaten the company that you are asking for sponsorship. (Yes, I just said what you think I said.) Don’t threaten the company you are asking for support. Let me explain. When I worked for Kodak, I would occasionally have someone ask for sponsorship then say “Well, if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll go to Fuji.” True story. This never works, and almost always guarantees neither company will ever sponsor anything you do. The reality is that getting sponsorship is incredibly difficult, not to mention fickle and competitive. If someone says no, don’t take the negative route and make idle threats. Just say “I totally understand, perhaps we can work together at a later date.” Send thank you notes, stay in touch and keep the dialogue going. Just because they had to say “no,” doesn’t mean they didn’t want support you.

Good luck and keep trying!

The post Pro Photography Tip: Looking for Sponsorship appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Comprised of workshops, seminars, symposiums, projections, dinners and parties, the event is a festival in the truest sense of the word. Several hundred faculty and students converge to learn and experience what modern photography has to offer. The festival has been running for over a decade, and I’ve been fortunate to have attended many times. I always walk away a better, more inspired member of the photography community. This year was no different.

I wanted to share a few things I learned along the way.

1. Photography is more relevant to today than ever before. And by this I mean all kinds of photography. Analog, digital, motion, short-form, long-form and experimental. There is a place for everyone.

2. Photography isn’t all about equipment, it’s about passion, thoughtfulness, and focus.

3. You don’t have to be a beginner to take a workshop. I witnessed elite level photographers taking workshops from fellow elite level photographers. Learning doesn’t stop when you start getting jobs.

4. Regardless of advances in the world of technology, the book is still considered by many to be the pinnacle achievement of photography.

5. Print your work. Printing forces you to apply critical thought to your imagery which makes you a better photographer.

6. Getting good takes time. Slow down, relax, learn your craft and don’t be afraid to fail.

If you haven’t attended the PSPF my advice is to book your slot. Just being in the environment, around both legends and up-and-comers is something that will change your photographic life.

The post Palm Springs Photo Festival Recap 2017 appeared first on Blurb Blog.

It’s been said, “Attention is the currency being traded.” These days, we are so bombarded with visual information, it can be difficult to make sense of it all. It can be even more difficult to give the attention required to actually understand what we are seeing. It can be difficult to give our attention to actually seeing the world around us.

So what if we look at a Month of Photography as a power month, a month to train, practice and get better as photographers by making ONLY the best work we can make? Instead of filters and likes, let’s think about things like light, timing, and composition—the essential building blocks of any serious image.  Let’s throw popularity to the wind and focus on editing, sequencing, and publishing our photography. In other words, let’s work with intent when making pictures.

One of the best ways to advance your photography is to begin working with theme. Choose a story—a narrative—and begin to build a body of photographs instead of random images. So consider taking the Month of Photography to focus on your theme for the entire month. Your theme could be family, a travel destination, or even the intersection of two streets you find interesting. The goal is to build depth, so choose whatever theme you can access for the entire month. Then, return over and over again until you emerge with a body of work.

Think about things like: What is the best single image? Which images work well together? Are there holes in the story or your theme? My advice is to print your best edits. Simple, small prints work fine, then lay those prints out on a table or floor and physically watch your story begin to build. Giving yourself an entire month, especially if you can photograph every day, is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the idea of the photo-essay. It will allow you to keep only the essentials of great photography in mind.

Think: Thirty-days of intention.

The post A Month of Photography appeared first on Blurb Blog.

There are a lot of truly talented, but potentially unknown, creatives out there who find a home for their work on the pages of the Blurb Bookstore. What always hooks me first on a book is the cover art, but I’ve noticed something very peculiar.

Often, I’ll see cover images that stop me in my tracks, but when I open the book using the preview option, I sometimes find the internal contents don’t match the power or even the design of the cover. The cover is your “first impression,” so finding such a drastic change from the cover to the internal design and content of the book often leaves me slightly confused.

Consistency is a key element in high-end bookmaking—not only with the book itself, but with the project idea, the principle artwork, the editing, sequencing, and certainly the design. Great books take the viewer on a rollercoaster ride of art and emotion with highs battling lows and complexity and simplicity dueling across the gutter, but at the heart of great books is a consistent message, look and feel.

The next time you find yourself designing a book, experiment with creating the cover first then creating the rest of your document.

The next time you find yourself designing a book, experiment with creating the cover first then creating the rest of your document. When you are finished with the internal pages, return to the cover and determine if your cover design is the right introduction for what follows, and if not, no problem. Make the necessary changes so that your cover art becomes the perfect introduction to the rest of your story.

The post Pro Photo Tip: Consistency appeared first on Blurb Blog.

1. Act like you belong. Your body language can easily be read by those in your environment, and someone who is acting overtly shy or as if they don’t belong in a specific place or situation doesn’t inspire much trust. This doesn’t mean acting tough or act out of character. It simply means acting like you are there for a specific reason and that you are looking for specific images.

2. Talk to people. I live in a touristy area, and it pains me to see photographers on one side of the street secretly taking photographs of someone on the other side of the street. Move your feet, summon your nerve and go talk to people. You will be amazed how accommodating most individuals are when you explain what you are doing and how important photography is to you. Just know that not everyone will say “Yes.”

3. Explain yourself. Prepare to hear “No, you can’t take my photograph.” Hearing “No,” always hurts, even after all these years, but you have to respect this reply. One thing I’ve learned is that often times when someone says “no,” they may or may not know the entire story, so explaining yourself is a must.  I’ve had more than a few strangers eventually say “Okay, you can photograph now.”

4. Language Matters. Something else to keep in mind is your vocabulary. I never ask “Can I take your picture?” I always ask “May I make your portrait.” Using this dialogue implies that I’m not attempting a quick image-grab, but entering into a two-way, visual conversation.  Using the word “portrait” also speaks to a very specific style of image.

Okay, how about a bonus point? Carry a small book of your work or previous portraits. This provides instant street cred and proves you take your work seriously. Over time, you’ll find what works for you. The key is to get out there, work through some trial and error, and aim for visual collaboration and conversation.

Have any tips for what has worked for you? Share them in the comments below!

The post Tips for Photographing Strangers appeared first on Blurb Blog.

I’ve always been a fan of the edges of things. Even when I covered a Super Bowl, political convention or religious procession, I always found my “power spot” was on the fringe of the event itself. Wandering the edges where the event tapered off into the reality of daily life. The blend was what I found interesting, and where I could deep dive into looking for one-of-a-kind gems.

I find the same for the technical side of photography. With today’s cameras it’s effortless to make in focus pictures with perfect exposures, but there is far more to photographic life than that. I like to the push the boundaries of exposure, light and shutter speed. So what if things are a little soft or a little dark? As long as the feel of the image works, or the image sparks emotion in the viewer, I’ll take that every time.

Great photography isn’t always about technical perfection. In fact, some of my favorite images are slightly off.

The fun begins when you start testing this idea. If you are absolutely sure you can handhold a 1/30th of a second shutter speed then try 1/8th or even 1/4th of a second. If you are working a scene and you think the light is gone turn yourself around and go back. See what the darkness brings. Same for bright midday sun. Challenge yourself to make something outside your normal comfort zone.

Great photography is about soul. Some photographs have soul and others don’t. What is soul in a photograph? That’s up to you to decide, but people normally recognize it the moment they see it, and it rarely has anything to do with perfection.

The post Photo tip: Almost Perfect appeared first on Blurb Blog.