I for one, am a little tired of being paranoid every time I’m traveling or out shooting in public areas.  That’s just the way things are now.  Sometimes even if you are minding your own business and committing no wrongs you can still catch heat for aiming that digital camera in certain directions.  Photographers professional and amateur alike are being effected by this.  Here is a funny story about how the Amtrak railroad line held a photography contest / competition, and then forgot about it – and they forgot to pass along the memo to security, evidently.  This hilarious video from The Colbert Report jeers at this funny happenstance in the wonderful world of photography.

How many times have you seen some pretty bad technical mistakes in print?  It can be pretty comical.  Low resolution graphics printed at 12 dpi in print, because they were upscaled the image so much.  Or, maybe it was because they started with a thumbnail graphics swiped off of the internet.

Recently I spotted a nationally run TV commercial that was such terrible quality that you could see artifacts all over the screen, even on a 480p TV set.  Or maybe it was really bad photography representing marketing materials or advertising for a reputable business. I’m not talking about bad design or photography in general, but mostly just bad technical execution.  Amazingly, these basic things that we all were taught in school are sometimes forgotten.  We’ve all messed up at some point in our jobs, but for the most part we quickly learned and improved.  Tight deadlines are no excuse for technically bad artwork, because at some point we all have to learn to squeeze out at least decent quality work under the most stressful of situations.  There’s no excuse for sloppiness, but it does still happen.  All you have to do is check out blogs like PSDisasters.net to see for yourself.  You can also just google “bad graphic design” or “bad photography” examples (but you probably don’t even have to look that hard.)

Here are some examples of some bad graphic design using watermarked comp graphics pulled from istock on a finished product.  Maybe they weren’t trying to steal them; let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  They could have just screwed up and forgot to replace the low res comps with the high res stock images prior to print or publishing.

Are They For Real?
I was flipping through the newspaper the other day and came across an ad for a national restaurant chain. Looking closely at the photo of the sandwich on the plate, I immediately noticed how off the focus was. The entire front of the sandwich was OUT of focus and the only part IN focus was about a quarter inch in the center, entirely too shallow. If becoming a stock photographer has done one thing, for me, it’s taught me how to shoot properly.  I have definitely made many mistakes in the past, but that’s how I learned.  Some people are learning while they’re working for large corporations.  I sort of pity them, because these people obviously don’t have anyone to teach them the proper ways, or to correct them, if their images are getting published nationally.  I really wish I had saved it, so I could scan it up and post it here.  The same company that had the really bad photo in their ad, at least has a really excellent selection of images on their website.  Lots of depth of field, nicely lit compositions, and all professional food photos with no other mistakes in their lineup.  I wonder how an image so bad slipped through?  Maybe someone got in big trouble over it later on.

There are many photographers out there that make a living shooting things wrong.  These ones might only be making it because they have good business skills.  There are a lot of really bad graphic designers in the corporate world, too – probably making double the salary that their skill set really should be allowing them.  I’m not trying to be mean, I just get a little bit disgusted when I know lots of really talented people that are struggling.  In the meantime, these people that are highly skilled, are the ones finding themselves stuck in a rut with their creative careers.  Or maybe they are just living in the wrong area of their country, where creative jobs are scarce.

The Moral of the Story
Sometimes it’s out of the creative’s hands, when printers goof up, fail to provide an accurate proof for color or what have you.  But we can’t pass the blame onto the printers, those guys have enough stress as it is.  Plus, we are all human – prone to goofing up once in a while.  But what about those creatives who really are bad?  I think what it really comes down to, is that there will always be some people that are much better at certain jobs than the actual “so-called” professionals working these positions.  So here’s to the hacks, the hung over art directors, the technically untrained photographers of the world.  Don’t quit your dayjobs Best wishes, and we hope you shape up before you get shipped out.  For the rest of the real professional creatives that know what they’re doing, keep at it.  Some day your time to shine will be here.

I hear this a lot from those looking into microstock to earn a full time living.  Questions like this come up frequently on microstock forums, twitter and facebook.  How many images will I need?  What can I make hourly?  Is building up a sizable microstock portfolio even worth the effort? Read the rest of this entry »

Celebrities see a lot of cameras in their daily lives.  Usually they’re getting chased around by paparazzi or getting blinded by flashes going off at movie premieres, parties and charity events.  Ever since I started see Ashton Kutcher in the Nikon TV commercials, it made me wonder which celebrities actually know their way around a dslr?

Which super stars enjoy photography as a hobby?  Which prefer getting behind the camera it and not just being in front of it all the time?  Here are a list of all the celebrities (who are also photographers) that I could track down.

#1 Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks is not only one of the world’s greatest supermodels and talk show hosts, but she can also handle her own with a Hasselblad!  You can see her on her show America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) frequently shooting some of the contestants.  Now does she know how to set everything up in the camera settings and lighting?  Who knows, and who cares – she probably just has to worry about pointing and shooting.  Being around the modeling  business for so many years, she has probably absorbed so much photographic knowledge that it just comes naturally to her.  Think about it, don’t most actors usually move towards directing later in their careers?  It seems to be a common trend in models and actors.

#2 Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Hudgens told MovieFone in an interview that photography is her favorite hobby. “I think it’s a lot of fun … savoring the moment.  I get to go to all these beautiful places, so it’s nice being able to take pictures of it.”

#3 Drew Carey

Yes sir, Mr. Price is Right himself also shoots sports!  This surprized me a lot.  I’ve always liked Drew Carey as an actor/comedian, now I like him even more.  Drew shoots for the U.S. National soccer team on occasion, and he sells his images under the pseudonym “Brooks Parkenridge”.

#4 Jerry Bruckheimer

We all know Jerry as the fantastic film and tv producer, but he actually started out as a photographer.  His interest in film got him to where he is today, but that’s not to say that the art of photography didn’t help him along on his career path.

#5 Brad Pitt

You might be sick of hearing about Brangelina gossip on shows like TMZ and Extra, but here is an interesting tidbit.  This dude is so much of a photo geek that it has been said that he drives his wife Angelina Jolie insane with it.  Angelina said her hubby Brad Pitt  “has become obsessed with photography and ruminates for hours on how to improve his art”.  Supposedly Brad really geeks out and studies everything about the art and science of photography and imaging.  Hey, I have to give him some credit.  He isn’t pulling the “rich doctor” syndrome.  You know, when highly wealth people buy a Canon 1ds MkIII even though they have no clue what they’re doing with it.  In that case, it’s like they’re walking around with $8000 necklaces.  Brad seems like the type that really geeks out, and for that I have to give him props.  You can read more about his obsession here.

I highly that Ashton was into photography before Nikon decided to use him as their post child.  Hey, I’m not knocking him – I think he’s great as an actor.  Heck, one of my dogs is named after his character on That 70s Show.  I could be wrong, but I can’t find any evidence that he’s a real life photographer aside from his Nikon commercials.

Did I miss anyone?  If you know of any other famous musicians, actors, actresses, athletes, or other celebrities that also love photography, please post them in the comments below! To learn more about top celebs and their other hobbies, check out this great post at NotSoBoringLife

I recently received a wall post on facebook from a fellow photographer:

“Your giving out free photo shoots in exchange for signed release forms is undermining the industry… it is a disgusting strike against the photographic community. Terrible business practice.  Do you really feel you have to give your work away in order to get a model release signed?  I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this… you really should reconsider.”
-Anonymous

Is this guy serious?  I couldn’t help but laugh after reading this.  The point of TFCD shoots (time for cd) is a trade off.  I get models for free, and they get the images for free.  In turn, I sell the images and make money off of them.  How is this undermining the industry?  Not everyone is a stock photographer, it’s not like this guy is going to lose portrait business.  Not everyone is going to want to sign a model release and have their photos sold all over the internet.  I am very clear with the models I work with prior to shoots.  As long as everything is understood, we move forward.

Sometimes there are cases where you may shoot and not got enough return back, for your efforts.  If you want to play it safe, there are also arrangements where photography rates are discounted when a model release is signed, but the client is still charged a fair rate.  This gives the model or people receiving the service incentive to sign a model release.  Depending on the difference in price you charge, some may be very willing to do this in order to save money.  You can’t under-sell or under-value your services, your time, your gear, and your efforts, but there are times where an even trade can still be of value for both parties.

You can learn more about TFCD shoots here.