• Photo: Antisocial by Evan Sharboneau

  

   

   

   

   

   

• Photo: Snowman Made of Sand on the Beach by Katrina Brown

  

   

   

   

   

• Photo: Peyto Lake by StarStock

  

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Here is a new amazing photography website that helps anyone learn how to light.  Ever look at a photo and wonder, “I wonder what type of lighting setup they used?”.  Well, now there’s a website (and an app) for that.  Strobox is an entire website dedicated to the behind the scenes setups of each and ever image submitted.Here is a stock photo I had shot, along with the lighting diagram I just posted.  It took me a total of about 2 minutes to make the diagram and post.  I’m definitely going to be bookmarking this website for those days when I just feel dull, and need some strobist lighting inspiration.

• Photo: Glossy black and yellow shield emblem

  Glossy black and yellow shield emblem with vine accents
  Keywords: coat of arms banner black blank coat crest construction warning defense emblem floral government governmental politics shield symbol weapon white silver glossy shiny yellow vector

• Photo: Rusted Diamond Plate Metal

  Close up of real diamond plate material with a slight vignette. Most of the yellow paint is chipped and scratched off.
  Keywords: abstract aluminum backdrop background build closeup construction diamond diamondplate durable floor grip grunge heavy industrial industry iron macro material metal old panel plate rough shaped silver stainless steel surface texture textured tough tread bumped real rusty rusted brown rust vintage aged yellow city grungy weathered vignetting vignette sidewalk chipped scratched

• Photo: TV In Bed

  Person watches TV at night in his bed with his feet sticking up out of the blankets. The TV screen is blank white
  Keywords: tv television addiction night feet white bright screen monitor bed sleep sleeping awake insomnia dark light lit illuminated lay laying in tired sleepy 1st first person sticking up sheets blanket watching staring couch potato lazy american bedroom indoors inside looking lying relaxing remote technology news copyspace blank black background vertical

• Photo: Red Pepper Water Splash

  Red bell pepper splashing through water over a black background.
  Keywords: red food fruit vegetable energy air healthy water surface power clean up clear liquid spray ingredient movement action dynamic flow motion force vortex underwater fluid pure pepper suspended shining reflective splash bubbles drops droplets bell pepper submerged splatter on black dispersion displacement freshness

Let’s face it. Sometimes while freelancing, the jobs coming will just die down. Other times you’re so swamped, that you have to pick and choose; maybe even turn work away. There’s a simple solution to all of the madness!  Remember that old saying, “One hand washes the other”?

It’s always good to have a network of friends and colleagues to push work back and forth to/from. Remember – one hand washes the other. When you “pay work forward”, it all comes back around. Whoever is too swamped at the time, or doesn’t want to do a particular job, will push it over someone else that might want it. This type of arrangement is highly recommended with regards to any type of freelancing position.  Sometimes you might not want to deal with a certain type of a client.  Dealing with the public can be trying, and not all of us handle certain types of people as well as others.  This is another perfect scenario of why you might want to shoot the job over to your colleague; not to dump them with a jerk of a client, but maybe you know they really could use the work.  “Beggars can’t be choosers”.  Wow, two old school expressions in the same blog post *facepalm*.

Great platforms for building your social work network such are twitter, behance, google+, linkedin; anywhere you can interact and connect with like minded creatives.  It takes constant effort, though.  You’ll need to actually keep in touch with your “creative network” somehow, and make sure you communicate regularly.  You’ll want to remember members of your network, and hope they remember you as well.  Keep each other updated on how busy everyone is, and who is in need of the most work at that present moment.

Do you already have something like this?  Please share your story in the comments section below.

I get asked “What camera should I get?” all the time.  The simple answer: buy what you can afford. Set the bar low, because any DSLR will be better than a point and shoot.  Even when you know what you’re doing, a higher-end dslr isn’t going to take better photos than an older model, or more entry level dslr.  Yes, the glass matters the most.  The camera sensor has a lot to do with quality, so make sure you’re not buying a body that is notorious for having high noise issues.  Some of the older Rebels are very noisy, no matter what lenses you’re shooting with.  Even a noisy dslr will have less noise, and take better images than a point and shoot.  Being a stock photographer, I have always been concerned with noise quality.  If you are just looking to shoot family photos, trips, and pets – don’t worry so much about cameras that have a lot of noise at low ISO.  Noise will hardly ever even show up in regular sized photo prints, in the iso 100-1600 range.

Before you think you’re finding a great deal on the newest model, look at the next few older ones in the series. Whether you choose Nikon or Canon, the glass will outlive many many camera bodies. You have to hold and feel them in your hands. Personally, I never really liked the smaller plastic DSLR’s, so I always went with older model prosumer bodies made of magnesium allow (Canon XXD series).  The thumb wheel (not sure what the proper name for it is) makes it so much easier to quickly change the settings.  On the Canon Digital Rebel series camera bodies, there is no wheel.

You have to remember, any older model dslr you can still purchase right now was amazing and mind blowing when it first came out, just a few years ago. Keeping up with the latest and greatest tech doesn’t make you a better photographer. Sure, they are tools – and newer features/technological help tremendously.  What lenses should you get?  That’s a whole other story.  For basic, starter, and cheap lenses… get the 50mm f1.8 (about $80-130 depending on Nikon or Canon).  I only know Canon, because that’s what I use.  There is nothing wrong with Nikon, or Pentac, or Olympus either!  You should try both, and see which button layout you like the most, and feel more comfortable with.  It won’t take long to test them out in a local store, and decide for yourself.  I went with Canon because I had a lot of friends also with Canon, and knew we could easily swap, trade, buy, sell, and/or borrow gear from one another.  I always saw that it was easier to buy used gear that was more readily available if I went with one of the main dslr manufacturers, Nikon or Canon.  Canon glass is a little bit cheaper than Nikon, from what I’ve seen too.  Just a tiny bit.  Another lens that is pretty standard is the 18-55 IS or VR lens.  This will cover a decent wide angle to mid zoom range for landscapes and portraits.  Once you get into the higher end lenses, the costs begin to surpass even the prices of the camera bodies themselves, as it should.  Bodies come and go, but good glass is forever (or at least until you drop it, and it breaks).  Don’t think you can’t make amazing pictures with basic starter and kit lenses.  Just look online, and you’ll see millions of folks already doing so.  I have been using my 18-55 IS lens and 50mm f1.8 lenses for almost 7 years now, and still use them to this day, along with my higher end L lenses.

I hope this post has helped – a final bit of advice, is to read read read the reviews online of whatever you’re interested in buying.  You can save SO much money by buying camera bodies use, and that are at least 3-5 years old.  Usually they depreciate in value down to about 25-40% of their original price, in a short matter of years.  Buy what you can afford, and don’t bite off more than you can chew until you know you are serious about photography.

PS: I’ll be updating our gear list with everything we use here at Arena Creative for our stock imagery, if you are looking for additional recommendations.