From My Portfolio

I'm just about done editing all of my photos from the National Brotherhood of Skiers 2009 Summit, with just two more events to go! I've been uploading them to my business website so my client and choose the images she wants me to put on a DVD. You can see the galleries at the top of my CLIENTS page.

This shot is one of my favorites for its simplicity, composition and motion. I love how the colors of his ski suit standout against the white of the snow, and that rush of snow kicking up behind him captures the excitement of the moment. Even though I cropped out the trees in the far left-hand side of the frame to stop them from cluttering the background, I love the shadows they cast in the image, lending some extra texture.

Get the Job Done: Tips for Great Holiday Photos

Yesterday, I received this great news pitch asking the Denver Post to print ideas about how to take great holiday photos from Alyse Liebowitz of 3 Chicks That Click. I thought it would be helpful to post it on my blog as well. 3 Chicks bring more than 40 years of combined experience in wedding, portrait, celebrity, and event photography to clients in the New York/New Jersey metro area. Their images have appeared in publications such as People, Teen Vogue, Rolling Stone, US Weekly, In Touch, OK!, TV Guide, and Life & Style.

Tips for great holiday photos include:

-Good lighting is essential to add dimension and depth to an image. In general, the light source should be behind the photographer. If shooting in front of a wall, the subjects should be about 2 feet from it to avoid shadows on the wall behind them.

-When composing a shot, don't zoom in too closely. Leave enough room "around" the subject(s) so you can crop the image to different sizes if you choose. Remember, you can always crop IN, but you can't crop out

-Clothing - for portraits, avoid busy patterns and logos. Solid colors work best, or choose a very simple pattern. For women, basic makeup and small pieces of jewelry will highlight their look. Men look best clean-shaven, unless they already have a full beard. Makeup, clothing, and jewelry should enhance the subject, not pull the viewer's eye toward those items in the final image.

-Most people look best when their body is turned slightly to the side, not facing the camera directly. It's a slimming effect that works well on all body types. Be sure your face is still turned toward the camera! If there are a lot of people in the shot, remember - if someone can't see the photographer, the photographer can't see him/her.

-Children can be a challenge if they're not particularly cooperative in having their picture taken. Try to get them interested by letting them take a few pictures first, showing them how they look in display mode (if you're using a digital camera), and letting them set up a few poses for the family.

-Ask your photographer to take a few test shots to help you relax. Hopefully the photographer has a good sense of humor, as a natural laugh is a much better expression than a forced smile.

-Above all, try to relax and have a good time. If you schedule a professional session and you or your family isn't feeling well, rescheduling may be the best idea. This should be a fun experience.

An Aside: One Man's Stock Trash is Another Man's Stock Treasure

Last week, I couldn't wait to tell everybody that I finally got accepted to iStockphoto.com. I'm not quite as excited to fess up to this next fact, but I think there could be a good lesson learned from it for all of us budding photogs: Shutterstock rejected every photo I submitted to them!

Shutterstock required I submit a batch of 15 images as part of its application process. Of course I used the three that iStockphoto had already accepted and 12 more I culled from my external hard drive where all my photos live. It looks as though they might have accepted the shot of the deer and the clouds reflected on the office building, but they couldn't be approved because they were unable to approve at least 7 out of the first 10 submitted. To add insult to injury, my uploading function was promptly, though temporarily disabled, as I can try uploading again in a month.

I was shocked by the images they turned down, as they have been some of my most popular sellers in other forums. Even the eye contact with this marvelous fox didn't sway them!




What were the reasons you ask? The fox shot was rejected due to:

NOISE--Noise, film grain, over-sharpening, or artifacts at full size.

While this one and others similar to it were axed because of:
COMPOSITION -- Limited commercial value due to framing, cropping, and/or composition.



I posted about this issue on several of the forums I frequented, including Digital Grin and Digital Photography School, and thought you might be interested in hearing other's responses and experiences they've had trying to get into stock photography.

So here's what I plan to do: I will dedicate all of my initial efforts into giving iStock what they want, learning how to deal with noise and artifacting, etc. by studying their guidelines. Once I get a handle on what differentiates stock photography from other types, I will try again to branch out to other agencies, including Web Shots and Shutterstock. I even asked my instructor Efrain Cruz to consider hosting a stock photography class with Illuminate Photography Workshops to get some tips and techniques from the pros about how to be successful at this type of production.

So how do you fix noise or artifacting? And I can't help but to wonder: do all of these stock agencies reject you on your first try just to see how you will respond? Will you try submitting again or will you hang your head in shame and never turn in anything else? I think it could be a good way of separating the folks who really want it from the ones who just dreaming of success. What do you think?