Shooting for Stock Photography

A great way to earn money and learn a lot in the internet is participating in stock photography. Stock photography has been around for a while. And there are a lot of great stock sites that sell photographs for a reasonable price.

Just how and what should you shoot to be able to participate in stock photography?

Photographers say you should start with the concept. But the very first thing you should do is to know your equipment. I literally spent ten times more time trying to know how my camera works than thinking of something to shoot.

Stock photography is a very demanding industry. It's as close as you'll get to professional photography. It requires you to be able to produce images of the highest quality. That is because this industry is very competitive.

Try shooting the same subject with different settings. You should know how your camera reacts with different kinds of light. You should also know how it responds to different levels of illumination. Note the differences you see and keep them in mind.

Next you need a concept. Your images should present an idea, a thought or an expression. Consider a photograph of a man typing on a computer. What is he doing? Why is he typing? Is he working? Is he Blogging? Or just playing?

Designers buy stock images because of the concept they present - not because they look good. Stock photos are used in web sites, brochures, magazines, publications, advertisements, and almost anything that has a print.

So you need to have an image that has a concept that satisfies the needs of the would-be buyers of your pictures.

Then, you need a lot of light. Stock photos require that images have the right level of illumination and contrast. They need to be clear. If you can't afford a big set-up, you can always use desk lamps or even the sun.

You'll also need a computer and two kinds of programs: noise reduction tool and a photo editing application. Most stock photographs go through a noise reduction process. They also get a little tweaking in color, contrast and brightness.

Stock photographs need to be as close to perfect as possible. It's like what they say in the computer graphics industry: "it does not matter how you do it as long as you get the job done." Don't think that editing a photo in your pc is cheating. That only goes for journalism.

The next is pretty simple. You need a stock agency to upload your images to. Or you can showcase your work in your own site. Uploading in stock agencies is better. That is because you can find out where and how to improve. Use their powerful community to find out your weakness and strengths as a photographer.

Then when you have all this, what you need to do next is to be consistent and improve and improve and improve. You need to keep up with the ever demanding industries. If you don't, you'll get left behind.

Brindisi Students Art and Music Festival

It’s a sunny afternoon in early May, and while students in other high schools throughout Italy are immersed in reading, writing and a host of other studies, over one thousand students from the Adriatic port city of Brindisi and surrounding area are gathered together to put on a show unlike anything that has been seen in recent times.

The event is called BAMS - “Brindisi, Arte, Musica and Spettacolo” and showcases the talents and creativity of students attending the Brindisi Liceo Artistico (Academy of Arts) and other upper-level institutions of higher learning in and around the city.

But far from just being a day spent in the sun showcasing arts and crafts, and listening to high school bands, vocalists and dancers - the theme of the BAMS festival touched a nerve in every student involved: “Better Art Than the Mafia”.

The Mafia - unfortunately - is alive and well in Italy and perhaps thrives strongest in the South. Students with no future to speak of will always be a reliable resource for underworld activities. The BAMS festival sought to demonstrate that there ARE students who care and who want something more out of life.

Guglielmo Carrozzo , President of the Puglia Board of Education, thinks a festival of this kind demonstrates solidarity among students. Remarked Carrozzo, “…The BAMS festival wasn’t just held in Brindisi, but in areas all over the Puglia Region. The student unions suggested it and I thought it was a good idea, but the kids had to put in the effort to coordinate the event in order for it to come together...”

Coordinating this festival was no easy task. Two student-representatives from each school in the region were responsible creating a work force that would garner participation, get the necessary permits, and assist in setting up the stages in addition to a dozen other jobs necessary for getting this event off the ground.

Adds one student, “...the city is showing its support by allowing this festival to happen, but it’s just the first step. The only way to get rid of the Mafia influence by demonstrating that the city is proactive in it’s obligation to young adults…”

Amid the blaring sounds of electric guitar and hip-hop dance demonstrations, the student union set up a kiosk to collect signatures to present to city hall along with a letter of intent to the Mayor.

Adds Caroozzo, “…one of the aims here was to get the support of local businesses to agree to try and underwrite a meeting place for the students. Not just a place where they can hang out, but a youth center of sorts where the students can come and feel free to be creative and in general have a sense of purpose. Hopefully, the Commune (city hall) will take a look at this and realize that it serves a deeper purpose than just spending a day out of school...”

In an area spread out in a piazza above and on a portion of port of Brindisi, two stages, 20 bands, dozens of artists, dancers and singers converged for a day that passed all to quickly.

Added physical education teacher Giulia Lezzi, “…The students wanted this and they deserve all the credit for pulling it off. It came together pretty good and the students behaved themselves which is important…”

Only time will tell whether this festival has any lasting impact, but at least for now, area students in Brindisi can enjoy knowing that voices were heard and that their hard work coordinating this festival was worht it.

DIY Wedding Photography: Shot List for the Traditional Couple

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How can you save money on photography for your wedding? Do it yourself! DIY wedding photos won't sacrifice your precious wedding memories. Just make sure you are doing the wedding justice by creating a shot list before the ceremony.

As a traditional couple, you will want "classic" wedding portraits. Make sure you get the following shots for your do it yourself wedding album.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Pictures of the Bride and Groom

Have the bride and groom stand in front of the church. Stand back from the couple so you can get their entire bodies into frame. Make sure to get the entire wedding gown in the picture.

Take a few steps forward, use your zoom, and take a close-up portrait of the bride and groom facing forward.

Have the bride and groom turn their heads and look into one another's eyes. Take a close-up.

Snap a photo of the bride and groom standing in front of the church on their wedding day.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Photos of the Wedding Party

Every wedding album needs a picture that includes the entire wedding party. Line up the bridesmaids and groomsmen with the bride and groom in the center. The flower girl and ring bearer can stand in front of the attendants, but do not place them directly in front of the bride and groom. Doing so would block the bride's wedding gown.

Take some wedding photos of the bride with her bridesmaids. Then take some pictures of the groom with his groomsmen.

Make sure you get a picture of just the flower girl and ring bearer. These cute wedding photos will turn out great!

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Pictures of Family Members

Family plays an important role in any wedding. Make sure to include them in the wedding photographs.

Shoot the bride with her family and the groom with his family. Marriage unites these two families, so get a shot of them all together as well.

Make sure to get a picture with the grandparents as well.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Photographs of The Ceremony

The ceremony is the most sacred part of the wedding. Don't be too intrusive while getting your shots. Here are some wedding photos you must get:

Each bridesmaid and groomsmen as they walk toward the altar

The flower girl and ring bearer as they walk down the aisle

The bride walking down the aisle and being given away

Close-up of the groom when he sees his bride

The bride and groom standing at the altar (from behind and from in front if you can manage)

The entire wedding party during the ceremony

Bride and groom's first kiss as a married couple

The couple lighting the unity candle

Bride and groom exchanging rings

Bride, groom, and attendants as they walk back down the aisle

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Reception Photos

The reception offers many opportunities to capture the spirit of celebration. Take a lot of journalistic style photographs during the reception of guests dancing, eating, and laughing.

In addition to these spontaneous photos, remember to snap the following pictures:

The bride, groom, and attendants in the receiving line

Groom removing and tossing the bride's garter

Bride tossing her bouquet

The wedding cake being cut and fed to the bride and groom (protect your camera from flying cake!)

The couple's first dance and dancing with their parents

The Most Important Tip for DIY Wedding Photography - Be Creative

This wedding photography shot list will get you started. It is not intended to limit your creativity. These are only the basic poses and wedding pictures a traditional couple would like to have in their wedding photo album. Take these basics and add your own ideas to create a unique wedding gift -- the gift of memories.

Sources

DFM Photography, Wedding Shotlist Helper, http://www.dfmphotography.com/wedding_shotlist.shtml

Personal Experience

Baby Crying and Baby Colic - How to Deal Effectively with both

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Colic is a scary word.  It conjures up pictures in our mind of a constantly crying baby and tired harried parents.  Colic is defined as, A condition of infants characterized by frequent crying do to various discomforts.  When babies cry without being hungry, in pain, or overheated it is generally called colic.  Colic is not the result of bad parenting and you should not blame yourself.  Babies who have colic generally want to be held and have a more sensitive temperament.  Some people belive that colic is because of a stomach ache, however that is just a myth so you shouldn't worry about extra burping or specialized nipples.  This fussy crying is harmless for your baby.  Usually the hard crying starts to improve after 2 months or so and is usually gone by the time the baby is 3 or 4 months old.  In the meantime there are 6 ways that can help you cope with your colicky baby.  

Coping With Colic

1.  Hold and try to sooth your baby.  It is not possible to spoil your baby in the first 3 or 4 months of life.  You could rock your baby or try using a wind up baby swing.  Sometimes a walk outside in a stroller will help and many babies react well to a ride in the car.  ( There is now a new gaget called Sleep Tight that mimics the motion and sound of a moving car. It costs about $90.)

A warm bath will also help in certain situations.

2.  If none of the above quiets your baby and there is no discernable reason for the crying you can let your baby cry itself to sleep.  Minimize outside stimuli and try wraping your baby up tightly ( swaddling).  If after 15 or 20 minutes the crying has not stopped pick up your baby and start again with step # 1.  

3.  You don't always have to rock your baby to sleep.  If you always rock your baby to sleep, later she will become dependant on that.  Let your baby learn to self-comfort and put herself to sleep.  Sooth your baby and then when she is not crying put her in her crib and let her go to sleep on her own.  

4.  Promote nighttime sleeping.  Your baby needs a lot of sleep, however to promote nighttime sleep don't let your baby sleep all day.  After your baby naps 3 hours gently wake her.  Then take the time to play with her, feed her or attend to her other needs.  This way your baby's longest sleeping time, about 5 hours, will occur at night.

5.  Get rest and help for yourself.  You cannot take good care of your baby if you don't take care of yourself.  Avoid fatigue and exhaustion.  Nap when your baby naps.  Ask your husband, friends, and family to help you.  Talk to someone everyday about your problems and feelings.  Its ok to be frustrated.  The constant crying is hard for anyone to deal with.  If it is possible let someone else care for the baby while you can get out of the house occasionally.

6. Avoid over the counter medications.  Most of these are not affective and some of them can be dangerous. (Especially those containg phenobarbital.)

A baby with colic can be difficult to deal with but giving your baby plenty of TLC is the best medicine.  Keep in mind this will only last a few months.  Your baby is precious and beautiful.  In the long run all that crying will be just a memory.

Wildlife Photography: Tips to Learn the Basics of Wildlife Photography

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

If you really want to learn the art of wildlife photography, then you should be aware of the basics of wildlife photography. It is rightly said that wildlife photography is one of the most challenging but rewarding hobby or career. It takes honest practice, persistence and hard work to master the real art of wildlife photography.

For mastering wildlife photography you have to have the basic knowledge of camera handling. As majority of the photos you take will be captured with the help of telephoto lens. This will test your patience and dedication as you have to wait a much longer time for the animal to come in the range and taking right pictures through right angles before that wild animal leaves from the site. Many of the times the animals you want to shoot will be yards away from you so that you have to take your pictures with more precision and care with zoom lenses.

While shooting wildlife you always have to watch out for minute movements happening around you. And for that purpose you have to be attentive for the longer time. The sunlight also plays a very important role in taking these wildlife pictures. For this purpose your camera should have the proper adjustments according to the various angles of sunlight so that pictures will be much clearer without any fuzz.

Also wildlife photography is all about capturing a particular moment of the wildlife. It makes or breaks your photography style. Many of the best wildlife photographers out there are really skillful in shooting the exact speed and momentum of the particular animal they are watching. But to be the best wildlife photographer out there you should first master the basics and you can begin this process by starting to shoot your own home pets. If you learn to shoot their natural movements and habits in their natural style then you can say that you are ready for outdoor wildlife photography.

There are no shortcuts to learn the basics of wildlife photography. Rather you have to practice it religiously and with full devotion. You should have to pay a special attention to your cameras. You have to take care that your camera has a quick shutter speed which is very necessary to take more than one shot as you roam around the wildlife to take pictures. In this type of photography most of the times you have to follow your subject to shoot many pictures at a time in one shot. This process is mainly known as "panning" which consists of taking faster pictures in one snap as you mover closer to a particular animal you want to shoot.

Thus wildlife photography is all about your patience, persistence and shooting skill where you need to wait a longer time to take the perfect picture. But at the end of the day it is also the most satisfying art where you get the really thrilling and enjoyable experience to cherish for.

Christmas Light Photography Tips and Advice

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We're out taking photographs of Christmas lights. There are so many beautiful displays, and we want to capture them on film. So as we prepare to take our pictures of Christmas lights, we back away so that we can capture the entire magnificent scene within our frame.

Correct. But also incorrect, if that's all we do. And this leads to our first Christmas photography tip for illustrating Christmas light displays.

(1) The best Christmas lights photography captures not only panoramic scenes, but also close-ups of the highlights within the panorama. We want both. Let's say that on the sprawling front lawn of a suburban home, we see Santa on his sleigh in one location, and a Salvation Army bell-ringer in a second spot, and a nativity scene someplace else. In addition to our distant Christmas photograph, we can also zero in on each of those three highlights.

(2) Opt for a high shutter speed. We want to illustrate the lights, not the light that they emit. A wide angle lens is for the panorama, and a macro lens is for the close-ups.

(3) Those Christmas light displays are so brilliant in the deep, dark, Silent Night. Maybe so, but our Christmas photography will be lousy at that point. Our photos will show the lights, but not the property in the background. Or, we'll see the property but we won't clearly see the lights, so to speak. Our best bets are at dusk or at dawn, and overcast usually is better than clear sky.

(4) If we're really dedicated and sticklers for perfection, we'll shoot our Christmas photography both at dusk and at dawn. Great photography of any sort is trial and error. Furthermore, if we show up maybe a half-hour before the optimal time, then we can plan our logistics and our camera angles, so that we're ready when the time is right. Extra time = excellence in our Christmas photography.

(5) Let's see here. We have the lights. We have the various props that go with the lights, such as the nativity scenes or Santa on his sleigh. We have the property in the background. Aren't we forgetting something? Oh yes, the sky. The sky! Look at examples of Christmas lights photography that impress you (or even thrill you) the most, and odds are that the sky will play a prominent role. Seek an angle at dusk that shows an afterglow in the evening sky. To include more sky, shoot from a low angle, upward toward the Christmas lighting display and toward the sky.

(6) People. Where are the people? Just because your subject is Christmas lights photography, that doesn't mean the scene must be devoid of people. Have some children pose in the scene, or better yet, just tell them to go ahead and frolic. This can add a unique element to your Christmas lights photography.

SOURCES

http://www.intofotos.com/photography/2007/11/10/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights/

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/christmas-lights.shtml

Tips for Your Commercial Photography Portfolio

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A great commercial photography portfolio is your calling card in the industry, and your ticket to winning clients and landing jobs as a professional photographer. Read on to learn 3 key tips that will help make your commercial photography portfolio shine, so prepare to start getting the gigs you need to advance your career. These commercial photography portfolio tips will take your clips to the next level, so that you can scale the ladder to your dream job.

1. Offer Your Commercial Photography Portfolio In A Variety Of Formats

When you hand out your commercial photography portfolio, one of the things it is crucial to communicate to a client is that when they hire you, you will do everything you can to make his or her life easy. You want to be seen as professional and responsive, and as someone who proactively anticipates your client's needs. One great way to make this impression fast is to have your commercial photography portfolio available in a number of formats, including in print, on CD, and online, as AllArtSchools suggests. When you follow this advice and have print, digital, and virtual clips available, your first question to a client can always be "What's easiest for you?", a sentence that will be music to any prospective employer's ears.

2. Pitch Your Commercial Photography Portfolio Directly To The Job At Hand.

Instead of having one commercial photography portfolio, have several, one targeted to each kind of work you're hoping to do in your career. Have you taken some gorgeous nature images? That's great, but a client who's hiring for a fashion shoot won't care! A prospective employer will hire the person who seems most likely to do a great job on the specific project at hand, so make sure everything in the commercial photography portfolio you hand to a possible client is directly relevant to the task they'll need you to do. Try doing as PhotoCritic suggests, and put together a portfolio of just your fashion work, another that highlights your nature shots, another for photos you've taken of products, and so on for each genre you've got clips for, and are seeking work in. That way, as you move forward in applying for a variety of jobs, you'll always have your most specifically relevant work at your fingertips, ready to impress your next boss.

3. Include The Right Written Information In Your Commercial Photography Portfolio.

As Marketing For Photographers and Photography points out, you don't need to include much written information in your commercial photography portfolio. However, what you do put in can make or break a client's interest in your work. By reducing the amount of text, you help keep your prospective employer engaged with the images you're presenting, which is the goal of your commercial photography portfolio. You don't need to put forward the technical information for each picture, like your equipment choices or shutter speed, because the client only cares about your end result, not about the road you took to get the shot. You should offer a brief description of what each picture is, to provide some context, and a clean, professional, and specific title for each shot, so that it's easy for clients to reference a particular image in your commercial photography portfolio when they're in discussion with you, or with any colleagues who may be involved in making the decision to hire you.