Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

A Photo Folio Opens Its Doors

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Rob Haggart, the former director of photography for such notable magazines as Men’s Journal and Outside Magazine, has developed a simple approach to photography portfolios with A Photo Folio. He’s made creating a very elegant portfolio a matter of uploading photographs. Erik Dungan and Mark Caston, of BigFolio.com are also in on the project.

So far, A Photo Folio is providing two very different designs to photographers using the site. The first is a fairly minimalist design that nonetheless provides a very sleek portfolio for a photographer. The second has more color, along with more attitude. If I had to make a guess, I’d say that the first design is very ‘Men’s Journal’ while the second is more ‘Outside Magazine.’ Either way, the site is definitely looking to provide options for professional photographers.

 

Kite Photography with Scott Haefner

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Kite photography can be a great option for taking aerial photographs. When I was in college, I worked on the newspaper, along with some great photographers. We couldn’t afford the equipment that the local daily used to shoot football games — heck, for some games we couldn’t get press credentials. We did, however, have a photographer with a kite: he provided us with some great shots of the games.

Scott Haefner has some impressive shots on his site he’s taken using a kite set up. Even better, though, he has a complete rundown on his equipment that will give you an idea of where to start if you are new to kite photography. Haefner has even posted plans for the equipment he’s built himself. If you’ve been considering kite photography, Haefner’s site is a good place to start.

A Photographer’s Guide to the Beijing Olympics

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Zach Honig (award-winning photographer / PopPhoto editor) has put together a photographer’s guide to the Beijing Olympics, including everything from watching the games at home to details on shooting the games in person.

While I’m not headed off to Beijing myself, I’m fascinated by the differences between photographing athletes in action and my more usual subjects. The guide is only made better by the inclusion of many of Zach’s photos as he works this summer in Beijing.

So far, Zach has covered such topics as eating on the cheap and possible side trips from Beijing as well as the question of what kinds of cameras Olympic attendees can bring in with different cameras.

8 Photographers in 8 Weeks

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If you’ll be in Washington D.C. anytime in the next eight weeks, make the effort to stop by the Randall Scott Gallery. Randall Scott is running a unique exhibition showcasing eight photographers. For two week periods over the next two weeks, the gallery will hang the work of two different photographers at any given time, as well as a preview of all eight photographers’ work.

Scott, the gallery owner, picked these artists “through many internet wanderings, prowling artist websites and chasing links that start in one country and somehow cris-cross global cyberspace and end up in a completely different place,” specifically looking for photographers “who managed to make the hair on the back of [his] neck stand up.”

Even the online preview is jarring, showcasing unusual talent. The photographers included in the exhibit are Kyoko Hamada and Tema Stauffer (until July 26), Jessica Dimmock and Peter Van Agtmael (July 26 to August 8), Alexandra Catiere and Shen Wei (August 9 to 22), and Allison Brady and Ryoko Suzuki (August 23 to September 5).

The above photo is Teacup, by Kyoko Hamada.

Spot On: Flom Designs and Photography

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One of the things I love about blogs is the interaction that you get from readers.  Recently, Photography Bay featured a reader-created version of Free Links Friday.  Photographer Emily Law missed the deadline on getting a link to her site, Flom Designs and Photography, listed on that particular post; however, she took the time to comment and included a link to her site, which I followed and became quite engrossed for a short while in her photography and story.

I love visiting sites of other photographers and to hear about their journeys in life as a photographer.  Emily, who seems to be an avid YouTube user, has the above video from a local Fox network news story featured on the “who I am” section of her site.

Let me also point you to the link that Emily provided, which included wedding photos from a recent job.  See them here.  Emily said that this image is one of her favorites in a long time.

If you missed out on the Promote Your Blog for Free offerings a couple of weeks back, stay tuned.  There will be another one coming up soon.  You can make sure you don’t miss the next one by subscribing to Photography Bay’s RSS feed via the link below.

Cheaper Nikon Full Frame DSLR on the Horizon

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Amidst the recent discussions of the rumored Nikon D3X, insights on a cheaper full frame DSLR from Nikon surfaced again.  The exchange between a couple of forum posters occurred on DPReview’s forums; however, one of the forum posters was Thom Hogan.  The original poster noted that a cheaper full frame Nikon DSLR was in the rumor mill.  Thom replied with:

Yep. But I still hear this as being further out than the D3x.

(via)

As you may know, Thom seems to have his ear keenly to the ground regarding Nikon news, rumors and equipment developments.  I’m sure Nikon users would love to see a mid-range FF DSLR that’s in the same price range as the current Canon 5D.  We’ll keep you posted with the latest on this rumor and the Nikon D3X.

Joey Lawrence Interview

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Joey Lawrence is a photographic sensation. He makes the rest of us look at the box that we constrain ourselves to and ask why we were in that box in the first place. His talent and lens are in high demand from the likes of Warner Bros, Arena, Atlantic, Victory and more.

Ask the Photographer is featuring an interview with the inspirational 18 year old photographer. Read it here.

You can visit Joey’s site here. His blog is here

$550,000 Verdict Against Photographer for Harassment

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This is a great example of what not to do as a professional photographer:

John and Kerri Vickers were awarded a $550,000 verdict in their case against Ted Elden and his company Elden Associates on Nov. 28 by an Ohio Circuit Court jury. John Vickers’ mother and stepfather, Jim and Connie Murray of Wheeling, also were involved in the case.

Christopher Regan, an attorney with Bordas & Bordas in Wheeling, said Elden mailed cut-up photo negatives to the Vickers and the Murrays as well as other members of their families.

“The circumstances were like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” Regan said. “The harassment would not stop. There were 18 to 20 mailings.”

(Keep reading via West Virginia Record)

5 Great Photography Gift Ideas

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Christmas is almost upon us now. So, what to get for that special photographer?

Here’s 5 ideas that will make any shutterbug happy:

1. The easy bet is a new camera, right? But the real question is, which one? If your special photographer didn’t spell it out for you, then you’re left to decide between a DSLR or point and shoot camera. For a primer on how to choose, read Photography Bay’s Holiday Shopping Guide.

2. Get you shutterbug a good book. If he or she owns a camera or you’re getting one for them, then they’ll needs to read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Does your photographer like tinkering with photos on the computer? Get a book by Scott Kelby on Photoshop or Lightroom.

3. Photoshop. If they don’t have it and you know they like tinkering on the computer with their photos, get Photoshop Elements – available for Windows or Mac.

4. Lightroom. Do you know your shutterbug shoots in RAW? If so, pick up Lightroom and the Scott Kelby book suggested in number 2.

5. Give the gift of flickr. Sign your special someone up on a Pro account on flickr. While flickr is free, the Pro account is only $25 per year (if they like it, you’ve got an “in” on Christmas gifts for life) and it gives the gift unlimited bandwidth, photos and no size limits. It also allows your shutterbug to share all those photos that they doesn’t know what to do with. As cousin Eddie would say, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!”

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[tags]photography, camera, gifts, christmas[/tags]