Celebrating Earth Day Through Photographs

Happy Earth Day! As a way of celebrating Earth Day, I decided to share photograph tips, sites, and strategies that have caught my eye this week. Enjoy!

Earth: From A Different Point Of View
Think its hard taking photographs here on earth? Try taking them from space. Not only does this post have amazing images taken from space, you even get a tutorial on how it was done.

Kodak and Earth Day
What is Kodak doing to make planet Earth a better place to live? Find out how Kodak is focusing on environmental issues.

2009 Earth Day Photo Contest For Students
Have a child in grades 5-8? Have them create a photograph showing our changing world. They may win a digital camera.

Earth Day Photo Project
Have a Flickr account? Join the EPA in putting together a photo project showcasing the many aspects of Earth Day.

Earth Mosaic
What are you doing today? Now imagine one large photograph showing what everyone in the world is doing in honor of Earth Day. That’s the premise behind Earth Mosaic.

Photojojo – Recycled seat Belt Camera Straps
I love this place – where do they find those funky ideas? Check out these recycled seat belt camera straps, an interesting idea.

image source sachyn

Photography with a Theme – The Color Red

By adding an assignment to your work, you can open your eyes and really see a creative side. What if you had a project to do and the goal was to photograph just one thing. What would you do? Let’s take a look at one project…the color red. Color is everywhere and when you see some of the samples below, you will see on connection to each image and a large array of unique designs.

image by frazer4eos 

image by NYC nikonian007

Winter Images

Photography can become a wonderful tool and art if you create a theme. This post is about a winter theme. I found some wonderful winter images to pass along for the season

image by marika_te

image by – James Jordan 

10 Things To Inspire Your Photography

How many times a week do you take a few minutes and just start surfing? Some say that’s a big time waster, but I use it as inspiration. I start with an email or a link from a friend, and just start following things.

So here’s my list of 10 cool sites to inspire your photography.

1. FlakPhoto is a photography blogzine that’s filled with photography projects from every corner of the world. You’ll find photo essays, book projects and gallery exhibitions.

2. Rocktographers has the most amazing images of, well, rocks. The diamond kind that is. This will help you think outside the box when trying to come up with that unique photo at your next wedding. (Or for your commercial shoot.)

3. MCP Actions has a lot of cool Photoshop actions, ready to help you make your photography more saleable, and shorten up the time you spend on your computer.

4. Want to see what the Canon EOS 5D Mark II can do? I was amazed.

5. It’s all about perspective and anticipating what your subject is going to do. Check out these photos of skateboarders, and learn a thing or two about perspective and capturing a photo that speaks volumes.

6. We all know photographers love their toys. Here’s an interesting article on the most expensive camera lenses available.  Not on that list, one of my favorites is the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM. What’s yours?

7. I’ve been fascinated with stories from Dubai lately. So this picture of construction in Dubai City captured my attention.

8. Thinking about becoming a fine art photographer? Maybe its time to check out SOHO Photo. A gallery for photographers.

9. For holiday gift ideas, or a little bit of inspiration, I love heading to the masters. In this case Ansel Adams has a dynamic collection of work ready to inspire anyone.

10. And of course I love finding groups of photographers to network with. Check out Women In Photography.

HDR Photography – High Dynamic Range Technique

We’re heading out this weekend for a business retreat – and to have a change of scenery. The Rockies are beautiful anytime of the year, so we thought we’d head up to a few of our favorite places and try are hand at a new technique – HDR photography, or High Dynamic Range technique.

HDR creates amazing images – almost surreal – that gives you a sense of being in a different time and place.

HDR is created through tone mapping using bracketed exposures. To create one image, you end up taking a series of images – one at the correct exposure, a variety under and over exposed – and combine them into one dynamic image.  The highlights and shadows are all represented, giving it the surreal look.

photo source petervanallen

photo source joep r

photo source smashingmagazine – check out the other 35 shots

I pulled just a couple here to show you what other photographers have captured. If you’ve experimented with HDR, I’d love to see your work.

Smoke Photography Study – Photography Themes

Jay PH

Photography themes are wonderful to work with and the study of smoke will really get those creative juices flowing. Here are a few examples of some stunning studies on

Photography Motion – Photography Theme

Photography is such a great medium to work in. Setting out to capture images with a theme can enhance your portfolio, knowledge and ability. Here are some images focused on one theme…motion:

Is it the camera or the photographer?

What makes a great photographer? Is it the camera and lenses they use? Or is it the photographer?

That was the question of the hour yesterday as Andrew and I poured over a selection of images we had recently taken.

The next time you’re out with friends that aren’t photographers, watch how they look at things around them. Do they notice the flowers surrounding the cafe patio? Do they notice the bird soaring in the sky? Do they notice the signs along the way?

As a photographer – especially coming from a photojournalistic style of  photography – we see things in storyline fashion. We’re constantly looking for ways to tell the story with our photographs – and we pick up on ways to show that with each picture.

We focus on macro results, so the eye naturally picks up on what we focus on.

We show things in detail and put several images together to show the whole picture.

We use perspective to make a photograph better.

That comes from the education of being a professional photographer. It doesn’t come with the camera. I can get a great image from a point-and-shoot simply because I understand perspective and what to look for.

Of course the better the lens, the more I can get.  But ultimately comes down to the photographer.

What do you think?

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Photograph the Perfect Storm – Get Inspired 16

The next major storm that visits your location, grab your digital photography gear and head out to capture the effects of mother nature. A major storm – blizzard, hurricane, tornado, flood, wind or ice storm can alter the landscape around you. An ice storm can show its damaging effects on trees and other objects but can also be a wonderful modifier for common objects. I have seen amazing images of tables, benches and cars that reside next to a lake that were covered in 4-6 inches of ice. A transformation that is truly beautiful. – Get Inspired!

Photography Stock Images – Get Inspired – 15

Photography in Stock Images – If you need some new ideas and just can visualize what you are looking for, visit a stock photography website. Many site have millions of images. Just type in the search tool and your off. Simple to see what ideas are selling and this may create a spark to your fire. Take 1 hour, check out the popular images and write down 4 ideas that you want to shoot next. Tunnel vision is hard to break but, there is a quick solution. Get Inspired!