I have a working collection of 52 film cameras—some of them quite rare and unique, others just yard sale garbage, all of them loved and fun. I recently decided to take all of them out and push some celluloid through them, documenting the process one week at a time as I breathe some life back to these dope little beasts. I’m calling it the Vintage Camera Quest. Like every photographer I suspect, I had no choice but to fall in…
After my recent success at mixing vintage Verichrome Pan film with Kodak Instamatic film, I wanted to try this splitfilm trick again. And I wanted to create something that was a “day versus night” exposure, using the lights of an amusement park or the midway of a county fair to build my image. With that, I loaded a roll of 616 backing paper with four—yes, four—12-exposure rolls of Kodak Gold 200 Instamatic film. Trust me, these films are so old,…
This is an unposed, naturally caught moment at Rachael and Carl’s wedding at The Vineyard in Stockcross, Berkshire. It’s recently won a couple of awards from This is Reportage and the Wedding Photojournalist Association. It’s a striking image, and drew some criticism that it must be staged, or was not photojournalism. So I thought I’d explain why I believe this is wedding photojournalism, and how I came about taking this image. The Setting The Vineyard is a 5-star hotel and…
This is our son River, he’s had a camera in his hands since he started to drool. When both your parents are photographers I guess it’s just in the genes and he loves it. He started out with a film Holga and Diana F+ and graduated to a Canon Rebel when he was 2. He is now 4 years old and shoots with our Canon 5D Mark IVs. We absolutely shoot on manual and so does he. We get the…
Fortunately, we are beginning to find ourselves in a world where it’s okay to open up a little more about mental health. It’s great! It’s the age of empathy and humility now, and I think once we begin to empathize properly with each other, we’ll be in a much better place. We’ve all got the same prehistoric brain, and it’s surprising how you can begin to essentially ‘re-program’ your thoughts. I’ve most certainly had my battles with mental health and…
I believe all artists experience “blocks” every once in a while. Feelings of discouragement or lack of motivation, inspiration, and will to do something we know we love to do. Writers have a “writer’s block” – a condition in which a writer is unable to write anything. Logically, it doesn’t make sense; how could a writer who has written hundreds of pages before not be able to form sentences all of a sudden? But it’s nothing to do with writing…
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t only shoot with zoom lenses. I should also add that what I’m about to say is perhaps most relevant to other wedding photographers, particularly those shooting in a documentary style like myself. If I was a landscape or portrait photographer for example, and wasn’t under quite the same time pressure, and was likely to be making large prints, or wanted a particular flair or bokeh effect, I would most probably want to use…
The rise of social media has had a massive impact on the art we see, consume, and interact with on a daily basis. Some of that impact was positive, some negative, but one of the most radical changes has also been one of the most detrimental: the demise of the gatekeepers. Gatekeepers were the tastemakers of the past: the magazine editors, television produces, publishing executives, and gallery curators. In other words, the people who decided what work was seen and…
Before the rise of social media and the ubiquity of apps like Instagram, photographers established and flexed their brands through their personal website and blog. The photographer website supplanted the printed portfolio, for the most part, offering photographers a way to showcase their work with a remote audience of photo editors, customers, and fans. As Facebook took over our lives in the early 2010s, we encouraged photographers to set up business pages. “Separate your brand from your personal profile!” was…
While exploring the southern, lesser-known part of the Jordanian desert Wadi Rum, I notice a remarkable, palace-like structure sitting on a high, rocky cliff. The view reminded me of a scene from the classic Oscar-winning film Lawrence of Arabia. It just lacked camel caravans and people. Who lived in such a place and why did they decide to abandon it? Perhaps the abandoned structure was the set for a film I was unfamiliar with. The harsh background recalls those against…
Is noise in photos always bad? It might seem like a rhetorical question with an obvious and universal answer: yes. But landscape photographer and YouTuber James Popsys begs to differ in an opinion video that will no doubt spark some debate. Popsys shoots with a Micro Four Thirds system, and he’s often asked about the noise performance. But this video is not about defending Micro Four Thirds or comparing sensor sizes. He does shoot these things with his MFT system,…
I was excited when Canon and Nikon finally stepped into the mirrorless game seriously more seriously, releasing their full-frame mirrorless cameras in 2018. Nikon launched their Z6 and Z7 with the new Z-Mount, while Canon released the EOS-R with a new RF-Mount. Taking a closer look to the mount design, both companies adopt very similar approach, and I can’t help but notice the similarities and be reminded of what Four Thirds promised and delivered in 2003 when Olympus DSLR E-1…
Like it or not, much of the conversation around image quality these days revolves around sensor size. When Sony announced the a7R IV, it boasted image quality that “rivaled medium format.” When people defend Micro Four Thirds, they show off their ultra-portable system and claim the images are “indistinguishable from full-frame.” And then you have tweets like this: Full-frame has all-but taken over as the professional ‘standard.’ But why? And does it even deserve that title? I don’t think it…
Main photo: Vicente Concha Like you, we’re passionate about photography and want to find a place for every photo in our collection. So, in an effort to remove any guesswork on your part, we’re going to take a second to lay out some guidelines and simplify the submission process. One of the most common points photographers struggle with is understanding the difference between commercial and editorial photos—more specifically, what content is considered safe for commercial uses, and what is restricted…
“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.” I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone. And if the response from this photographer-turned-business coach had been: “It’s been constant hustle since day one.” OR “I’ve never stopped hustling.” OR “Girl, get some comfy shoes and stock up on wine,…
Instagram’s controversial experiment with hiding public like counts is only live in seven countries, but it’s already inspired some freakouts from influencers who claim the change is crippling their engagement and destroying their livelihood. The experiment began in May, when Instagram made likes private for Canadian users only. Two months later, the social network expanded the trial to six more countries, adding Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand to the list. And just like that, millions of users…
Explore nine storied moments that shaped and changed Fashion Week history with these iconic images from the Shutterstock archives. Fashion Week is one of the biggest cultural events in the world and it’s not only the clothes that leave editors and consumers speechless. Sometimes it’s an over-the-top performance or surprise front row guest who will be most remembered. There are also those unforgettable moments when a designer chooses to raise awareness about a cause, or a supermodel makes a political…
Focus on what’s important… pun intended. I’m not referring to lens focus or how to get sharp images. If that’s your main concern right now, just Google tutorials on autofocus, zone focusing or micro-adjustments. When I say ‘focus on what’s important,’ what I mean is the purpose, meaning, emotion or reason for your photographs. What is the function of your photographs aside from displaying an aesthetically pleasing visual? Ask yourself this question, “what do you want people to do when…
After the recent allegations of harassment and assault against celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde, fashion photographer Jessica Kobeissi decided to use her platform on YouTube to speak out against what she’s calling “the dark side of modeling” and share some of the horrifying stories she’s heard from models she works with. The hour-long video that resulted is, at times, distressing. From offensive or harassing text messages and Instagram DMs all the way to horrifying accounts of abuse, the stories that Kobeissi…
In a recent video, photographer and YouTuber Jamie Windsor shared some insightful thoughts on wedding photography: why so much of it looks the same (read: boring) and how wedding photographers like himself can help change that with each new couple they shoot. If we had to sum up the point of Windsor’s 12-minute video in one sentence, it would go something like this: take time during each wedding to ditch the tropes and formulaic shots that dominate Pinterest, and try…
“What lens did you use for that picture?” The only question less helpful to a growing photographer is probably, “What settings did you use for that picture?” Not because I think they are helping a newbie “cheat”, or because I might think it is copying, or ever — God forbid! — because I have some secret combination of shutter and aperture that is magic for me. It’s because it really doesn’t matter. And more importantly, me telling you how I…
Dear potential client, I have no crystal ball, yet I know you will be calling me this week for information about what I do. You might have seen one of my displays or my website or, hopefully, you were referred by a friend. And you will have liked what you saw—otherwise, you wouldn’t be calling me. And for that, I am truly happy. We will speak together on the phone: me asking questions to better understand what it is you…
Do you ever wonder why one person gets chosen over another, or how a story comes to be told in a certain way? Well here’s something that happened to me recently that gave me new insights about how choices are sometimes made and what it tells us about the people who make them. In 1961, Gordon Parks went to Brazil for Life magazine to shoot a story about poverty in the favelas of Rio. Parks was famous, the first black…
Why do photographers need to market themselves? In a phrase: so that you don’t starve to death. No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk ending up like Vincent van Gogh who (in the words of Steven Pressfield) “produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.” A lot of artists have this notion that they’re the creative person, and marketing belongs to the business world. Some even think it’s evil or dirty to promote themselves, and they…
Follow along with the biggest moments in August history in this visual journey of photos from the Shutterstock Editorial archive. Photography has given us a rich visual archive of the most important events in history — everything from tragedies to the pinnacles of human achievement. Photos can bring us back to a tragic event that broke our collective hearts, a cultural moment that we rejoiced over, or a scientific breakthrough that made us see the world differently. Each month we’ll…
Dear Entitled, I came across a screenshot of your “I have started a photography business” post in a “Classifieds” Facebook group. I don’t know your name, but honestly, even if I did, I wouldn’t use it. It’s not my way. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to address your post, because girl, I sure do. You are asking for a lot of stuff from strangers to run this business you have started and are apparently expecting to receive it,…
Four years ago, I set what seemed like an impossible goal: to make a functional Apollo 11 camera by the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It was a crazy idea, especially with how inexperienced I was with nearly every process that would be required to do so. I would need to build a workshop and learn how to operate machines that can precisely remove metal as easily as they can imprecisely remove your arm. I would need to learn…
Recently, I worked one of the most frustrating shoots I have ever had to endure. In my day job, I work with amateur prospective models doing test shoots. Most of the people I work with have never modeled and have rarely even stepped into a photography studio before. Despite this, the people I work with tend to understand the relationship and the unspoken code. When you’re the model, it’s good etiquette to listen to direction and to trust that the…
Explore the works of ten ground-breaking photographers who documented—and influenced—the course of history around the world. In recent years, we’ve seen photography change the world in real-time. Pictures of refugees in Europe, children separated from their parents at the US border, and protesters around the world have spread their struggles with the click of a button. In turn, those images have changed hearts and minds, inspiring concrete action, from donations to nonprofits to record voter turnouts. Today, it’s easy to…
Have you ever wondered why the images you created a few years ago look very different from the pictures you are taking now? Chances are you became a better photographer. You trained your eye and you got better at post-processing. But I am not talking about the craft. I am talking about the art behind photography. The art that feeds off your emotions. How was your life a few years ago? Maybe it was better. Maybe it was worse. Most…