A couple of years ago I participated in the World Wide Instagram Meetup that was held at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. I met a lot of nice people and some great photographers. Some of which are major influencers on Instagram too. In this photo we were all using the crystal ball to create photographs of our surroundings that ended up changing what we are familiar with when it comes to Lake Eola to a new creative spin.
While photography has changed over the years and current technology makes it much easier to get into, the mainstay I believe is the artistry and creativity in photography. While anyone can take a photo, not everyone has the same level of creativity. And that’s what makes this such a great art form.
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When I am hired to do photography, I almost never know what to truly expect. Sometimes the weather may not cooperate, venue changes last minute, kids aren’t in the mood, and other things to keep me on my toes. While I like it, it does make for interesting situations from shoot to shoot.
These photos are a good example of a family that took time to get dressed up really nice, kids included, and things just got out of hand and so much more fun as the session progressed.
Because there were so many kids present (more than what you’re seeing here) I informed the parents that they should through their expectations of the kids all cooperating at the same time out the window. Kids do what they want, when they want. And when you’ve got plenty of them together that are already used to playing around with each other, they’re surely not going to want to sit still.
Rather than show you the “posed” shots, these zany ones I felt captured more of who they are and the moments of fun they were having.
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Your readers are more visual now then ever. Captivating them with great headlines is key, and so is capturing their attention with an interesting photo or graphic that goes along with the headline. Full disclosure, we actually use these websites along with paid RF websites like iStock and 123RF for our projects as well as client projects. Reason being is that there are a good amount of free resources for images online with creative commons licensing, but there are times when you’ll need to purchase a specific image that just isn’t found anywhere on the free market.
All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.”
What I really like about this site is the free videos. Don’t get me wrong, they have a great library of photos to choose from with a broad range, but lets face it video is where it’s at these days and getting to use some HD quality ones for your project will make a great impression for your viewers.
“Hundreds of high resolution images added weekly. Free from copyright restrictions.“
This is a very clean and easy to navigate and search user generated stock photography website. It’s easy and quick to create an account, and I encourage that you do so that as you download photos you take the time to “like” the photographs that you come across. As a photographer this means a lot to us!
“Search millions of Creative Commons photos and add them to your blog posts easily.”
Their headline pretty much says it all. Catering to web creatives and bloggers alike, you’ll find plenty of great images and photos to use on your websites here.
We are a stock photo community where photographers & designers can share their own photos and artwork with people from all over the world.”
If you’re looking for really great high quality photography from photographers around the world, you’ll enjoy this website. I’ve seen a bunch of highly edited and HDR photographs posted here for free use.
“Startup Stock Photos was started as an outlet for photos we were already taking on a regular basis. It’s grown to be much more than that. People and organization all over the world have used these photos to make some really awesome things. We’re happy to have helped.”
If you’re looking for photos and images with that “startup” or agency look, you’re going to enjoy this website. From wooden desk tables to white board and monitor screens, you’ll no doubt find an image or two to fit your project. While there isn’t a search feature or a huge library of photos, the ones that this photographer uploaded for your free use are fantastic.
What did you think of the list? Hopefully this helps you if you were looking for some great sources for photography and images. Remember to give credit back to the website/author of the photos you choose to use. While what you find may be free, what it does cost time, expertise, and skill to do photography. Having credit and recognition goes a long way!
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of being the photographer for a high school buddy of mine. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon with the famous Florida sun gearing down for a fantastic sunset. Now this was a shoot I did alone since it was a small engagement, but if I had my assistant with me I probably would have staged this photo. Believe it or not it was a candid real moment that I happened to be at the right place at the right time to capture. Check out the original post on our Instagram page here.
I’m a little late at posting this, but we’ve been slammed here at Dt HQ. Tonight in Downtown Orlando will be an open gallery of photos submitted that depict live, work, and play in and around Downtown. One of my photos is actually used on the flyer of the event and in Facebook. It’s in the top right corner of (street view) of Orange Avenue. If you’re looking for a fun night out of some awesome photography that is from cell phones to mirrorless to DSLR’s and more you’ll want to check this out.
What I like the most about this event is that is was open to everyone no matter what type of device they have for capturing a photo. This is all about being creative and capturing the City Beautiful. For more information check out their Twitter page or visit the main website or Facebook page. See you there!
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These are some sample photos from an action, portrait, and book cover shoot. Jarrod is an author as well as a speaker. He is a high energy guy and that made this shoot really fun to do. From jumping to rehearsing a moc keynote speech, we had probably over 500 frames that were all good but still had to narrow down to the best to use for promotional reasons. Check him out on his website for more.
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