Being a photographer, I tend to back up my photos in multiple locations. I have them on my laptop, a backup USB drive, then another USB drive that is stored in a safe. I sometimes save my best photos online on Flickr since I have about 2 terabytes in storage, as well as my other online portfolio site of 500px.
All of these locations are part of my process to have some piece of mind if in case something goes wrong. Well today I saw in article on WebDesignLedger where they were claiming that Yahoo is downsizing. You can read the full article here. My concern with this feels falls first to my “free” account with Flickr. Yahoo purchased Flickr in 2005, so about 11 years ago. I won’t go into the changes and improvements of Flickr since, but the ability to store 2tb of photos online is great, I am aware that Yahoo’s financial performance has been declining so how they decide to deal with the picture website will be closely watched.
For those of you like me, it may be a good time to take stock of what you have loaded to Flickr, and be sure you have your originals saved somewhere in your library. If you don’t be sure to download your photos and save them as well as connect with your followers on other means like their other social media websites and online groups.
Here are a list of alternatives you may want to consider should you need another online repository:
Google Photos – While this offers unlimited “high quality” photo uploads. Uploading RAW files will count agains a 1.5Gb storage quota.
Amazon Cloud Storage – Offers unlimited cloud storage for about $60.00 a year. There is an inexpensive option for still unlimited photos, but a 5gb limit on video files. This plan is about $12.00 a year.
Dropbox – While you do get up to 5g of free storage, you will then need to pay for an upgraded annual account. $10 a month for up to 1tb, or $15 a month for unlimited storage and managed file and folder permission controls.
Have more questions on this? Or do you have some great other options for online storage? Let us know in the comments below.
Last month on the first week of December I made a trip down to Miami for Art Basel. I’ll write a post about my experience with that soon, but what I wanted to show was some of what I shot of the Wynwood Walls area not far from Miami Beach.
During the week of Art Basel, there were a lot of street artists in the area that were painting murals on the sides of buildings for this event. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Miami each year for Art Basel and all the other happenings and let me tell you they didn’t disappoint. If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly encourage it. And also speak to the artists, they are actually really approachable!
I have actually seen some of these types of “photo” over the last few years. When I did I thought it was video in either stop-motion or super slow motion clip. Come to find out it’s a process called Still Photo Animation. There are graphic designers and photographers producing this type of work on a commercial and consumer level all around. The video below features Joe Fellows as he shows and describes the software and techniques he uses when creating his animated photos.
This type of technique could be a great option to add to your portfolio as a photographer if you’re looking for a way to stand out from your competition. It does take some time, but could boost sales and prices for signature work by several hundred dollars. As you watch this video think of that comment below on how you’d add this to your photography services.
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A close friend of mine has been crushing it with teaching people different forms of Yoga. Her name is Cheryl Snyder. I took a body flow class with her not long ago and I’m looking forward to my first hot yoga class soon.
The photos here were from a shoot we did for her at the beach. My associate photographer that day was Trevor King of KingTMedia. It was a fun shoot capturing different poses of Cheryl as she performed some of her routines as well as some popular and difficult positions for this shoot. Check out the photos and let me know what you think in the comments below.
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This week I shot my first house in terms of real estate photography. This is something slightly new for me because a few months ago I shot a 2b/1.5b condo. This is a new area that I’d like to add to my portfolio as well as list of photography services that I can provide. I was working with a local realtor that I have met a few times around my neighborhood. And in talking to her is how this opportunity came up.
For me lighting is everything when I’m shooting, and I brought along my wife who’s my technical director. She sees the objects, misplaced items, coordination of objects, and so much more so I’d say we’re a good team.
One thing that I wanted to mention is that this house was staged rather nicely. There wasn’t any clutter of objects or things around the floors or counters. It was like a house just done by HGTV.
The Tech Breakdown:
Nikon D3200
Sigma 17-70 2.8 Lens
3 Speedlights
1 150w Strobe
An 11mm super wide lens is the next purchase I’ll be making!
You’ll be able to see for yourself my results after editing. Your comments are of course welcomed!
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I’ve spent a lot of hours studying photography over the past few years. Actually from the moment I purchased my first DSLR, I quickly adapted to the idea of trying to learn something new each time I picked up my camera.
There are so many ways to learn things about photography now a days, whether you’re looking for free knowledge or premium. There is a difference between the two but I’m not going to get into that too much right now. What I really want to talk about is how one can learn so much, despite all the resources, and still need to develop on their own.
One of the first things I learned was that in order to be a professional photographer, you need to learn all the rules, and then break them to capture the types of photos your creative mind has to offer. I used to buy magazines that each month would offer then next best top 10 whatever stuff. Then I graduated to books that would talk more about composition, form, exposure, and the business. While I did understand the idea of learning the rules to be able to break them, I started to hear a lot of contradicting advice from some prominent industry photographers.
Lenses
Some professional photographers believe that prime lenses are always better than zoom ones. While there is much to debate on both sides of this argument, I personally do not believe either is true. For me it depends on what I’m shooting. If I was hired to do a job and could only use the available equipment provided, and that included only one prime or zoom lens and a camera body I would be able to do the job, but “how” I did the job would be different depending on the lens. Where I would stand, how close I would need to be, what angles do I feel would be complementary.
There are also debates about whether or not the kit lenses are actually worth using or completely worthless as a professional. For me, I’ve used my kit lenses and continue to whenever necessary. I’ve produced some pretty nice shots as long as I had adequate light with my kit lenses.
Software
Long before I decided to make photography a business and more than a hobby, I found myself dabbling in Photoshop. I quickly found it to be really extensive and hard to pick up and learn without proper teaching. Today I use Photoshop for some strategic tasks, but my main post editing software is Lightroom. These two pieces of software seem to be the main two that most photographers use. There are others within the Adobe Creative Cloud if you’d like to check them out.
Photography Gear
Everyone is selling gear these days. You can buy gear from vintage stores all the way to Amazon. Your prices will always vary, but one thing is for sure – you get what you pay for. I’ve learned the hard way by trying to play the cheap side with some of my gear and seeing first hand when knobs break off, things aren’t sturdy, things work slower, or are just really cheap quality.
If you’re just starting out, some purchases can be made on the cheap. One of my favorite buys are the Neewer flashes. At around $30 a piece, these flashes work great with fresh batteries and last a great deal in many of my conditions. However cheap brand modifiers and light boxes won’t last you more than a couple of shoots due to poorly made joints and knobs.
Practice and Learning
The more I pick up my camera and shoot the more comfortable I feel with it. To me, it should feel as though it were an extension of my body – like an appendage. I don’t think you can learn all there is to learn by just reading and watching videos, you do need to get out there for yourself in the field. And that’s the best part about developing. Seeing the difference on what you shot a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago, and compare that to what you’re doing now. That’s the true test of development. Your skills should always be improving. You’re creativity should always be evolving and pushing new highs. Photography is an art form, and being a photographer means you’re an artist. Learning from industry professionals is great, but paving your own creative lane is what will set you apart from other photographers in your neighborhood and eventually the industry.
I’d love to hear about how you developed your skills in photography. Whether you can add on to what I’ve said above or offer some new ideas, please comment below and lets start a dialog.
Google Photos – While this offers unlimited “high quality” photo uploads. Uploading RAW files will count agains a 1.5Gb storage quota.
Amazon Cloud Storage – Offers unlimited cloud storage for about $60.00 a year. There is an inexpensive option for still unlimited photos, but a 5gb limit on video files. This plan is about $12.00 a year.
Dropbox – While you do get up to 5g of free storage, you will then need to pay for an upgraded annual account. $10 a month for up to 1tb, or $15 a month for unlimited storage and managed file and folder permission controls.
