Category: Technique & Workflow

Mob Wives – Behind the Scenes

MobWives Peoples FINAL low
Link: F. Scott Schafer

Got a call from VH1 to do a very large scale, two-day production for Mob Wives Season 2. They wanted a very decadent, over-the-top image that represented the countdown to midnight, as well as the new season, which started on New Years Day. The idea was that this image was taken moments before the main cast members engaged in an all-out brawl. We knew this would be a very complicated shot due to the sheer number of people involved, the restrictions of the location, and the limitations surrounding the main cast. For instance, the main women could not all be in the room at the same time. Since they are on a reality show, if there was any interaction between them, it needed to be recorded by the TV cameras. So we had to photograph them separately and then stitch them together along with all the other pieces that would be involved in this composite.

A Few Thoughts on Filenames…

George Jardine

File names are hard.

Nailing down a coherent and consistent file naming strategy for my own library took some time. Let alone for my clients. And the thread goes way back. Back to before we even starting thinking about how to support folder structures and manipulate file names in Lightroom.

I think a lot of the reason why photographers have such a hard time with file names in general, goes all the way back to the innovation of “files and folders” in early desktop computer user interfaces. As much of an innovation as the graphical display of files and folders was, the one fatal flaw was that it reinforced a very distinct real-world behavior that eventually conspired to actually make finding a specific thing in the computer more difficult.

Photo Business Plan Workbook Videos: #7 Get Social

PhotoShelter

Video #7 Get Social helps you plan for your interactions with the 800 million people on Facebook, 300 million on Twitter, and 400 million on Google+. The numbers sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be – we’re not saying that every social media outlet will work for every photographer. But there’s enough evidence to suggest that a strong social media campaign can translate into real marketing exposure and revenue. Check out the video below for more.

Photo Business Plan Workbook Videos: #6 Tune-up Your Website

PhotoShelter

The best photography websites today aren’t just pretty displays for your pictures anymore. Now they’re full-blown sales and marketing tools that can host your photo archive, sell photography online, and more. Bottom line: they’re an integral part of your photo business. Allen’s video for #6 Tune-up Your Website is a good reminder of what a functional photo website must have in order to draw clients and customers.

Photo Business Plan Workbook Videos: #5 Build Your SEO

PhotoShelter

SEO for photographers is no joke – if you aren’t employing the most basic SEO strategies (at least), then you’re selling yourself and your photo business short. The goal of SEO is unsolicited website traffic – people looking for whatever your service or product is, without yet knowing who you are. In section #5 Build Your SEO, Allen talks about three main areas that all photographers can focus on immediately to improve their website’s SEO.

Does Your Photo Website Have an Attitude Problem?

PhotoShelter

Joe Gosen, a Visual Journalism Instructor at Brooks Institute, is teaching a class on web design for photographers. From my perspective, college classes in web design always seem to be behind the times, arming students with knowledge that’s a touch out-dated, and are structured around “how it looks” than “how it works.”

But his class is different.

Designing a Better Portfolio Website: Part 2

The Visual Student

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss how to choose a template, modify it using basic HTML and CSS and add useful plug-ins. To quote Placeblogger C.E.O. Lisa Williams, “No journalism student should be intimidated by the process of setting up and managing a website — it is well within your ability, and it can all be learned and practiced before you graduate.”

Introduction to Digital Printing Part III

The Online Photographer:

The intended audience is those who haven’t done any serious digital printing but would like to. In other words, this is the introductory stuff (and, to pre-answer the question I know I’ll be asked again, no, there is not going to be a series on advanced printing). It doesn’t matter if you have wet darkroom experience or not. If you don’t have digital printing experience, this is for you