Congratulations to all the photographers. Great works here.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments. I’m sure the photographers appreciate it.

Five Stars of the Week

This image represent not only itself, but it’s a small sample of what is one of the most creative, beautiful and brilliant photostreams on Flickr. Rosie’s talent goes well beyond words, and coming from someone so young. Memorize her name. You’ll be listening to it again in a few years. I’ll try to get her on PhotoNetcast to share some of her experiences. My Five Stars of the Week.

 All thumbnails copyright of respective photographers. Used with permission.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments. I’m sure the photographers appreciate it.

Five Stars of the Week

At first this image can be overlooked without a second glance. After some time admiring it, I got caught on the tensions created by the irregular posture of the model, the unexpected and creative use of a helmet on what could be considered a nude portrait (definitely something you don’t see everyday) and the contrast between the model’s skin tone and the prop. A very creative and masterful capture. My Five Stars of the Week.

• 10 Tips to making your first photo book – Beyond Megapixels
• 10 Tipps zur Hochzeitsfotografie (in German) – Kwerfeldein.de
• SoFoBoMo published – A Roadtrop Through SE Australia – Neil Creek
• Help!  I’ve Been Infringed! – Photo Attorney
• Styling: Pure Hell or a place to “shine” – Yuri Arcurs
• Creative Partnerships vs. Self-Motivation – Rasmus Rasmussen
• 5 Tips to Get Followed on Twitter – JMG-Galleries
• Letting Things Marinate – PhotoWalkPro
• Making Fine Art Prints: Signing – Epic Edits (check also the other posts of Brian’s series on Fine Art prints)
• How to Price Assignments: Price High and Give Your Clients an Experience – DSLRBlog

(via Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection)

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments. I’m sure the photographers appreciate it.

Five Stars of the Week

I have to say that I’ve spent a LONG time admiring this photo. Overall, everything seems right with it. The backlighting creates a perfect mood, and even the light in the curtains looks good. My Five Stars of the Week.

And here is a roundup of some interesting articles from the past days.

Cooking with light… Errr… Lighting with Cookware (Davidejackson) – This one made me laugh. Want to be innovative with your lighting without breaking the bank? What about some cookware as light modifiers?

Camera Corner – Part 1 – My Gear Bag (Zoriah) – Want to see how a photojournalist going to the most troubled areas rolls? I probably take more gear with me to photograph around the corner.

Great Digital Argument #1 – PC vs. Mac. Let The Wars Begin (Digital ProTalk) – David tries to show that the too boring old arguments between Mac and PC users leads nowhere. Main point: use whatever you need to get the job done.

Developing Multiple Streams of Photographic Income (DSLRBlog) – Going pro might mean having more than one income stream from your photography and the trick is diversify.

Photo Project: Symmetry (Beyond Phototips) – If projects is your thing, here is another one with some great potential to tickle your creativity.

My Favorite Film after a Year of Shooting (Epic Edits) – When you dedicate yourself so much to film photography as my good pal Brian has, a list of the true goodies comes out. If you’re into film photography (and you should be once in a while) you have to read this.

Why You’re NOT Making Photo Sales (Photopreneur) – A few simple advices that have the potential to increase your chances of licensing a few of those old images you have laying around on your hard drives.

And that’s it for this week. I haven’t had that much time to read all my favorite blogs, but the gems always pop-up.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments.

Five Stars of the Week

Who says film is dead? Look at the beautiful grain coming out from this one. It’s an image that I could imagine having hanging on my wall. My Five Stars of the Week.

Wow… It has been long since I last published a Pick of the Week full of juicy links.

I won’t go too much backwards and link to every post I found interesting. That would be too much. But here are a few that are worth of your time.

Marketing Through Infringed Photos with Watermarks (JMG Galleries) – Jim has written a very interesting article on how watermarks (as ugly as they are) can still serve a purpose: marketing.

Capturing Urban Decay (Photocritic) – Not everything is ugly in urban decay. With the right point of view and a certain degree of creativity, powerful images can be made. Here are a few tips that might help you with this.

Keyword strategies (Graf Nature Photography) – You hate keywording your images as much as I do? Besides the time investment (note that I’m not saying it is a bad investment) it’s always a fight to find the correct keywords. But it may mean the difference between selling your image or letting it rot in the middle of millions others.

Vignetting – When and Why to Vignette (Beyond Megapixels) – Vignetting is a powerful “effect” that can be used to direct the viewer’s eyes directly to your subject in a photo. But when should it be used and when too much vignetting is just too much?

Build a Film Developing Kit for Under $50 (Epic Edits) – Want to try out a bit of film and actually get your hands wet developing it? It might not be as expensive as you think. Here is a developing kit on the cheap.

The Video Tour Of My Gear Bag (Digital Pro Talk) – I’ll have to admit that I usually fight with the distribution of my gear inside the camera bags when going on location. David has a very nice video describing his bag “arrangement” and how it works for him. But ok, I usually do not carry around as much gear as David does. On a related subject, David is touring the US with his Digital WakeUp Call Workshops. You won’t find so much value for such a little price elsewhere.

Enjoy your browsings…

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments.

Five Stars of the Week

I’m usually not a big fan of bold color in photography, but the color contrast in this photo is superb. Also, the color "gradient" on the spring, complementing the background is extremely well achieved. My Five Stars of the Week.

• Random ramblings on pricing photography (Pro Photo Life) – Knowing how to correctly price your photographic work is a must for everyone in the business, but is also one of the most challenging topics for anyone starting a photography business.
• How to Sell your Landscape Photos (Photopreneur) – Still on the business side of photography, here are a few tips on how to sell your landscape photos.
• 10 Questions for: PhotoShelter (Photo Business Forum) – Everyone has heard about the demise of Photoshelter Collection and more recently of Digital Railroad. This created an opportunity for Photoshelter and here are 10 questions to Photoshelter on how they took it.
• An Interview with Landscape Photographer Xavi Fuentes (Magic Places Fine Art) – And back to landscape photography, and to an interview with Fine Art photographer Xavi Fuentes about his landscape work.
• Book Review: Odysseys and Photographs (Epic Edits Weblog) - And National Geographic is not only a magazine. In this article, Brian reviews a fantastic book published by NG. Another one added to my to-buy list…
• Printing Basics (Beyond Megapixels) – Title says it all. For anyone wanting to start printing their images, the concepts on this article are a must know.

And back to prints, if you remember, Jim Goldstein had a project a few weeks back in which he encouraged photographers to acquire work from other photographers in the form of print. I’ve participated by getting a book from a photographer I greatly admire.

As Jim mentioned, "As you all know the experience of handling and looking at a photographic print is not even in the same league of viewing photos through a monitor. The more we as photographers can share that experience with others the richer in experience our community will become."

I’ll probably address this question on a different post, but for now, here are the results of Jim’s project. I encourage everyone to visit the participant’s reviews and see why seeing other photographer’s work in print is a great tool to shape your own work.

Dave Wilson – WebArtz Photography Purchased the work of Jim Beckett and Pete Holland at a local art fair held at his church. Dave puts it succinctly, "The personal aspect of the transactions was definitely more appealing to me than, for example, buying prints directly from a web site. In addition to the physical prints themselves, I also have the stories behind them and more of an insight into the artist’s intent when making the pictures."

Antonio Marques – Words: Irrational Antonio who is struggling at the moment financially as he wraps up his graduate program (edd. – it’s done now) purchased a Sebastião Salgado book "Africa". As Antonio puts it, "His photography style that translates into high-contrast black and white photos, highly enriched by grain texture, or his mastery in dodging and burning that so much enhance his work, is something that you can’t admire on a computer screen, and it’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring his work to Jim’s project."

Brian Villarin – All Narfed Up Who made a print exchange with Brian Auer and used the swap as excuse enough to meet on a photowalk.

Brian Auer – Epic Edits Weblog Purchased work from Chase Jarvis, Bryan Villarin and Cody Redmon. It’s great to see that the experience struck a nerve with Brian enough to declare, "… I’d like to start a collection of prints from photographers I associate with."

Jay Goodrich – JayGoodrich.com Purchased a photo from his friend and photographic inspiration Art Wolfe.

Jim M. Goldstein – JMG-Galleries Buying work from 2-3 photographers was the goal of this project, but 5 photographers including Lane Hartwell, Dan Mitchell, Guy Tal, Mario Zanaria and Chase Jarvis caught his eye. "Enjoyment of their photography is only half the story. The process of finding and sharing their work has proven to be as satisfying if not more."

Great selection this week.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments.

Five Stars of the Week

The level of detail, together with the usage of high contrast and perfect lighting to keep the eyes on the photo center, make this work my Five Stars of the Week.

A few days later this week, but here it is, a recommendation of some good reads around the web.

34 free Black & White film presets for Lightroom (Presets Heaven) – For all Lightroom users that miss the film era. 34 presets with some of the mostly used black and white film stocks.

Understanding Image Resolution (Shutterbug Source) - A nice explanation of what image resolution is and what it means for prints.

Tips for shooting star trails pictures (ADIDAP) – Star trails can create highly surreal images but they are not as easy to get as one might think. This article goes into what equipment you need, camera settings and taking the shot. The second part, processing, is still to come.

CS4: What’s in it for Photographers? (John Nack on Adobe) – Adobe has released the latest version of what is probably the best imaging software out there (too bad it’s not cheaper). As a photographer, what can you take out of this upgrade?

Have You Ever Needed to Use Your Photo Backup? (Epic Edits) – Still on his great Backup series, Brian asked this question and I’m very curious to see the answers. So, head over there and have your say.

And the disaster of the week, Digital Railroad has gone down. Here are a few articles where you can read more about it and some opinions of DRR forcefully ex-users:

The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese – Who Will Acquire Digital Railroad Assets?

Digital RailWreck

An Over Due Review: Digital Railroad vs. Photoshelter Collection

I feel like this has been a slow week in the photography world. What do you think?

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your insightful comments. I’m sure the photographers will appreciate it.

Five Stars of the Week

I always liked Gaudi style of architecture, and his typical smooth curves together with the high contrast lines and the choice of lighting that guides the eye pass the archway and into the stairway make this one a beautiful composition.

Keep a Photography Journal (Beyond Megapixels) – A very useful notion that photographers should have is that photography is not only shooting. Planning a shot and taking notes is very much part of the process. I try to always have on me a note-taking system that I can use to write ideas or point locations for some shooting. Jeff feels the same way.

Humidity, Fungus and Cameras – Problems & Solutions (Beyond Phototips) – Fungus can be really nasty, specially if they get inside your lenses. What to do to prevent this problem? Read this one.

Discover How to Become a Photojournalist (Digital Photography School) – Photojournalism is not for everyone and takes a lot of time and work until your name is recognized. This article shares a few tips on how to put your name out there. It’s somehow simplistic and doesn’t even go anywhere near what you need to do to become a photojournalist, but it’s a beginning.

6 heisse Tipps zum Kommentieren von Fotos (Kwerfeldein – in german) - It can be a blast when getting huge amounts of comments in social networks such as flickr, but usually the majority of the comments are limited to single sentence phrases that will not help you much grow as a photographer. Martin shares a few tips on how to make your comments count.

An Interview with Fine Art Photographer Elizabeth Cecil (Magic Places Fine Art) – The title says it all. If you’re into Fine Art and follow the work of Elizabeth Cecil, this one is a must read.

Copyright Education: Legal Seminar with PACA Counsel Nancy Wolff (Picture Archive Council of America) - Still on copyrights (a never-ending subject), here is a video seminar with Nancy Wolf. It’s lengthy but good to watch.

Photographers and the Economic Crisis (Photopreneur) - The economic crisis is shaping the photography business.

How To Photograph The Female Face (Shutterbugsource) – A good portrait requires preparation and knowledge on what to expect from a face. This article shares a few tips on portrait photography, specially of female faces.

10 Steps to Perfect Waterfall Shots (Yanik Photo School) – And the last one of this week goes to Waterfall photography. Waterfalls are stunning, but good photos of waterfalls (the stunning ones) require you to know how to take them. 10 tips inside.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments.

Five Stars of the Week

An Introduction to Stock Photography (Beyond Megapixels) – A very nice article introducing all about stock photography, from the different licenses to the submission process. It’s targeting more the microstock photographers, but I guess the same principles apply to stock photography in general.

Stock Photography, the Consumer, and the Future (Dan Heller’s Photography Business Blog) – And if you’re planning to try stock photography, this one is a must read. Dan goes in length into the status of stock photography and how the market is evolving.

38% of photographers are paranoiac! (ADIDAP) – This post shows the results of a poll asking "Are you paranoid about your work?". I was really surprised with the results as I was expecting, at least, the "Cautious" votes to be much higher.

Photo Backup: When Disaster Strikes (Epic Edits Weblog) – Brian writes another post on his backup series. In this article Brian goes into several disaster scenarios and how to protect yourself against data loss. Do I need to remind you how important it is to have a backup system for your photos?

Super Secure, Super Easy, Super Cheap On-Line Storage (Digital ProTalk) – Still on backups, David describes more in detail the Amazon S3 online storage system. Prices included.

Can I Sell That Photo?? (Hyperfocal) – Going to some events is always a good opportunity for some photos. But what about if you want to sell those images. Are you sure you can do it? Fact is, you probably can’t…

Orphan Works Panel Discussion (JMG-Galleries) – This is something that you’ve probably heard about and it sure concerns every photographer, the Orphan Works Act. Jim, in his EXIF and Beyond podcast, invites Chase Jarvis, Dan Heller and John Harrington to discuss the Orphan Works legislation. It’s lengthy but very informative.

Photoshop Video Tutorial – High Pass Sharpening (Yanik’s Photo School) – Yanik gives us another nice Photoshop tutorial. This time, a different way to sharpen your images beyond the more common USM.

Enjoy the reading…