Although Dane Sanders is a wedding photographer, his introspective Fast Track Photographer coaching method is applicable to just about any style of shooter. I’m an adventure guy, and I found it to be an incredibly useful and inspiring resource for coming up with new business ideas. (Read my personal analysis here.)
I caught Dane after his PhotoPlus Expo business and career seminar and asked him what brief bit of advice he’d give to working photographers. Here’s his answer above.
I was recently given the opportunity to chat with RC Concepcion, a photographer and Content Developer for Kelby Media Group. In this interview, RC talks about his new book, Get Your Photography on the Web, and how he became involved with NAPP. He also offers advice to those who are trying to get their photography noticed. [click to continue…]
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High end retoucher Carrie Beene is ready to share her enviable expertise with the world.
The busy New Yorker, who counts Sports Illustrated, Vogue, The New York Times and Vanity Fair among her clients, walks through her “arsenal of Photoshop tricks” and reveals never-before-published retouching secrets in her new book, Real Retouching: The Professional Step by Step Guide.
She took a few minutes away from her computer screen to speak with us about her coming book, her work, and the retouching industry. [click to continue…]
Operation IMPACT is an annual NYPD program that takes the youngest, most untested officers in the department and sends them to the most violent and dangerous neighborhoods of New York City for a crash course in becoming a policeman. The Photoletariat had the chance to hear from photographer and former NYPD Police Officer Antonio Bolfo. Having gone through the Operation IMPACT program himself, Bolfo decided to photograph one group of rookie IMPACT officers in the South Bronx.
The Photoletariat: What were you doing before you became a photographer?
Antonio Bolfo: I went to Rhode Island School of Design and was traditionally trained in drawing, painting, and sculpting. I ended up majoring in Film and Animation and went on to become senior animator at Harmonix, the videogame development company that created the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises. I worked there for 4 years until I was tired of the corporate art world. Since I spent my whole life doing art, I decided to take a drastically different path and joined the New York City Police Department. I was assigned to the South Bronx Housing Projects and patrolled there as a beat cop for a couple of years until I was accepted into the ICP photojournalism school.
TP: Which photographers have influenced you? [click to continue…]
Brooklyn born and raised, Kevin Mazur started shooting live concerts in his teens. He later progressed to staff photographer at Rolling Stone magazine shooting everyone from Bob Dylan to Nirvana. In the 1990s, he became the official concert photographer for an elite group of superstars including Sting, U2 and The Rolling Stones. In 2001, he co-founded WireImage.com, a digital photographic press agency focusing on celebrities, music and the entertainment industry. WireImange as well as Mazur’s Countour Photo, which specializes in high-end celebrity portraiture, were acquired by Getty Images in 2007 for an alleged $200m.
Reuel Golden: You started out primarily as a live music photographer, what are your early memories of those days? At what point, or at what concert did you realize that you had really nailed it?
Kevin Mazur: The early years were some of the best times of my life. It was exciting. I was scalping tickets so I could get front row seats at the concerts. Then I started sneaking my camera in to the shows to get photos of my favorite artists. I nailed it on my first show, which was Fleetwood Mac. I had a huge crush on Stevie Nicks and got amazing photos of her.
RG: What are the most common mistakes people make when they shoot live concerts? What advice would you give to people who want to go into this type of photography?
Alan Rapp works with authors, visual artists, photographers, and designers developing books and other projects. As the editor overseeing the art, architecture, design, and photography lists of the San Francisco publisher Chronicle Books, Alan Rapp acquired and developed more than 100 titles over the course of ten years, collaborating with such artists as David Maisel, legendary music photographer Jim Marshall, Elinor Carucci, and Justin Guariglia. Based in Brooklyn, Rapp is a frequent panelist, portfolio reviewer, workshop leader, and lecturer. He discusses the appeal of photography books and offers advice on what you need to do.
Reuel Golden: Why do you think so many photographers want to see their work published in book format?
Alan Rapp: Almost all photographers have favorite books that are hugely influential in how they think about photography and maybe even their practice. As much as the state of book publishing seems to be in flux, books are still probably the most faithful and convenient way to present and absorb photography. What’s more, even people unfamiliar with the history and conventions recognize that the book is a unique form with vast potential unto itself, and can maximize the possibilities of photography in a way that makes a photo book a real art object.
RG: Photographers now have the option of self-publishing through channels such as Lulu and Blurb what are the advantages and disadvantages of taking this route? [click to continue…]
Since 2008, Steve Mayes has been the managing director of VII, whose members include photographers such as James Nachtwey and Ed Kashi. In a career spanning over 25 years, Mayes has held a number of high profile positions including group creative director of Getty Images, CEO of Photonica, COO (Americas) for Image Source, creative director of Eyestorm.com, and director of the Image Archive at Art + Commerce. He is a frequent lecturer, writer, and has been Secretary to the Competition Jury of WordPress Photo since 2004.
Reuel Golden: Could you please tell us a little bit about VII’s mission and how it differs from other photo agencies?
Steve Mayes: VII derives its name from the number of founding photojournalists who, in September 2001, formed this collectively owned agency. Now owned by ten photographers and representing an additional fifteen Network affiliates plus nine developing talents in the Mentor Program, VII has expanded considerably but remains true to its core mission of using photography for positive change.
RG: Describe a typical working day. [click to continue…]
Tomorrow, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) kicks off their biannual Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was thrilled to get a chance this week to chat with Scott Kelby — photographer, teacher, Photoshop pro and founder of NAPP. In this interview, he discusses not only how he manages all his different interests and responsibilities, but also delves into HDR photography, DSLR filmmaking, Photoshop and Lightroom strategies, and what it takes to succeed as a photographer today. I also got some great tips on tackling the wealth of information and excitement Photoshop World has to offer.
Sophia Betz: I want to start out with a little bit of background on how you started NAPP, how you founded the business, and kind of where the idea came from.
Scott Kelby: Well, we originally started doing one-day Photoshop seminars in 1993. And we would go to a town, and I would finish the seminar — at that time I taught them all myself; now we have other people teaching along with me, Matt Kloskowski, Dave Cross, Joe McNally, Bert Monroy, all these other people. But back then, it was just me. So we would come to town, and at the end of the day people would come up to me and go, “Man, this is awesome. We had a great day today. Where do we go to learn more about Photoshop?”… But there really was no central place you could go to learn about Photoshop. So we went to Adobe with the idea of starting a national association of Photoshop professionals. And of course since we’re using the word ‘Photoshop’ we needed their blessing and their support — not financial support, we didn’t ask for that, but we needed their “OK you guys can do your thing.” We laid out our plans, we had everything pretty well, fully developed to launch this magazine, Photoshop User, along with it and all, and they were totally cool with it… And that all worked out better than expected [laughs]. That was about 11 years ago that we launched NAPP — it grew out of our one-day seminars… so people would have a central resource to go to for learning about Photoshop all year long, not just the one day we came to town.
©Scott Kelby
SB: In your work these days, are you more focused on going out and shooting when you’re not doing the seminar circuit, or do you focus more in post — in Photoshop and Lightroom and such? [click to continue…]
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