Blurb Booksmart

Blurb Booksmart is a company that specializes in creating photo books and various other publications. I was first introduced in a summer photography class where we were required to create a book to show our portfolio and promote our work. 

I find this website to be quite fun to browse. Not only can you find numerous accounts of photos but most of them have themes so it is easier to find a compilation of photos for your subject of interest. 

It is also useful for ideas for composition, creative outlets for your art, and promotional opportunities. 

Below are a few examples of books you can find on the website. Many books on the website are for sale  and nearly all of them allow you to preview the entire content. 

Working With A Flash

I recently acquired a flash for my DSLR. It is an older flash and for the most part a manual flash. I went out and took some photos with it to try and get the hang of various angles and methods of shooting with a hot shoe flash as opposed to the built in flash. 

Here are some examples: 

These two above were not with flash, I still like the color of them better than with the flash. I'll have to keep working on that. 

This photo above I really enjoyed because of the variation in the sky and the way the subject's blue eyes pop. 

As you can tell I still need some work on bonding with my flash but I am practicing :) 

National Geographic Video Forum Tips

The three videos I watched on this website were nice to watch, yet I didn't feel like they were super helpful to people who have been shooting for any amount of time in particular. 

The first video I watched was about underwater photography. The images shot with the underwater casing were special because they were underwater shots, but I felt they had a lot more potential. It would be interesting to see what creative things you could do with an underwater casing and your every day environment. I'm sure there are great shots to be captured. 

The next video I watched was on candid shots. The video was slightly hard to take a lesson from since all of the 'candid' shots were posed but that's to be expected when one is filming an instructional video. There were some good tips on watching and anticipating the action. 

The last video I watched was on how to back up your photos. The tip that I never really thought about was to go back through old backed up photos and make sure they are in the right/ most recent format and are still able to be accessed by way of modern technology. 

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/specials/photography-specials/photo-tips/capturing-movement-dslr-hd-video-tips.html?source=email_photo

Landscape Photography Helpful Tips

I read this article with 18 tips of landscape photography. I found it quite interesting, especially tip number 7 about s-curves. I never thought about going out and seeking specifically s-curved things. Apparently the addition of s-curves into a picture plane adds movement and makes it more dynamic. I suppose it is one of those tips that was in the back of my head but I never used it. I would like to go and try this soon and see what images I can come up with. 

I also liked tip number 12. It said there were supposed to be 18 tips but only 12 are listed. I am interested in seeing where the others disappeared to. Tip number 12 talks about a centered subject and its instillment of soothing feelings and balance. I find that I do not like to place my subjects in the center of the picture plane. It makes sense after looking at the article. I find that I enjoy taking pictures with movement and not necessarily a sense of calm but a sense of energy and excitement. 

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles1110/ab1110-1.html

In the article of the second link I found it quite interesting what was said about the black and white photography. I have always loved taking black and white photos but I could never put into words why I like them so much more than color photos. This article states it very nicely, saying that black and white photography helps us to pay attention to the lines and shapes. Since we see the world in color it is an eye catcher when things are in black and white. I personally enjoy the movement and detail you can pick up when the element of color is taken away. 

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles1210/ab1210-1.html

This next article was a great reminder. What is a photograph without inspiration or an emotional pull on the part of the artist. I personally need to work on expressing my feelings of a scene through the capturing of it. Many times I find it difficult to tie feelings and photography together when I am not capturing people. People are easy to take pictures of and have the feelings tied in, you can tell them what to do and what face to make. Landscapes on the other hand, do not change their face to fit what you want to capture. This is where it becomes very tricky and it's your job to make the photo speak for the landscape. 

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0910/ab0910-1.html

These articles were a great reminder of what I need to continue to work on and build off of. With that in mind I have added a photo that I took this past weekend that somewhat shows some tips, but also some aspects that need help. 

Helen Levitt

What better to start out a new year with than a post of an unknown photographer that shares my day of birth. Helen Levitt as I found out yesterday was born on my birthday and ironically captured photos of images that I love to shoot. 

She grew up in New York City and dropped out of high school. From there she went to work for a commercial photographer and found her own desire to photograph. She then purchased a camera and began capturing people on the streets. 

After photographing for a while she went into making films and documentaries of people on the streets. Eventually she made the transition into colored photos. 

I find her work inspiring in a pure way. Her photos show that we do not have to search to find great things to photograph. We just have to walk out our front door or look out our window.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Levitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mT5i5SFQdo