A Look Inside 'Photographers' Sketchbooks' The sketchbook of Alec Soth The sketchbook of Thomas Vanden-Driessche The mechanical nature of photography often results in the perception that photographers are “button-pushers;” that they have a keen eye and sense of timing, but the artistry stops there. This book is comprised of over 500 illustrated pages featuring the tangible objects that help these photographers realize their visions. The sketchbook of Daisuke Yamamoto The Sketchbook of Viviane Sassen The sketchbook of Robin Cracknell The sketchbook of Louie Palu The sketchbook of John MacLean The sketchbook of Mimi Mollica » How to Shoot Super Close on a Shoe String Budget (a.k.a Macro Photography) Macro photography is great for bringing small objects to life, as well as showing the amazing detail of normal everyday objects that we normally can’t see with our eyes. Most of our camera’s and lenses won’t be able to achieve the macro effect without a little help. But never fear, we’ll help you get amazing close up images, without breaking the bank. Beautiful macro photography Canon’s $950 Macro Lens The idea of shooting macro, is to give our lenses the ability to focus much closer to the camera than they would normally be able to do. A screw on macro adapter But, there is another way to get great macro results, and that’s with a Close Up Adapter. Great results with a close up adapter Although you can buy expensive macro adapters, we have had tremendous success with the cheap one’s as well. Your filter size Not all adapters are created equal however, to find an adapter that works for your lens, you’ll first have to find the filter size of your lens, which is easily found by this symbol.
Tate Archive puts thousand of artists’ artifacts online | Art and design About 52,000 photographs, letters, sketchbooks and technical records offering insights into some of Britain’s greatest 20th-century artists are to be put online for the first time. Tate Archive has announced details of the first tranche of material, which anyone, anywhere can access freely. It includes the love letters of painter Paul Nash, the detailed sculpture records of Barbara Hepworth, and 3,000 photographs by Nigel Henderson, providing a behind-the-scenes backstage look at London’s 1950s jazz scene. “We’ve been a hidden treasure for too long really,” said the archive’s head, Adrian Glew, on Tuesday. “It is a national archival treasure, but it is for the enrichment of the whole world; we’d like it to reach as wide an audience as we can.” About 6,000 items are now online, including 52 collections relating to 79 artists – a significant number, but a drop in the ocean, given the more than 1 million items in the archive.
How To Be A Concert Photographer For anyone into music and photography, shooting gigs is a great way to combine two interests at once, and can even make you money if the pictures are good enough to sell. Although it may seem like it’s just about turning up with a camera, getting down the front and blasting way, good gig photography is one of the more technically challenging genres. Here are some tips to get you started 1) Make sure your camera is up to it The first thing you need for good gig shots is a camera with good high ISO performance. Full-frame SLRs tend to perform best, but most decent modern SLRs, mirrorless cameras or power compacts should be fine around up to about ISO 1600. 2) A longer, fast lens By fast, we mean a lens with a fixed wide aperture – f/2.8 ideally, or f/3.5. The classic lenses for a gig are a 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8. 3) Consider shooting in Manual Constantly changing stage lighting is the one of the main obstacles when shooting gigs. 4) Watch the composition 5) Be realistic about access
Interview : Aleah Chapin – The Kind Artist Resides: Brooklyn, NYWork: Contemporary, Nude, Realism PainterLinks: Website, Facebook, Instagram “I remind myself that getting harsh criticism means that I’m making work that is worthy of a conversation.” Some would call the works of Aleah Chapin “tough” or “repellent”, but what do they know. The talent and brilliance behind her contemporary nude paintings make some say, “is this a photograph?”. Realism at its finest. Aleah, let’s get this going. I came for graduate school at the New York Academy of Art. Do you make it back often? Yeah. What’s the art scene like in your hometown? My hometown has 1,000 people, but all are very creative so its relatively good. Outside of Seattle, yes? Yes, on an island north of Seattle. Is that what sparked your interest? I think so. There must be a span of several years in between drawing as a child to drawing realistic nudes. (laughs) Yeah, true. Do you still have these creations lying around somewhere? My parents have a box in their basement. Thanks. Yeah.
Seeing People Take Off Their Clothes Might Be Shocking At First, But Then It Will Make You Smile You can enjoy up till about 1:45 before it gets totally NSFW (not safe for work). Like This Post On Facebook The message here? Love the skin you're in. But do you still need some convincing? Here are 5 *slightly* more familiar faces than the ones in the video and their thoughts on body image. 1. "i find this curious - two photos from today, one edited so my skin is perfect and one real. remember flaws are ok :-)" 2. "I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame. ... Click image to Zoom 3. "I am a big girl. 4. "'How are you so confident?' 5. "Hollywood is a very hard place to be in. Remember: Feeling awesome about your body is incredibly sexy.
What Exactly is a “Limited Edition” Print? UPDATE: As a result of the discussions from this post, I’ve written a follow-up article that addresses more perspectives on this topic. Please visit A Closer Look at Limited Editions for further reading. A few posts back, I mentioned that I put one of my “limited edition” prints up for auction on eBay. One thing that always confuses me, however, is the use of the term “limited” or “limited edition” in the digital age. To be honest, I was asking the same types of questions only a few months ago. And no, the photos shown on this post aren’t necessarily limited edition prints — they’re just “prints” of some sort. Let’s start with the formal source and see what the Wikipedia has to say about the topic of Limited Editions. Limited editions have been standard in printmaking from the nineteenth century onwards. Cody offered up his definition of Limited Editions to me first when I posed the question. I treat mine differently than some people, but there’s no definitive way to do this.
Artist's 'Self Portraits with Men' Series Is a Stark Look at the Fluidity of Personality Every time we pose for a photograph we are projecting a version of ourselves, the persona that we embody at that given moment in time, in that specific place. Of course it’s only an approximation of who we truly are, or want to be. A Czech artist named Dita Pepe has taken a more literal application of this concept in a series of photographs called Self Portraits with Men. Update! After censorship double-standard debacle, Instagram does the right thing So Instagram was in some pretty hot water this week after deactivating the account of Australian web magazine Sticks and Stones. Up until a few days ago the mag had an active Instagram account with hundreds of thousands of followers. That is, until they posted a photo from a shoot in which a model’s untrimmed pubic hair was visible around her bikini line. The account was quickly banned, people went (rightfully) wild. Well turns out Instagram also thinks they made the wrong choice, and announced to the Huffington Post that they had reactivated the Sticks and Stones account. Here’s the image that got Sticks and Stones banned: The double standard here was that the photo would have been 100% fine if they posted a picture of a male model with his happy trail on display.
Blake Little: Preservation is a series of unconventional portraits of bodies covered in honey (PHOTOS). Blake Little This post contains nudity. Blake Little was photographing a “bear” when he decided to try out a few tongue-in-cheek ideas—so he introduced some honey. “I realized that everyone has to be encased in it and that’s what made the most powerful image,” Little said about his series “Preservation.” Although there is a fascination with the process of how the images were made, Little said that the idea is really a celebration of the human form, something that took on a universal quality when the honey—he used 1,000 pounds of it a week during shooting—was added. “When I normally take portraits, the person’s connection and their eyes are the most important part of the photograph, how they connect to the camera,” Little said. “That’s why the photographs are still portraits: People are reacting individually to the experience.” Little added that some people were able to stay in the moment for more than an hour, while others clearly wanted the process to be sped up.
Photographer Valeria Spring | Besotted We wanted to introduce you to the uber talented photographer Val Spring. Michelle, myself and Sanae were lucky enough to attend her recent gallery exhibit at Dry Goods in Pioneer Square (I call it the Soho of the PNW). Val’s work which I was introduced to at a pop-up shop last holiday season had a profound effect on me. I can tell you up until that point I was feeling a little disenchanted with my own photography, not really inspired in the way that I was hoping would happen after E. arrived. Then I saw Val’s work and if my brain could have exploded with happiness it did, I felt re-invigorated, like I had new eyes, so many ideas began to percolate and even though I am usually more on the reserved side I found myself seeking her out and effusing wildly about how she has re-inspired me. I feel like it was one of those change your life moments, ever have one? P.S. P.P.S. Author / Miss Tristan B
Inspiration Rx | Besotted “Not one word, not one gesture of yours shall I, could I, ever forget…” Inspiration Rx : This series is a remedy for blank walls, sparse reading lists, & creative ruts. This week’s prompt: Gesture How do we feel when someone reaches for our hand, sneaks a conspiratorial wink, or extends an unexpected gift? Before you plan your project, it may be helpful to study our featured image for a moment. Many of you were moved by color this week! Feeling Inspired? The door is open if you’d like to join in! Options for Sharing Instagram / Twitter : use hashtag #INSPIRATIONRX Your Blog / Flickr / Pinterest : please share a link in the comment section of this post. For an invitation to our group Pinterest board, please leave a link to your Pinterest account in the comments, or email for an invite. **Please Note: the group Pinterest board is for your creations only. photo: © Deb Schwedhelm passage: © Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Piqued your interest? Dancers speak volumes with their bodies alone.