Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
I feel one of the best ways to stay inspired and motivated with your photography is to focus on a project. To take lots of random photos of anything and everything often leads to a body of work that is cluttered, un-focused, and uninteresting.
In this article I will share some of my personal thoughts on how you can create your own photography project idea.
Asher Svidensky is one of those photographers whose photos you see once and remember for years. This is why I was thrilled to learn that he photographed Kukeri, often described as one of the last pagan rituals in Europe.
For this photo project, Asher traveled to Razlog village in Bulgaria, photographing minacious-looking costumes of the Kukeri rituals. And as if the ritual itself wasn’t interesting enough – Asher’s story revolves around “The Monstress of Razlog,” a girl who’s a very unlikely star of this predominantly male tradition.
Hi, Kersten here. I’m a portrait photographer based on the outskirts of London, England, and co-host of the Camera Shake Photography Podcast. Now, you may not have heard of it but if you ARE one of our tens of listeners out there – it’s nice to meet you.
It comes as no surprise to most people that the last 18 months have been, to put it mildly, challenging. Over here in the UK we had to endure several total lockdowns, which meant that business as we know it went south and especially for us portrait photographers, life got a whole lot more complicated. Standing only a few feet opposite someone, taking their picture in a studio environment was not only frowned upon but outright illegal. Shock horror. For some of us that presented an opportunity; a chance to slow down, re-evaluate and get creative with a personal project or two.
I got some heat on my last article about choosing a Fujifilm camera for not listing every Fujifilm camera and every photography genre. That wasn’t my intention! My intention was to help you through the practical thought process to make your own decisions based on the factors that are important. And that’s what I’m going to do here with the second part of this series, choosing a Fujifilm lens.
I’m not going to compare the image quality and technical specifications of the 35mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/2, for example. There are plenty of articles out there that do this. Because how do you even know you need a 35mm prime lens in the first place? That’s what we’ll look at here.
I get a lot of emails asking, “which Fujifilm camera should I buy?” Enough where I thought it’d be time to address this in a multi-part article series, Building your Fujifilm Photography Kit! And don’t worry, I’ll still continue answering those emails. :)
But why a multi-part series? Because I can rarely answer those emails without any extra information. And it’s no secret that I can’t stand those “The Best Digital Camera to Buy in 2021” articles on the web. There’s just no way to simplify this topic like that.
In my mind I roam the American West and meander along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. I imagine myself at non-descript train depots in Kerala drinking chai with men donning patterned lungis and transport myself to Peru’s Sacred Valley picnicking on yams and grilled cuy. My dreamscapes include vast deserts, forest retreats, even chaotic urban mishegoss. In most of my daydreams, I have a camera by my side.
With COVID-19 far from being under control globally, widespread international travel remains elusive. But for those fortunate enough to be vaccinated and have the financial means, domestic (and even some international) travel options are slowly becoming available. With restrictions beginning to ease, many are starting to consider their next adventure and how to best visually encapsulate the experience.
Vivian Maier is probably the biggest photographic phenomenon of 2010s. After her negatives were discovered, her immense talent was shared with the world, and there’s even a documentary about her. If you look up to her work, Frederik Trovatten has a really interesting video for you. In the very first episode of How to Take Photos Like…, he analyzes Maier’s work and tries to replicate her unique style.
I don’t think I’m a particularly brilliant photographer. Sure, I’ve carved out a little niche here in a small part of the world and my landscape photography is relatively well known amongst the local community, but I’m no big-shot Instagram influencer, I haven’t got a nationally or internationally recognisable name and I sure as shit do not earn a living from photography.
Social distancing and self-isolation have pushed most of our social interactions online. We teach, learn, have meetings, and hang out with friends and family… all via video chat. But New York-based photographer Nikola Tamindzic has also found a way to use video chat for photoshoots. His project I am here, and you are where you are is a series of “quarantine portraits.” They were shot all over the world while neither the photographer nor his models left the safety of their homes.
We chatted with Nikola a bit about his project. He told us more about the idea, his shooting process, and how it has helped both him and his models cope with isolation. And of course, he also kindly shared some of the images he’s shot so far.
“Comparisonitis” is the phenomenon of comparing yourself negatively to others; feeling that your life, love, work, holidays, house, or just the tidyness of your undersink cupboard, just aren’t as good as someone else’s.
Earlier this month, I found myself in a room of 50 professional photographers at the SHOOT EDIT CHAT REPEAT LIVE podcast event. If you don’t know about it already, SHOOT EDIT CHAT REPEAT is a fabulous podcast hosted by photographers Vicki Knights and Eddie Judd.
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