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St. Louis Photographer Sues Authorities over Her Right to Shoot Public Park Portraits

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Is a ban on professional photography in a public park in violation of the First Amendment?

According to Photographer Josephine Havlak and two of her clients, the small village of Twin Oaks should not be allowed to ban professional photography in the village’s only public park.

The ban was implemented after a county executive’s failed attempt to impose a $2,000 yearly permit fee, says Havlak.

The village clerk, however, blames photographers for this situation, in a case that could have a deep impact on the entire industry.

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Arizona Real Estate Photographer Is First To Be Approved By FAA To Use Drones For Aerial Photography

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Though you’ve probably already seen your fair share of drone captured real estate photos, up until today, those images were taken illegally according to the policy currently in effect by the FAA. Presently, the FAA restricts nearly all commercial usage of drones. In order to legally operate a drone for commercial purposes, one must first request an exemption from the FAA’s rules. To date, the FAA has issued a mere 14 exceptions from a total of 214 requests.

Douglas Trudeau, a real estate photographer from Tuscon, Arizona, is now the proud new recipient of an exemption, making him the first (and only) real estate photographer on the exempt list. [Read More…]

Shooting a Commercial Image With Trash and Walmart Gear

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The heart of DIYP is about creating much from little, using what is on-hand or can be cheaply fashioned to achieve quality results. That is exactly what this post is about. Not gun control, not gun rights, or even the timeless tradition of hunting. As we know, there is no better way to send a conversation with an American into verbal bloodshed than by mentioning the Second Amendment, socialized healthcare, or the fact Tampa Bay actually has an NFL team.

I attribute a great portion of my rekindled interest in photography to the late Bill Simone, a phenomenal commercial photographer whose work for one of my previous employers was dynamic and emotive, especially to a young adult whose previous exposure to photography had primarily been relegated to a 35mm camera. Some of my favorite images from Bill were simple, single-light setups that seemed to draw the viewer into the photo, and they looked great in a glossy catalog!

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What Do You Think? Can A Service Like Togally Help Pro Photographers Earn A Living?

San Diego, California based start-up company, Togally, is hoping that it’s new platform will help connect photographers with clients by taking a slightly different approach. The company has designed and built a website which allows photographers (which they refer to as “togs”) to post a free profile on their website so that anyone with an internet connection and a need for a photographer can look them up and hire them. ( I find it to be like a combination of the services Thumbtack and ImageBrief provide.)[Read More…]

Flickr Surprises Everyone, Announces New Licensing Opportunities

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As the stock photography market continues to expand at dizzying speeds, photo hosting conglomerate, Flickr, made an unexpected announcement this morning saying that they will be rolling out new opportunities for it’s users to jump onto the stock photography bandwagon.

While the website already has some image licensing options already in place through Getty Images, it appears as though Flickr is expanding this feature in hopes to be able to compete with growing websites like 500px, ImageBrief, and a whole host of microstock sites.

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How Would Classic Paintings Look If Botticelli, Raphael and Goya Had Photoshop

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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that we love to call out the way that commercial work overuses Photoshop. But What if the great masters had the liquify brush tool at their disposal? Lauren Wade of TakePart explores this question in a most interesting way.

She takes great masterpieces such as Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Nude Sitting on a Divan by Modigliani and a few other classics dating back as early as 1400ac and gives them the same ‘small boost’ that celebrities and models get on a usual basis. (so much so, in fact, that the US considers banning Photoshopping from ads altogether).[Read More…]

Truth in Advertising Act: A Bill That Wants to Regulate Photoshop in Advertisements

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H.R. 4341, also known as the Truth in Advertising Act, is a bill being introduced to Congress. Sponsored by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Lois Capps (D-CA), the bill intends to do exactly as its title would suggest: monitor how distorted advertisements are allowed to get. More specifically, it’d be going after the excessive use of Photoshop that we see so present these days.

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I Shoot Weddings Too – Don’t Tell Anybody!

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Let me know if this sounds familiar. 

You’re gearing up for a big wedding session and one of your commercial photographer buddies comes over and notices that you have eighty AA batteries charging.  They ask – “Hey, what’s up with all the batteries – you have a gig with 20 speedlights tomorrow?”  You answer – “Uhhhhhhhh ya, ummmm, well, the kids just got this crazy remote control helicopter and it takes like 40 batteries….so….THOSE AREN’T MINE!

It’s ok.  I shoot weddings too.  Just don’t tell anybody…

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