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Don Giannatti

How to enjoy your family vacation AND get great photos

Jul 27, 2023 by Alex Baker 1 Comment
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The summer season is well and truly upon us, and many photographers will be heading off on vacation with their pride and joy. Many will be bringing their families as well as their cameras. And that’s where friction can creep in. You might be going to Paris, France, for example. In your mind, you’re already planning the sunrise photoshoot at Le Tour Eiffel or the beautiful cobbled streets of Montmartre.

But Junior wants to go to Disneyland, and the wife has her eye on Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Élysée. But there is a way to keep everyone happy and get great photographs. In this video, Don Giannatti gives some great advice on reducing the stress of vacation photography.

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18 Ways to Stand Out in the Crowded Field of Professional Photography

18 Ways to Stand Out in the Crowded Field of Professional Photography

Apr 25, 2023 by Don Giannatti Add Comment
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There are more photographers than ever before. And while I don’t believe that’s necessarily bad, it does create a lot of marketing “noise.” Our mission must be to raise ourselves above that noise so that we become more of a solo instrument, with the din of all the ‘others’ serving as our backup band.

We are constantly getting slammed with information and instructions to “put more out there”, share more images on Instagram, start a TikTok account, post more… more more more more.

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Why I believe it is ok to shoot for free

May 12, 2021 by Don Giannatti Add Comment
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A photographer who has been a “pro” for going on five years now (part-time, of course, because he has a government job) loudly and rudely called me out for telling a new, non-published photographer to get the gig (unpaid) and knock it out of the park. This sort of gig rarely comes with compensation, and I will explain a bit below.

“… encouraging working for free is like condoning slavery…”

Slavery?

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Step up or Step aside

Feb 26, 2018 by Don Giannatti 4 Comments
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DIYP friend, photographer Don Giannatti, has just published a new book – What I’ve Learned So Far: Four Decades in Photography. He kindly shared a chapter with DIYP readers, and you can read it below. But wait! You can also download the book for free on Amazon for the next two days. In the meantime, enjoy the excerpt Don has shared with you below.

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Ten things you must be good at to be a pro photographer

Feb 18, 2018 by Don Giannatti 1 Comment
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… and none of them have anything to do with making photographs.

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Five easy things you can do now to make better photos

Jan 26, 2018 by Don Giannatti Add Comment
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We are all familiar with the common ones of making sure focus is correct, rule of thirds, tangents, and great gear. However, there are a few ways of looking at the image while we are shooting that can help us see what we are creating with more clarity and deliberateness.

And while exposure is often discussed, what is not discussed is “placing” the exposure and the ability of the photographer to have control over where the values should be.

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Seven common assumptions we make about professional photographers

Jan 19, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 6 Comments
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If you’re trying to make a career as a photographer, you know that the road to success is not straight. There can be many photographers more successful than you, and comparing yourself to them can sometimes make you feel frustrated. Don Giannatti shares seven common assumptions we make about professional photographers, but also about our own work. These assumptions can make us see ourselves as we’re not good enough. Because of this, Giannatti explains why we should stop assuming and change our mindset, so we can achieve success of our own.

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Impatient Patience…Keeping The Momentum While Learning the Ropes

Jan 19, 2018 by Don Giannatti Add Comment
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You know how you think about things around the edges, trying to formulate the thoughts into some kind of pattern that makes sense and can be challenged and won from various angles? You do?

Cool, then I’m not nuts. I do that all the time.

Recently I have been thinking about what I see as a disconnect between the level of competence beginning photographers have and their expectations.

We all know that the divide exists, but so often it is approached from a negative or insulting way… “Newbies! Killing the industry!” And that doesn’t work for me.

Not at all.

I am more concerned about people losing their dreams than the ‘health of the industry’. I really am.

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Learn Photography

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10,000 hours will not make you a good photographer

Oct 29, 2017 by Don Giannatti 13 Comments
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When Malcolm Gladwell wrote his book, “Outliers“,  he had a chapter devoted to the “10,000 hours” rule that intimated that it took 10,000 hours of practice to become good at something.

I think this single criterion has been mild to totally debunked already, and he has said that most who quote that are doing so out of the real context of it, but he was clearly making a statement regarding the absolute importance of practicing one’s skill.

What was fundamentally lacking in the oft-quoted “10,000 hours to achieve mastery” was the unforgiving truth that if you practice something incorrectly for 10,000 hours you will be a master at doing it incorrectly.

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A three step method for improving like a boss

Jul 16, 2017 by Don Giannatti 2 Comments
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Clark Terry was one of the world’s best jazz trumpet players and educators (I guess he could DO as well as TEACH… who knew). He is also well known for stating the artists creative cycle in three short words: Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate. He was speaking toward musicians, but I am a strong believer that it is also applicable for photographers, designers, illustrators, dragster drivers, authors, animal trainers.

In short – it is simply how creative people learn to do what they do.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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