On Not Photographing My Mom
I picked up a camera in 2008.
And I laid my mother to rest in 2010.
Guess what I never got around to?
That’s right – I never created a real portrait of her before we said goodbye.
Print your photos before they become everything you have left
She can’t remember things like she used to. It started gradually-she’d forget a name or a birthday or where she parked her car. And then, she found herself forgetting every day things, those things one must remember in order to live life. She would forget to go to the grocery store; she’d forget a conversation that occurred ten minutes earlier; she would forget to eat dinner.
They call it Dementia, and it is, although the word is more of an umbrella term that covers many types of memory loss. And Dementia, well, it’s a tricky thing, because even those systems and techniques created to stir the memory and bring things to mind don’t always work. I mean, a calendar does no good if you can’t remember to look at the calendar each day, right? You forget that you don’t remember.
Seven things portrait photography will teach you about life
Portrait photography gives us all different kinds of things.
You connect with interesting people you’d have never met otherwise.
You capture memories of your kids that will last forever.
And maybe you have some fun doing it.
But maybe portrait photography isn’t just about pictures — or the great experiences we have when making those pictures.
Maybe it’s the life lessons we pick up along the way, like:
This is why you’ll never make it as a photographer
Photographer James Popsys puts forth an intriguing argument. That you won’t make it as a photographer. Why? Well, because it’s impossible for anybody to really make it as a photographer. What does “make it” even mean? It’s interesting to hear James talk in this video about what he thought life would be like as a successful photographer vs. the reality of actually being a photographer who makes their income from it.
Photographer turns bullied kids into Avengers in this empowering project
We’ve seen photographer Josh Rossi turn kids into superheroes before. When his three-year-old daughter received hateful comments after he photographed her as Wonder Woman, the photographer decided to use his creativity to send a message against bullying. He gathered fifteen kids who have been bullied and turned them into Avengers for a photo shoot. This project hasn’t only resulted in epic images, but it has also empowered the kids who have been facing bullying and hatred on a daily basis.
The photographer’s paradox: do you really need all your gear for each task?
Photographers invest a lot over the years. Not just in their gear, but also in their knowledge and skills of photography, retouching, marketing, and business. We all aim to make perfect photos, but Daniel DeArco shares an eye-opening video on this topic. He calls it “the photographer’s paradox” and he discusses whether you really need “perfect” photos every time and whether you really need to use all the gear you have. You can consider it an important lesson in marketing, and it will make you look at photography from a different perspective.
Three things you should know before you start photography
So, you’re into photography, you want to get your first camera and get serious about it. There is plenty to learn and it’s an incredible, creative journey. And before you start, Pierre T. Lambert shares three things he wishes he knew before starting photography. These may help you make right decisions when choosing which gear to buy, but also help you take better shots.
Why you should take and save even the “crappy” photos
Most of the photographers are very selective about what they put in the portfolio, and that’s understandable – you only want to show your best work. But what about those photos you wouldn’t really consider your best? Should you just delete them? In this video, Chelsea Northrup shares her view on taking and keeping even those “crappy” images. They might mean to you more than you think.
Everyone takes bad photos: here’s some inspiration if you feel bad about your work
If you’ve been into photography for a while, you know that there are days when your photos turn out bad no matter how hard you try. It’s frustrating, especially when you compare yourself to all those wonderful, inspiring photos other people take. Well, here’s a bit of inspiration and reality check from Manny Ortiz. He admits that he also takes bad photos, and shares a photo shoot to demonstrate it and show you that there’s nothing to feel bad about.
How shooting the exact same composition can give you many different photos
Most of us have our favorite location for taking photos, a place that inspires us more than the others. But have you ever photographed the same place, from the exact same spot, a few days in a row? In this interesting video, Norwegian photographer Oddbjørn Austevik has done just that. And the result shows you that you can get six different photos even if you photograph the exact same composition day after day.
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