PDN-Online (Photo District News), the most influential photography trade publication, on February 7, 2018, published article titled, “How Photographers Charge for Social Media Advertising Jobs,” It stated, “As advertisers shift more of their marketing dollars from traditional media to social media, reps and photographers are changing the way they calculate creative fees when producing images for social-media ads. They are now considering the reach [my emphasis] of an ad — how many people will see it — when determining photographers’ creative fees.”

“Reach” has always been an imperative criterion in billing for usage (publication-license fees). It was also called, perhaps…

As photographers, we have a lot of tools available to us: compositional rules, lighting knowledge, the exposure triangle, and so on. Color is just another one of those tools. While it can be an intimidating element to a photographer, color can help solidify a voice. Knowing and understanding color theory — the way painters, designers, and artists of all trades do — a photographer can utilize color to their benefit.

You may already be aware of the concept of additive and subtractive color (RGB vs. RYB), which is something we will touch upon in the next post in this series…

As photographers — or really anyone with a smartphone — we’re flooded with stunning imagery on a daily basis. Both travel shots of faraway lands and captures more close to home which show our local area in a whole new light.

Yet when we’re surrounded by postcard-perfect photos, it’s alluring to think there might be a secret to capturing these breathtaking scenes ourselves. Good news, there is.

What’s the secret to taking better landscape photos? It’s quite simple, really.

All that’s needed is discipline and grit.

While that may seem oversimplified, in essence, it’s not. We don’t expect poets to…

Detaching ourselves from the amount of work we’ve spent on something, and the end result, is a critical part of the creative creation process. Nobody cares how hard it was to create something unless it shows in a material way.

It’s important to not confuse effort with results. When we ascribe value to the trouble we went to, it clouds our judgement. We get attached. We start to shove square pegs in round holes because we’ve got self-imposed tunnel vision. We think just because we got up at 4am to hike to the top of a mountain in the snow…

by Myles Little

The image of the apartment with an infinity pool is from a project that photographs tax havens all around the world, which are legal; places where the wealthy corporations and individuals can stash their money to avoid the taxes. And Singapore is one of the capitals for this and that’s the Singapore skyline in the background. And what I find interesting about it is that there are a couple of layers in this. It is just simply beautiful and luxurious — infinity pools have sort of become one of the markers of luxury for whatever reason —…

by Matt O’Brien

Matt O’Brien first went to Colombia to photograph beauty contests. The San Francisco-based photographer fell in love with the country, and the Polaroids he took over the next eleven years are now published in his new book, No Dar Papaya.

No dar papaya is an expression unique to Colombia (it makes no sense to other Spanish speakers, even in neighboring countries) that means show no vulnerabilities, don’t be an easy target, be careful.

For years I had a very boring working title, “De Colombia.” Then one day “No Dar Papaya” came to me and I knew it…

by Cade Martin

Star Wars for Target

Deutsch LA, Star Wars, Target. Any one of these names alone would make an attractive project. Put them together, along with a pinch of Disney and a dash of Lucas Films and I can’t be entirely certain I wasn’t dreaming.

I was completely geeked to be considered for the brief “to photograph the latest Star Wars toys for Target” — toys which would be released for the 2016 holiday season. It was a resounding “yes” for me.

From our first call, it was clear that the agency saw what I had begun to realize — that the…

by Cade Martin

As the only child of a university art professor and freethinker mother, I grew up surrounded by shapes and images. My love of art grew out of summer vacations filled with trips to galleries, museums, and art studios. At home I often found myself around the dinner table with an eclectic cast of characters — sculptors, writers, painters. They paraded through my childhood and I credit them all with shaping my artistic foundation and forming my eye for the candid beauty found in people from all walks of life. I’ve kind of been chasing characters ever since…