Pictar Pro Makes Smartphone Cameras Smarter
By Arthur H. Bleich– Inside every smartphone camera beats a heart that yearns to be a DSLR. The features are there but, like Sleeping Beauty, they need a few digital kisses to awaken them. Pictar Pro does that and more. Through an integrated software app, it will add of dozens of options that can be accessed with external controls, just like a “real” camera. It doesn’t just make your phone feel like a DSLR (or...
A Great Read: “Photographers On Photography”
By Henry Carroll– Let’s consider the visionaries, the groundbreakers, the original thinkers – those influential figures from past and present who pushed photography forward and continue to do so today. How did they – how do they – approach their craft and what matters most? Here we have a selection of quotations, photographs and interviews that offer telling insights into the minds of masters. Serving as brief introductions to the big...
Acquire Great Art on a Shoestring Budget
By Anna Andersen– When Erik Culver graduated with a BFA from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008, he went home with hundreds of photographs, paintings, drawings, and prints and almost all of it went into storage. Ten years later, while his art still collects dust, he’s helping students find better homes for their work. Culver and his co-founder, Alok Marwaha, launched ArtStartArt to sell student artwork through monthly flash...
Custom Software That Really Struts Its Stuff
By Arthur H. Bleich– I remember buying an all-in-one tool years ago that promised to do everything. It did…kinda. But it did none of them really well. When you need to make a task quick and easy, there’s nothing like using a dedicated tool. Lucis Pro by Microtechnics and Restore by Vivid-Pix are one-trick ponies, but what they do, they do very, very well. And both come in various Mac and Win configurations. Lucis Pro first...
Take Great Holiday Party Photos!
By Maggie Kornahrens– There will be a plethora of cameras and smartphones at every party and soiree in the coming weeks and if you want to capture the spirit of the holidays in fresh and exciting ways, be willing to branch out of the ordinary. Cameras these days are advanced enough so that anybody can shoot great family party photos. Here are a few tips that can take your holiday pictures from ho-hum to ah-ha. Keep it Simple. Holiday...
My 70-Year Love Affair With Photography
By Larry Silver– As a boy growing up in the East Bronx, I knew “the photographer” as the guy who took pictures at weddings and Bar Mitzvah’s. My Uncle Herman, the “authority” on all subjects, had never heard of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Stieglitz or Edward Weston. nor, for that matter, had anyone else in my building on Elder Avenue. Yet somehow at the age of 14 I became fascinated by the idea of making pictures and...
Embrace Change…It’s Good For You!
by Suzanne D. Williams– Life happens. Things change. I was reminded of this recently when watching a series of videos by a large- format photographer who still uses film. He was explaining the mental process he went through to create a series of beautiful mountain photographs when he stopped to comment on how he felt about the inevitable end of large-format film. Now, I am a huge fan of large-format photography and the idea that film...
Your Images Pirated? Here’s How To Get Paid For Them!
By Arthur H. Bleich– If you’ve ever posted images on the web–and who hasn’t–chances are someone out there is going to steal them, use them without your permission and not pay you a penny. If they’re used on social media among friends –and for no financial gain– that’s a common scenario and except for asking to have them taken down, there’s not much you can do. But when a commercial enterprise uses one of your...
Our National Parks Odyssey: Into The Winds
This is the fifth of an ongoing series about Red River Pro Andrew Slaton and his wife Ellen who, along with two dogs, Islay and Skye and Colonel Bubba, the cat, left the comforts of Dallas to hit the road full time in a travel trailer, with the goal of photographing all 59 U. S. National Parks. This is a continuation of Part 4 which ran in the previous post.— By Andrew Slaton– We meandered down the Gulf Coast chasing blue water and...
Our National Parks Odyssey: One Wild Life
This is the fourth of an ongoing series about Red River Pro Andrew Slaton and his wife Ellen who, along with two dogs, Islay and Skye and Colonel Bubba, the cat, left the comforts of Dallas to hit the road full time in a travel trailer, with the goal of photographing all 59 U. S. National Parks. By Andrew Slaton– There’s an ebb and flow on Soda Lake that sounds remarkably like the ocean. I hear the whoosh…. whoosh…. whoosh outside our...
“Into The Light” Showcases Legendary Musical Artists
By Jérôme Brunet– My love for music began long before I found my way into photography. My mother was a classically trained musician and teacher, and had me playing the cello at age four. I continued on for the next ten years into my teens, but when I first heard the opening riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” I instantly switched over to the guitar. It wasn’t until high school, when I took a photography class, that my...
What Rembrandt Taught Me About Portrait Lighting
By Joel Grimes– Part of the requirements for receiving a BFA in Photography from the University of Arizona included half a dozen semesters of art history.At the time I felt like this was overkill and was only interested in attending my photo-related classes. In hindsight, one of the greatest influences that shaped my personal vision as a photographer did not come from studying the work of the master photographers, but that of a master...
The Atlas Of Beauty
By Mihaela Noroc– I’ve spent most of my life in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, a place roughly equidistant from Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 1990s, when I was growing up, were difficult years in Eastern Europe, with a lot of unemployment and poverty. As a result, my family moved often. Almost every year I would be sent to a new school, have to get used to a new neighborhood and make new friends. Back then, I...
Paul Roark: Black and White from Eye to Print
By Arthur H. Bleich– Paul Roark is one of the world’s finest black and white photographers. The tonal range of his images, printed on Red River UltraPro Satin paper virtually blow away viewers who see them for the first time and easily eclipse the best that Ansel Adams was able to achieve with analog printing. Now 71, Roark knew photography would play an important role in his life, especially when he began to win awards for his work...
Selling Images? Print Them Yourself For Best Results!
By Kaitlin Walsh– A couple of years ago I decided that outsourcing my printing didn’t give me the artistic control I needed to make sure my customers were getting the best possible prints and service that I could give them. My hunger for more autonomy prompted me to set up a home printing operation and that, of course, involved making some hard choices. After weeks of research and budgeting, I took the plunge and invested in an...
Jack Delano’s Greatest Photo Assignment
by Arthur H. Bleich– Jack Delano’s fascination with trains began when he was eight, but it wasn’t until he was nearly 30 that he got a photographer’s dream assignment: Document the nation’s railroads in time of war. The year was 1942. Delano (pronounced de-LAY-no) was born Jacob Ovcharov on August 1, 1914 in the small village of Voroshilovka in the Ukraine. His teacher father and dentist mother exposed him to music and art at an early...
Back To Basics: Orientation Can Make Or Break Your Image
By Suzanne Williams– The composition of a photograph is exactly what the word “composition” itself implies. It is the way the objects in an image are “composed”, or we could say, “arranged”. Composition is, for the most part, subjective to the photographer’s eye. The fact is that there are many ways to arrange the same scene. Think of a well-known photograph. Ansel Adam’s...
Expressive Nature Photography
by Brenda Tharp– Photography is pure joy. The ability to see something special and capture it in the camera is nothing short of amazing for me, even after all the years I’ve been a photographer. From the tiniest detail of a flower to the grand expanse of the Milky Way stretching overhead at night, our world is an outstanding place, providing countless opportunities to experience beauty. To be out photographing in nature is truly the...
The Exquisite Eye of Kiyoshi Togashi
By Arthur H. Bleich– Kiyoshi Togashi knew by the time he was ten that as the second son of the largest landholder in the Yamagata Prefecture of Japan, he was not going to inherit the family farm. By tradition, it would go to his older brother. Far from being disappointed, this impetuous and driven youth felt a sense of exhilaration and freedom because he’d be able to follow whatever path in life he desired. During his...
Favorite Photo Locations: Maine’s Lighthouses
by Ron Wolfe and Will Keener– Maine earns its title as the “Lighthouse State,” with more than 60 historic lighthouses, many of which are still active, spread out along 5,000 miles of coastline, inlets and islands. As lighthouses became less essential to navigation in the late 20th Century, these historic structures faced demolition. The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 provided for the transfer of...
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