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[Editor's Note:  Alice has a knack for finding the most interesting places to photograph, here is another one.  In addition, I can tell you from personal experience that, she finds the most interesting restaurants - you'll understand when you get to the bottom of the article, I suggest you take her up on the offer!]

It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, which means the days are shorter and the weather is cooler. For those of us who also work, that means fewer daylight hours with variable weather for photography.  It also means perfect museum weather with none of the accompanied guilt that you’ve spent the entire day indoors.

Leafy sea dragon, copyright Monterey Bay Aquarium

I took a day trip down to California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium, an award winning aquarium in the San Francisco Bay Area.   Almost 2 million people visit each year, a testament to how amazing this place is.  It also presents an interesting challenge to photographers.  I find that weekends are inundated with families and children running amok, and weekdays in general are easier for getting closer to the aquarium glass for photography.  I am crowd-averse, so I try to go at non-peak days and hours.

The aquarium is located right on the Monterey shoreline at Cannery Row, and actually pumps in and circulates back Monterey Bay ocean water from the Pacific, along with its nourishing plankton, 24 hours a day (2000 gallons a minute!).   This allows most of the aquarium to functionally be ecologically similar to the ocean that would normally house these extraordinary creatures. It also permits the aquarium to show exhibits that are rarely seen in any other part of the world, like the thriving California kelp forest.

Kelp Forest exhibit

Sea Pens

Among other popular exhibits are the jellyfish, seahorses, sea otters, and the Open Sea exhibit. The 1-million gallon Open Sea exhibit houses animals found in the outer bay such as sharks, giant green sea turtles, and tuna, and truly mesmerizing to behold. There are daily feedings at each of the major exhibits multiple times per day, and this is always interesting to watch. (or if you’re like me, you take advantage of that moment to photograph nearby exhibits that have been abandoned for the feeding show!)

Open Sea Exhibit, copyright Monterey Bay Aquarium

Weedy Sea Dragon

The captivating jellies

The aptly named Egg-drop jelly

Photography is encouraged at the aquarium, with the important exception of flash photography. Some animals are sensitive to flash photography and this is prohibited at the exhibits. If you did use flash, most of the time you’d end up with glare from the glass anyhow! The exhibits are generally very well lit, and as long as you can push your way past the throngs of children (nicely), you are virtually guaranteed a good shot!

Seahorse

Leopard Shark

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium soon, check out the aquariums, zoos, and wildlife exhibits near your home.  You’d be surprised at how much biodiversity there is in the world around you if you stopped and looked.  If you do get a chance to visit Monterey, however, make sure to stop by neighboring Carmel, filled with beautiful vistas, the famous 17-mile drive, quaint B&Bs, and culinary genius.  It’s also quite dog-friendly for you pooch lovers out there who can’t bear to leave Fido at home.  I’m happy to share my favorite restaurants with you- if you do go, enjoy the visit!  Your winter will pass by that much more quickly!

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Dear Readers:

This is my first letter to you as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine and I am especially appreciative and honored to lead Fuel Your Photography after our previous Editor-in-Chief, Patrick Onofre. Patrick has done an admirable job of enhancing the the quality of material for our readership and I intend to do the same.

As you know, I’m especially proud of our writers and contributors whose dedicated efforts produce articles 5 days a week for you to enjoy and gain knowledge from. Our multi-talented writing team is geographically diverse and we let that shine through in their articles. Our team comes from regions such as: North America, Europe, Asia, Central America, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Moreover, in addtion to the team being creditable photographers and writers, we have quite a few Professional Photographers in our ranks, however, just like you, many of us have other careers, we have on our team, students, Medical Doctors, IT professionals, captains of industry, aviation professionals, Musicians, Creative Directors and many other professions. Regardless of our varied backgrounds one common thread brings us all together, photography!

Naturally, just as diverse is our readership. If I wasn’t aware of this diversity prior, to becoming Editor, reading reports that show the countries our readers originate from has reinforced my belief that that photography is deeply imbued in every corner of the planet. I am also especially proud and thankful for our readership, they/you are quite possibly the most faithful reader(s) in existence, somehow they continually manage to fit into their busy schedules, between their wake-up routine and bedtime, time to read FYP!

In the continuing quest for excellence we have reintroduced our Indie Spotlight series, our Featured Photographer Interview series all in the effort to expand your (and our) knowledge and inspiration and we shall continue to bring you new and exciting articles.

During this month you’ll see exciting articles by new team members covering such topics as: high contrast portraiture, upping your game, do’s and don’ts of food photography, pressing on against the naysayers, working with natural winter light, Beauty shots, and many awesome independent photographers by our Indie Spotlight Team.

Not to be left out of bringing you excellent and inspiring articles are our stalwarts who bring you such goodies as: a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, posing people naturally, working within your ability, a review of The Photographer’s Ephemeris among many others.

With all this goodness, I know you are asking yourself “what can they possibly do to improve?” Well here are some exciting openings and planned columns at FYP that you can look forward to:

• A Photography Coach who you can ask questions and get guidance to overcome any challenge you may have, we are currently fielding candidates for this position, if you think you have what it takes and want to apply, let me know by email editor@fuelyourphotography.com.
• Freebies, we are going to reinvigorate a column to cover the great free resources available to you on the Internet, not only will our writer scour the net to bring you all this greatness but we’ll also be taking and passing on suggestions from other readers that they want to share.
• We are also fielding candidates to write a mobile space column to covering all the great happenings in the mobile phoneography arena, whether it is Android, iOS, Blackberry, we’ll let you know what’s up, provide you with ideas and keep you on the cutting edge. If you have a knack for writing and use your mobile device as camera much more than you do a phone drop me a note editor@fuelyourphotography.com.
• FYP is also looking for 2 Assistant Editors to contribute to the production of the magazine, if you think slamming your fingers in a car’s door is fun email me for details on how you can help lead one of the most dynamic teams of photography writers on the web editor@fuelyourphotography.com.

Join me on what promises to be a fantastic journey as our team continues to uplift FYP. We at FYP believe that today’s readers will be tomorrows luminary photographers and we are passionately interested in sharing the secrets of how photography works.

I look forward to hearing from many of you in my inbox and I know you can “cut the mustard”. Consider joining the FYP family for any of the above positions where you feel you are a fit.

I trust you’ll enjoy this month and all the upcoming months of FYP, as I know you have been in the past, we appreciate when you share links to our articles and also when you encourage your friends to read FYP.

Take care!

- Jeremy

Editor-in-Chief

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

"28/365" by bgottsab

Other Links:

"All The Fine Lines II" by kvikken

"Tint Splash 1" by little-pigeon

"FakeYour Cloud Nine" by ytzeek

"Awash" by valimar

"English Summer Rain" by ytzeek

"Holga 76" by valimar

"And God Created Woman II" by sonic-orgasm

"Streets of Chania" by kvikken

"By Your Side" by zemotion

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week we shine the spotlight on Patrick B. Shourds, a fine art landscape and abstract photographer from Santa Barbara, California.  Patrick shoots with two very different cameras, the first being the Olympus E-3, and the second the iPhone 4s, or as I like to call it, the camera that makes phone calls.  He uses both equally, often using the iPhone for exploring and finding interesting compositions. In the grand scheme, they compliment each other.   The Olympus is fitted with the Zuiko 11-22mm or the Zuiko 12-60mm lenses, both of which are terrific storytelling lenses with exceptional depth of field and sharpness.  The iPhone’s native lens and built in depth of field suit his needs perfectly.

Patrick shoots almost exclusively in natural light, however, he will occasionally use reflectors/fill flash to control the intensity of the light especially for close-up shots.  Processing begins in Adobe Lightroom for exposure and pre-sharpening tweaks.  If the image output is to be HDR, he will first process via Photomatix before heading to Lightroom.  Next is white balance using Nik Software and Topaz adjustment filters for final “artistic” touches.  Final post production happens in Adobe Photoshop CS5 using the dodge, burn, vignette, and output sharpening.  Fine art images destined for print will require additional adjustments in Photoshop.  The iPhone workflow includes transferring the file to an iPad and creating spontaneous images using a myriad of photo apps and immediately outputting to various social sites.

Regarding tips and technique, being prepared makes the top of Patrick’s list.   Learn the workings of your camera inside and out, and be able to set up in minutes.  A perfect example happened in San Francisco’s Alamo square, where he was hoping for a shot of the skyline against the famous Victorian Ladies.  He had just finished packing up his gear when a shaft of light peeked through the clouds illuminating the skyline with gold light.  It lasted only for a very brief time, however, since he knew exactly what settings to dial in, he could fire off a series of shots.

When you find that gem, Patrick muses, the one that made you pull an illegal u-turn?  Explore, and take as many shots from different perspectives.  The goal is to tell a story that expresses your joy in the moment.   Start with the “postcard” shot, and then find the true essence of the story.

Lastly, the tools in your post production arsenal are the key.  A great example is Mono Lake Tufa Towers (pictured below).  Patrick wanted to bring out the drama of the clouds and the light splashing across the island of tufa, so he processed five bracketed shots in Photomatix and exported them back to Lightroom where he tweaked the exposure and pre sharpened before exporting back to CS5.  In Photoshop he corrected the white balance with curves and then converted the image to B&W using Silver Efex Pro set to high structure  (Key: Change the blend mode of your B&W image from normal to luminosity).  Finally, he jumped into Color Efex Pro, applied glamor glow, midnight, and skylight filters to finish the effect using control points where needed.

When it comes to inspiration, Patrick wants to explore slot canyons in the Southwest. He is intrigued by the shapes, patterns, textures, and the light mix, and would love to give it a try adding his personal stamp on the finished piece.   He is also inspired by other photographers, more specifically, Ansel Adams and his modern equivalent Galen Rowell.  Adams died in 1984, and sadly Rowell and his wife died in a plane crash in 2002.  If you go through Bishop, Ca. at the foot of the Sierras, stop at the Mountain Light Gallery and view Gallen’s beautiful images.   Both captured the essence of nature, albeit in different ways.

Patrick has always experimented with the camera motion and slow shutter speed.  He would try anything, shake, twist, pan, and zoom.  Both fun and creative, this method has produced several nice abstracts.  His iPhone has been the recipient of many of these same techniques making each image a unique creation.

Lastly, intrigued by Jim Goldstein’s new ebook, “Photographing The 4th Dimension – TIME,” Patrick is eager to try some of the techniques (light painting, star trails, and time-lapse) on his upcoming trip to Death Valley.

Patrick can be found out and about on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, and his personal website.  He will also be at the Arthaus San Francisco, April 5th for the opening of the Mobile Photo Awards Gallery.   He has a piece in the show entitled, “Tidal Impressions,” which won the Waterscapes division.  The show runs through the month of June, and Patrick would be honored if you were to stop in to see his work and the work of the Mobile Phone Community at large.

* Note: As of the writing of this article, Patrick’s personal site is up, but not ready for viewing. He estimates two weeks for the site to be fully functional.

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The term ‘monochrome’ does not just refer to images that are black and white, it also refers to images that are full of the same shades and tones of one colour. This could be any colour from pink to the more classic sepia tint. Below we explore some monochrome images.

"Blue Buzzz" by flyxer

"Monochrome" by indiae

"Monochrome Jag" by dsoden

"Psychedelic Zebra" by oo-rein-oo

"Anna Monochrome" by artdictator

"Urban Life" by sunnydayze

"Monochrome" by emiller3

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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If this title sounds vaguely familiar to you we are probably about the same age, for those of you that don’t know Dire Straits here is a link to history!

We know you love FYP and we also know that you are not always at your computer and therefore can’t get on your browser to keep up-to-date with the latest postings.  Rather than watch you flop around on the floor, I’m going to share some additional ways that you can read your favorite FYP authors during your morning  or afternoon travels, lunchtime or even lying on a tropical beach like me.  If you are reading this congratulations, you already know the most popular way to read the great articles from the most diverse photography writers on the web!  In this posting I’m going to explain elements of the little yellow box on the site inviting you to “Get Fueled”

RSS

Really Simple Syndication more commonly known as RSS is a great way to aggregate feeds from your favorite sites.  RSS comes in both desktop and mobile forms and allows you to go to a single place to receive all your latest updates. Google Reader is a popular desktop and mobile RSS client if you have an Android phone you can get it from the Android Marketplace.  Apple fanboys/fangirls you are not to be left out, a version for iPhone is available here.  Blackberry users , like me, will have to be content with Viigo, it is not quite as intuitive but it does the job!

Once you have your preferred method you can click on the “SITE RSS FEED” link and then select Google Reader and FYP will be added to your feed.  Full and complete articles are available for you to read at any time just by opening your RSS reader and selecting Fuel Your Photography.  This is especially great for smaller screened mobile devices where mobile browsers are a pain.

Email

Keeping up by email is even easier, simply enter your email address in the field in the yellow box that says “Suscribe by Email” and then click the subscribe button new articles will be emailed to you immediately after posting.  Depending on your mobile email client you may not receive the full multimedia experience.  Your mileage may vary!  You will not be sent any Unsolicited Commercial Email (SPAM) by subscribing to the email feed.

Twitter

FYP maintains a very active twitter feed, a link to every article published is posted here along with select other tweets, follow us on twitter @FuelPhotography.   One of our Twitter secrets, for you die hard photographers and tweeters you can follow the list of our writers and keep up with their tweets.  Be advised that writers tweets are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FYP.  If you are brave and not faint of heart follow TeamFYP.

Facebook

Facebook??  Heck yeah, we are on Facebook!  You can find our page here and Facebook provides an additional forum for you to give feedback and easily share our articles with friends and groups, we really appreciate when you do so.  Feel free to fan us on Facebook.   We also have a page strictly dedicated to our FYP/500px Photography Contest, have you entered yet?

Google +

What is Google +?  Google Plus, like FYP, is a great place for creatives, however not as targeted as FYP, we know we are among your top photography resources. FYP maintains a page on Google Plus and reaches out to photographers and photography lovers alike, if you are on Google Plus circle us at gplus.to/FYP, if you are not yet on Google + join here mobile clients are also available.

Flickr

Check, we are also on Flickr and if you are too you can post 2 images per day to our group for feedback of other members.  We look forward to seeing your shared images!

I’ve shared with you some great ways to interact with FYP, I’m interested in hearing how you use it in the comments section below.

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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Hugh Walker is an amateur photographer who lives on the beautiful island paradise of Barbados with his wife, Cheryl and 14 year old daughter, Giselle. Photography is a family affair for the Walkers; Hugh’s wife and daughter being award winning photographers, having both won numerous medals and special prizes at the annual Barbados National Independence Festival of Creative Arts. As Hugh put it: “We have a healthy family competition going on and so far I am losing to the ladies”. However, Hugh is not to be outdone by the family, having won silver and gold medals as well and special prizes in Architectural, and Black & White photography.

Hugh has a passion for landscape photography and one of his greatest dreams is to have the opportunity to travel to exotic locations and be exposed to a wide variety of landscape scenarios. In late 2010 he took one such memorable trip to the Grand Canyon. His comment about the trip being “The temperature was about 5 degrees below zero and there is this guy from the Caribbean, with an insane smile on his face, shooting everything in sight an loving it! It was a dream come true”.

Besides landscape photography he has dabbled a bit with portrait photography. Hugh is however drawn to architecture and abstract photography. There is something about the lines of a building that intrigues him. Each building has a character that has been developed through the design elements used by the architect, and he loves to try to find it and demonstrate it in an artistic manner.

Hugh loves to create images that are dramatic in nature; his point of view is that “We see the ordinary every day in our lives and I strongly believe that the images we create should not be ordinary, but should attempt to take the viewer to another place”. Hugh embraces colour, but loves black and white. His initial exposure to photography was in the era of film and the wet dark room . “Black & white was the medium we used because we could not afford to process colour, because of the cost of the chemicals and papers. We had full control of the black and white process, from developing to printing”. Today he embraces the digital tools, especially Adobe Lightroom and the Nik suite of plugins. His favorite tool is Nick Silver Effects Pro which he finds is best at black and white conversion.

When it comes to equipment Hugh has a foot in both of the major camps. He shoots both Nikon and Canon. Some may think this is strange but he finds that both have their weakness and strengths and that being slavishly tied to one system does not fit his profile. Favorite lens are the Canon 100mm f 2.8 L macro, and 70 -200 f2.8l and the Nikon 16-85 VR . Favorite software products are Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Effects Pro.

Hugh’s work can be found online at his portfolio site  http://Art4life.zenfolio.com

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Hello folks! Welcome to the February 2012 contest.  We are happy to partner with 500px.com and they are awarding an annual account to the first prize winner each month in this series of the contest. The winner will also be featured in the Indie Spotlight at FuelYourPhotography.com.  N.B. Submission to the Contest must be made by midnight United States Eastern Standard Time on the 21st of the month.

January Contest Winners

This months contest was the closest ever with 1st and 2nd place being separated by .20 of a point, unfortunately 2 entries were disqualified for not meeting the rule of having an active 500px.com account watermarked on the submission.  That being said, congratulations are in order for our January 2012 Contest winners, Aaron Wilson – first place, Boris Frković – second place and Zoran Stanko – third place.  The top photographs are also featured in this article.  Special thanks also to our judges for the January contest Indie Spotlight Team Leader – Bryan Zimmerman, FYP writers, Amber Fife, Hafez Kamal and new to the FYP team Jaycee Crawford and Andrew Iles.

This Months Contest

This months theme is “Black & White”, color is all around us but this month we’ll do a turnabout and go old school.  We encourage you to experiment with tonal ranges and produce some stunning black & white submissions.  Your submissions maybe any subject you wish as long as they are black & white.  Remember to watermark your images with your email address and your 500px.com account!

Below is a brief highlight of the rules to get you started, however, a full copy of the rules including the judging criteria can be found as a document on the Facebook Group Page.

Aaron Wilson - 1st place

The Eligibility Rules

• The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
• You certify that you are the legal owner of the work submitted.
• Entries are accepted up to midnight United States Eastern Standard Time on the 21st of the corresponding month.

The No-Holds-Barred Rule

Feel free to express your creative vision by any means: any type of camera or lens, subject, light, composition, perspective, processing techniques, and anything else you can think of to create a meaningful, impactful, and beautiful work is perfectly acceptable. Submitted images may be from any date and not necessarily limited to the contest period.

Boris Frković - 2nd place

The Technical Rules

• All images must be submitted in JPEG format and should be clearly watermarked with your email address AND your  active 500px.com site (IE http://500px.com/YOURNAMEHERE) at which you can be notified should you be the lucky winner.
• Images are to be submitted (in  high resolution if available) by joining the “FYP Photography Contest” Facebook group page, and then uploading to the folder for the corresponding folder IE this month’s folder is “February 2011 contest”.
• Maximum of 2 Images to be submitted per person (submitting more may result in disqualification of all images).
• Photographs will be judged on: Impact, composition, technique, presentation, originality and viewer input (comments/likes)

The No-Rights-Grab Rule

By entering this contest, Fuel Your Photography to post your submitted image(s) on our respective sites and blogs, along with your name. You also agree to provide your name and mailing information in order to facilitate delivery of the prizes. You retain all other rights.

Judging Period

Judging starts on the 22nd of the month and winners are announced in the article posting the new theme on the 1st of the following month.

The Judges’ decision is FINAL

I’m looking forward to seeing some fantastic entries from you, good luck!

Zoran Stanko - 3rd place

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

“Fes Sunrise” by uk_photo_art

Other Links:

"Spilled With Light" by maticgolob

"Surfing Over The Clouds" by xavierjamonet

"Light Searcher" by rykardo

"Light Absorbing Machine" by bosnia

"Light Of Day" by karisca

"Cotton Candy Clouds" by light-from-emirates

"Dark Clouds Rising" by r3ds0ld13r

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week I roll out the virtual map and place the FYP push pin on Genoa Italy, home of our Indie Spotlight Marco Maroccolo.  Marco is mainly a black and white photographer, however, when the project requires some color, Marco has no disdain.

Marco enjoys photographing art, expressed in sculpture rather than painting, as well as architecture, nature, and landscapes.  He shoots with a Nikon D700 and a Leica M9.  On the project, “From Earth, From Heaven,” and older projects, the D700 was the camera of choice, however, the Leica M9 has become the “new kid on the block” for projects beginning in 2010.

Marco uses one lens, the Leica Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH, which produce the best results for indoor low light situations.  The Leica is not prejudice, as it works just as well in outdoor settings, delivering professional images, and beautiful detail.   For Marco, it is the best solution for fine art photography projects.

Choosing subject matter is dictated by the emotion invoked, the geometric composition, and the quality of light surrounding the subject.  Marco will pause long enough to “tune in” with the subject matter, recreating the image in his minds eye before taking the first shot.   He also prefers natural light, specifically the natural light of the environment, especially when shooting indoors.   Using natural light when shooting indoors brings the contrast of light and shadow to life , produces surreal effects, and extraordinary visual sensations.  Sometimes this means waiting patiently for the magical moment when the light is just right.  It may only produce a handful of photos, but they are photos caught in a moment of time, a moment worth the wait.

During post production Marco will edit the images with CaptureOne and Adobe Photoshop.   Next the photographs are printed on Canson paper with an Epson 3880.   Printing each photo allows personal attention, individual care, and lastly the satisfaction, and sense of completion which ultimately fulfills his need as a photographer.

At the end of the day, Marco’s goal is to express a sense of order, peace, and beauty in everything that surrounds him, creating an overall pleasant sense of contentment which reaches the soul of the viewer lifting him or her spiritually, morally, and intellectually.  Sometimes this will come from the extraordinary scenery offered by nature, and other times the grace of art created by man whether as a statue, painting, or architecture.

Regarding tips and techniques, Marco is trying to improve his mobility.  Although the use of a tripod is essential to obtain the best image quality, the use of a rangefinder in certain types of projects is very helpful, especially when hand held.

Marco recalls a project he shot entitled, “Lotus & Pyramid,” which was a macro shoot of old travel books using his Nikon and a Zeiss lens. Choosing an appropriate angle and shooting the subject of the print on the same focal plane produced an almost three dimensional effect.   He was not intentionally trying to achieve this effect, however, it was one of Marcos’ first lessons on depth of field as it relates to macro photography.  Although it was something he stumbled on accidentally; he still uses this method today.

For inspiration, Marco turns to two photographers that he admires Josef Sudek and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

You can find Marcos Maroccolo’ work at marcomaroccolo.com

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[Editor's note:  Photographs in this post contain a degree of nudity and maybe considered NSFW.]

This month we interview Fine Art and Editorial Photographer D. Yee, who is currently based in New York City and works freelance. He uses photography as a continuation of his works in figurative drawing and painting, and through it he experiments with his admiration for the human condition.

FYP: Tell us a little about yourself

D. Yee: I lived in the metro areas of New York for most of my life. Apart from photography, I continue to paint and draw as my other alternative to visual work involving human figures and stories. World travel is one of my favorite activities whenever I get/make the opportunity to.

FYP: Have you had formal training in photography?

D. Yee: No proper training as in classes or school. I’m mostly self taught and had worked with a photographer for a summer some years ago. Studying photographs and photo essays are also ways of learning and discovery.

FYP: Where do you see yourself in five years time?

D. Yee: That’s what I asked myself five years ago this time. So, for the next five years, maybe I see myself finally putting together a book of strong (and I mean very strong) collection of work, live and work abroad. Or, simply to have seen more of the world than I have now.

FYP: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your photographic career?

D. Yee: Projecting my most honest tone of voice and vision in my work. Whether or not it appeals to others. I’m sure this is something one comes into conflict with, especially when you start out. You want to produce work you want to feel accepted by a mass public. If you can find pleasure in this go for it. For me, when I took into consideration what may appeal to others I found myself feeling bland and quite empty. I don’t often listen to what people want to see unless it’s a commercial job (even with that, I try to inject my aesthetic – stand for your artistic voice).

FYP: Who is your favourite artist?

D. Yee: I have quite a few, but I’ll randomly pick one now: Guy Bourdin.

FYP: Where do you find your inspiration?

D. Yee: In the most unexpected places. It could be from a silent walk to the most absurd moments/subject matter. I try to keep my senses open.

FYP: What are your favourite techniques or methods?

D. Yee: I tend to I draw out an idea before I decide to go forth with a photograph (if it’s a production). For my street work, it’s just a lot of aimless wandering and patience while framing each moment as if I’m shooting the film that I see before me.

FYP: How much emphasis do you put on post-production?

D. Yee: Depends on the situation and project. Half and half? Or less. I’m mostly concerned about color temperature in a photograph when it comes to this stage.

FYP: What genre would you most like to experiment in?

D. Yee: Cinema. Motion storytelling.

FYP: If you could photograph anyone/anywhere in the world, who/where would you photograph?

D. Yee: I would like to shoot a short film (or stills) on a beautiful baron landscape of individuals (and nudes) adorned in some kind of strange and beautiful fashion. It’d be based on a short story I have had in the back of my mind for the last six years. Just haven’t found the right time and place to do so.

FYP: Have you got any hints or tips to share with aspiring photographers?

D. Yee: Realize that photography is a soul-sucking job, but being persistent and passionate about it helps. And, most importantly, don’t always follow the stream even though we’ll fall into it once in a while. Go explore and take a creative risk once in a while. Make the best of yourself. You live once.

FYP: What is your favourite way to de-stress?

D. Yee: One of my de-stressors is thrashing/dancing to my favorite bass-thumping dance tracks. Drawing/painting or a long walk would be my more quiet alternative.

FYP: Thanks for sharing, D. Yee, and good luck with the future!

Contact Info:

Facebook

Flickr

Website

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[Editor's note:  A few challenges prevented us from publishing this Weekends Photo Focus on Friday as we usually do, but we know you were chomping at the bit for it, so here it is!  The corresponding Weekend Photo Find will be published on Tuesday January 31st.  Enjoy!]

This weekend we will be looking upwards for our theme. Clouds are a constant in an ever-changing world, but they also change constantly. Every so often, we look up and notice how beautiful those clouds look today, and for this weekend’s theme, we want you to grab your camera and snap those gorgeous cloud formations.

"Sky In A Bottle" by angeli-photography

"Cloud Carpet" by downthunder

"The Sky" by kangdj

"Jumping Cloud" by daaram

"Clouds" by alfaowl

"Sky Walker" by intao

"Aerith" by jay-cougar-prints

"A Winter's Tale" by m4k4v3l1

"Droplets On The Sky" by Skippy

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Ameena comes from a small town just on the outside of London, United Kingdom.  She will be 21 years old this September, and will have been with FYP for two years and a few months by that time. She currently lives in Bristol, in the south west, where she is in her first year of studying photography at university.

Ameena is a prolific writer and has published numerous articles about different techniques and genres in photography at FYP, but at the moment she is responsible for the ‘Weekend Photo Focus’  and ‘Weekend Photo Find’ which are published every Friday and Monday. She also publishes a monthly interview with notable professional photographers, which goes live on the 30th of every month (look out for this months featured photographer).

Her style is still in its developmental stages, and therefore very experimental. Portraiture is her strongest area, as well as conceptual photography, which is mainly due to her participation in the 365 project (in which she attempted to take a self-portrait everyday for a year). As well as that, she has a great love for creating surreal and dream-like images, especially as sometimes she gains inspiration from her dreams which can be very vivid.

As well as portraiture, she loves to photograph landscapes and different cultures, this stems from having relatives all over the world and being quite well-traveled as a child because of it.  One day, when she can afford it, her dream is to go traveling and discover all the hidden gems of the world,  just to take photographs.  Ameena also has a growing collection of film cameras, and loves to expose roll upon roll of black and white  film.

Recently, Ameena upgraded her dSLR from a Nikon D60 which was cherished and loved for many years, to a Nikon D7000 which was bought because of its greater range of features but also because of its ability to shoot video, which Ameena hopes to experiment with in the near future.  Her favourite lens is also a recent purchase, a 50mm F1.8 lens, which she fell in love with as soon as it was affixed to her camera.  Ameena loves to use it for her portraiture photography, and self-portrait series as it provides gorgeous depth-of-focus, she is rapidly developing an affection for prime lenses.  It was also the perfect lens for a recent series she did based on the cinematic style for a university project, which she also did an article on.

Ameena was introduced to photography in an unusual way; before she was given a digital camera for her 14th birthday, photography as an art had never crossed her mind.  She took her new camera with her to local gigs that she attended fortnightly with her friends, and started taking photographs of the bands that played.  Eventually, she was asked to take photographs for the company that held the gigs, so that they could show them on their website.  She did this for about three years, and during those years her skill in using a camera developed, and her interest became a full-blown love affair with photography, which to this day has not dwindled, nor does she expect it to.

As mentioned before, Ameena is in her first year, studying photography at university, and intends to become a famous and perhaps rich photographer one day, photographing for the likes of Vogue and I-D magazine.  Writing for FYP has given her the technical skill and desire to become part-journalist and to also has allowed her to pick up a variety of other skills to add to her collection and therefore up her value as a creative.  When she started university, Ameena decided to take it a step further by seeking clients and hopefully have the chance to work with real models and establish her name in the industry.  Yes, it is a slow process, but everyone has to start somewhere, fortunately for Ameena it is paying off slowly because  in December 2011 she did her first ever fashion shoot in which she shot some brilliant photographs, and had a great experience at the same time.

You can view Ameena’s most recent work on her Flickr and Facebook page, and her portfolio here. She may also be contacted by email to a.rojee@hotmail.co.uk.

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

"14/365" by bgottsab

"164" by Ameena Rojee

Other Links:

"The Line" by MichelRajkovic

"Cross The Line" by duchesse-2-guermante

"Line And Texture" by manj3d

"Line" by salmasterz

"Draw The Line" by davespertine

"Walk The Line" by photos-by-fee

"Snibston Train Line" by ph0t0-girl

"In Line" by martac

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

[ Editor's Note: Some items in this posting maybe considered NSFW ]

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week spotlight, Eric James Leffler, hails from Walnut Creek, CA. His style ranges between fine art, portrait, and wedding photography.

Despite the genre, Eric is never without his main camera – A Nikon D700. If the 700 should fail him for whatever reason, he carries a D90 as a backup.

Eric’s len’s choice is a Nikon 24-70/2.8, which he fondly refers to as his “workhorse.”   Wide enough to handle most of his city and landscape work, yet versatile and sharp in the studio.  It’s also a great lens for low light situations.   A self proclaimed “sucker” for compression and bokeh; Eric also carries a 70-300 lens, which also serves as a secondary.

Eric prefers working with natural light, on location, when circumstances permit.  When shooting landscape and city, he will occasionally use bracketing in the event he wants to tone map or some manual blending.

An off camera flash/strobist is always standing by for indoor portrait work, night shots, or a more dramatic effect during the day.  When it comes to ultimate preference, Eric refers to natural light as his “happy place.

Adobe Lightroom 3 is Eric’s go to software for file management and the majority of his editing process.  Photos requiring additional polishing find their way into Adobe Photoshop CS5 and onOne Photo Suite software.

Diversity is key when it comes to the shoot.  Boredom can set in quickly, so finding a new location, concept, or subject is what drives him.  He is also inspired by the city;  San Francisco to be more precise.   A Bay Area native, Eric still finds something new every time he heads out for a shoot.  Another inspiration is the water as it relates to his beauty and fashion photography.

Inspiration also comes in the form of other photographers, and Eric has his list.  He enjoys Jaime Ibarra for his fashion work, Chase Jarvis for his adventurous side, Hoffer Photography’s wedding work, and Thomas Hawk for his ability to see art in just about everything.

Turning to tips and techniques, Eric suggests focusing on post processing and file management, and Lightroom is the tool of choice.  Eric would also like to try underwater photography someday, and would love to get into pro sports as well.

Be sure to check out more of Eric’s work on Facebook, Google+, and his personal site.