DRUGS by Lyana Votey is available at DiscoveredArtists for only $75 as a 24″x18″ metallic print. I find it rather lovely.

Really enjoy this great example of street photography by Kitty at New York Portraits.

Gareth really nails this scenic photograph of Chicago trains . Love it.

I’ve never been to Chinatown in D.C. but this great photograph makes me want to go.

I’m really diggin’ this series of rain drop photographs by Ciao, Chessa!

In the Photoblogosphere

I love Motivation. I love that Howard works so hard at writing about how photography can really be about more than just camera equipment and settings. Sometimes you have to ignore the “common logic” and quit fighting mother nature . Take what life gives you and show it to the world!

Setting your camera just right for photographs at sunset can be kinda tough. Here’s a great little article on how to get that perfect exposure for sunsets .

There really are benefits to getting up early for your photography . Even if you’re not a morning person

Scott Thomas has a great review of the photography book Practical HDR for all of you interested in jumping on the HDR bandwagon.

Photo Gear

Rob Nunn has a great review on the Canon EF 35-105mm 4.5-5.6 that’s worth checking out if you need a decent walk around lens. I do need to mention that his photography is getting better and better. I’ve been a fan of his podcast and blog since he joined the Internet Photographer world and always appreciate his dedication to learning.

I have to admit, I’m not that familiar with BenQ’s cameras , but they have my interest piqued.

Your Photo Tips News

Tuesday we took our new (and hopefully improved) website live. We were able to avoid much downtime so I give myself an A- on that. If you haven’t seen the new layout (because you’re reading this in a reader or aggregator) I’d love to hear your thoughts. We’re still doing a little tweaking in the background and there’s some meat to be added here and there but the hard part is past us.

We do have some new and exciting things still in developement for you guys (especially those of you who joined the Exposure group project). Of course I’ll give you more information about those things as we get ready for launch on those projects. They’re coming soon I promise.

Have a great weekend everyone and keep on shooting!

“We are excited to join forces with CPR® and better serve our clients and their repair  needs,” says Paul Naraine, Vice President of Operations for Photo Tech. “We  understand how important the information is that many people keep on their phones or handheld devices. We know that local service is important so that people can quickly get their phones repaired and resume the rest of their day with minor interruption.”

With two convenient store locations, Photo Tech on 110 East 13th Street and Chrysler Camera located at 367 West 34th Street (2nd Floor), Photo Tech and Chrysler Camera offer a six-month warranty on all repairs, phones and gadgets and looks to complete service on most phones within the same day. Photo Tech CPR® can complete a few repairs while you wait caused from a variety  of different problems such as cracked LCDs, dropped, shattered or damaged charging ports. While other repairs such as liquid damage or excessive impact damaged devices can take two to four days.

Mr. Naraine adds, “Even better, now you can cancel your insurance on your phone, because we will be able to get your phone back to you more quickly and in proper working condition.”

Photo Tech Repair Service, Inc. is one of the oldest and most reputable sources for camera repair in the U.S. and Canada servicing hundreds of cameras and lenses of all  types every day. Their customers are consumers, professional photographers,  dealers and manufacturers from all over the U.S. Their staff of 17 technicians are authorized and trained by manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Fuji and Pentax. Photo Tech is an authorized service  facility for Canon, Fuji, Nikon, and Pentax and also able to repair most  cameras made by Casio, Hasselblad, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. Photo Tech is now also a service center for devices such as iPhones, Blackberry’s, LG’s, Playstations, Xboxes, Wii’s, iPods, MP3’s, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP Photo Tech due to their recent partnership with CPR®. Photo Tech was voted as a Best of City Search NYC in the Electronic Category for 2009 and has been a member  of the BBB for more than 10 years with an A+ rating.

Located at 110 East 13th Street, New York, NY, Photo Tech offers repairs via mail order to anywhere in the U.S. and its surrounding territories. The company also  offers messenger services for those customers located or working in Manhattan. In addition, Photo Tech offers a special coupon for every CCD cleaning, which is usually done within one hour Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm. For more information please visit www.cpr-nyc.com or  www.phototech.com, call 212.673.8400, email service@phototech.com or stop by the store Monday to Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm and Saturdays 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Two Giants by andy_AHG

I encourage you to click on the image or title of the image to read the great description of this photograph over at Flickr.

You can find more of Andy’s work at AHG Photography.

I command you

You may have noticed that we have a new layout for the Your Photo Tips website!

It’s what I’ve been working on over the weekend and yesterday we went live with the redesign.

There are a few wrinkles that I’m still working on here and there but I’d love for you to poke around and give me a hand (if that’s not asking too much).

Just work yourself around the website and let me know how things are working (or more importantly how they are NOT working).

You may see a few things move around or change in the next couple days but this new layout begins a new era in the Your Photo Tips website.

We have a few more surprises and features we’ll be adding and, of course, I’ll let you know about them as they get implemented so that you can get the most out of this photography tutorials website.

Please let me know what you think about the new, and hopefully improved, Your Photo Tips website by leaving a comment here or using the contact page.

Thank you for your patience and for your presence,

Damien Franco

Photograph I command you by MGP 

Well I’m gonna weigh in as well and I’m saying that everyone was right and everyone was wrong.

Before I get to the details watch the video if you haven’t.

Remember that this is a television show that thrives on people’s emotions so getting all theatrical is kinda the Judge’s job.

It’s how he gets his ratings.

He did seem somewhat knowledgeable about photography and how cameras work in general but also a bit dated.

While the camera that the photographer uses isn’t necessarily a “pro” rated camera it’s certainly capable of producing rather large images and would probably suffice for most people’s weddings at that price range depending on where they live.

The plaintiff, of course, was emotional but poised and that’s what won the judge over.  He was instantly empathetic to her views and, no doubt, has seen a few of these types of cases before.

The photographer wasn’t able to handle herself well in court, in fact I thought she was pretty rude a few times, so she really didn’t come across as professional in that aspect and I did have issues with a couple of the things that her and her partner said during the case.

They said they had done “hundreds” of weddings with no problems.  Here’s where I may come across as a jerk but, if you’ve done “hundreds” of weddings I’m gonna assume you’ve been doing this for 2-3 years.  What are you still doing shooting weddings with a Canon Rebel with a kit lens?  How do you not know how fast your other lens was?  Why are you still charging only $1300 for a wedding?

The photographer wasn’t really given a chance to prove her case and that’s where the Judge was wrong.

The judge didn’t let her explain enough so he’s certainly not without fault and how do you let the plaintiff get off with a possible lie in where she may of may not  have initially met the photographer?  He said it doesn’t matter but I’ll argue that it does.

Oddly enough the judge, in the beginning, kinda stuck up for the photographer when the plaintiff said the initial prints were done on Fuji paper at a Walmart.  If they were just proofs to get the final order done I say who cares?  In the end it’s how you present your work that will help determine your worth.  I prefer slideshows instead of wasting the money on proofs but to each their own.

Was the plaintiff wrong?  It’s really tough to tell.  We didn’t get to see the photographer’s portfolio compared to the final product and, to me, that’s what the ruling should have been based on.

Did the photographer produce work that was consistent with the photographer’s previous work?

Regardless of how much a photographer charges it’s the photographer’s portfolio or website that determines whether that photographer delivered the promised results.  Not the price.

You certainly can’t expect a $1300 wedding photographer to produce the same results as a $5300 wedding photographer but you should know that going in and you simply can’t expect too much at that price.

Most of the people who read this website are newer or intermediate photographers (although I do know a few “pros” that read this website as well so I’d like to see your input also) so I put this question to you:

Does a video like this make you think twice about how you would handle being a wedding photographer?  Why?  Why not?

And…do you think the judge was too harsh in his ruling or do you think the photographer got hosed?

You know where the comments section is located.

How can I make up for those days by | Syka |

Photojojo the book is a great photography project book from the fine folks at Photojojo the website.

Just like the website this photography book is filled with great projects for photographers at every level.  We’re talking 50+ “super easy projects”!

These masters of creativity will show you how to get some really fun and interesting things done with all of those photos you have laying around.  Don’t have any photos laying around?  Get them printed!  That’s the whole point here.

It’s about turning your digital photos on your hard drive into something tangible and creative with do-it-yourself projects.  I’m constantly amazed by some of the things the folks at Photojojo will come up with and this photo project book puts it all together in one handy reference.

Here’s a taste of some of the great stuff you’ll find in this photography book:

• Build a Ginormous Photo Mosaic!
• A completely random (but super delicious) Red Velvet Cupcake recipe.
• Make a Photo Cover Notebook or a Custom Photo Laptop Sleeve!
• Create an awesome Photo Messenger Bag or Photo Lampshade!
• Learn how to turn a bottle-cap into a Tripod Head!

Basically Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas will have you taking great photos, crafting, creating fun projects, and showing off your artistic style.

It’s easy to read and fun to do so I’m giving this fantastic photography book a

4 1/2 out of 5!

Get your copy of Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas at Amazon today!

Rush Hour by Eileen Harris is available as a 6″x6″ for $150 captured and edited with an iPhone. Stellar!

Eileen isn’t the only one going at it full force with her iPhone photography BTW.

Check out Federico Savoldelli’s work at ADIDAP where he’s featured as the photographer of the week.

I really love the Theme Friday’s over at feature shoot. This week’s is Animal Collective. Nice.

In the Photoblogosphere

One of the best ways to truly become a better photographer is to study, directly, under a great photogapher. Well here’s your chance!

If you’re wanting to get your head wrapped around macro photography this article is a great place to start: Top 20 Photography tips on Shootin Macro Photography.

Oh yeah…the big games going on…you can get the scoop on all that stuff going on in Vancouver from a photographer’s perspective at Mostly Lisa. She’s rocking that coverage with video and stills from a Canon 5D MarkII and I mean rockin’ it!

Old camera and film buffs will love this breakdown of the Mamiya Universal VS Polaroid 600SE.

Unless you live under a rock you’ve probably heard all the buzz about Google’s Buzz. How about a great list of Photographers All Over Google Buzz to get you started.

If you’re unfamiliar with Buzz here’s a quick breakdown on why Photographers are Buzzing.

Bizzie Mommy has a quick hits insight on the back button auto focus. A nice quick read if you’re not sure what that button is or how it works.

Usually these little nuisances are quickly fixed.

Today doesn’t seem to be that kinda day.

Hopefully we’ll be able to resume our normal schedule of photography awesomeness tomorrow.

Oh…and if you see things moving around and “breaking” I apologize in advance.

Maternity Shoot – Melissa by Sheldon Parsons