I read this interview yesterday and Jim Pickerell (on John Lund’s Blog,) one of the foremost writers on stock photography, gives the reader a clear thesis: If you shoot stock for a living and haven’t found another source of income, find one now. Photographers will be able to make additional income shooting stock, but not [...]

Some readers have been asking where to find these cruise photography jobs, so my wife Michelle did a little research.  Here is a job posting for Princess Cruises.
And here is another Photography job posting for the Carnival Cruise Line.
Again, I am not saying these jobs are the most amazing jobs in the photography industry, but [...]

My last post discussed outsourcing retouching. What about outsourcing your entire shoot to another country except you, the photographer? Talent and locations can be much cheaper if you shoot in Argentina.  I get e-mails at least once a month from production companies trying to lure me to Argentina. The latest e mail is from Nubefoto. [...]

Heather Morton has picked up on something that I take for granted in her latest post: some photographers are outsourcing their retouching to India; I’ve also known of retouching companies in Thailand, for at least 3 years.  This has been going on in the Stock Photography for years.  These companies also offer keywording and negative [...]

It’s a dilemma for sure. A student of mine wants to leave art school when he graduates and start his photo business. He would assist, but he’s afraid he’ll get stuck assisting and never become a photographer.  He would move to New York and assist, but he’s more afraid that he’ll get stuck assisting, or [...]

Photographer Mark Tucker brought to my attention the debate over on Heather Morton’s blog about paying your assistants on time. All I have to say is that I believe a photographer should always pay their assistants on the day of the shoot if they bring an invoice.
My policy is: If you bring an invoice, [...]

In the latest issue of American Photo Magazine there is a great section on video gear for DSLR cameras that have HD video. The info is not online, so you’ll have to go out and buy the magazine to check it out.
I will try to get some photos of my video production guy’s rig for [...]

Check out page 76 of the new March/April American Photo to read my “Please Release Me” article.  The piece describes when you need a model release and when you don’t.

I just picked up Patti Smith’s new book about her life with Robert Mapplethorpe. I am a few pages in, and looking forward to reading the rest. The last time I saw Patti was at Gregory Corso’s funeral.  She sang the most beautiful a capella I had ever heard, in her low gravely voice.  The [...]

I will be shooting a portrait of a professor who teaches film at an art school.  The shot will be used in a local advertising campaign for the school and perhaps also be used nationally.  I have not been given specific art direction or comps as I am accustomed to with advertising shoots.  I’ve been [...]