Put Your Favorite Lens Aside and Change Your Habits for a Change

Sometimes we get in a habit and neglect to look at things differently. Try using a different lens than you normally do. Most of us probably have a favorite or usual lens that we shoot with. If you do have a different lens try only taking pictures with that lens for one full shoot. This will force you to look at things differently and perhaps make you look at your subjects totally different.

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Redrock Micro DSLR 2.0 Hybrid Cinema Rigs

New Low Cost Accessories Advance DSLRs Into Next-Generation Hybrid Still and Cinema-Style Shooting. The DSLR 2.0 line of its Hybrid Cinema Rigs enables the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Nikon D90, and Panasonic Lumix HG1 to become filmmaking machines (at least on some level).

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RVDS WEBSITE UPDATE!

The RVDS site got a much needed update today and not only did I add new images from recent shoots, I also added contact links and a new front page layout. I would love to hear your thoughts about what you think of it. So drop me an email or just leave me a comment right here on my blog.

http://rvds.net

10 Tips to Help You Become a Better Photographer

There are so many different sources of material out there to help you improve your photography, but reading website after website and a book or twelve isn't always the best way to improve your shots. Whilst reading all these lessons, tips and tutorials, we tend to forget something that would help us much more. All the knowledge in the world is useless unless you know what to do with it, so here are my top 10 tips to help you learn how to improve your photography.

1. Learn Where You Need To Improve

Before getting better at anything, you need to work out what you actually need to work on. Write a list of things you don't feel confident with, it can be as long or as short as you like but try to keep each one as narrow as possible. When you have your list, concentrate on just one item from it and spend time practising, researching and doing everything you can to improve that particular aspect of your photography. When you feel confident with it, cross it off and move onto the next one.

2. Be Critical

When you take a photograph that you're not happy with, don't just scrap it. Spend some time looking at it and work out what you don't like about it. Write your thoughts down so you can look back over them later. You might start to find a pattern where it's the same things that you aren't happy with. If that's the case, go back and add it to your list.

3. Set Yourself Assignments

A great way to improve your photography when you know what it is that needs improving, is to set yourself assignments. This gives you a challenge, something to aim towards and it helps keep you on the right path. Make it achievable though and preferably something that you will enjoy doing. If, for example, you want to improve your close up animal shots, don't just take a thousand photographs of the dog, set yourself a challenge that will take you out of your comfort zone, like getting yourself a shot of a squirrel holding a nut.

4. Try New Things

The worst thing you can do is take shot after shot of the same things, with the same settings. Even if there's something you're brilliant at, it's always good to make changes to make sure you don't get complacent. You might learn something that will improve what you are already great at but it's even more important for beginners, trying new things will definitely speed up the learning process.

5. Be Patient

I'm terrible for this one but it's a really important trait to have! Don't expect brilliant results instantly, becoming a great photographer takes time and isn't something that can be learned overnight. It's even more important when you are completing your smaller tasks to not give up at the first sign of failure.

6. Find Inspiration

When you are feeling confident with your camera and you want to experiment a little, it can be a challenge to come up with new ideas and it might be a good idea to take inspiration from other people's work. Look around the internet, in magazines, even in shopping malls where there can be many promotional posters. Try taking ideas from the material rather than copying them, so you can develop your own unique style.

7. Learn From the Best

Following on from finding inspiration, take some of that inspiration and work out what makes it great. Critique the photographer's work, look at why that particular shot is so good, what do their photographs have that yours don't? This is a great way of improving your own photography, as you look closer at photographs rather than just thinking 'that looks nice' and moving on to the next.

8. Shoot, Shoot and Shoot Again

There's no better way to learn than getting out there and experimenting. You can read a million books but you will still learn faster just by doing it and learning from your own mistakes. Spend some time taking shots of the same subject over and over again in different ways. It could also be a good idea to record what settings you used for each photo so you can work out what worked the best when you look back over them later.

9. Listen to Feedback

When you are improving, get other opinions instead of just judging your own work. There are plenty of people out there willing to help your photography, even if they don't realise it. Tell people you don't just want to know if they like a shot or not, but you want to know what they like or don't like about it. Also, it's not just other photographer's you want feedback from. People who have no idea about photography can still give an opinion that could make you realise something you could have done to improve the shot, so get feedback from as many different sources as possible.

10. Don't Give Up

The final tip is the most important of them all. If you really want to become an amazing photographer, it takes time, dedication and commitment. Everyone has to start somewhere, and many people do give up when they get impatient or frustrated, but stick with it and you will get there.


via Smash and Peas Photography Blog by Lee Milthorpe on 20/04/09

What’s On Your Photography Wish-List?

Most of us probably have at least a short wish-list of photography-related items. My list usually fills up with things that I don't have the money for, and over time I stop caring about those particular items. But there are a few things that I've been wanting for a while — and I don't see myself losing interest in them.

*Canon 5D MK2

*Wacom Intuos4

*2 x Apple 24" LED Cinema Displays 

*Canon EF 50 mm F1.2L USM lens

*PocketWizard Wi-fi triggers

Those are probably my top 5 items outside of the low-budget realm. I'll probably be lucky to pick up one or two of these within the next year, but it's fun to dream!

WHAT'S ON YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY WISH-LIST?

Leave a comment and let us know what you crave. I'm always curious about the things that other photographers want when it comes to equipment.

What everyone is buying in 2009 acording to Amazon

The lists of 'hot' digital cameras and gear have always been popular as it makes you think about your own future purchases. The top products in each section are:

#1 DSLR - Canon Digital Rebel XSi
#1 Point and Shoot - Canon PowerShot A590IS
#1 DSLR Lens - Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
#1 Accessory - Kingston 4 GB SDHC Class 4 Flash Memory Card SD4/4GB
#1 Book - Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera

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Premote your site on the RVDS Blog!

Are you a photographer, mua or stylist? Do you want your website link displayed <---- here on the left? If so then leave me a comment by completing and including the following:

Your name:
Website title:
Website link:
Short description:

OR alternatively have a look at THIS .

My shoot with the Bond Girl

Next time you watch the latest James Bond film (Quantum of Solace) you will see in the starting credits there is a girl rising out of from the sand. Her name is Jessica Grist and I recently had a shoot with her. Here are just one of my favourite images from our shoot.


Model/Dancer: Jessica Grist

How to Catch a Photo Editor’s Eye

For photographers looking to show their work to photo editors, life should now be easier than ever. If once they had to stuff a pile of prints into a envelope or make an appointment to show off their portfolio, today they can wow editors with the images on their website even while they're out completing another job. But that easy option throws up a bunch of new difficulties. With websites so effortless to build — and with so many to choose from — how does a photo editor decide which photographer's online portfolio to examine in detail, which photographers to hire and which to ignore? And what can a photographer do to make sure that his or her work receives the attention it deserves and wins a commission?

The first requirement is perhaps the most surprising. Despite the whiz-bang features and slick animation offered on so many sites, simple is usually best. Editors are short of time, and faced with a large number of images they want to gain an understanding quickly of what the photographer can do. They're less interested in what the photographer's Web developer can do.

Via: http://www.photopreneur.com

Adding your site URL to the RVDS blog.

I have been working on the new look for my blog and I know it seems empty and boring right now but I'm currently getting on average between 500 to a 1000 hits per month. To make things a bit more interesting I am offering to add links to fellow photographers, models, wardrobe stylists, make-up artist and hair stylists on my blog!

So if you want your website link displayed on this blog then send me an email by clicking HERE and making sure the Subject is set to 'URL on RVDS Blog'.

Please include the following for your site link to be added.

Your name:
Website title:
Website link:
Short description:

Keep in mind, all links and websites will have to be approved so don't bother sending me nonsense or spam because it will just be ignored. Don't waste your own time!