Portrait Photographer Blogs

Photography is a hobby for lots of people, but for some it is their entire lives. While photographers blogs and websites are probably something that most people have had to visit at least once (if you had to find a senior photographer in High School) I think they are worth a second look. While perusing Pinterest one day I came upon some gorgeous senior picture images done by Amanda Holloway. I immediately went to look her up and see some more of her images and what I found surprised me. She had created an empire (it sounds over the top, but it’s true). It was a visual representation of the fact that there is a hierarchy when it comes to senior photographers in particular.

She takes the pictures and has a professional makeup artist that does airbrush makeup, and a stylist that makeover all the girls for close to $3,000. Not only does she do images but she has online and in person classes that other photographers can take to edit and take pictures like she does. What I really find interesting after observing this blog is that she uses the same tools that most photographers have access to (a DSLR and Photoshop) yet she stands above the rest based on her creativity, technique with the camera and Photoshop and her business knowledge. It definitely puts her above some other senior portrait photographers I have seen.

Here is an image of some of the other things she offers that make her so successful:

 

Amanda Holloway’s website is a very good example of a blog that draws you in and makes you feel like spending lots of money for pictures is going to totally be worth it. Photographer’s websites and blogs have to be persuasive with their images and the words they use both working towards getting you to hire them as your photographer. When you are looking at gorgeous picture after gorgeous picture on a blog you get drawn into to this particular “world”.

Portrait photography is all about bringing out one’s inner beauty and being persuasive in the argument that you can do that better than any other photographer. The words gorgeous, beautiful, radiant, fun, and relaxed are used a lot within the blog posts and those who comment gush about how beautiful her photographs are. I just find it really interesting that all these images end up speaking louder than the words do. Most bloggers and the cultures that accompany certain genres of blogs are all about shared opinions, obsessions, and experiences. In the world of photography blogs the images are what photographers use to communicate who they are and what they are capable of. Certain styles of photography and editing are what bring people together in this genre.

To me it seems like a world of beauty, positive reinforcement, persuasion, and an eagerness to learn and climb up the photography food chain. There are always those who post and ask each other how they take their photographs hoping for some wise words that will help make their own photography better.  There has to be some secret Photoshop technique or a hidden formula on how to pose people. Amanda Holloway has ingeniously capitalized on this and offered expensive classes to teach people how to do what she does. (below is an image of what she teaches people how to do in her classes)

This brings me to my final thought on this world of beauty photographers. What type of people get into portrait photography? From what I have observed it seems to be artistic people who are hungry for more knowledge and techniques on how to improve their photos. They seem to always be striving to learn more whether or not they are already really good or still learning. All I know is that it is one of the more pleasant blog spheres that I have got to look at and observe.

Connections to class

•  This is one example of how the internet doesn’t make people lose real world relationships. With her classes Amanda Holloway is bringing people together from all over to come a interact with her and some models to learn a new skill. Her blog is just the medium for her to get her message out, bring in new clients (which also encourages human interaction), and show the world her photography and teach others.
• A lot of what she does is online now. Instead of ordering prints people will ask for digital copies of their photos so they can print them however they like. In this way technology is changing the world of photography and making it open to a wider audience instead of just the people that go to art shows.

 

Questions:

1.      If you like photography what makes you enjoy it so much?
2.      Do you think that photography and images have changed for the better now that there is Photoshop? Or do you think that it promotes too much retouching and makes images too fake?
3.      What other types of blog cultures inspire this kind of thirst for knowledge and shows such a clear hierarchy in skill levels?
4.      If you aren’t into photography how to do you view people that enjoy it?

 

My Comments:

https://laurelanddtc375.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/blog-6the-motorola-razr-v3/

http://textsandtechnologiessl.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/post-6/

 

Portable CD Players

The good old days when portable CD players were used by everyone is something that you will never have to experience thanks to iPods and mp3 players. You probably have no idea what it even looks like so I have included a picture below. I know it must be hard to imagine a time when you had to walk around with a piece of technology that was the size of a disk and that you had to carry the CD’s that you wanted to listen to with you. You had to manually change the disk when you wanted to listen to another album or artist (which mean carrying around your CD’s in a bulky case). I remember sitting on a school bus coming home from middle school listening to the Backstreet Boys (you probably have no idea who this boy band is and that is a good thing) on my portable CD player. It took up an entire pocket in my backpack and I had to be careful with it so I didn’t accidentally drop it and break it. The large fuzzy headphones that you had to wear and the poor sound quality are definitely something that I don’t miss. While the portable CD player was a pain and is no longer of use to you it was a necessary piece of technology that helped get us to where we are now with our thin, modern, music technology.

Before music was available to download online you actually had to go and buy the CD and listen to it in a chunky player that was not portable (you might not even know what CD’s are by the time you read this and I apologize. Look it up on whatever fancy new piece of technology you are reading this on). The portable CD player (a.k.a Discman) came along and made a step in the right direction with the technology that was available at the time. If you had to have the CD in order to listen to your music than it made sense that the portable device would have to be big enough to accommodate CD’s. It must be hard for you to image a time when music was not readily downloadable with the click of a mouse but that is how it used to be. The Discman paved the way for the mp3 player to be created and your colorful iPods and iPhones. Now you do not even need a singular music device because it is just already included on your smart phones.

While the Discman is outdated and I am glad it is gone, it was a necessary step to reach the levels of technology you are experiencing now. History is just a tale of us all taking baby steps towards a better and brighter future that I hope you are enjoying.

My Comments:

http://amm356375.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/375-blog-post-6-stock/

http://jessepearsondtc375.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/blog-post-5/

Printed Books VS. E-books

The struggle between print books vs. e-books is something that I have been following for a while because I am not excited about the attention e-books are receiving. I love holding the actual print book in my hand vs. looking at it on my iPad. I love technology and am always the first to fall in love with new technological advancements, but books are something I believe should not be messed with. Now days anyone can put an e-book online with Amazon, Smashwords, and similar sites, even those people who are not meant to be writers. In my opinion e-books have created a place for amateur writers to showcase their work. This is not necessarily a bad thing for it gives new writers the ability to gain some credibility and eventually get their books professionally published.

However, there are those people who should not be writers and are putting poorly crafted books online for everyone to read. What happens when kids (who do have kindles and iPhones now) get these e-books to read and their sense of proper grammar and the English language is skewed thanks to these unprofessional writers.  When I was younger my love for reading is what made me a better writer because I was able to take what I had absorbed from my books and put it into my own writing. When you are constantly reading incorrect material it could end up affecting other parts of your life.

My worry is that print books may become obsolete and then I won’t have a choice anymore of how I read.  Looking online there are lots of people who seem to believe that print books are not going to die out (yet).

“Physical books are not obsolete: The book industry is not the music industry, in part because ‘the book is an exceptionally good piece of technology—easy to read, portable, durable, and inexpensive.’ And, though ebook sales are growing, they’re not growing at a rate that suggests that they’re going to completely take over physical books.”

http://conversationalreading.com/the-book-it-is-not-dying-yet/

I am glad that there are other people who believe that the printed word is not going to die out. As far as printed books go I like paperback better because it is easier to hold in my hands and I don’t have to worry about the book jacket falling off. As long as I get to hold the book in my hands though I am happy.

In this same article I found a particular passage that I think relates to the book we are reading A Better Pencil.

“Part of our heritage as a civilization are all these books and documents preserved in museums and quasi-shrines all around the world—it is no exaggeration at all to say that pieces of printed matter like the United States Constitution or the original folios of Shakespeare’s plays have taken on spiritual significance.”

http://conversationalreading.com/the-book-it-is-not-dying-yet/

In the first chapter of A Better Pencil it talks about how people did not use to trust the written word and how now it is very important to our society with things like the Declaration of Independence that documents our nation’s history. The written word can help to remind us of our history and help us look towards our future. I definitely do not want to see printed books die out any time soon.

My Comments:

http://ktuftsprofessional.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/theme-vs-mechanism/comment-page-1/#comment-7

http://kyleennk.wix.com/webpage#!form/c1fbd