The Tao of Personal Work

Personal projects are important. I’ve heard many working photographers talk about how they landed jobs on their personal work and not on their portfolio. Don’t get me wrong, their portfolio got them in the door. But when Art Directors are looking at 5 portfolios they like, compelling personal work can tip the balance in your favor.

Personal work can also get you noticed and help you stand above the crowd. Japanese photographer Natsumi Hayashi has had a photo blog for over two years posting mostly photos of her cats, food and occasionally friends. About 9 months ago she posted a … Read the rest

Cultural Destination for Photography

I have found my new favorite place to hang: the Annenberg Space for Photography.  It’s located in Century Park, which is basically the downtown of Century City. There are plenty of tall office buildings with coffee shops and bistros in the area and even Westfield Mall nearby. The building you see on TV shows and movies with the big square hole in the middle is in Century Park.

Climbing up some stairs, away from the grassy knolls will take you to the space. The architecture of the building is appropriately modern; minimalist with and emphasis on function. Proportionately, it … Read the rest

Finding My Niche

When I decided to leave New York and move to LA, I had a pretty concrete idea of what I wanted to do here and a vague idea of how I wanted to do it. In the four plus months it took me to get from NY to LA, everything has changed. My understanding of the way things work is part of that change but also my outlook on what I want to do.

With the next generation of digital movie cameras able to generate high-quality stills, the job of stills photographer on movie and TV sets will go away. … Read the rest

Learning Post With A Purpose

It is said that one of the great things about photography is you never stop learning. How could you? There's so much to learn. From lighting and exposure to posing and post-production.

I have been refining my craft. Lately, I've been focusing on post-production because I haven't been shooting much lately. A consequence of being in a new city and not focusing on finding new subjects. I started using Lightroom 3 to catalog my images and decided to get a couple books to learn more about what the program can do than I could do on my own in a … Read the rest

California Adventure: Slow Start

My introduction to LA was not what I hoped and not really what I expected, either. Not that I had any great expectations, I just wasn't prepared for the isolated feelings I had. I landed in my new place Memorial Weekend. Doesn't sound too bad except I don't know anyone in LA and could only go as far as my feet would take me because, coming from NYC, I don't have a car. Fortunately, I am in the middle of LA and about a mile away from The Grove. The neighborhood I lived in reminds me a lot of a … Read the rest

No Future in Wildlife Photography

I’ve got no future as a wildlife photographer. And I’m ok with that. I don't have the lenses, patience or the eye to spot the animals.

Don’t get me wrong, I like nature. I like visiting it, breathing in the clean air and admiring the beauty around me. When I travel I see the sights, go zip-lining, hiking, kayaking and other outdoor activities. I expected to do a lot of that in Costa Rica and was looking forward to it.

I was told Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio was one of the best wildlife parks in Costa Rica. Lucky for me, it is … Read the rest

El Niño: Mi Nuevo Amigo

Meet Johan. He’s my new best friend.

I had a little bit of a tough weekend. I know, I’m in Costa Rica, how bad could it be. But, believe it or not, being here made it worse in a few different ways. I was unmotivated and ended up spending most of the weekend holed up in the condo.

There was a nice break on Saturday night. I went to a local bar by the beach for a few beers and met a couple of ex-pats including the bartender Tim who is one year into a two year stint with his … Read the rest